First off, let me get this straight: I'm no native English speaker. I've been learning English for six or seven years, but I'm not fully fluent and I still make mistakes. Please consider this while reading. Still, I think (or hope) my English is good enough to not let this story end up on Perli Or Critics Welcome…

I tried to make this story as realistic as possible. Meaning that I always try to let the characters act and speak as close as possible to the books. Obviously that's not really easy when you're writing about something (like in this case, a pairing) that J.K. Rowling would never ever have thought of. So please don't be too harsh if I get a tad out of character sometimes – I try hard not to!

Oh, and one last thing: The first chapter isn't half as good as the rest of the story, as I wrote it two years ago. I know it's a bit cheesy at the beginning.

The whole fanfiction was originally written in German, and I've just started translating it. If you notice mistakes in grammar or spelling, please let me know 

PS: Oh, um, the original fanfiction isn't finished yet. I'm currently on page 17.

It wasn't much of an extraordinary day at Hogwarts Castle. A chilly march wind swept across the grounds and apparently most of the students sojourned inside the castle.
Merely two people in black cloaks stood in the middle of the schoolyard which was covered with frost. They seemed to bei arguing, their sharp voices wafted across yet to the black lake, where they eventually faded.

Two minutes passed before suddenly the smaller person spinned around to walk away, after having resoundingly boxed the other one's ear.

„Pansy! Pansy! Stay, you damn shrew!", snarled Draco Malfoy at his now ex-girlfriend Pansy Parkinson, who - astonishingly enough- actually stopped and turned around to him. She had tears in her low lying saucer eyes.

„You know what, Malfoy? You're nothing more than a pathetic little sod. If you really can't do without throwing yourself at that repulsive Mudblood, then… then…", she broke off, apparently unable to think of what would be „then". She shook her head in disgust, turned around again and continued to walk away from him.

Draco just stood there, utterly nonplussed, palpating his reddening cheek. He was all alone now, and after about a minute, he finally seemed to grasp what had just happened. Pansy had just dumped him. What a weird thought! Everyone knew she adored him. She always had. Already in first form she had kept making mooneyes at him. And now she dumped him.

And all because of… well, nothing! She had noticed him gazing after that Granger girl. A couple of times. And now that she had confronted him and accused him of having a crush on that human squirrel, he hadn't really been able to deny the blame.

But on that score, Malfoy's own mind was in a haze. Maybe he really didn't know what had come over him. Maybe he just subconciously refused to believe it. All he knew was that the girl he had hated most for five years had turned into a woman. A really gorgeous woman.

And he couldn't get her out of his mind anymore. Whenever he saw her, he couldn't suppress the urge to chase off Crabbe and Goyle and every other boy near her.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair. No, it was impossible. Whatever made him feel so ridiculously attracted towards her, it certainly wasn't anything serious.

It was just the fact how womanly Hermione Granger had become, nothing more. It was out of the question he might had actually fallen-… no, that was out of question. Not with her!

Only when the sound of the clamorous clatter of the nearing pupils sounded, Draco was aroused from his thoughts. He paused for a moment. Then he quickly picked up the school books and quills he had dropped when Pansy slapped him and ran off, through the wrought iron gate of the schoolyard and down towards the lake. He needed to be alone for a moment and blow away the cobwebs.

The wet, half iced sand scrunched under his feet as Draco reached the lakeshore. He leaned forward and took a look at his reflection. His pale face was blemished by the pink, vaguely hand-shaped mark on his left cheek. Pansy really had a hard blow. „Stupid hag…", murmured Malfoy grimly and spit into the water. He knew that it would take ten minutes at longest for the other pupils to come to the lake, as it was lunch break now and there were plenty of people who preferred to stroll around the lake instead of having lunch.

Draco himself had bunked off the last lesson to meet up with Pansy. He smirked. Somehow, the fact that she had broken up with him didn't bother him at all. She looked like a constipated pug. And she was daft, by Merlin's beard, how daft she was!

Nothing like Granger.

The thought flashed unvoluntarily through Draco's mind, and as he gazed into the distance of the mountains behind the lake, he felt an oppressive heaviness spreading out through his body. „Dammit!", he barked and sunk into the moist sand.

„What's the matter, Malfoy? Are the voices being mean to you again?", sounded a scoffing, all too familiar voice right behind him.
Weasley.

And generally, where there was Weasley, Potter and Granger weren't far away.

Draco slowly arose. He brushed the sand off his clothes and gave Weasley a contemptuous look. Hermione stood right behind Ron, her eyes screwed up, a suspicious, unpleased expression on her face. „Weazelbee, now, what do you say! So you finally dared to walk around without your little wifey Scarface?", smirked Malfoy, a little more tormented than usually.
Ron's ears instantly blushed crimson. He opened his mouth to give Malfoy a cutting reply, but Hermione chimed in: „That's rich, coming from you, Mrs. Goyle!" – „Yeah! Just shut the hell up, Malfoy!", Ron endorsed, doubling his fists.
Draco's smirk only got broader. „Oh, what are you gonna do to me, Weazel? No, wait, let me guess… Does it involve slugs?"

Ron screw up his mouth, but he couldn't think of a witty riposte, so Malfoy went on: „You know, Weasley, your mom is so fat, I guess your dad probably had to take a mountaineer's exam to beget you bastards!"

Ron's ears reached a new record colour. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails cut into his skin as he bellowed: „Take that back!", and he seemed to assess to dash at Malfoy, but Hermione grabbed his arm to hold him back. Ron enragedly flashed at her and yelled: „What, are you protecting that… that creature?"

She sighed. „Ron, don't be stupid. He's just not worth the trouble you'll get in!" Hermione looked at Malfoy as if he was an especially ugly Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Hermione had always looked at Draco that way. But this was the first time he could remember it actually hurt him. The skitty grin was wiped off his face, and with a last blank look at Hermione, he broke the awkward silence by rushing past the two Gryffindors and back to the castle, not without jostling Ron with his shoulder.