A/N: First time trying a Harry Potter fic. I was bored, obviously, when this came to mind and I was in a writing mood! Please read and leave feedback.

To Keep A Secret

Hermione looked up at Harry sheepishly. "May I borrow your invisibility cloak tonight?" she asked.

Harry stared at her for a moment. "Um, yes, of course," he said slowly, fishing through his things. "What's it for?"

"Well, I accidentally left my books in the library, and I need them for the assignments that are due tomorrow," Hermione replied, reddening. She smiled and quickly added, "I'm not sneaking out, honestly."

"Like we would suspect you of doing that, of all things," Ron scoffed from the couch.

Harry laughed, causing Hermione to frown. "The cloak?" she demanded impatiently. She held out her palm.

"Relax. It's just a joke, Hermione," Harry said, holding it out to her while forcing back laughter. Hermione snatched it from his hands and headed to the door, mumbling things under her breath. It sure was lucky of them that she had forgotten to bring her wand along, or they would regret saying such things.

"What? What did I do?" Ron asked incredulously.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Hermione said, completely ignoring his question. "If anybody asks where I am, I'm sound asleep in my bed."

Ron arched an eyebrow. "Hermione, who would-"

"Ron, don't," Harry said quickly, chuckling.

Hermione, without saying goodbye, growled as she quietly closed the door to the common room, wishing she could slam it instead.

Hermione immediately threw the cloak around her once she was in the hallway. She raced through the corridors, her heart pounding inside of her chest. She felt as if, at any second, a professor would pop out and make her do the walk of shame to Dumebledore. The thoughts sent chills down her spine. Hermione shook her head and thought, Oh, what have I done? To leave my homework in the library, such a foolish thing... It's caused me to break school rules!

Once she had finally reached the library, she peeked around to see if anybody was wandering the halls. When she was sure it was clear, she slowly turned the doorknob and pulled open the door. As soon as the ancient thing moved, it began to creak. Hermione winced inwardly, shutting her eyes tightly as she froze in place. She tried again.

Creak...

Hermione inhaled sharply.

Creeeeak...

Oh, bloody hell.

Hermione finally squeezed through the doorway, gently letting the door close behind her. She looked around, wishing she had brought her wand or at least a source of light with her.

Hermione blindly walked through the endless maze of bookcases, poking her head through every corner possible. Where are those books? While she was trying to squint through the darkness, she heard muffled noises.

Hermione froze. They sounded an awful lot like...

She rolled her eyes in disbelief and slowly tip-toed her way over to the other intruders. Her frown deepend as soon as she saw blond hair--the back of Draco's head.

Hermione could only shake her head. Malfoy? In a library? She thought the day would never come.

Since they were talking amongst themselves with a lamp on a nearby table, Hermione could see her pile of books on the other side of the room. She instantly smiled and made her way over, careful to stay as quiet as possible.

"It was preposterous," Draco sneered angrily. "The whole class was some sort of joke! I mean, did you see the way Potter-" Hermione didn't get a chance to see who he was talking to, but it's not like it mattered to her at all. As she made her way over to the table, she accidentally knocked her toe onto the leg of a chair. She bit her tongue to avoid crying out in pain.

Hermione noticed that Draco had stopped talking in mid-sentence. "Shut it, Zabini," he ordered, pausing. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Pansy asked uninterestedly. Hermione frowned. She was seriously in a room with the people she despised the most.

"That noise," Draco said. "Like somebody else is in here..."

Hermione's heart began to thud again. If they couldn't hear the beating from all the way across the room, it'd be an absolute miracle.

She turned around to see Draco smile mischievously at his two, what Hermione liked to think of them as, followers. "Looks like we've got a little rat in our hands."

Hermione frowned. Damn! she thought. Now I'll never be able to get those bloody books!

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Zabini teased, standing ever so slowly from his chair.

Hermione swallowed, clutching onto the cloak tightly. She began to slowly back up, away from Draco and the other Slytherins. If she was caught... She shuddered at the mere thought of it all.

Hermione no longer was worrying about her homework. The only thing on her mind was getting to the door as quickly as possible. Imagine the consequences... Malfoy would tell everybody! And the first to tell would definitely be Dumbledore.

Hermione panicked, quickly turning around running into another table. "You've got to be joking," she mumbled angrily, so quietly that only she could hear. Or at least that's what she thought.

Cold air rushed at her, and she gasped as she felt the cloak being pulled from behind her.

How she wanted so badly to not be in her pajamas.

"My, my...," Draco said, smiling. He observed the invisibility cloak in his hands, running his hand over the soft fabric. He looked up at her and met eyes, quickly glancing down at her outfit. "Looks like we've got a little Mudblood running around after dark. It's a dangerous thing, really." His tone lowered. "For a Mudblood to walk around at night."

Hermione glared at him, hoping it was too dark to notice the dark blush on her cheeks. "Shut up, Malfoy," she spat.

"And what do you think you're doing here, Granger?" Draco asked angrily. "Unattended, in a dark room, wearing your ridiculous sleepwear under an invisibility cloak that I'm assuming is none other than that Potter's?"

"Here to spy on us?" Pansy sneered, making sure to stand close at Draco's side.

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The little prat.

"As a matter of fact," Hermione frowned, picking her books off the table, "I came here for these. What you do in your spare time doesn't interest me, Malfoy."

"Ah, but I think that what you do in your spare time, like sneak around on school grounds after curfew, interests people like Dumbledore very much," Draco smirked.

Hermione's jaw dropped as her eyes narrowed. She stepped forward. "You wouldn't."

Draco just stared down at her defiantly, not moving an inch. "Believe me, Granger," he whispered back, "I would."

With her free hand, Hermione snatched the cloak out of his grip. "So who did you come here with?" she asked, feigning curiousity. "Parkinson? Or was it Zabini I saw you snogging in the corner?" She smiled innocently, a wicked glare dancing in her eyes. "I'm sure others would have an opinion on it if I asked them. I mean, just imagine, the whole school wondering if the famous Draco Malfoy plays for 'both teams'."

Draco glared at her. "You filthy little-!"

Hermione leaned close to his face and whispered, "See you tomorrow, Malfoy." With her hand she quickly spun the cloak around her in one quick movement, disappearing in an instant.

"You better watch out, Granger!" Draco called out, glancing in every direction. Zabini quickly turned, frightened at not knowing where Hermione was. "I mean it! If you open that rotten little mouth of yours, you're going to regret it for the rest of your pathetic life!"

Hermione zoned out his voice, softly laughing to herself as she walked through the hallway. She grinned with pride. Wait until Harry and Ron hear about this one!

The door to the library slammed open, causing Hermione to gasp, and she spun around. Draco came storming out alone.

"Granger, I swear, if you-"

"Who's there?"

Hermione's eyes widened with fear as she watched Draco freeze. It was McGonagall.

"Who's there?" the professor repeated.

Hermione quickly thought about their situation. If Draco was caught, which would indeed make her the happiest Gryfinddor to ever live, he would surely tell McGonagall about her sneaking in the library at night.

Hermione ran over to Draco, clutching her books in one hand, and threw the cloak above his head. Her shoe was entirely visible, so she backed up against him, wishing it was anybody else she was pressing her body against.

Hermione could feel Draco's warm breath running down her neck and she shivered. She hoped he didn't notice; she didn't want Draco thinking about anything unnecessary. Hermione reddened. The entire time, Hermione tried to focus as she watched McGongall walk through the corridor. The woman turned her head in every direction suspiciously. She huffed, frowning, as she strode down the hallway, disappearing around the corner.

Hermione let out a deep sigh of relief.

Draco cleared his throat awfully loudly. "Granger...," he began to say.

Hermione's eyes popped open as she quickly stood away from him.

Draco muttered something under his breath, which Hermione took as the closest thing he could say to 'Thank You'. He lifted his side of the cloak above his head, but Hermione grabbed onto his forearm. He turned to look at her, startled.

"Tonight never happened," Hermione said sternly.

Draco stared down at her hand on his arm, and for a moment she seriously thought he would shake it off. To her surprise, he just nodded, walking away without looking back.

Dazed, Hermione quickly paced back to the common room. She looked down at the papers in her hands and stopped.

Due December 14th.

It was the tenth.

"You've got to be joking me."