Disclaimer: nothing you recognize is mine ((:

Word Count: 986

For theQuidditch League / Kenmore Kestrals / Chaser 1

A relationship between two characters with different blood statuses.

1. (quote) 'Never, ever allow yourself to feel. Feelings kill.' - Malorie Blackman, Knife Edge

4. (word) careless

10. (dialogue) "What do you want from me?"

Note: it's been so long since I've written something, wow. I apologize. And again, this is not beta'd, so if you see something wrong, please note it in the very kind review you leave ((:

Both of them would try to deny it, but it had all started with that punch back in third year.

It was stupid, careless and idiotic – they knew that – but still, the stolen glances, the almost-smiles, the gestures and the sexual tension were shared almost every day, and both Hermione and Draco still tried to deny it.

But even if that one punch was the start of it all, the end of the beginning was in their sixth year, one lonely noon at the library where the blonde wizard was researching for his task and the bushy haired know-it-all was reading al the books she could.

There was an important Quidditch game going at that moment – Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff to see who would go against who and see their tactics – but neither Draco nor Hermione found it really important to go to that, they had better and more important things to do. And so, they were both alone in the library if you didn't count Madam Pince and the two lone first years that sat on different corners of the place.

As the Gryffindor looked up, she was startled to see her sworn enemy on the other side of the table, but it had not been a complete surprise as it had happened once before, but it was a situation she really didn't like to talk about.

Hermione coughed, not trying to get his attention but to try to hide herself, which turned out to be useless as Draco looked up from his book.

"Hello," he simply said as he went back to his book.

She was confused. Shouldn't he be making a fuss over her sitting with him? Shouldn't he scream and shout and call her names? It was not a thing someone should really do at a library, but it was the normal thing that Draco did anywhere.

"Malfoy?" Hermione said shyly, not really knowing what the outcome of this conversation would bring either of them. Draco looked up looking a tad irritated but keeping his cool.

"Granger. What?" Draco asked, looking in between his book and the girl that sat in front of him, "Do you need something?"

"Why aren't you – um – I don't know, insulting me?" Hermione asked, her confusion taking the best of her.

Draco groaned something Hermione could swear was 'Bloody Gryffindors' – which was an instant mood setter – as he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Granger, you still don't get it, do you? And I thought you were the smart one." He said with a 'tsk' behind his tone.

Hermione scoffed. "I'm smart you know."

"That's besides the point." Draco said, "Anyways, it's not that I like you or anything, just for you to know, but whatever I feel for you is not as negative as you think. It's not that good – really – but not that bad,"

"You feel something for me?" Hermione asked cautiously, nipping at her robes nervously. Did he like her?

Draco put on a sneer immediately after being asked that question. "Feelings? I don't have any feeling for anyone. I always follow my mantra 'Never, ever allow yourself to feel. Feelings kill'" he explained all to quickly, making it obvious he was lying.

Hermione smiled. "You said you feel something for me," she asked in a playful tone.

Draco scoffed and gathered his things. "We're not done here, Granger," he said as he went out running of the library.

Oh well, thought Hermione, back to my work.

The next time they met was just like many other before. Names were called, punches were thrown, and just as usual, they accused each other of being on sides of the raging war.

Hermione tried to keep her cool, but she knew she saw, if even for a second, a flash of hurt pass through Draco's eyes as they called him a Death Eater. Maybe it was true, and maybe – just maybe – Draco regretted being one. Maybe Hermione was overthinking things.

And just like that one time that marked their 'first' real meeting without any disputes, Draco and Hermione met at the library again. However, this time it was planned, as Draco had asked the girl to be there at an exact time in an exact place, making it sound suspiciously like a date, but just like other many things, Hermione brushed it off.

Hermione arrived at the library with the goal of studying and meeting with the Slytherin, but apparently it would only be the last thing as she saw that Draco was sitting on a lone table without any books, which seemed a tad weird.

"Hello," she greeted amicably, keeping the mood if a tiny bit normal.

"Granger," Draco greeted back, "hello,"

And so, he sat in silence as if waiting for her response.

Hermione grew tired of the silence, and as Gryffindor as it sounds, she just blurted out, "What do you want from me?"

Draco looked at her with surprise. "Nothing really, I just wanted someone to keep me company while I studied," he shrugged, and Hermione looked at him, very much confused.

"Why don't you ask one of your – I don't even know what to call them – mates?" she asked.

Draco sighed and said, "They're very stupid, and y'know, I prefer the company of a fellow intellectual, if you would like to call it that,"

"So you do like me," Hermione muttered loud enough for Draco to hear her, making the blonde roll his eyes.

"Not that I would really say it out loud. Slytherins don't really show that much emotion, and I don't really think I have that much emotion," Draco simply said as he grabbed a nearby book.

It went unsaid, obviously, but as they sat in between the silence and the books, Hermione knew that Draco liked her, and even if she tried to deny it, she also had some kind of feelings for him, buried deep down her Gryffindor core.

fin.