Hermione's POV:

"Hermione, did you hear about that poor Hufflepuff girl in Potions? Apparently, Snape nearly ripped out her hair!" Harry exclaimed.

"Oh, Harry, don't believe all the rumors you hear," Hermione repriminded.

"Yeah, but-"

"There's also the fact that you hate Snape, so you're bound to believe any made-up story that puts him in a bad light."

A flash of white-blond hair. And then Hermione was taken back.

"We're marching through the cold," Hermione sang aloud. And she was. Winter had arrived, but Hogsmeade was worth the freeze.

"Having fun there, Hermione?" Draco held hands with Hermione; his touch made her heart flutter.

"Oh, lots," She replied. Mainly because I'm with you, she thought, but she daren't say that aloud.

Draco and Hermione were in their third year and secret best friends. 'I'm so lucky to have him as a friend.' Hermione used to say to herself constantly. Now, though, she had been saying 'I wish we were closer'. It felt like they were being drawn together every day, like a circle of rope that kept shrinking.

"Hey, Hermione, want to sit down over there?" Draco pointed to two stumps in the distance. The two walked over, the rope circle closing in faster every second.

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She had him know how she felt.

"You know Draco, I've been thinking and-"

"You're secretly in love with me and you have been every since we met?" He smirked.

"Well- yes."

Draco paused. "Yes?"

"Well I wouldn't call it love, exactly, but…" she trailed off. I'm making a fool of myself, she thought.

"Why not?" He seemed to murmur to both himself and her, but with different meanings. Draco was leaning in closer. The rope was pulling, pulling ever so tight. Draco's eyes were bright, curious, and were melting Hermione into a puddle. She could see every snowflake on his pale cheeks.

A better first kiss could not have been given.

"HERMIONE!" A voice snapped her back to the present. Hermione sighed. 'This is your seventh year, and you and Draco are not a thing anymore. It's over and done. You're over him.' She scolded herself. If only.