Author's Note: I wrote this for my friend Devan, who also suggested the title. So everything belongs to JK Rowling, of course. Except for the title, which I suppose actually belongs to Devan.
It was the first week back from the winter holidays and Hogwarts was blanketed in a thick layer of snow. The Head Boy and Girl were working silently in the Prefect's office on the fifth floor, trying to organize the patrol schedule for the rest of the month. Both Draco and Hermione had adjusted to working together by this point in the year. Their once purely professional relationship had taken a turn towards the slightly more than friendly acquaintance.
After the first few weeks of their awkward partnership, Draco had pulled her aside after a Prefects meeting. She was surprised that he initiated the conversation. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be working with someone who had once taunted and tormented her on a daily basis. But they seemed to have a good balance in terms of working together. He had apologized for the way he treated her once upon a time; he wanted to start new so that the year wouldn't be a complete disaster. And while part of her mind was yelling at her not to trust him, she couldn't help but hope that he was at least partially sincere. And since then, they at least hadn't had many shouting matches. Well, at least not any that had ended up with him calling her 'mudblood' or with her slapping him across the face.
Ron and Harry had been just as shocked as she was to learn that she would be sharing the Head position with Draco. But each had at least come to terms with it as she filled them in with details of life at Hogwarts these days. It was so odd being back at school without them. Hell, it was surreal just being back after everything that had happened in the past two years. She had tried to make it work with Ron after the war ended, but too much had happened. They still cared for each other deeply, but with all the attention they had received, in addition to the stress and grief following the war, they just couldn't make anything last. Just a few weeks before Hermione returned to Hogwarts, the two of them decided to take some time apart to figure things out. If it was meant to be, then surely it would just happen. But Hermione was away at school, and Ron was training to be an auror and helping George with the shop. And on top of all that, Hermione kept finding herself thinking of one other boy in particular.
It was nearing ten o'clock. They probably ought to have returned to their dorms by now, but both had grown accustomed to the compatible silence in the office. Draco sat at the head of the table, looking over the schedule that Hermione had just passed him. He knew she was exhausted—he could see it in in her eyes and in the way she slowly dragged her fingers through her mess of curly hair. She pulled it slowly off her neck, tying it back into a loose bun. She rolled her head to either side, stretching out her stiff shoulders. He tried not to notice, tried to ignore the heat spreading through his body as he watched her. But there's only so much a bloke can take.
He cleared his throat, looking back down at the parchment in his hand.
"Something wrong? Did I make a mistake?" she reached for the parchment again, leaning over the table.
He looked away from her, avoiding the sight of her unbuttoned blouse. "No. No, everything's fine. Just misread the line for next Thursday night."
"Oh good," she said, relieved. "So the two of us start patrols tomorrow, just to ease everyone back into the schedule. So I'll see you tomorrow night?"
She was packing up her bag and missed the frustrated look on Draco's face. She stood up, pulling her bag over her shoulder before Draco finally stopped her.
"Wait. Granger. You're not ditching me already, are you?" he asked with a smirk.
"Oh. Well I thought I would just head back to my dorm. But I suppose I can stick around for a bit." She dropped her bag again, sitting back on the bench on the side of the table. She looked at him expectantly.
"So… how were your holidays? Did you… um… did you see your parents? Probably Potter and Weasley, too, I presume."
Hermione was taken aback. They didn't often talk about their personal lives, especially considering Draco had played such a big role in making her life horrible in the past. And Merlin knows Ron and Harry were a sensitive subject between the two of them. But she answered nonetheless. If he felt like actually talking she wasn't going to turn him down.
"Yeah, I saw them both. Um…" she paused as if testing the waters. "The Weasleys invited my parents for Christmas and New Years. I didn't spend much time with Ron or Harry though. They're both so busy these days. And I think they might both be a little frustrated with me." She looked down at her hands, wondering why she was saying these things.
"Trouble in paradise?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"Ron and I aren't together now. You know that," answered Hermione, her face flushing against her will. "They're still pretty pissed that I'm spending so much time with you."
Draco's widened his eyes in shock. He hadn't quite expected that response, but he couldn't deny the satisfaction he felt in knowing that two thirds of the Golden Trio might be jealous of him. His smirk grew as Hermione stared back at him.
"Can't say I'm at all surprised or disappointed to hear about this," he said after a long pause.
Hermione glared at him before rolling her eyes and standing. "If you're going to be obnoxious about my friends being angry at me, then I'm leaving." She started towards the door, but Draco was close behind her.
"Granger, wait!" he said seriously, grabbing her wrist and spinning her back towards him.
Her previously angry face quickly turned to one of shock. They were standing closer together than they ever had, and his hand was still around hers. Her eyes flashed from his grey eyes down to his lips and then back. Her heart was racing and she knew then what she had been trying to fight for months.
Draco noticed the change in her too, saw her eyes move across his own face. Though how he could have noticed all that when he too was preoccupied with looking at her own full lips and the small smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He slowly brought his hand up to her face, running it back through the hair at the base of her neck.
"You seem nervous," he said, his voice low.
"I… Malfoy…," she stammered. She couldn't even form a coherent thought and merely gulped for air as her head spun.
He laughed, his breath washing over her face. "I think maybe you can call me Draco. I think it's pretty clear what's going on here." His free hand snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"Is… is it?" she was whispering, barely able to catch her breath.
"Oh yes. I had a feeling before break, but… well if you and Weasley are definitely on the outs, I have no qualms about doing this."
And with that he leaned forward, kissing her hard on the lips. Hermione froze; she couldn't believe this was happening. But, oh, it felt amazing. She slowly relaxed into him, sighing as she began to kiss him back. She could feel him smirking as he continued to kiss her more deeply, his tongue running along her lips before she opened for him.
Her hands slid up his chest, grabbing hold of his sweater and pulling him closer. Draco groaned ever so slightly and began pushing her backwards, until her back hit the cold stone wall behind her. She gripped him tighter, pulling at his sweater until he pulled back to lift it off over his head. He threw it across the room, unconcerned about where it might have landed.
And then her lips were back on his, her tongue darting out to dance with his. She felt his hands come around her sides, pulling her blouse up. His hands were warm against her cool skin. She shivered against the cold stone wall.
"I should have done this ages ago. What a waste of time all those patrols were," Draco said, pulling back slightly.
"Oh shut up and don't stop," came Hermione's breathy response.
He smirked in response and leaned back towards her. But this time he kissed down the line of her jaw, sucking at the skin along the side of her neck. Her hands tightened around his neck, her fingers pulling at his hair, which was softer than she ever could have imagined. She sighed deeply and felt him laugh against her.
He brought his face back up to hers, placing another searing kiss on her lips. They finally slowed, no longer frantically fighting each other for control.
"We should do this more often. How about every patrol?" he said, pulling back. His lips still brushed against hers as he spoke. She leaned forward, trying to reach his lips once more, but he stepped back this time, steadying her with his hands.
Without Draco filling every one of her senses, her mind raced and her eyes flickered around the room, before landing on his face once again. He was smirking. Of course. She wanted to smack that smirk right off his face. Or snog it off.
"You should get going. I know you wanted to get to bed."
"Right. Yeah. Right, I did," she managed to stutter out. Her head was still spinning as she bent over to pick up her bag, and slid it back on her shoulder. She sent one last hesitant smile towards Draco. "See you tomorrow then, I suppose."
"Yes. Of course." He nodded at her. "And Hermione…"
She noticed a drastic change in the rate of her heartbeat when he said her name. "Yeah?"
"You might want to fix your shirt before you get back to your common room."
She looked down. Not only was her shirt untucked and disheveled, it had somehow become almost completely unbuttoned. "Right. Right, I'll do that." She couldn't stop stammering! She sent one last look his way before walking out of the office, her fingers stumbling over her buttons and her mind filled with thoughts of the last boy that she ever could have imagined snogging.