A/N: This is my first Dramione in awhile. I hope it's okay, character wise. Hmmm…not sure about the ending, but there you have it. It's AU for DH. I guess HBP could have happened, say besides Draco going to Order and all relationships involving the Trio, DH was accelerated into the summer between 6th and 7th year. Anyway, hope you enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

Insignificant

Their Hogwarts careers were coming to an end. Their Graduation from the prestigious Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry was only a couple weeks away. Everyone was on high alert. The air around the oldest students was consistently thick with tension. Frustration was running high, especially in the Head's dormitory where Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy resided. For most of the year, the two had been at each other's throats over basically nothing. Since Harry had defeated Voldemort the previous summer, he and Malfoy hadn't been on as bad of terms as before. Malfoy had come to the Order after the events at the end of their sixth year, leaving Harry with one less thing to hold against the Slytherin. No longer on opposing sides of a War, their rivalry became a thing of the past as they entered their seventh year with peace in the world. But Hermione had stepped right into his place, rivaling Malfoy at every turn. No one had any idea why Hermione and Malfoy had grown so hostile with each other when in the past they had hardly spoken two words to each other—only sending odd insults at each other. Some believed it was the stress of N.E.W.T.s combined with the close proximity of their living quarters, but no one truly understood.

The worst fight of all came after they had completed their N.E.W.T.s. There were only a few days left before they would depart from Hogwarts for the final time. Hermione wasn't sure what exactly started the fight—she had been calmly sitting in the common room they shared, rereading Hogwarts: A History, one last time while actually at Hogwarts, when Malfoy had burst in through the portrait and began screaming at her. Of course, she had jumped from her seat and yelled right back. They had thrown out ever insult they had compiled for the other until they were out of breath.

As she paused to catch her breath, she panted out, "Why am I even wasting my time with this?"

"Wasting your time?" Malfoy scoffed. "You're the one who's been wasting my time. My precious time could be spent doing so many things more pleasant than this."

"Then why are you still here?" Hermione questioned, "You're the one that started this. Why waste your 'precious' time?"

"Pansy was busy," Draco smirked.

"Oh!" Hermione groaned, "I am so glad that I am leaving soon. Our education at Hogwarts is done and I'm going to move on and be happy and you will become insignificant," Hermione drew out every syllable of the last word. She shook her head, "You're not worth my time."

Draco looked taken aback.

"What's your problem now?" Hermione scowled, from where she had just thrown herself down on their common room couch.

Draco frowned and sighed. It took him a moment to compose himself, but when he spoke he did so with confidence, "I don't want to be insignificant."

Hermione's mouth fell open at the intensity in his voice. She had no response so he continued,

"I want to leave my mark on you," His voice lowered as he drew closer to her. "I want you to remember me."

"That's unfortunate," Hermione muttered, "Because all I want is to forget you."

"You don't want to forget me, Granger," Draco smirked. He moved around the couch to kneel in front of her. He lifted his hands to rest them on her knees.

"Don't touch me," Hermione said. The anger had dropped out of her voice, but she shoved his hands off of her. "And you're wrong, as usual. I would like nothing more than to forget you ever existed."

"I would imagine it would be hard to forget me," Draco placed his hands over hers. "I am utterly unforgettable."

"What are you playing at Malfoy?" Hermione hissed, trying to pull her hands away.

Draco kept a firm grip on her wrists. He flipped her hands palm up and slowly stroked her skin with his thumbs as he spoke, "I'm not playing at anything. You know, as well as I do, that we fight because we get some kind of sick pleasure from it. That fire that erupts in the pit of your stomach, the way your heart beats out of your chest, the way you'll go at it until your body craves oxygen…you love it. I love it. We thrive on it."

Hermione struggled to free her hands, "What are you doing?"

"You won't be able to forget me, because anytime you feel that passion bubble up inside of you you'll think of me. Anytime your heart begins to race and your breathing quickens, you'll think of me. See, you will remember me Hermione Granger. I'll make sure of it."

Draco kept his hold on her wrists as he stood. He leaned in closer to her, raising her hands above her head. Hermione pressed herself further back against the couch, trying to increase the distance between them but even then it was scarcely a few inches. She swallowed hard, unsure of what he was going to do next. She knew she should say something, do something to stop him from continuing, but she couldn't move. They remained there, perfectly still, for the longest minute of her life. She could feel the warmth of his breath curling against her cheek. She wanted to turn away, but she couldn't break her eyes away from his. When he began to lean in closer, she finally found the strength to tilt her head away. His soft chuckled sounded loud in her ear.

"Let me," Draco whispered against her ear. He gently glided his teeth across her earlobe, eliciting a shiver from her. Liking her reaction, he trailed a few light kisses along her jaw. He murmured against her skin, "Will you let me, Hermione?"

Not sure what she was even be agreeing to, Hermione rolled her head back over meeting his eyes. In a split second, before she could object, he crashed his lips to hers. Vaguely, she could tell that he was masterful at this—she had never been kissed quite like that. A voice within her scoffed, knowing it came from experience. She was surprised at how soft and gentle his kiss was—the way his lips melded with hers and the way his tongue slowly ran along her lips, pleading with them to part and grant him entrance. When it registered that she was enjoying it and was kissing him back, she tore her head away, breaking the kiss abruptly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hermione glowered.

"I thought it was obvious," Draco answered, with his voice husky.

"Just because we are all leaving soon, doesn't mean I will sink that low," Hermione tried her best to keep her voice even.

"You already have," Draco responded, glancing at where she kept her arms suspended, "I let go of your hands a long time ago. If you had wanted me to stop, you could have stopped me. But you didn't even attempt to, what does that say to you?

"I-I didn't realize…" Hermione stuttered.

"You wanted it as much as I did, that's what it says. It took me a long time to realize that wanting you wasn't wrong. You'll come to realize it too, but I may need to do some persuading."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but only managed to emit a small squeak.

"Now, if I kiss you again are you going to push me away? Because I don't rather like being interrupted," Draco kept his gaze on her steady as he asked the question. "Let me?"

Curiosity flooded Hermione. She threw caution to the wind, and nodded her head.

"Brilliant," Draco whispered.

His lips found hers a second time and this time she had no reservation. One of his hands gently cupped her cheek as he deepened the kiss. Her hands came up to slide into his hair, pulling him closer. He moved over and sat down next to her. He used the momentum of the movement to drag her onto his lap. She let out another squeak in surprise at the sudden movement. She recovered quickly and returned her focus to kissing him with every fiber of her being. Her hands moved from his hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He let his arms rest around her waist, not worried about her going anywhere. When the need for air became too great they broke apart. Hermione rested her forehead against his as she tried to catch her breath.

"Well, I'm not going to be able to forget that," Hermione breathed, grinning slightly.

Draco raised a hand to stroke her cheek, "That was my intention."

"This seems so sudden," Hermione replied.

"I don't believe that. It's been coming for a long time," Draco responded. "We've pretended it wasn't by instigating fights left and right, but it was inevitable."

"What does this mean for us?" Hermione asked with a gentle sigh.

"Only you can answer that," Draco stated simply, "We leave in a few days…if you were to see me afterwards…?"

"I would like that," Hermione said quietly.

"And if we were to plan to run into each other…perhaps at a nice restaurant for dinner…?" Draco trailed off.

"I would love that," Hermione smiled.

"I would too," Draco agreed. "So, should I still expect to become insignificant to you?"

"No," Hermione shook her head before leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his cheek, "You've given me reason to believe you are going t be a very significant part of my future."