Hermione Granger tiptoed through the Hogwarts halls, breaking the rules yet again. It was past midnight, no student was to be out of bed. As she slowly turned a corner, her wand's light went out.
"Lumos," she whispered. Nothing happened. She held her breath.
"Damn thing, LUMOS!" A small light appeared at the end of her wand. She let out her breath and continued walking. A sharp noise from behind her made her freeze, who would be up at this time of night? Oh no, what if it's a teacher? She heard foot steps approaching her, and quickly mumbled "Nox!" to turn out her wand. Or worse, what if Ron sees that I'm gone and went looking for me? Her body was frozen, not even daring to breathe.
Whoever or whatever was suddenly right behind her. She felt something brush her shoulder, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She closed her eyes and bit down on her lip.
"You're late honey," someone whispered in her ear. Hermione felt the warm breath of Draco Malfoy on her neck, exhaled deeply and was relieved.
"Oh my goodness, you startled me! I thought you were a teacher!" Draco pinned her against the wall, just like he always did, and smiled. She giggled and sunk into his arms as he began to kiss her. "Dra- Draco…" Hermione sighed. "We can't stay here." They locked eyes, smiled, and he took her hand.
"Goyle's awake in my dormitory," Draco explained. "'Would have been quite awkward for him to find us together. I do have somewhere else in mind for tonight; I think you'll like it. Oh, and I'm terribly sorry I frightened you, love."
Hermione had been cheating on Ron Weasley for months. She had made up her feelings for Draco one night when they were working on a homework assignment as partners. Hermione remembered the night in clear detail, as one of the best nights of her lifetime.
"Look Draco, I don't want to do this either, so if you can just cooperate, this will all be over soon." I said to him.
"Partnered with a mudblood…" He buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't call you that. Just let me do the assignment for us, that way you don't have to be annoyed by me. I'm sorry, again." He grabbed the papers off of the table in the Hogwarts library and started to walk away from me.
Sorry? Why would he be sorry? He's never apologized to me, I thought to myself. Draco had been acting peculiar all night, and I was starting to think there was some sort of practical joke planned.
"Draco, come back. We have to do this together, let's put our differences aside and get this completed." He turned around and looked into my eyes. It was then that I realized how marvelous he was. His eyes were as green as his house colors; his hair was a perfect shade of glowing blonde, and the way he looked at me…
"Alright," he sighed and we got to work, spending the next two hours finishing the project, whilst flirting and sharing smiles.
"Your not all that bad, Granger," he said as we packed up. He winked. "But don't tell Potter or Weasley. Their opinions of me would only worsen."
I looked around the library for a moment. "You know Malfoy, I don't know why we fight all the time. This bickering is between you and Harry, why couldn't we… be friends?" I gulped. Why had that come out? Was I really asking my enemy, Draco Malfoy, to be friends with me?
"Be friends? With you?" He seemed to ponder my question for a moment, then he looked up at me.
"Hermione, I have something to tell you." He sat back down again. I quickly pulled over a chair and sat down as well. He folded his hands on the table, and stared deep into my eyes. I stared back. We said nothing for a few moments, just looking at each other, until he seemed to snap out of a trance and look down at his hands.
"Granger… I know your with that dratted Weasley, but I have to tell you. I can't live with seeing you with him… and not me. I'm in love with you. I can't. I just can't," He started to tear up, and a look of shock crossed my face. "But I know that I'm wasting my time, and we can never be together…" Draco put his head down on the table. "Hermione, I love you." Our eyes met, and for the second time, we stared.
Draco Malfoy was in love with me.
And I, Hermione Granger, felt the same way for him.
It couldn't be real, the years of being enemies, now suddenly he was in love with me? But I didn't care.
There was no one else. The library was deserted except for the pair of us. I looked away from his piercing eyes, and made my decision. I put my arm around his shoulders, leaned my face in to his, and kissed him. I could feel the stun within him and me as well, as he wrapped his arms around my torso. He pulled away when it truly dawned on him what we were doing.
"Wha-"He started, but I did not let him finish. I had never felt anything like it, kissing Malfoy. I pressed my lips to his, I didn't want to stop. He rubbed his hands across my back, and I ran my fingers through his magnificent hair. I was soaring, completely happy. My brain seemed to disconnect from my body as I let his hands roam free.
When I finally pulled away, he was smiling. I smiled back.
For the next four months, Hermione and Draco were completely in love. She learned all of his secrets, and he, all of hers. She came to know a different side of Malfoy, and knew they were meant to be together. They continued their secret affair, sneaking into each other's dormitories at nighttime, studying together in private, and winking to each other in the hallway.
But the burden of making their relationship public hung over them like a dark gray cloud of doom. What would Harry think? What would Ron think? What would Draco's father do? They tried their best not to dwell on the answers to those questions, and focused more on each other.
"Where are we going honey?" Hermione asked as Draco led her out of the castle, into the sparkling rain.
"Somewhere extremely special," He said. "You will remember this night for the rest of your life."
"Draco." She stopped him, as what he said dawned on her. "Do you really mean…?"
"We're ready. I love you with all my heart Hermione Granger, and I'm ready to love you completely." Draco took her hand again, and led her into the rain, down to a perfect circle of trees that formed a covered area.
"Here? Wow, this is amazing… how did you find this?" She admired the cove formed by the trees, and the soft grass beneath her feet. The water falling from the sky did not touch them inside the cove.
"That's not important for the moment; we'll have the rest of our lives to talk. Right now, all I want is you."
To be continued.