It was still stormy outside when Malfoy returned. Hermione had begun worrying that he wasn't coming back at all. It wasn't that this was likely to happen, but her anxiety had stemmed from another emotion of higher magnitude; her fear of storms. Yes, Hermione Granger has a phobia other than failing her exams or missing classes.

In previous years, she would ask one of her dorm mates to let her sleep in their bed with them during stormy nights like this one. But now she was no longer living in the same dorm as Parvati or Lavender. Now she was stuck in the same dorm as the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy. Being the Head Girl and to have an almost private quarter to herself was only dreadful because of this.

Oh, curse this storm. It's not like she was not used to staying up all night studying anyway. Yes, tonight she will do just that, and not let this fear get the better of her.

Draco heaved a sigh of relief as he entered the common room which he shared with only one other student; the Head Girl. It was Wednesday, the most tiring day of the week for him, because his Wednesday timetable was filled with classes from the very first till the very last period. It was the reason for him sometimes doubting his decision of returning to Hogwarts for his unfinished seventh year. But tonight, he had no intention to ponder on any predicament of his. Tonight, he would go to bed early.

It was not quite the time for bed yet, so he opted for a bit of reading to exhaust his mind a little more before going to sleep. The book he was now reading was written by a muggle author who called himself "Lewis Carroll". It was her favourite book. Draco remembered the first time he ever took notice of her; she was reading this very book to her cat at that time. He never found out what the cat's name was, because it had died before he got a chance to know it, and in any case she never called it by any specific name in the past. That night was as stormy as this one. Draco briefly wondered where she could be now.

Hermione tossed and turned in bed. The rain pattering down on her windows and the crackling in the dark night sky just bothered her so much. She got very sleepy after reading the chapter on Invisibility just ten minutes ago, but now that she's in bed, she was even more aware of the torrent outside. Agitated, she sat up and made for the room across from hers.

She knocked on the door thrice, but there was no answer, so she proceeded to open it and peered inside.

It was dark in the room; the embers were dying on the grate. Malfoy was already asleep. Hermione felt somewhat relieved at this thought; he would be too slow in thinking to upset her too much for what she had come in here to do.

"Malfoy?" she called out softly, but there was still no answer. She crossed the threshold and entered his room, closing the door behind her - although, after a few steps she realised that she wasn't very comfortable about the door being closed. She chose to leave it anyway.

Hermione put a tentative hand on the body lying in the bed and gave it a gentle sort of shake. The figure stirred, but it was too dark to look into his face and check what expression it held.

"Malfoy? Urm, it's me," she stomped on the little voice screaming in her head telling her to make a dash for the door and leave.

"What is it?" his voice lacked the patented smugness that usually came with every speech he utters. Yes, she could do this.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" While she fully expected him to throw her out of the room, she didn't hesitate asking the question. She wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

To Hermione's surprise - or rather, utter shock - Malfoy shifted to the other side of his bed and lifted the comforter a bit for her to slide in. Hermione stood frozen for a moment before doing just that. She lied down with her back to him, and then took one second to thank the dark heavens that Malfoy wasn't sleeping in the nude.

Then Malfoy did another thing that surprised her even more: he took her in his arms and held her tight. Hermione was going to scream, but somehow managed to stop herself; it was her decision that had brought her here after all.

"It's okay, Abby," his breath was warm in her ear.

But who was Abby? That was when she realised that Malfoy had only allowed her in his bed because he had thought that she was someone else. But he made no further remark after that, so she thought that Malfoy had went back to sleep and decided to leave things at that for now before allowing herself to drift into sleep in his warmth.

Draco was awakened by an incessant ringing from an alarm clock on his bedside table. His mind was still a blur as he reached out a hand to stop it. He felt over the few items on the table before grabbing one that was vibrating vigorously, and then went on to hurl it across the room and smash it into a wall. The ringing stopped instantly.

He cursed under his breath. He was having a very nice dream before the blasted thing pulled him back to reality. And now he couldn't remember what the dream was about. Still lying in bed with his eyes closed, he tried to recall on it. She had been in the dream, he was sure. She had wanted to sleep in his bed because… the storm was keeping her awake... and her hair had smelled of... apples?

A giggle from beside him pried his eyes open. He turned to find Hermione Granger smiling up at him. He returned her smile with an incredulous look on his face. What was the Head Girl doing in his bed? Something in the back of his mind clicked into place. He wasn't dreaming when he had let her in his bed, and he had also mistaken Hermione Granger for her. More importantly, it also wasn't a dream when he had pulled her into his arms.

He silently berated himself. The two girls were physically dissimilar to each other in more than a thousand ways; how the bloody Hell did he manage that stupid mistake? But... he had survived the night, and now here Granger was smiling up at him. The whole situation can't be that bad, right?

"Er-"

"Thank you, Malfoy," she quickly cut in; no need to make him feel any more discomfited than he already was.

She hopped off his bed and left a very confused Malfoy in her wake. It had yet to interest her to find out who "Abby" was.

[Author's Notes]

[re-edit] So I edited the drawing for this fanfic to become its cover. My final exams are in less than a month. I therefore procrastinate by re-visiting my old fanfics. No major edits were made, mind. I wish to thank you all for your support; I noticed that this story still get readers to this day. I wish you would tell me what you think of it, too. Please? ;)

[edit] I achieved my goals: to finish it within seven chapters (although it turns out that every chapter is nearly twice the length of the previous) and to settle the whole "what's an OC doing in a Dramione?" 'issue'. I would greatly appreciate it if you give this story a chance and read on I thank you in advance.