Hermione had just put the finishing touches on her potion when Professor Slughorn called "Stop! Time's up! I will be coming around to check on your potions. Once I have made my mark, you may leave."

Hermione checked over her textbook, trying to remember if she had done it right.

"Hey, Hermione?" whispered Ron. Hermione knew he was going to ask for help.

"Ron, it's all in the textbook, you don't have to ask me for help," she said impatiently. As she went back to her textbook, she could hear Ron muttering under his breath.

Slughorn had begun at the opposite end of the classroom, leaving them for last.

"Great, we're going to be late for our next lesson," Harry muttered to Ron. Ron groaned.

Finally Slughorn approached them and looked into each of their cauldrons in turn. "Very good, Harry," he said with an approving nod of his head. "Excellent as usual, Ms. Granger." Hermione beamed. Slughorn's face fell a bit as he looked into Ron's cauldron. "Er, very good attempt, Mr. Weasley." He left the room.

Harry and Ron hurried to pack their things and after a quick goodbye, left Hermione alone in the classroom. As she hurried to pack her things, she heard someone call her name.

"Hermione?" That voice. Her name sounded so wrong in that voice. As if it were in another language, especially in the tone. It sounded uncertain, almost shy. Draco Malfoy was never uncertain or shy. He was always arrogant, and only ever called her "Mudblood" or, if luck was with her, "Granger."

She turned around out of sheer surprise he had used her first name. Malfoy was leaning awkwardly against a table next to her. He avoided Hermione's eyes, and it appeared he had spoken to the floor.

"What, Malfoy?" She tried to make the dislike clear in those two words.

"I, er, I've kind of been-" he paused. "I've kind of been wanting to speak to you." His grey eyes flitted up to Hermione's face then back to the floor.

Hermione was temporarily stunned by them. With his defenses down, Malfoy's eyes were almost... Hermione struggled not to think it... beautiful. They were gray, a color Hermione rarely noticed. But Malfoy's eyes were nothing she had ever seen before. Their normally cold look had vanished, leaving him vulnerable. Vulnerable, yet they still had a fierce edge. In the split second their eyes met, Hermione had felt a sudden wave of warmth.

Trying to shake it off, she demanded, "All right, speak."

"Hermione, I er, I, um.." He took a deep breath, which seemed to strengthen him. He walked up to her. Hermione tensed. What was he planning to do? He got close enough that they were foot to foot. "I just wanted to tell you I've been madly in love with you since we were first years." And with that, he closed the little distance between them and kissed her. He gripped the small of her back and pulled her closer to him. She didn't protest. She didn't want to protest. Draco's kiss was everything. He was fierce yet gentle. The love of almost six years was obvious in the way he held her, in the way he kissed her. When he kissed her, the world disappeared. It was just them, locked together in an embrace as unbreakable as an Unbreakable Vow.

Hermione felt the wall slam into her back, but she didn't care. Her fingers were in Draco's hair, her lips against his, his arms around her waist. He began to pull away, but she clutched onto his robes. Draco couldn't just leave her like that. Not after that kiss. Hermione realized she needed him. That every last bit if her was designed for this boy, and this boy alone. She opened her eyes and looked at him, fully looked at him, for the first time. Sparkling grey eyes, silky blond hair, the longest eyelashes she had ever seen. At that moment, the most beautiful face in the world grinned down at her.

"I love you too, Draco," she whispered, and he pulled her even closer. As she rested her head against his chest, there was no doubt her name would one day be Hermione Jean Malfoy.