Love or Lust?

Chapter 1:Sweet Dreams

I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters I owe it all to one brilliant J.K. Rowling. but the plot is all mine. All mine.

It was another night of restless sleep and the 17-year old boy known as Harry Potter was tossing and turning in his bed at Number Four Privet Drive.

With an agonized gasp, Harry sat bolt upright in his bed.

Not again! He thought to himself. And I thought dreams of Voldemort were agonizing.

Harry crossed up his legs Indian style resting his elbows on his legs and his face in his palms.

Why Hermione of all the girls at Hogwarts? She's my best friend and I can't just ignore the feelings I know Ron has for her either.

Harry had been having vivid dreams of one of his two best friends, the infamous Hermione Granger. There was no doubt that she was a remarkable girl, but Harry had always known her as his friend. That is until a few weeks ago. How could he have never noticed the growing attraction building up stronger and stronger within his sub-conscious?

Right, there has to be some rational explanation for this ridiculous infatuation! He thought it over carefully. He had known her for 6 years, soon to be 7 years. He could still recall the bossy little 11-year old asking he and Ron if they had seen a toad; a toad they would soon find was called Trevor and owned by a clumsy young boy by the name of Neville Longbottom. He smiled at the fond memory. But for some odd reason his attention was brought back to that bossy little brunette.

Gah! Stop thinking about her!

Little did Harry know that at that very moment another young man was contemplating the very same thing; however unlikely it would seem.

Draco Malfoy sat up in his king size four poster bed drenched in cold sweat. He took deep calming breaths as he looked up at his own enchanted ceiling. He could see the planets up close this way, each one slowly passing over the canopy of his bed. At times he felt the planets had a very effective calming of his nerves.

Filthy, wretched mudblood! He found himself reciting these words in his head quite often as he tried desperately to cleanse his tainted dreams. I'm sure Father could get rid of her for me. But the more he thought about it the more he realized he could never tell his father anything like this. It would be a disgrace even mentioning such a name in the Malfoy manor.

Why can I not stop thinking about her? She is below me! Filthy, wretched mudblood. Again he tried to change his image of the young Miss Granger, but to no avail. She was high-strung and brilliant. What ate at him the most was the way she could so easily ignore every insult he spat at her.

Why can't I have these dreams about Pansy Parkinson? Father wouldn't be shamed for me admit to dreams about her. But no, it has to be Granger! And I thought the beaverlike teeth would help. She must have fooled Madam Pomfrey into perfecting them.

He stopped mentally complaining long enough to envision Hermione's now radiant smile.

No! Draco smacked the side of his head. He closed his eyes and waited for the momentary pain to subside. He felt so drowsy he decided to Hell with worrying about his dreams. He might as well enjoy them if he couldn't rid himself of them. He readjusted his pillow and drifted quietly off to sleep welcoming the images of himself tearing off the robes of one Hermione Granger.

It had been a whole week since the night Draco decided to stop trying to will away his attraction for Granger. He was now breaking the seal of his annual Hogwarts letter.

Mr. Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that you are this year's Head Boy. You will receive your own headquarters residing next to those of our Head Girl. You will find your new badge enclosed in the envelope.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Draco reached into the envelope and gently retrieved a badge with the letters HB inscribed on the face along with an active serpent weaving its way in between them.

"Draco, why so quiet?" Lucius Malfoy asked hidden behind the Daily Prophet.

"Oh, nothing. I've just been notified that I'll be Head Boy this year."

Lucius lowered the paper long enough to give his son a smug grin before returning to his paper. "I expected nothing less of you, boy. Nothing less."

That was all the encouragement Draco knew he was going to get so he decided to take one last swig of pumpkin juice before taking the Hogwarts letter back to his room.

Draco waved his hand for the door to close and lock behind him as reviewed that letter one last time. In the process of moving over to his wingback chair he passed his reflection in his full-length mirror. He tried desperately to ignore the glower it was now giving him.

"You're anticipating it aren't you?" His reflection accused in a menacing voice.

"Anticipating what?" Draco answered monotonously.

"Her!"

Draco looked up abruptly from his letter to glare at his own reflection.

"You can't possibly be inferring that mudblood, Granger!"

"Oh, don't you play coy with me. You honestly believe I don't hear you moaning her name in your sleep?"

Draco grimaced. His cheeks reddened, as he looked himself in the eyes. "It's not my fault. Maybe she decided to purchase a love potion?"

"And what makes you think she would even be having half the feelings you have for her."

"What? I don't have feelings for Hermione! That's just ridiculous."

"Didn't you notice? You just addressed her by her first name. That sounds like a lot more than just a sexual attraction." The reflection blurred slightly as the individual persona vanished and Draco was left with his regular reflection.

Oh no. What if I really do have feelings for her?

So this is my first fanfiction after years of reading and reviewing. Now it's your turn. The more brutal you are the more I can do to make this even better. Ok, tell me... Is it too long too short, too anything? I want to know exactly what my readers need. Feel free to review.