A/N: Hi, this is my first Dramione fan fic so it probably won't be as good as most, but please still read it! I'd love to hear some feedback and I'm sorry that this chapter is so short. So just to let you know the normal font is Draco's POV and the bold is Hermione's.

Draco had been having nightmares ever since he joined the death eaters, about Voldemort and his father and the rest of the Death Eaters. Frankly, it was all too much for him. He had been forced to do it and joining the death eaters was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Draco hated all the expectations his father, Voldemort and the rest of his followers were giving him. He hated the evil things he had to do, but mostly he hated the way his father had life all planned out for him already.

He basically hated his whole life, every aspect, even Hogwarts. After all these years, Hogwarts was his home, his escape from his father, but lately, people had started to avoid him and he had no idea why. Even the teachers had started ignoring him in classes, not that he went to many anymore. There was no idea they could have known about him joining his father, he had done everything to keep it a secret, but there was no other explanation. Nowhere was safe or 'homey' for Draco now and it killed him to know it. At least being head boy kept him busy. There was also the fact that he had his own room, away from prying eyes of students and teachers.

The fact that his whole life was crumbling down before him was horrifying, and the fact that Voldemort and his father expected him to fix the vanishing cabinet was incredulous. It was just so frustrating! And then there was Potter. He knew something was up and wouldn't rest until he found out, which just made it harder to fix the damn thing.

Everything was a mess.

Sleepless nights. That's what awaited Hermione every night. Work, nightmares, and fears. She knew what was coming and wanted to stop it. Nothing could be worse. Well, she could have lost her friends as well, but they were drifting apart from her too. Harry was working with Dumbledore almost every night, looking for new leads on the Horcruxes, but nothing was happening, nobody was taking action anywhere. And Ron. Ron was just there. All the time. When Hermione went to go to work in the library, while Harry was while Dumbledore, Ron would go with her. When she went back to the dorm from meals, he was going with her. The only time she got time away from him was when she went to classes that he wasn't in. And when she slept. That would just be too far if he came to the girls' dorms with her. It was just so obvious that he liked her.

The idea of Christmas seemed like a foreign concept at that moment, even though it was just around the corner. The festive season was still celebrated at Hogwarts even though everyone had something they needed to do, trying to stop Voldemort was not an easy task. Life would be so much easier without all this.

"What're you doing?" Hermione was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Ron walk up behind her.

"Oh, umm. Just homework" There he was again. It wasn't that Hermione didn't like his company, it was just that he got kind of annoying after a while.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." She said, closing her books and clearing her table. The stress of helping Harry and school work was building up inside of her and she didn't have the patience to deal with him at that moment. "Oh ok. Night". He probably just wanted to know if I was ok after the events of the last few days, but I didn't want to get into it then.

Even after a terrible night's sleep, I was always in the mood to annoy some Gryffindors, especially one of them. It was weird, I always thought that I liked firing her up more because of her reaction, but now I'm not so sure. Every time I go near her I feel an impulse to talk to her and because talking is annoying in my dictionary, I do that.

"What do you want Malfoy." She said. Of course. That was her response every time.

"Just wanted to see your gorgeous face again." She looked up at me with that annoyed expression I had come to know. This is how it was every time we had an encounter, which was pretty often.

"Want me to do your homework again? Because again, the answer is no."

"No, I just wanted to let you know Potter's in the infirmary." The way her face changed in that moment was amazing. From annoyed to worried to suspicious and back to worried. Hermione had obviously come to the conclusion that he wasn't joking. She got up and looked him straight in the eye,

"You better not be messing with me." Then she sprinted in the direction of the hospital wing.

I thought Malfoy was bluffing, but when I got to the hospital wing, I saw many familiar looking Gryffindors all crowding around a bed.

"Hey Gin," I said to one in particular.

"Hermione! I was just about to come get you, but then everyone else arrived and-"

"It's ok Gin, really." I pushed through the sea of Weasleys, over to where Harry was on the hospital bed.

"Harry!" I was mortified, there were bruises on every inch of his body, his eyes were black and puffy and his clothes were all teared up.

"Hey, Hermione."

"What happened to you?"

"Malfoy happened," Harry said. "The little brat just came up to me and punched me in the face, so of course I just grabbed my wand and tried to hex him, but he just kept punching." That little shit. "Well, at least you're ok. Sort of." Why did Malfoy tell me if he did this to Harry? "I'll be back guys," I said to everyone. Even though no one was paying attention. I needed to find that little brat.

I didn't know why I told her. I was the one who put Potter there in the first place. She just had that effect on me, like I had to tell her everything. I shook my head. Stop it Draco. She's getting to your head. A while after the encounter with Granger, I found myself in the entrance hall, surrounded by students of all ages, so it wasn't surprising when I heard running footsteps coming down the hallway, but when he turned around he was astonished to see that the person who was hurling right towards him, was one infuriated Hermione Granger. Oh no. I thought. She knows.

"What the hell Malfoy! Why would you do something like that?! You had no reason! You can't just suddenly decide that someone is going to be your personal punching bag for the day!"

"Potter left you stranded when you needed him! You were unconscious for four days! You could've gotten killed!" She came up to me like a wrecking ball, fast and destructive.

"Well, I didn't! You stepped in…. you saved me…. You protected me…" Her face changed as sudden realization hit her. She stomped her foot on the floor, a few centimeters away from where my foot was. She right in my face now. "WHY?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, DAMMNIT!" It just came out. I couldn't stop it and she just stood there, dumbstruck. Oh no. I thought. What've I done? And that's when I ran.