A/N::: Hello fellow Dramione lovers! I'm loving writing this fic, so i hope you guys love reading it...

The idea for this story came from Eminem+Rhianna's "Love the Way You Lie" song...if you haven't heard it, GO TO YOUTUBE NOW! lol, its a pretty intense song...very fitting for Hermione and Draco, i think.

As usual, Read+Review, please!

Hermione was glad to be back at Hogwarts. It wasn't nearly what it used to be, but it was home. They had begun rebuilding It was taking every student to help, but they managed well. Everyone in the castle worked together, wanting their home restored. There was little time for classes. The 6th and 7th years hardly attended, eager to restore Hogwarts to its prior brilliance. They were all sitting in the Great Hall that morning, waiting on their Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, to give them their assignments for the week. After about a month of her trying to make them go to class, she finally gave up, telling her oldest students she would be giving them individual schedules and assignments each week. The system was working well.

This morning, however, she was announcing the Head Boy and Girl for the remainder of the year. They were all on the edge of their seats, waiting in excitement.

"I wonder who McGonagall's going to choose?" Hermione asked to no one in particular. Ron put his arm around her, "Seriously, Hermione, you know it's going to be you. Why do you pretend not to know?" he told her, giving her a quick kiss on her cheek.

Hermione smiled, "Oh hush, Ron. She could choose someone else"

Harry snorted, "Right. Who's she going to choose? Luna?"

"Yes! That's a very good possibility!" Hermione told them. The boys rolled their eyes at her as McGonagall stepped up to the podium.

"I know most of you are very excited about my announcement this morning, so I will go ahead with it" she started to say to them.

Draco sat at the Slytherin table with Blaise, bored with everything around him. He'd gone back to school because his mother wanted him to stay out of trouble, continue with the normal routine. He tapped his foot lightly on the floor, the circles under his eyes more defined than ever. He couldn't sleep, the war still haunted him, and he had nothing to help him get his mind off of it. He watched McGonagall lazily, expecting to hear Hermione and Harry's names called for Head Boy and Girl. He laid his forehead on the table as she talked.

"-Miss Hermione Granger!" McGonagall said, calling out the name of the Head Girl. Hermione beamed. Ron leaned in and gave her a quick kiss as McGonagall called out the name of the Head Boy.

"-Boy is Mister Draco Malfoy" she said. Everyone in the room started whispering to each other, making sure they'd heard her correctly. Draco's head shot up quickly, a puzzled expression on his face.

McGonagall noticed the chatter in the room, "Settle down, settle down. I suppose you all want to know why I chose Mr. Malfoy as your Head Boy" she said. Most of the students nodded their heads in agreement.

"Mr. Malfoy has done a great deal of maturing in the past few months. I believe he will treat his fellow classmates fairly, and he's also one of the smartest students in his year, if you all must know. If anyone would like to express their concern with my choices, please take it up with me in private. But I can assure you, I have given this a great deal of thought" McGonagall told them.

Draco's eyes were wide. Had she just given him a compliment? What was going on? Blaise snickered at Draco's face.

"What are you on about?" Draco said moodily.

"Head Boy, eh?" Blaise said, raising his eyebrows.

"What're you trying to say, Blaise? Think I'm not good enough?" Draco asked him.

"Never said that. Just surprised. About as surprised as you I think" Blaise told him, taking a sip of his juice. Draco looked around him at all the staring faces, "Right" he told him.

"Look, maybe this is a good thing. None of the other punks can tell you what to do now. And on the bright side, you get to share a dorm with Granger" Blaise said, raising his eyebrows and smirking.

Draco snorted, shaking his head and throwing a piece of toast at Blaise. "I don't know what you're getting at, mate" he told him.

"Oh please. I've seen you look at her. You're like a moth to a flame when it comes to her" Blaise said smugly. Draco swallowed hard, looking over at the next table, the Gryffindor table, where Hermione was sitting with her back to him beside Weasley.

"Mister Malfoy….Malfoy! Draco!" McGonagall said from beside him.

He shook his head, breaking free from his daze, "Sorry, Professor. Erm…thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be Head Boy" he said standing up.

"Your welcome, Mister Malfoy. I have faith in you. What with the war over and your family going through so much, I've seen you mature a great deal. Don't make me regret it" she told him warningly.

"Yes mam" Draco told her, shaking the hair from his eyes.

"Good. Here is your schedule. And the house elves have taken your things up to the Head Dorm. I assume you already know where it is?" she said.

"I do, Professor. I'll show him" Blaise said, sticking his head into their conversation.

"Very good, Mr. Zabini. I'll see you this afternoon then, Draco" she said, handing Blaise his schedule and walking away from them. Draco ran a hand through his hair, "Right. Want to show me where that dorm is?" he asked him.

Blaise shook his head, "Yeah, come on then" he said, standing up from the table.

Hermione was still in shock from hearing Draco's name called for Head Boy when McGonagall arrived beside her to give her her schedule.

"Miss Granger? Miss Granger!" McGonagall practically yelled at her.

"Oh, right! Yes, Professor?" she said standing up, her chest heavy.

"Here is your schedule for the week" McGonagall said, handing her a sheet of parchment.

"Right, right. Professor? Why-"

"You want to know why I chose Draco Malfoy as Head Boy, am I right?" McGonagall said, finishing her sentence.

"Well, yes" Hermione said.

"He's matured Miss Granger. I think he can handle the responsibilities of being Head Boy" she told her, then turned to Harry, "Forgive me Mister Potter, but I rather believed you'd had enough responsibilities the last 17 years of your life and needed a rest" she told him.

Harry smiled, "Thank you for the consideration, Professor. But yes, I think it will be nice to have a break" he told her.

"Good, I'm glad you agree. Besides, you have the quidditch pitch to rebuild! I expect it to be better than it was before, Mr. Potter" she told him, peering at him over her glasses. She handed him, Ron, and Ginny their schedules. "Miss Granger, do you really think it's going to be a problem working with Malfoy?" she asked.

"No mam. I can handle it, don't worry" Hermione assured her.

"Good. You have your first assignment with him starting this afternoon. And I assume you know where the Head Dorm is? The house elves have already taken your things up" McGonagall said.

"Yes mam. I'll go ahead there now and change" Hermione told her. McGonagall walked away, making her way down the table as she gave out the schedules. Hermione slumped back in her seat. Ron reached for her, rubbing her shoulders in a comforting way.

"I don't know how I'm going to last working with him" she said in a hurt voice.

"Maybe it won't be too bad. All you have to do is tolerate him. He really has no reason to torment you now" Harry told her reassuringly.

"Please" Ron said, rolling his eyes, "He'll do anything to torture her" he said.

"Let's try to look on the upside, you twat" Ginny said, reaching across the table and smacking her brother on the face.

"Ow! That hurt!" he whined. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to go on to the dorm, see how everything is laid out in there. I'll see you guys at supper" Hermione said, standing up from the table. Ron went to stand with her, but she pushed him back down. "No, I don't need you starting a fight with him. I can handle it" she reassured him. Hermione looked towards the Slytherin table where she'd last seen Draco, he wasn't there. 'Maybe he's already gone to the dorm' she thought to herself. She walked out of the Great Hall, heading up the tall staircases to the Head Dorm. When she reached the portrait, it occurred to her that she didn't know the password.

She mentally slapped herself for her ignorance. How could she have been so stupid not to ask McGonagall for the password?

"Flubberworm" someone said behind her. The sound of Draco's voice made Hermione jump. He was standing inches from her. How had she not heard him come up? She stared at him, the blonde hair falling over his eyes, his all black suit buttoned-up neatly as it always was, his grey eyes staring back at her menacingly. She licked her lips instinctively, her heart just now back at its normal rate. Getting herself together, she tried glaring at him.

"You twat, you fucking scared me!" she said angrily.

"Oh, was I supposed to announce myself as I walked down the hall or something?" he asked her, cocking his head to the side and stepping back a moment before going into a demonstration. "'Here ye, here ye, it is I coming down the hall, Draco Malfoy. Please bow before your Head Boy" he said loudly in a mocking manner. She stared at him, never seeing him like this before. Draco rolled his eyes, shoving a hand into his pocket as he pushed open the portrait.

He stepped aside, "Ladies first" he told her, pressing his lips together. She went to walk forward. He stepped in front of her before she could reach the entrance, "Right, you're not a lady, I forgot" he said, letting himself into the room before her. She stormed in behind him, ready for a fight.

"You fucking arrogant scumbag! You think you can trick all the professors in to thinking you've matured, you've changed since the war, but I know better! I know what you really are, Malfoy!" she yelled at him inside their common room.

He rounded on her, "Yeah? And what's that Granger?" he asked.

"You're an ignorant, egotistical, worthless piece of TRASH! You're fucking swine, Malfoy! You can't scare me! Don't try and pull this 'I've changed' shit with me! You've always been and always will be a damn blood-sucking cockroach in my mind!" she yelled at him as he continuously walked towards her until there was little space left between the two of them.

He looked down at her, clenching his jaw, "Then why didn't you tell McGonagall you refused to work with me? Why not refuse? She's not going to turn you down! You're the smartest girl in this school! She has to make you Head Girl! If it bothers you so much, go request that Longbottom or…or Potter be Head Boy!" he yelled, inches from her body.

She swallowed hard, she could smell his intoxicating cologne now, the tiny strands of hair falling into his eyes as he yelled, the vein in his neck pulsating. "Because I can take a challenge" she whispered angrily, staring up in his grey eyes.

He laughed evilly, walking away from her slightly, "A challenge? That's what you think I am?" he asked her. She could breathe then with him away from her. But just as suddenly as he'd walked away, he immediately walked back to her, closing the gap between them completely as he stared down at her, his face inches from hers. "I'll show you what kind of a challenge I am" he whispered to her.

She searched his face for only a minute before he walked away from her and up the staircase to his room. Hermione stood frozen on the spot, watching him walk away from her. She sat down on the couch, in deep thought as she stared into the fireplace. She didn't know how long she sat there. The next thing she knew, Draco was yelling at her again.

"Fuck, Granger, are you just going to sit there all day or are you actually going to do something?" he hissed at her as he walked down the staircase. She glanced towards him, noticing that he'd changed clothes. Staring, she realized she'd never seen him in anything other than a suit.

"I see you own normal clothes" she said lightly. He looked down at his attire: dark blue skinny guy jeans, a white tshirt, and black sports coat.

"And I see you haven't moved since I went upstairs" he said, cocking his head to the side and staring at her.

"Oh shut up, Malfoy" she said, throwing a pillow at his face as she stood from the couch and went up to her room, changing clothes. She put on a pair of skinny jeans and a long sweater with a hood. It was snowing outside.

Coming back down the stairs, she saw Draco leaving through the portrait hole. She grabbed her schedule, looking at where she was supposed to be at that moment. The greenhouse gardens! And she was late! Running, she made it to the greenhouses in record time. Slowing only when she saw that she was the only one in the ruined hall. Looking back down at her schedule, she saw that the project was a 'Head Student' project.

"Great. Just damn great" Hermione said out loud.

"You think so?" someone said from behind her. She jumped.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Are you normally this jumpy?" he asked, getting annoyed with her.

"No. Only when people I don't like seem to be stalking me" she told him.

"Now why would I be stalking you?" he asked.

"I don't know. You tell me. You're the one stalking me" she said.

"Right. Right. Just because we happen to be on the same assignment, you think I'm stalking you. Makes perfect sense. Why the bloody hell would I want to stalk you?" he asked, pacing around her.

"Look, let's just forget about it. What are we supposed to be doing?" she said, trying to put an end to their bickering for the moment.

Draco walked up behind her, observing the area from her perspective. "First, I would say we need to get all of this stone back into place, that way we can see what exactly we have left to work with" he suggested.

She scrunched up her face as she stared at him, "Right"

Draco took out his wand, moving the larger pieces of rubble to one side of the room, evaporating the small pieces. Hermione watched him work for a moment, before grabbing a broom from the nearest broom cupboard down the hall and sweeping up some of the dust. The cold wind broke through the now diminished walls around the greenhouses.

Draco had ideas running through his head on how to make this place special, different from what it was before. He would need to clear them with Professor Sprout before proceeding. He didn't want to talk to Hermione about it, he knew she would just think he was trying to get on her good side. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he could probably use Longbottom's help. Asking for that was going to be tough.

They continued to work in silence the rest of the day, the snow falling on both of them. Hermione was sure she was going to be sick. Draco glanced at her shivering body as she swept.

He shook his head, "Granger, you look a fright" he said, putting his wand in his back pocket and walking over to her. He put his hands on her arms, rubbing them frantically as he tried to create friction and heat. It was an odd sensation, Draco's hands on her arms. It warmed her, nonetheless.

"How long have you been standing here like this? You're freezing" he said quietly, taking off his sports jacket and putting it around her shoulders. Hermione stared at his strong, lean arms as he put the jacket around her shoulders, then pulled her close to him, trying to warm her up. He felt his shirt becoming soaked from her sweater. He's performed a drying and warming spell on himself earlier in the day, he knew he would be freezing if he hadn't.

"Why are you d-d-doing this?" she said, her voice ragged from the cold. His arms fit perfectly around her small body. Draco swallowed hard, his head resting on hers as he moved his hands up and down her back, warming her.

"Because I don't feel like facing the wrath of your beloved Weasel if I let you sit out here in the cold and get sick" he told her icily.

"And what do you think he would say if he saw how you were warming me up?" she asked, looking up at him.

He smirked, "If he wants a girlfriend that's alive, I'd say he'd better be thanking me" he told her.

Hermione couldn't help herself, she laughed quietly at him. Draco pulled her closer again, rubbing her back. After a couple of minutes, he pulled away from her slightly, looking down at her still pink cheeks. "Feel better?" he asked her.

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by a shout coming from the entrance of the hall, "What the bloody hell is going on out here?" Ron yelled. He walked quickly to the pair who had separated almost instantly, stepping in front of Draco.

"How dare you touch my girlfriend?" Ron yelled in Draco's face.

"What's wrong, weasel? Am I getting more action in warming her up than you have in three months?" Draco hissed at him smugly.

"You stay away from her, you slimy git!" Ron said pushing Draco. Hermione yelled at them, but neither heard what she said. Draco tried not to hit him, holding back everything he had as Ron continued to push him.

"What were you doing with her? Don't fucking touch her Malfoy!" Ron yelled as he pushed him.

"Yeah, well, maybe if you taught your girlfriend how to do a damn warming spell, I wouldn't have had to!" Draco yelled. Ron hit him. Draco reached a finger up to his mouth, feeling the blood trickle down his chin as he stumbled back a couple of steps. Lunging at Ron, he knocked him to the ground, punching his face in.

"STOP! BOTH OF YOU! STOP! MALFOY, GET OFF OF HIM! STOP!" Hermione yelled, pulling Draco's arms. The two of them stopped fighting, standing up with Hermione between them.

"Ron! Stop it! He was only trying to keep me from getting sick! You should be grateful! And YOU!….You….just stop! I won't have the two of you fighting everyday!" she yelled.

"Grateful? I should be grateful for this fucking twat? Are you out of your mind, Hermione? I can't believe this" Ron said, turning and walking back into the castle.

Hermione glanced back at Draco before running after Ron. Watching her run off, Draco put his hands on his hips in frustration, pacing around the small area before turning back to the stack of boulders he'd been cleaning and continuing to do so.

"RON! Will you slow down! RON!" Hermione yelled after him.

"What? Are you going to explain to me why he had his hands all over you?" Ron yelled in the middle of a crowded hall. Hermione looked around her at all the faces staring at them.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" she said quietly.

"No! No, we can talk about it here! Why did he have his hands around you?" he yelled.

"He was trying to warm me! I was fucking freezing! If he hadn't, I'd probably have damn frostbite right now and be in the hospital wing! Is that what you want?" she demanded.

"No, I want him to keep his fucking filthy hands off of you! I want him to stay the hell away from you! Hermione, if he touches you again, I'll kill him" Ron told her.

Hermione took a deep breath, "Ronald, we have to work together. It's not like I can ignore him" she said, gritting her teeth together.

"Hermione, if he even lays a damn finger on you, or so much as looks at you the wrong way, I'll fucking kill him" Ron said angrily, "I'll burn him in front of you and rip him to shreds"

Hermione looked at the floor, shaking her head. She did hate Draco, but the last thing she wanted was Ron killing him. "Ron, you can't be serious. We have to work together, don't you understand that?" she whispered, walking towards him. As she went to grab his arm, he pulled away from her.

"Don't fucking touch me until you've shower. I don't want his slimy germs all over me" he hissed at her before continuing down the hall. Hermione was in tears by now. She looked around her at the crowded hall, "What are you all staring at? HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN TWO PEOPLE FIGHT BEFORE?" she yelled at them. Quickly, the students dispersed, leaving Hermione sinking to the floor in the middle of the hall, her head buried in her head. It was then that she realized she still had on Draco's jacket. She could smell his cologne on it as she brought her hands to her face.

All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and cry. She got up from the floor, running all the way to her dorm where she fell onto her bed, balling up in a ball, and falling asleep.

Draco watched the two of them fight from the far end of the hall, then watched Hermione sink to the ground, crying. He thought about going up to her, comforting her, but decided against it. He'd caused enough drama for one day. After she got up and ran towards the dorm, he walked down the hall, heading towards the Great Hall for supper.

He forgot that he had blood on his chin, and that it must look odd for the newly appointed Head Boy to have already gotten in a fight. Sitting down across from Blaise, he grabbed a biscuit and started eating it.

"Oi, mate, what happened to you?" Blaise asked him, "And why are you all wet? Don't you know how to do a drying spell?"

Draco almost laughed. "You have no idea, mate" he told him, shaking his head. Blaise looked up as Ron walked into the Great Hall with Longbottom and Harry. He then looked back at the death glare Ron and Draco were giving each other.

Blaise laughed quietly, nodding towards Ron, "I take it you did that?" he said, referring to the purple bruise growing under Ron's eye.

Draco cocked his head to the side, his eyes smiling, "I might have" he said, picking up his water and taking a sip.

Blaise shook his head, "Why?"

"Because apparently, someone can't keep their hands off of a certain mud blood" Pansy said as she walked up to their table, sitting beside Blaise.

Blaise raised his eyebrows, shaking his head, "You just couldn't do it, could you?"

"Do what?" Draco said defensively.

"Keep your damn hands off of her for one fucking day. Jeez, fuck, Draco!" Blaise said, slamming his fist on the table.

Pansy raised her eyebrows, "I knew it! I knew you had a thing for that mudblood!" she said in a triumphant way.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Pansy" Draco spat at her, glaring through the blonde hair fallen in his face.

"Ooo….touchy subject" she said smirking. Draco reached across the table, grabbing her hair.

"If you tell anyone, I'll fucking murder you in your sleep" he whispered angrily in her face. Her jaw trembled as he pulled on her hair. Finally, he let go. She glared at him before getting up from the table and walking away.

"Bad choice, mate" Blaise said, looking at Draco's sad face.

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked.

"You and Granger. It's wrong, you know it" Blaise said quietly.

"I don't know what your talking about. It's not like it'll ever happen" he said, taking a deep breath. He stuffed a couple of pieces of bread in a cloth, tucking it in his back pocket. "I'll see you later. McGonagall gave me a fucking Transfiguration essay to do" he told Blaise.

Blaise shook his head, "Right. See you"

Draco got up from the table, walking quickly from the Great Hall to the dorm. He didn't see Hermione in the Common Room, so he walked up the stairs to her room, finding the door wide open. He stood in the doorway a moment, watching her sleep, still dressed in her clothes from earlier, still wearing his jacket.

He watched her chest rise and fall for a couple of seconds before knocking lightly on the door. She stirred, uncurling slightly and opening her eyes. Hermione cursed whomever it was that woke her, she was having a good dream.

She opened her eyes, looking towards the door at Draco. He was looking at the floor nervously, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"Malfoy?" she asked quietly, sitting up in her bed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" he told her.

"No, no. It's fine. What time is it?" she asked, stretching her arms. Draco tried not to stare as she arched her back and stretched, exposing her neck. He licked his lips instinctively, "Almost nine" he told her, leaning against the door.

She looked up at him, noticing the blood on his lip. She shook her head, "You're bleeding" she said quietly.

He felt his lip, "It's nothing. Nothing compared to your boyfriend's eye atleast" he said smirking, walking out of her room.

She looked down at her bed, thinking back to the events from earlier. A tear came to her eye. "Right, my boyfriend" she said, holding back a sniffle, clenching her jaw. "I wish you hadn't hit him" she said quietly.

Draco walked backwards to her door, "Hadn't hit him? Granger, he fucking hit ME! You expect me to just sit back and take it when someone hits me? Fuck you, Granger! Fuck you. If that's what you think" he yelled at her. He felt the bread in his back pocket when he walked.

Taking it out of his pocket, he threw it at her on the bed, "I brought you this, if you want it, that is" he said, walking down the hall and to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Hermione fell back on her bed, disgusted with the day. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before sitting up again. Deciding she could use a quick shower, she walked to their joining bathroom, opening the door without knocking.

"Fuck, Granger!" Draco exclaimed, turning quickly towards the wall. He was standing there bare-chested in front of the urinal, taking a piss.

"Sorry!" she said, turning her head.

"Don't you know how to fucking knock?" he said, zipping his pants up. He turned around towards her, running a hand through his hair.

"Don't you know how to lock the fucking door?" she replied, rolling her eyes. She stared at him, memorizing every cut on his body. Her eyes traveled to his left arm, where the dark mark stood out on his pale skin. He clenched his jaw as he noticed her staring.

"Right. I'll leave you to your shower, then" he said. He shook his head, walking out of the bathroom when she never said anything to him. He closed the door behind him. She quickly locked it. Hermione shook her head, unable to get the image of his bare chest out of her mind as she turned on the hot water in the shower and undressed.

The hot water hit her body as she stepped in, leaning her head against the wall. She closed her eyes, trying to make out the growing temptation playing in her mind. Being so close to him, she could barely breathe, her stomach was always sent into knots when he looked at her with his dark, grey eyes.

Draco walked into his room, picking up the first thing he saw and throwing it across the room. It shattered on the floor. He sunk down to the floor in front of the bathroom door, feeling the steam from her shower coming up under the door. He didn't know how he was going to get her out of his head now. She was going to be everywhere he looked.

A/N: What do you think?