I only own the plot. Rowling is the genius, not me.

Draco went to the library but was not surprised when he didn't find Hermione there. He found her sitting outside under their tree. As he walked towards her, a swarm of memories put him off.

They had made it a sort of ritual: meeting in the library late at night to talk, to hold hands and to share their dreams. Of course, they kept up appearances, throwing little insults at one another in potions class and in the corridors, but he smirked at her and secretly she knew that she meant so much more to him than anyone else could imagine.

He told her his secrets and aspirations. To her, he confessed he had no wishes of becoming a death eater. To him, she confessed that she wanted to become a professor. She hadn't told Ron or Harry that because she knew that they would take the mickey out of her for being such a bookworm. Draco hadn't laughed; he merely smiled and kissed her hand.

They grew closer and their friendship bloomed.

On his birthday, she surprised him with a generous gift. It was a silver watch with diamonds and emeralds and engraved on the back was "so you can see the time, even though you are timeless".

"Hermione this is too much." He said quietly.

"Happy birthday, Draco. You are my best friend and I love you."

He smiled at her, it was the first time she had said those three words to him. Although it was following the words "best friend" he was happy.

It was then that he realized he had fallen in love with her.

He was scared shitless.

For her birthday, he planned to tell her. He wanted to do something special for her so she would know how much she meant to him.

On the morning of her birthday, thirteen owls greeted her, sitting all around her room. Each owl had a rose in its beak. She collected each flower and one by one the owls flew out her window until she got to the last owl, which had a fake rose in its beak and a note around its neck. She took the note and the fake rose and added it to the other flowers to make a brilliant bouquet.

Then she read the note:

"Dearest Hermione,

You are seventeen today. I know we have been sworn enemies longer than we have been friends however I have come to care for you more than words can express. Therefore I would like it very much if you would spend the day with me, celebrating the way one should when they turn seventeen. Send the reply with the last owl.

Also, you should have received twelve roses and one artificial rose. Please keep them in a vase where you will be able to see them daily. I will explain why they are important when we meet.

Yours truly,

DM"

She met him outside the Great Hall twenty minutes later and he led her to the shade of a beautiful tree with blossoming branches and a shady spot at the bottom.

They had a picnic right there with some light conversation. Draco was getting increasingly nervous but she looked at him and smiled and he knew it would be alright.

"Thank you Draco for the flowers and breakfast. This was amazing. Probably one of the best birthdays I have had, well except when I was five years old and my parents-"

She was going on and on when he cut her off, "Hermione." She shut up and looked at him. She reached for his hand.

"Slowly but surely," he started nervously, "those roses will die. I will love you until the last one dies." He looked down.

"The last one is fake Draco." She said slowly.

He looked at her, waiting for her to understand.

"Ah." Then she did something surprising both him and herself. She leaned over and kissed him. It wasn't a kiss between just friends. It was deep and filled with love and it was at that moment he knew that she felt the same way. The kiss lasted for a few minutes and when she pulled back she had a brilliant smile.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Hermione?"

She looked at him with consideration before deciding, "It has to be kept secret, Draco. This could be dangerous." But she smiled and kissed him once more.

Merlin, he would love to kiss her under that tree again. He walked up to her slowly and sat next to her.

"What's wrong love?" he said quietly.

She glared at him and scooted away.

"Hermione, please talk to me."

"You want me to talk, Draco? Alright, I'll talk. Fuck you." She wasn't crying anymore, her eyes were filled with pain and hate. "I hate you more than you can imagine. I gave you so much then you have the guts to do what you did?"

"I love you Hermione. I'm sorry. What happened? What did I do?"

"You don't know? Drop the act Malfoy. Hah! You love me? Well I don't love you anymore. Maybe I never did." She said turning away from his tears. She huffed and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"Hermione?"

"It's Granger to you."

"What did I do?"

"Just shut up!" she screamed. Every disheartening word that came out of her mouth made her want to vomit, she didn't want to hurt him. She wanted to tell him the truth but she had to convince him that she hated him. It was proving hard though because all she wanted to do was kiss him and hold him in her arms. She sighed, it did no good to dwell on dreams.

"You broke my heart, Malfoy."

"How, Hermione?" he whispered, unsure of her answer.

She paused and looked down at her dirty trainers.

"How?" he repeated firmly.

She exhaled and with a shaky voice she replied, "You know what you did."