Draco sat there in the library, flipping pointlessly through a book that he'd just found sitting there. His eyes kept lifting from the pages, never taking in more than a couple words before he forgot what he was reading. He wasn't interested in taking in what useless knowledge that particular book could give him. No, he was merely biding time until she would make her daily trip to the library.

The doors to the library creaked open and a girl with a head of bushy brown hair walked in, her arms laden with thick tomes. Her eyes scanned the room for a moment, connecting with his before he felt his face flush with heat and had to look down at the book in front of him. As she walked past him in the direction of the front desk, Draco couldn't help but sneak a look at her backside which, if he were honest with himself, he'd say was just as equally nice as her front.

Father would kill me if he knew what I was thinking, Draco thought, watching her pass the books over to the aged hag behind the desk. A Mud – Er, Muggle born witch of all the people in the world! Father would have me skinned and stuffed if he found out that I was falling in love with Hermione Granger…

He stood up as she disappeared behind some shelves and moved to get a better vantage point. The platinum blond quickly lost sight of her and felt a mild pang on annoyance. Draco turned and was about to go back into the space left open by the shelves when he found himself being poked in the stomach by Hermione Granger's wand.

"Why are you following me?" she demanded, glaring up at him.

"I was here first, Granger," Draco said with a frown. "So, you're the one that is following me."

Hermione's wand jabbed him harder. "Why are you always here when I am? Do you want to get smacked again? Is that why?"

Draco couldn't help but smile. "And if I do? What's it to you?"

Hermione seemed flustered by his reaction and lowered her wand. Draco took the opportunity to look at her, to really look at her. He could see the tired look in her beautiful eyes and the fullness of her lips. He noted with a twinge of guilt that she no longer had those "buck" teeth that he'd made overgrown in the earlier years of their schooling. To him, she was just as beautiful as any

pureblood was that his father paraded before him. Even more so, he thought.

The pale pureblood wizard-in-training reached out and touched her face, gently tracing the contour of her cheek. Hermione's eyes widened in alarm and she stepped back into a bookshelf.

"What – what are you doing?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh, you don't know?" Malfoy smiled at her. "Doesn't that scare you?"

Hermione gasped as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. "Draco! Your father –!"

"Will most certainly hear about this," Draco said, "but he can't do anything to change my mind."

The Muggle born witch didn't resist him as he brushed his lips gently against hers. Draco pulled back and looked at her. Hermione's eyes were half closed and her face was flushed with color. He decided that she looked beautiful with some color in her cheeks.

"You – you can't be with me," Hermione whispered as if she was afraid to raise her voice.

"Can't I?"

Draco kept her gaze captive with his own eyes and he slipped a hand behind her neck, gently cupping her head with his hand. "I'd like to see the man who could stop me," he whispered back, his breath warm against her skin. "I know what I want…"

"And what's that?" Hermione asked, staring at his lips.

"I want you to love me as much as I love you," Draco said quietly.

"You…?"

Draco claimed her lips with his own, cutting off her question. He pulled away after a moment and grabbed her hand tightly in his own as if afraid that she would slip away. The young wizard gently led her out of the library with whispered promises that left her speechless. He didn't care who saw him holding her hand; he could only think about the future and it seemed so much brighter with Granger by his side…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: I'm taking some main character requests for pairings. If I don't know the character well enough, I won't do the head canon ship. I hope you enjoyed this enough to review with your requests. Sorry it was so short. Thanks! ~ Scarlet