Ok, so I was going to make Ron into an asshole, but I couldn't. Although he may have plunged into jerk territory. FYI: I do not hate Ron and hermione pairings, this is just the one I chose to write, no haters please. Thank you so far for being amazing.

Disclaimer: I do not own........(Insert drabble here.)


"Mel." She sighed as she turned to the young girl, noted that she'd braided her light hair. "This is the fourth time this week that I've had to ask you to stay after. I'm concerned about you."

"It's not necessary, Prof. Granger." She shook her head, adjusted her glasses. "I'm fine."

"Then why are you afraid to answer questions, I know you know the answers." Hermione looked her in the eyes, as she would a friend. " If something's going on, it's possible I can help."

"There's nothing you can do." She insisted, pushing herself off of her chair. There was a knock on the door. Mel looked expectantly at her, Hermione knew she wasn't getting anything else today.

"Come in." She sighed, watched Mel with curiosity as her face lit up. Hermione spared Draco a glance, there was no real need.

"Draco!" The girl jumped into his arms, a huge grin on her face. He picked her up and hugged her tightly before putting her back down. She put on her best pout. "You haven't come to see me in forever."

"I know, pumpkin, I've been busy." He knelt down to her level, smiled as he tugged on her braid. "Really busy."

"Mama said you went to live with the muggles." She wrinkled her nose at the thought. Hermione grimaced, wondering if she'd misjudged the girl. Could she really think so badly of muggles?

"That's right." He laughed, "And you know what I found out?"

Mel leaned closer slightly, as if he was going to tell her something nobody else knew. "What?"

"Muggles are amazing, kind people. Everything your mother taught you about them, you need to know that none of it's true. They're just like you and me, only a little different."

Mel didn't look entirely convinced. "I don't know, she says they're weak and slow."

"Well, she's very, very wrong." He grimaced. He didn't like speaking of her mother, the cold hearted bitch. "I need to speak to Prof. Granger for a minute, alone."

"Alright." She threw her arms around his neck, squeezed him once. And then she was gone. He stood, his eyes met Hermione's. Without a word, he shut the door.

"You know something." She stated simply, her voice breaking the silence.

He nodded, "I know a lot of things." Her eyes flashed with impatience. "It's not my place to say."

She understood, understood perfectly. With great caution, she slipped on her jacket. "Trust is a two way street, Malfoy." He winced, she hadn't called him Malfoy for two weeks.

"I trust you," He amended, " But it's her problem, not mine. Just believe me when I say I will tell you, when and if there's no other real option."

"Fine." She shook her head. " I guess that is as good as it's going to get. I was going to ask you if your planning to drop by tonight."

"Unless I get held up, that was the plan." He smiled, glad to have avoided yet any possible argument. Maybe, just maybe he could tell her soon. "See you at dinner then." He walked out with a smile on his face, one she'd never quite understand and that bothered her. She understood everything, or she'd thought so at least.

"Right." She rolled her shoulders, trying to release the tention that was building there. "Dinner."

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It was late and they sat in the corner of the library. No one would bother them here, so they'd have a chance to actually accomplish something. She scanned her notes, trying to find that one item she was missing. " What day are we doing this again?"

"Valentine's day." He pointed to the scrawled handwriting somewhere in the middle of the page. " You need to learn to write more clearly, at least so that you can read it."

"I can read it." She pouted, glancing back down at the paper. "Sometimes."

"Sure." He tugged on her ponytail. "So, you bringing Weasley to the the ball?"

"I don't know." She grimaced. In the three months she'd been here, there had been several letters from everyone back home, but none from Ron. Not one word, not even a syllable. It should have been heart breaking but she'd expected it. Still, it stung. "I feel like I'm losing him, Draco, which is silly because I never really had him."

He reached out to touch her hand, a small gesture of support she'd grown so fond of. " You think too little of yourself, Hermione."

"Oi! What the bloody hell is this?" The one voice that could make Hermione crumble shouted angrily. Somebody, she imagined it was probably Madam Pince, shushed him within seconds.

Hermione snapped her hand away from Draco's as fast as possible, turned in her chair to get a better look at Ron. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted that he'd cut his hair again, so that it was neat and tidy. "Please try to remember your in a library, Ronald, and students are trying to study."

Draco tried his best to hide his smirk, and faced him with a more important question. " Why are you even here, Weasley?"

Ron turned on him. "Keep your slimy mouth out of this, you Slytherin scum!"

"Ron." Hermione rose to her feet, ignoring Draco's efforts to pull her back down next to him. She kept her voice low, knowing that if he didn't calm down this would end badly. " We'll deal with this, but not right here." She looked at Draco with an apologetic smile. "We'll continue this another time."

She walked out and she didn't stop walking until she was safely in her own rooms. Only then was she free to speak to Ron, whom had followed her quite quickly. " Just how many screws are loose in that good for nothing head of yours?"

"What am I supposed to think?" Ron countered. " I find you holed up in the back corner with someone we've both hated with a passion. And you know what, Professor,you seemed awfully cozy to me. I mean, come on, Hermione, he's a former death eater. You should know better."

"You've hit the nail on the head there, I know better. I know better than to believe that's honestly why your yelling at me." Without really thinking about it, she pulled out her wand and muffled the walls. "But if that's what your going to go with, He's a nice guy and we work together. I'm not going to avoid him just because we were on different sides three years ago."

"That's good, that's really great, Hermione." Ron laughed dangerously, as if he knew something she didn't. "Wait until Harry knows about this. Oh, he's going to be extremely pissed. Even worse than me. And Ginny, well, we all know how she can be during PMS, I'd hate to see what'd happen with her hormones now. I'm going to have to tell them, Hermione, I'm not going to lie for you this time."

"This time?" She rolled her eyes. "When have you ever bothered to lie for me before. And it's not necessary. They already know, and they're trusting me to pick my friends, something you should take into consideration."

"Your my girlfriend." Ron crossed the distance between them to grasp her wrist. " I get a say in who you choose to associate yourself with."

She pulled away from him in utter disgust, she couldn't take it anymore. If only things would just rewind, and she'd be allowed this one friendship. Somewhere in her heart, she knew that things would get better. But the rest of her heart was drowned in remorse. Her eyes were wet when she managed to look at him, her voice so mournful. "Was your girlfriend, Ron. And that never meant you owned me."

"Your breaking up with me." Ron's eyes widened in pure disbelief, that certainly made this easier. Although, he'd planned to give it to her gently. Suddenly he realized that maybe this was the end for the friendship they'd forged, although he was never going to let that go completely.

She nodded, wiped at the water in her eyes. With a sigh, she lowered on to the couch."You haven't given me a choice, I've done everything I can to hold us together and it wasn't enough."

"We're going to be alright, aren't we?" He sat down next to her, keeping his respectable distance. "I mean, your not going to say 'let's just be friends', right?"

She laughed, shaky but real. "No, although I certainly would want to stay as close as we were second year."

"We can work on that." He smiled a little, waited a moment. "So, Malfoy, huh."

"Yeah." She smiled almost absently, "Draco."

" Never thought I'd see the day one of us could say that without following it with something nasty." He rubbed the back of his neck, as he did when he couldn't think of what to say. " Can't say I'm happy for you, 'cause I'll never be able to believe it. But if that's what you want to do, then no one's gonna stop you."

"Thank you." She felt that small part of her heart grow, and she was certain they'd be able to maintain that easy friendship they'd once had. Without as much work as she'd have thought. Indeed, they would definately be alright, and they could still handle whatever came thier way. "Now, get out, I still have things to do."