Chapter 4, Forbidden Love.

Hemione lay on her bed, her face buried in the many fluffy pillows that were provided by the castle's house elves. Her thoughts were in a whirl, Draco seemed so different to her now that they'd, as Ginny would say, "locked lips".

She couldn't stop thinking about him, about the way his lips felt on hers, or the way that he'd held her arm as he tried to explain himself. He held it roughly at first, but then gently, as though she was fragile, and he didn't want to break her.

She smiled, rolling onto her back and hugging the pillow she was holding.

'This is... Different..' She muttered to herself, thinking of the way that Ron had treated her. Awkward, no normal contact, and if there was it was like an assault. He didn't know one thing about the way she liked to be kissed... Though it wasn't like she'd known either, not until now.

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The next morning, Draco awoke to find that he'd fallen asleep at his post. He looked at his watched, cursed and flung himself down the stairs, panting and gasping for breath as he finally got to the common room. He changed into his robes and grabbed his bag, levitating the books he needed into it.

He hurried out into the Great Hall, hoping he would be able to get some breakfast without being disturbed, when he saw that the only seat was between Pansy and a dumb-looking Goyle.

'Hello Draaaaco!' Pansy trilled, fawning over him as she always did, but he blocked her out, trying to eat in peace. The only thing he couldn't ignore, however, was the hand that continuously trailed up and down his thigh. This only happened when she wished for something more from him, and he usually gave it to her. But this time, he couldn't bear to think of it. He pulled her hand off his leg, much to the surprise of Pansy, flashed her a quick glare, before he looked up, his grey eyes automatically searching for Hermione's amber ones. His gaze finally locked upon hers, after seeing that she'd been looking for someone too. -Looking for me?- He thought, smiling automatically at the possibility.

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Hermione tried to stop herself from looking for him, but it was no use.

-I just have to make sure he's OK...- She said to herself, albeit unconvincingly. She knew it was something else that made her eyes flick up and sweep over the room.

She looked up again, her heart jolting as her eyes finally locked upon his. -Draco..- She thought, smiling at the happy look on his face. It was as though he was thinking precisely as she was.

'Hermione?' Called Ron, making her jump slightly.

'Yeah?' She said, reluctantly pulling her gaze from Draco's to look at him.

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Draco sighed, standing up and making his way out of the hall, having wolfed down his breakfast to get away from Pansy and her groping hands. He made his way up to the library, planning to finish an essay for Snape.

He sat down at the first table he came to, pulled out some parchment and a quill and began writing, his scrawl moving halfway down the page before he looked up, and growled.

Hermione was with those two idiots again... But she didn't look too happy. As he watched, she slammed her book on the table, stood up and put her things in her bag. She stormed over to the table Draco was sitting at, and sat down, almost automatically. -does she normally sit here when they piss her off?- He wondered.

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Hermione slammed her books on Draco's table, and was about to sit down, when she heard a soft cough. Looking down, she saw none other than Draco Malfow, his white-blonde hair shining against the soft light from the lamp next to him.

'Hi.' He murmured, then gestured to the seat opposite him, smiling.

'Hello...' She said warily, sitting in it, then looking up to see his silver-grey eyes boring into hers.

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'Hmm...' Draco murmured, sucking on his quill as he thought of what to write.

'Want me to help?' Came Hermione's voice, her hand reaching out for his paper.

'Uh... Sure...' He said, passing her his paper and watching her as she went through it, scratching out errors and scribbling in little notes. This went on for a while, until she finally tapped him on the arm and passed him back his paper.

'I just edited it a little, and added in a couple of things. But you had a great basic essay...' She said, surprise leaking into her voice. She clearly wasn't used to editing a good essay.

'Thanks.' He said, his trademark smirk appearing on his face as he read through what she'd edited.

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They continued to chat for a while, giving advice and talking about books, of which Draco had read a surprising amount, even to Hermione's standards.

They both jumped as someone let out a high laugh, almost like a cackle.

'Pansy...' He muttered, groaning as he saw her standing there, laughing at who he was sitting with.

-Obviously trying to humiliate me, because I didn't give her what she wanted...- He sighed, and called out to Pansy. 'What're you cackling about NOW Parkinson?'. This seemed to startle her, as she immediately stopped laughing. It got the rest of the library's attention too, though it wasn't like they weren't already listening. It took her a while to start glaring, but when she finally did, it was murderous.

'I'm LAUGHING, at the Mud-blood you're sitting with.' She sneered, trying to impress him and her friends again, moving towards him.

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Hermione went bright red, tears starting to well up in her eyes. She grabbed her things and was about to storm out of the library, when Draco reached out and grabbed her arm, just like the other night.

'Let me get rid of her..' He muttered, before standing up and slowly letting go of her arm.

'Wh- What!' Pansy gasped, seeing his friendly, almost loving contact on her arm. 'You left me... A sexy, satisfying girl... For HER? A covered up, prude of a Mud-blood?' She whines, her already pug-like face squashing up into something almost unrecognisable.

Draco looked down at Hermione, and saw her nod, a hopeful expression on her face, as through she wanted that.

He nodded, then looked up at Pansy, a triumphant expression on his face.

'Yeah, that's right Parkinson.' He sneered, looking around at the rest of the listeners, his eyes lingering on Ron and Harry's stunned faces.

'I dumped you, for Hermione.' He smirked at her, then softened his expression as he turned back to Hermione.

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Hermione held out her hand, and Draco took it. He led her out of the library and into the corridor, before he let her go.

'You aren't serious?' Hermione whispered in shock, looking up at him.

'Do you think I would have said it if I wasn't?' He said in a strained voice, his head in his hands.

'What's wrong?' She asked, gently pulling his hand from his fac.

'I... Tried not to drag you into this... I tried not to show you my feelings... My father wouldn't accept us.' He murmured, sighing and turning away, starting to walk to the common room, his long strides making Hermione have to jog to keep up.

'Draco!' Hermione called, jogging after him and pulling on his arm.

'What?' He said quietly, looking into her eyes.

'If you wanted... We could just say it was all a joke, to annoy Pansy..' She said quietly, biting her lip and trying to hold back a grin.

'Hmm.. That's not a bad idea...' He said, before smiling and slipping his finger under her chin, lifting up her face so he could kiss her.