Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

…..

Draco's POV:

If I were to have told myself two years ago that I was going to have a secret meeting with Hermione Granger that didn't involve murder I would have probably avada'd myself on the spot. But that was the old me and the new me was in between excitement and nervousness.

When I had received her letter this morning I was beside myself with happiness and I haven't known happiness for a long time. If I wasn't in the Slytherin dorms I would have shot a fist of victory into the air, but as it was I couldn't even crack a smile. Draco Malfoy does not smile; he smirks, and grins maliciously but does not smile. But Blaise, my only "friend" and the only person to have noticed my attentions towards Hermione knew that something good had happened.

"Whatever happens man, don't let anyone find out" he said as we walked to the great hall for breakfast.

I shot him a look, "What are you talking about, Zabini?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "There are people who will tear you piece from piece if they had the chance. Don't give them the opportunity if you can avoid it."

"And what if I did?"

Blaise stopped and looked at me critically. "It will ruin her too" he said in the tone he reserved for serious conversations. Blaise had a way of talking sense into me without saying more than a few sentences. It was in his nature to be exceptionally quiet, and as such his observation skills were superb. I hadn't known that he knew I had been watching Hermione until he had told me that if I stared at her any longer, her two best friends would notice as well. At first I was tempted to find some way to convince him to remain quite about my newfound interest, but he had never been one to gossip and spread rumors. Even during the war he stayed out of the fray, preferring to remain on the outside where he could remain undisturbed. He liked the peace and I knew he would try to keep it that way.

We sat down to breakfast and my eyes immediately wandered to the Gryffindor table. To my surprise, Hermione was already watching me. But as quickly as my eyes had caught hers, she had adverted her gaze to the Weasley female sitting next to her. I suppose I felt slightly offended from being to blatantly ignored, but she was being more cautious of our situation than I was. He delicacy of our arrangement could break with a simple smile or even if I were caught watching her too intently. So in that moment, I had decided that in order for us to remain a secret, I would have to act like the Draco Malfoy that I was trying to avoid. The least I could do was avoid her for the rest of the day so that I could explain to her that night how I planned to hide our companionship.

….

The day could not go by fast enough. Luckily, I didn't share any classes with the Gryffindors, but it was a pain trying to avoid Hermione since her routes in between classes were along the same as mine. After my third near run-in with her I just gave up and went to the Slytherin dorms to wait out the day. That was probably worse than going to class because then I had to wait out my time until 8:00 when I would head down to the room of requirement. I tried to read but I could only entertain myself with that for so long. I tried to take a nap because Merlin knew how long I would be out that night. And when the time finally drew close enough I busied myself with trying to look presentable. I was going to dress up but in the end I had given up, deciding that the best way for her to get comfortable with me was for me to show her that I was comfortable with her. As a result, I ended up throwing on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt before putting on my robes and leaving the dorms.

I would have run to the room of requirement if not for the many people that were still loitering about the castle. I was already nervous enough as it were that I didn't want any unwanted attention. While I drew ever closer to my destination, anxiety began to settle in as my palms grew clammy and my breathing became more shallow. As I came upon the wall that would reveal the door to the room of requirement, my mind all but shouted 'I need a place to be myself.' The door appeared instantaneously and without notice I was able to slip in.

The room was quite small for the size it normally became, but it was comfy nonetheless. There was a small study table with chairs on opposite ends, two plush chairs and a loveseat surrounding a fireplace, and a door which, upon further inspection, led to a small lavatory. It was nothing extravagant, but everything we could need to relax. I thought that Hermione might find it cozy.

Thinking of her, I glanced at my watch. It read 8:25, meaning I had five more minutes to wait for her, so I made myself comfortable on one of the plush chairs. But as I sat and waited five minutes turned into ten, and ten minutes turned into fifteen. I began to wonder if she had cold feet or if this was all some sort of game to her when she had burst through the front door, out of breathe and clutching her overly large schoolbag to her chest.

"I'm so sorry for being late," she started as she walked in and set her things on the small table. "I got caught up in the library trying to find a book that the boys needed in order to finish their essays for potions. When I finally found it, it was already really late so I ran back to the Gryffindor common rooms to give them the book but they tried to keep me back to help with their homework. When they realized that I was trying to leave them, they began to press me to tell them where I was off to in such a rush and I-"

"Do you breathe?" I interrupted her. She had been talking so quickly and without pause that I was afraid that she would pass out.

Instead, she just blushed lightly and excused herself for ranting. No longer fussing with her schoolbag, she stood before me with her hands clasped behind her back, sheepishly staring at anything but me.

"I don't bite, Miss Granger. Not unless you want me to," I smirked. Surprisingly, she gave me a smile.

"Sod off, Malfoy" she retorted, shoulders relaxing a bit.

I shrugged, "If you wish, Miss Granger. So what did you want to do tonight?"

"Granger," she said.

I chuckled, "I don't think Weasley would like that very much. Anything else you had in mind."

To my amusement, for a second she looked like she wanted to throw something at me, but she collected herself quickly. "I meant for you to call me Granger. It's a lot less awkward than Miss Granger."

I smiled for the first time. The look of shock on her face was very pleasing. "Well then, Granger" I drawled, "What do you wish to do tonight."

She looked around, and then down at her bag. "I thought that maybe I could just do some homework and you could keep my company."

"If that would please you, then I will gladly do that," I replied. Granger nodded her head and began to pull out her school work from her bag. With nothing else to do, I sat quietly and watched her as she organized her work and began to write. My vision of her studying was different than how she actually carried about doing it. I expected her to write frantically, going through page after page as she flipped pages in books and wrote notes on scrap paper. However, she took her time with her work, her head relaxed into her other palm as her writing hand glided smoothly across the parchment, her eyes lifting every now and then to cross reference something in a book that she had open.

"Granger," I called to her quietly after some time had passed.

"Hmm?"

A sigh escaped my mouth, "If we are going to get away with this, I thought that it may be best for me to remain mean to you outside of our little meetings."

Without looking up she answered me. "I was thinking the same thing. But I thought that you would have a hard time being nice to me even in private. Honestly, your letter didn't sound very much like you and I was worried it was a trick."

I smiled and played with a frayed edge on the chair I was seated in. "Well yes," I said, "but I had started and restarted that letter more times than I can care to remember. In the end, the best approach that I assumed that I could make was a civil one."

Hermione tore her gaze from her paper and looked at me. "Well it worked. This is the first time I've been able to study in peace. Thank you."

"No problem"

…

The night had continued with her studying and me silently watching her from my chair. Without realizing it, I had fallen asleep and by the time I had come around, Granger's head was also laying on the table deeply sleeping as well. Groaning, I stood up and slowly walked to her to wake her. "Granger, it's one in the morning. You should head to your dorm."

She mumbled something along the lines of "I don't want to" and I was left trying to convince her that sleeping the way she was at the table would leave her feeling sore in the morning. To this she had cracked open an eye before getting up, only to drag herself to the loveseat and falling right back into sleep. I could faintly hear her mumble something about it being Saturday and that she didn't need to go before she was still again. Sighing, I dragged myself back to my chair and went back to sleep. We'd figure out what to do in the morning.

AN: Sorry for the lameness of this chapter. I had a rough night at work and I was forcing myself to stay awake to write this. I promise that the next chapter will be better.