A/N: Thanks for the wonderful feedback everyone! It's much appreciated. :) Also, the first chapters are introducing characters, character development, and relationships. The main plot is around the corner.

Disclaimer: I am not from the U.K. and my name is not J.K. Rowling. So how could I stake claim for the best masterpiece of all time? That's right..I can't. I own nothing.

Saturday, August 22, 1998

Hermione awoke to her head pounding like a drum. Her throat was dry and her body ached all over. What on earth had she been doing last night? Aerobics? She groaned and rolled over, not bothering to open her eyes as she snuggled into the warmth at her side. What in Godric's name had possessed her to get so drunk? Oh yes, Ron.

Ron had irritated her enough for her to go and get pissed with Malfoy. Speaking of which, what happened after that? Her memories were a little fuzzy. She remembered falling into the bath and sitting against a wall but after that she was drawing a blank. How had she gotten back to her room? She pondered the question for a moment, curling herself against what she thought was her pillow. It wasn't until it moved that she realized something was terribly out of place. She inhaled deeply, the smell of sweat and cologne caught her attention, and her senses came alive. This wasn't her bed.

Her eyes shot open to see a tone, pale chest under her arm. She sat up horrified, her eyes wide as she took in the form next to her. His chest was rising steadily as he slept, his brows knitted together and a serious expression on his face. She didn't know how she got here or what she was doing sleeping next to him but she knew it didn't look good. She hesitantly reached out to touch him. "Malfoy, wake up." She whispered, poking his shoulder. When he remained still she shook him gently. "Wake up!"

He finally stirred, opening one eye. "What the hell, Granger? I'm still tired." He yawned before rolling over and pulling the covers over his head as he did so. "If you want another go you'll have to give me a minute."

"Another-" It was then that she noticed a crucial thing, something she should have noticed the moment she had woken up. She was completely naked, and so was he. "We didn't!" She shrieked, startling him.

"Didn't what?" he asked, slowly moving into a sitting position and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

She yanked the covers up around her and grabbed the nearest thing she could reach, which happened to be a pillow, and began smacking him with it. "No ill intentions my arse!"

"Whoa! Hold on there." He moved quickly grabbing the pillow from her and resting a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Granger! What the hell is wrong with you?"

She shook his hand off and scooted away from him. "You! You snake! What happened? You must have tricked me!"

He looked hurt for a moment and then gave a callous laugh in understanding. "Yes, let's blame this all on me, the conniving and vile Slytherin."

"Don't try to deny it!"

He leaned forward, the famous Malfoy grin set firmly back in place. "For your information, princess, you were the one who started it. You kissed me, remember?"

Her mouth dropped open and she didn't bother backing away. Her eyes scanned his features and landed on a hickey, dark and bruised on his neck. He hadn't given it to himself had he? "I..did, didn't I?"

He nodded, his expression unreadable. "Pretty much jumped me. You're rather amusing when you're drunk."

Then it all came rushing back to her. Malfoys truce, their many pranks and laughs throughout the night and his gut-wrenching confession. She'd kissed him first. She had started it. She'd even been the one to open the unharmed Room of Requirements. She blushed remembering all the dirty things that happened between them there. "Bloody hell."

He looked slightly offended at her statement of surprise. "Well if you want to forget it that badly go right ahead. I'll just add it to my ever-growing list of regrets."

For some reason, she wanted to defend herself. "Not that's not- I um. I'm just shocked is all. I didn't think, I mean- this is just too weird." She winced as the pounding in her head grew stronger. She rubbed it with her hand. "Merlin's beard! I'll never drink again."

She watched him lean over, grab her wand off the table and point it at her, whispering a charm. Suddenly her head felt lighter, the pain being whisked away. "Better?" He asked.

She nodded, keeping eye contact with him. It was a bit awkward sitting there with nothing but sheets wrapped around her. Not to mention the fact that he had nothing covering himself and she couldn't stop herself from staring at his naked form. She didn't know whether he was as horrified as she was at the aspect of them sleeping together, but the way he was staring at her made her think he had rather enjoyed it. He'd even mentioned having another go! So obviously, he wasn't as cut up about it as she was.

Circe, she'd slept with him. She couldn't believe that she had actually done it, and with Malfoy no less. But then she thought about how passionate it was she wasn't particularly sorry she'd done it. Then as he always did, Ron popped into her head and she couldn't help but turn away from the blonde. Even though he had said it was over between them, she still felt like this was a betrayal. She'd messed up. Big time.

When she turned away without saying anything he must have taken it as a sign that there would be no more sleeping and definitely no round two. He muttered something under his breath as he got out of the bed, searching the floor for his discarded clothes.

She watched him, feeling the guilt wash over her. How could she try to work things out with Ron now that she'd slept with Malfoy? She began to panic. "Are you going to tell anyone?" she found herself asking as he pulled up his trousers.

She thought she heard him sigh. "I've got absolutely nothing to gain by telling everyone." He gave her a look of impatience. "In fact, it would be rather stupid on my part. So I don't see why I would. If you're that upset about sleeping with me, I already said you can pretend it never happened. We'll write it off as a mistake. We were drunk. Let's leave it at that shall we? It's not something we need to dwell on, considering how pissed off everyone would be if they ever found out. I'd rather not make a big deal out it."

"But it is a big deal to me." She whimpered, unsure why his words stung so much.

"Why?" His voice sounded uncaring but his eyes betrayed him as he looked back at her. "Before last night, we were still enemies. And if you want to get technical we still kind of are. So what does it bloody matter?"

"It just does…I..I just can't pretend I didn't- that we didn't- it wouldn't be right." She looked away, her face growing hot. She'd already slept with the bloke so why was she so embarrassed talking about it? "I can't act like it never happened. I don't want to just forget my first time…"

He cleared his throat in the uncomfortable silence that followed her statement. "I..I uh didn't know. I just figured, well.."

"It's fine." She cut him off. "It's not like you forced me. I wanted to. If I didn't the room wouldn't have appeared the way it did."

He rolled his eyes. "Great observation, Granger."

Her face flushed with anger. Why did he have to be so snarky? "You…you are infuriating!"

"You're not quite a ray of sunshine yourself." He replied, yanking his shirt over his head.

She huffed and turned her back to him.

He moved to leave but stopped just a meter short of the door. He turned around and looked at her for a moment. "I'm sorry, alright? This just isn't how I envisioned my morning starting out."

Had Malfoy just apologized? Hmm. Pigs really do fly. "Well, it's not really my cup of tea either."

"Well, nothing we can do about it now. Do what you will with it. Remember, forget, it doesn't matter. You can go fix things with Weaselbee and I'll go back to being a prick."

"I don't think that will solve anything." She said, getting up and grabbing her things off the floor. "But in any case, maybe you should leave first…it might be suspicious us leaving together."

"Yeah, sure." He replied, giving her form one last look over before smirking at her.

She felt herself blush again as he headed for the door.

After opening it, he stopped for a moment, back still to her. "Granger?"

"Yes?"

"Despite the catastrophe that this morning was, I actually had a lot of fun last night. And I don't….I don't regret telling you…" He didn't need to specify what he'd told her. She already knew. "But just keep all that shit to yourself."

There was an uncertainty in his voice that caused her heart to flutter. "I will."

"Excellent. Well then, I'll be off." He paused, "Take care."

"Yeah, you too, Malfoy." She said awkwardly, and then he was gone, leaving her alone in her thoughts.

She hurriedly dressed and grabbed her wand off the bed. She noticed the dried blood on the sheets and felt sick to her stomach. "Scourgify." She whispered. She didn't know why she felt the need to clean up the aftermath. Maybe it was because she'd committed the unforgivable act of sleeping with the devil, or maybe it was because she wanted to erase all the evidence of losing her virginity there. Either way, it didn't appease her mind to do so.

She could still feel him on her skin, and it unnerved her. Even if she left no trace of what happened in the room, all the evidence of it happening were tracked all over her body. Her legs ached, her insides were sore and she was pretty sure if she had a mirror, She would see red love bites on her neck.

But as much as she wanted to hate Malfoy right now, she couldn't bring herself to do it. They'd both been drunk and he'd stopped, giving her an out, but she hadn't taken it. They both consented, end of story. She should feel happy that they'd agreed to not talk about it. It was that thought that had her mind doing summersaults, though. As much as she should want to leave this absurd affair in the past, she didn't know if she could. Being with Malfoy had made her see clearly for the first time in a long time. Completely forgetting just wasn't an option for her. She wanted to remember all the sensations and feelings that had rocked her so hard last night. She wanted to see those gray eyes burning with desire again.

"What the hell have you done to me, Malfoy?" She whispered into the empty room, feeling as if he had changed everything about her in one night.

Draco shoved his hands in his pockets as he headed back to his dorm. He'd just left a very naked Granger in the Room of Requirements and he didn't really know how he should be feeling about it. He hadn't meant to sleep with her. He hadn't meant for a lot of things to happen last night. He cringed a bit when he thought of the emotional vomit he'd spewed in front of her. Obviously, the drink had loosened his tongue. He supposed it could be worse. She hadn't run away from him or looked at him with contempt. If anything she'd looked more understanding. It had taken him by surprise and somehow that had made all the difference in the world. He'd felt…well, something strange in the pit of his stomach. He would never have thought she'd kiss him, though. Pat him on the back maybe, or hug him like the Gryffindor she was, but never kiss him, let alone shag him senseless. Merlin, he'd actually shagged Bookworm Granger….and she'd been a virgin. He should be feeling rather proud of himself for conquering the brains of the golden trio. Or should it be the other way around? If he'd been his father he'd feel disgusted that he'd tainted himself by sleeping with a mudblood. He knew he should feel repulsed by it, but somehow he wasn't.

He glanced down and noticed the brown jacket that she'd discarded there the night before. He reached down and snatched it up off the floor. He flung it over his shoulder and smiled to himself. It would be the perfect excuse to see her again. Despite his insistence that she forget what they'd done, he wanted to make sure she never forgot last night. It gave him a sick sense of power over her. He rather liked it. Knowing that she'd want to keep him her dirty little secret. It would be interesting to see what would happen next. After all, the snitch was in his playing field now.

Blaise was sitting at his desk writing a letter when Draco waltzed into the room, hair damp from having just taken a shower. He looked over and frowned, setting the quill down. "Alive and in one piece I see. I figured you had finally gone and died in a gutter somewhere."

"You can't get rid of me that easily." He said, draping the jacket on a chair and lying across his bed.

Blaise eyed the clothing, looked over at Draco, and noticed the bruise on his neck. His interest peaked. "What's that?" He asked, nodding to the jacket.

"Just a souvenir."

"From a conquest?"

He sniggered. "Of sorts."

Blaise pointed at his neck. "Pansy would cry if she saw that."

He groaned in annoyance, throwing an arm over his face. "Like I give a rat's arse what she sees. I was bored with her a while ago."

"Cold, Draco. Really cold."

"Not my fault she loves a heartless bastard like me."

The chair creaked as he shifted. "I don't think you're that heartless."

"You obviously haven't spent much time with me."

"Perhaps not." He picked up the quill again and resumed writing. "But I don't think heartless bastards go out of their way to comfort crying girls in hallways. Especially not crying girls that they supposedly hate."

Draco jerked up. "How-"

"I saw you." He ran a hand along the arm of the jacket, knowing just who it belonged to. "I left early and went to make sure you hadn't fallen and drown in the tub or something, and bumped into a rather angry Weasley. He was muttering something about Granger being "bloody sensitive." So imagine my surprise when I see you sauntering down the hall-"

"Alright. So what if I talked to her?" Draco asked, sitting up and reaching out to grab the jacket from Blaise's hands. "I can be a half way decent bloke every once and awhile." He huffed. "Don't go looking too hard into it."

"Never said you couldn't," Blaise smiled despite himself. "You know, I thought that jacket looked familiar. Granger was wearing it last night…"

"I do not sleep with mudbloods." He stated in a near dangerous tone.

"Didn't say that you did," Blaise muttered, looking back at the parchment on his desk. If Draco didn't want to talk about it, then that was his business. He'd leave it alone. For now.

Draco sighed and leaned back on his pillow. He found his wand shoved underneath it and muttered a charm to get rid of the bruises on his neck. He was fully aware that Blaise knew. He wasn't a fool. But he also knew he wouldn't tell. There was an unspoken code between them. If he considered anyone his friend, it would be Blaise. He'd seen past the darkness in Draco and accepted it, instead of using it to his advantage. He'd just been there. Especially after losing Vincent. Vincent was his best mate once upon a time. It was still hard, even now, knowing he wasn't going to waltz into the room and make a bad joke about Potter. Losing him hurt. Blaise knew that, and he didn't make him feel like it was a weakness. Draco wasn't worried that the boy would say anything regarding Granger. So for now, he could still plot a way to get her alone, without any interference.

He couldn't leave it as it was. He couldn't deny the fact that once he'd had a taste of her, he'd wanted to go back for more. She was like a drug. The brief moments spent with her made him forget all the nasty things he'd done in the past. It may have felt good to get a load off of his chest, but it was only a matter of time before those things started plaguing him again. So he'd come to a completely ridiculous, but rather satisfying decision. He was going to probably make the biggest mistake of his life, and trade one vice for another.

"And where the hell have you been?" Ginny asked when Hermione had finally made it back to her room. "I got back this morning and you were nowhere to be found. I was worried sick!"

The fact that Ginny had said she'd "gotten back this morning" hadn't escaped her notice. "I fell asleep in the library." She lied rather smoothly.

"Really, Hermione? We haven't even started school and you've already got your nose in the books? I would believe that normally but-"

"-You know how much I love to read Ginny."

"-you're lying your arse off."

She held back a wince, "Why do you say that?"

"You look dreadful, no offense, and you smell like," She came up and sniffed her. "Cologne? So try to tell me again how you were in the library."

Damn Ginny and her keen observations. "Ok, so I wasn't in the library. I got piss faced and passed out in the hall. Happy now?"

"You actually got that drunk?" She nodded. "With who? I saw Ron with a bunch of people before me and Harry left, but you weren't there with him."

Bile rose in the back of her throat. "That's because, well Ron and I had a falling out of sorts…"

"That arse!" Ginny exclaimed. "What did he do this time? Start snogging someone?"

"Something like that but you really shouldn't talk about your brother like that." Even though it's true.

"You're one of my best friend's Hermione. I know how he gets." She could see the hurt look in Hermione's eyes. "It'll blow over, whatever it was about."

That was bloody unlikely. She took ran a hand through her unruly locks. "Ginny…I…I want to ask you something."

"Sure."

She felt incredibly silly asking Ginny about her sex life but she wanted to know if Ginny had felt any sort of guilt. She figured she hadn't because it was Harry and not some stuck up Slytherin, but she had to know, for the pure sake of knowing. She was such a masochist. "Well do you and Harry…well…you know.."

"Shag?"

Way to put it bluntly. "Yes."

"Come on 'Mione, you really think we haven't? I wasn't letting him get away again." She laughed. "But why do you ask?" She made a face. "Have you and Ron.."

"No!" She said quickly. "I…I uh just wondered how you felt about it afterward…"

"Well I was quite happy about it, I love the bloke after all. But the first time I guess I was nervous afterward…I mean it didn't change things between us…but it did…you know what I mean?"

"No," she answered because she didn't. What she felt this morning was a mix of guilt, depression, relief, and all sorts of other messed up things. She just wanted them sorted out. So far, Ginny was no help. Of course, if she had asked her what she really wanted to ask, she might have been.

"Well, it's like…we shared a piece of ourselves with each other…it brought us closer. But we were still ourselves. It didn't change how we felt or who we are."

"Interesting." She said, making her way to the dresser.

Ginny found her questions very peculiar and her behavior even more baffling. "What's going on, Hermione?" She asked.

Please don't make this harder on me. "Nothing."

"You come in here, hung over, smelling like a guy, and asking me about my sex life. Something is going on."

"I was just curious. I was discussing love…and sex last night with someone and I just wondered what your views on it were. According to some people," Draco and Ron, "my opinions are quite off."

Ginny folded her arms across her chest. "Does this someone have a name?"

She thought of someone who Ginny would find acceptable for her to have a conversation with, but who wouldn't be around to tell her the truth. A list of Slytherin's ran through her head. "Zabini."

"You were hanging out with a Slytherin?" She asked in shock.

"Well, don't look so surprised. We are trying to be friendlier towards other houses after all. And He was sitting in the hall by himself so I sat down and hat a chat with him."

"Ron must have really done something stupid for you to go hang out with some Slytherins."

"You have no idea…."

"You could tell me."

"I'd rather not." If she told her about Ron then she might slip up and talk about Malfoy. And while she really wanted to tell Ginny everything, she knew she really shouldn't.

"You'll tell me eventually."

"Probably." She agreed.

"Then that's good enough for now." She replied. "You should probably take a shower before we go to the hall for breakfast, though. You're a mess."

"Yes, thank you for pointing out my atrocious appearance, once again."

"Anytime." She laughed, leaving Hermione to take a shower and get dressed.

Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Hermione all sat at the long table, plates of food in front of them. They were talking about all the things that happened at the party and Hermione all but laughed her arse off at the remembrance of Harry disrobing in front of her.

"I still can't believe you started taking off your clothes, Harry," Hermione said, shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth.

"I'm glad you all got a good laugh out of it."

"Sorry, but it was rather amusing Harry." Ginny laughed. "Besides, I enjoyed it a lot."

"Oh please, I think I'm going to vomit." Hermione pretended to gag.

"You're just jealous because you want someone as sexy as Harry to take off their shirt for you."

She wanted to say that she'd had someone sexier than Harry take off their shirt for her but kept it to herself. "I don't need half naked men around me to have fun."

"That's right. You like to get drunk and read books in the library instead." Ginny teased.

"Really? Is that your idea of fun now? You should get out more." A voice called from behind her. "Reading isn't the only thing you're good at." Ron took a seat next to her and her stomach instantly did a flip.

"I don't even want to know what you consider a good time to be, Ronald."

He frowned."Don't be like that 'Mione."

"Be like what, Ron?"

He gave her a lock that said please-don't-fight. "You know what I mean."

"I'm afraid I don't. The last time I checked, my opinions don't matter to you. And I do nothing but boss you around and bitch at you."

Everyone was silent, intent on listening to their quiet row. "Listen. I'm sorry about last night. Honestly, I am!" He insisted.

She didn't buy a word of it. "Save it for someone who cares."

"Hermione! I really didn't want you to get lost. I didn't mean all those things I said either….I was an-"

"Arse?"

"Yeah, and being a mighty big-"

"Prat." she finished.

He nodded. "I'm sorry if I hurt you…I just got so worked up. I'm having a rough time and things have been bothering me lately…."

"Things have been bothering me too, Ron. But I don't take them out on you."

He hung his head. "I knew this wouldn't be an easy fix."

"No, it won't." She agreed. Especially after what happened between me and Malfoy, she added in her head.

He seemed to be ok with this and put his hand on hers. "Alright. Why don't we just, I don't know, try to start over or something?"

"Just go back to being friends for a bit?" She asked, feeling anger rise inside of her again.

"Yeah. See where it takes us. We've both been kind of testy lately. I still love you and I want to be with you, but I think I need to sort out my feelings and deal with my anger. We just need a breather. "

She contemplated punching him, but at that moment, a flash of platinum blonde caught her eye. She wasn't prepared to see him this soon after their encounter and she lost her breath for a moment. She stole a glance at the other side of the room. Yes, just as she thought, he was there, sitting next to Blaise, taking a bite out of a bagel. He looked tired but he was smiling at something Blaise was saying to him. It was a fake smile though. She wouldn't have noticed before, but last night she'd seen the real one. The one where one corner of his mouth raised more than the other and all his teeth showed. She knew his face was gentler when there was a real smile on it. Any other time he looked too serious. She remembered the way he looked as he slept. Even then he was frowning. It was odd that the last she'd seen him really smile was when he'd been about to go down on her. The reminder sent chills down her spine. He shifted in his seat and his eyes found hers. He had caught her looking at him and she quickly looked away, feeling like she was going to throw up. She was supposed to be trying to work things out with Ron, not fantasizing about Malfoy.

"Hermione." Ron's voice brought her back to present company.

"What?" Had he been saying something?

"Is that ok with you? Waiting for me?" He looked genuinely guilty for causing her pain.

"Yes." She replied, knowing the feeling in her stomach wasn't going away anytime soon. She had already lost her appetite.

"And just so you know. Despite what I said, I didn't hook up with that girl last night…."

She was sure he was trying to make her feel better about the situation, but it only made her feel worse. She had hoped he'd slept with her. That way she didn't have to feel so bloody awful about what she'd done. "Alright."

They finished their breakfast quickly, neither speaking to one another. She knew he needed space, and for once, she felt like she needed hers as well. She had to sort out all the emotions swelling inside of her.

"Hermione?" Ginny called from across the table, breaking her away from her self-destructive thoughts.

"What?"

She leaned across the table and whispered quietly, "Malfoy's been staring at you for the last ten minutes. What's that all about?"

Heat spread across her face and she glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, he was looking right at her, lips looking ever so tantalizing as he mouthed the words, see you soon.

"I…I don't know." She told Ginny before giving him a look of disgust.

She was so going to hell. But when she did, she was going to drag Malfoy with her.

Note: This chapter has been revised as of 3/22/16