Okay, y'all. You know the drill. I don't own anything, I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit. You're welcome for updating so soon. I hope you appreciate all that I do for you. Tee-hee. Alright, enjoy.

Hermione, upon first entering the Room of Requirement with Draco, made sure to be very specific in her requests for the room. She made sure to picture in her mind dividers that would block one's view of another whilst changing clothes. And a shower with a curtain, not a partially-transparent door. That was how their mornings commenced, with one behind the divider or curtain – depending on whether they were showering or changing – and the other waiting on the other side. Never before had Hermione felt so self-conscious. Getting dressed and showering with the Slytherin Prince a mere two feet away was nerve-wracking beyond compare. Draco, however, seemed perfectly at ease stripping off his shirt before he was behind the divider, only because he knew Hermione was blushing furiously with embarrassment. After a week or so, however, Hermione began to stop getting so embarrassed at his antics. Though neither would admit, they both began to grow comfortable around the other. For a while, they were settled into a calm, easy routine. Until one day when everything changed.

For some time now, Hermione had been developing a crush on Ron. And she thought that maybe he felt the same way. One afternoon, she and Draco were in the library doing homework when Draco's on-and-off girlfriend, Pansy, sauntered in, looking for Draco. After sneering at Hermione, she announced in a practiced, sultry voice that she had something to show the two. Batting her eyelashes at Draco, she convinced them to follow her, saying that it would be 'really fun'. They put their books in their bags and went with her. She led them to the Great Hall.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Draco asked, holding back the urge to roll his eyes at Pansy's eagerness. She simply gave a wicked, malicious smile and pointed to the Gryffindor table. There sat Ron... with Lavender. On his lap. Snogging him. And him snogging her back, just as enthusiastically. Hermione's heart dropped.

Draco wrinkled his nose at the two kissing, but he didn't understand why Pansy had showed them this. Until he heard a hitch in Hermione's breath. Until he looked at her and saw that her face had turned a deathly pale. Until he looked closer and saw her eyes watering, chin trembling, and her hands, clenched into fists, shaking. Suddenly, he realized. There were Slytherin students all around, cruelly laughing at Hermione. They had brought her here, knowing that Ron and Lavender were here as well. Practically everyone could tell, just by watching her interact with the ginger idiot for five minutes, that she liked him. The maliciousness of their actions had reached new levels today… and Draco was furious.

"Draco.." Hermione said, just as a tear made its way down her cheek. "Can we leave? Please?" she was looking mostly at the ground, avoiding eye contact with anyone. But she jerked her head up in surprise when Draco said,

"No." And, before she could protest, and before he could think rationally, he was marching away, forcing her to follow him. Striding with anger and purpose, Draco walked over to where Ron and Lavender were sitting. In one swift movement, he pulled Lavender off and punched Ron squarely in the nose. Hermione heard a crack, and blood began spurting. Lavender screamed. Recovering quickly, Ron leapt off the table, and tackled Draco to the ground. They fought each other for about half a minute, until Hermione regained her senses and could move. After a lot of struggling and an elbow to the gut, she managed to finally pull Ron off of Draco. Most would have expected her to turn to Ron and make sure he was okay, get him to the infirmary, but she surprised everyone, most of all Draco. She shoved Ron away, hard, and helped Draco up. She took his face in her hands and inspected the bruise forming under his left eye. She murmured softly, asking if he needed to go to the infirmary. He shook his head, saying there was one more thing he needed to do and then they could just go back to their room. Once she agreed, he calmly walked (Hermione following, of course) to where Pansy stood dumbfounded. "You are pitiful." He stated in the most condescending tone he could muster. Pansy's face immediately turned a blotchy red.

"D-Draco?! What is wrong with you? Why are you defending her, the mudblood?" Draco got a deadly look in his eyes, causing Pansy to step back, and he opened his mouth to argue. He was stopped, however, by a small, soft hand slipping into his and a quiet voice saying,

"Draco. She's not worth it." He looked down to see Hermione. He debated for a moment, then nodded at her. Turning to leave, he paused just long enough to say to Pansy, "We are through. For good this time. I don't ever want to see you again." She began sobbing, but Draco couldn't care less. Because at that same moment, Ron bellowed across the Great Hall.

"HERMIONE!" Draco felt her grip his hand tighter. They kept walking, their backs to him. "How could you?! I'm your best friend!" He waited a moment to see if she would respond, assuming that she would. When they didn't stop, he yelled one final word. "Traitor!" Hermione's step faltered, but they continued out the door. Neither spoke until they reached the Room of Requirement. Once inside, Draco asked,

"Are you alrigh-"

"Here, let's get some ice on your face. That bruise is starting to look nasty. And I need to have a look at your hand. I heard a crack and it was probably from his nose breaking but I want to make sure you haven't broken anything. I'm not really sure how to fix a broken bone, though, because I don't have my wand. If it is broken, we'll probably have to visit the infirmary. But there'll be professors there and one of them is bound to give us detention, considering you threw the first punch. And with no reason –"

"I had a reason." Draco interrupted her nervous babbling. "He hurt you."

"Well it's not like I ever told him how I felt. He can't be blamed because I was too afraid."

"Please. Everyone could tell. Even he's not that stupid."

"Everyone?.. So that's why Pansy… Was I really that obvious?" she sounded dejected.

"Sort of." He replied with a gentle smile. "But that's in the past now." His face grew serious, and before she could start up with more ranting, he took her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Be honest." She cast her eyes downward, not responding. "Hermione." He whispered. She looked up with tear filled eyes.

"No." Without hesitation, Draco pulled her to his chest in a fierce embrace as she began sobbing. After a few minutes, he led her over to the couch in front of the fireplace. Sitting down, he rested his arm over her shoulders and held her close. She tried once to protest and push away, saying she was getting his shirt wet. He immediately and honestly stated that he didn't care, and she didn't argue again. Eventually she fell asleep. Draco was content to stay like that for as long as she needed, but just then a knock sounded. He gently laid her down on the couch and answered the door. There stood Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Malfoy." She greeted calmly.

"Professor." He drawled. "I suppose you're here to give me detention?"

"You suppose correctly. You'll be cleaning classroom desks every day after classes for two weeks."

"Okay." He agreed. She looked a bit startled at his lack of argument, but decided not to question it.

"And, of course, Miss Granger will have to join you."

"I know." He gave a small, almost imperceptible smile and nodded at Professor McGonagall as she left. Draco shut the door and went back to Hermione.

You guys. I have recently become a big fan of FREMIONE. Rest assured, Dramione will always take precedence, but I might throw a little bit of that in there, because, ya know, draaammmaaa! Haha, fun fun fun! Anyways, hope you enjoyed, please review, as always. The more reviews I get, the more motivated and the more likely I am to write more and update sooner. See ya soon!