HERMIONE:

Hermione stood before the mirror in her dormitory, breathing heavily and staring at her confused reflection, unable to recognize herself. Her lips were stained and swollen from where she had kissed Malfoy and she was sure tomorrow they would be bruised. Malfoy may have denied it but she was sure, for the briefest of seconds, he had been kissing her back, wanting to consume her just as much as she had wanted to consume him. It had been a terrifying feeling and in a way she had almost been glad when he had pushed her backwards and returned to his normal, arrogant self. Hermione drew a deep breath into her lungs and tried to settle the raging in her heart. Draco Malfoy had kissed her.

And what was most terrifying of all, she had enjoyed it.

She collapsed into her four poster and began, quietly to laugh to herself. She felt a little crazy, hell, she was a little crazy. She had never, ever worn a low cut top or let somebody kiss her like Malfoy had, she couldn't imagine somebody kissing her like Malfoy had. He had confused her senses, made her believe that anything was possible, all in his kiss. Was that what it felt to kiss a pureblood or had something changed? Hermione couldn't work it out but she had to keep pushing him until he broke and confessed what he was trying to do, why he was messing with her. It could only be for his own gain, Malfoy never did anything for anybody else and Hermione would be deluding herself if she thought it was because he cared for her. Malfoy didn't care about anybody.

By the time dawn broke over the horizon and spilled into the dormitory, Hermione's head was pounding and she had driven herself almost half mad trying to work out Draco's motivations. When Ginny burst into the dorm and landed on her bed, she could have hugged her for her welcome intrusion.

"Hermione, what the hell are you wearing to bed?" she stared at Hermione's outfit and wolf whistled and Hermione felt herself blush a fiery crimson.

"Give me a second to change and I'll come down to breakfast with you." she told her friend.

"Wear that Hermione. You look amazing and the sun's out. I was thinking, after breakfast, we could go down to the lake before Hogsmeade."

"It's Saturday already? Where has the week gone?." Hermione fretted, ignoring the worried glance Ginny threw at her.

"Hermione, are you okay?" she laid a comforting hand on Hermione's arm. Of all the Weasleys, Ginny possessed the most tact and intelligence. Perhaps it was from being the only girl but she couldn't imagine Ron ever noticing that something was wrong with her. Or caring. He was too wrapped up in Lavender.

"I'm behind on almost everything Gin. I really don't know if I should go to Hogsmeade." she confessed.

"You've done your homework for the next three weeks, I saw you doing it last night and beating yourself up about it as well. You've got to learn to relax Hermione. Hogsmeade will be fun. I'll even buy you some firewhiskey, I know somebody who can get us a bottle." Ginny winked and Hermione felt herself smile. The girl began to tug at her arm insistently and despite her protests she let Ginny drag her from the room. Before she made it to the Great Hall, she stopped and fretted at her clothes:

"I can't wear these." she shrank back as Ginny drew her wand and pointed it at Hermione's outfit, turning it into a pair of cut offs and a strappy top.

"Better?" her friend teased and Hermione nodded slowly. She really wished it was a school day so she could hide beneath her robes. The Great Hall was half-empty, everybody taking advantage of the good weather or the weekend to have a long lie. Ginny bounded over to the Gryffindor table and grabbed them two seats beside Harry, who was sipping a cup of coffee, lost in thought. He was always lost in thought lately, probably feeling abandoned by Ron. He somehow didn't seem to notice that Ron's sister was in love with him.

"Morning Harry. Are you coming to Hogsmeade?" Ginny gushed, trying to hide her disappointment when Harry shook her head.

"No, I've got some work to do." Harry answered non-commitally, finishing his coffee and leaving the table, tripping in his haste to leave the Great Hall and the two girls behind.

"What's up with him?" Ginny wondered, grabbing a bagel and spreading cream cheese on it.

"We haven't really spoken since Ron and I broke up. Maybe he feels awkward about it." Hermione shrugged but her best friends actions had her worried as well. It wasn't like Harry to pass up on a trip to Hogsmeade.

"I don't think so. We were kinda talking about it last night. We both agreed that it wasn't really ever going to work with you and Ron. I mean you could do so much better." Ginny smiled at Hermione and even with a pounding headache, no sleep and Draco Malfoy confusing the hell out of her, she felt content with her life.

Draco still couldn't quite get his head around what had happened that night in the Room of Requirement. She had kissed him, Hermione Granger who had never displayed any sort of sexual inclinations had grabbed Draco Malfoy and kissed him with such passion that it had almost burned him. He wondered if it was because she was a mudblood and therefore forbidden that the kiss had seemed so powerful and awoken a burning desire in his gut. Then everything he was expected to be had come crashing in on their little space and ruined everything. Now she knew something was up and the bet was as good as lost.

And then to make matters even weirder, Snape had taken to following him around, like a cursed shadow. All in all, Draco Malfoy was glad to be able to escape to Hogsmeade for the day, even if he did have to tag along with Pansy and Blaise, simpering at one another every opportunity they got. It was sickening.

"Where are you going Draco?" Pansy called after him as he stormed ahead of them, pushing through his school mates until he made the front of the line and was able to see the tiny village of Hogsmeade spread out below him. He patted his pocket to check that the hip flask he had carefully concealed was still attached within his military style jacket and disapparated, sighing with relief when he landed at the Shrieking shack. There was nobody around, even though the view of the countryside was astounding and the house barely made any noise during the day. Draco almost wished he never had to move from his spot beneath the old oak, as he knew he would never find this kind of peace in the bustling castle, with students wandering around, expecting things from him and needing him to be a certain way. Beneath that oak, he was nobody, least of all Draco Malfoy.

Hermione was drunk, she could feel it in the ends of her fingertips and it made her giggle, the strange buzzing sensation she felt in her head that was incredibly new to her. Ginny's face was flushed from the firewhiskey and she was leaning against Sandy Thomson, a Ravenclaw's broad chest quite contentedly, flashing sly looks at Hermione from under her lashes. They had found a quiet corner in the Hogs Head and topped their butterbeer with firewhiskey. It had proved a dangerous concoction but Hermione felt oddly alive and exhilarated. Even the boy sitting next to her; she had forgotten his name, purposefully ignoring her couldn't spoil her mood until, that was, Ron and Lavender appeared. Draped around each other, their faces permanently attached, they hardly noticed the scowl Ginny threw at their back or Hermione trying to pretend it didn't affect her.

"Gin, I'm going to go clear my head." Hermione muttered when she heard Lavender's high pitched squeal from the shadowy corner of the pub. Ginny flashed her a sympathetic look but didn't try to stop her and Hermione knew that later Ron would probably have a serious case of slug bogeys. The sun was just beginning to set when she left the pub, they had spent the whole day wandering around the shops and although Hermione hadn't bought anything, Ginny had spent almost every galleon she had earned from her summer job on a gown for the Christmas Ball. She was planning ahead as usual but Hermione had to admit that the dress she had picked out had brought out the fiery red in her hair and the milky-cream of her skin tone. Hermione hadn't even bothered looking at the dresses, she knew she'd probably end up missing the Christmas Ball. Dancing wasn't really her thing.

Hogsmeade was still streaming with pupils enjoying a day off from schoolwork as Hermione made her way through the street, trying carefully to make it seem as if she were sober. She managed to dodge invitations from several of her classmates to join them and instead wound her way out of the village towards the Shrieking Shack. Ever since she had found out it had been Padfoot's den, she had felt a strange affinity with the place, two misfits looking for somewhere to hide out from a world that didn't accept them. But there was already somebody else there and Hermione felt her heart flutter as she realised who it was. Who else was it going to be? Draco Malfoy. She approached him warily and when he turned to look at her, sensing her intrusion, she froze.

"Come for a repeat of last night Granger?" he mocked, returning his gaze to the ancient beaten shack. She felt a blush colour her cheeks and she sank onto a rock a reasonable distance from him, giggling when she lost her balance and almost fell.

"Are you drunk?" Draco was staring at her oddly and Hermione shook her head, letting her brown hair obscure her face so he wouldn't see the lie. Before she could move, he was before her, moving her hair from her face and looking into her eyes. His eyes were a violent storm and they made Hermione flinch; grey and cold that she was sure she would freeze if she chose to drown in them.

"You stink of firewhiskey."

"Going to tell on me Draco? Get some points deducted from Gryffindor?" she shoved his hand away and breathed deeply. He was doing strange things being this close to her and he smelled of cherries and musk.

"Stop calling me Draco." he muttered.

"Why? It's your name isn't it?" she fired back, feeling herself flush. If Harry or Ron had heard her calling him Draco, they would have known instantly that something was the matter.

"Not to you."

"Oh, because my blood isn't good enough for you? Am I so far beneath you that I can't even use your name? Fuck you Draco." she flew to her feet and felt the world twirl into a sickening spiral. She grabbed onto him for support and was surprised when he held her steady instead of pushing her away.

"Do I get under your skin Granger?" he whispered quietly and she found herself nodding. She knew it was the alcohol, if she'd been sober, she would have shaken her head, lied. She'd have told him that no, he didn't get under her skin. But he did, like a virus. It was why she had punched him in third year, why she had spent fourth year wishing he would work up the nerve to ask her to the Yule Ball. At least she had had the pleasure of seeing his face when she had arrived with Viktor Krum.

"Don't let me." Before she knew what was happening, he had apparated them. They were outside the Room of Requirement and Hermione felt a knot of panic form in her chest. She struggled against his arm and he looked at her strangely. #

"I don't want that from you Granger. I think you should sleep off the alcohol. That's all. I'll leave now if you want." he offered, flinching when she grabbed him and tugged him towards the door. The room was decorated like a homely inn, a roaring fire and a comfortable four poster bed set against one wall. A window showed the view across the lake, students running around the grass as the sun began to fade. Hermione made her way over to the bed, still pulling Draco with her. She wasn't sure what she was doing, only that the alcohol had given her a strange kind of confidence and she wanted somebody to look at her in the way boys stared at Ginny. She turned to him awkwardly and pushed him onto the bed, giggling at the look of shock on his face.

"Granger, what are you doing?" his voice was strangled. She stood, unsure what to do now that she had him. A sane voice in her head was screaming at her to run from the room and make her way to her dormitory, that what she was doing was wrong on so many levels. But he was looking at her, he wasn't stopping her, he wasn't mocking her, he was just staring. It made Hermione's heart speed up in her chest.

"I want to kiss you." she whispered and watched the emotions play across his handsome face. Finally, after moments of tense silence, he reached his hand for her and pulled her onto the bed, crashing his lips to hers before she had a moment to think. She knew it would be over before she could really enjoy it and as she had feared, he sprang from the bed, breathing heavily and stared at her.

"What are you doing to me Granger?" his voice was confused and before she could stop him, he had made his way from the room into the corridor. She fell back onto the bed and touched her lips. She couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth. Draco Malfoy had been kissing her, as if he would never stop.