A/n- This is your last chapter before I go away

A/n- This is your last chapter before I go away. I'll most likely be posting one sometime by the 25th, and after that, you'll have to wait until I get home. Happy reading!

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I know you got a man but this is what you should say
Why don't you tell him that I'm leavin' never looking back again
You found somebody who does it better than he can
No more making you cry
No more them gray skies
Girl we flying on a g-5, g-5
And we're leavin' never looking back again
So call your shawty you tell him you found a new man
The one who's so so fly
The one to keep you high
Have you singing all night, like that

(Leavin', Jesse McCartney)

Chapter 7- A Change

The portrait door slammed shut, signaling Hermione's return from the ill-fated Hogsmeade trip. Draco peered up from his sketchbook to see that she was crying, of course, and sighed. He put the book down along with his quill and stood up, but Hermione went upstairs without so much as a word to him, and he shrugged him shoulders, expected that. He sat back down with his quill, and continued drawing.

For some reason, he never had ideas before he drew. He just began to draw and hoped something would come out of it. Normally, he drew snakes or something from Quidditch, but today he was drawing a person. It was rare that he would draw any human, except himself playing Quidditch. This picture was clear as to who it was though; a pretty girl sitting on a bench while the wind blew around.

Draco scowled at the drawing but added more detail to it, figuring that if he was going to draw Hermione, he may as well do her some justice. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he was becoming attracted to her, although denial wouldn't do him any good. On the other hand, Draco also knew he had no feelings romantically for her as of yet. Yes, he was quite entranced by her, and knew she was very pretty, even shag-able, but his emotions weren't tangled up in that.

Or that's what he was telling himself for the time being. There was no denying their strong friendship bond now, or the fact that he felt he must be comforting and protective around her. He cared for her more than he cared for almost anyone, which really wasn't saying much, but the fact that he cared for her at all was something. Draco Malfoy didn't care for many people in his life, and suddenly, this girl was important to him.

An hour or so later, Draco heard Hermione's soft footsteps coming down the stone staircase. His drawing of her sat on the table, but he made no move to flip the cover shut; he wanted her to see it. He was merely enjoying the fire's warmth, not reading nor doing anything in particular. Hermione walked over and sat down next to him on the couch.

Her hair was wet and she was in flannel pajama pants and a tank top. Draco noticed that her eyes were red from crying, and she seemed really upset. She glanced at the sketchbook and picked it up, studying it for a long minute before placing it down.

"Is that me?" she asked delicately, and Draco nodded, watching her face for any reaction. She smiled gently, her eyes lighting up.

"Do you not recognize the scene?"

"I do. Thank you… for everything today."

Draco grunted, not wanting to say anything else. He gathered up his sketchbook and flipped it shut, putting it away in his book bag. Hermione met his gaze as he looked back up, and Draco had the urge to kiss her again. These were his hormones speaking, he assured himself, and nothing more than that.

"Why did you stick up for me?"

Draco chose not to answer that, but pose his own question. "Did it just get you into more trouble, with Weasel King?"

Hermione coughed. "Please don't call him that. But yes, we had a big row. I think you could guess that much yourself, though."

Draco nodded again. "Yes. I'm good at observing these things. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so, for now. He'll start up again tomorrow though, I know he will."

"Well, if he gives you any type of trouble, just let me know. You know I don't mind sending a curse his way…" Draco assured her.

"I'd rather you didn't, however." She paused, and then turned to look at him. "Why are you so… protective? This is a new side to you."

Draco gulped and refused to meet her gaze for a moment, but knew he couldn't play this game with her. He couldn't explain why he was so protective of her, or anything that was going on, so he decided to do the only thing he could think so.

Without breathing, or thinking, Draco turned back to face Hermione and kissed her, hard. She reacted slowly and cautiously, as if she wasn't sure what to do, and that was most likely the case. She seemed to be fighting what she ought to be doing, pulling away, and what was instinctive, to kiss back. The latter side was clearly in control, however.

Draco put hand on the nape of her neck, tracing circles easily there. Her hands locked themselves in strands of his bleach blonde hair, tugging at them gently but not enough to hurt. Their lips moved beneath each others, perfectly in time, as if they had practiced their entire lives. It all seemed so normal and serene.

Bored with the simplicity of the kiss, Draco attempted to mix in his tongue with hers, but Hermione seemed to have come to her senses. She broke the kiss and stared at Draco in horror, detaching her hands from his hair and straightening up. Draco gave her an odd look but withdrew his hand slowly from her neck. Both were breathing unevenly, and staring at the other.

"Why'd you stop?" Draco demanded, even on the verge of complaining.

Hermione took a shaky breath and stood up. "What are we doing?" she asked, more to herself it seemed than him.

"Enjoying a good snog," Draco answered promptly.

"I am Hermione Granger and you are Draco Malfoy. We don't snog."

"We just did," he pointed out, smirking. "And you're quite a good kisser. You wouldn't know it, looking at you, but boy was I surprised."

"Not funny, Draco. This… can't happen. Again. Ever. I have a boyfriend…"

"One who you've now cheated on, with me, twice," Draco replied dryly, and Hermione considered this.

"Exactly, and it has got to stop. I don't know what's been going on between the two of us, but it is ending right now. I don't cheat, and don't think I'm about to make an exception for you. Please get this through your head, Draco."

"Why must I get it through my head? Because you can't control yourself when it comes to me?" he suggested, and Hermione face pulled into a frown.

"If that makes you sleep better at night, Draco Malfoy. As for me, I'm pretending that this didn't happen, and going to bed."

Draco stared at her as she walked upstairs without waiting for his response, and h shook his head. He wasn't angry or upset, but he was a bit frustrated. A part of him wanted to run after her, but there was another part of him that told him to stop. Never before had he put the feelings of another person above his own, but now he was considering Hermione's. Knowingly, and without good intentions, he was toying with her emotions.

What it did come down to was that Draco had nothing to offer Hermione but what he gave other girls, and that wasn't a relationship. Not the type that she wanted, anyways, and Draco was still desperately clinging to the idea that he felt nothing for the girl other than a small protective nature. If he had to, he would spend all night convincing himself he didn't like her.

He tossed and turned all night, attempting to gather his thoughts and trying to decide what to tell Hermione. There was nothing he could really say, since he didn't intend to do anything about her and Ron. Normally, he wouldn't care for a girl's feelings for someone else, but he knew Hermione could see right through him. She wasn't searching for a relationship based off sex, and he wasn't admitting he wanted anything else.

It has seemed to Draco, as he got up and took a shower, that he had hit a brick wall. He wasn't sure what had come over him in the past few days, or maybe weeks, but he had made a complete 360 in terms of personality. Hermione truly did bring out a side of him, yes, but it was not only nicer, but more confusing. Never before had he have to deal with such thoughts bouncing around his head all the time.

Because of this, he knew he'd have trouble in classes today. Draco worked extra hard through all of his lessons, giving small details particular care and trying not to break his concentration. Keeping busy was the way to be, and he knew it. Hermione seemed to do the same, and her friends definitely noticed a change. Draco attempted to ignore her all day long, but he caught himself staring at her several different times.

That night after dinner, Draco had quidditch practice. Since his mind was preoccupied, he ended up having an extremely painful practice. While flying around aimlessly, he got knocked in the stomach once and the head once by two separate bludgers, and almost fell off attempting to dodge another. The team noticed but chose not to say anything, most likely realizing that Draco had a nasty temper in times such as these.

When practice ended, Draco went back up to the common room quickly, desperate to take a long shower and go straight to bed. On top of that, he needed to fix the cut on his head from the bludger, which was slowly starting to ooze blood. He swore as he entered the common room, his hand sticky with blood from holding the cut.

"Goddamn," he muttered, grabbing his wand from the table, where he had accidentally left it. Hermione was sitting on the couch studying, and looked up, concerned.

"Oh! Are you alright?" she asked, standing up and bustling over. Draco shooed her away and used a spell to heal the cut, which immediately stopped flowing blood. Draco sighed and used another spell to clean off the blood and his hand, and then turned away to go upstairs.

"Not talking to me?" Hermione asked him, and he shrugged and walked upstairs, locking his door behind him. He took a long, hot shower, checked to make sure his head was alright, and then laid in his bed.

He was quickly falling into a deep sleep when he heard a knock on his door. He groaned and turned over, putting the pillow over his head, and ignored it. The knock came again, but Draco made no response to get up. Once more, the door echoed the sound of Hermione's knock. Draco sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

If he had to talk to her, he would. Now was the time to spill out everything he was thinking, and he knew that Hermione would listen to him. She cared for him, and he for her, and they would just have to settle this now and get it over with. Draco walked slowly over to the door, and pulled it wide open.

Hermione had left.

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The whole week went by relatively quickly for Draco, who was resigned not to talk to Hermione at all. She made no effort to speak to him either, and the two barely saw each other anymore now anyways. Draco had taken to studying in the library now, and Hermione spent all of her free time in the Gryffindor common room.

The funny thing was, Draco wasn't entirely sure why they were ignoring each other. For him, it was more that he was embarrassed and his pride had been hurt when she had rejected him. He also knew that it wasn't like that from Hermione's point of view, and she was only doing what was best; ending anything before they both got in over their heads.

The world wasn't prepared for the two of them to have anything together other than a passionate snog or two, and Draco had to face that now. The more she stayed away, the more he realized that it was stupid of him to think he had any feelings for her. Obviously, he just wanted in her pants because she had finally shown signs of womanhood. He wasn't interested in any type of complicated feelings, and Hermione most likely knew that. She was protecting herself.

Draco didn't put the thought in his head that Hermione may be starting to develop feelings for him slowly, since he would take advantage of that to get what he wanted. He was, after all, a boy first and foremost. His complicated situation with her needed to end, and hopefully they could just maintain a friendly relationship and that was all. However, Draco hardly believed that was possible.

Because just as sure as he was that he didn't like Hermione, the doubt was starting to sink in too. Why then, if he didn't like her, did he miss her so much? Why in the world was he so protective of her? And what was the sinking feeling he got in his gut whenever he saw Hermione with Ron? He assured himself he was just lonely and wanted the company again, but after a few days, he wasn't so sure. His brain was kicked into overdrive.

The following weekend, Draco got the feeling that Hermione was seeking him out to talk. She tried waiting for him after classes the day before, but he made sure he was with Blaise at all times. After dinner on Saturday, he went back to the Slytherin common room and returned late, so Hermione was already asleep. He was attempting to avoid a confrontation that he knew must happen.

Quidditch practice for Slytherin was scheduled to be on Sunday morning, so Draco went nice and early and warmed up on the pitch. For some reason, flying was really cheering him up today, and when his team arrived, they shared a great practice. After practice was over, he stayed for a few extra minutes and caught the snitch again on his own, hoping to put off the flood of feelings that returned with him to the ground.

He headed to the changing rooms and changed quickly, heading out the door, but he was stopped by none other than Hermione. She had clearly followed him to practice, and he had been so preoccupied, he hadn't noticed. Cursing himself, he attempted to go around her, but she stepped in front of his path. He put on a scowl.

"Stalking me now?"

"You've been avoiding me for days, Draco. We need to talk," she said, coming right up to him and staring at him with chocolate brown eyes. He put a hand through his blonde hair and nodded, leading her back to the stadium. The two sat on bleachers and Hermione faced him.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I told Ron about… what happened. He was pretty furious at you. I convinced him not to say anything, that I could handle it… that's why I was ignoring you. I thought maybe you'd want to know."

Draco was a little shocked. "You told Ron?" he asked faintly.

"Yes. But everything is okay between us… he forgave me. Because I told him that it wasn't all your fault. I told him I kissed back, that it was partially my fault as well."

"You didn't need to do that," Draco muttered.

"I thought maybe your pride couldn't handle it if I didn't," she joked, and he cracked a smile.

"Well, maybe. I don't face rejection very well."

"I've noticed. Listen, it's not you at all Draco. I enjoyed… what we shared. But it's not fair to Ron."

"Why do you always do that? Talk about other people like you owe them something. So what if it's not fair to Ron? What's fair to you, huh? Maybe getting what you deserve?" he snapped, standing up and pacing angrily.

"Who are you to tell me what I deserve? What do I deserve, Draco, huh? You? Is that it?"

"Are you saying I'm not good enough?" Draco asked sharply, rounding on her. She took a step back.

"N-No…" she stuttered.

"Then what is it? You're always complaining about Ron and how he treats you. Have you ever thought that maybe he's not the right one for you? Or the only one?"

Hermione couldn't say anything, and seemed to be fighting back another wave of tears. Draco sat down slowly and wiped a lone tear away, and she looked up to him. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he put his hand there, as if wanting it to be her lips again. He felt nervous but he didn't know why.

"You want me to leave him, is that it?"

"I didn't… I don't know," he said lamely.

"For you, Draco?"

"No," he said firmly. "I can't give you what you want, Hermione."

"How do you know what I want? I don't even know what I want."

She got up and began to walk around in circles. Draco stared at her for a few minutes and picked up his broom, walking straight over to Hermione. He mounted his broom and took Hermione's hand slowly, pulling her on in front of him. She looked skeptical and opened her mouth to complain, but he shushed her and took off.

Hermione screamed but stayed on by holding on tight. Draco had his hands around her, gripping the front of the broom. He took her over the pitch, around the hoops, through some trees on the ground, and finally over a breathtaking view of the lake. Hermione was in silent awe, and Draco smiled proudly.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, and Draco nodded.

"I thought you might enjoy this, after everything."

"I did, thank you. But, can you take me back down now?" she asked, and Draco laughed, going into a dive. She screamed again and Draco held her tighter, laughing along the whole way down.

When they landed, Hermione seemed shaky while she walked at first. Draco dismounted smoothly, fixing his robes and shouldering his broom. Hermione had a wide smile plastered on her face. Draco wasn't sure what to do now, but he swept down again and briskly kissed Hermione's lips again.

"Is that okay?" he asked, unsure.

She hesitated. "Yes, but it shouldn't be."

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A/n- Reviews are awesome! Again, sorry for the long wait for the next one, but hopefully you guys can hang on.