Next chapter, wooo. :D

Chapter Ten

It was like holding hands with a statue.

A warm, statue.

The awkwardness promised with randomly holding hands with a statue, seemed to come along with Draco as well.

'Point proven,' her eyebrows quirked, unbelievably, as she tried to keep herself from looking at him, and accidently giving away what she was thinking about.

Even so, it was all she could think about.

Draco was so tense, it was remarkable. She could wiggle her hand and feel his awkwardly mold back around hers and immediately harden up again.

Something about his actions told her that he and Pansy weren't ones to hold hands very often. If, at all. She never had anyone to hold hands with either, but at least she didn't have a death grip on him.

Figures though, made sense to her. Pansy and Draco seemed more like that type of couple that were together because of their blood, not because they had any real feelings for one another at all.

She exhaled. She should be worrying about her own love problems, instead of sticking her nose into Draco's world, where only the super rich and beautiful existed.

That Pansy Parkinson, Death's incarnate, dipped in sex appeal itself—

"So where is he?" Draco whispered to Hermione without turning his head.

She was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out who he was talking about.

"Who?" She turned to him, who was still looking forward, looking nervous and lost.

"Who else? That Weasel lover of yours, where did you see him?"

Her brows furrowed. "I didn't see him yet, did you?"

That cringe-triggering, awkward silence followed.

"What?"

"Draco, what are you talking about? What do you mean, 'Where did I see him'?"

His teeth gritted as he stopped, his death grip forcing her to stop as well. She was unfortunately in front of him, and she was clothes-lined backwards. She whipped around to face him, their interlocked fingers suspending in the cold air between them.

"I thought you saw him, and that's why we were—" He gave their connected hands a shake, to emphasize. "Doing this."

A light went on inside of her, as she understood what he was saying.

"Oh— no, I didn't see him. I just," She swallowed, quieting down. "I just wanted to hold your hand, that's all."

Immediately, his hand was ripped from hers as it returned to the pocket of his very expensive looking coat.

Draco groaned as if annoyed.

"Ridiculous," He rolled his eyes, turning from her and walking towards a nearby bench.

Hermione stood awkwardly still, her hand slowly pulling back. She was hurt more physically than verbally. Her hand was now, beginning to freeze, while her mind was already used to the insults Draco threw at her, and couldn't care less, honestly.

She made her way to sit beside him on the bench.

"What's your problem? I can't hold your hand?" She inquired, crossing her legs as she glared at him.

"No."

She shoved her hands huffily into her lap, sitting upright. "Am I that repulsive to you?"

"Yes."

'Unbelievable,'She looked away from him, forgetting that she was trying to be nice to him, and looking for Ron like she was meant to be doing.

At least, that's why she tagged along in the first place. To trigger Ron's jealousy, and the sooner she scrambled Ron's head to the point where he'd break up with Lavender, the sooner she'd be free of Draco.

Well, she thought that was the reason she tagged along.

A sick thought was forming deep within her. A thought that suggested that she was here because she wanted to actually spend time with Draco, and push through all the bitter walls he put up, to the center where kindness actually survived.

The whole hand holding thing a few moments ago was a sign that she was actually interested in Draco.

She knew what this was all about, but of course she would never actually tell Draco.

It was better to just stick to the plan, ignore any weird thoughts she got, and get it over with quickly.

Besides, it would be over quickly. Ron was breaking, and maybe a few days from now, she wouldn't even remember what Draco looked like.

She was getting sick now. Forming feelings for Draco? Please. She pitied him, pitied the way he was brought up, pitied how he only had jerks for friends, pitied that she'd be the closest thing to a girlfriend he ever had!

'That hand thing? That was just in case Ron actually saw us. That was a sign of just how much I don't want to be here with him. I was just flaunting our relationship to Ron. Maybe even a few hugs would help…'

She shifted uncomfortably, her hand flying to her mouth, horrified.

The kiss.

Oh, what had she gotten herself into? Here she was, with her 'boyfriend', looking for Ron and his putrid, flower girlfriend who was expecting a beautiful view of Hermione's lips latched onto Draco's.

She slowly turned to Draco, her hand still held over her lips. Bad timing it seemed, as Draco suddenly turned to her, their eyes meeting awkwardly.

"What?" He questioned harshly. He being in a bad mood just made her tense harder.

'No way.' Her mine disagreed. She turned from him quickly, looking quite suspicious.

'If I don't do it, Lavender will know I was lying and tell Ron.' She turned back to Draco, who was still staring at her. 'If I do, I'll humiliate myself because I don't know how to kiss, but at least I'll prove Lavender wrong and possibly speed things up for me and Ron.'

Sacrifice her 'virgin lips' for her one true love? Was she contradicting herself? Draco was still staring. His mouth opened to say something else but she interrupted.

"Lavender doesn't believe we're in a real relationship." She had, sucha way with words. Just blurt everything out.

"We aren't." She could tell her wasn't being dumb, just being overly smart, and a pain in the ass. She gave him a look.

"Well, who cares what she thinks?"

She exhaled slowly. Now, he was just being dumb.

"I do. If she finds out that we're faking this whole thing, she's going to tell Ron," She looked down, worried. "And this thing would've been a waste of time."

Draco was listening now, as he sat up straighter. "Well, how do we prove to ourselves to her?"

'Oh, you're gonna love this one.' She prepared herself. "She said a kiss would suffice."

The silence followed afterwards didn't surprise her, but it still made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Seconds turned into several minutes; until everything was so quiet she wondered if they had been sitting there for an hour.

"There are a lot of different guys out there. Muggles and Wizards—"

"Draco!" She cried. 'Oh, please don't back out now.'

"I'm not going to kiss you! You're really taking advantage of my kindness."

"Did you know what you were getting yourself into when you agreed?"

Draco was quiet.

"Please— Make your kindness stretch a bit farther." She begged. "Once I get Ron, I'll never speak to you again, I promise." It wasn't like she wanted to do this either.

He was quiet again, but this time, he was thinking hard on what to say.

She could only wonder if he was feeling that guilt he talked about, again.

He turned back to her, wearing a look that seemed like he was tolerating more than he could handle, which, knowing Draco, was probably true.

He inched closer, and she scooted back.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his forehead contorting as he leaned back again.

"What are you doing?" She whispered into the cold air between them.

He blinked. "Well… wouldn't it help to get rid of any awkwardness before we actually…?" He stopped.

"Oh— would it be awkward…?" She answered her own question right after she asked, disturbing mental pictures forming in her head.

She shuddered, but knew she had to do this.

So this time when Draco moved in, she stayed in her spot.

Her eyes hooded as he came closer, her warm breath creating fog in the cold air. She could see Draco's too, as he was now close enough to her, that she could even feel it.

She shivered, as she began to ask what she was doing, again.

Draco's hands slid to her waist, and she stiffened, unused to the touch. Her fingers reached up, Draco's blonde, gelled hair pricking her pale fingers.

They were too close to one another, she realized, much too late, that she didn't want to do this anymore.

However, she didn't pull away, but instead, slightly craned her neck sideways to coax his lips to her.

She surprised by the warm touch of his lips. The softness and just-right moisture they came with. She expected cold, rough lips.

He was, for the most part, gentle, but with just the right amount of roughness that slightly pleased her. Not that it was something she often thought about, kissing her enemy who mentally tortured her for years.

He kissed with more force, his mouth opening slightly as she mimicked his actions. Her arms were curling around his neck, unconsciously trying to pull him closer.

He was dominant, controlling, slightly rough, but that all… extremely pleased her.

They pulled away.

That was certainly enough for practice. Their faces both looked flushed from embarrassment instead of from the cold weather.

For a few seconds, they both sat there, staring into each other's eyes, both of them unsure of what to say.

It was instinct, as they both went back in.

Hermione's arms tightened around his neck, his warmth addicting to her. Her back arched, Draco's dominant posture causing him to hover over her. Draco's hands were clutching her waist.

She wasn't sure where it came from, but all of a sudden, Pansy's face flashed in her mind.

She suddenly felt sick. Oh, what was she doing? Where was Pansy in all of this? Where was Ron—

She abruptly pulled away, her fingers moving to the shoulders of Draco's jacket. She must've forgotten all about Draco's dominant actions, as she was suddenly falling backwards, Draco's weight pushing her down. Her only option being to dig her fingers into his jacket and try to stop herself, but it seemed, the only thing she managed to do was bring him down with her.

Instant mood killer, but as soon as she hit the ground, she wasn't thinking about Pansy and Ron anymore.

"Draco!" She wailed. "Get off of me!"

Snow dropped into the back of her coat, causing her to screech and struggle underneath his weight. She was pinned down, his hands on either side of her head, his knees on either side of her hips.

"Draco—!" She shrieked. 'Before anyone sees us.'

"Stop moving— I can't get my balance." He ordered, trying to sit up.

The sounds of snow being packed down by boots made them both look to their right.

Lavender stood there, laughing, her gloved hand covering her mouth. Amusement danced in her eyes.

Beside her, Ron stood, annoyance dancing in his.

OH, WHAT WILL HAPPEN? :O WILL RON SNAP RIGHT THEN OR THERE? FIND OUT, NEXT TIMEE.

oh, and review. (: