Chapter 9- Falling in Love

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you like this one…

For a smart girl, she's not that good at following instructions. I told her to stay away from the damn thing. And what does she do right after I told her so? She gets petrified by the Basilisk! Stupid Granger. Malfoy thought, as he waited in the Slytherins common room.

"Drakey, what's wrong? Tell Pansy so I can make you feel better." Pansy interrupted his thoughts, her hand uncomfortably resting on his leg. Draco pushed it away and got up, away from her. "I, uh, just envy the guy who got to torture Granger, that's all." But the truth was, if he ever found out who did it to her, the dumb schmuck better run and hide. "Malfoy. I think you're my hero." He's been replaying those words over and over again. Granger didn't know it, but he heard what she said. And he smiled.

Meanwhile, Hermione Granger may be unconscious, but that doesn't mean her brain is as passive as the rest of her body. In fact, it's been working round the clock. A certain blonde boy has been haunting her thoughts. His silver eyes piercing her heart. I'm not sure if this is a dream... Or a nightmare. Hmph. I'm twelve years old, for heaven's sake. Why am I having a ridiculous crush on Malfoy?... Not that this is a crush. She thought as another dream version of Malfoy smirked at her. Oh, great. Even in my comatose fantasies, he's being a jerk. And then, the imaginary Malfoy came closer. So close that she could see specks of blue on his eyes.

Heir or not, the only Slytherin who's gonna cause you trouble is ME.

She wasn't supposed to feel good about what he said, but she did. And she hated herself for feeling that way.

But then again, if that does happen, then we would no longer have these lovely conversations with each other. My life would be incomplete if there weren't any bushy-haired Gryffindor making me feel so darn good about myself.

And Hermione realized it. There's no point in dreaming about him. What for? By the time she wakes up, he will never be nice to her. He'll be cold and cruel. He's a Malfoy. She's a muggle. Hogwarts is the only thing they have in common, and even then, all they do is fight. They aren't even anywhere near being friends. In fact, what they have is quite the opposite of friendship. Malfoy despised her. And she loathed him. At least, she thought she did. Being unconscious has changed the way she saw things. But she gets it now. I should face the fact that he has his own world and I have mine. He'll never see me as someone other than his enemy. I should give up these childish dreams.

And then she woke up.

"Oh, Miss Granger. Thank goodness you're awake. We were so worried about you." Madame Pomfrey told her as she tried to get up.

"Madame Pomfrey, how long have I been here?" She asked, trying to think of all the exams she might have missed.

"Quite a while now, child. You should hurry up and get dressed. Everyone's in the great hall, celebrating. You should thank your friends, they have been very concerned about you. Especially that blonde boy."

Hermione stopped midway through buttoning her clothes. Blonde? No. I probably heard it wrong. She probably said that Ron boy... Or something. Malfoy would never concern himself about me. And he is definitely not a friend of mine. Calm yourself, Hermione. You are a logical girl. Give it up. You're better off with Ron and Harry. They're your real friends, not him.

She hurriedly ran towards the Great Hall. When she opened the doors, she immediately saw him. But instead, she ran fast to her friends and hugged Harry. As Harry wrapped his arms around her, she took a peek towards the Slytherin table. One last look wouldn't hurt. She told herself. But she was wrong.

I told her about the Basilisk. And yet, she's thanking Potter. It's my fault for thinking that someone like Granger could see past all of this dung and actually like me. Guess she made her choice. Wrong guy, if you ask me.

Draco sighed and looked away from Hermione. He turned to Pansy and gave her some lame joke that she immediately laughed at as if it was the funniest thing she ever heard. But he could see the Gryffindor girl peeking.

Well, Granger. I guess this is goodbye...

Author's Note: To be twelve years old… and already broken-hearted. That's just sad. But the good thing is that they're still young. They still have time to meet new people. Fall in love again. Make new mistakes. Get hurt. Realize the first one wasn't a mistake after all. ;)