DISCLAIMER: He's mine beotch! (I'm talking about Luke, obviously.)

A/N: Once again, this is a flashback. I hope that it will help satisfy you of your wanting more Draco/Hermione time, after all the romantic starvation that has happened in the story so far.

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Chapter 11: Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

That evening, Hermione was alone in the house, her parents having gone to a movie. She was sitting on the sofa reading when there was a knock on the door.

She walked over to the front door and checked through the peep hole to see who it was. Speak of the devil! Draco Malfoy was standing on the other side, his face pale, eyes bloodshot. He was wearing a heavy coat even though it was the middle of the summer. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. What could he possibly want?

Deciding that there was only one way to find out, Hermione swung the door open. "Malfoy," she said flatly.

"Granger," he replied. He was swaying slightly, like a tree bending in the wind.

"Was there something you wanted, Malfoy?" Hermione crossed her arms and looked at him suspiciously.

He mumbled something inaudible.

"What? I couldn't understand you."

"I need your help," he said hoarsely.

"Well, from what I hear, you're doing just fine. Why could you possibly-" But Draco had opened the heavy black coat he had been wearing to reveal a large dark spot on his white shirt.

"Oh my goodness! What happened to you? Come inside!" He staggered into the house. Hermione noticed a red puddle on the front step.

Hermione lead him to the sofa that she had been sitting on moments earlier. He collapsed onto it, shaking. Quickly taking out her wand, Hermione removed his coat and shirt with a flick of her wand. She gasped softly as she looked at Draco's wound. It went from the ribs on his left side to the right side of his bellybutton and was very deep.

"I'll be right back," she said briskly, running to her room and yelling, "Accio Dittany!" A tiny bottle flew into her hand and she ran back down the stairs.

Draco was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed tightly. Hermione rushed to him and got on her knees, opening the bottle and putting it on his wound. Draco clenched his fists tightly and yelled through gritted teeth as she put it on. "I'm sorry; this is the best I can do!"

"Its- fine-" was all he could manage to sputter. The pain and loss of blood finally became too much for him to handle and Draco passed out, his breathing becoming steady and his body relaxing.

Hermione wiped the tears she had no idea had been falling from her face. She watched the unconscious blonde, his hair messed and his cheek had a smear of dried blood on it. On his left arm, Hermione saw the Dark Mark burned black onto his porcelain skin. She was taken aback upon seeing it; she had never really seen the Dark Mark up close before.

Gently picking up his left arm, she looked closely at it. The raised mark seemed to be moving, but only to the extent that Hermione decided she was seeing things. She ran her finger gently over the top of it, feeling unclean as she did so, like just touching it would make her become bad.

Gently placing his arm back into the same position, Hermione watched him. Draco's eyes were shut tightly, his mouth twisted in a very strange position. He was still in pain, but would hopefully wake up soon so she could take him to St. Mungo's.

Standing up, Hermione wrote a quick note to her parents explaining that she went out with some friends and not to expect her until morning. She then proceeded to go to the front step and clean up the pool of blood and the droplets that were on the floor. Following the trail, Hermione cleaned up any trace of there being anyone with significant injuries in the house.

When she got to the sofa, Hermione saw that Draco was awake and watching her. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?" she asked, kneeling beside him.

"Exhausted."

"Don't pass out yet, we have to get you to St. Mungo's." She helped him stand up and tried to support his tall frame with her short. Making sure she had a good hold on his arm, Hermione apparated to the hospital.

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The smells of the hospital greeted Hermione as she opened her eyes and breathed deeply. The place was bustling with activity as usual. Hermione helped Draco walk to the front desk where a witch with too much make up on was filing her nails and popping her gum. When Hermione cleared her throat, the witch looked up and said in a monotonic voice, "First floor, the healer up there will tell you where to go."

"Thank you," Hermione huffed. Draco was getting heavier by the second. She took him to the elevator and got in, going to the first floor.

The first floor was less chaotic, but there were rather loud cries coming from one of the rooms. Draco's weight was becoming unbearable. She knew he couldn't help it, but Hermione wished that he could support his own weight. A healer greeted them when they stepped off the elevator.

"Hello, I'm Agustus Pye. Oh, looks like you've had a rather nasty encounter with a Cranphisuh," he said, examining Draco's cut, which was starting to open up again. "Very rare, those things are. Please follow me." The man was very tall, with light brown hair and a goatee. He led them down to the third door on the right. On the door was a sign that read, Rare Creature Induced Injuries.

Once inside, Healer Pye helped Draco get onto the bed nearest to the door. He examined Draco's injury. "What did you use on this?" he asked.

"Essence of Dittany," Hermione replied, looking at it too. The cut had now fully reopened and was beginning to bleed again.

"Very good. Mr.-"

"Malfoy," Draco hoarsely replied.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm going to give you something for the pain, and it will make you drowsy. Cuts caused by Cranphisuh are very difficult to heal since they are so rare, but they are curable." The healer had taken out his wand and made a bottle filled with brown liquid appear. He poured some into a cup that was sitting on the table beside the door and gave it to Draco. He drank the liquid and nearly gagged, but fell asleep almost immediately.

Healer Pye took his wand and began to move it over the wound in intricate swirling motions. Hermione watched as the healer worked. Slowly, the bleeding began to stop. When it had all stopped, Hermione asked, "So what exactly is a Cranphisuh? I've never heard of one before."

"Well," he began, "a Cranphisuh is a rare animal that lives in the deepest parts of a forest. They are usually gentle creatures, but if someone invades what they have established as their territory, the end result is usually fatal because the Cranphisuh has a high pitched call that works as a depressant, making the victim too weak to escape. They closely resemble an elephant but are much smaller, about the size of a large cow. The Cranphisuh has poisonous tusks that can kill a person if they don't get immediate medical attention. Mr. Malfoy is lucky he got to you when he did, otherwise he wouldn't be alive right now."

Hermione nodded her head. She watched Draco sleep, wondering what had gotten into him. What had he been doing? Why didn't he know about these creatures? Wait a second; why hadn't she known about them? "How come there isn't much known about them?" she asked.

"Like I said, they are very rare. The Cranphisuh usually has to be within seeing distance of the person to want to attack, and when they do attack, there is almost no chance of survival because the victim cannot get away."

"But Draco will be alright, won't he?" Hermione would blame herself if anything happened to him, no matter how much of an ass he was.

"He'll be just fine, but there will be a fair amount of scarring. If you'll excuse me, I think there is another patient." He shook her hand and left the room.

Hermione found a chair and sat down. She didn't know why she was staying; she did have better things to do. She just couldn't understand why he had come to her. Draco couldn't have been anywhere near her house, there were no forests near her.

She looked around. The room was rather bland, white walls, white floors, white everything. There was a tiny window at the end of the room. Hermione drug her chair over and stared out at the starry night.

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Suddenly, Hermione woke with a start. She had been having a good dream; about when she had received her Prefect badge. Someone was calling her name. "Granger. Granger. Granger!"

Blinking, Hermione thought she was at home in her bed for a moment and was wondering why her father had taken to calling her by her surname. Her father's voice sure had changed since the last time she heard it… it had taken on a different tone. Stupidly, Hermione murmured, "Five more minutes," and tried to find a more comfortable position.

"Granger, wake up!"

Hermione sat straight up and looked around the dark room, remembering that this was not her room and that her father was not waking her up. "What! Can't a girl get some sleep around here?"

"Not when you're snoring. Come here, I want to talk to you." Draco was sitting up in the bed, his bare chest marred by a large bandage covering most of it.

Reluctantly, Hermione got out of the chair and stomped over to his bed. "Fine, but I'm not guaranteeing that I'm going to stay awake. And I don't snore!"

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life."

"What were you thinking? What were you doing in a forest full of those things that nearly got you killed? Do you realize just how lucky you are?" Hermione shouted half in anger of being woke up from a good dream, half out of frustration of his being so stupid.

"Calm down, Granger, take a deep breath," he replied coolly, "I'm alive aren't I? I was just doing my job."

"Doing your job?! What, go find a good way to get killed?"

"No, I took your advice, Granger. I decided that it was time to make Malfoy be a good thing. I was on the trail of some people until I was attacked by it. I scared it when I walked right up to it. The only problem was that I didn't get my wand drawn fast enough."

"But what about your parents? They're probably worried sick about you."

"My father is out doing the same thing I'm doing and my mother knows not to expect me for a while."

"I think you need to let your mother know."

"Why? I'm alive, and that's all that matters." Draco studied his fingernails like it was no big deal that he had come very close to death. "Thanks again for saving me."

"I suppose it was nothing, but how did you know where I live?"

"I don't know. You're the first person I thought of, since you're so smart, and I concentrated really hard on you and apparated. I don't know how it happened."

"Hmm." Hermione lay down on the bed next to his, her eyelids getting heavy.

"Hey, how about I make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner or something as a thank you present."

"Sounds nice," Hermione whispered, her eyes closing.

"Alright then, when I get out of here we'll go get some dinner."

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When Hermione woke again, sunlight was streaming through the tiny window illuminating the white room. Draco was asleep in the bed to her left, his bare chest rising and falling evenly.

Healer Pye walked into the room. He took the bandage off and looked at Draco's wound that was now a large scar. "Mr. Malfoy should be able to go home this afternoon," he said.

"Good," Hermione replied. She got out of the bed and watched as the healer put a yellow paste on the scar. "What's that for?"

"This will absorb any of the poison that is left. He will have to continue to put this on for one week, to prevent the wound from opening again."

Hermione nodded.

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The day passed slowly. Draco slept most of the time, a side effect of the brown substance that was given to him every three hours. But, by two in the afternoon, the healer said that Draco would be able to leave as soon as the pain killer wore off.

Draco finally woke up three hours later, looking completely restored. Hermione conjured fresh clothes to replace his bloodstained ones and waited for him to change. "Will you be alright apparating by yourself?"

"Yes," he returned, "but you're coming with me. Remember our deal?"

"What deal? I don't remember agreeing to anything, Malfoy." Hermione looked at the tall blonde suspiciously.

"Last night, I said that I would take you to dinner as a way of thanking you. And you said you would."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Oh come on Granger, I'm not going to bite." He looked at her playfully. "Hard anyway."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Better get this over and the sooner the better. "Fine, let's go get some dinner. I'm only doing this because you made me spend the last 24 hours in this place."

"That's all I ask," he smiled. Leading the way, Draco took her down the stairs and out the entrance.

The pair walked for a while until they reached the entrance to Diagon Alley. Once inside, Draco took her to a new looking restaurant. Inside, a plump old witch seated them at a little table in the back. If Hermione hadn't known any better, she would have assumed that this was where couples had "romantic" evenings. The lighting was dim, a candle in the middle of the table being the source of lighting.

After giving their orders to the waiter, Hermione and Draco sat rather awkwardly. What was there to talk about? They obviously had nothing in common… at least that's the feeling Hermione got. "So," she said.

"Yes," Draco said. He was staring at the tablecloth. "If I would have known this place was like this, I wouldn't have taken you here."

"It's alright, really. Just don't go getting the wrong idea. This is not a date."

"I wouldn't dream of it being one," he replied. "This is, remember, only a way to thank you. Don't go getting mushy thoughts in your head."

"Good. You do the same."

After establishing the fact that neither of them wanted a romantic situation ensue this dinner, the night passed rather pleasantly. They talked about mainly of their shared love of books. They joked and laughed (a thing that Hermione had never heard Draco do, let alone see him really actually smile) and had an all around good time.

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The moon and stars were out by the time Hermione and Draco apparated to her front step. "I had a really fun time, Draco."

"See? I'm not that bad after all! I had a pretty good time too." He looked into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione looked into his, and noticed that they had flecks of the bluest blue she had ever seen in them. For some unknown reason, Hermione felt insanely happy when she looked into his eyes. Like everything she ever needed in life was in those silvery orbs.

What was happening here? She had never felt this way; higher than a kite yet grounded and humble. She felt herself standing up on her tiptoes… probably to get a better look at those blue flecks; yes that's what it was. But then she found her mouth moving towards his, her eyes slowly drifting shut...

But suddenly, she realized what she was doing and opened her eyes. Draco was in the exact same position she was, both had been preparing to do the unthinkable! This was not a date, she reminded herself, and a "not-date" meant no "romantic mushy stuff". And "romantic mushy stuff" included staring deeply into each others eyes and (gasp) kissing!

"I have to go," she whispered, not moving from where she was.

Draco groaned. "Me too."

Sighing, Hermione backed away and placed her hand on the door knob. "I had a good time Malfoy, thanks for taking me out to dinner." She was still staring at his eyes.

"It was nothing," he said, not moving from where he was. "Thanks for saving my life."

Hermione smiled weakly and leaned against the door with her hand still on the knob, yet unwilling to turn it and let this moment pass. "Your welcome. I suppose I should probably go inside."

"I should head back to the Manor."

Yet neither moved; they were lost in a world where they were the only inhabitants.

"Good night, Malfoy," Hermione sighed, opening the door.

"Good night, Granger." Draco turned, walked down the steps and down the sidewalk a little ways. Hermione stood and watched him. He took out his wand and was beginning to spin to apparate to his home.

Suddenly, Hermione ran down the steps, leaving the door hanging wide open and grabbed onto his arm. The familiar feeling of being sucked through a small tube engulfed her until a cool breeze tickled her face.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione opened her eyes but immediately closed them again as her lips were smothered with Draco's.

Breathless, Hermione pulled away, though rather unwillingly, and looked in his eyes. "Sorry," she said.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Granger. I feel the exact same thing you feel." He wrapped his strong arms around her, kissing her frizzy hair.

She leaned into him, feeling his heart beat fast and warmth radiate through her wherever he was touching her. Standing on her tiptoes again, Hermione asked, "Is it wrong for us to feel this way?"

"How can it be wrong when it feels so right?"

Hermione was about to ask another question but Draco silenced her with another kiss. The kiss was more passionate, needier than the time before. His tongue easily parted her lips and traced the inside of her mouth unhurriedly.

Now, Hermione was not "inexperienced", she had received kisses before, but this was a whole new phenomenon. It wasn't like Victor Krum's kisses that were only polite pecks; or Ron's, which were rushed and very wet. Draco's kisses were, in short, marvelous.

Breathless, Hermione broke away from him. "Aren't you going to take me inside? It's chilly out here." She smiled mysteriously.

Draco grinned boyishly and chuckled. He then laced Hermione's fingers with his and began to lead her up the white stone path to Malfoy Manor and his awaiting bedroom.

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A/N: Yay! Hermione and Draco are together! A bit fast paced I know. Remember to review please, it only takes a moment of your time and it's nice to hear what you think!

Thank you for the reviews: Isiss2868, MaskOfComedy, thefunkybubble, christy86, Nellz21, detective889, Dociuscan, The Evil Sheep, Fallen Angel of Hell, and Cardboard.