The person who gave me the idea for my last chapter in her review was Nicole Christensen. She asked me what Draco was "going to do now, sleep on her floor?" I took that idea and gave it my own twist. (I really couldn't imagine Mr. Arrogance personified sleeping on the floor. However, it could easily be the other way around!) So if you liked it, thank her.

Anyway, the updates are going to become few and far between from now on, since my exams are starting. moans, cries, whines Anyway, I think they will be much more frequent after December 20th, which is when my last exam is on. So, to quote my msn nickname, "Patience is a virtue."

Chapter 11: Une nuit blance (a sleepless night) Draco turned on his light for the fifth time, just to make sure that Hermione, no..Gran.oh what the hell, Hermione was still there. He saw her sleeping peacefully. Was she sleeping too peacefully, was she dead? No, her chest was moving, she was breathing, and her cheeks actually had some pinkness to them. Her bushy brown hair framed her face in such a way that it looked tiny. She looked so vulnerable, and she was. She was also beautiful. Draco immediately turned off his light, closed his eyes, and groaned. No, she was NOT beautiful. No Mudblood was supposed to be beautiful. Draco turned again, squeezed his eyes shut, and tried desperately to sleep.

Despite Draco Malfoy's impression, Hermione was NOT sleeping peacefully. She may have been slightly messed up these past few days, but that didn't do anything to addle her brain. Despite the fact that she lacked experience in the field of Romance, she could not but notice the changes in her once arch enemy. For starters, the Draco Malfoy she knew would never have dreamed of making her sleep in his room. He would never have promised to keep her safe, and he would never have showed that he was worried about her. He would certainly not turn on his light five times just to make sure that she was safe. It seemed as though.as though he CARED about what was going to happened to her, and it was such a relief to feel cared for once in a while. But what if he didn't? What if she was just interpreting all the signs wrong? But what else could they mean?

"Malfoy?" Hermione whispered.

"You should be sleeping Granger" Came the authoritative voice from the bed.

"Why should I? You aren't." Hermione persisted.

Draco sighed, turned on his light, and sat up on his bed.

"Alright, talk!"

Hermione remained silent.

"Look Granger, if you won't talk, I'm going to go to sleep."

"You can't. So why try?" Hermione said. She was too tired for pretenses that night.

Draco heaved a loud sigh, and lay back down.

"You know, Honesty is one of your most undesirable traits Granger."

"And lack of it is yours." Hermione snapped back.

"Look Granger, if you just woke me up so that you could berate me about my lack of honesty, I'm.."

"I didn't wake you up. You weren't sleeping. I need you to tell me why."

"Why what?" Draco bit out.

"Why you couldn't sleep." Hermione answered, her voice almost pleading.

"Why does it matters to you Granger? My sleep, or lack of it, is my business."

"Not if I'm the cause of it."

".."

He didn't deny it. For a strange reason, Hermione felt her heart fill just because Malfoy didn't deny it. It showed that he cared, and she needed desperately for someone to care. However, it also filled her with dread. How deep were his feelings for her? Did he care just because he felt responsible, or was there something more? And if there was, what was he going to do about it?

"Granger?"

"Y..yes?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"What you did tonight. You know."

"It wasn't your fault Malfoy."

"I know."

"You do?"

"I've said meaner things to you before Granger. You didn't go and kill yourself then."

"So why."

"Why what?"

Hermione got up. He was already staring at her.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you taking care of me?"

"I'm not.."

"Please Malfoy. I can't deal with more lies. Not now."

He sighed. Lay back down, and closed the lights. A few moments later, after Hermione had given up all hope, he whispered..

"I don't know Granger. All I know is that I won't be able to sleep another night without knowing that you were safe. I know that it doesn't answer your question but.."

"For now Draco, its enough."

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in my story, J.K. Rowlings does. I'm just borrowing them to try out my creative juices. Please don't sue me.



For this chapter I had a little help from my friend (I don't know love scenes) who I will call Deprez'd n Diztrb'd (this is her choice of name, and not mine) so I would like to acknowledge her right now. (I've never had a boyfriend.sniff.so no experience in the area of love.) Hope you liked it.