Draco left the Great Hall, making a point to saunter by the Gryffindor table so Granger would see him leave. He spent the afternoon working on the Vanishing Cabinet, and he felt that he had truly earned this reward. He was itching to get his hands on her again.

She arrived at the room five minutes after he did. He was sitting on a couch, in front of the fireplace. When she arrived, his eyes flashed and he shot her a smirk.

"Granger."

"Malfoy."

For a moment it was a tad awkward. What had happened the day before just sort of happened. This was different. This had been planned. Hermione stood at the door, feeling stupid, wishing he would be the first to say something. He looked at her expectedly and patted the seat next to him to motion her to join him. She made her way to the couch, removed her shoes, and sat next to him, tucking her feet under her. He threw an arm behind her and dragged her closer to him until her face was next to his.

"Hi."

"Hey." She was blushing. Having just relived the previous evening by spilling the details to Ginny, she could hardly wait to feel those warm hands on her again.

As if on cue, Draco cupped her cheek, running his thumb over her bottom lip before dipping in and claiming it with his own. The kiss got interesting when Draco shifted, pulling Hermione into his lap to straddle him. She complied eagerly, bucking her hips against him. He responded in kind.

"I thought about this all day." His voice was full of sex. Hermione moaned lightly in response and dipped her head to his neck, licking, biting, and tasting. Draco moaned at her attentions and tightened his grip on her hips. Hermione felt powerful. She could tell he was really enjoying what she was doing to him.

"I see…I…wasn't the only one." She hummed in agreement, loosening his tie. The two slowly undressed each other, never ceasing in their kissing and grinding. By the time they were naked, both of them were practically gasping for air.

"What do you want, Granger?" Draco asked as he slid his finger over her soaking slit.

She bucked her hips at the contact. "You" she managed with a hiss.

"You'll have to be more specific, princess. I know you can be." He inserted a finger and bucked at a pleasurable rhythm that tortured Hermione. It wasn't enough.

She sucked in a breath of air and gathered her Gryffindor courage. "I want you to fuck me."

He beamed at the request. "How do you want me to fuck you?"

"Like this. Just like this." The two hadn't moved from the couch and she was still straddling his lap.

He answered her wordlessly, sliding into her in a single slick movement.

"Yes, please." She wasn't really sure what she was begging for. But he gave it to her all the same. They met each other at every thrust. He bucked into her and she pushed back, riding him into the cushions. His fingers dug into her hips so deeply, she would have cried out in pain had she been capable of feeling it. She clutched and clawed his back and his neck, leaving delicate little ribbons of blood. He slammed into her from below.

"That's it." SLAM. "Ride me." SLAM. "Take my cock, Granger." SLAM.

She mewled above him. He tugged her hair as he dragged her face to his in a desperate kiss. His tongue thrust with the rhythm of his cock. His body shook as he kissed her, as though she was the only thing preventing him from combusting on the spot. They thrust even harder against each other, her clit grinding into his pelvis, their mouths never leaving each other.

Hermione came wildly, moaning against Draco's feverish mouth. He released her and pulled back to watch her throw back her head and wail, her body flushed and glowing. She continued to ride him as her orgasm washed over her in waves. The way she looked when she rode him…when she came…she was the most divine creature he had ever seen. Her head thrown back, her stretched muscles, her flushed skin…the sight of her pushed him over the edge. He came deep inside her, clutching her body in support.

She fell limp in his arms and they both struggled to catch their breath. Draco pulled out of her with a hiss and grabbed her by the legs to secure her place in his lap. He stood, and with somewhat shaky legs, walked them both over to the bed. Hermione giggled appreciatively. He set her gently on the surface and crawled next to her, pulling her flush against him, and covered them both with the sheets. He ran his fingers up and down her forearm before finding her hand with his and playing with the delicate fingers.

Neither of them said a word. Had they spoken, they would have sounded like lovers. Not like two people who had spent their entire childhoods hating each other. Not like two people on different sides of a war.

After a while, Draco asked tentatively "Granger?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we barmy for doing this?"

She shifted, resting her chin on his chest while he played with her hair. "Probably. Do you want to stop?"

He swallowed. "I don't think I can."

She smiled sadly and planted a kiss on his chest. "I don't think I can, either."

He brought her face up to his and kissed her with fire. Hermione could taste his fear. She ran her hand down his body and stroked his length. He was hard again and she straddled him while they kissed and guided him back inside her. They rocked slowly, kissing and breathing heavily into one another. They clutched each other's bodies desperately, their bodies sweaty from their previous exertions, and whispered their moans into each other.

This was different from everything they had done thus far. It was more than just the animalistic fucking that they had engaged in. This was intimate. It felt real. Hermione came first, biting down on Draco's shoulder to stifle her moan. When Draco followed close behind, he knew he was already lost.

On the way back to the dungeons, Draco replayed the night in his head.

It had been way too hard to leave that room. They held each other for a while after the "lovemaking," both too frightened of their own treacherous voices to speak about what had passed between them. Draco had allowed himself to kiss the top of her head. He recalled the way her face looked when they were tangled up in the sheets. From that angle he noticed things he had never seen before.

He had never noticed that her eyelashes were so long. When she blinked, they fluttered like little black butterflies across the top of her cheeks.

Her hair wasn't frizzy, as most people assumed. It was curly and riotous. It was the only thing about her appearance that wasn't prim and proper, the only thing that hinted at the passionate woman she really was.

Her hands were small. He played with them, holding them up again his much larger hands which swallowed hers whole.

She had the softest skin and it smelled, and even tasted, like vanilla. She was a treat with her aphrodisiac vanilla skin and her wild, green apple-scented hair.

He couldn't fool himself any longer that he disliked her. He also knew that this fact alone could get them both killed and it tore at him. He didn't want to let her go, but having her in his life…him being in her life…it was risky. Draco wasn't a coward, but he was no Gryffindor either.

He supposed it was too late either way. Even if they stopped, the damage was already done. There was only one thing he could do.

He turned a corner down a dark corridor the students never entered. He knocked on the door at the end. A few moments later, a rather disoriented Severus Snape appeared. He crooked at eyebrow at his godson.

"Uncle Sev, I'm sorry to disrupt you at this hour. But I need you to teach me Occlumency."

The next day Hermione sat in the Common Room with Harry and Ron working on homework. She was having a difficult time concentrating on Ancient Runes. All she could think about was this monumental new secret she was keeping from her two best friends. She knew she should have felt guilty about it…but she just…didn't. She knew they would never understand. As if it wasn't bad enough that Malfoy was a deplorable bully whose favorite target had always been the three of them, Harry had this ridiculous idea that Malfoy was a Death Eater.

"You're being rather quiet." Harry nudged her.

"I'm studying Harry."

Harry shrugged. "I've been meaning to tell you…you need to be careful around Malfoy."

Hermione's heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Surely he didn't know! Don't overreact. You don't know what he means by that.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, not looking up from her book.

"Dean said something to Ron and I the other day…it's probably completely mental but you should at least be on your guard."

Hermione looked up from her book. "Speak, Potter."

Harry chuckled. "It's mad. I know. You'll laugh when I tell you. But…Dean seems to think that Malfoy's got some sort of weird crush on you."

Hermione couldn't contain her laugh. It was especially funny that Harry thought her laughter was prompted by the mere impossibility of the notion that Malfoy could ever fancy her. It wasn't his fault. He had no way of knowing.

"That's just…wow. Why would he think that?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Apparently he stares at you a lot. And Dean thought he seemed a bit jealous at me that day in Hogsmeade when I said…well…you know." Ron blushed guiltily.

Hermione bit her lip. "So I need to worry about him…why exactly?"

Harry sighed. "I just…I have this sinking suspicion that he's up to something this year."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry we've been over this. Draco Malfoy is not a Death Eater. He's a kid. What would You-Know-Who possibly want with him?"

"I don't know exactly but I just have this feeling. And I've been watching him on the map, and—"

"Wait, what?" Hermione panicked slightly. If he could see Malfoy on the map, then that meant he could see her too. With Malfoy. Alone. Locked in a room together for hours.

"Yeah, I've been watching him and half the time he doesn't even show up on the map. It makes no sense. I think it's because he's in the Room of Requirement. That room must not show up on the map."

Hermione felt conflicted. On the one hand…thank. Merlin. For that. But on the other hand…Malfoy spending all his free time in the Room of Requirement was kind of dodgy, as much as she refused to admit it to Harry. She simply would not enable his crazy.

"So you think…what exactly? That room can turn into anything, Harry. Maybe he's using it for something completely innocent. Maybe he just wants a quiet place to study." Or fuck.

"Maybe. But that still doesn't explain why he spends most of his time there. And what was he doing in Knockturn Alley this summer? We know his family's in deep with Voldemort. His father went to Azkaban. Maybe Malfoy's just taking his dad's place."

Hermione shook her head. It couldn't be true. Malfoy was rude and arrogant, and a buffet of other unpleasant adjectives most of the time. But he was far from evil. He was too smart to get tangled up with the Death Eaters. Plus he was just so…so…

After sex he held her like she was the most precious thing in the world. He made her feel wanted and beautiful. He was almost…sweet. Not someone capable of carrying out nefarious schemes for You-Know-Who.

"Just promise me you'll be careful around him. If he is a Death Eater…it's not going to be good for you if he's got his eye on you," Harry said.

"If Malfoy is a Death Eater then it's not going to be good for me whether he fancies me or not. Because…I mean I don't have a list or anything unless you count my blood status, my friendship with you, my involvement with the Order of the Phoenix—"

"I know. Just…watch him, alright. That's all I'm saying. I know you'd never want anything to do with him, but just…be careful. Keep an eye on him."

Hermione felt a pang of guilt at her friend's concern. If he only knew how off base he was.

"Alright, Harry. I'll keep an eye on him."