4.41 PM

Sunlight flooded his vision as Draco opened his eyes. He immediately shut them again with a groan, reaching for something to block out the light. The covers worked, and he sighed in relief as the sharp light disappeared.

His bed felt smaller than usual as he stretched his arms above his head, his limbs feeling heavy and sore.

His throat was dry and his head felt like it made of stone and to top it all off, he had a pounding migraine that made him feel as if his head was splitting in half. It felt like he'd had too much to drink last night, but he couldn't remember drinking.

He couldn't remember much, actually. That was strange, considering that Draco almost never forgot anything after a drunken night. The last thing he could remember was the start of the Quidditch Game.

With a frown, Draco kept his eyes closed and slowly moved his heavy body up, sitting up in the smaller bed and swinging his legs over the edge.

With an outstretched hand, he blindly located a table and put most of his weight on it as he prepared to get out of bed.

He stretched his legs out to touch the floor slowly, pulling them back as the chilly stone made contact with his toes.

With a sigh, he stretched his left leg out, balanced on it, and then took a step forward, swinging his right leg off the bed, and his socks slipped on the floor.

Suddenly, sharp, white hot pain shot through his back. Draco opened his eyes in shock.

With a shout of agony, Draco crumpled to the floor as Madame Pomfrey came rushing out of her quarters.

"Mister Malfoy!" she scolded.

She tutted and pulled out her wand, levitating him back to his bed.

"Stay here." she gave him a sharp look and marched off to get something as Draco made low sounds of pain, his back aching.

Madam Pomfrey appeared a second later holding a bottle of potion.

"Drink up." she ordered, filling up a cup and handing it to him. Draco obediently drank as the Medi-Witch tutted.

"You've damaged your spine, there's a crack in one of your discs. Because it's not broken, Skele-grow will do nothing, so you have to have patience. You need to be careful. Luckily the magic should heal it by tomorrow, but you'll still need to be careful as your body is bruised and sore."

"I didn't know."

"No wonder Minerva moved your dormitory." she mumbled to herself, checking him over and lifting up his shirt to check his ribs.

"Does it hurt anywhere else, Mr. Malfoy?"

"No." Draco sighed. "Thank you."

She raised an eyebrow and left, Draco reclining on his pillows as the pain faded away.

Before he knew it, the room was fading and his eyelids were getting heavy. Of course she'd given him a sleeping potion.

The sound of the infirmary doors opening made him turn his head to focus his blurry vision on the figure standing in between them.

His vision started to narrow, but he could just make out a small, black-cloaked figure with a tumblr of brown curls surrounding its head.

Draco's last thought before he passed out was; Granger?

5.01 PM

Hermione anxiously took a step towards Draco's bed, his blonde hair the only colour visible amongst all the white.

She finally arrived next to his hospital bed, taking in his appearance with a frown as she bit her lip.

He didn't look too different; his skin was pale and his face was a bit sunken but that was to be expected after lying in a potion induced sleep for a few days.

Hermione hesitantly took a seat next to his bed, reaching out a hand to touch his before she thought better of it and pulled it back to rest in her lap.

She studied Draco as he slept, his chest rising and falling slowly as he inhaled and exhaled. Occasionally his eyebrow would twitch, as if to rise towards his hair line and say 'And what are you looking at?'

His features were relaxed, and it reminded Hermione of when she had studied him sleeping in their Broom Closet stay.

Memories of their first, drunken kiss slowly entered her mind, and she recalled the thrill of him pulling her forward and capturing her lips again just a few days ago.

She couldn't deny that she had romantic feelings for Draco. But as she remembered their kissing, she also remembered the sight of him and Astoria Greengrass together.

She felt the pain and humiliation sweep through her and she frowned at Draco.

Deciding that she had sat there long enough, she reached down and pulled her bag onto her lap.

After rummaging around in it for a few seconds she pulled out a few boxes, placing them on Draco's bedside table.

She smiled as the three chocolate frog boxes wriggled and croaked a bit before going silent.

Standing up, she closed her bag and then slung it over her shoulder, looking at Draco one last time before she slowly extended her hand, brushing her fingertips with his own. Draco murmured in his sleep, and Hermione blushed, instantly pulling back shyly before she turned and left.

5.15 PM

Pansy watched as Hermione exited the Hospital Wing, her hazel eyes glittering with interest.

So she had been right; Hermione did like Draco.

But the girl seemed too clueless as to what to actually do or say.

She briefly considered pulling her aside to have a word with her, but she wasn't sure how.

Pansy was good at figuring things out, though. And she would figure out what to say to Hermione, and how to say it.

After all, she owed it to Draco to make sure that things turned out right.

She made her way over to Draco's bed, sitting down in the vacant seat and clasping Draco's hand in her own.

"Get better soon, Draco, we miss you. And don't worry about Granger, she cares." she whispered, squeezing his hand as he slept.

12.35 PM

Hermione picked at the remains of her food at lunch, pushing them around her plate again and again.

The cause of her troubles was Astoria Greengrass, who was sitting at the Slytherin table. She was sitting there, looking all depressed.

'As girlfriends generally do when their boyfriend is unconscious in hospital.' Hermione's mind told her.

She sighed and set her fork down next to her plate.

Immediately, Ron leaned over.

"Are you going to finish that?" he asked, looking at the remains of her plate.

"No, you can have the rest."

"Thanks, Mione." he said, scooping it onto his plate and finishing it off for her.

She smiled, leaning into him gently.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing. For once." Hermione answered. Ron chuckled, bending to kiss the top of her head and wrapping an arm around her.

"I know. It's almost too quiet." he joked, looking at Harry who was chatting with Ginny quietly.

"But nice." Hermione said, looking up at Ron.

"Until I have History of Magic." he groaned.

Hermione laughed, smacking him lightly on the arm.

"It's not that bad."

"Says the girl who enjoys every single class in the history of Hogwarts."

"Hey! I do not!"

"Oh yes, I forgot; Divination. Its okay, Hermione-we understand that it was just too difficult for you to grasp." he snickered.

"You're dead to me, Ronald Weasley. No more homework help."

"I didn't mean it!" he panicked, blurting out and spraying mashed potatoes all over the table as Hermione laughed.

A day later

3.05 AM

Hermione stumbled out of the small hallway connecting her bedroom to the common room and squinted into the darkness. This was her first night staying in her new secondary dorm, and she'd used it because she'd been working on an assignment until 2 in the morning.

She fumbled for the light switch before she remembered that Hogwarts didn't have light switches and sighed, reaching her hand forward and holding it out until it connected with the wall leading to the small kitchen located at the back of the common room. The Lumos she'd cast in her room had helped her find the door, but also provided her absolutely no night vision out in the dark room she was stumbling through.

Her throat was parched and was craving water so badly. If she went without liquid for a minute more she felt as if her mouth might turn into the Sahara Desert. She had gone to bed earlier but completely forgotten to have a drink then.

Stumbling into the kitchenette, her eyes still unadjusted to the darkness, she fumbled for a glass and filled it with water from the tap.

Hastily drinking it in two gulps before she poured herself another and decided to take it back to her bedroom.

She sleepily shuffled back towards her bedroom, heading towards the area she knew that her hallway was, clutching her glass and wishing her eyes would adjust to the darkness.

She extended a hand again, using the wall to guide her towards the hallway, and it was then that she saw something move in the darkness of the Common Room.

She stopped, her breath hitching in her throat as she realised that her wand was sitting by her bed-useless, and cursing her foggy brain. Wandless magic would be near impossible right now.

Perhaps she was just seeing things? After all, it was three in the morning and her brain wasn't working properly. She was probably imagining it all.

However, the shuffling of footsteps on carpet alerted her that there was someone in the common room, and she fought back a wave of terror.

She slowly kept going, breathing as quietly as she could and praying to Merlin that who ever it was didn't notice her. Unfortunately for Hermione, she was too busy staring at the common room to notice the small table in her way.

With a loud crash, she walked into it and froze as it toppled sideways, sending the books on it tumbling everywhere.

Abruptly, the shuffling in the Common Room stopped, and Hermione heard the creak of a floorboard as the intruder shifted their weight, her vision finally adjusting to the darkness and allowing her to see faintly.

Her heart was hammering in her throat as she tried to blend into the wall, spotting the outline of the person just a few meters away.

The figure moved, and Hermione let out an ear piercing scream before she hurled her water glass at the place where she knew they were, before nimbly leaping over the toppled table and taking off at a sprint towards her bedroom.

As she ran down her hallway, a loud curse alerted her to the fact that her aim had been fairly on target.

She ripped open the room to her door and slammed it shut, lunging towards the bedside table where she knew her wand was.

She scrambled for it and cursed as it rolled under the bed, diving under to go and fetch it and groping in the dark, her heart still pounding rapidly.

She didn't hear her bedroom door open, but suddenly she felt herself being dragged out from under her bed by her ankles.

Hermione gave one giant kick backwards as she lost reach of her wand, cursing before she took a deep breath and let out a shrill scream as she was dragged onto the carpet next to her bed.

"Stop screaming!" snapped an irritated voice, and Hermione froze.

She knew that voice.

Rolling over, she looked with wide eyes at an annoyed and sleepy looking Draco Malfoy,her Lumos spell casting enough light for her to see him in.

His hair was wet and plastered to his head, droplets of water sliding down the end of his nose and dripping onto the floor.

She stared at him, shocked as he scowled intensely.

"Do you know how incredibly painful that scream is to my ears?" he growled.

"Not to mention that you threw a glass of water at me. What were you thinking, Granger?"

"It's not my fault I thought you were an intruder!" She snapped, sitting up and scowling at him.

"Anyway, what were you doing in the Common Room in the dark at three in the morning anyway?" she glared as he helped her up.

"I was released from the Hospital Wing at eleven, and McGonagall told me that my dorm had been moved. Not only was I sleepy, but then she brought me here. Tired, I crashed on the nearest soft surface, which turned out to be the couch and was woken by you shuffling around." he glared at her.

Hermione felt sorry for him, concern filling her eyes.

"Did I hit you with the glass?" she asked tentatively, summoning her wand with a single thought now that had mind had cleared and flicking it to turn the lights in her room on.

"What do you take me for, Granger, an easy target? I think not."

She glared, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him.

"Perhaps something like 'an idiot who scares poor unsuspecting girls into throwing objects at them' would be a more correct title, Malfoy?"

"You make it sound like I wanted you to throw a glass of water at me." he glowered.

Hermione looked at his soaking wet hair and started to giggle, causing his glower to become positively scary.

"Remember, Granger, that I don't take being laughed at lightly." he threatened.

Hermione just laughed even more, sinking onto her bed and trying to take a proper breath as she laughed and laughed at the expression on his face.

"That's it." he growled, lunging at her swiftly but miraculously Hermione managed to roll off the bed and onto the other side, escaping his reach.

He smirked at her across the bed, his eyebrow raised in a challenge as she hovered, unsure what to do.

With a sudden leap, he bounded over her bed and towards her but she gave a shriek and ran for the door.

"Knox!" she cried on the way out, plunging the room into darkness as she sprinted through the hallway and into the Common Room.

A soft laugh came from her room as she hovered in the darkness of the Common Room, trying to think of a place to hide.

"You really shouldn't have done that." he called, and Hermione's heart started to pound in her chest as she scanned the room desperately.

She scampered towards the sofas, but deeming them too predictable instead raced towards her desk in the corner of the room, squeezing underneath it and curling her knees up to her chest as she held her breath.

"You should know, Granger, that Malfoy's never lose at games." his teasing voice told her from somewhere in the pitch black room, and Hermione muffled her giggle, biting her lip and hoping that he couldn't hear her heart pounding from where ever he was.

A creaking floorboard made her inch further into the corner, discovering a secret, hollowed out space behind the drawers on the side of her desk. She carefully moved into the space and curled all her limbs in, praying that nothing was visible, and it was a second later that his pale hand shot under the desk where she had been hiding just a second before, swiping at the empty air.

She grinned triumphantly, her adrenaline pumping as she realised that she was playing Hide and Seek with Malfoy in their shared common room. It brought back memories of playing as a kid with her primary school friends, and she had to clap her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggle.

"I know you're there." he told her, moving slowly around the room and scanning with his excellent eyes for any disturbance or movement in the shadows that could alert him to her whereabouts.

She peeked around the corner of her hiding spot in the desk and spotted his shape moving towards the other side of the room and the fireplace.

With a quick movement, she shimmied out of her hiding space and made to move towards the book-cases when she accidentally tipped over her desk chair.

With a squeak she quickly tucked her limbs together and rolled towards the couch instead as Draco swivelled around and started approaching the fallen chair.

Her breathing shallow, Hermione squeezed under the couch and watched with baited breath as Draco turned the chair to its upright position.

"So now we're playing catch the Gryffindor, are we?" he mocked, his tone almost sending Hermione into fits of giggles again.

Instead, she inched towards the end of the couch that was closest to the hallway leading to her room, glancing at where he was standing.

But he was gone! Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she wondered where he had moved to, her eyes scanning the floor but unable to spot him.

After a few minutes of silence, she crawled out from under the couch and got onto her hands and knees, heading for the hallway bit by bit.

She was at the wall and standing when a hand enclosed around her wrist.

"Gotcha!" he cried, and Hermione gave a shriek of fright before she wriggled from his grip and took off down her hallway laughing uncontrollably.

She raced towards her bedroom door and dared not look back as she ran, feeling as if her door was getting farther and farther away.

When she finally reached it she twisted the knob only to find that it was locked.

Cursing, she was about to unlock it when a hand closed over hers on the handle and a warm presence came up behind her.

"Alohomora." he whispered as he leaned close, his hot breath ticking her ear as every single hair on her body stood up on its end, goose bumps breaking out all over her skin.

He turned the handle, his hand still on hers and pushed open the door, dropping her hand but not stepping back.

"Now, you're going to do exactly as I say, Granger." he whispered in her ear, and Hermione swallowed nervously.

"You're going to stay still, and not run away this time."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I don't know..."

"That's a bit hurtful, I did get hit by a bludger for you and hand over the win to Gryffindor." he murmured, and she took a deep breath in.

She felt her heart beating against her ribcage, as if it were trying to get out - waiting, anxious as she wondered what would come next.

When she felt him step up behind her again she shivered as his hand smoothed up and then gently wrapped around her forearm.

He moved her arm so it was across her belly, his own arm covering hers as he pulled her against him and inhaled softly.

They stood like that for a few moments, a blush staining her cheeks before she felt his warm breath on her neck, and then a gentle hand moving her chin to the side, and then he was kissing her and it was fabulous and wonderful and she was trying to twist in his embrace and push herself closer to him but he wouldn't let her.

He groaned as he pulled back, and Hermione made a sound of protest as she tried to lean towards his lips again, but his hold on her didn't allow her to reach and she pouted.

"You have no idea how badly I've wanted to do that since the last time we kissed." he told her, his voice husky.

Hermione blushed in the dark, her cheeks turning red as she tried to turn in his grasp.

"I don't think so." he chuckled as she wriggled to try and embrace him, instead holding her close.

"I'm not letting you go until I'm ready. This moment is too good to not hang onto." he whispered into her ear, placing a soft kiss on her throat.

Hermione let her head tilt to the side as he let his lips brush against the skin of her neck, and then come down to rest on her shoulder.

When he let go of her arm to wrap his arms around her, she turned around and pressed herself up against his warm body, sliding her arms around his neck as he cupped the back of her head with his hands, staring down at her in the dim light filtering through the gaps in her curtains.

"I liked the chocolate frogs." he smiled.

"I'm glad." she replied, pressing her nose to the hollow of his throat. She felt his chin come to rest on the top of her head a second later, and she yawned, leaning even closer to him as he stroked the nape of her neck, her eyelids getting heavier and harder to keep open.

Before she knew it she was lying on her bed under the warm covers and he was settling in behind her.

He pulled her into him and her face fell in to rest in the crook of his neck, her warm breath fanning onto his skin as she fell asleep, her breathing settling into a slow and steady pattern. Warm and sleepy, Draco pulled Hermione closer before he too succumbed to a deep and proper sleep.