Draco left Snape's office and sighed. He appreciated his professor's concern, but he had it all wrong. Draco was in no way jeopardizing anything, other than maybe his heart. He was way in too deep that if it didn't work out he'd be utterly devastated. Of course, he wouldn't tell him that. The next thing you know he could be braiding Snape's hair. He looked at McGonagall's office door, perhaps he should wait for her? If Snape went ballistic, what more would Gryffindor's den mother? He wasn't exactly boyfriend material. He leaned against the wall and waited.

Ten minutes.

Half an hour. Pretty long talk, that is.

An hour. Really? What are they even talking about? The birds and the bees thing?

After an hour and a half, Draco couldn't wait any longer. He huffed and knocked on the wooden door. After a few seconds it clicked and out came McGonagall, her eyes bulged when she saw him. "Mister Malfoy, how can I help you?"

"I was just wondering about Her- uhm" Oh just say it, there's no need for pretense anymore, he thought. "Hermione."

"Draco, she's left my office almost two hours ago. Our talk was very brief and concise."

Oh." Draco started to feel uneasy, his hands on his pockets. "I was, er, waiting for her to leave. Didn't know she's already gone."

"Well that is very... sweet of you, Mister Malfoy. But she's not here anymore, must have went back to your dormitories. I suggest you do the same and get some rest."

Someone just called Draco sweet. Normally, he would have barfed at the word. But now, he guessed it was one way to put it. He just wanted to see if Hermione was alright. Typical thing that couples do. If he could call them that. He said his goodbyes and walked to their dormitory. One, well that was embarrassing, waiting that long for nothing. Two, he wondered where she was and what she has been doing for the past two hours. Apparently he and Snape had a longer man talk than them. And he thought girls were supposed to be the ones with all gab.

"Oi mate!"

He turned and saw Blaise and Theo walking towards him.

"So, how did it go? Did someone got set on fire? Any press charges?" Blaise teased.

"If you must know, we both had a great holiday. Thanks for your lack of faith." Draco punched him on his forearm.

"Well someone needed to be in touch with reality. Where's Granger?"

"Idunno, I was about to head back and look for her."

"Heard you had a talk with Snape and McGonagall." Theo said. "How did that go?"

"Mine was... awkward as it is." Draco winced. "Wait, how did you know about it?"

"I was walking with Luna when they told her to pass the news to you." Theo replied. Both Blaise and Draco looked at him like he was going to give birth on the spot. "What?"

"Idunno mate, you tell us." Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you hang out with Luna?"

Theo gaped. "We saw each other during an event father had over the break and hung out. Why?"

"Theo, this is Loony Lovegood we're talking about." Draco said.

"She's actually alright. Not as crazy as we make her out to be."

Draco and Blaise looked at each other and guffawed. Blaise touched his stomach and complained about how it hurt. Draco put his hands on his knees and turned his head down, his shoulders shaking.

"What is so funny? You two look like a bunch of idiots." Theo looked at them sternly.

Blaise gained his composure and exhaled. He put an arm around Theo's shoulder. "We know you, mate. You hooked up with almost every single girl in Hogwarts and they didn't last. And now Lovegood? You're really going with Lovegood?"

"He's got a point." Draco added, now calm and collected with his arms crossed on his chest. "Why can't you just, I don't know, recycle?"

"I'm not hanging out with Luna because I want to hook up with her!"

"Right." Draco mumbled and made a small laugh.

"You basically swooned anyone who wore a skirt here. I'd think it more likely you and Professor Hooch, or even Snape on a skirt. But Lovegood?"

"Will you two come off it?" Theo swatted Blaise's arm away. "We're just friends. That's all there is."

"Keep telling yourself that, mate."

"I'll give them a month." Blaise said.

"Come on Blaise give him some slack." Draco added. "I say two weeks." They laughed again.

"You two are a bunch of gits." Theo snarled. "Just because you two are now officially lovesick puppies doesn't mean I'm joining the club too. Keep me out of it."

As you say, well I'm off back. I'll see you two later yeah?" Draco stepped back and left his friends.

He arrived and their common room and saw that it was empty. He was hoping she was on the couch, where they were earlier. He was hoping it was the right time, the right moment to tell her everything. He was never a man of words, but a man of actions. Draco hoped it was enough, Hermione was smart and she must have figured it out by now. But nothing would beat hearing the words come out, the ears and mind and heart to fully absorb and make it tangible. Nothing would beat saying it too, to pour it out and offer it, hoping it's enough. He went to her door and knocked.

"Hermione, you there?"

He heard the door click and she emerged from it. She did not look at him, the floor more interesting than his face. "What is it?" She merely said.

"Hey, you alright?" He put his hand on her shoulder and the other to raise her chin. Her eyes were puffy and red, faint traces on tears on her cheeks. "What happened?"

Hermione struggled but used her last ounce of courage to look at him. He had a face of concern and worry, his eyes felt like stabs through her heart, or what's left of it that he hasn't taken. This was already too much, so she only answered with a shake of her head.

"I'm guessing it's about the talk, is it? With McGonagall? I was waiting for you to get out for about an hour, only to figure out you've already left."

"Y-you waited for me?" She stammered.

"Of course." He raised her head to his. "If I knew it was going to be like this, I should have never let you out of my sight."

Hermione was flustered. He really knew how to make things feel better, make her feel better. If only it were true. He was really good at this, she thought. She wanted to believe him but he must have said that to everyone. Had years of practice, maybe. She retreated from his gentle grasp, and he looked at him with confusion.

"I have been thinking, about us." She said.

"Me too. You go first."

She huffed and shook her head, always the smooth gentleman. "Professor McGonagall said that our... whatever this is, might affect our duties being heads. I think she's right."

Whatever this is? Draco felt his heart fell on his stomach. "What are you saying?"

"This... isn't wise, Draco. We should have thought this through before we jumped into anything."

"Hermione-"

"I mean, we didn't even fully established this did we?" She made a motion with her hands so stiffly she could snap. "So we should probably... stop this before it gets any serious."

She said the last sentence in a high pitch tone like she struggled to get it out of her system. Her tears were starting to form again, her body being a traitor of her true feelings.

Draco felt the air in his lungs suffocate him. Here he was, rejected before it even began, before he even got to say what he wanted. "What if... What if I don't want this to stop?"

"Oh come on, Draco. I'm sure you can find another girl worth your time." Hermione said in a tired tone and sat on her bed, afraid she might collapse in front of him.

Draco was taken aback. "Where is this all coming from?"

"I told you I'm the logical one here, remember?"

Draco was devastated. Everything she said was so cryptic but he understood one thing: she wanted out. Her replayed every single memory of them, looking for a problem, wondering what went wrong or what made her change her mind. He couldn't find any, which made him feel worse.

Hermione looked at him. He was leaning against the door, his face a mixture of shock and pain. Just seeing him this way made her hurt even worse. He looked as miserable as she did, and she didn't know if it was because of them ending what she so called whatever-this-is or losing one of her conquests. She was too tired to figure it out.

"So what's your point then?"

"I'm saying we go back to being... colleagues."

"You mean strangers?"

"Back to the point where it doesn't affect our duties as Head Boy and Girl, yes."

Draco looked away from her and stood properly, his hands on his pockets. "This is what you want?"

No, she thought, this is absolutely not what I want. Who in their right mind would want to lose something like what they have? It was beautiful and perfect, but also not real. She was not going to share him with anyone. If he will always fool around, then she wouldn't bother to have him at all to spare her any more self-inflicted pain. Better to back out now before she was completely swallowed whole. If only the last bit of her was enough to pull her out, she didn't know. "Yes."

He turned his head down and closed his eyes in defeat. He felt like he was shattering into a billion pieces. They were back to the start, not even as friends, but as colleagues as she put it. What a load of crap. He felt like crap, too. He wanted to tell her now, that maybe it would change her mind. But he was afraid that it will make her push him farther away. He didn't even bother to say anything, something like 'okay' or 'no' or 'please don't do this' or 'I love you'. He just opened his eyes, looked at her face and walked out, leaving her door open. He went to his room and laid on his bed, his face covered by the pillow.

Every single step he made away from her solidified the pain in her gut. It was over. Congratulations Hermione, she thought to herself. You just ruined the best thing that has ever happened to you. In her defense, she was sparing herself from any more hurt. But why did it feel like this was already the worst?

~.~

The next morning, Hermione woke up and it took her ten seconds before she felt her chest was heavy again. One, she was back at Hogwarts. And two, she and Draco were back to being simply colleagues.

Also, three. It sucks.

She rose from her bed and sighed. Her baggage was still unpacked, her clothes from last night unchanged. Her reflection in the mirror was unrecognizable, a woman so devastated with tired eyes and a frown. She tried to compose herself, doing a few breathing exercises. It's not the end of the world, she thought. It may be bad now but it will pass. Keep telling yourself that lies. Thinking she was ready, she gathered her toiletries and left her room, hoping a shower would make her feel better. But just when she was about to enter, Draco came out. He was wearing nothing but a towel on and she could help but stare for a few seconds. Other than his wretched-looking face, he was perfect. Realizing her ogling was too much, she looked down at her feet and cleared her throat. "Uhm, good morning."

"Morning." He replied, intentionally omitting the 'good'.

"I, just, I need to use the-"

"Oh sure, go ahead." They moved awkwardly around the door like they were doing a poor waltz. Hermione felt that Draco was too close, she could smell his soap, some trickles of water from his hair falling on her cheek.

Draco wanted to kiss her the moment he saw her by the door. It felt like instinct, but then he remembered. Colleagues, right.

Once she was inside the bathroom and him out, she looked at him and opened her mouth, only to close it back again. He did the same. She closed the door before the silence suffocated them both.

Draco raised his hand, attempting to knock on the door. What for, though? What would he say to her? The girl's determined to go back to being strangers. It was worse than before, at least they interacted and threw hexes at each other. Now, it was just painful. He put his hand down and exhaled, walking back to his room.

Hermione took a while before actually taking a shower. The water did not help to ease the tension in her, his smell lingered. She was so familiar of it, she would smell it every time her face was anywhere near his neck. It swelled her heart, and then her eyes. She shrugged it off and used as much of her soap for his scent to be gone. This was going to be harder than she thought.

She entered the Great Hall and walked to the Gryffindor table like a robot, dragging her feet along. Keeping her composure, she put her head up and sat silently with her friends. Ginny and Harry looked at her and then each other with curious, questioning glances. Ron was dead set on casting her head down, playing with his potatoes.

"Good morning, aren't you a ray of sunshine today?" Harry said.

Ginny slapped Harry's arm where hers was tangled with and looked at her. "You alright? You look... terrible."

"Thanks, Ginny." Hermione huffed and filled her plate with food. She felt so hollow inside, maybe food would help.

"Hermione?" She looked at the direction of the voice. Ron. "About Malfoy... I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about?" She was still filling her plate with food.

"I shouldn't have acted that way. I guess I was... you know. Jealous." Ron shrugged.

"You shouldn't really be saying that when you're girlfriend might arrive any moment from now." Harry said.

"Regardless, I really am sorry Mione. It's just that..." Ron leaned in closer to her. "You and him, I don't like the thought of it. It feels like my stomach is in knots, you know?"

"I don't know, Ron. Maybe you're just hungry." Ginny shrugged. Harry elbowed her and then they smiled at each other. Hermione couldn't look at them.

"Thank you for your honesty, Ron, but it's unnecessary. Draco and I..." Hermione wiped invisible sweat out of her forehead. "We're not really together."

"What do you mean not together? You two are all over each other." Harry said.

"We didn't establish anything, Harry. So it doesn't mean we're together. Not really."

"Oh please, what was the point of the whole meet the family thing if it means you two are not together?" Ginny ranted. "And Harry's right, you're both head over heels over each other."

"Well not anymore. We, or I, decided to keep things between us purely professional."

"What, why? What happened?"

"Nothing. I..." Hermione stammered. It was hard to admit to herself, what more to others? "I just thought that was best. Can we drop it now?"

"But Hermione-"

"Ginny, please?" She pleaded. Ginny bit her bottom lip and then looked at Harry. He pat her hand and they kept silent, and for that Hermiobe was glad. any more of that conversation would have made her break down again, which she didn't want her friends to see. She heard the door of the Great Hall open and couldn't help but look.

Draco entered the hall and his first instinct was to find her. She looked as agitated as he did. Is this how she wanted it? Because he was a total wreck. Her friends looked at him as well, like he was a freak show. He made a curt nod and she gave him a stiff smile with those lips he longed to kiss. He looked away and then went to sit beside Theo, Blaise and Pansy across from them.

"You look like a sourpuss." Theo said. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Hermione wants to be colleagues." Draco said as he put food on his plate. "Just colleagues." His friends looked at each other with confusion.

"Just like that?" Blaise asked. Draco merely nodded. After a few silent seconds, Pansy added. "I knew this was bound to happen."

"Come on Pansy, don't start..." Theo pleaded.

"No, I told you Draco, didn't I? This is Gryffindor's Princess, war heroine, champion of all Muggle-borns you're trying to get. And we're a bunch of kids stuck with the mistakes our Pureblood supremacist parents made. It was doomed from the beginning."

Blaise rested his hand on top of hers. "I'm sorry but I don't think that's it. Draco, what exactly happened?"

"I don't know! All I know is that I must have screwed up!" Draco raised his voice. "And I don't know if I can go through with just being 'just colleagues'-" he raised two fingers in the air and curled them twice. "- when every time I see her I want to touch and kiss her? It'll drive me insane!"

Several people looked at Draco because of his outburst. He glared at them and they looked away, back to their food and their business. He pushed his plate away.

"Sorry to hear that mate." Theo patted his shoulder. They stayed silent for the rest of breakfast.

Later that afternoon, Hermione went back to their common room for their prefect meeting. She sat where Draco taught her to play wizard chess, remembering their conversations and little moments. Pushing the memories aside, she started organizing patrol duty. A few minutes later, Draco arrived. He wasn't wearing his robe, only his crisp white shirt, the sleeves raised to his elbows. His shoulders were slumped, messenger bag on one side. He ran his hands through his hair, and oh how she wanted to do that herself, while he closed the door. When he saw her, he mumbled. "Hey."

"We have a prefect meeting today in about an hour." She looked away from him before he noticed her ogling him and shuffled a few papers. "We're supposed to give out new patrol rounds."

"Right." He replied. He approached slowly, testing the waters. He was standing opposite her. "Can I help you with that?"

"Oh no, it's alright. I can manage."

"The meeting is in an hour, and we have around thirty prefects with different schedules. And I know for a fact that you haven't even started fixing it because we spent all our free time during break together."

"Draco..."

"What, you think I've forgotten? Or at least tried to forget?"

"Fine, don't snap at me." Hermione mumbled and shared some papers to the other end of the table. "I've divided them to year levels, you take the lower years I'll have the higher."

Draco didn't really plan to snap at her, he just wanted to help. They were both Heads anyway, he might as well do their job. It was the first time since they've been together, or not at all, that their duties would be in the picture. All those times before were mere flirting. Draco wanted to prove to her that they would do well to work even if they were in a relationship, because he believed it will. It wouldn't be a distraction, maybe at most times. Surely there will be intimate times here and there. And if that was what bothered her, Draco will make her change her mind. Yes, that's it. He'll get her back.

"What are you smiling at?"

Draco woke up from his small realization. "No I'm not."

Hermione knew that smile. It was subtle but deviant, like he was concocting a plan in his head. She saw it every time he was about to kiss her, and if that happened, she would just lose it. It better not have anything to do with that because his close proximity was enough of a distraction as it is. "Let's just get to work, shall we?"

~.~

Five minutes before the prefect meeting, Hermione was making final touches on the new patrol schedule. She had to admit that she couldn't have finished it if Draco didn't help her. Even her organizing skills weren't that good, especially when Draco was around. She noticed every single movement he made, like how he'd put his quill feather on his chin and flick it twice. Or how the veins on his writing arm would come out before he would ink. Most of all, she would notice when he would look at her while she tried her best not to look back.

Little did she know that Draco did know when she was looking at him. He'd know because he could feel her looking at him, and was trying to make her look back.

"I think that's it." Hermione exhaled, looking at their joined work.

"Just in time." Draco said. They both sat in silence. He tapped his fingers on the wooden table, while she sat stiffly, her hands on her lap. She looked everywhere but at him, while he did the opposite. "We did good, didn't we? Working together?"

Hermione paused. "Y-yes. What's your point?"

"So it's safe to say that what we have doesn't really affect our Head duties, right? So-"

Before Draco can even begin to start, there was a knock on their door. The prefects have arrived, and Draco wanted to keep them out there. Impeccable timing, they had. But if he wanted to convince her that their relationship and Head duties could work together, he had to be level-minded. "I'll go get it."

Hermione let out air that she didn't know she was holding in.

"This conversation isn't over, okay?" He said as he moved closer to her. "I'm not giving this up."

Before she could protest, he kissed the top of her head and then sprinted to open the door.

Yes, this was definitely harder than she thought.