Hello! Sorry for the late upload! Things have been really hectic lately but hopefully the longer than normal chapter makes up for it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot.

"So, tell me," Blaise held me closer to him and pulled the bed covers over us, "how many times have you moved?"

I laughed and kissed his cheek before tucking my head underneath his chin.

"Why do you want to know so much about me all of a sudden?"

"Well, I thought I knew you so well, but it turns out there's a whole part of your life I don't know anything about."

"You mean my childhood? When you didn't actually know me?"

Blaise rolled his eyes and tickled my side. I tried to muffle my laughter as I squirmed away from his fingers, gasping for breath.

"Yes smartass. I want to know more about when you were a kid."

"Okay fine!" I managed through my giggles. "I'll tell you, just please stop."

He grinned in victory and wrapped his arms back around me, holding me securely against him.

"I was born in Pittsburgh, but I don't remember it at all. We moved when I was six months old because my parents hated it there. Then I lived in Wisconsin for a while, but I don't remember that either. My sister used to tell me that it looked like it was out of a fairy tale though. She told me we lived in a small, chocolate colored house and there was a lot of snow during the winter. There were also little raspberry bushes in the front yard that deer would come and eat from."

Blaise had started running his fingers through my hair at that point while he listened to me. He always loved playing with my hair.

"Then we moved to California," I continued, resting my head on his chest. "We lived near my aunt and uncle. They're really sweet people. You'd like them. My aunt is an amazing cook and my uncle is really funny. I was always at their house growing up."

"How many aunts and uncles do you have?"

"Way too many, but they're my closest relatives. She's my mom's only sister and my dad's an only child. I'm related to all my other aunts and uncles through my grandparents."

"Mhhm," he hummed, gently tucking my hair behind my ear. "What about after California?"

"New York," I whispered. I was quickly falling asleep as I listened to his slow, steady heartbeat underneath my head. "I moved to New York and I met you."

He shifted our position so that he could lie on his side and look at my face.

"I'm glad you did," he said. I smiled back at him and snuggled closer. "If you didn't, I wouldn't get to enjoy being in your giant ass house."

I hit Blaise's chest, but he just laughed and held me tighter. We were in my room in the middle of the night after I snuck him in through the window. It was a ritual we'd grown used to. Unfortunately, Blaise always needed to leave as early as possible in the morning to avoid getting caught by my parents, who still refused to acknowledge that I even liked someone after almost a year of dating him. Of course, they didn't know we were going on dates, but I still mentioned Blaise from time to time in the hope that they would eventually want to get to know him.

"You have a big house," I said.

Blaise's family was just as rich as Draco, Marcus or Pansy's, but mine weren't. My family was upper middle class, which meant we were comfortable, but didn't spend our extra money on fancy sports cars and second homes in Hawaii.

"That's my stepdad's house," he refuted, "not mine. I barely belong there with them."

I frowned and moved away a little so that I could get a better look at him. I knew he and his stepdad didn't really get along, making it hard to be closer to his two younger brothers as a result. Blaise's stepdad hated him ever since he was four years old and met his mother. I could only assume that it had something to do with the fact that Blaise was another man's son. It didn't help that his mother often seemed to neglect Blaise because she had so much to do, including taking care of his siblings. He didn't usually go into detail about it, preferring to ignore his problems at home in favor of enjoying the moment with me.

I reached forward and placed a quick kiss on his nose, drawing his attention back to me and away from whatever he was thinking about that was making him so upset.

"You know I love you?"

His frown immediately changed into that natural, easy-going smile that made my heart skip a beat. He nodded.

"I love you," he whispered, showering my face with kisses.

"How much?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"So much."

I woke up gasping for breath with my heart racing. A quick glance around me revealed that I had fallen asleep on a bench close to the center of NYU. I took deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself down and drank a little more of the burning liquid contained in the bottle next to me.

I had those dreams repeatedly ever since we broke up. It was upsetting, but I eventually grew used to the pain those memories brought.

Looking back on the past three months, it wasn't too difficult to figure out how I got to this point. Luckily for me, the whole point of my current situation was to forget everything about this summer.

I glanced at my phone screen again to check the time.

One hour left. Which meant I'd spent the past fifteen minutes sleeping.

I knew I shouldn't be outside, or even awake right then. I should go to sleep or do homework or even talk to Luna and Padma. I shouldn't be on a bench in the middle of campus with a bottle of tequila in one hand and one of my heeled ankle boots in the other. I never did this, but I made an exception for today's "special occasion."

I have work tomorrow.

I rolled my eyes at that thought.

Ah, yes brain welcome back. Where were you an hour ago when I first picked up the bottle?

I experimentally reached down and poked my ankle, hissing at the pain and frowning.

Yup, it still hurts.

Another reason why wandering through a college campus in the middle of the night while drunk wasn't a good idea. You could trip on a sidewalk and twist your ankle, like I had brilliantly done twenty minutes ago.

I lifted my leg and stretched it out next to me on the bench, leaning back against an armrest and taking another swig from the bottle. At least no one else was awake to witness my humiliation.

I checked the time once again.

Fifty minutes left.

Part of me wanted it to be over, but I also dreaded it. In fifty minutes, it wouldn't matter either way. I couldn't stop time and I couldn't undo what was already done, which was something I was reminded of more and more often lately.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, swinging the bottle of alcohol in my hand back and forth and listening to the sounds of the crickets and the water from the fountain nearby.

I knew I was very drunk. I had enough sense to realize that, but it didn't stop me from getting to this bench either way. I didn't even know why I was here, but the thought of sitting in my apartment sober for the next hour made me more miserable than I already was.

The air was cool and felt nice on my feverish skin. For the first time all day, I felt relaxed, which was most likely due to the tequila. Regardless, my goal was achieved and in approximately forty-five minutes it wouldn't matter anyway. With my luck, it was honestly impressive that nothing bad happened to ruin these last few minutes.

I felt myself begin to drift off to sleep again and welcomed the numb feeling, ignoring the small voice in the back of my mind that told me I should go home.

"Granger?" came a deep, silky voice from above my head.

I cracked one eye open and felt my heart stop.

So much for no problems today.

"See you later Draco!"

Draco waved at the three guys leaving the stadium and took off his shirt, planning to practice for a little while longer. There was something about today that unsettled him, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

His day was pretty shitty in general, since he'd taken two tests and a quiz during his classes and then gone to soccer practice, which lasted until ten at night. Normally, practice would end at eight, but since Pucey had decided to show up an hour late with hickeys adorning his neck, the head coach had forced the entire team to stay for an extra two hours.

"Fucking Pucey," Draco muttered, kicking a soccer ball into the goal in front of him as hard as he could.

He hated that Adrian Pucey went to NYU. It was hard enough dealing with him at Hogwarts. The only reason he had even been accepted was because of his parents' money. There was no way on earth he was admitted because of his grades. Draco wondered if the idiot would have even graduated if his dad didn't donate an inordinate amount of money to their school.

Sighing, Draco jogged over to the goal and was about to pick up the ball but stopped when he heard the doors to the stadium open.

"I'm just putting this away. I'll be out in a second," he called over his shoulder before turning around, assuming that it was a janitor, coming to clean up.

What he saw made him stand up straight. There was a tall woman in the doorway watching his movements. Her blonde hair fell just past her shoulders in carefully styled curls and her makeup was done immaculately. She was wearing a white and purple tube top and matching mini skirt, which accentuated her chest and legs perfectly, making her appear even taller and curvier. Judging from her outfit and the school colors it contained, Draco guessed she was most likely on the college's cheer squad.

"Do you need something?" Draco asked, frowning in confusion. Maybe she left something at the stadium earlier.

"Hi," she said sweetly, blushing slightly as she approached him. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but I was dared to come here and meet you after practice. When you didn't come outside, I thought I'd come in and see if I missed you."

Draco folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the frame of the goal behind him, raising an eyebrow.

"You were dared?" he asked.

"Yeah," her cheeks became even darker, "the girls on the squad know I kind of have a crush on you."

Draco gave the blonde a lingering look, trailing his eyes down her form. She was very attractive, and he could vaguely remember seeing her cheering at the games in the past. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested, and it'd been awhile since he'd been involved with anyone. Draco was out of the country for almost the entire summer doing a business internship and only returned a week before the semester started. Since then, he was too busy to bother meeting anyone. But if this girl was going to come to him and offer her company, who was he to refuse?

"I'm Draco," he offered, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Daphne," she smiled brightly up at him. "Daphne Greengrass."

She glanced around the empty field before looking at him again.

"Are you done for the day by any chance? I could use someone to walk me home."

Draco gave her a slow smirk, causing her to blush again before taking her hand in his.

"Absolutely. Just let me shower and change."

It wasn't long before Draco found himself pushed into a secluded area with Daphne's lips firmly attached to his neck. There were tall walls, covered with vines surrounding them and a decently sized fountain in the middle of what looked like a small courtyard. Draco didn't have the chance to look around more because Daphne pulled his head down towards hers and gave him a deep kiss, pushing him over to sit on the edge of the fountain before getting in his lap. She let out moan after moan when he latched his lips onto her neck, biting and sucking until there was a mark left on her pale skin. Draco quickly adjusted their position, laying her down on the ground and getting on top of her, not separating his lips from her body for too long. She reached down to pull off his belt and unbutton his pants. Daphne then started palming his dick through his briefs. He moaned quietly and let his hand trail up her leg underneath the tiny skirt she was wearing.

That was when, by some stroke of bad luck, Draco glanced up. He didn't know if it was a random sound that caught his attention or if he'd seen some movement out of the corner of his eye, but he chose that moment to look away from the attractive, blonde cheerleader currently underneath him and noticed a pair of legs hanging over the armrest of a bench that was partially blocked by the fountain. From his view on the ground, all Draco could see were the person's legs.

"Wait, stop," Draco hissed, grabbing Daphne's hand to keep her still.

"What?"

"Someone's here."

"I don't care." she purred, arching her back and plunging her hand into his underwear again, "because I want you to fuck me right now."

Well, he couldn't argue with that logic.

"Just tell them to get out," Daphne whispered seductively into his ear, tightening her grip on him and kissing down his neck.

Draco opened his mouth to do just that before he got a better view of the other person. The two of them had shifted a little, allowing Draco to now see most of the girl currently sleeping on the bench. The long legs he'd seen moments before were attached to a thin girl with curly, almost out of control, brown hair. Draco froze. He knew that hair anywhere. He'd spent years making fun of it.

"What's wrong?" Daphne asked, drawing his attention back to her for a moment.

"I, um-"

Draco was about to say nothing was wrong and ask if they could just move somewhere else to have sex, but he made the mistake of taking another glance at the girl and noticed the half empty bottle of what was most likely alcohol in her hand, as well as the fact that she was only wearing one shoe. It was safe to assume that she was most likely drunk out of her mind.

I can't just leave her here, can I?

Well, maybe he could. She had a lot of other friends. He could just text one of them and tell them where she was and they would take her home. Draco could just leave with Daphne.

He was at a crossroads. One decision would lead to him having sex, while the other would definitely kill any chance of him getting hard again tonight.

Sex or no sex?

Phrased like that, there was really only one obvious answer. Yet, he knew he couldn't do it.

"Drakey?" Daphne whined one more time.

Draco winced at the pitch of her voice.

Was she this irritating earlier? And why the fuck did she call me 'Drakey'? Draco wondered, amazed at her sudden annoying qualities.

Annoying or not, he knew he was going to hate himself for this one day.

"I can't," Draco sighed. "Sorry, right now just isn't a good time."

He got off Daphne and held out his hand, helping her up before adjusting his pants around his dick.

I'm going to fucking kill her, Draco thought to himself angrily as he zipped up his pants which now felt uncomfortably tight. Why is she even out here? Doesn't she know it's not safe.

Daphne slid up against him again and pressed her chest up against his.

"Are you sure?" she murmured, pressing a soft kiss on the corner of his lips and moving up to his ear. "I can make you forget about whatever's bothering you."

Draco sincerely doubted that.

"I'm sure," he said moving away from her. "Can you get back home alone? You live right there right?"

Draco pointed to a building that was within eyesight just down the brightly lit street, trying not to feel like too much of an asshole. However, Daphne had a better chance of getting to her dorm room unscathed than the idiot girl drunk on a bench in the middle of campus.

Daphne just blinked in shock; her mouth slightly agape. It was obvious she wasn't used to getting turned down. Suddenly she glared at Draco and turned her nose up in a snotty manner.

"Fine, whatever Draco," she spat before turning around and stalking off down the street.

Draco rolled his eyes at Daphne's little tantrum and turned back towards the brunette that had effectively ruined the one thing that could have made his day better.

He walked over to her and examined her sleeping form with mild irritation. She appeared to be fine. Her clothes were slightly rumpled, and her hair was tangled, but it looked like that was a result of her drunken state. She was wearing a loose burgundy tank top with a pair of dark skinny jeans and black ankle boots. Correction, boot. For some reason, she was only wearing one shoe. A quick glance at her hands revealed to Draco that she was holding the missing shoe in one while the other was wrapped around the glass bottle.

He hadn't been this close to her in almost a year, and the last time he spoke to her was at their graduation when she approached him to let him know that Mrs. Sprout wanted a group picture of the kids from Advanced Arithmetic. It didn't look like she'd changed much though. She had more curves than Draco recalled, but that could also be because he'd rarely seen her in anything other than t-shirts. Her hair was still long, falling a few inches past her shoulders in riotous curls. She was wearing makeup tonight, which made Draco wonder where she'd been. The only times he could recall her ever dressing up was once during the homecoming dance their senior year and during various awards ceremonies where they were both honored for numerous national awards along with a few of their other classmates.

Now, here she was passed out on a bench. Looking at her right then, she didn't appear half as intelligent as he knew she was.

He groaned, cursing every deity he knew of for putting him in this situation.

"Granger?"

Hermione's eyes shot open and connected with his for less than a second before she screamed and fell off of the bench onto her front. She let out a quiet groan and rolled over onto her back, looking up at him from his feet.

Draco briefly contemplated helping her up and then decided against it, still feeling irritated over the fact that he was dealing with this nonsense.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nice to see you too Malfoy," she bit out, using the bench to push herself back up onto her feet.

Draco was about half a foot taller than her. Anyone else would be slightly intimidated by a fully grown man towering over them, but Hermione just pushed Draco out of the way before moving towards the fountain. Once she managed to hobble to its edge, she sat down and began to take off her other boot as well as her socks.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Draco repeated, following her and debating whether or not he should intervene.

"My foot hurts?" she said, as if it was obvious. "It's all swollen."

With that, Hermione carefully slid her feet into the water, sighing with contentment.

"Much better," she grinned up at him.

"You're drunk."

"I am."

"It's a Monday night Granger."

"What time is it?"

Draco frowned at the girl who was now closing her eyes again and leaning back on her hands, enjoying the feeling of the cold water on her skin. Deciding to humor her for now, he checked his watch.

"It's 11:30."

"Exactly 11:30?"

"Yes," he snapped. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm allowed to be drunk for another thirty minutes."

"And why's that?"

She opened her eyes and finally gave him her undivided attention.

"It's my birthday."

He couldn't remember when exactly her birthday was, but he remembered it was sometime in September. He checked the date on his phone. It was September 16th.

"You didn't know?" she asked thoughtfully.

It was phrased as a question, but it was more like an observation.

"No, sorry," Draco sighed, sitting next to her after deciding that she probably wasn't going to get up anytime soon. "Happy Birthday."

She ignored him.

"I remember your birthday."

"I'm sure you do."

He didn't really believe she did. Draco never made a big deal about his birthday, choosing instead to just spend a quiet evening every year at home with his parents and siblings. He did remember how on Hermione's birthday though, all of her friends bought her presents and wished her a happy birthday. By comparison, his own birthday seemed forgettable.

"June 5th."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Hermione looked pleased with herself, giving him a smug look.

"Don't look so pleased Granger," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "You don't get a prize for knowing when my birthday is."

"I should."

"Well, you don't," he snapped. "Shouldn't you be spending today with, I don't know, Luna and Padma? Not here in the middle of the night getting drunk?"

"I had dinner with them and I'm not the biggest fan of today anyway. You're really cranky though," she frowned. "I don't want to be with cranky people on my birthday. Go away."

Hermione waved her hand dramatically, almost losing her balance and falling into the fountain. He placed his hand on her shoulder to steady her, glaring as she giggled at her own clumsiness.

Draco chose to remain silent. For a few moments, the only sounds were made by the fountain and the crickets chirping nearby.

"So, how've you been?"

Draco scoffed in mild amusement. It seemed like she still couldn't shut up for too long.

"Fine. You?"

She just shrugged in response.

"You're a business major right?" she asked.

"Yeah. You're still pre-med?"

He remembered she was the only student from Hogwarts that planned to become a doctor. Everyone else decided to go into engineering, business or law.

She nodded, making little circles in the water with her feet.

"How was London?" she asked, referring to the trip he took over the summer.

"It was fine. I was busy with an internship most of the time."

"Fascinating," she muttered in a tone of voice that conveyed how little she actually cared.

"What have you been up to?"

If he was going to have to sit there and make small talk, then he may as well find out more about her. It'd been so long since he'd spoken to Hermione. He really didn't know anything about her anymore.

"Working," she responded. "I'm a Teaching Assistant for Biology and a tutor," she continued, anticipating his next question.

He was impressed. Teaching Assistants were usually graduate students. It was remarkable that she managed to become one as a Sophomore.

"Well this obviously shows you're quite the role model to the freshmen, aren't you?"

Hermione's only response was a fierce glare before she redirected her attention to making her circles in the water. The silence briefly surrounded them once again.

"I texted you."

Draco thought for a moment. He couldn't remember getting any texts from her recently.

"When?" he asked, in confusion.

"The first time we broke up. And the second time. You were the first person I texted the second time it happened," Hermione looked thoughtful, almost like she was just thinking to herself out loud and forgot that Draco was there too.

Draco heard she and Blaise broke up again, but he assumed they would just get back together eventually. However, that was months ago. After three years of seeing the two of them together, he didn't quite realize she was single until that moment.

"We were supposed to meet up, but we never did."

Now he remembered her texting him while he was in London over the summer. He told her when he would be back in town, but they never made plans after that.

"Sorry," Draco shrugged. "I've been pretty busy with internships and schoolwork."

She briefly glanced at him.

"It's fine. I just wanted to hook up with you the first time anyway," she said nonchalantly.

Draco's eyes widened as he spun around to face the small brunette.

"How drunk are you?"

"Very," she said, grinning at his shocked expression, "but I'm not lying. I wanted to hook up with you because I wanted to forget Blaise and you happened to be a man-whore that lived nearby."

"A man-whore?" Draco bristled. "And why exactly, am I a man-whore?"

"Because all you care about is having sex. You don't care about other people. You just use them," she said casually, as if this was common knowledge.

It sounded like she didn't even realize what she was saying. Part of Draco knew the only reason she was being so blunt was because she was drunk, but Hermione was really starting to piss him off.

"I care about other people. I'm fucking sitting here with you instead of getting laid, aren't I?"

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes at him. "How could I have stopped the great Draco Malfoy from getting laid? Besides maybe it's good that you have less sex right now. I mean if you want to sleep with the entire college, go ahead. I really don't care, but can you at least keep some morals while you're at it?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at that.

"What do you mean?"

"I know about you and Lavender."

"What about her?"

"She gave you a blowjob a couple of weeks after her and Ron broke up." Hermione wrinkled her nose distastefully. "Don't even bother denying it, she's the one who told me. You know, I thought you at least had some standards Malfoy. I didn't think you had it in you to hook up with your best friend's ex."

Draco felt his blood boil at her words. What right did she have to judge him? And why did it bother him so much?

"You're one to talk," he spat maliciously, "I heard about what you were doing over the summer break. Or should I say who?"

She gasped and opened her mouth, an angry retort on the tip of her tongue.

"I-"

"How many people was it again? I know about Cedric, Dean, Harry and Zabini, but were there more? It didn't take you long after your breakup to fuck someone else-"

Draco's next words were cut off by Hermione shoving him into the fountain. He was now sopping wet and he already felt like he was going to freeze to death as he sat in the water, staring up at Hermione in shock. He spluttered and tried to wipe the water out of his eyes, glaring at her.

"You bitch! What the fuck do you think-"

Draco's let himself trail off when he got a good look at Hermione's face. She was furious. Her hands were clenched into tight fists and she was looking at him like she would kill him if he made one wrong move.

"Don't act like you know anything about me," she hissed murderously.

Her voice was so quiet that he almost didn't hear her, but the steel accompanying her tone was unmistakable. Wordlessly, Draco got out of the water and sat next to her again, shivering in his newly soaked clothes.

"Sorry," she muttered, not meeting his eyes and choosing instead to stare at her hands which were folded in her lap.

"It's fine," he sighed, sliding his shirt over his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening in alarm when she saw his bare chest.

"Well, you got me wet. Do you want me to catch a cold?"

"I'm really indifferent-"

"Shut up," Draco interrupted.

He considered their situation for a few more moments before turning to Hermione again. There was something about what she'd said earlier that bothered him

"If you wanted to hook up with me the first time you texted me," he began, "why did you text me the second time?"

Hermione furled her eyebrows in confusion and for a second Draco thought she was too drunk to understand him. Finally, after careful consideration, she managed a response.

"I don't know," she frowned.

Draco believed her. Judging from the look on her face, it upset her that she messaged him at all. She didn't know why her instinct was to text him when it happened, she just did.

"You're shaking," she observed with slight concern.

"That's what happens when it's cold and you get pushed into a fountain Granger," Draco snapped.

Hermione just rolled her eyes at his complaint.

"You're so whiny," she said.

"I am not!"

"Are too!" she shouted, laughing. Then she cleared her throat and made her voice high pitched. "I'm Draco Malfoy, my life is so terrible. I'm not having sex, I'm all wet and now my hair is messed up."

Draco felt himself glare at the girl in front of him with increasing irritation. Suddenly, Hermione pulled out the bottle she had earlier and took another gulp of the tequila. Draco didn't even realize she still had it.

"Give me that," Draco said, grabbing the alcohol from her and holding it out of reach in one smooth movement.

"Haven't you heard of not stealing from other people?" she shouted, hitting every part of his body that she could reach. "I paid for it, so get your own fucking drink."

Draco examined the contents of the bottle, while he pushed Hermione away from him with one hand. It was almost empty, and he wondered if she drank all of it.

If I'm going to deal with her until she's ready to go home then I deserve the rest of this, Draco thought.

In one quick movement, Draco drank the rest of it, handing her back the empty bottle. She just mutely stared at it.

"You did not just do that."

Draco felt the alcohol beginning to warm him up and make his thoughts a little fuzzier. Normally, he'd probably know better than to piss her off even more, but he was feeling a lot more relaxed now than he'd felt before the drink.

"I definitely did."

There was a moment of silence before Hermione let out something that sounded like some kind of angry war cry and shoved him back into the fountain. She briefly smirked victoriously before Draco wrapped his fingers around her wrist and yanked her in with him. With a yelp, Hermione fell next to him, becoming completely soaked as a result.

"MALFOY!"

"GRANGER!" he mocked grinning at her.

She narrowed her eyes in response.

"You son of a bitch."

"You bitch," he returned.

She gasped in indignation before promptly grabbing his head and shoving it under the water.

Draco easily removed her hands from his head and began to splash her with water until she begged through her laughter for him to stop. He grinned at her.

"Do you give up?"

She nodded, too out of breath and wet to form words. Draco stopped pushing wave after wave of water toward her, allowing her to finally stand up. Before he could follow, Hermione shoved him back over and kicked water into his face.

"GRANGER!" Draco bellowed, trying to grab her again.

Hermione laughed and quickly spun out of reach of his grasping hands, sticking her tongue out at him a safe distance away.

"You know," she began teasingly, "for someone who's apparently so good at soccer, you really are slow."

Draco pushed his wet bangs out of his eyes and glared at her.

"Just get out of the damn fountain so I can take you home."

"Nope," she said. "You leave. I'm still having fun."

"Granger," Draco warned, "don't make me come over there and drag you away."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at his threat.

"I fucking dare you to try Malfoy."

Draco immediately ran towards the much smaller girl, whose eyes widened in slight fear. Letting out a scream, Hermione sprinted away from him as fast as she could with her legs partially submerged in the water. Once she reached the other side of the fountain, she tried her best to keep the fountain head in between the two of them. Draco kept trying to grab her, but she would quickly dodge him and move farther away. Finally, he slowed down, making sure that she didn't notice and quietly moved behind the pillar on the side opposite where she was peeking around the corner looking for him.

"Malfoy?" Hermione called, wondering where he was.

"Caught you," Draco whispered directly into her ear, grinning and placing an arm against the concrete on either side of her, effectively caging her in.

Hermione gasped and spun around, almost losing her balance in the process. Reflexively, Draco wrapped one arm around her waist to steady her, resulting in her being pressed against him. Draco felt his breath catch in his throat when he realized how close she was and that the arm just above her hip was touching her bare skin since her tank top had rolled up quite a bit. Hermione's hands rested on his shoulders and she was gazing up at him with wide eyes. Her breathing was uneven. She was also shaking slightly, and Draco briefly wondered whether it was because of the cold water or because of him.

He was surprised by how natural and familiar it felt to have her this close. She shifted a little in his arms and Draco automatically tightened his grip on her waist, rubbed circles with his thumb on the small of her back and eliciting another soft gasp from her. Unfortunately, that movement drew his attention to her lips. They were perfectly shaped in his opinion and when she bit her bottom lip, looking up at him through her big, inquisitive brown eyes, Draco felt like his brain short-circuited. It was probably the sexiest thing he'd ever seen in his life.

She probably has a million questions right now, Draco thought with a slight smile, pulling her a little closer to him and thanking god that she stayed quiet instead of ruining the moment.

How could one girl make him feel so many things all at once? A few moments ago, Draco was angrier than he'd been in a long time, then he was laughing and messing with her like he was fifteen again, and now he couldn't stop thinking about kissing her.

His hand was shaking slightly as he brought it up to her face, gently cupping her cheek. Draco felt his breathing become even more ragged when she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. It, whatever this was, felt different with Hermione compared to earlier with Daphne. With Daphne, Draco felt like he was just going through motions he'd gone through countless times with other girls. With Hermione though, it felt like every movement she made as a result of his touch captivated him. It wasn't something rushed and desperate. He wanted to memorize every single thing about this moment, from the sound of her quiet breathing, to the glow from the nearby streetlamp illuminating her features for him.

It was true that when they were fifteen or sixteen, Draco was briefly attracted to her, but he'd quickly dismissed that as a childish crush. He hadn't thought about her like this in years, but right then, he couldn't think of anything else.

It's just the alcohol, Draco reasoned with himself.

As he tried to convince himself that the sudden lust he felt towards Hermione was only a result of his earlier drink, Draco watched his hand slowly move down to gently cup her chin and tilt her face up and closer to his. It was like he wasn't in charge of his actions anymore. Before he even realized it, Draco was leaning forward and his lips brushed gently against Hermione's. It wasn't quite a kiss, but it was enough to make him feel lightheaded. The anticipation made his body feel like it was wound tighter than a spring. Draco didn't understand how a simple ghost of a kiss managed to completely unravel him. He also didn't know if he cared anymore. None of it made sense and he didn't know how they'd gotten into this position, but he did know that if he didn't press his lips to hers right then he would go insane.

Draco lowered his lips to hers again, fully intending to kiss her until neither one of them had a coherent thought left in either of their heads, but Hermione turned her face away from him.

"I think I'm ready to go home," she said, her voice barely audible over the sound of the water falling around them. "Padma and Luna are probably wondering where I am."

She wouldn't meet his eyes anymore, looking down at their feet in the water instead. Draco closed his eyes and shook his head, snapping himself out of whatever spell it felt like he was under.

This is Granger, he reminded himself angrily. This is insanity. She doesn't mean anything to me. It's been more than three years since we were even friends.

He took a few steps away from her after clearing his throat.

"Alright, Granger. Grab your shoes and let's go," he said gruffly, avoiding looking at her and hoping she couldn't see the effect she'd momentarily had on him.

She doesn't mean anything to me, he kept telling himself as he let her lean on him to take some of the weight off of her ankle while he walked her home.

However, when they finally reached her apartment building and she disappeared inside with a murmured thank you, Draco couldn't help but wish Hermione invited him in.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will try to upload again sometime next week or the week after! Review and favorite/follow to let me know what you think!