They rushed to the library, hand in hand, receiving many disbelieving stares. Hermione let go of Draco's hand, pushed open the library door, and ran in. Madame Pince stood up to scold them, but they sprinted by so fast that she was left standing there with her mouth hanging open. Hermione found a table at the very back of the room and they sat down.

"Malfoy," Hermione started, "Can you try to remember what happened?" Draco tried to think and immediately brought his hands up to his head with a cry as the pain took over again. "A Memory Charm is my guess." Hermione declared, whilst scanning the open book in front of her.

"Why thank you Dr. Granger! Now that we know the diagnosis, could you possibly find any way to reverse it?" Draco said sarcastically. Oddly enough, Draco got a strange feeling in his stomach telling him that he was going to regret what he had just asked for. He ignored it and waited for Hermione's reply.

"I can try," she answered, "but it could be risky. It says that saying the incantation with to much force could bring back memories from back when you were even a baby and in serious cases could result in…erm…" Hermione tapered off.

"In…erm…what?" Draco asked getting impatient.

"Death."

"Oh. I didn't want to know that."

"Hence, my "erm," She stated matter of factly, "Do you still want to do this or not?"

"I'm ready." Draco replied, taking a deep breath.

"Just keep thinking I think I can, I think I can." Hermione giggled. Draco just stared at her with a quizzical look. "Nevermind. It's a muggle children's book." Hermione read over the book another time and her shoulders dropped. It said that the person having the memory restored would go through immense pain for a moment. Whether she hated him or not, she didn't want that for him, but she had to know what happened. She said the spell without warning.

            "Reversum Yromem Incantatum." Hermione immediately wrapped Draco in her arms as the screams started. She put one hand over his mouth to muffle the sound and she tightened her grip around him and he started to thrash around. She did the unthinkable and kissed his temple as his muscles tensed in pain and torment. After a second, that seemed to take a lifetime, Draco finally stopped his screams and relaxed a little, while enveloped in Hermione's arms.

"What the heck was that?!" He yelled.

            "Draco, please," Hermione began but he cut her off.

             "You didn't tell me it would hurt!! Didn't it matter to you that I would be going through extreme pain?!" He screeched.

              Hermione became frustrated and yelled, "I knew that you would back out and we have to find out what happened! And did you not realize that I held you in my arms the whole time?!"

            "And do you know what I remembered?! That I tried to kiss you during Potions! There! Now you know what happened! Now stay out of my life!" Draco screamed. Hermione was too shocked to say anything. She just watched his retreating back in a stupor.

             "He tried to kiss me…." She mumbled, trailing off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I think I should leave it there..or maybe I shouldn't…hhmm…I think…..I'll keep going:

                 Draco marched down the hallways glaring at anyone who dared to look him in the eye. How could she do this to him? Why did he push it? Why did he have to insist on remembering? He'd be much better off never knowing. 'But you want her.' His conscience reminded him. "There is nothing I want from her." Draco told his conscience. 'She could give you what your family never even wanted to give you.' His conscience replied. "I DO NOT WANT HER!!" He yelled in rage. Immediately, the cheery laughter in the hall was replaced with a deafening silence. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!" He screamed. Slowly, the hall went back to normal, not wanting to experience the wrath of Draco. He stomped into the Slytherin Common room, ignoring the stares of his fellow Slytherins, and went into his room. No one else was inside. He flopped down on his bed….and cried. He was crying. Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts future Death-Eater and hater of muggle-borns, was crying. He tried to hold the tears back, but they came anyway. He was an idiot. He had done exactly what his father had warned about. He had left the door to his soul open. He had let himself get hurt, crushed. He had been weak. 'Never again.' He thought to himself. Draco sat up and felt something cold on his neck. He pulled on the gold chain around his neck and the amulet he had forgotten slipped out of his shirt.

            Meanwhile, Hermione had walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room, fighting back tears. It was amazing how alike Draco and Hermione were, but what was even more amazing was that neither of them noticed. She staggered into the common room ,trying to see through the tears welled up in her eyes. She stumbled over her robes and fell to the ground. "AARRGHH!!" she yelled in frustration. This day was anything, but good.

"Hermione! What's wrong?" She heard a voice call. She then heard footsteps coming down the stairs from the boy's dormitories. A very worried looking Ron bounded across the room towards her. He pulled her head against his chest and cradled her in his arms. "What happened?"" He asked, concerned.

"Malfoy…he.." She trailed off, leaving much to the imagination.

"Sssshhh.." Ron whispered and brought a finger to her lips. He bent his head down and kissed her. He tenderly touched her face with his fingertips. "Will you be…my girlfriend..Hermione?" He stammered. Hermione's vision seemed to blur and she lost herself in her thoughts. 'There's nothing between you and Draco he proved that today.' Her brain said. 'There is something. You can feel it.' Her heart interjected. Hermione loved books. She wanted to fill her brain with every book imaginable. She had never paid much attention to her heart, so why should she start now? There was no need to waste perfectly good brain space on thoughts of Malfoy.

"Of course, Ron." And their lips met once again. They broke apart, when they heard a voice interrupt.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you," Ginny said from across the room. Hermione told Ron she'd be back in a few minutes, and walked over to where Ginny was standing. "Come with me," Ginny said. She led Hermione up to her room, sat on her bed, and closed the curtains. "Malfoy." Ginny stated.

"What?" Hermione questioned, confused.

"Why are you going out with my brother? I see the way Malfoy looks at you and the way you look at him." Ginny replied.

"There is nothing going on between us," she said, repeating her brain's comment. Ginny knew better and kept pressuring her.

"Spill, Hermione. What'd he do? I saw the whole common room scene, including when you ran in crying." Ginny said. Hermione had already had enough.

"He broke my heart! Okay?! He ripped it right down the middle! I don't even know how he did it! I was just so disappointed in him. He yelled at me after I was trying to help him. I'm afraid that he's not the man I thought he was. That's what's hurting me. I thought that he was so much more than what everyone else thinks he is!" Hermione finally stopped to catch a breath.

"How do you know that he's worth more than what most people think?" Ginny inquired.

"It will sound stupid." Hermione said, looking ashamed all of a sudden.

"You're Hermione," Ginny said, "Nothing you say can be stupid."

"His eyes," Hermione started, "They're windows into his soul. Yes, I know that most of the girls in Hogwarts look into his eyes and say "How beautiful!", but I see more than beautiful, grey eyes. I see all the hate he has suffered through. I see every insult, every bruise, every time he has ever wanted to be loved. I see his fear, his anger, and his grief. And when I look into his eyes all I want to do is make all the pain go away. It terrifies me when I think about how much he's missing. Never having felt love, never having been sung to sleep, or held by anyone. But what really scares me is that I want to give all of that to him myself. I want to make him feel that. But he'll never know that, and I never want him to. No matter how great a guy he is, I don't think he'll be able to accept the fact that I feel this way about him. Ginny, please don't mention this to anyone. He can never find out." Hermione said. Ginny started to say something, but Hermione interrupted again, her anger replacing her sadness.

"But what right does he have to judge me?! He thinks I'm a bookworm that never does anything but study. He probably thinks that the only thing I will ever love is a book! I want him to see who I am! I would give anything for him to be able to see into my soul! And see all of my pain and all of my feelings! I would give anything for him to even accept me as an equal! I want him to know the real me! The person I am around my friends, the person I am when I'm with my family, the person I am when I'm alone, and most of all, THE PERSON I WANT TO BE FOR HIM!" Hemione threw her arms I the air, in a sign of surrender and Ginny hugger her hurting friend.

"I'll always be there for you Hermione. What're you going to do about Ron? You obviously have stronger feelings for Malfoy. You have to tell him the truth." Ginny said. Hermione nodded her head solemnly. She didn't want to hurt Ron, but she had to do it. He was her friend, and she knew it wouldn't be right to date him, but not have any feelings for him. She trudged down the stairs and walked into the common room. She walked over to Ron. He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"Ron..I'm sorry. I can't be with you. It wouldn't be fair. You shouldn't give me your heart if I don't give you mine. And mine is already taken. "More like stolen." She thought to herself. Ron just stared at her, with a mixture of hurt and shock on his face. He looked down at the floor, then back up at her, and left the room. Hermione fell to her knees in defeat and sobbed. She regained her composure, and started to walk out of the portrait hole. She had to see Draco. She said the password and right before stepping out of the common room, Ginny yelled at her retreating back, "Oh yeah! By the way, Hermione…"

"What is it?" Hermione asked, still standing with one foot in the suspended in midair. Ginny paused, looking nervous.

"Well?" Hermione said. Her leg was starting to fall asleep.

"You're in love." Ginny replied. And with that Hermione toppled over.