A/N: I left you with a cliffy last time! Mwa ha ha ha ha! Well, anyway....hopefully this one wont be out too long after the last one, it depends on how long it takes to get through my minions. Hi guys! Sorry I posted before I got your review Elle, but it's been like a week since I sent you the chapter. I'll still take ideas though, I can always fix it and switch them, it's not that hard.

TITLE: No, there are no new characters. Listen to the first verse to the song Simon by Lifehouse... I think it relates to the way Hermione's explains her chronic library inhabitance. t lk it quite well-ly relates to the way Hermione'lly have a few events in each one, and tend to center upon one of the non-m

Disclaimer: I'm a writer, not an idea machine! Just because I'm not creative enough to think up my own characters and write about them, doesn't mean that I can't alter someone else's characters without their consent and use them! Geez, Rowling...lay off.



CHAPTER EIGHT: Simon

Draco was terrified. He could honestly say he had never been so scared in his life. Not even his father, or any of his father's associates, had ever frightened him like this.

As if he had seen a ghost, Draco backed away from the window. Terrible thoughts were racing through his mind and he wasn't paying any attention to his movement. He bumped into one of the chairs and Draco heard a soft moan followed by a thud. He spun around, eyes wide with terror.

Draco was so relieved at what he saw, he had to grasp the chair for support. There, curled up in the chair he had jolted, was a sleeping Hermione Granger. Draco felt his heart beat slow as the blood rushed to his temples. He walked to the front of the chair, eyes locked on the sleeping girl. Draco reached a shaking hand and placed it delicately on Hermione's cheek. He felt how cold her skin was and noticed her shivering. ** How can she sleep through that? ** he wondered vaguely, still overwhelmed at the sight of her. Draco crouched down and wrapped an arm around her gently, placing his cheek against hers. He felt a tear or two silently slide down his skin, but paid them no mind.

"Don't ever do that to me again, Hermione." he paused and squeezed her a bit harder, "I don't know if I could make it through that a second time," he whispered to his unconscious love. Draco stayed that way until his feet became unbearably cold, and imagined how Hermione must be feeling. ** How long have you been out here? **

He opened his eyes and stood. Draco noted the book, open on the ground, and placed it as the culprit of the previously unidentified sound he had heard earlier. He picked it up and tucked it into his pocket before bending to take the sleeping Hermione into his arms. He thought about taking her back to her own bed, but quickly decided against it.

Not only did Draco not really want to go into her room, even for a few minutes, without her permission, he didn't want to leave her. After believing he had almost lost her, Draco was not ready to part ways.

He picked up the sleeping Head Girl and headed for his room. Walking over to the open bed, he laid her there, covered her, and went back to close the balcony door.

Draco hesitated before crawling into bed next to her. ** What's she gonna think when she wakes up next to me? ** He sighed, ** She did say that she loved me, so she shouldn't be too angry.... ** Pondering this for only moments more, Draco decided it was ok (mostly because he wanted to be as close to her as possible), but he would stay on the bed while she was in it, this way giving her a little more privacy.

Draco grabbed a nearby throw; deep green suede, plush with silver tassels, and slowly proceeded to get onto his bed, next to Hermione. He tried to move as little and as slowly as possible, so as not to alert his sleeping love. He struggled into a slightly reclined sitting position, then looked over to the angelic girl who occupied his bed, and mind. Draco knew sleep was far off for him, if it ever would return that night. He stayed that way for nearly an hour, listening to her breathe and watching her sleep, before she stirred.

Hermione brought her knees closer to her chest, and then pushed slightly away, unknowingly sliding into Draco's lap. He was startled a little, but remembered she was asleep.

"Irresistible to even the unconscious, am I?" He whispered to her with a smirk. Draco kept his eyes on Hermione, glad she was there. He began to stroke her hair, and smiled as he watched her sleep.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hermione woke, and was surprised to find it still dark. She blinked her eyes, trying to focus. Then gasped, ** Where am I? ** She lifted her head and looked around. The room looked eerily familiar, yet she still had no idea where she was. Hermione almost panicked as she realized she was laying on someone, and a warm hand rested on her back. She immediately snapped her head up to the face of her bedmate and felt a wave of sweet relief to see Draco's sleeping head flopped down above her.

Finally feeling close to normal, Hermione began to contemplate her current situation. Firstly, where was she? That was easy; she was in Draco's room, of course. Almost identical to her own, other than the lack of a vanity and the addition of piles of debris that littered his floor, it was obvious. Next question, what was she doing in bed with him, and how did she get there? Hermione couldn't answer that one and moved on to the third question that plagued her: What had happened, and why couldn't she remember it?

She briefly wondered if Draco had done something and possibly placed a memory charm on her afterward, but quickly dismissed it. He would never do that. Hermione felt safe with him, and stopped trying to answer unanswerable questions. She looked around and saw an alarm on the bed table next to her. She read the blue digital numbers then asked herself, confused; ** 845? Then why is it still dark? ** Hermione looked to the window.

Draco too had left his bed curtains opened, but both sides were crumpled into the corners. His window, however, was shut, and the drapes were drawn. ** That's why. ** She thought and rested her head back on Draco's lap. ** This wasn't so bad... almost nice, despite how it looks. ** She was sure there was an explanation for this, and she would ask Draco for it when he woke.

Not wanting to leave him, Hermione settled herself back into his lap and closed her eyes. She could at least stay until he woke, then they could talk, and it would be over. For now, Hermione concentrated on her current state, each minute growing to enjoy it more and more until she wanted nothing else but to stay like this forever.

* * * * * * * * * *

Draco woke not long after Hermione. He had a hell of a crick in his neck, but paid only very little attention to it. He looked down at the sleeping girl that occupied his dormitory. ** She really is pretty when she sleeps, ** he smiled. Draco believed this to be the best thing he had ever woken up to. He began to stroke Hermione's hair, and to his surprise, her eyes fluttered open.

"Draco?"

He panicked. What was she going to say when she realized where she was?

"H-Hermione? You're awake?" he asked. She stirred and pushed herself up, sitting sideways next to him. He waited for her to say something, not noticing the calmness of her eyes, which were not at all surprised. Hermione looked at him, and when she realized he was waiting for her to speak, decided on an unavoidable question.

"What happened?" She asked calmly, and he felt relieved that she was not angry or suspicious.

"It's a rather long story..."

"I've got time." She smiled. He took a deep breath.

"Well, before my father died, I used to get these...premonitions, so-to- speak. It's just a feeling...they always mean something bad is going to happen, and I haven't had one since his death." Hermione listened intently, not knowing where this was going. Draco looked at her, and by the way he did, she knew this was important. "I got one last night, Hermione. I went to go check on you, just to make sure you were alright. You weren't in the common room, and the door to your room was locked...so I went out on the balcony to look through the window. Please don't be mad at me, Hermione. I care about you, a lot, and I had to make sure you were alright." Draco stopped. Hermione's eyes were filling with tears; ** He does care. ** She hugged him.

"Of course I'm not mad at you Draco." She paused, and then pulled away, looking at him. "But that still doesn't explain how I got here..."

"Well," he continued, "your bed curtains were open, and you weren't there. I panicked, Hermione. I've never been so bloody scared in my life. I suppose I backed away from the window, because I bumped into the chair you were asleep in "he sighed, "I was so relieved. I would have brought you back into your room, but I couldn't, Hermione. I couldn't leave you after that....and I brought you in here." He paused briefly, then looked at her. "But I swear nothing happened."

She nodded, tears rolling silently down her cheeks. Draco looked at her, a little worried. He reached out to her and held her close to him.

"Dammit, Hermione...why do you have to be so emotional?" he asked playfully. Then, when she didn't stop; "Please don't cry, Hermione...I hate it when you cry." She held him closer to her.

"Sorry" she whispered, and tried to stop the tears.

"So you're not angry with me?"

"Never." She said without hesitation. Draco smiled, he was glad for that.

"I love you," he whispered. Hermione brought her head up and looked into his silver-grey eyes. The genuine love she saw there made her want to attack him with her kiss. Unlike the last time she had felt that way, Hermione acted on it. She pushed her head up, lips meeting his rather firmly. Draco was startled, not expecting that. He settled down quickly, and began to kiss her back.

The kiss was uncontrollable, the passion behind it only serving to force them deeper. Draco held Hermione's head while her hands pressed on his back. It went no farther than the kiss however, and when they broke away, neither wanted it to end. They looked at each other for a moment, then Draco smirked. Hermione knew that smirk, and knew there was another famous "Draco Malfoy Moment" coming on.

"Well! If that's what I get when I wake up in the morning, maybe I should let you sleep here every night." Now it was Hermione's turn to smirk.

"Why not?" she said. He smiled. Draco didn't know if she was serious about the offer, but it didn't matter. She was here now.

As if someone (who didn't particularly like either of them) was listening and waiting for their cue, they were interrupted by a tapping at the window. Hermione turned to see nothing; the curtains were drawn. She looked back to Draco, who looked more than a little pissed off.

"I'll get it," she said, climbing out of bed. She opened the drapes and was surprised to see a large snowy owl. "Hedwig?" she asked and opened the window to let the bird in. Without another word, Hermione took the note from Hedwig and began to read, her back turned to Draco. He couldn't read her face and didn't know what she was thinking. Draco got out of bed and walked to her. From behind, he put his arms around her waist and laid his head sideways on the back of her neck, facing away from the letter. He didn't want to read it unless she asked him to.

"We're lucky that bird can't talk," he stated, absent-mindedly. Hermione stopped reading and looked up.

"What? Why?" she asked, confused.

"He'd tell Potter, of course." Hermione looked at his hands around her waist. ** Ironic. **

"It wouldn't make a difference, they already know. Ron too." Draco let go of her and stepped around so that he was in front of her. "Or so they think."

"I thought you hadn't written them yet."

"I didn't," she sighed, "they've been spying on me. They think you're stalking me or something." She looked away from him, closing her eyes. He was shocked, more so than her.

"Spying on you? I can't believed they'd do that....I thought they were you're friends!" He mentally slapped himself, ** that's gonna make her feel much better about being violated by possibly the only people she trusts....why am I so inconsiderate? **

"I thought so too."

"But how? They're not allowed on school grounds..."

"The Marauder's Map, I'm assuming. Long story, but basically it's this piece of parchment that belonged to Harry's dad when he went to school here. When activated, it shows the placement of each person in Hogwarts. They must have seen us in here, damn them. This is NOT how I wanted them to find out...I'm just so mad! What would posses them to do that, don't they trust me?" Draco said nothing for a moment. She was pretty when she was angry.

"And they wrote to tell you to stay away from me?" he asked. She shook her head and thrust the note to him.

"Not exactly." Draco slowly opened the note and began to read.

"Dear Hermione,

What's going on? We know you spent last night in Malfoy's room, did he drag you in there? He didn't hurt you did he? If he did, I swear we'll kill him. Please write back, Hermione, we worry. We're sorry we were spying on you, but we just wanted to ensure your safety.

Harry and Ron"

** Whoa, that's rather creepy, for lack of a better word. ** Draco looked back to Hermione. She was looking blankly out the window, and he felt remorse bubble inside him. ** This is what she has to deal with? This is what her FRIENDS are like? And then there was me, constantly making her life hell...how did she stand it? ** Draco admired her. She had a terrible social life, and yet kept it secret. He doubted if even her fellow Gryffindor girls knew how she felt, and that made him feel even worse.

**No wonder she's always stuck in a book, fairytale creatures don't criticize you, or degrade you and your family. Books don't overpower you and make your life hell... **

Draco, only a few inches from her, embraced Hermione. She was a bit startled, and bewildered. Draco repeated quietly into her ear,

"I'm sorry..."

"For what, Draco? What's wrong?"

"For everything... I never knew you had it so bad, Hermione. My maliciousness toward you combined with an overbearing Potter and Weasley? How did you make it through seven years of such torture?" He was holding her to him tightly, but she didn't mind. She felt warm and safe in his arms. She pulled back only enough to look at him, but he was still holding her body close to his.

"Honestly? Every time I felt really angry or unloved...I'd go to the library. Haha, I know, but it made sense. I rarely saw you there, and when I did you never stayed long. Harry and Ron never felt the need to go other than the few times I dragged them, they had their own private library....in me. Whenever they had a question or needed information it was always followed by a 'Let's go ask Hermione.'" She paused, "But it wasn't seven years, not really. Most of first year you ignored me, Ron thought I was horrible in the very beginning, and Harry usually went along with Ron, although he was more accepting and occasionally stood up for me. By second year you had taken more notice of me, and Harry, Ron, and I were friends, and toward the middle they had started to become the way they are now. After that whole being petrified thing, they got much worse. Third and Forth year were pretty rough, but fifth and sixth year you were no longer....you. They were still them, but you lifted my burden a little."

"I didn't stop being me, Hermione. I started being me." He smiled, as did she. Then he frowned. Feeling a 'what?' coming on from her, he spoke before Hermione had a chance. "I never knew about that, Hermione. I wish I could tell you that if I did I would have changed it, but I think we both know that isn't true." She looked down, he paused, "but I would change it all now if I could..." He brushed his cheek against hers affectionately, "That wasn't me, Hermione. You have to believe that. This is me. That was the spawn of Satan." Slight pause, then: "not far off, actually." He laughed; she smiled and looked up at him. He kissed her, not a deep kiss, but a kiss filled with lust. She kissed him back.

A/N: Haha, that was a very uneventful chapter, now, wasn't it? Oh well, at least it wasn't a cliff hanger.....or was it???

PRF:

Hasapi - THANX! And, because I knew no one would like it, lol

Rachel - Thanx, I try to have cute little corny endings....or cliffhangers, one of the two ;o)

Little Witch - Here ya go! Not so soon, but I try.... hehe

Beth - You know I'm good for them corny posts......don't we ALL wonder where she went? Well, now you know.... hehe