A/N: Okay. I'm sorry I took such a long time to update. I'll give you a short chapter this time because I'm really busy with my schoolwork and stuff. Exams are coming up and yeah; I didn't do too well this term. So, please bear with me if I take a long time to update yeah? Oh yes, I'm inserting lyrics into the fanfic now. Thanks for reading! Please review! I'm hungry for reviews! -Roars- I want reviews!

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I Hate You But I Love You I Can't Stop Thinking About You It's True I'm Stuck On You

Stacie Orrico - Stuck

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"Harry, Have you seen Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Nope, I haven't seen her the entire evening long, besides during dinner time. She did seem rather troubled though." Harry replied, giving Ron a questioning look.

"Yeah. She was rather spaced out. I wonder where she is." Ron said, appearing to be deep in thought.

"What's up Ron? Why are you so worried about Hermione's movements?" Harry asked teasingly.

"Wha.. What are you talking about Harry?" Ron flushed, his cheeks glowing red, matching his equally red hair.

"You know what I'm talking about Ron. Do you still have a crush on Hermione after all these years?!" Harry asked.

"Nooooo, tha. that's impossible Har.. Harry," Ron stammered, "You know how impossible it is."

Harry just flashed a lopsided grin to Ron. He knew Ron's every thought. Well, just about all his thoughts. After all, they'd been best friends for about six years now.

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*~ Back at the hospital wing~*

Hermione gently sat down on a stool beside Malfoy's bed. She saw that he looked much better now, after a day of rest. He didn't look so pale anymore; more colour had returned to his cheeks, and he was looking more normal. She smiled to herself at the knowledge that he was recovering.

"Why are you smiling to yourself Granger?" Malfoy asked curiously.

Hermione blushed at the prospect of her getting caught smiling to herself. She shook her bushy head furiously, trying to dismiss any silly thoughts that were probably already forming in Malfoy's head.

"Now you're blushing to yourself and shaking your head like a total nut. Whoa Granger! I don't want dandruff all over me by the time you decide that your head aches." Malfoy said, apparently amused by Hermione's little act.

Hermione pouted slightly, feeling insulted. "Is that what you'd usually say to someone nice enough to visit you when you're in the hospital wing?"

Malfoy grinned. "Nope Granger. I'd only say that to you."

"Wow, a special line for a special person like me." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Okay. Forget it. So. Tell me Granger. What is it that you want from the great Draco Malfoy? You can't possibly be so kind as to visit me here."

"What do you mean by that Malfoy? Are you so shocked to know that you've got a visitor who has no other intentions?" Hermione asked.

-If you want to. I can save you.-

"Oh please. Granger, who would want to visit me unless it's Parkinson that loser? And besides, even if she did visit me, it'd be because she'd just be missing my ravishingly handsome face, and not ME." Draco said bitterly, not bothering one bit to be modest about his almost perfect looks.

-I can take you away from here.-

Hermione was taken aback.

-So lonely inside. So busy out there-

"Well, Malfoy, I am here now. I'm a sincere well-wisher, and I wish you would get well soon. Is that so surprising?" Hermione said. She was surprised. Hadn't so many girls in school fawned upon Draco Malfoy? Why was he acting like he was some lonely boy who only wanted someone to care?

-When all you wanted was somebody to care-

"Well, many thanks to you then Granger. I'd like to sleep now. Would you mind leaving please?" Malfoy said.

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Draco turned on his side, turning away from Granger's pretty face. He couldn't take the torture.

He had just revealed a very personal emotion to her. Not just any her. It was HERMIONE GRANGER. The mudblood remember?

'Draco you fool.' He thought to himself, 'How could you betray your emotions to anyone?! What would Father think?'

'Oh Bugger. WHY do I keep thinking of what Father would think anyway? It's not as if he would bother with me.' Draco felt the rage building up within him.

He closed his eyes tightly, letting a single tear onto the pillow.

He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed Hermione muttering under her breath that she didn't trust him being left alone in the hospital wing. She was still rooted to her seat.

Draco's thoughts eventually led him to sleep.

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Draco awoke the next morning, and to his utmost surprise, he found a sleeping Hermione Granger slumped across his chest.

'She didn't leave last night.' Draco thought, with a strange fleeting feeling in his stomach.

He looked at her face.

He had never been so close to her before. Not that he had been close to any mudblood before. The closest contact that he'd ever had with her was when she had slapped him back in their third year. Draco grimaced at the memory of that.

He inhaled deeply. The scent from her hair was sweet. It smelled like a mixture of cinnamon and apples. He never knew she'd smell this good. After all, his father had brought him up with the mentality that all muggle born magical people, or more commonly known as mudbloods to pureblood wizarding families like the Malfoys themselves, were disgusting, stinking foul wizards that shouldn't even have existed in the first place.

She resembled a sleeping angel. Her soft brown curls accentuating the fine features of her heart shaped face. Her lips were turned upwards, in a fairy like smile. She looked so innocent. So. Perfect.

'Innocent Little Miss Perfect. Hah. She's got all of it. Smarts, Looks, Friends. What hasn't she got? She's got the Weasel practically kissing her feet. Of course she'd look so innocent. She's PERFECT after all.' Draco thought bitterly, and almost, jealously.

The wind blew gently from a nearby window. One of her curly locks fell onto her face. She grunted softly, pushing the hair away rather unsuccessfully.

Unconsciously, Draco reached forward and pushed the lock of hair out of her face. To his surprise, her hair hadn't felt coarse and dry like he had expected it to be. Instead, it was rather smooth and silky.

Her face twitched.

Eyelids fluttered, followed by a stifled yawn.

She sat up with a start, gasping, "Oh my God. Where am I?"

"Don't you remember Granger? You fell asleep on my bed and you happened to be drooling on my blanket." Draco said teasingly.

"I. What?!" Hermione said hurriedly, desperately looking at the blanket to see if she had really drooled on his pillow.

"Naw. I was just kidding you. Wanted to see how you would react." Draco said, guffawing at her response.

"Damn you Malfoy." Hermione took an extra pillow and flung it at Draco, in a bid to disguise her embarrassment for being caught in such a predicament.

"Ouch! You're hurting me!" Draco howled in pain.

She had accidentally hit him in his injury.

"Oh God. I'm so sorry Malfoy. Are you alright?" Hermione asked worriedly, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yah, I'm alright." Draco snorted.

This little pain was nothing compared to what he was subjected to. at other times.

"This little pain I feel now is nothing compared to what I'm subjected to. at other times."

'Did I just say that aloud?' Draco thought to himself.

"What? What do you mean by other times?" Hermione said sharply.

"Um. Nothing. I was talking to myself." Draco said nervously.

She couldn't know. He had already shown several signs of weakness to her. He wouldn't like it if she knew more than she should have, which she already did.

"Okay." Hermione said suspiciously.

"Oh look, you're gonna be late for classes Granger. You'd better run along." Draco said, trying to distract her.

"Yes, indeed, you're gonna be late for classes Ms. Granger." A motherly like voice rumbled. It was Madame Pomfrey. "You'd better get going."

"Okay. Get well soon Malfoy." Hermione said, throwing a last glance at Draco, and she left the hospital wing.

Draco heaved a sigh of relief as he fell back onto his bed.

He couldn't believe what had just happened. The Ms-Know-It-All- Granger had just accompanied him the whole night long, when he needed company the most.

Things seemed to be getting more and more strange by the moment.

Firstly, Granger and him were made arithmancy partners.

Secondly, They were beginning to act chummy. Not very suitable for Draco's taste, he thought to himself.

Thirdly, Granger spent the night watching over him?

It was almost like it had been pre-arranged.

Impossible. Who would have done that?

Life was getting interesting.

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Hermione rushed out of the hospital wing, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
She couldn't believe it. She had fallen asleep in front of Malfoy. Malfoy! Malfoy of all people!

Hermione broke into a slow jog, running back to the Gryffindor tower. She had to gather her books and blend in with the rest of the Gryffindors, pretending that she hadn't been out of bed the entire night long.

For once, Hermione wished that she could apparate within the compounds of Hogwarts.

Once she had finally reached the Gryffindor tower, she immediately wished that she hadn't returned. She had barely entered the common room when likes of Harry and Ron began swarming her, questioning her whereabouts on the previous night.

Hermione nervously lied, giving a rather lame excuse that she was doing some research in the library and she had fallen asleep while reading.

"Okay. You're sure of that Hermione?" Harry said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Yes, Harry." Hermione said in a firm tone, trying to reassure her friends, and also, in a bid to convince herself that nothing had really happened the night before.

"Look guys, I'd hate to disappoint you, but I really gotta run along and get my books before we are all late for Potions, and Snape does his stuff on us again." Hermione said, dismissing any thoughts that reminded her of Malfoy and the hospital wing. She then ran up the stairs back to her dormitory, breathing heavily, feeling guilty that she had lied to her best friends.

She could just imagine it. Harry looking at her like she was crazy, and Ron exploding if they found out that she had actually spent the entire night by Malfoy's side.

'Hermione. You're going nuts.' Hermione confirmed with herself.

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"Harry.? I sense something wrong." Ron said.

"Don't worry Ron. Don't you trust Hermione?" Harry asked, looking slightly concerned.

"I do. It's just that. I think that she wasn't telling the truth. Did you see how nervous she was when she answered all our questions?" Ron replied.

"Well, Ron, I suppose if Hermione doesn't want to tell us anything, it would probably be because she thinks it's best if we don't find out, or if it's something totally personal." Harry said, trying to calm a now red- faced Ron.

"I suppose so." Ron said reluctantly.

Ron couldn't help but feel a little worried as he thought about the way Hermione had been acting strange the past few days.

Ron's eyes darkened. He was determined to find the source of the trouble. Whether Harry approved of it or not, he was going to find out what was bothering Hermione and why she was acting so strangely.

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It had been a week since the hospital wing incident.

With much difficulty, Hermione and Draco had managed to avoid each other's gazes, and any eye contact. Even during arithmancy lesson, they tried their very best to sit as far apart from each other as possible.

However, there was one incident when Hermione had caught Draco staring at her. This was followed by two certain red-faced people turning around from the direction they were walking towards and walking in opposite ways.

It was something inexplicable. Hermione didn't know why she was trying so hard to avoid Draco. She didn't even know why her face went red whenever he was around. His presence just seemed to awaken a feeling inside her that she had never felt before.

The same went for Draco. He was in the exact same predicament as she was. Just that he was trying doubly hard to conceal his feelings. He couldn't imagine Lucius' reaction if he found out that Draco had actually developed feelings for a mudblood. If Lucius Malfoy was coldhearted enough to send Bazira to attack Draco for rejecting the Dark Lord's offer, what more could he expect from his father if he found out that the family name was in peril?

Draco had decided deep down in his heart.

He could not feel for Hermione Granger. Any other pure blooded girl, but not Hermione Granger, the mudblood.

He knew the consequences he would have to face if his father ever found out. He feared even more, the repercussions and the effects it would have on Hermione.

If Draco ever felt for Hermione, and if he actually went into a relationship with her, though the idea of that seemed remotely impossible to him, he knew that Hermione. would die.

He couldn't let that happen to her. He couldn't bear to let anything to her. He couldn't let his feelings cause her death. He just couldn't. And he knew it. And he had set a resolution.

Never would Draco Malfoy love Hermione Granger.

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Ginny plopped down on the bench beside Hermione at the Gryffindor table, in the great hall. She knew that Hermione was lousy at concealing her emotions. And Ginny, who was able to interpret moods very well, knew that Hermione had been acting rather out of character lately.

She also happened to notice that Hermione always blushed when a certain someone was present.

Draco Malfoy.

Ginny couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe that Hermione, the logical, rational, extremely intelligent, and almost perfect Hermione Granger, could actually fall for Draco Malfoy! Of all people, Draco Malfoy, that enormous git, that according to her brother, Ron, had been pestering them and had been a nuisance to them since their first year. From her own personal encounters with him, she wasn't very impressed with him either. He had been a total prat, and even though she had to admit that he was good- looking, she knew that Draco Malfoy was not a good person.

After all, which Slytherin could be considered a good person? Most of the dark wizards were Slytherins.

Even the Lord Voldemort had been a Slytherin. Tom Riddle. Ginny shivered as she thought of him. Her encounter with Tom Riddle in her first year was something she'd remember for the rest of her life.

Only she knew what had happened between Tom Riddle and her.

Ginny's little crush on Harry Potter was nothing. She had bared her soul to Tom Riddle. He knew her every thought, her every secret. Never did she expect Tom Riddle to be the Lord Voldemort. But there was something else she didn't expect.

She didn't expect to fall in love with the Tom Riddle of that time.

She didn't want Hermione to fall in love with Draco Malfoy. She knew how tough it was. to love someone from the dark side. Someone with a totally different goal from herself. She didn't want Hermione to end up like her. Reduced to nothingness. Her entire life revolved around Tom Riddle. She had to deal with the torture. She was in love with a non- existent person. A person of the past. And that person was someone who would grow up to be a vicious person, a person who'd kill to gain. In other words, he was a heartless creep that murdered for his own gains.

But still she loved him.

But she didn't want Hermione to end up like her.

Ginny made up her mind. She was going to put a stop to this.

"Hey Hermione, don't you think that Draco Malfoy is just the cutest guy around?" Ginny gushed, putting on her best acting skills.

Hermione froze and turned to Ginny, asking, "Why do you say that Gin?"

"Well. Hermione, I think I've got a crush on him." Ginny sighed.

Hermione's heart froze.

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Well, what do you think?! Haha. I'm so excited. This is the first time I wrote a nine page long chapter! Please read and review! Thanks to all who have reviewed! I love you all!