Chapter 4

My head is buried in Granger's shoulder. I am crying like a child. I am like a fucking baby right now. This is unacceptable. Quickly, I try to regain my composure. This is Granger. And I do not cry. I push her away. Not so much to hurt her, but to let her know this will not be happening.

"Well if you are done whining I need to get some sleep" I snap at her fiercely. She looks obviously hurt. So what? I really don't care. She can go cry to her loser of a boyfriend, and his trusty sidekick Weasel. She backs away from me.

"Fine. You know, Draco, you really are the bastard I thought you were. What is wrong with you?" she screams at me. She glares at me with child like eyes. She is still an innocent kid at heart. She has never been hurt. If she continues to deal with me she will only set herself up to be hurt day after day. She storms out the door and slams it behind her. I know she is retreating to her room to cry some more. Why the hell should I care?

I don't need anyone, and I especially don't need her. I don't need a bossy whiny girl that needs to cry on my shoulder every day. This just isn't going to happen. I sit down at my desk. I pull some parchment out and being to write furiously.

Hermione

Just a reminder. We aren't friends. Don't think that you can just come in and out of my bedroom as much as you like. I know you want me, but please restrain yourself. You have Potter, although I am at a loss to figure out how that dolt could please any girl. I have three words for you. Civil in public.

Draco

Distance. That's what we need. I do not want friends, and I do not need friends. Especially friends like her. I am fine on my own. I slip the note under her door and return to my bed. I lay on the comfortable sheets. Only the best linens here in my own personal hell. It's like a constant reminder of the life I lived in the mansion. Maybe for once I should live without the best of everything. Maybe I should live like normal people. . .or maybe not.

I close my eyes hoping to drift off into a dreamless sleep. All I can think about is how I hate myself. It's obvious I can't handle my own life, but I will figure it out soon enough. A tear drips down my face. I curse it, it hits the pillow, and it has disappeared. Had I not felt it, its existence would not even be known. . .like it had never been there. So that's what I have to do. It will be my motto. 'Ignore it and it will go away'. Ignore the pain and it will go away. And that's my last thought before I drift off.

****Harry****

I lie in my bed. The bed that has been here for me for more than six years now. And it's just as comfortable now as it has always been. But my mind is racing. A couple of days ago my life was normal. I was walking with my girlfriend through Diagon Alley eating ice cream. Things are starting to get rocky between us. But I have made up my mind. We will talk this over and we will be fine tomorrow.

So I drift off to sleep at last. I dream of me and Hermione. I dream of kissing her. But when I pull away it's not her. I can't make out the face, but it's another girl. I jerk awake. The clock reads 3 a.m. I turn over and pull up the covers before returning to my restless sleep.

I wake up early the next morning. My stomach is rumbling, letting me know that I need some nourishment. But not yet. My first priority is Hermione. I am going to go surprise her. I get dressed throwing on my trousers, and button up shirt that does under my robes, and set out for her room. I already heard her mumble the password, so I let myself in.

I walk up the stairs and listen at her door. It's still very early, and she is still sleeping. I open the door myself and find a note laying on the floor. I pick it up and sit it on her desk before I quietly slip over to the bed. I kick off the shoes I had put on to walk down the cold corridors and climb under the blankets.

She stirs. She knows I'm there and opens her beautiful brown eyes at the sight of me. She smiles at me. God, she's beautiful. Even in the early hours, she is a precious sight. I wrap my arms around her. No words are spoken. We just remain under the blankets together and drift off into a light sleep. I know that nothing has been worked out yet, but just being with her like this is helpful.

The sun shines through the white sheer drapes. I notice her room now. It's very girly to say the least. Her four poster is giant, and a very thin fabric was draped around it. The walls were a light pink color, and there were flowers in various places. It definitely suited her tastes.

She opens her eyes and looks over at me. "What are you doing here?" is the first thing she says to me.

"Well it's nice to see you to" I joke with her. "I just thought I would come see my girl. I thought we could talk" I tell her simply. She knows we need to talk. This needs to be done now.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Us" I reply simply. "Hermione, why did you run away from me on the train?" That's the one thing that has really been bothering me.

"I. . .uh. . .I don't know. I guess I was just worked up about being with Malfoy so much, you know. It just stresses me out. I'm sorry" she whispers in my ear. She snuggles up closer to me. There is no air between us.

"You know Hermione, I really love you. I really love you with all my heart" I whisper back. "I will always be here for you" I finish. She nods to let me know that she knows I am here.

"I love you more" she whispers back while her lips are mere millimeters from mine. I lift my head enough that our lips touch. Our kisses are usually very brief, but this time it is prolonged. It's passionate and heartfelt. Her lips part and our tongues are joined. I raise my hand up to her face and gently stroke her cheek.

We remain like this until it is time to go down for breakfast. Both of us are now fully aware of what the other means. This is the farthest we have gone with each other, and I think soon there will be more. I want to make love to her, but I know she is not ready. I am just waiting for the right time.

************

Harry and Hermione walk down the stairs and continue on to the Great Hall for breakfast. Both are feeling like everything has been resolved, although in reality, they hardly talked. It's the feeling. And right now they are more in love than the day before.

Draco gets himself dressed. He knows Harry has been there, and he is almost thankful for it. Maybe this way Hermione will stop crying all the time. He had to continuously convince himself he didn't care, but for some reason his thoughts always returned to that petite girl that lived next door.

"Knock it off Draco" he had to say aloud. Almost as though he had to convince himself. Truth be told, he needed a friend, and he would be the last one to admit that. He planned to make it through this year and get out of this place. He would not need to work because he had family money, so his life was set for him. Well that was the idea he continuously forced into his head.

He walked out the door and down to the Great Hall. Portraits muttered to them along the way. Each of them knew what had happened the previous night. It made him feel ridiculous. He had been played a fool. He had followed Hermione around, and actually invited her to eat with him. This would not happen again. He refused to look like anything less than the Malfoy he used to be.

He sat alone again that day. Of course things were about to change. Dumbledore had some news for both him and Hermione.

"Mr. Malfoy" he said grandly as he approached Draco at the Slytherin table. "Please follow me". Draco got up and followed him without one look back. Soon they stopped by the Gryffindor table and said the same thing to Hermione. He led them both to the front of the Great Hall to a table just below the head table.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Hogwarts, please listen up. It is the beginning of another new year, and that means new Head Boy and Girl. I would like to announce Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger". This last statement was followed by a polite applause. People seemed more worried that their meal had been interrupted. "Well, by all means, please sit down and enjoy your meal. From now on you can eat here and watch over your students". He left it at that and walked away. The two sat down in their respective seats.

****Hermione****

"Civil in public only" he snarls at me. What has happened to him? Just last night he was in my arms crying. What happened to that guy that needed me.

It dawns on me. That's it. He got too close. He let his guard down. And we are not friends. Well, if that's how he wants to play it fine. We are not friends. So we eat in silence, and I miss sitting with Harry. I miss laughing with my house mates. I hate being with this person. He looks over at me every so often, but he thinks I don't notice. I know he is mocking me on the inside. At least he is grown up enough to shut up in public.

I eat as fast as I can. I want to get away. I stand up from my seat eager to go sit with Harry again. As soon as I am up another professor is in my face. Snape. "Miss Granger, please have a seat" he drawls on. "I just had to let you two know about your duties. You two have a job to do together, and it begins today. Patrolling the halls at night is important. Any students are to be brought to their head of house. Obviously you do not have to patrol all night, you do have classes all day after all. So you will make rounds until 1 am. I'm sure that you will grow accustomed to this soon enough. Have fun". That last sentence was so sardonic. Dripping with sarcasm. Great. Now I have to find time for school work, Harry, my friends, and now Draco. This is just fantastic.

The meal is soon over and I rush to my old table with my old friends. We hang out for the rest of day as classes did not start yet. This year they decided to give us a day to settle in before really beginning and I appreciate that.

At 9 pm I am back in my common room waiting for Draco. Who knows where he is and quite frankly I don't really care. I sit by the crackling fire and snack on some left over cookies to wait.

I hear his voice and my eyes pop open. I must have dozed off. "Coming or not?" he asked simply. He is no longer calling me Granger, but now no name is used. It's almost painful. Just harsh really.

"Yeah" I mutter to him. We walk out of the portrait hole and begin our rounds. No one is really out in the halls right now, so it's completely silent. After about ten minutes of this I can't take it anymore.

"Look we have four hours of this. Do you think that maybe we could talk a little bit? I want the time to get a little fast you know" I reason with him.

"Sure" he says sarcastically. "Let's talk about how damn interesting your life is. Please, tell me all about the way you shagged Potter this morning" he rambles on.

"And what do you mean by that? I did not shag him. We do not do that!" I try to convince him.

"Well then I feel really bad for the poor guy. I mean, being with you is bad enough, at least he could get a little action to make up for it".

"Screw you Malfoy!" I shout back. I don't need this crap. We start to turn a corner, when suddenly he grabs my arm and turns me around. "Draco, stop! We have to go down this way!" I tell him and I turn back around. I look up only to see why he tried to turn me around. There was Harry. . .and Lavender. He was hugging her. She kissed him. She kissed his lips. My lips. Those lips are for me.

I clear my throat and they look up. I turn and run. I don't want to talk about this. Harry, of course, chases after me. I would be even more pissed if he didn't. Draco separated us. I ran through my portrait and up to my room locking the door behind me. I heard shouting, but I didn't care. Probably Harry trying to get the portrait to open up. Fuck him. I don't need this. I don't need this pain.

****Draco****

I can't believe what I just saw. Saint Potter with another girl. Now, I'm surprised that one girl would actually date him, let alone two. This is the shocker of the century.

I shield Hermione. Why? Why do I care? I try to turn her around. I try to save her. Maybe I just don't want to hear her crying at night, maybe I'm becoming sensitive. Let's hope that's not the case. But she saw anyway. And she ran. She seems to be good at that. She ran right up to her room.

I make it to the portrait hole, and I stop Potter from getting in. "Just go back to your room" I yell at him.

"Why the hell should I Malfoy?" he yells right back.

"Because I'm Head Boy, and you were breaking the fucking rules! You were breaking a lot of rules" I continue. Don't say too much Malfoy. Don't make him think you care. "Go" I say forcefully. "She doesn't need you anymore". That last one seemed to hurt him. A tear dripped down his cheek. Wimp. But he leaves. And I walk up the stairs to my room.

At the last minute I turn. I knock on the door that isn't mine, and I hear sniffling inside. What am I doing? I open the door.

"Hermione?" I say as though I am asking for permission to come in. After all it is her room. She's crying on her bed. Her head is buried in her pillows, and she is sobbing.

"I knew it. I knew Lavender was too close to him. And I knew she liked him. Why didn't I stop this?" she wails. I almost feel bad for her. This is what love does to people. This is why I will be alone. I will not put up with shit like this. I walk over to her, and I am unsure of what to say. I feel my heart breaking for her. What is wrong with me? I have never felt like this in my life.

"Hermione, it's not your fault you know" I try to reason with her. "It looks like Lavender was doing it. I don't even think Harry kissed back". I just want to make her stop crying.

"Well he sure didn't push her away the way you push me away!". Yeah that's true. I walk over to her and sit down beside her, and I am unsure of what to say. So I hold out my arms and she falls into them. Tears crash onto my shoulder, but it's okay. I rub her back and calm her down. Her sobs slowly stop and she pulls back.

"Umm, thanks I guess" she mumbles. She doesn't know how to treat me. "Can you just stay here with me?" she asks as though she is embarrassed. I nod a yes, and she smiles. "I appreciate it". It's more like a business deal. She remains in my arms, and soon she is drifting off to sleep. I lay her head down on her pillows and cover her up before returning to patrol on my own. On my way out I see the note I wrote to her on the desk. I take it and rip it up. My new goal, try not to make her cry. I don't know why I care, but I do.

"Goodnight Hermione" I whisper as I leave the room. She looks so tired and stressed. Why not give her a break. She can make it up to me later. That's the Malfoy way of thinking.

A/N: Ok, I know Draco is a little out of character, but he is changing due to lack of father, and stuff. Sorry, but that's the way it has to be. And don't worry, it will have a happy ending, I promise!