Disclaimer: Yes, we KNOW already that it's J.K. Rowlings's. Let's not belabor the point.

A/N: I didn't even try to use the British terminology regarding 'kissing'/'snogging', because I have no clue as to what the correct context would be for each one. So I apologize for that, and I hope you'll bear with me in my Americanized-ness. ^_^

Hermione sneaked outside without encountering anyone, much to her relief. Wouldn't that just make her day if someone caught her outside her dormitory at night? she thought sourly. As if forgetting her homework wasn't enough for one day. Just the thought made her roll her eyes and quicken her pace. Once she neared the willow, her heart started to beat anxiously, quickening within her chest. She could see Draco's shadowy form through the screen of branches, and her stomach gave a funny little flip. She started lecturing herself about what she was going to say as she stepped through the branches, and then she stopped and stared.

Draco's hair was mussed from running his hands through it numerous times. It was no longer slicked back. Instead of his usual robes, he wore a shirt that was opened at the collar enough for her to see a silver chain bearing a small talisman of a dragon on it. She swallowed nervously, anxiety nearly overwhelming her. Then she firmly shook herself. It was Malfoy, and she had no reason to be nervous of the miserable git. That thought was enough to straighten her spine.

Malfoy turned as if he had heard her, and then he stopped to look at her for a moment. Then he snapped, "Took you long enough."

Hermione bristled. Why on earth had she thought that she felt anything other than disgust for Malfoy? "What goes around comes around, Malfoy," she said sweetly. "You kept me waiting last night."

"Yes well," he muttered. He glanced at her and started to pace again. Startled, she belatedly realized that there was something bothering him. She bit her tongue before she asked him what was wrong. No, she said sternly. Don't ask. Don't ask. But miserably she heard herself ask him, "What's wrong, Draco?"

He gave her a sharp look. "What do you care?" he muttered.

Affronted, Hermione drew herself up and opened her mouth to give him a sound tongue lashing. But before she could, he raked his hand through his hair again and glanced at her impatiently. "Look, Hermione, I'm sorry. I'm just--thinking about something."

Hermione stood rooted to the spot. Not once in all the time that she had been acquainted with him had Malfoy ever apologized to someone, least of all her. They stood in silence for a few more tension-filled minutes before Malfoy blurted out, "I don't know what's wrong with me. Why am I feeling this way?"

Hermione took an involuntary step forward. "What way?"

He shot her an angry glare. "Like. . .like that I like you. I don't like mudbloods, Granger. I'm a Malfoy."

The pleasure of hearing him say that he liked her was momentarily overshadowed by his insult. She took another furious step forward. "So I'm not worthy of being liked by the Slytherin Stud just because I'm Muggle-born?"

Draco glared at her. "No," he said shortly.

Hermione's eyes opened wide with outrage. "Why you miserable, prejudiced git!" She lunged at him, prepared to strangle him.

He turned fluidly and caught her as they tumbled to the ground. She got in one good swing that bounced off his cheekbone, causing him to swear, and then he was pinning her to the ground as she twisted and struggled. She glared virulently up at him and spat curses at him as her body bucked furiously. "Let me go, Malfoy, or I swear by Merlin I'll---"

"Now now, Granger, don't go threatening me again," he chided. "Especially since you're not in a position to do anything about it." He smirked down at her, which caused her to writhe again to try to get free.

Finally she relented, lying on the ground, glaring up at him. But despite that her body was tired, her anger wasn't. She continued to rant at him. "How I could ever have thought that I liked a slimy bastard like you is beyond me!" she said furiously, eyes flashing. "You are the most insufferable, proud, evil---"

Draco sat through her insults for another minute then decided enough was enough. He swooped down and captured her lips with his, silencing her words. She jerked once, as if he had slapped her, and then she all but melted against him. They lay there for a moment, nothing touching but their mouths, until Draco skimmed his fingertips very gently over Hermione's cheek, causing her to shiver.

He drew away, and his mouth curled in a very small smile. "You talk too much, Granger," he murmured. Then he just took his time to look his fill at her. Her hair was tousled from her struggles, and framed her delicate heart-shaped face. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, and her mouth looked bee-stung. She was utterly delectable, and for the moment she was all his. That thought made his eyebrows lower, and he glared at her. She blinked, startled at his sudden change of mood. He gave her a little shake that made her mouth drop open in shock, then she started to glare at him. "As long as you're kissing me, you're not to be kissing anybody else, you hear me, Granger? What's mine stays mine."

Hermione gasped in outrage as she scrambled to her feet. "Why you beast! I'm not yours!"

"And what was that just a minute ago? Were you looking for cavities in my mouth with your tongue?"

Hermione flushed and retorted, "I didn't see you complaining, Malfoy. In fact, you were doing some cavity searching yourself!"

"That as it may be, I won't have you going behind my back with Potter and the Weasel, or anybody else for that matter."

Hermione glared furiously at him. "For your information, Harry is with Ginny, and I would never break them up. Two, I'm not attracted to Ron. And three, it's none of your damned business who I kiss!"

His hands wrapped around her upper arms and dragged her against him. He put his face close to hers, so that she could feel his breath on her lips. "You just made it my business," he said roughly.

Hermione blinked, her eyes opened wide. Then she pushed him back and stabbed her index finger at his chest. "Fine then! If I'm to be confined to your miserable attentions--" his eyes flared at that, "then you're to be confined to mine! I won't have Pansy Parkinson running her hands all over you like she owns you!"

"I didn't ask her to do that," Draco muttered.

Hermione narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Well you'd better stop it."

Draco smiled sardonically. "And what are you going to do if I don't, Granger? Will you start a cat fight over me?" He smiled, obviously pleased with the idea.

Hermione smiled sweetly and traced a path down his throat and over his chest. She felt his heart hammer at her touch, and she smiled. "Not at all, Draco," she crooned. "I'll take it out of your hide."

He gulped at the look in her eyes and didn't have one doubt that she'd do it. "Fine," he snapped. "But if I see you cuddling up with Pothead or the Weasel, then I'll take it out of your hide."

Hermione crossed her arms stubbornly. "Oh really? And how will you do that? Have you fallen to hitting women now, Malfoy?"

His eyes flashed with fury, and he yanked her close. She could feel the furious insult rising off him in waves. "I have never hit a woman in my life, Granger, and I don't intend to start with you," he snarled.

"Well that's a relief," Hermione snapped, covering her surprise with prickliness. "So if you don't intend to hit me, Malfoy, how are you planning to 'keep me in line'?" Sarcasm nearly dripped from her words.

He smiled at her. It was a smile that she instantly distrusted. "Why, darling, I'll take it out of their hides. And everybody knows how keen you are on their safety. That's punishment enough."

Hermione glowered at him and muttered under her breath, "Insufferable beast."

He smiled at her cynically. "But darling, you like me that way."

She snarled half-heartedly, then thought of something else. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Am I going to have to be labeled as your girlfriend?" she demanded.

He shot her a repugnant look. "Hell no. I don't want everybody knowing that I'm making out with some. . .Gryffindor." He said the name of her House with such disdain that it made Hermione bristle.

She sniffed. "As if I want people knowing that my lips have touched those of a Slytherin." She infused her words with the same disdain that he had, and saw him press his lips together in annoyance. She smirked, pleased that she had turned the tables on him.

"Fine then," he snapped. "We just won't tell anyone. It'll be our. . .secret." He tasted the word and then smiled evilly at her. Seeing the implications in his eyes, she smacked him on the shoulder, half expecting him to get angry with her. Instead he just smiled again, his mouth in that damnable smirk that she so hated, but his eyes were filled with genuine amusement. Those eyes gave her hope that he wasn't the miserable git that she had always thought of him as. Hope that she might find something in Draco Malfoy that she had always wanted.

She held her head high. "Fine then," she said coolly. "If we've discussed this enough, I'm going back to bed."

He leered at her. "Got any room for me?"

"No," she said with great dignity, starting to walk away. His fingers slid around her wrist like a bracelet and brought her back up against his chest.

"I think you forgot something, Granger," he said with a devilish smile.

She eyed him warily. "What?"

His head lowered and tasted her lips, and she sagged. Only the iron band of his arm around her back kept her upright as he ravished her lips. When he raised his head, his eyes were just as heavy-lidded as hers, and his breathing was coming harder. No matter what squabbles they had, she surrendered to him each and every time that he touched her. It amazed him. It aroused him.

She blinked up at him as if she were coming out of a dream. Unaccountably, Draco felt a surge of tenderness. She looked like a lost baby owl, with those big eyes staring up at him in surprise. He lowered his head again, but this time the kiss was gentle. A caress, not a siege. When he released her again, she laid her head against his chest for a long moment, and he felt something inside him shift and stretch. Almost like a barrier had been shifted a little. Then she looked up at him and pressed a kiss to the base of his throat. She looked up at him with something almost resembling regret darkening her lovely chocolate brown eyes. "I have to go," she said softly. "We don't want to be caught."

"Yes of course," he murmured. She stepped away and then turned and walked swiftly away and into the school. Draco watched her go with something uncomfortably like longing in his chest. Then he picked up his broom that he had laid aside and flew swiftly up to his window and climbed inside. He stripped down and crawled beneath his cold sheets. He closed his eyes to sleep, but all he could think about was the feel of her beneath his hands. When he finally did fall asleep, his dreams were haunted by her.

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Reviewers:

kole17~ Thanks a lot! I try to make it detailed enough to where it's interesting, but not get bogged down in it. *smiles wryly* Hopefully I succeed fairly well. Thanks for reviewing!

Lula~ As ever. . .*tips cap to loyal reviewer* Thanks a bunch, doll!