Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Well, here's a new one and it's all in Draco's POV. Enjoy!

Chapter Nine: A Beautiful Friendship

"The way that you smile

Just for a while

I know it took some time to discover

You're the only one"

Seeing Hermione's blank face as Draco apologized to her in the hallway was upsetting. He knew that there may not be a chance that she would forgive him for calling her something so hateful, but he hadn't expected that awkward silence. In fact, hearing her scolding him would be much less unnerving than this. When he realized that she might not want to say anything to him, his heart felt very heavy.

He slowly nodded his head, and said, "I understand." He walked away, his pace quickening with each step until he was practically running. However, he was stopped by the one person he couldn't bear to be around with.

"Draco, where are you running off to?" Pansy asked, a look of concern showing on her face.

"Nowhere. Just let me go, Pansy" he said coldly.

"No! Tell me where you're going in such a hurry! And tell me why you acted so odd earlier!" Pansy demanded.

"Just leave me alone!" he shouted in front of her, and ran off until he arrived at his destination.

"Out of breath there, aren't you? Were you acting on one of your little pranks, Sir Malfoy?" the knight in the portrait said.

"I don't want to talk about it."

The knight looked at him suspiciously, but just simply asked for the password.

"Fizzing Whizbees."

The door opened, and Draco wasted no time running to his room, shutting the door closed to the world, and changed into his pajamas.

How could I be such a fool! I should have known that she would never forgive me for all the things I said and did to her in the past! How could I be so stupid to give her such a small apology! Draco thought painfully to himself as he was venting out his frustration by kicking and cursing at any object in his room. Why am I all of a sudden acting this way? This isn't me.

Oh but it is, a voice inside his mind told him.

"What? How?" Draco asked.

It may seem to others that your recent actions and words are not part of who you are. It may seem that way to you too. But you are still the same person, regardless. It's just that you are showing a different side of you, the side that you don't want others to see, the voice continued to tell him.

"What other side?"

The side that is completely opposite than the one you show others. This other side is more caring, more thoughtful to people's feelings, and has less anger in him. The one that is not cold, ungrateful, and dishonest to others... and to himself, the voice explained.

"What are you bloody babbling about?"

You don't want to show this other side to people because it is not who you were taught to be. You were taught to be tough and powerful, and not let things affect you greatly in order to get what you want in life. That is why you try to hide the caring side deep down inside of you so that you would not have to deal with it since you thought it would not be of much use to you. But I see that has changed, the voiced replied.

"Changed? How?"

Love.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Love can change you are. It is the most powerful emotion that you can ever feel, besides hate. If you were a bitter person before, love can most certainly change that. It can cause you to do or say things that you wouldn't normally allow yourself to act upon. It is also the most wonderful feeling in the world, and that's something you shouldn't take for granted, the voice further explained.

"Are you saying that l-l-love has changed who I am, but for the better?" Draco asked, surprised at the things that his mind is telling him.

Yes, it has.

"But what caused this 'love' feeling to do this?"

The girl who you never expected to have feelings for. The girl who you can love and hate at the same time. The girl who can drive you mad, but once you see her, all those feelings are washed away. The girl you care deeply for, but don't even know it, the voice said.

Draco knew who his inner voice was talking about, but couldn't bring himself to the truth.

"You can't possibly be talking about—"

Yes.

"Hermione?"

The girl you love.

"That's ridiculous!"

Oh, yes?

"Yeah! I can't possibly love Hermione!"

Why is that?

"Because I... I don't... I really—"Draco paused. He actually couldn't think of a good answer to the question.

You really care for her.

Draco gave some more thought to what his mind just said. Has she really changed his cold behaviour? It's true that he hadn't acted this way before, and he was unsure of what to do.

"Do I really?"

Yes, you do. If you hadn't been feeling this way about her recently, then why did you keep glancing at her in the library? Why did you ask her if you can sit across from her, to get close to her? Why did you feel upset when you called her a mudblood? Why did you decide to ask for her forgiveness the day after? When she didn't say anything, why were you so crushed that you ran all the way down here? the voice asked.

"Because I really do care about her," Draco said, realizing the truth.

That's right. This feeling that you have for her has changed who you used to be whenever you're around her. This feeling has caused you to do and say things that you wouldn't normally put yourself upon, his voice told him.

"Love," Draco softly said.

At that moment, a repeated tapping on his window disturbed him from his thoughts. He walked over and opened it, realizing that it was just his eagle owl causing the noise. He patted its head, and took a letter that it had been holding.

His name was written neatly across the center of the envelope. He recognized the writing immediately. It was his father's.

"What does he want now?" Draco asked himself, still holding the unopened letter in his hand. He sighed, and wished that his father hadn't written to him when he had other issues on his mind. "I can't possibly deal with this right now."

He walked across the room to the fireplace. The fire was burning brightly, which brought more heat to the bedroom. He looked at the letter once more, and was not even curious to what news his father brought him. He hastily threw it into the fire, and watched it burn until he could only see the ashes of the letter. He was not at all worried; he knew he was doing the right thing.

He sat back on his bed and sighed deeply. He wanted all the troubles of his life to just simply vanish forever, and leave him at peace. But he knew that couldn't be possible. After all, he's Draco Malfoy and he belongs to a very powerful wizarding family. Too powerful, perhaps.

After contemplating a while on his thoughts ranging from having strange, new feelings for someone to family responsibilities, he was feeling awfully exhausted. He wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep, but suddenly heard some voices talking in the distance.

It must be Hermione! Draco thought with a smile. However it slowly dropped as he remembered her reaction to his apology. He wanted to tell her everything that his inner voice told him, but he refrained himself from doing that.

She would think I'm going mad. If only I could get close to her without scaring her off, Draco thought to himself. He heard someone walking on the stairs, and knew this is the perfect opportunity to talk to her.

He opened his bedroom door, and wanted to say something grand, but only managed to blurt out a small "Hi."

That got her attention, nonetheless. She slowly turned around, and had the same look as the time when she returned his book to him.

"H-hi. Umm... I don't think I have time to talk. I'm really tired right now, I should get some rest," Hermione said quickly. He noticed that she sounded a little nervous, which calmed him down a bit. She turned her back on him, wanting to go into her bedroom, when he decided to ask her something that was bothering him.

"Have you thought about what I said earlier?"

When she didn't answer, Draco decided to blurt out whatever was on his mind.

"Hermione? You know I meant what I said. I know this may seem strange, but I feel it's the right thing to do. For me to say I'm sorry to you might not be enough for the six years I've teased you terribly, but you've got to understand that I've never said sorry to anyone before and mean it too. You've also got to understand that I'd like to start over."

"What are you talking about, Draco?"

He sighed with relief since she was still talking to him, but had to say the next thing.

"I'm saying I'd like for us to start over. No hard feelings. I want everything to be fresh and new. I'm saying I'd like it if we could be... friends."

"F-friends?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, so can you... no, do you think you can accept my offer of friendship?" Draco replied. He held out his hand, wanting a handshake, to prove to her that he can be friends with her, regardless of the past.

At first, he thought she wouldn't want anything to do with him, but she slowly lifted her hand and placed it in his own. He felt so many emotions flooding through him at the touch of her hand, but didn't want her to see it.

"Good. Well, I'm glad we talked this over. We should be getting some rest, don't you think? Goodnight, Miss Hermione." Draco lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed it. He had no idea what had possessed him to do so, but he liked it very much. He felt blood rushing up to his cheeks, and noticed it was the same for Hermione too. He let go of her hand, and went back inside his bedroom.

"Love."