Characters © J.K. Rowling.

Plot © Sami-Lee 2004.

Draco cracked his neck nervously, "Me? His excellency? Now you're taking that a little too far. I don't really walk around like... I... own the... place... I do too, don't I? Urk, I'll have to make a mental note to stop doing that." This argument was leaning towards her winning. He looked at Hermione, his eyes icy blue from the warm temperature of the room, and he smiled. Not a sneer or a smirk, not a cruel smile or an evil one, just a plain, teenage, semi-nervous, kinda sexy smile. He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, another nervous gesture, and suddenly wondered to himself why he was so nervous, he should be in charge here! He moved slightly in his chair.

She giggled and smirked, "Yeah, that might be a good idea, Malfoy," He wasn't so bad once you actually sat down and had a decent conversation with him, but it was still fun to tease him. "Why have you always been so... arrogant and such. I mean, you just walk around like you own the place and treat everyone like your servant. Is that how it is at your home? Treating everyone like a slave?" She knew that she was playing it very close to pissing Draco off, but she hoped he saw that she was just playing around.

"Ha!" It was in between a genuine laugh and a sarcastic one, but leaning a bit more to the sarcastic side. "At my home... Wait, no, My 'House'; there is me, and a whole bunch of big empty space. No one else. Nothing else. Just me." He slouched down a little, his leg brushing hers under the desk in the process. He tried to keep his expression blank, but it just infuriated him so much, the way his father always left him there, in that huge, cold, empty house alone. He turned at looked at her.

Hermione felt a surge of what might've been pity for Draco. "I'm sorry," she muttered and looked down, not bearing to stare into those icy blue eyes. "What about your mother... your father?" she said, a bit quietly, looking down at the table. Normally she would've shot back a smart comment, but she knew how it felt to be alone all the time.

He sighed. "Let's not lie. We both know what my father is. I hate him. If I had the guts I'd kill him myself. Bastard..." He trailed off and stared at the books on the table for a minute. "My mother, well, she goes with him. She's not one of them, but she might as well be." He huffed again. "One guess what daddy wants me to be when I leave here?" He looked up at the ceiling and threw his arms mockingly up in the air. Then he ran his fingers through his hair before resting his arms back on the table in front of him.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, still not averting her gaze from the wood. Now she actually did feel sorry for Draco. "My mother left my father and I when they found out I was a... witch. I love my father. We get along really well. But I'm luckier than you, I actually have one parent that sticks around..." she shifted positions realizing that she felt uncomfortable. She was now touching her left arm to Draco's right one. She didn't bother moving.

He looked down at her arm and smiled inwardly, then looked up at her again. "Do Harry and Ron ever tell you you're beautiful?" He felt his cheeks warm slightly, hopping to hell that it wasn't showing. He leaned forward a little, smiled and flicked a stray hair off his face. " Because they should tell you every day."

Hermione's eyes widened at this comment, to the size of galleons. "W-What?" after a wave of flattery, a surge of realization took its place. Draco was working the old Malfoy charm on her. She wanted to scoff and roll her eyes and say 'Come on, Ferretboy, don't think that rubbish works on me...' but instead she flushed pink. "They never tell me, heh." But this time she had to remove her gaze from the table, it would have been impolite for her not to.

"And just so you know, I'm not just saying that. It's true. All the guys think so, they're just intimidated by you're being so much smarter than them." He laughed lightly, but the laughter didn't last long. "I suppose no matter what I do, I'd never size up to Potter. I'd never be good enough for you, which doesn't matter because you deserve better anyways..." He was babbling and he knew it but he didn't care, if he didn't get this out now he never would. "Ever since I saw you I...." He stopped, his face glowing, his hand on the back of his neck, his fringe falling hopelessly over his eyes.

Hermione giggled softly and placed her finger on Draco's lips. "Sssh," she smiled a bit, shaking a few tendrils from her eyes. "Harry and I don't like each other, nor will we ever. As for Ron... " She blushed a bit but it turned to an angry flush, she shook the thought from her head.

He didn't move her finger, nor did he attempt to, but he stared at her with a look of complete idiocy on his face. "You like WEASELY?" He muttered, her finger still on his mouth. His eyes couldn't have opened any wider than if he'd stuck saucers in them. "What... how... when? Am I going totally insane?" This was definitely a side of Draco, which had never been shown at Hogwarts before. One of complete dumbfoundedness and jealousy. He looked around, confused, before looking back at her, pleading with his eyes for her to explain before he passed out.

Hermione burst out laughing at this and removed her finger at this comment. She propped her elbow on the rim of the table and gently brushed her fingers back and forth across Draco's jawline. "Ron and I are going out," her expression turned serious. "But it's just all so... confusing," she bit her lower lip nervously. A few times as she stroked his cheek, the tips of her fingers grazed across Draco's lips.

He froze. Then he stopped breathing. Then he took a breath. Then he hid his head in his arms. He suddenly felt very stupid. It was like his worst nightmare come true. Weasely had beaten him at something. And it was something which Draco actually wanted... Someone he wanted. There was only one thing he could think of doing, one thing he must be better at doing than weasly. He looked back up, moved his hair off his face, placed his hands on either side of Hermione's face and then he kissed her.

Hermione thought for a horrifying moment that Draco had passed out or something of the sort. But he thankfully he lifted his head up moments later. Before Hermione could get a chance to ask him if he was alright or not, or what had made him do that, Draco had taken her gently by the face and kissed her. The hand she had rested on the rim reflexively wrapped around his neck, as well as the other one. She melted.

Draco continued kissing her for what felt like eternity, it was in fact, approximately three minutes. He broke the kiss and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I had to." He tried to smile, but couldn't. He slumped back against the edge of the chair, and ran his fingers through his hair again. He sighed loudly, and deciding he couldn't avoid it for much longer, he looked back at Hermione.

But by that time Hermione had already snaked her hands around his neck once more, pulling Draco's face close to hers. They were still panting slightly from their kiss as their foreheads pressed together.

Draco suddenly felt very confident. "Thankyou, Hermione." He leaned in and kissed her again.

Hermione gently broke the kiss "Thank you for what?" she said, arching a brow and staring into his eyes. "Don't think this is getting anywhere... I'm just kissing you because I want to, okay?"

"And I was thanking you for just that." He smiled and laid his head down on her shoulder, holding her hand. He smiled to himself, feeling her soft skin under his hands.

Hermione rolled her eyes, released herself from his grasp and stood up. "Is that the best you can think up, Malfoy? Then I believe you're losing your touch...," she added with a smirk. She picked up her books and went to Madam Pince's desk to check them out. "Hello...? Madam Pince?" she called to the vacant desk. Hermione frowned and placed the book on the desk and headed for the door. "I'll be seeing you around, Ferret-Boy," she called behind her as she reached for the doorknob. The door was locked. Hermione smartly pulled out her wand "Alohamora" she muttered and tried opening the door again. It didn't work.

Draco watched Hermione with interest as she back answered him, actually walked away and then turned, making her way over to the librarian's desk. He didn't say anything back, and smirked as she fumbled with the door, until he realized that the door was not going to open. His face fell and he stormed over to stand next to her, "Stop mucking around Granger." He reached for the doorknob and pulled. Nothing.

"I'd like to see you open it, smart one" she said while rolling her eyes. Hermione muttered a number of spells but all she managed to do was to melt off the doorknob. "Now what're we supposed to do?!" she exclaimed in fury. "If we're stuck in here until morning I wont have time to reread my notes for History of Magic!"

"Well then read your stupid notes in here, Granger. You know you'll ace the exam anyways. I'm going to go and sit over there, if you come up with a way out, please be kind enough to call me." And with that he swept past her and over to another corner of the library, next to the window, where he grabbed a random book and buried his nose in it.

"I don't have my backpack with me! I have nothing with me!' she called to Draco. Hermione growled softly and stormed over to Madam Pince's desk and grabbed the book furiously. She then stalked towards Draco and stood on the opposite side of the window. "How can you read? It's bloody dark," she said irritably as she squinted at the words a centimeter from her face.

"I have good night vision." He shrugged, the spite from his voice had vanished and he didn't smirk, he didn't even look up. Sighing, he turned the page and continued reading about some medieval incident that was of no importance in the Malfoy world.

"Oh really, well I don't" she said bluntly and slammed the book on the stone table near them. Hermione thrusted herself in the chair and an hour passed while she rested her head on her hand, gazing at Draco, who hadn't moved the slightest bit since they last spoke. Hermione's eyelids soon got heavy and she dozed off as Draco finished the last pages of his book.

Setting the book back down, he looked at the clock up on the wall and noticed that about an hour had passed. He looked over to Hermione to find that she was asleep. "Hey, Granger." He gently shook her, in a polite attempt to wake her up. "You sneak around this castle with weasel and potter, there has to be a secret passageway somewhere in the library, where is it?"

"There is no secret passageway in the library, Mal," she said sleepily, slowly opening her eyes and gazing into his silver ones. It was as if all the bitterness and malice had left them and was replaced with a pleasant, warm silver glow. Her lips formed into a crooked smile, a few wisps of her chestnut-colored hair draped her face.

Malfoy gently let go of her arms, which he had only just realized he was still holding and gave her a not-at-all forced half smile. "Well then, we are stuck." He mumbled, still looking her in the eye. "Did you just call me Mal?" He looked slightly amused, but confused at the same time.

She chuckled softly "Yes, Mal, Malfoy, same thing," she said conversationally, realizing that one hand was on his knee. Hermione slowly pulled it up and tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. "Now what do we do," she said, still not moving from the table, being very comfortable, her dark eyes scanning the room. Draco didn't look quite as comfortable, squatting at her feet.

"Well, that's a new one then, No ones every called me Mal. Usually it's just Draco, or Dray at best... Anyways, enough about that." He shook his head realizing she probably didn't care, nor should he be telling her such things. But he just felt so comfortable talking to her all of a sudden. He got up and stretched his legs a little. "That's much better. You know, Granger, you're really not such bad company."

"You're not so bad either, Mal," she said smiling. She also got up, running a hand through her hair and sighing deeply. Just at that moment, the flaming torches that were lining the walls dimmed and went out altogether. She moved around in the darkness for her wand and muttered "Lumos," when the tip of it ignited, she found herself face to face with Draco.

Before he knew what was going on, the lights had suddenly gone out and Malfoy found himself inches away from Hermione. "Uhhh... " There wasn't anything to say, and not being the kind of person who dealt easily with awkward situations, Draco did the first thing that came to mind. He leaned forward and kissed her.

Draco might as well've slapped her across the face and she would've got the same reaction. However, Hermione melted into the kiss and her hands slithered up and around his neck, pulling him closer to occupy the empty space between their bodies.

Feeling her arms around his neck in an affectionate way as opposed to the strangling he thought he'd get gave him an odd sort of confidence. He let his own arms slide around her waist and pulled her even closer to him, then he broke the kiss and looked down into her dark, mysterious eyes. "We should not be doing this" He muttered quietly, though he was smiling broadly.

"No, we shouldn't," she whispered back, a grin sliding on her lips. She noticed that Draco hadn't let go of her waist; she wasn't intending on letting go of him anytime soon either. There was an awkward silence when Hermione looked down and Draco rested his chin on her head, which was broken by Hermione turning around and settling herself in his arms, her back pressed against his chest. "Don't ask me why I'm doing this, Mal, I'm just doing it because I want to, okay?"

"Ok. And even though its obvious and I probably don't need to make it clearer, I only do things because I want to as well." He let his thumb gently rub her arm, and breathed in the smell of her hair deeply. Then he let her go and took her hand, leading her away from the window and over to a slightly cozier corner, where there were a couple of armchairs, and climbed into one, pulling her into the chair with him.

Hermione had never felt more that she belonged; she was no longer the brainy girl that never fit in with anyone, she was safe in Draco's arms. She tilted her head slightly and kissed him on his cheek. His skin was so smooth, like a baby's, his thin wisps of silver hair tickling her nose. Hermione was so warm and cozy, now it didn't matter that they were locked in the library, she was actually thankful that they were.

Wrapping his arms around her body again, he smiled as she bent down and kissed his cheek. "'Mione, are you gonna tell anyone?" He wasn't the kind to have something on his mind and not talk about it, and what was on his mind now was Potter and Weasly. He needed to know what was going to happen now, if this was just a one off, or if it was in fact something more, and if so, what the other two members of the famous trio would say.

"I don't think I should; Harry and Ron would kill me," she said, frowning, rubbing her thumb softly on his hand wrapped around her waist. "What should I do?" she asked him, turning around facing him and planting a soft kiss on his lips. It was addictive; once you've touched his feathery lips all you wanted was more.

He returned the kiss gratefully and then looked up into her eyes. "Do what you feel is right. If what you want is for this to forever remain secret, then it will. All you have to do is say the word." He pulled her further into his lap and lay his head down on her shoulder, again breathing in the intoxicatingly sweet smell of her hair.

She half-shrugged. "Now what we've got to worry about is what we're going to do all night," she began, absentmindedly stroking the back of his head with one of her hands. "I don't know about you but I'm not the least bit tired," she said and chuckled softly. Of course she wouldn't mind being lost in Draco's arms all night.

He kissed the back of her neck softly as she stroked his hair, and took her other hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. "What would you like to do all night? It is up to you, like I said, say the word..." He was suddenly willing to do anything to make her happy. Especially if this may be the only night he ever got to have with her.

"I think you know what I'd like to do," she said turning around in his lap and smiling at him. She leaned in and kissed him passionately fully aware of the fact that she was sixteen. She wrapped her tongue around his, in the meantime raking a hand through his hair; it seemed to fall back into place so nicely. She dropped her wand, which went out like a light bulb.

As the light from Hermione's wand went out, Draco let his hands wander. He kissed her back strongly, but not forcibly, running his hands down her neck and back. He let himself fall down in the chair a bit, so that she could comfortably sit atop him, and ran his own hands through her hair, relishing in the soft touch. He broke the kiss for just a moment and looked her in the eyes. "You're beautiful, Hermione Granger."

She caressed his cheek with her thumb and whispered "You're beautiful, Draco Malfoy," she said before plunging into the kiss once more. She relished the feeling of his hands crawling up her back and found that she loved the excitement as shivers ran up her spine from his cold touch. She pulled away momentarily and fumbled with the clasp to his Slytherin robes.

Lost in the smell of her hair and the touch of her skin, it took Draco a moment to figure out what Hermione's own hands were doing, his heart was already pumping faster than it ever had, and he was in fear that is was just going to leap out of his chest and run away. He gracefully undid her own robes.

Hermione heard the swoosh of her robes falling to the ground and was left in a black top and muggle jeans. She could feel Draco's heart pumping against hers, could feel his sweet minty breath on her face, could feel his damp hair plastered on his forehead. Hermione slid her hands under his black muscle shirt and up his chest; he indeed had a great body, but his skin was so soft it was almost surreal.

He kissed her again, pulling her body close to his. He was starting to feel giddy, and couldn't remember ever feeling this way with a girl before. He ran his fingers once more through her hair, before gently breaking the kiss once more, taking his shirt off and throwing it precariously to the ground.

Hermione moaned softly as he kissed her, his hands like spiders scuttling across her back, his fingertips like ice but she loved it. Hermione broke the kiss and took Draco's hands in hers and placed them on her waist while she undid her zipper, but she suddenly stopped.

Relishing in the touch of her skin, he looked up as she stopped suddenly. "What's wrong?" He took her hands in his and smiled charmingly.

"It's just that...." she was too ashamed to confess her fear to Draco; they were unprotected... what if... "...Nothing" she whispered.

"We can stop, if you want. We don't have to...." He stopped as she looked up at him and he pulled her into a long kiss. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver packet. "But if this is all you're worried about..." He placed the packet in her hand. "It's up to you...."

She chuckled softly "You carry that kind of stuff around?" she said giggling. She had a sudden rush of giddiness and couldn't stop laughing; she had no idea why, it wasn't all that funny. She placed his hands on her waist for the third time "Come on, Mal," she moaned.

"Just in case." He smiled as she placed his hands back on her waist. "I know it kind of makes it feel like it's supposed to happen, being locked in the library and all. But I don't want to rush you," He kissed her lips softly, then continued, letting his thumb again, caress her skin softly. "There will be a next time, Hermione. I promise you."

"You sure, Draco?" she said. The truth was she thought it was going a bit fast; she wanted it so much but at the same time it felt... odd. Hermione placed her hands on his pale, slender hands and placed a trail of kisses from the base of his stomach all the way to his neck.

"I'm sure." He smiled warmly and shivered as she placed the trail of kisses up his stomach and chest. He kissed her neck once more, and then her lips. "It can wait." He told himself as much as he told her. Then he hugged her close to him, leaning back in the chair. They could just stay there until the library opened in the morning, in which they would go to act like nothing had happened.

This felt like the most 'right' time in the world for Hermione to lose her virginity, so many things had happened so unexpectedly, she had fallen in love in one night, completely tearing the line between love and hate in two, falling in love with the enemy. She was caught up in the middle of it all, torn between hesitance and lust. She had never felt so confused in her life; but somehow she adored it.

He ran his fingers through her hair and down her neck before placing another small kiss on her lips. " Hate to kill the mood, but the sun is coming up, what time does this place open, anyways?" He wrapped his arms around her once more, his leg bouncing up and down beneath her out of both the cold and a sort of personal fear.

"Around 8:00, we've got about two more hours. Funny how the time passed so quickly..." she said, not really paying attention. Before she knew what was happening, she grabbed Draco and kissed him passionately and a bit violently, she felt a surge of passion poison her veins, and she wanted as much of Draco as she possibly could have.

Before he could even register what was happening Hermione smiled at him, his belt falling from her left hand onto the pile of clothes already on the floor. "What are you....?" He didn't finish his sentence, instead, he kissed her softly, and holding her close to him he moved them both to the floor by the pile of clothes…

This is a prequel. The story continues and becomes a rather dramatic one, you can find the continuation in my story list on my profile page. It's called The War of the Dead.

Cheers,

Sami.