Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Harry Potter, because if I really was J.K. Rowling you can bet this fic would be a whole lot better!

I Can't Make You Love Me

Chapter Three

By Krissy Muffinhead

As Hermione walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, she could help but feel that everyone was watching her. It was still early for breakfast, so the tables weren't full, but she couldn't help but feel self-conscious. What if they know, one part of her said, before another chimed in, That's ridiculous! How could they possibly know?

"Hermione! Over here!" she heard Ginny call from the middle of the Gryffindor table.

She smiled and began to make her way over. Harry, Ron, and a few others were already there as well. "Hi guys, what's for breakfast?" she asked, sliding in between Ron and Seamus Finnegan with a smile.

She began eating her breakfast with such voracity that even Ron was impressed. "Wow Hermione, I've never seen you pack it away like that before!" Ron said in a blatantly admiring tone.

She stuck out her tongue, before wolfing down a few more bites. She glanced up at the entrance a couple times to see Draco come in. He glanced over at her and smirk what would seem to be a malicious smirk if she hadn't recognized the somewhat naughty wink he cast her way.

Smiling, she turned back to her plate. She had a particular craving for pancakes today… Wait, craving. That rang a bell. Cravings…pregnancy…Shit! She hadn't taken any birth control! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!

Suddenly feeling ill, Hermione stood up quickly. "I forgot something, I have to go to the library," she said, leaving the table as fast as she could without drawing attention.

Harry's brow furrowed. "What's up with Hermione?"

None of the Gryffindors could answer.

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At the opposite side of the Great Hall, Draco saw Hermione practically bolt from her table with hardly a word of explanation. That's odd, he thought… As inconspicuously as he was able, he excused himself and headed out the door after her.

He barely saw her go around a corner, and he immediately recognized her path. The library. Where else would Granger go rushing off to out of nowhere?

There were other students in the hall. He couldn't be seen chasing after Granger; word spreads all too quickly at Hogwarts. So he casually headed off to the library, as if going to finish some homework.

When he got there, he glanced through some of the books before deciding to go for the direct approach. He walked right up to the stack where Hermione was looking through and said loudly, "Watch it, Mudblood, some of us have important things to do." Not his most original, granted, but he was too curious about what Hermione was doing to come up with something crueler.

She stared at in panic for a second before heading off to a secluded corner of the library. Glancing around him to see if anyone was watching, he soon followed.

When he got there, he was mystified to find her sitting down, fists clenched, body white and shaking. "Hermione? What's wrong?" he said quietly, sitting across from her.

"Draco, I'm so stupid… I didn't even… I mean, I knew, but I didn't know, and I just…" she said in a trembling voice, of the verge of panic.

"Calm down. What happened, tell me what happened," he instructed, still in a low voice.

She looked at him, her face pale and drawn. "I didn't use birth-control."

Draco blinked at her for a moment before smiling slightly. "Don't worry about it."

Her jaw literally dropped. "Don't worry about it? How can you saw that! Did you know that 70 of teen mothers…"

Draco cut her off with a shake of his head. "I did a protection charm, I thought you noticed." He smirked proudly. "I guess you were thinking about other things."

Her breathing seemed to become more even, and she said, "You mean I'm not…pregnant?" She whispered the last word as if it were taboo, which in reality, it was.

He nodded. "So now that you're not worried about that, I know of a good broom closet right around the corner from here."

She looked around, as if nervous someone had suddenly crept up and heard him. "No! Besides, we have to get to Potions now. What time is it?" She glanced at her own watch and gasped. "Shit! We're late!"

"Sucks to be you," he smirked. "Two-hundred points from Gryffindor."

"What about you?" she frowned, gathering her bag up.

"Are you kidding me? Snape loves me; then again, everyone loves me," he said, stressing the 'everyone' to let her know she was now among his legions of fans.

"Fuck you," she said rudely before jogging off to class.

He shook his head. "Who would have thought Granger could curse?" Then again, he mused, who would have thought she could have sex… and be good at it, no less?

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"Miss Granger, so good of you to join us finally. I suggest you come on time in the future. Twenty points from Gryffindor," Snape said in his snape-y voice as Hermione slunk in, while Draco strode in a few lengths behind. Of course, he turned a blind eye to one of his own Slytherin.

She could tell Ron and Harry were busting to ask where she'd been, but with Snape's cold glare on them still, they couldn't. Good, she hadn't made up a story yet.

She was forced to focus on Snape's instructions and his notes of the board for the potion they would be brewing today. She gathered up the ingredients and began measuring, pouring, and stirring.

"Where were you?" Ron said out of the side of his mouth.

"Library," Hermione whispered back.

He rolled his eyes, and made a hand motion, like Go On…?

She shrugged, and bent closer to her cauldron as if to inspect her work. He sighed, chalking the questioning up to a lost cause until they were out of class.

A couple of times, she glanced to the front of the room where Draco was working, and tried to keep a smile off her face. It wasn't too hard; the whole situation was so surreal that she kept chasing each event around in her mind, going in circles until she came back to the main point – that it had happened, and she had wanted it. Both times, she grinned guiltily, stirring her potion.

"Miss Granger, I suggest you stop smirking in my class, or another twenty points will be mine," Snape said as he walked past her. Most of the class had turned to look at Hermione, Draco included. He cocked an eyebrow and she shot him a glare.

On their way out of class, Draco and Hermione attempted to squeeze through the door at the same time. "Watch it, Mudblood!" he snapped angrily, and she was taken aback for a moment, until she felt his slender fingers shove something into her robe.

She waited until she was alone in Ancient Runes as the first student in the class to see what it was. It was a folded piece of parchment that read in messy script, 'Tonight, midnight, Astronomy tower."

She frowned slightly. The Astronomy tower was a well-known make-out place among the students; why would he choose there to meet with her?

Oh well, she thought, tucking the note back into her pocket. She supposed she'd find out tonight at any rate.

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Thank you all sooooo much for the reviews, I love it! This chapter was shorter than I was aiming for, because my mom just came down and told me to go to bed lol, so the next part will probably be Chapter 3 – part II! Sorry if this chapter is shitty – it will pick up soon, honestly!

"With you I feel I'm just spending wasted time…" -Faithless ft Dido, One Step Too Far