Hermione crouched lower on the cold, stone floor of the hallways. Her back ached from leaning against the hard wall but she was too tired and overwhelmed to support herself. She had just blurted out, no SUNG, her true feelings in a crowded Potions classroom.

Good God, there were SLYTHERINS there. They could completely ruin her entire year here with the gossip they had now. People might follow her. God knows that Parvati and Lavender would stalk her and try to find out who she fancied.

Not only that, if they DID find out, the entire school would know. Including the Slytherins. And if word got out…then they were BOTH in danger.

Tears poured down her face. A few went into her mouth and she relished the salty, bitter taste. What could she do? She was so scared. They could both DIE if anyone found out.

"Hermione!"

Oh no. It was him. Not now. Not here. Not after what she had said. She couldn't bear to hurt him. Never.

"Hermione!"

Draco raced towards her, a jubilant expression spread across his features. He almost tripped over his own feet from running so fast. A few weeks ago, he would have been mortified to be acting so clumsy and common but he was so excited. Hermione, HIS Hermione, cared about him so much that her deepest secret included HIM.

"Hermione, is it true? What you sang? Was it about me?"

Hermione didn't want to look up. If she did and saw his happy face, she knew she wouldn't be able to bear it. Her mind wandered back to the day they fell in love.

"Dirty mudblood!"

"Albino ferret!"

"Why is everyone still ON about that? You get turned into a ferret ONE TIME and then it follows you for the rest of your life!!"

"And my blood is not MUDDY! I am the same as every other pure-blood in this entire street!"

Hermione knew that it was immature. She knew that Malfoy WANTED her to break down and start yelling at him. She knew she was standing on a crowded street in Diagon Alley where everyone could see her. She knew that her parents were probably waiting for her at Flourish and Botts so they could go home.

But she also knew that she didn't give a shit.

"The HELL you are! The day you're the same as every other pureblood is the day I give birth to a hippogriff!!"

"Well then you better call your mediwizard because Mama Draco is about to squeeze a hippogriff out of his arse!"

"ARRGGGHH! THAT'S THE LAST STRAW!"

And then they had leaped at each other, scratching and clawing and kicking and punching anything in sight. They fell down and rolled around the street with as much dignity as a few peasant boys fighting for a breadcrumb. Hermione felt her arm bang into a cart carrying oranges and let out a loud shriek.

She glanced at her left arm and noticed that it was bleeding. Bright red crimson blood had trailed down from her wrist almost to her shoulder. A deep cut ran down her forearm.

Malfoy had a shocked look on his face. His eyes looked almost glassy as if he was in a trance. He gingerly ran his finger down the wound, eliciting a quiet hiss from Hermione.

He examined the scarlet blood on his fingertip and then his gaze went to Hermione's fiery cinnamon eyes.

"Doesn't look muddy to me." She whispered.

And THEN they had realized how close they were and had sprung apart. Muttering curses under their breath, both teenagers mumbled their goodbyes and then ran their separate ways. Two days later, Draco had owled her, apologizing for everything he had said about mudbloods. Hermione had owled back, saying that the apology was accepted but he still owed her for many years of torture. He owled back asking if dinner was sufficient enough.

Needless to say, after dinner, they were MUCH friendlier than they had been before.

But Hermione always had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she saw Draco. She had it every time. Every time they kissed. Every time they hugged. Every time they snuggled. Every time they gave each other loving glances or suggestive winks.

Every time she wondered what would happen if his father found out. She wasn't stupid. She knew that if Lucius ever did find out, he would murder Draco. Literally. Or at least, he would tell Voldemort about it. She knew that his father was a Death Eater. She had been very relieved when she found out that he did not desire to follow in his father's footsteps.

But that didn't mean that everything was peachy. If Voldemort found out, he could do anything. Hurt Draco, hurt her, hurt her friends, hurt her family. In general, he could completely destroy everything and anything she had every held dear in her life.

That was why she had to stop it. Before he completely destroyed BOTH of them. That was why she finally looked into Draco's kind, wonderful hopeful bright blue eyes and almost burst into tears again because he looked so happy.

His expectant gaze almost killed her. His eyes were always her undoing. They could make her feel self-conscious under their piercing, silver gaze. They could make her feel passionate when they were a dark, smoldering gray. They could make her feel cheerful and bubbly when they were bright and blue. And they could make her feel warm and safe when they were a calm and cool mercury.

"I…"

Merlin, this was so hard. It was hurting so much to do this. But if this continued, this potion might cause her to sing something even MORE dangerous. She could completely reveal their relationship.

"Um…t-the song wasn't about you."

Oh God. His eyes blinked, once…then again. An adorable puzzled expression came across his face, as if her words hadn't registered.

"What?" His voice shook, as if he thought he had heard wrong.

"T-the song…wasn't…about you."

Draco stumbled back a bit and looked at her with shocked eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it.

"W-Who was it about?" It sounded like it was paining him to ask that question.

"I-It was about…H-Harry." It was the first name that had popped into her head. She repeated the words You're doing the right thing, You're doing the right thing over and over again in her mind.

"P-POTTER??" He sputtered. His eyes had turned a dark azure. It was a color that Hermione had never seen in his eyes before. It was probably because she had never broken his heart before. His eyes shone with unshed tears.

"B-But…what about…US? I thought that…that you CARED." His voice shook more and more as if it would soon break.

"I-I'm SO…SORRY." Hermione blubbered. Tears streamed down her face and made shining tracks along her cheekbones. She swallowed the huge lump in her throat.

Draco was quiet for a minute. He was staring at her with disbelief and horrible, horrible sadness. His mouth open and closed as if he was trying to find the right words to say. Finally, his eyes hardened into the same, icy silver that she had seen long before they began their relationship. His mouth set into a thin line.

"You bitch." He spat.

Hermione sobbed loudly and shook her head slowly.

"I thought you were different from what all the Slytherins said. From what my father said. And what Voldemort said. I thought you were some…wonderful…gorgeous…THING! But you're nothing but that filthy mudblood whore I thought you were on that day in Diagon Alley."

"N-No! Yo-You don't mean that!" She choked out. Bitter, salty tears kept spilling and spilling from her eyes.

"Th-Thank you for curing me of my ridiculous obsession with love." He hissed. Then, with a swish of his robes, he was walking away. His silvery-blonde head and black-robed figure grew smaller and smaller from the distance.

Hermione bit her lip to keep from screaming for him to come back. She settled for sliding even lower onto the floor. And crying her eyes out.

(A/N: I SWEAR I have a good reason for this. Poor…poor Draco. If you want to know what happens between the two of them and what happens between Hermione and Draco AND if you want to hear more singing…then REVIEW!! ANd can someone recommend a song Hermione can sing about how she feels about the breakup? PLEASE???)

(By the way, the line "Th-thank you for curing me of my ridiculous obsession with love," is from Moulin Rouge. I love that movie. So sad.)