A/N: Chapter 4 done at last! Thanks so much to those who reviewed…YOU'RE THE GREATEST! This chapter's for you, yes YOU! And don't say that you don't deserve it or anything—your reviews brightened up my day, inspired me, and, well, it gave me an extra something to look forward to. )

OUR LIVES

Chapter 4 – Where Do We Go From Here?

"Excuse me? Granger? No, Malfoy, you are to refer to me as Miss Granger from now onwards. At least, during our sessions together, that is."

The platinum tip of Draco's Firebird quill dug so hard into his parchment that it left an indent in the polished mahogany desk he was writing on.

"You make it sound like a bloody marriage therapy," he snapped angrily as Hermione stood before him with a superior smile on her face. "Sessions together my foot!"

Her cheeks turned a shade darker at the mentioning of 'marriage therapy' but managed a grim smile nevertheless. "Stop whining," she said shortly, "and I expect that essay to be completed within an hour."

"Tyrant," muttered Draco audibly. "Do you know what they do to autocratic tyrants, Miss Granger? They get rid of them—and they aren't entirely adverse to using unsavoury methods too, Miss Granger."

"I'll bet that 'they', whoever 'they' may be, are highly skilled assassins and not inept schoolboys whose grades are so pathetic that his Transfiguration Professor had to subject him to extra classes by me!"

Draco growled but returned to his essay titled 'How to Remedy Erroneous Transfiguration'. He'd pay her back, of course. No Muggleborn deserved to humiliate a Malfoy by being his tutor.

Not even if she was Hermione Granger.

Hermione made sure that Draco's back was turned before producing a piece of parchment that had been tested by various charms but betrayed nothing. She'd received that letter the day before, and it was the exact reason why a good night's rest had deserted the Gryffindor.

Hermione, do not bother sending this letter to Professor Dumbledore or anyone else, for that matter. I wrote this using Secretio potion, which means that only you can read this.

She was impressed. Not many students—assuming that the sender was a student—could concoct a Secretio potion successfully. The ingredients that went in were hell to find, for one thing.

First, I must congratulate you. You have proven to be capable of stupidity and intelligence at once. You may be able to rattle off names and dates regarding the soporific Goblin Rebellion, but you've forgotten the one thing that I've given you, that isn't fake or contrived.

Ah, yes. You're wondering what it is, yes? You're frowning at this moment, trying to figure out who I am, and why have I decided to make your rosy life miserable. I can tell you something, Hermione: someone out there is watching you. Someone who probably knows more about you that you think.

A chill ran down her spine as she read the words again. Whoever the writer was, she was certain that he wasn't a friend.

In other words, someone out there has fallen in love with you. He might not show it in his actions….or his speech, but that doesn't mean that he loves you any less. Sometimes he hates himself for feeling that way. Other times, he hates you for it. But most of the time, he's happy to know that you once loved him back, even if you don't remember it now.

The last part, however, made her scoff. If anything, Peregrinus was certainly an amateur when it cam to penning love letters. And an incorrigible liar too, if she might add. How could she have loved someone and yet not remember anything? It was abysmally absurd.

But that didn't mean that she was any less curious about the sender's identity. She had already ruled out Viktor, Ron or any other boy she knew. Except, perhaps, a few.

She wrote Harry's name on the back of the letter. There was a big question mark there—for one thing, he was certainly able to whip up a decent advanced Potion. For another….

"Why," said an agonized voice at her elbow, "are girls always pining for Scarface? Can't anyone see that he's nothing but an empty pothead?"

Hermione blushed furiously and snatched the parchment off the table. She didn't have to know that Draco was standing behind her, reading everything that she'd written.

"Don't just sneak up like a slitherin' snake!" she snapped hotly, as Draco's asinine grin grew wider. "And I'm not pining for Scarface! I mean, Harry!"

"Well," said Draco as he raised an arched eyebrow, "I certainly hope that you aren't going into denial, because the next stage is Lunacy."

"You know what?" asked Hermione furiously as she glared at the pale Slytherin, "I don't have to justify anything. What I do is none of your business, Malfoy."

"Besides," she added half to herself, "I know that he has a thing for Ginny."

Silence. Then—

"Don't want to be the 'other woman', I see," said Draco softly, "same old self-sacrificing Granger."

Hermione felt uneasy under his gaze, which seemed to analyze every part of her. "Still going around making girls miserable by breaking their hearts I see," she said scathingly, "same of Malfoy."

Draco stared at her in confusion. "I don't understand," he said.

Hermione glared at him. "No?" she shot back. "I know that you had a fling with Lavender when you're supposed to be Pansy's boyfriend. And thanks to you, Amelia Bones now informs everyone every two seconds that 'the hottest boy at school' winked at her in the Great Hall. For someone who encourages girls shamelessly without any intention of taking anything further, you have no right to comment on my love life."

His eyes hadn't left her. "No," he repeated. "What I meant was, I didn't understand how you knew about me breaking unsuspecting girls' hearts," he said finally.

Her eyes met his, and she shivered. It was like looking into a mirror that looked back at you, and didn't want to let you go.

"After all," continued Draco, "None of the hearts that I broke was yours."

She wanted to say, "Just take your damn essay and get out," but her voice seemed to be caught in her throat.

"Everyone knows," she said at last, and tore her gaze away from Draco's. "First Pansy. Then Lavender. Then-"

"Oh, everyone knows, don't they?'" interrupted Draco crossing his arms across his chest, "Just like everyone knows how you have a thing for Potter?"

"I told you not to discuss my love life!"

"Then don't discuss mine," he sneered.

Hermione wished that she could perform an Unforgivable curse on a fellow student. If there was one thing that she'd like to do, it was making Draco mount his flashy broomstick and then jump off when he was a hundred feet in the air.

"You started it," she said angrily. "Let's just say that I'm currently single at the moment and not the least bit deprived."

"Liar," said Draco automatically.

Her wand sparked dangerously, and she felt a flush creeping up her neck. Being alone with Draco certainly had adverse effects on her sanity.

"What's it with you?" she half shouted as he stood unmoving in front of her. She wished that she could wipe the smirk off his pale ferret face. Even better—wipe him off the face of earth for once and for all. "There's just something utterly hatable about you, Malfoy! It makes people want to slap you or slap themselves silly. You're like this annoying pest that is always there no matter how much repellent you use. Or this Flobberworm that must exist although it serves absolutely no purpose other than to drive people nuts. Really, how can anyone be so despicable, frustrating, moronic, idiotic-"

"You're wrong," said Draco suddenly. "Only biased idiots like Weasel thinks that I'm a moronic idiot—he thinks that every single Slytherin's bad news. But truth is, I wasn't appointed as a Prefect because of my stupidity. I didn't get an Outstanding for Potions by being a Flobberworm. You're always seeing me in a bad light, that's what."

She stared at him in disbelief. "Can you blame me?" she asked rudely, but she didn't care about politeness—not when he was a Malfoy. "First you sniggered about me being the 'other woman'. Then you told me not to discuss your love life when you started it in the first place. Finally, you called me a liar when you haven't the faintest idea about anything! I guess you should know, Malfoy, you're the expert in lies after all."

She watched him in wonder as he took a step forward.

"Pansy, Lavender and Amelia were lies," he said evenly. Hermione noticed that everything was deadly silent. Including the footsteps that were supposed to be heard outside the classroom. "They meant nothing. Heck, if Lavender announced that I 'had a fling' with her, then she's the biggest liar, full stop. And Amelia only encouraged herself—I wasn't winking at her. I was winking at the girl beside her—the girl who was too busy fawning over Potter to notice anything."

Hermione was suddenly aware of how close Draco was to her. Strangely, though, she didn't feel repulsed or sickened. In fact, there was a light tinge of wintergreen about him—it wasn't altogether unpleasant.

"I'm sure she wasn't fawning over Potter, I mean, Harry," said Hermione at last. "Ginny'd have killed her."

"Ginny wasn't around," said Draco as he raised an eyebrow. "I was certain that the girl was obsessed with Potter—how else can she be oblivious to my charms?"

"Just because she didn't notice your wink doesn't mean that she's in love with Harry. Besides, you're the only one aware of your imaginary charms."

"Not just my wink. She totally ignored all the hints I dropped—and I dropped a lot of them."

"Perhaps she isn't as bright as Your Royal Highness."

"I doubt it. She's one of the smartest witches I know…even if I wouldn't admit it to anyone."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat. He was standing so close that if she listened closely, she swore that she couldn've heard the beating of his heart—if he had a heart, that is, she added to herself.

"Drop another hint then. Maybe things'll be different."

Draco smiled, and to her surprise, it wasn't mocking or unfriendly. "If you say so," he whispered, bending a little.

And with that, he kissed her.

The moment between the time it took for him to kiss her and for her to realize what Draco was doing seemed to stretch on forever. She saw him bending over her, and pressing his lips against hers, before she closed her eyes. There weren't any moons or crystal fountains in the classroom, but the kiss was still as excruciatingly sweet as their first. His fringe tickled her forehead and their noses brushed against each other, but if she was given a chance to relive the moment, she wouldn't change a thing. For a split second, she thought that she heard the quiet chuckle of a child and a strange flashback of a beautiful garden with silvery hydras, but everything faded away when Draco drew her closer. They continued that way for a while—never going too far, yet never pulling away.

"Do you think if she's gotten the hint now?" smiled Draco as he carefully brushed a curl away from between her eyes with a slim finger. Before she could answer, he pressed a finger gently against her lips. "I think I'll just find out for myself," he teased, before covering her mouth with his.

A/n: If you didn't review last time, then please do now! Not only will you put a big smile on my face, you'll also have this chapter dedicated to you as well! So be a reviewer, and enjoy!