Disclaimer: Potterverse belongs to JK Rowling, of course. I only own the plot.

happy valentine's

It was well past midnight and while the silent darkness hushed students and teachers alike to sleep, the Head Boy and Girl lay wide awake in their corner of the school called Hogwarts. The soft crackle of a fair-sized fire made for the sole source of sound in the room as the boy draped his arms tighter around the small frame of the girl. Feeling her move slightly against him assured him she was still in a responsive state. He broke his gaze from the bright flames and turned to study her calm form from his vantage point. Everything about her mesmerized him at that moment; the soft glow on her skin, the way her body fit perfectly against his, the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each slow breath, even the way the light from the fire danced off her abundent curls took his breath away. Sighing inwardly, he dropped a chaste kiss upon the top of her head, inviting her to incline her gaze towards him.

"Are you feeling any better?" He murmured softly. Somehow using his normal tone did not quite fit the mood of the moment right then.

A delicate nod affirmed his query and the smallest, sweetest smile greeted him. "Much better. Thank you."

"What for?"

She gave him the feeblest of shrugs indicating her lack of care for the current topic. He tilted his head at her, amusement waltzing across his face as the smallest smile played on her lips.

"Hey Hermione..."

"Hmm?"

"What you said earlier to Weasley ... did you really mean that?"

He watched her as she frowned lightly, initially confused by his question for a moment before lighting up a little upon realisation.

'Because I love him, Ron. Was that what you wanted to hear? I love Draco!'

"Oh ... Draco, " she bit down on her bottom lip as she tore her eyes away from him, her voice sounding thin and unsure. "You know I said that to shut him up. Or else he would go on and on ranting and raving about how a mad lunatic I must be to defend you. The thing with Ron as you know, once his first impression has been made there's just no turning back. He still thinks you're a class A evil prat even when you've been proven otherwise."

Draco pulled away from her, holding her inches away from him and gently turning her face towards him. Yet the girl stubbornly kept her eyes downcast, refusing to meet his gray ones.

"You didn't answer my question..."

"I ... I did.."

"No ... you rambled."

"Oh honestly, stop acting like you're thick."

He allowed a hopeful smirk at her retort. "So you did mean it, then." She nodded. His smirk grew. "No, say it."

"Say what?"

"Now who's acting thick?"

"Draco!"

He laughed softly at her whine, finding it strangely endearing. The Hermione he knew had never whined to his knowledge and it was a fresh change from the usual moods he had seen from her.

"Come now, Hermione. It can't be that hard if you mean it, can it?"

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Of course not. Ohh fine. I love you. There, I said it. Are you happy now?"

Draco grinned. 'This is turning out to be more fun than I thought..' He shook his head, much to Hermione's annoyance as she seemed to realise he merely wanted to see how much of a rise he could get out of her. It was not entirely a bad thing, however but the boy could see that she was not quite in the mood for games of such. He knew how lethargic she must be feeling right then and he was already mentally planning how to make up for her willingness to simply be with him for the night.

"Now you're just being impossible, I'm really not up to-"

Whatever it was that Hermione was not up to doing he never found out because Draco decided to cut her off by leaning in unexpectedly and softly planting a virgin kiss on her lips. Her entire body seemed to stiffen and he knew he was right in thinking she had never been kissed before. She merely sat rigidly in his arms with his lips attached to hers.

Gently sliding his arms tighter around her, he carefully brought her body closer to his as he lazily traced the outline of her lips with his tongue. That seemed to break her out of her shock and he felt the pleasant sensations of her responding, though timidly, to his kiss. It was only for a moment however and she became comfortable enough with his touches to part her lips, allowing him to savour the bittersweet feeling of her tongue dancing with his. Catching himself before a soft moan escaped from his lips, he withdrew slightly, whispering softly against her lips, "say it like you mean it," before giving in to another long, beautiful kiss.

She ended the kiss this time and he had barely opened his eyes when she whispered back, so softly he almost had to strain his ears to hear what she was saying.

"I love you, Draco."

"Right, so this is going to help me ... how?"

Draco turned to look at Hermione, smirking as he noted the slight confusion battling for expression with her amusement on her face. Throwing a mischievous wink at her, he tightened the bounds on the sled he had copped together with his wand.

"It'll help you to live for today," he whispered cryptically before getting on the sled himself. "Ready?"

"Draco, I really do not think this is-...AAAAH!"

But whatever it was that Hermione thought was quickly cut off as a loud squeal of surprise escaped her throat. The sled had pushed itself forward seemingly by magic and was gaining top speed towards the edge of one of the high hills surrounding the castle. Draco laughed aloud, enjoying the cold wind whistling past his ears and as the sled tipped and began its merry descent downhill, his left hand formed a one-armed hug around Hermione's waist. Holding his wand out towards themselves in a sled speedily bumping down a snow-covered hill was not as easy as he thought it to be but he somehow managed to yell out a cushioning charm just before the sled hit the bottom of the hill. His actions caused them to roll out of the sled as though in slow motion, tumbling over and over in the snow.

"Draco Malfoy I am going to KILL you!"

"Really?"

"Yes, that was extremely ..."

"Fun!"

Draco turned his head around to see Hermione fighting to keep an angry look on her face. He grinned. She pouted. He chuckled. She stuck her tongue out at him, then conceded defeat and allowed a small smile to play on her lips.

"Oh alright, it was quite fun," she admitted grudgingly.

"Just quite?"

"Don't push it."

"Okay," hoisting himself up on his elbows, he leaned over her and captured her lips in a soft kiss...Only to be broken by a sudden squeal from her once more. Draco pulled back, sniggering to himself.

"Tag, you're it."

"Oh no you don't," was her reply as she gained up on him, reached out and began tickling him back. Ten minutes later saw them lying flat on the snow beside each other, pink in the cheeks and out of breath. "You know..." she started, her voice soft. "I never thought you to be one who knew about Muggle games like sledding and tag.."

"Well..." he tore his eyes away from the pinkening sky to focus his gaze on her. "I'm just full of surprises I guess."

"Yes ... you are," she said slowly, her eyes fixed on the light spattering of shapeless clouds in the sky. He observed her as she fell silent, a strange thoughtful look appearing on her face. Her voice was shaky when she spoke again. "Draco ..."

"Yes?"

"Will you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Could you not ... that is ... I don't want ... I don't want anyone to cry for me when I ... when I'm gone."

There was suddenly a large dry lump in his throat at that moment. Draco found that he could not bear to look at Hermione anymore. Turning away from her, he watched a thin wisp of air blowing out from between his lips as he sat silently for a minute. Then, swallowing thickly, he slowly hoisted himself up onto his feet and held his hand out wordlessly to her. They stood there, facing each other with faces full of emotions different from the light ones they had just minutes ago. Draco broke the soft silence with a little sigh.

"You will be missed, you know, " he muttered softly, keeping his eyes averted.

He then reduced the sled to be small enough to fit into his pocket and turned to make his way back to the castle. The sound of boots plodding heavily on snow could be heard moments later as Hermione caught up with him. She grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her. He spoke just as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Hermione, there's a lot of things I can promise you ... if you asked just me to not cry I could try but ... like I said, you will be missed," he took her hand in his as he lowered his voice. "You haven't even told Potter and Weasley ... how do you think they will react?"

She sighed in admittance. "I don't know, Draco. I don't want them to treat me like a charity case once they find out I'm dying."

"Only because they love you ..." he shook his head, ending the conversation topic. "Let's just ... forget about this for today, alright? Come on, the Ball will be starting in an hour and we still need to get dressed."

Walking into the Great Hall for a Valentine Ball with Hermione Granger on his arm was something Draco never dreamed of his entire life and yet, there he was with his arm curled protectively around hers. He looked around, taking in the results of weeks of planning on their part. The Great Hall looked simply wondrous draped in shimmering shades of gold with slight pink accents thrown in. Fairies fluttered around vainly, enhancing the magical ceiling which had been enchanted for the occasion to broadcast a perfect starry sky lit with a bright full moon. The house tables were gone and in their place was a long buffet serving of Valentine-inspired hors d'oeuvres and pumpkin juice. The rest of the floorspace was left free for mingling and dancing. An enchanted gramophone churned out WWN's hit love songs, adding on to the atmosphere.

Draco leaned closer to his date, whispering softly in her ear, "You look more amazing than all of these put together," and he meant it.

It should not have been such a surprise to him to see her all dressed up. After all, he had seen, if only just, a glimpse of it during the Yule Ball in their fourth year. She had been hanging off Viktor Krum's arm then, enticing envious looks from his fanclub but he doubted Krum was the only reason for their envy. She had shown everyone present her true beauty and even he had to admit back then she looked rather stunning in her soft blue robes. Now, history seemed to be repeating itself. The Great Hall appeared to cease movement upon their entrance and he could see why. Hogwarts' Head Boy; reformed son of Death Eater and Head Girl; a real Cinderella appearance-wise, arm-in-arm.

Hermione smiled at his compliment, a slight glow accentuating her cheeks. He watched as she carefully smoothed down the front of her yellow robes with her free hand and allowing him to lead her out to the dancefloor. The silence from everyone else slowly rose to a murmur, no doubt commenting on what looked like a most bizarre coupling. Draco had barely time to wonder who would be the first to interrupt them when Weasley appeared with an expression of one trying his darndest to control anger.

"I knew you were up to something."

"Ron, not here, not tonight, please."

"I can't believe you are letting yourself be fooled by him!"

"There is nothing foolish about anything I do involving Draco, Ron."

"Don't you dare put my name after his in the same sentence," hissed the redhead, frowning before shaking his head and shifting his glare to Draco. "You. I'll be watching your every move. One small mistake and you will regret ..."

"I will regret nothing," he interjected, half-amused, half-tired of Weasley's antics. "Weasley. If I even wanted to hurt her, which I would never dream of doing, do you honestly think I'd do it here in front of everyone?"

For the next hour or so, the Ball carried on with less dramatics and interruptions. Pansy revealed, although not on purpose, that despite her spitting remarks and glares she still harbored feelings for the Head Boy. This she gave proof by demanding, albeit through biting sarcasm, a dance with Draco throughout which she never stopped her critique. Getting no response from him, she resorted to consorting with none other than Weasley which, he had to admit, burnt just a little. Other than that, all was perfectly fine with things running the way they should.

Draco stood off to the side, quietly sipping his pumpkin juice as he idly kept an eye on Hermione and Potter who were dancing. It was a little awkward when it happened. He had been enjoying a dance with Hermione and just as the song ended, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Potter had politely asked if he could have a dance with his date. Of course, his first instinct was to say no, it was their night but even Draco could not deny Potter time with Hermione. After all, who was he to say no to Wonder Boy? 'Why can't Weasley be more like Potter? His unfounded anger is really beginning to annoy me.'

And then it happened. One moment she was on her feet, dancing contentedly in Potter's arms and the next she was kneeling on the floor, clutching her chest in pain as her erratic breathing wheezed through her lips. Potter looked highly alarmed as he tried to help and not knowing how while Weasley was shouting obscenities at him, sure that it was he who caused Hermione's pain. Admirably, Pansy and a girl he knew as Lavender Brown seemed to be restraining Weasley from lunging at him as he crossed the Hall to get to Hermione. Her breathing was staggered, her skin flushed as her body temperature raised alarmingly. He knew she needed her pills but if he was foolish enough to run all the way to their dormitories to get them and back, it might be too late. She needed immediate help.

"Potter, run ahead and tell Madam Pomfrey."

"But Hermione..."

"I'm right behind you," he replied, carefully lifting her into his arms without obstructing her breathing. He stood up shakily, adjusting to her weight, then glared at Potter. "Go!"

With quick strides, Draco made his way out of the Great Hall. Brown's frightened whisper echoing in his head as he left for the hospital wing.

"She's not going to die ... is she?"