Draco walked into the Transfiguration room the next week to find Hermione already waiting for him. She grinned wildly at him.
"I broke up with Ron today."
"So what are you so happy about?"
She sauntered over towards him and got terribly close: he could feel the heat radiating off her body. Hermione went like she was going to hug him, but instead reached behind him and locked the door. Then she took a step back.
"I'm happy, Draco, because now I can be with someone better."
"Better than Ron? I'm sure Harry was the likely candidate." He tried to keep his voice from shaking. She giggled.
"Harry? No, someone much... sexier... than either of them." She looked up at him and grinned seductively.
"Well Oliver Wood's already graduated." He was trying to stay calm, but certain parts of him just wouldn't cooperate. She gave a throaty laugh.
"No... I'm talking about someone very smart, very cunning, and very... Slytherin."
That's when she pulled him down into a kiss. Her lips tasted so sweet, like nothing he had ever tasted before. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. He entangled his hands into her soft hair and began to nibble at her neck.
"Oh, Draco... I've wanted this for so long...," she whispered.
His hands were on the small of her back and she was starting for the closure of his robes when suddenly...
"Yo, Draco... mate, if you don't get up we're going to be late for breakfast."
Draco forced his eyes open to see Crabbe standing above him, Goyle not far behind. Of course they'd be worried about breakfast.
"Damnit, Crabbe, just go ahead without me. I'll meet you guys up in class or something."
They nodded at him before leaving the dorms. He rolled over and tried fall back asleep. The dream had been so incredibly real; he wanted to be back in Hermione's arms. He clamped his eyes shut, trying to block out the light and low hum of noise from the common room. Didn't these people realize he was about to get what he'd been wanting for a few weeks now? Did they have no respect?
Draco unwillingly dragged himself out of bed after several minutes. Now that he was awake it was useless to stay in bed all morning. He trudged into the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast. Peeling off his clothes, he stepped into the cold spray. He stayed in the icy cold water for a quarter of an hour: there was no way he could be seen still flushed and ... well... hot for Hermione Granger.
After he felt as close to fully satisfied as he was going to get, he climbed out of the shower and got ready for the day. He rested his head against the mirror.
"Pull it together, Malfoy. It was only a dream."
That evening it was time for another transfiguration lesson. Draco knew better than to even hope for the kind of welcoming he'd received in his dream, but all the same he grinned as he reached the door. Maybe he had become a seer and not realized it.
He walked into the classroom to find Hermione already waiting for him. She grinned wildly at him. 'I'm off to a damn good start,' Draco thought as Hermione walked over to him. She was near to violating his air zone when she came to a halt and pulled something out from behind her back.
"I had my mum go out and buy these for me. They've got the guitar chords for those Coldplay CDs I lent you... thought they might help you learn how to play them." He took them from her hands.
"Thanks, Granger." He grinned at her and thought 'Damnit! So close...'
"No problem Malfoy. Let's get started, then, shall we?"
About halfway through the lesson, Draco decided he wanted to bring something up that had been bothering him recently.
"Granger, what's up with you and Weasley? Why'd you get back together?"
"He apologized to me about our fight and all."
"What I mean is, if you got in such a fight and all, why get back together?"
She shrugged. "It just makes sense I guess. Ron and I are supposed to be together. I mean, everything works out: we're both Gryffindors, we're the same age, and we've been best friends for so long."
"Is that what being in a relationship is all about? Having similarities?"
"Well, that's what makes them work, isn't it? Having stuff in common?"
"From what you just told me, that's all you have in common. Does he like the same things as you? I mean, does he know about your music, or about the comfort you get from books?"
She looked surprised. "No... no, I guess he doesn't. How do you know about the books thing?"
He almost froze; he had been so stupid to let on that he'd been watching her a lot lately. "I noticed it one night in the library, but that's beside the point. Why haven't you told him?"
"I just... never really thought about it, I suppose. I don't know if he would understand that kind of stuff."
"Well, that kind of goes with not telling him about our lessons. I always thought trust and understanding to be important in a relationship."
"Yea sure, but everyone is always telling us what a perfect couple we are and how good we are together. I mean, we were best friends for so long, it just makes sense."
"You're best friends with Harry, but you're not with him."
She had no reply. Draco had brought up a good point.
"Listen, Granger, all I'm saying is having things in common and being friends doesn't make a relationship. In fact, I think people who have differences make the best couples. Friendship does play into a relationship, but so does trust, understanding, caring, compassion... there are so many more things on that list."
"Well...I mean, every one has just expected us to be together ever since first year. It is just something that... makes sense. It's a sensible relationship, not something based on a whim, you know?"
It was silent for a few minutes. Then Draco spoke very softly.
"Do you love him?"
"Of course I love him."
"I know you love him as a friend, Granger. What I'm asking is, does he invoke a passion in you? Do you get butterflies just thinking about him? Can you think of nothing you'd like more than to be around him? Would you put everything aside for him? Does he make you happy?"
"...Y...yea..."
Draco heard the hesitation in her reply, and decided to leave it at that. He had one more question for her, though.
"Does he love you?"
"Well, he's never said it before, but I know he must. I mean, he always gets so jealous over me and he wants to be with me and all, so he must love me, right?"
"I've heard you guys are always bickering and arguing."
"Well, yea, but I mean, Ron just gets so jealous so easily, and he's got the Weasley temper. It's excusable, he's just overprotective of me."
"It sounds like he's possessive of you."
"Listen, I think maybe we should just continue the lesson."
He nodded and let her explain how to transfigure large animals into inanimate objects. Draco's attention floated elsewhere. Hermione's relationship with Ron didn't sound very healthy. From what he'd just heard and from what he'd already witnessed, Ron was very possessive of Hermione, treating her like she was a broomstick or something. Ron didn't deserve someone like Hermione.
The problem was, Draco didn't think he did, either.
As all of her roommates were drifting off to sleep that night, Hermione lay awake in bed. She couldn't help but think about the conversation she shared with Draco. He had sounded so sad about Hermione's relationship with Ron. When he was talking about what relationships should be, she watched him and noticed how gorgeous he was. Now she knew what every other girl had known for years: Draco Malfoy was a beautiful man. But a relationship with Draco wouldn't be plausible. It didn't make sense: a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? No. She and Ron, now THAT made sense. She pushed Draco out of her mind and fell into a restless sleep.