The next day Hermione avoided Ron. She couldn't deal with the questions Draco had posed to her, and being near Ron made her think of their conversation. She refused to look at Draco because of the mixed feelings he caused her. He had been so kind and allowed her to see a different side of him in the past few weeks, and she could hardly process that information. It just didn't make sense.

She decided to take her homework to her dorm that night and was in the process of starting arithmancy work when an owl tapped on her window. Hermione undid the lock and the owl fluttered in the opening. It dropped a letter at her feet before flying back out. Hermione bent to the ground and picked up the note.

'Granger,

Meet me out by the Quidditch pitch at eleven. I have some more things to ask you about.

-Malfoy'

Hermione checked a nearby clock. It was already 10:15. She could feel herself being pulled in two different directions: one part of herself was curious about what Draco had to say, while the other knew it could only bring more trouble. She sat in bed wringing her hands trying to decide what to do.

Draco hid himself in the shadows near the entrance to the pitch. He knew it was nearing eleven and there was still no sign of Hermione. He hoped she would show, as he still had a few important questions to ask her. He sighed impatiently, leaning his back against a nearby pole and casting his eyes skyward. The night sky was perfect, unblemished by clouds and accented by thousands of sparkling stars. He saw movement from the corner of his eye and glanced in the direction of the castle. There she was, bathed in the starlight as she crossed the empty grounds. Hermione kept sending nervous glances in every direction while she kept a brisk pace towards Draco's hiding spot.

She looked almost as beautiful as she had that night in the hospital wing. The light wind whipped strands of hair around her face and the light from the stars made her hair shimmer. Draco wasn't close enough to see her face, but he was sure that it was still as delicate as it had always been. His heart skipped a few beats as she drew closer to the shadows.

"Malfoy?" She came to halt near the entrance. He remained in the comfort of the shadows, but called out to her to make her aware of his presence. She walked over to him. The softest hint of vanilla hit his nose and he had never smelled anything sweeter.

"You wanted to ask me something?" Draco nodded at her.

"Why come out to the pitch, then?"

"Well, to be honest, I come out here when I need to think. It was just such a nice night out that it seemed logical to come out here where there's fresh air rather than coup ourselves up inside the stuffy castle, don't you think?"

"Yea, I suppose that does make sense." He sat down and patted next to him, signaling to her that she should make herself comfortable.

"What I wanted to ask you was about you and Weasley," he began as she sat down. "I was wondering: what is it that you guys are always arguing about?"

Hermione didn't reply for a long time. She didn't think she wanted to disclose this information with Malfoy. Something inside of her opened her mouth against her better judgment, however.

"Well... Ron and I have been dating for a while now, since a little before the beginning of this year. With that in mind, he seems to think that we should be having sex by now. I've explained to him before that I'm not comfortable with that, but he waits a few days and then just continues to pressure me about it."

"That doesn't seem right to me."

She shrugged. "All guys are like that."

"No, they're not."

"Name one person who isn't."

"I'm not."

"Malfoy, your reputation speaks for itself."

He scoffed. "For someone so smart, it seems a little silly to believe everything you hear."

"You mean to say that you haven't been nailing every girl available to you?"

"No. Oh sure, I've fooled around with plenty of girls. I can't say I'm proud of that, and I have slacked off on that this year, but I've had the opportunity presented at many times. I almost did… after the Yule Ball 4th year, with Pansy. She was begging for me to have sex with her, but it didn't feel right. It wasn't at all what I wanted it to be... which was weird, because I never thought I would care, I never thought about what I wanted it to be until that night. So I left her, lying naked on her bed, and went to bed. I still screwed around with girls but never had sex with any of them."

"Why not?"

"I guess I didn't want to be like my father. Lucius would sleep with any girl, willing or unwilling. There was no emotion involved, just his need to be satisfied. I don't want to be like that... I never want to be like him in any way. I guess I'm hoping I'll fall in love with someone someday...though I doubt I'm able. Malfoys aren't raised to love."

Neither of them spoke, letting Draco's words linger in the crisp night air. After a few minutes passed, he spoke again.

"Why haven't you and Weasley...been involved like that?"

"I want to be in love. Its like I've told Ron, I'm waiting for the right moment, the right person… I'm waiting for love. It's like he's waiting for the next Hogsmeade weekend so we can be alone."

"I thought you said last night that you were in love?"

Hermione was stunned into silence. She did say that she loved Ron. But if she really did love Ron, why hadn't she had sex with him yet? Why didn't she feel comfortable with Ron's touch? Her mind swam.

"Hermione, if I hadn't found you that night, would you have gone through with it?"

"You just called me Hermione."

Draco's palms began to sweat. The name just slipped out so easily. "Sorry. Don't avoid the question."

She took a deep breath in. "Actually, I was relieved that you had found us. My hormones were raging and I thought I was ready to take the plunge, you know? But my brain kept telling me that it was wrong, my heart was telling me it wasn't time. Ron wouldn't listen to my excuses about being caught and I didn't know how I was going to tell him to stop."

"That doesn't sound like a very healthy relationship."

She sat in silence for a while. Then, just barely a whisper, she said, "I guess not."

That seemed to satisfy Draco. They both sat staring up at the sky feeling somewhat awkward at the nature of the conversation. Another minute passed before Hermione decided to speak.

"Ron's a nice guy, you know."

He snorted. "Sounds like it."

"Really, Malfoy. You don't know him. He's just a boy in his teenage years. So he has hormones, so what? So maybe he's not experienced in relationships. That's ok. He'll learn. I know that he must love me: I mean, he's very protective of me and gets jealous over me. He's just got a bad temper is all. We were meant to be together, we've been friends since first year and we're in the same house, it just makes sense...It makes sense. "

"Do you have feelings for him?"

"Sure... I had a crush on him towards the end of fourth year and all of fifth year."

"What about now?"

"Feelings fade. Its called the honeymoon period… after three months or so you just get over those kinds of feelings. It's a sign the relationship is maturing."

"I think its a sign you don't have the same feelings for Weasley anymore."

She leapt up. "Listen, Malfoy, you haven't been in a relationship before, you don't know what you're talking about! It would break Ron's heart if we broke up! He's told me so before... he'd practically be suicidal!"

"Did he tell you that?"

"More or less."

"Seems as though he was blackmailing you into staying with him."

"It seems to me as though you just don't like Ron and you'd like to see him in pain."

"Really? Because to me, it looks like I'm trying to save a friend from a bad relationship!"

The words echoed across the empty pitch as Draco jumped up in his anger.

"You know what Malfoy, keep your nose out of my business. Ron and I have a great relationship, a sensible relationship. See you on Wednesday."

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away in a huff. It wasn't until both had settled into bed that evening that they realized Draco had called Hermione a friend. It sent their minds reeling: had they become friends in the past few weeks?