A/n: Hermione does not have MPD, but it was easier to portray a conversation with herself this way. And bear with me if you don't like this chapter, please. It's necessary. And probably completly cliche

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Draco glided away from Hermione, smirking broadly. On second thought, he created quill and parchment for himself and quickly wrote I hope I haven't ruined your evening. He folded up the note into the shape of a butterfly and blew it to her.

"What was that for?" asked Blaise.

"Self-protection."

"From a mudblood?"

"Hey, you didn't live with her for a year," snarled Draco.

"Sorry if I'm not as smart as your highness."

The blonde boy shook his icy looks. "Not everyone can be perfect, Zambini."

"Why have I had more girlfriends, then, oh perfect one?" asked the darker boy, raising an eyebrow.

"Why have I had more one-night stands?"

"Commitment-phobe."

"Sensitive."

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

Draco shrugged. "Malfoys never commit."

A light flickered on in Blaise's black eyes. "Is that why you never dated Pansy?"

"I never dated Pansy because she was a whore."

"I didn't know you cared."

"I don't. But if they're so easy to get, I could at least get an attractive one."

"Like Mudblood?"

Draco glared at his friend. "Why would you say that?"

"Nothing, nothing. Only…the hug? What did you do five years ago?" Blaise asked, smirking. It's not like Slytherins had a broad choice of facial expressions.

"None of your business, Zambini," growled Draco.

"Sorry. I'll just leave you alone for a minute, then," said Blaise, who was smart enough to know when to leave.

Draco smirked (again) at his receding body. He still had power. And it was sweet.

He strolled over to the Slytherin area again to see Pansy sitting with Goyle. Well, with as in on.

"Hello, Draco!" she cried. "Are you still single?"

He nodded, rolling his eyes at the question. And then he realized that he had just admitted he was available for Pansy. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping she wouldn't notice…

"I'm not."

…and woke up to a brand new day. No wonder Pansy had stopped calling him consistently.

"That's great!" he said, a little too enthusiastically. "Is Goyle the lucky man?"

His ex-crony nodded sheepishly. "We would've invited you to the wedding, but…" His look said it all.

"Look, Draco!" said Pansy, pulling out a picture from the folds of her very tight robes. "Her name is Penelope." Draco snorted, betting Goyle couldn't even spell it. "She's two now, and an absolute angel." Poor Penelope, he thought. She looks just like her parents.

At this point, Draco felt it necessary to excuse himself to go outside and laugh.

- - -

Hermione was furious. She clenched his note in her hand and drew satisfaction from the fact that it continually crumpled smaller and smaller.

"Want us to get him, Mione?" asked Ron, ever the angry one.

She smiled at her friends. "You could, but I want to be above him. Look, I'm going to go outside for a while. It'll help."

"If you're sure, Hermione…" said Harry, looking concerned.

"Yes, thanks Harry," she said, and quickly turned to vacate the premises.

Hermione slipped out of the large wooden doors that marked the entrance to Hogwarts and wandered over to the lake. As she lay down on the soft grass and trailed her fingers in the cold black water, the thoughts she had been repressing arose.

Why did he kiss me? She asked herself. After all I am a mudblood. And why does he have to be here? Why does he have to be alive?

He's better than Viktor. And Viktor was the best kisser you've dated, said the treacherous part of her mind. You know that was your first thought.

I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about, sniffed the part of her that Harry, Ron, and Ginny were friends with.

And that was only a peck. Just wait until he gives you a REAL kiss.

Hermione sighed dreamily. Yes. Wait – WHAT? Oh Merlin, Hermione, get a grip on yourself. To the rest of her thoughts she said, There will be no more from you tonight, thank you.

She began to get up and resolved to have a good time.

Freud said it was bad to repress thoughts and emotions. They'll come out in different ways.

To this, she said nothing. Then a miserable thought rose from the abyss. You wanted this to happen when you were at school. So enjoy it now.

"Sod off!" she yelled, and jerked the door open, only to be greeted with a laugh that she had never heard before. It sounded like how Malfoy's laugh would sound if he ever did anything but snicker.

However, as she approached, the noise ended abruptly – which was all the confirmation she needed – and the man who had been the Slytherin Prince turned around, looking the same as he always had.

Not the same, Hermione, sexi-older. He looks older.

"Having fun looking, Granger?" he drawled, smirking.

She blushed. "I wasn't. I was just hoping I'd caught the Slytherin Prince chuckling to himself."

"Oh, so you were stalking me," he said. "Well, at least it makes sense now. Come back for another kiss?"

"Are you kidding?"

He gestured behind her. "There's a closet."

"No, I'm not going to snog you, Malfoy." Why is he saying this? Hermione screamed inside. This isn't the Ferret I know. Go back to being a ferret! Of course I want to snog him, but I'm not that easy. I did not just think that. I did not just think that.

"Why Granger?" 'Am I saying this?' he thought to himself. 'Why? Then, what the hell? I'll never see her again. Father will never know.'

"I'm not like that," Hermione whispered.

"You want to, though. Hell, I want to, though I haven't quite worked out why yet. It will be one time. We'll never see each other again."

"But…" she was running out of arguments. "It's wrong to act on lust."

Draco looked up for lightening bolts. "I'm not dead yet," he said, smirking. "Weasley kindly informed me."

He was getting closer. "Sometimes I wish you were."

"I know you do," he said, running a hand over her cheek. "But I don't think now is one of those times." And then his lips were on hers. Hermione hesitated for a minute, and then took a hand off his neck and blindly reached for the door to the broom closet. Getting her drift, Draco obediently followed, pulling the door closed behind him.