Disclaimer: I wish I were JKR. It would make a nice birthday present.

000

"Why aren't the muggles noticing when we apparate right in front of them?" asked Draco as he appeared on a busy street corner in front of 'Joe's.' They'd been apparating and disapparating all day and hadn't gotten so much as second glance.

"People only see what they want to see, Malfoy." Hermione said simply, giving him a quizzical look. "Surely you of all people know that."

The implications of her words hit him with a sting as they walked through a door into a small restaurant decorated festively in honor of fish. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked with a scowl.

Hermione ignored him and walked to a booth in the back corner. A waiter gave them a look that told them he'd be with them in a moment. Hermione slid into the booth and Draco sat across from her feeling injured. Hermione tilted her head up to examine the decorations on the wall. A pleasant look of nostalgia lit her features and Draco found himself wondering what she was thinking. He'd lost count of how many times that had happened recently…

"What are you grinning about, Granger?" He asked nonchalantly.

Hermione turned her eyes to his for a moment before answering. "We came here for my tenth birthday party." She looked down at the table and grinned to herself again.

"And?" Draco said, arching an eyebrow.

"And what?" She said.

"Clearly there's more to it Granger, judging by that annoyingly smug look you're wearing."

"Why are you even asking, Malfoy? It's not as though you care."

"Jesus Granger! I'm just trying to have a conversation! Fuck…" She really was impossible.

Hermione looked surprised by his outburst but didn't say anything about it. Instead she surveyed him for a moment before saying, "Okay, Malfoy."

He looked back at her with his jaw still set and his eyes narrowed. He had a feeling he was in for another row with her. He braced himself for the hit, but it didn't come.

She tilted her head up toward the wall, motioning toward an orange vest on the wall. Draco followed her eyes and then looked back at her questioningly.

"What the hell is that thing?" He asked irritably. Was this some sort of game to make him look stupid?
"It's called a life-preserver."

"What?"

"Muggles wear them around their waist to keep them afloat." She said, clarifying.

"Oh." He said. "And?" He really hoped she was going somewhere with this.

"My dad pulled that one off the wall and strapped it on me. He made me wear it the entire time we were here." She chuckled at this and Draco felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Why?" He asked.

"He said it was to keep me from drowning."

"…Right. I can definitely see how you'd be in danger of drowning in this er, restaurant…" A teasing smile played around his lips as he looked around the very dry room.

Hermione cleared her throat and flushed pink. "I was ten, okay?" She snapped.

"I was ten once too, but I didn't wear a "life preserver" during meals. Or ever, for that matter…" He said, making fun of her.

Hermione blushed ever brighter, but her eyes didn't falter. She looked at him with the same constant defiance. "It was just for fun, okay. To keep me comfortable."

"I'm not following you Granger-"

"I can't swim!" She spat, then immediately snapped her lips together, knowing she'd just signed her own death warrant. "I mean-"

Draco felt like Christmas had come early. This was too great…

He burst out laughing and Hermione glared angrily at him. She gritted her teeth and grumbled something he couldn't hear. Draco wasn't even bothering to mask his glee. He was laughing so hard now his sides were hurting. Truthfully, it wasn't that big a deal. Lots of people couldn't swim. But seeing Hermione so embarrassed over it was making it very amusing.

Draco knew that she could have avoided the whole thing if she had just shamelessly admitted that she'd never learned how to swim, but she didn't. She had to be so very Granger about it and make it easy for him. It was too easy. She put her buttons out there and Draco felt it was his duty to push them.

She looked livid now and Draco couldn't stop himself. "Wait! Wait a minute…" He gasped between hoots. "You're telling me that Miss Know-it-all Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts, doesn't know how to do something?"

"Shut up, Malfoy." She snarled. "I never said I know everything."

"Oh come off it." He said. "You strut around like you know the answer to every question. You pretend like you are some Goddess and the rest of us are mere mortals, like you're better than everyone else." His tone accidentally became accusatory as he went on. "So you can hardly blame me for leaping for joy when you admit there is something you're not good at."

Hermione's face hardened even more and he knew he'd probably said too much. But it was how he really felt. It was true. She really did act like she was in a league of her own. Draco knew she really was in a league of her own, but she didn't have to lord it over everyone else.

"That's bullshit, Draco."

Draco wasn't sure if he was more surprised that she'd sworn at him or that she'd used his first name. He raised his eyebrows at her and she glared at him hatefully.

"And it's definitely rich, coming from you." She snarled. "You think your blood puts you in a class above me. You've treated me and every other Muggle-born at Hogwarts like shit from the moment you walked through the doors six years ago. I never did anything to you. I never hurt you. I've never done anything to deserve the way you treat me, but you still act like I'm not fit to breathe the same air as you."

Draco could tell she was saying to him what she'd wanted to say for a long time and he found he wasn't able to say anything back. So she went on.

"Well I have news for you, you arrogant bastard. I'm breathing the same air that you are now and you aren't getting sick. You saw me bleed and you must have noticed that my blood is as red as yours. You have nothing I don't have, so why don't you keep your hypocritical accusations to yourself and leave me the hell alone?" And then she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, giving him a look of pure loathing.

Draco felt his mouth fall open. He felt like he'd been slapped across the face. His brain wasn't working the way he needed it to. He couldn't think of anything to say because her words were still washing over him like acid. The fire in her eyes was boring a deep hole in his and he found he couldn't take it. Then he felt the anger come. It was much easier than giving a second thought to the words he knew were true.

He remembered the cold hatred in her voice the last time he'd tried to touch her and an emotion the strength of which he'd never felt welled up inside of him. He didn't even bother to restrain himself.

"That's enough." He whispered dangerously. "You are nothing but a self righteous little bitch. How dare you accuse me when you are no better than I am."

Hermione's eyes flashed even darker. He knew he'd crossed the line again but he didn't care. "Don't you dare call me that." She snarled.

"Why not? That's exactly what you are. A hypocritical bitch with a superiority complex even I can't rival. You want me to treat you like my equal yet you say I'm not fit to touch you." The anger and hurt he'd felt when she'd made it clear she didn't ever want him touching her went into his vicious words and he could see the same pain and anger in her eyes as he attacked her. Good. That was exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to hurt. He wanted her to suffer. He wanted her to feel the anguish he felt every time he looked at her and she looked away. He was going through hell because of her and he wanted to give her a taste of that, even if it meant she hated him even more.

"You have no idea why I don't want you touching me." She whispered, her voice shaking.

"Then tell me. Tell me what I could possibly have done to you to deserve that." He heard his own voice shaking too, but again, he didn't care. He wanted an answer. But she didn't give it. She didn't say anything. She just stared at him like she wanted to physically beat him to death.

"I don't owe you anything." She finally said, standing up suddenly. Apparently she wasn't hungry anymore and he found he wasn't either. She stormed quickly to the front door and he followed her, feeling on fire. Almost every head in the restaurant followed them but Draco didn't give a damn. She flew out the door and he was right behind her. Once on the sidewalk she took off down the street as fast as she could and Draco chased after her.

"Don't you run way from this Granger!" He yelled. He was gaining on her, as his legs were longer than hers. "Stop!"

She knew he was catching her so she cut to the right and ran down an alley. But he was too fast for her. He grabbed her shoulder roughly and pulled her to face him. She tried to struggle but he held her shoulders firmly. He knew he was much stronger than she was and she consequently had no chance of escaping him. Staring fiercely into her eyes he wasn't sure if he wanted to hit her as hard as he could or pull her to him and never let her go. Maybe it was both. Instead he did what he knew he shouldn't. He moved his hands to her neck and lower back her pulled her lips to his.

He felt so much in that moment. He felt as though he would burst at the seams. He could have shattered into a thousand pieces. A body shouldn't be capable of holding so much inside it. But he kissed her. He kissed her as hard as he could and he felt something inside him break like a dam. All the fire flooded out of him and into her with a force that left both of them wrecked.

He tightened his arms around her as his tongue swept savagely around her mouth. He bit her bottom lip a little too hard but he couldn't help it, and she didn't stop him. He opened his mouth as wide as he could and breathed into her, willing her to do the same. And she did. She put both her hands in his hair and whimpered helplessly as she pulled him even closer.

A storm was raging and both Draco and Hermione were powerless to stop it.

Hermione pushed her body against him as hard as she could and he did the same, wanting to be as close to her as possible. But it wasn't enough. No matter how close they were, it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. He wanted their bodies to literally meld to one another and it wasn't physically possible. So he kissed her wildly and held her to him. There was no grace or gentleness about it. Both of them wanted to dowse the inferno they felt, and feed it at the same time.

The kiss was everything. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. He couldn't breath. He couldn't think. He was seeing stars and he knew that nothing would ever be then same again.

How long it went on that way, he didn't know. Time ceased to exist as they held each other. Their tongues battled each other relentlessly and their hands held every part of the other's body. Draco's eyes were shut so tightly he would probably never be able to see again. He was suffocating but it didn't matter. He didn't need to breathe. He just needed to feel her body against his. He could hear her moaning and whimpering into his mouth and it only fed the fire inside him. The hard-on he'd been battling all day took over him and pressed hard into her stomach and he could think of nothing but how much he needed her, in every way.

And then she spoke.

"Stop." She whimpered.

Draco pulled away slightly and opened his eyes in surprise. "What?" He asked breathlessly. She wanted to stop? In God's name why…

He saw tears streaming down her face and he wanted to kiss them away. He didn't understand. He pulled her face to his again but she stopped him.

"No. Don't." She sobbed.

"Hermione…" He said, shaking his head in confusion. Why?

"Don't call me that!"

Draco was utterly speechless.

Hermione pulled herself out of his arms and he was too stunned to keep his hold on her.

"You can't do this to me!" She choked.

"Doing what to you?" He said in a strained voice. He hadn't done anything to her that she hadn't reciprocated. He was so confused. He felt like the world was upside down.

"Pretending!" She cried. "You have to stop!"

"I'm not…I'm- what are you talking about?" He stuttered. This wasn't making any sense.

He reached for her again and she backed up. "No!" She said. "You have to stop. I can't take this anymore."

Hermione's lip was trembling and Draco felt his chest seize up. He was totally lost and it hurt like hell.

"Please Hermione." He said desperately.

She shook her head with anguish in her eyes, and then she was gone. He heard a crack in the air that mirrored exactly the break in his heart. The place she'd been was empty and he felt the same void within himself with her gone.

-

Hermione collapsed on her bed, sobbing uncontrollably. She buried her face in her pillow and her cries were muffled, but the pain wasn't. She'd truly wanted him dead until the moment he'd kissed her, and then she felt herself break. She'd felt a passion she didn't know she could feel. She wanted him. She wanted all of him. She'd thought he felt the same. She could feel it in him as his body was pressed against her.

She'd know it for sure then as he'd kissed her. She loved him. She loved him so much. And she knew she'd always loved him. As absent as her mind had been in that moment of passion, she knew clearly that the kind of feeling she was having couldn't have developed in a few short weeks. She wondered how long she'd loved him. And she wondered how it had happened. He'd truly never shown anything but hate and detest toward her. How could she have fallen in love with someone who abhorred her so?

It didn't make any sense. Yet it was true. It was truer than anything had ever been.

She'd been able to abandon all reasonable thought in the midst of his kiss until she felt his erection against her stomach. It had been like a slap in the face. It brought her back to reality brutally. It was a stark reminder of what he didn't feel for her. She loved him and he only wanted her body.

She's seen him looking at her. She'd noticed the hungry look in his eyes as he watched her. Far from flattering her, it stung like the bullet had stung when it was embedded in her flesh. That was what it was like- a bullet embedded in her heart. It reminded her that he would never see her as anything but a mudblood good for nothing but shagging and dropping.

He'd only been using her to ease whatever pain he was feeling from his past. She wasn't stupid. She knew that he'd lived through a lot. It was written all over him that he was full of demons and scars. But she wasn't going to be his cure. She wasn't going to be the thing he used to lighten his load then discarded. It hurt too much.

And then Hermione did something she hadn't done since she was a little girl. She cried herself to sleep.

-

"Minerva, I understand your concern. But I don't think you're listening to me." Said Albus Dumbledore calmly. "You and I both know that Hermione and Draco are quite capable of looking after themselves, but surely you must know that there's more to this than that."

Minerva McGonagall pursed her lips and tapped her foot. "Albus. Hermione was shot, and we don't know who did it. We don't even have ideas."

"There I think you'll find you're wrong." The Headmaster replied, giving McGonagall a hard look. "Can you think of no one?"

McGonagall sat still for a moment trying to rack her brain of all the clues they had. And still, no one came to mind. "I can't, Albus. It's all so confusing." She shook her head as if to clear it, then looked up pointedly at Dumbledore. "But clearly you are thinking something so why don't you just say it and save us both the time?"

"I'd rather not, yet." He replied simply. "We have another matter at hand."

McGonagall nodded slowly as her face became somber. "How are we going to tell him?"

"I'm afraid that decision has been taken out of her hands. The Ministry has already sent him an owl, he'll have it by tonight." Dumbledore said gravely.

McGonagall nodded again, feeling a lump rise in her throat. The poor boy…

"I'm just thankful that he's with Miss Granger." The old man said, sighing.

At this McGonagall's head snapped up and her lips tightened again. "We're back to that again. Really Albus, I don't see how that will help."

"I'm not expecting you to, Minerva." Dumbledore said calmly. "I'm just asking you to trust me. There is a reason I sent Hermione and Draco to this task together."

"Which is?" She said, raising her eyebrows.

"Simply that I believe they are the only ones who can save each other." And then he smiled.

McGonagall didn't ask any more questions, she just reflected. Was it possible he was right? Was it possible that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were what the other needed? It seemed more than a little unlikely, but then, Minerva McGonagall had seen stranger things happen.

000

A/N- Well, I really hope you liked this chapter. I really loved writing it. I love D/Hr so very, very much and I hope it shows.

guilt trip Today is my birthday and I would be so appreciative if you would all review me and tell me what you think. It just makes my dad when I see my email box filled with reviews. /guilt trip

Sorry about the wait again, although this one was not as long as the last. The next one should be much faster since I have the whole chapter planned out and its been one of the main scenes in my head since I first thought up this story.

Have a lovely evening, and Happy Sunday! 

Amanda

8-6-06