A/N- Okay, so I guess I've dropped the double POV idea. I was planning on doing it in a few chapters, but then this one kind of wrote itself, so… yeah. Also, I think I'm going to start posting once a week(as opposed to every day lol). So from now on there should be a new chapter posted every Monday. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this chapter, so enjoy and please review!

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Draco sprinted down the corridor, robes flying out behind him, in a mad dash to reach the dining hall. When he reached his destination, he slowed and hastily caught his breath before entering, so as not to attract unwanted attention, although he realized a moment later that his unkempt hair and filthy, wrinkled robes did that anyway. He hurried to the Slytherin table, where he piled hastily buttered toast into napkins and snagging two glasses of pumpkin juice, before rushing out again, barely avoiding the searching glances of Crabbe and Goyle, no doubt curious as to where their leader had gotten to(if they were smart enough to notice he was gone at all). Once he'd reached the corridor, he slowed his pace, so as not to spill the pumpkin juice. As he walked, he thought about Granger. He'd made a bit of a breakthrough this morning, getting her to finally confide in him, but she was still upset, and he wasn't sure that was going to change anytime soon. He sighed. He was terrible with this sort of thing. He sighed once more, glancing both ways as he entered the bathroom.

Hermione stood, wincing as she tugged a large brush through her damp hair, book bag open at her feet.

"I washed up as best I could," she explained, noticing Draco's puzzled expression, "and I always keep a brush in my book bag," with one final tug, she managed to extract it from her head, along with a wet clump of hair, and set it down, "ooooh, breakfast," she took a stack of toast and bit into the first piece with a smile as she reclaimed her perch on the sink from before. Draco joined her, eyeing her hair. Noticing this, Hermione arched a brow, "what?"

He shook his head, "it's nothing."

Hermione's other brow shot up to join the first, "come on," she said, "what?"

"Your hair…" he shook his head again, "never mind."

She rolled her eyes, "well, of course it's a mess, I only brushed like half of it. And my Sleakeazy's is in the girls' dormitory. Long hair isn't all that easy, you know. And mine hasn't been properly washed in days,"

"Okay, okay," he replied, "point taken."

She grinned, flipping her hair so that water sprayed in his face, "you know, you don't look so great yourself."

"Of course not, I've spent the last few days in here with you," he teased, "if you'd prefer I wasn't a mess, I'd be happy to take back the breakfast that I brought you," he reached jokingly for the food in her hands. She batted his hand away playfully, before tearing off a piece of toast and throwing it, hitting him square in the face. He brushed away crumbs, a spirited smile playing across his lips as he threw a piece of his own. It missed Hermione by a mile, sending her into a fit of mirth. As she laughed, Draco lined up a second shot, sending a piece of toast into her tangled hair, where it caught and stuck, sending him into peals of laughter to match Hermione's. She recovered before he did and launched another bit of bread in his direction, this one hitting his shoulder and leaving an oily butter stain on his Slytherin robes. He quelled the laughter enough to retaliate, and before long the two were engaged in a food fight, huge grins spread across their faces as they laughed. Once the toast was gone and crumbs littered the floor of the bathroom, butter stains spattering their robes, they both downed their glasses of pumpkin juice, and Draco turned to Hermione.

"Hey," he said, "you said you wanted to wash your hair, right?" she nodded, eyeing him curiously, "well, why don't we use the prefects' bathroom? We both have access, unless the password's changed in the past two days. That way you don't have to go back to the Common Room."(A/N- It's never really said in the series where the showers are, unless you count the prefects' bathroom, so I kinda just assumed(and went with what worked for the plot).)

Hermione dismissed the idea, "no. We can't do that. I can't risk running into Harry or Ron. I'm not ready to face them. They'll ask questions… I just can't."

"Why not, Granger? They're your friends, aren't they?"

"I know. They are. I just… I'm not ready to tell them."

Draco frowned, "how hard can it be? You told me, after all, and we're enemies."

Hermione looked down, suddenly shy, "are we, though?"

"Are we what?"

She looked up to meet his gaze, "enemies."

"Oh," he replied, taken aback, "I…"

"I mean," she hurried on, staring down at her feet once more, "you were helping me and I-I thought… I don't know," she shook her head, "but why were you helping me? You don't have any reason to."

"Actually…" Draco met her gaze as she raised it, "you… you still have my wand," and now it was his turn to shift his gaze to the floor.

"That's what this was all about?" she asked, eyes filling up with tears, "all of it? Bring me food… helping me… it was all fake?" the tears spilled over, trickling down her cheeks.

"No," Draco said, "no - I mean, yes, but…"

She shook her head, "get out," she stood, grabbing the nearest weapon, which happened to be the hairbrush from before, pointing it at him like a sword.

"Granger, please," he said desperately, voice quavering as he stood as well, "just let me explain. It started out like that, but-"

"Get out," she brandished the hairbrush as he slowly began to back away, hands in the air.

"Granger, I-" but his words were cut off by the choking sob that escaped his lips, surprising him. He, Draco Malfoy, was crying over a Mudblood. And not just any Mudblood, Granger. He looked up at her, the arm wielding the hairbrush slowly falling to her side as she watched him, clearly as taken aback as he was.

"Look, Granger," he said, recovering from the initial shock of the moment, "at first that was all I wanted. But then…" he stared deep into her watery brown eyes, "…something changed. I actually wanted to help you. I never admitted it to myself, but I did," tears trickled down his cheeks as he searched her face, "I really wanted to help you. I really cared. And I still do, now more than ever," he took a tentative step forward, never taking his eyes off Hermione, before carefully wrapping his arms around her, locking her in a fierce embrace, "I care about you Granger," he whispered in her ear.

"Hermione," she breathed softly, the first time she'd spoken since he had confessed his feelings.

"What?"

"Call me Hermione," she told him, pulling away to gaze into his dove gray eyes.

"Hermione," he amended, gazing back. He leaned slowly forward, lips brushing hers, feeling her breath catch as he did so. He pulled away slowly, resting his forehead lightly against hers. They stood there for a long moment, unspeaking, before Hermione broke the silence.

"You can have your wand back," she breathed.

Draco chuckled softly, "keep it," he replied, kissing her once more, Hermione shivered at his touch.

He put his forehead to hers once more and closed his eyes, inhaling her scent. Beneath the inevitable musk that was the result of several days between washes was a fresh, minty scent. It was comfortingly familiar, but he couldn't quite put a finger on where he'd smelt it before. After a moment, he dismissed the thought and basked in the beauty of the moment, standing wrapped in the embrace of the only girl he'd ever really loved. He contemplated that thought for a moment, but knew without a doubt that it was true. He'd dated a few girls in his time at Hogwarts, but he'd never really cared about any of them. Not like this. He could only imagine what his father would make of this. He realized that, for once in his life, he didn't care. But then something else occurred to him. He'd completely forgotten about the Dark Lord and his plan…. He shook his head, breaking away from Hermione(Granger, he reminded himself).

"I-I can't," tears filled his eyes as he grabbed Hermione's bag from the floor where it sat, rejected, and pawed through it before finding what he wanted. He tucked his wand into his robes and dropped the bag. Hermione gaped at him, open-mouthed.. He turned to look at her one last time as he opened the door to leave, tears spilling over, shaking his head once more as if to tell her that she couldn't understand. And she never would. A racking sob escaped his lips as the door swung shut behind him, tears flowing thick and fast. The same thought kept spiraling through his mind, growing blacker and blacker by the second. What have I done?

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A/N- Okay, so like I said, this chapter kind of wrote itself. Originally, it was just going to be fluff, and I was just going to focus on the part with the toast, but then one thing led to another and this happened, so… yeah. Anyway, I'm rambling, so please review, and the next chapter should be posted Monday. Thanks for reading!

~hermionegrangerandarocketship