OMG, an update! I didn't realize that I hadn't updated this fic in two months. It didn't seem like that long and I'm sorry. Scout's honor, this will never happen again!

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing

Getting the both of them back to their dorm in a timely fashion without being seen was a feat in itself. Draco didn't want to let go of her for a second and it had taken her some time to convince him that the two of them walking back, wrapped around each other, was not going to be efficient.

The both of them had been silent on the way back, Draco seemingly in a trance and she with her mind a million miles away. She hoped that McLaggen was okay. It was dark and she didn't get a good look at him, but she had seen the blood on Draco's fists. There were so many thoughts running through her head about what was going on with Draco, one thought screaming louder than the rest. However, that would have to take a backburner for the moment.

Hermione quietly said the password, pulling Draco inside when the portrait swung open. She turned around to fully face him, never letting go of his hand, as she began to back up towards the couch. She sank down into the cushion, pulling him down with her, before she pulled her legs up onto the couch, turning to face him. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, breaking the uneasy silence that filled the room.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

She watched as Draco's jaw ticked before he threw himself back into the seat like a petulant child.

"No."

Hermione frowned, irritation rising.

"No? Draco…McLaggen is in the infirmary. At least…I think so, I hope so, and he's there because of you-."

"Do you want to fuck him?"

Hermione blanched, so thrown off by the question that it took her longer than usual to process it. He couldn't be serious… Draco, however, stared at her through piercing eyes, letting her know that he was, in fact, very serious.

"No! Merlin, Draco, you know that I don't want McLaggen," she almost screamed.

"Do I? Do I really, Hermione? Am I just supposed to magically know? You've been avoiding me! You've been hiding from me like a fucking coward-."

"Don't act like you don't know why!"

By this point they both were standing, eyes boring into one another. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, taking a deep breath.

"I want you… Are you satisfied now?"

Draco simply stared at her and she stared back as she confessed what they both had known for a while.

"I only want you, you know that, but…"

"…but," Draco urged.

"I don't think that I can give you what you want. At least, not right now. We were never even supposed to end up here, Draco. This is not what this is supposed to be."

"But this is what it is. Why can't you just move past that? Just let yourself feel for once! Why do you always have to analyze everything? Why must everything always be a process with you?"

"Because that's who I am! I don't jump head first into anything without thinking it through."

Draco simply glared at her and she glared back.

"Even if I wanted to start some sort of relationship with you…"

"You do."

"…there are too many unanswered questions between us," she finished, harshly staring him down.

Draco swallowed as she took a step forward, knowing exactly what she was hinting at.

"You told me that you had done awful things to keep me near you. Were you talking about Fay?"

Draco shoved his hands into his pockets, resembling a little boy.

"I don't want to talk about Fay, Hermione. I'm tired of talking about Fay…"

Hermione wanted to argue, determined to get the truth, but she opted out of it. She could hear the exhaustion and frustration within his voice. She knew that pressing the issue would get them nowhere. So, she decided to choose her battles wisely and silently pledged to talk about it later, when he had calmed down.

"Fine, then tell me what happened tonight," she proposed.

Draco was silent, eyes avoiding hers, instead they were downcast towards the floor.

"Fine," Hermione sighed, moving to leave their dorm.

When Draco decided that he wanted to talk, he knew where to find her.

"I was restless," he began, reaching out and wrapping his hand around her arm.

She turned to look at him just as he lifted his eyes towards her.

"…I…I couldn't sleep. I haven't really been able to since you left the dorm…," he confessed.

He sighed, falling back onto the couch, pulling her down with him.

"I was walking around the castle. I wasn't doing anything more than trying to clear my head, trying to get you off of my mind. I was on the seventh floor…when I saw him…"

She watched as his eyes grew hard, probably remembering the scene as if he were there right now.

"…my mind had conjured up all sorts of scenarios, situations involving you and him, and so I just…snapped."

Hermione swallowed, watching him.

"Before I realized it, you're there and my hands are aching," he explained.

She squeezed his hand, looking down at the bruised knuckles.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me," he suddenly whispered.

Hermione didn't respond, for she didn't know how to respond. All this time, she had thought that it was just her who had been having these feelings, these urges. She wasn't sure how to feel knowing that he was experiencing them too, and at an even worse rate than she.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the feel of his lips trailing over the skin of her neck. She went to put her hand on his chest, attempting to push him away, but his hand locked around her own with an iron grip.

"Draco…," she started.

He ignored her, his other hand ghosting over her exposed thigh.

"I don't think that this is a good idea," she breathed, eyelashes fluttering as he sucked on her pulse.

"That's never stopped us before," was his simple reply.

Hermione grabbed his other hand as it traveled up her thigh, but he simply shoved her arm away, returning to his original task.

"I know that, but I think that now it's a really bad idea," she protested.

"Then stop me," he challenged, looking up at her from beneath his lashes.

Hermione's throat tightened and she opened her mouth, but no words came out. Draco smirked, reaching up and tearing her shirt straight down the middle. He moved one of her legs so that each one was now on either side of him and Hermione's heart raced as he pushed her onto her back.

Hermione closed her eyes, welcoming the feel of his teeth on her skin. She knew that this was a way of avoiding whatever it was that was on Draco's mind, and hers as well, but she didn't care at the moment. She could never lie to herself and say that she didn't miss the feel of his hands on her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist just as he pinned her wrists to the couch…

"I told you that I needed time, Draco. Time to figure some things out," she whispered into the dark room.

She heard him take a deep breath, his bare chest slowly rising and falling beneath her head. She couldn't remember when they had moved into his bedroom. His fingers trailed patterns over her bare back, his other hand playing with her hair.

"Was I expected to just let you talk yourself out of this? Was I just supposed to let you walk away?"

"That is not what I was going to do…"

It wasn't what she was going to do. She enjoyed being around Draco, with him… She would never just walk away like that. She had just wanted time to get to the bottom of what was going on without any…distractions. She swallowed.

"Something…something is happening to you, to us… You don't want to find out what it is?"

"No, I don't. It doesn't matter," he immediately replied.

She rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him. She knew that he was lying. She could see it in his eyes; Draco was scared. He didn't have any clue as to what was happening to him and that worried him. She decided not to make a comment on that.

"It does to me. What happened with McLaggen, I think that it was partially because of what's happening to you."

He didn't respond, simply stared at the ceiling.

"I also suspect that us shagging every chance we get isn't helping…"

Draco sighed and she knew that he knew exactly what she was referring to. Even now, the thought of leaving at the moment struck something within her. It was even stronger than the last time, when he had asked for the two of them to be exclusive.

He reached up, running his fingers through her hair.

"Once a week…at least, give me that," he said.

Hermione bit her lip, before eventually nodding, concluding that this was reasonable.

"Okay…"

He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her up so that his lips could meet hers.

"You won't leave again, will you?"

"No," she murmured against his lips.

"I'm going to hold you to that," he chuckled just before flipping them over.

An insistent pounding was what woke Hermione from her slumber the next morning. At first, she had thought that it was simply conjured up from her imagination, but when Draco had groaned, mumbling for her to just ignore them, she realized that there was indeed someone knocking at the portrait.

With a struggle, she was able to detangle herself from Draco's grasp. Finding something to put on was the next order of business and she was relieved to find Draco's shirt on the floor. It had fared much better than hers had the night before, something that was becoming quite common. She paused at the door, looking back at him and ignoring the feeling of panic in her chest before stepping out.

No sooner had she opened the portrait door, did Ginny come barging inside.

"I figured that you had to be here, but a warning or a simple note would have sufficed Hermione," the redhead started, brushing past her.

Hermione sighed, closing the door and running her hands down her face. It was far too early for a lecture and she'd had one hell of a long night.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and you were gone. I thought that I had been dreaming or something, after all, I was half asleep, so I laid back down. However, upon waking up this morning before dawn, I realized that I, in fact, had not been dreaming."

"I'm sorry, Gin. I just…I wasn't sleeping well. I figured that maybe sleeping in my own bed would help."

Ginny shook her head, red hair flying, before she spun around to face Hermione.

"…and did it-."

The younger witch cut herself off as she stared at Hermione.

"I appreciate the concern, it's flattering, really, but-."

"Did you fall into bed with a fucking vampire last night?"

Hermione frowned in confusion, thrown off. Before she could utter a word, Ginny had reached out, running her fingers over Hermione's neck and collar bone. Hermione winced at the tenderness, and her eyes widened as she realized what Ginny was talking about.

"Ginny…"

Ginny's eyes ran over her friend and her mouth fell open.

"Holy!"

Hermione glanced down to where Draco's shirt stopped mid-thigh and noticed the red fingerprints on her legs.

"I think that a rough night would be a bit of an understatement," Ginny finally said.

"Ginny, please…not now. It's early and…"

"…and I take it you're exhausted, right?"

Hermione threw her a look. Ginny held her hands up.

"Simply taking a wild guess. So…who was it?"

Hermione was going to tell her that they would discuss this later, giving Hermione ample time to come up with something, when Draco's room door opened.

"Sweetheart, I told you-."

He stopped short at the sight of Ginny, eyebrows raising, before he leaned against the doorjamb. His sheepish expression slowly transformed into a smirk.

"…oops."

Hermione glared at him in disbelief as Ginny turned back to look at her, wide-eyed. That unimaginable…

"Hermione?"

Hermione simply glared at Draco, and Ginny could tell that a fight was on the horizon.

"Right…well, we have much to discuss later, I see," Ginny sharply said before slowly walking out of the door, still looking over her shoulder in disbelief as she went.

Even as the door shut, Hermione continued to glare up at him. He met her gaze with an even one of his own before crossing his arms over his chest.

"One down, about 99% more of the school to go…"

"You did that on purpose," she breathed.

He scoffed, walking down the stairs.

"Of course I did," he said with a shrug.

"Draco! I told you… you're supposed to be giving me time to figure things out. How am I supposed to do that when I'm dodging questions from my friends?"

"Honestly…I don't care."

He walked towards her, looking down at her from beneath his lashes with a serious expression.

"If it were up to me, I would take you in front of everyone in this entire school, just to let them know that you're mine," he whispered.

Hermione scoffed, taking a step back.

"Is this what's going to happen? Are you just going to out us to whoever you see fit however you see fit, without discussing it with me?"

"Are you ashamed of me, Hermione? Of us?"

"No. Of course not," she said, pulling him towards her.

She sighed, looking up at him.

"Draco, we don't even know what this is. You don't think that we should wait? That we should at least figure out what the hell is going on first? I mean for all you know, you could be under the effects of some super love potion and these feelings aren't even real," she said.

"That's makes zero sense and you know it," he responded.

She gave him a look.

"I know that. I was merely using an example…"

Draco threw his hands up.

"Fine. Have it your way, but don't you ever imply that what I feel for you isn't real," he harshly whispered.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again without talking to me first," she threw back.

Draco simply scoffed and turned around with a shake of his hand.

"I mean it, Draco," she called out to him.

He simply waved her off, his room door shutting behind him.

"…so let me get this straight. You went to him for sex and now the two of you are seeing each other?"

"It's…a bit more complicated than that, but, in a nutshell…yes," Hermione answered.

Ginny scoffed, pacing. Hermione knew where to find Ginny and the younger witch had dragged the curly haired girl into her empty dorm almost immediately.

"I mean…I made jokes. Both Lavender and I made jokes, but did I honestly expect this? No!"

Hermione sighed.

"Did you two have a fight? Is that why you slept here?"

"No. I was…I was just scared. I needed some time to think," Hermione honestly answered, recalling the way his eyes and intensity had thrown her for a loop.

Ginny rounded on her.

"Scared of what? He did do something to you, didn't he?"

Hermione immediately stood, calming Ginny.

"No, no, no. I told you…it's complicated. I can't even put it into words and I'm not going to try…"

Ginny shook her head.

"I take it that you two made up then? I mean, judging by what I saw this morning... Merlin..."

Hermione ran her hands down her face, quite uncomfortable talking about her sex life.

"That's just…how we are, Gin," Hermione quietly answered, rubbing her hand along her arm.

"Oh, I see. It's one of those relationships. You know, the ones where you fight and fuck all the time," she threw out there.

"Jesus. I told you…it's incredibly complicated and I'm not going to try and explain it…"

Ginny quietly scoffed again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Hermione tried not to let the accusatory tone and hurt she heard in Ginny's voice get to her.

"In all honesty…this was never supposed to happen. It was just supposed to be a onetime thing, never to be mentioned again. Until, of course, maybe decades down the road. I didn't even think it likely that I'd find myself…with Draco…"

"…and can you blame me, really? Look at how you're reacting, Gin."

Ginny's eyes widened and she shrunk into herself, a sheepish expression passing over her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Seriously? You can't tell me that you're not being the least bit judgmental right now?"

"Well…I mean, it's a bit of a shock, Hermione. You can't just…oh, fine. Maybe I am being a little judgmental, but…it's Malfoy. You two hate each other. Excuse me, if I'm having more than a difficult time wrapping my head around this," Ginny confessed.

"Yeah, well, welcome to the club," Hermione mumbled.

Ginny sighed, walking over and sitting beside Hermione.

"I'm being incredibly selfish…again. I'm sorry…"

There was a short pause.

"So…what is it like? What is he like?"

"Intense," Hermione immediately answered.

"I kind of guessed that," Ginny said, hinting at this morning. "I'm not at all surprised to see that he's like that. He seems like the…type."

"It's more than that, Gin. He…it's like he's afraid that I'm going to disappear at any moment. I feel it in the way he touches me and I see it in the way he looks at me. It's almost like he's constantly having to reassure himself that I'm really here…"

"You said intense, but…I didn't think…"

"…sometimes I find myself feeling the same way. I have a hunch as to why that is. I suppose that you walked in for a reason this morning, Gin…"

Hermione turned to look at her.

"I need your help with something…"

"I'm sorry about this morning…"

Hermione closed her book, glancing up at him as he stood over her. There was hardly any fire in the fire place, the room dimly lit.

"No, you're not," she countered.

"You're right, I'm not," was his immediate reply, smirk firmly in place.

He sat down beside her, grabbing her legs and pulling them onto his lap.

"…but I do regret that it upset you. I just…I wanted her to know."

"Why? Why did she have to know?"

He smirked, grabbing her book and closing it, pulling her closer.

"So that she won't have to worry the next time you disappear for a couple of hours. She'll just know that you're with me, blowing off some steam," he whispered.

"Don't be crude," she said, lightly hitting him in the chest.

"Just being honest," he said, brushing his lips against hers.

"I thought that I'd go and see how McLaggen is doing tomorrow," Hermione proposed.

Draco pulled away with a frown, his mood visibly ruined.

"He's fine, Hermione…"

"Draco, we are two very different people. I've accepted that, now, so should you. I want to make sure that he's recovering well, after all…"

"After all, it was your lover who put him there right? Therefore, you feel partially responsible, right?"

Hermione sighed, sitting back.

"Yeah, I do, okay? I just want to be sure that he's alright," she replied.

"He's not dead, okay? Isn't that enough?"

"No, it's not. I'm not going to apologize just because I want to check on him. That's not something that warrants an apology," answered.

"He's fine, Hermione. You don't have to-."

"Well, I'm going to."

"Do you think I have that little self-control? Do you really think that I hurt him that much," Draco spat.

"Honestly, I don't know. Hence, why I'm going to see him-."

"I don't want you going to see him," Draco finally threw out.

Hermione huffed.

"He wants you. He wants you like I want you and I don't want you around him…"

Hermione watched as he sat back, eyes staring forward with his jaw clenched. The pieces were starting to click together.

"Is this why you want everyone to know? You want everyone to see some big, flashing sign that says 'I belong to Draco'?"

"I just don't want people trying to come in between us. I want them to know. I want them to know who you're with, so they know not to try and mess with you. I want them to know what will happen if they try," he hissed.

"…like Fay?"

Draco stiffened and his eyes grew colder.

Hermione had put it off long enough, and she refused to move forward in any way, shape, or form until they resolved this topic. Draco said nothing, simply turning to glare at her.

"Did you two have an argument?"

He said nothing.

"Did she stumble and fall or something? If so, that's not your fault, Draco. It was an accident…"

Draco looked away, exhaling. Hermione threw her hands up.

"Hello? Are you just…not going to answer?"

Hermione was met with more silence and she huffed. With a shake of her head, she stood up.

"Whenever you're ready to talk-what the hell-?"

Draco's fingers were wrapped around her wrist, yanking her into him, their chests brushing together.

"You're not going anywhere," he spat.

"Says who? Who's going to stop me? You?"

She yanked on her arm, but his grip was iron tight.

"I don't want to talk about Fay. I didn't want to talk about her yesterday and I still don't want to today," came his harsh reply.

"I have a feeling that if you had it your way, you'd never talk about her! Let go of me," she hissed.

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Why can't you just answer the question?"

"Because I don't want to talk about that stupid, dead bitch! I want to talk about you, about us. Just admit, this is your way of avoiding the real issue here," he threw at her.

"I think that you possibly killing someone is a real issue," she threw back.

By now, her other wrist was in his grip as well, and he used both of his hands to shove her back onto the couch.

"Fine! I killed her! Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?"

Hermione was frozen on the couch, back pressed into the seat as he stood over her. She stared at him with wide eyes and a parted mouth, the reality of his words sinking in, washing over her like a bucket of ice water.

"She was going on and on about how much she hated you, talking about going to McGonagall and making a plea to have you permanently removed…"

Hermione swallowed as he began to pace in front of her.

"…she even started talking about finding something on you, something that McGonagall couldn't even argue with…"

His chest heaved and he reached up, clenching his fingers in his hair.

"I got so mad. We were approaching the stairs…"

"Oh my God," Hermione choked, not wanting to hear anymore.

"I just…I shoved her with my foot…right in the back of the leg…"

Hermione slowly sat up, scooting back.

"I knew what could probably happen, I hoped that it would…and it did."

"Oh my God," Hermione chanted over and over.

Deep down, Hermione had known the truth. She wasn't stupid, not by a longshot. Draco having an alibi when she knew that she had seen him was the first red flag. His constant avoidance of the question was all too obvious.

"Hermione…"

She jumped up, sprinting towards the portrait door.

"Hermione!"

She had just reached the door when his hands came slamming down on either side of her. His chest was firmly pressed against her back, rising and falling in sync with every one of her breaths. His face was next to hers, her hair grazing his cheek.

"You told me that you wouldn't leave again…," he whispered next to her ear.

Hermione clenched her jaw, hands trembling.

"…I'm holding you to that."

0.0 Let me know that you think!