Draco stood nervously at the edge of the lake, rubbing his hands together from the chill. The snow had melted off about two nights ago, but the temperature had pretty much stayed the same. He was bundled underneath his school robes, a wool jacket on top of that, and a scarf for warmth around his neck. He had his wand in between his fingertips as it glowed from the Lumos spell. God, he hoped Pansy's plan would work.

He checked his watch; 4:55. Draco yawned. "If this doesn't work, God, I'm going to start praying to Satan."

"I really don't think you'd do well with fire," A timid voice said from behind him. "You might burn your hair."

Draco smiled and turned around, then he lifted his wand as if it were a candle. There stood Hermione, dressed in a long winter coat that covered her robes and ear muffs. She was breathtaking, even at 4:56 in the morning, but Draco wouldn't admit that to anyone but himself. Even with the dark circles under her eyes and the lack of attention to her hair, she still had that way of looking as if she were a natural beauty.

"Hey," He said, grinning from ear to ear, "I'm glad you showed up."

"I'm glad this wasn't some prank." She replied. "... Thank you for the rose."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I thought you'd like it." He put his hands in his pockets and shifted nervously. "So..."

"So..." She imitated and shuffled her feet. "Was there a reason for me coming out here this early in the morning?"

"Oh," Draco nodded. "Yeah, there was."

Hermione blinked. When he didn't go on, she asked, "And that reason would be...?"

"You'll see." He said, pointing his wand out in front of his face, so he could slightly gaze at the lake. Hermione walked up beside him and observed his face against the light of his wand. She nearly melted just by looking at his cut out features... the strong jaw. The perfect nose, along with those high cheek bones and steel eyes... even that white-blond hair was attractive... one didn't usually find a natural blond like that...

"I want to know now, Draco." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "What's going on?"

"I told you; you'll see." He smirked. "What happened to my owl, by the way? It didn't get back this morning."

"Ginny has it." Hermione stated, putting her hands in her coat pockets to keep her hands warm. "She didn't want to make it fly out in the cold."

"Sounds just like a Weasley," Draco growled, "Over-affectionate and under everyone else."

"Hey!" Hermione frowned. "I like every one of the Weasleys!"

"Calm down, Hermione," He rolled his eyes, "Not everyone has to have the same opinions on things."

"Right." Hermione nodded.

"Course, liking the Weasleys is hardly a step in the right direction..."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hermione took her hands out of her pockets and put them on her hips. "From what I've heard-"

"Oh, and you believe everything you hear?" Draco shook his head. " 'Why didn't you tell me the Dark Lord existed? Why didn't you tell me about Harry Potter?' " He imitated her, bouncing around as if he were a pansy.

"Well, at least I'm not like 'Oh, woe is me! I didn't get a stupid owl back so I'm going to torment every single one of the Weasleys!' "

" 'Ooh, pick me professor! I know the answer to EVERYTHING.' "

"That's not the way I speak. Well, at least I'm not saying, 'Daddy! I'm a spoiled brat! Buy me something or I'll scream like a girl!' "

"I don't scream like a girl... Unless it gets me something."

Draco began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Hermione said, snapping back from her memories.

"This." Draco looked out to the water. "We used to argue like this all the time, you know. It was... entertaining."

"Yeah... I do know." Hermione mumbled, but Draco heard.

"More memories coming back?" He didn't look at her. He was afraid to.

"Yeah... a lot more." She didn't go into detail, which made Draco nervous.

"You... wanna talk about them?"

"No." Hermione shook her head. "They're fuzzy... can barely tell whose saying what. And they're very scrambled... I can't remember anything as far as what happened in the memories... just the words that were said."

"Hmm..." Draco tried to sound un-interested, but he was far from it. He wanted to know everything from what memories were coming up to exactly what was said and if he was in a lot of them or not. He then checked his watch. "Oh, it's almost time."

"Almost time for what?" Hermione asked. Draco grabbed Hermione's hand just as he turned out the light on his wand. Everything was dark, except for the half moon above them. Just when Hermione was about to ask again, a light glowed from the center of the lake. A tiny, faint, blue light. Then another right next to it. And another. The lake was lighting up in blue glows that shimmered across the water. Up from the water appeared small, elf-like beings with buggy eyes that were about the size of your pinky.

"Water pixies. They sleep under the water." Draco explained, answering a lot of questions Hermione had in her mind. The pixies shook off the water from their wings and flew away towards the forbidden forest, leaving small, faint, blue dust on the water. Just as the last pixie set off, the sun began to rise above the water, and the blue dust glittered in the most romantic way, turning shades of blue, gold, silver, and red.

"Wow..." Hermione whispered. "Its gorgeous."

"Its not the only thing gorgeous here." His hand was squeezed tighter. They stood there like that until the sun was halfway over the trees of the forest, and then Draco said, "I brought you here to ask you something." Hermione turned her face towards him. "But, before I do, there's... there's something I've got to tell you."

"Okay." Hermione nodded. "What is it?"

Draco sighed. This was going to be impossible to tell her... but he had to. Her memory was coming back, and the last thing he wanted was to be slapped in the face randomly because she all of a sudden remembered what had happened that night... "Its... about... the night you lost your memory."

There was a slight silence. "... Go on."

"I... um... you... we... see, what happened was..." He tried, but the words wouldn't come out. No matter how he put it in his mind, the words wouldn't come out. He sighed again. "I love you."

"And I love you too," Hermione said, sounding slightly put off, "What's that got to do with... that night?"

"Everything." Draco kissed her hand. "Trust me?"

"Trust you? Of course I trust you."

"Alright." Draco put his wand to his head. "I hope this explains everything..." He whispered an incantation and put her hand to his forehead. Suddenly, a sea of memories washed into her mind.

"M-Malfoy, you don't w-want to do this." Hermione saw herself, her body pressed up against a wall, half naked, Draco behind her. Her body was bruised and beaten, and slightly red.

"And why not?"He whispered, traveling his fingers over her stomach. The sight was erotic and repulsing. "Give me one reason."

"B-Because... Because I did wait for you tonight. -I did wait for you to tell you how I felt."She could see herself trying to struggle, trying to get away.

"And what did you feel?"And now she saw him grabbing her breast, just like he had done the other night...What was this supposed to be? Some sort of joke? "What did you feel, Granger?"

"I.. don't know what I felt."

"I do." He said. "Simple, unadulterated lust. Too bad that's not the feeling I have for you. Sometimes you make me so mad..." And then her bra was gone, and Hermione just about screamed. What was going on? Could this possibly...?

"I loathe you." And off came her panties, off came his pants... Hermione wanted to stop the memory... because it was making her recall it from her own mind... the way he had kissed her that night... the way he showed up out of the blue... "Love you too, sweetheart." And then she was turned around and... Raped. But something didn't fit... she didn't look as if she were trying to struggle... she looked... hungry. Hungry for... him?

The real Hermione screamed out, "Stop it! Stop it! This isn't happening!"

"It is.. It did." Draco kept her hand to his forehead.

"Cry for me, Granger. I want to hear it. Come now, I want to hear the shrieks, Hermione."He thrust in her again... and again... but she didn't scream. Didn't shriek... didn't fight back. "The pain... the suffering..." When he entered her this time she bit her lower lip while biting back something else. "The unmistakable agony. -Unless that's not what you feel. No... You feel something else, don't you?"

And now she watched herself be fucked by Draco Malfoy... the way she screamed out in pleasure... it was just like the other night, when Draco had spanked her with his belt... She watched the way her body arched up, the way she was hungry for him. Then she watched the aftermath, where Draco was busy grabbing things up, the way her memory had tried to calm him down, the way she was shoved into the bath...

She snapped back into focus and reality and pulled her hand away from him quickly.

"You..." She stared at him in disbelief. "You..."

"Its not what it looks like." Draco tried to explain, but he was slapped in the face. "Ouch! What the fuck..." He rubbed his cheek.

"I trusted you..." Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I trusted you... so much."

"Then trust me now." He put her hand to his chest. "I'm sorry for not telling you, Hermione... But if you knew..."

"Then I wouldn't be a friend with benefits? Is that it?" She jerked her hand away. "How could you? It was you the entire time! And... And..."

"And I promise you its not the way it seems!" Draco threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "I used a potion to go back in time to see who was the rapist, got mad because you and Potter were insulting me, and then I found out you were waiting for me the entire night to tell me that you love me!" His breath was becoming more rapid by the second. "And you and Potter were having this thing... and I got jealous... Ooh, and you were cheating on Weasley with Potter and saying that no one could love me! But I swear to God its not what it looks like! Because you wanted me! You were waiting for me!"

Hermione stood in disbelief. "Goodbye, Draco."

"Wait!" Draco shouted, running after her as she began to walk away. "Don't go. I swear to Merlin I love you."

"Just forget it, Draco." She said, still walking. "Please."

"No. Please. I had to... I wanted to ask you out! But I couldn't because-"

"Because you raped me and are feeling guilty about it! Oh, and not only did you rape me, you had the nerve to have sex with me after my memory was erased!" She balled her fists and stopped. "You, Draco Malfoy, are the scum of the earth. Don't ever talk to me again, do you understand? I'm not going to tell anyone because that would make ME look bad. But don't you ever speak to me again."

She turned and walked away, while Draco stood hopelessly at the edge of the lake.

-A few weeks later-

"So, Draco... I noticed you and Granger haven't been talking..." Said Blasé Zabini, who was working on his Astronomy homework. "Anything going on?"

"Of course not." Draco replied numbly, throwing wads of parchment at the corner trash can.

"Pansy still not talking to you?"

"After I ruined her perfect plan? Of course she's not talking to me. She told me to go to Hell yesterday... I think we've made progress."

"Why wont you tell me what's going on with you and Granger?" Blaise seemed really put-off. "This is the first time you've kept a secret like this from me. Usually you tell me what its like after sex with a random girl." Draco flinched. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. Of course not." Draco threw another paper wad- this time at Blaise.

"Hey! Okay, I get it. You don't want to talk about it... Gees...So... Can I date her?"

"Blaise!"

"Okay! Okay! It was worth a shot." Blaise rolled up his essay. "My God, Draco. You've become so prissy its hard to tell where you start and Pansy ends."

"Are you implying I've become like Pansy?" Draco sounded insulted.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm implying." Blaise challenged. Draco narrowed his eyes. "Oh, what now, Malfoy? You gonna challenge me to a wizard's duel or something?"

"I oughtta..." Draco began, but was cut off when a cheerful Pansy entered the room, her hands full of parcels. "Pansy!" Draco exclaimed. "Do you mind? We're trying to have a private conversation! And since when do you go through our mail?"

"Killing each other is hardly a private conversation - and I've gone through it ever since I first got here nearly seven years ago. Its taken you this long to notice? And they call Weasley slow..." Pansy smirked and handed Draco his mail. He took it reluctantly. "There's one in there I think you'll find exceptionally interesting..."

"You're talking to me, now is it?" Draco questioned.

"You could say that..." Pansy trailed off, handing the rest of the mail to Blaise. "Your mum says you left your favorite bunny stuffed animal at home, Blaise, and she's sending it with the next shipment of sweets in a week."

"How the bloody hell do you know this?" Blaise asked, a shocked expression on his face.

"Its called 'magic', Zabini, grow a brain." And with that Pansy left the room.

Draco began rummaging through his mail. "Mum... Mum... Dark Lord... Mum... Hold the owl. What's this?" He pulled out a plain, white envelope. It read 'To Draco.' Nothing else was inscribed. "This is interesting... "

"Must be the one Pansy said you'd find exceptionally interesting..."

"You think!" Draco grabbed his pillow and hit Blaise in the face with it. "Wake up and smell the coffee beans, Zabini, this letter is from Granger."

"You think?"

"I know." Draco opened the envelope with haste. He first read the letter to himself, then out loud. " 'Draco...' Heh, she called me Draco... 'I regret to inform you that I'm resigning from Hogwarts in two days. The every day struggles with school and life without my memory has become too much. I want you to pick up the bracelet you gave me for Christmas -I don't want it. I'll be in the Gryffindor Common Room, packing. If you need me, the password is 'MIAC'. I shan't be going to classes anymore.' Wow, that's a lot of simple sentences..."

"Malfoy!"

"Okay, okay! I'll keep reading... where was I... ah, here. 'I shan't be going to classes anymore.' -Who in the world says 'shan't?' " Blaise gave Draco a disgusted look, so Draco kept reading. " 'I wish you the best of luck with your life -sincerely, The Mudblood...' " That one through him for a loop.

"You got her a bracelet?" Blaise asked.

"Blaise! Hermione Granger is dropping out of school AND guilt tripping me and all you can think about is what I got her for Christmas?"

"It was just a thoughtful thing, that's all..."

"I've got to stop her." Draco threw the paper to the ground.

"Why?" Blaise asked.

"Because, you dolt, I love her!"

"Aww, Malfoy's in love..."

"Shut up and help me."

"How the hell can I help you?"

"I don't know... help me figure this out!"

"Well, first you've got to explain to me what the bloody hell I'm trying to figure out."

Draco gave a tremendous sigh, nodded, and began to tell Blaise the frightful tail that had spun over the last few months.