Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing……

Hermione was making her rounds around the hallway. Harry, the head boy, was supposed to be making rounds with her but he begged to have a night off. Hermione didn't care. Tonight was a night she would rather make the rounds alone anyway. It seemed Draco's hospitalization had been kept quiet and no one had heard about it. If they had known that Draco had gone and why Draco had had to be hospitalized it would have been disastrous. Headmistress McGonagall had pulled Hermione aside to say the reason why Draco had been bleeding so hard. He had tried to commit suicide. The Headmistress had said those words with an air of knowing that was going to happen, almost like she had planned it. Hermione realized what McGonagall meant by Harry realizing the consequences of his actions. Draco's death would have been on Harry's hands. Hermione looked around the hallways. There was no one. There never was. They were all in their dorms sleeping or in the Room of Requirements partying. Hermione walked, day dreaming of living in a castle with a prince. Just dreams she thought.

"Just silly little dreams." Hermione whispered to herself and stopped. She heard footsteps behind her. She spun around and the light of her wand shone right into a pair of gray eyes. Draco Malfoy.

"Ow, the light…in my eyes." Draco tried to shield his eyes from the light coming out of the wand.

"Oh, right, er, sorry," Hermione lowered her wand, "Anyway, I won't dock points but you really should be getting back to bed and-

Draco cut in.

"I just wanted to thank you." Draco said. "For," There was a pause. "Rescuing me."

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there." Hermione said. Draco stared right down at her but she carefully avoided his eyes.

"Yes you could have." Draco said, sounding hurt. "Harry would have. Ron would, in fact, most people in the school would have left me there." Hermione shuffled her feet, trying to avoid his gaze even more but his gaze just seemed to be more penetrating than ever.

"Well I have a conscience. I'm not very good at ignoring it." Hermione said to Draco's shoes. Draco lifted her chin with his hand. Hermione realized that he stood a few inches taller than her. Hermione had been taller than most girls but Draco was over six feet. Hermione had never realized how tall she really was.

"Why." Draco said. His lips barely moved as he said the word. Hermione took his hand off her chin and let his hand drop. Her wand had dropped to her side and now they were standing close. Too close. Both Draco and Hermione seemed to notice at the same time and stepped away. Hermione blushed and Draco smirked.

"I don't know. I didn't really think about who you were really. I just thought person in danger, must help!" Hermione glanced up at him and saw him smirking. What did he have a right to smirk at? Hermione straightened up and stared him in the face. Draco was taken aback. This was the Hermione he knew, the fierce, on offense, nerdish, unblushing Hermione he had come to know during these seven years. The smirk was taken off his face. Hermione saw he wasn't smirking anymore and she relaxed.

"So, see you around then?" Draco stepped in closer, meaning to hit on her. No, this isn't a random pretty girl. This is Hermione. Hermione stepped away.

"Yah, in class. Now get to your dorm, before I dock points." Hermione heard a few giggles echo through the hallways. "Gotta go." Hermione turned and ran in the direction of the laughter. Draco simply stood and stared at where Hermione had been moments before thinking about the moments before. Had he really just tried to hit on Hermione? Draco followed Hermione. She wouldn't dock points and he didn't have anything better to do.

Hermione ran towards the giggles. She was aware of Draco following her. She didn't say anything. He could be helpful if there was a fight. They finally came to the source. A pair of Slytherin robes were on the floor and there was a girl with black hair and a guy with brown hair getting down. Hermione immediately noticed the girl was Pansy Parkinson and the guy was Blaise Zambini. Hermione saw Draco duck behind a suit of armor, so much for help.

Hermione whispered an incantation and the couple were dressed.

"50 points from Slytherin Ms. Parkinson and Mr. Zambini. Don't let me catch you doing this again or I'll take away triple the points." Pansy and Blaise looked unblinkingly at Hermione. Pansy grabbed Blaise and ran away with him muttering something about Hermione and McGonagall having an affair. Once Pansy and Blaise were out of hearing Draco stepped out from his hiding spot.

"She was my girlfriend and he was my best friend." Draco said, really quietly.

"Well you couldn't really have expected much from them could you?" Hermione said. But as she turned around she could see that Draco was hurt. Draco suddenly stiffened.

"Right, well, I have to go." Draco said curtly. He began to stomp off but Hermione grabbed his hand.

"Draco," Hermione whispered.

"What!" Draco turned around sharply and stared at her. He saw in her eyes true concern and he softened.

"Don't do anything to rash." Hermione pleaded, holding his hand tight. Draco stepped really close and lifted her chin with his other hand. He moved closer and their foreheads were touching. He pulled her chin down, causing her lips to be slightly open. Surprisingly she didn't resist. They were so close. Hermione suddenly realized what was going on.

"I won't." Draco whispered. They pulled away simultaneously and Draco walked off. Hermione dropped her wand and the hallway went dark.

Hermione had to get on her knees and search for her wand on the floor but eventually she found it and made her way back to the common room. As she entered she saw Ron with some random girl backed up against the wall. Hermione just walked upstairs ignoring him. His relationship was his business, maybe she'd ask him in the morning. Just before she went up the stairs she looked back and saw it wasn't a random girl he was kissing. It was Oliver Wood. Hermione went upstairs. She was really tired. Just to put it in a sentence, a lot had happened that night.

Draco reached the mirror.

"Purebloods must come first, forever." He whispered into the mirror.

"Less heart than usual darling." The mirror commented as it shimmered into nonexistence. Draco stepped through the dark hole in the wall where the mirror had been. He came in just in time to Pansy and Blaise kissing each other. Draco wrenched them apart.

"Excuse me, had to get through." He said coldly. He walked up the stairs to the Slytherin's Head Boy's room, which was his. When he got to his room he took his picture of Pansy next to his bed in his hands. She was smirking, laughing from time to time. With one easy motion he ripped it in half. He hated it. What was loving someone for? What it so that your love could go off and make out with your best friend? Draco laid down on his bed not bothering to get undressed. He thought of his dream life. He would have a marriage ceremony at Malfoy Manor at the age of at the most 35. He and his wife would have one child, boy or girl didn't matter. The kid would go off to Hogwarts and have a perfect life filled with whatever it wanted. They would be happy, go to Paris for Christmas and Italy for Easter. They would then spend their summers in New Zealand and then, after they had vacationed, come home and have at least one week in the peaceful Manor. The wife he imagined himself with was no longer Pansy. She was out of the question now. Draco fell asleep.

Hermione went upstairs to her dorm. She got ready for bed. She managed to brush her hair with only three bristles breaking off the brush. She went to the bathroom to wash her face. Something was different. She realized that her eyes were shinning and she was blushing. Teen Hormones were such a curious thing.

Draco was not so rudely awakened by his alarm clock.

"I wanted you, Oh I wanted you, To move!" It sang. Draco shot up, took a shower and got ready for school. He ran down to the dinning hall rather early so he didn't have to see Pansy. Fortune is never on your side though. So he saw Blaise.

"Hey, er, Draco, what you saw last night was-

"You and Pansy kissing." Draco kept walking and Blaise began walking next to him.

"It wasn't her fault." Blasé said quietly.

"Yah, she just accidentally made out with you. I get it." Draco pushed the door to the Great Hall. Blaise gave up. Blaise was good at knowing when he couldn't get out of something.

"So, now what?" Blaise said.

"We'll keep being friends, I'll dump Pansy today and let you guys be happy together." Draco said, no sarcasm in his voice.

"Sarcasm?" Blaise had been prepared for everything, social humiliation; duel, but not this. Draco shook his head and Blaise went to sit down at the Slytherin Table.

"I'll join you in a sec, mate." Draco ran off to the opposite side of the hall to the Gryfinndor table to a girl with abnormally bushy hair. He patted her on the back and Hermione looked up at him.

"Er, yes Draco?" Hermione seemed to say not now with her eyes.

"I didn't do anything to rash." Draco said as though Hermione was his mother and he had tied his shoes for the first time. Hermione gave a sigh and a real smile.

"Good." Draco ran off and joined Blaise at the table,

Hermione turned around to see Ron and Harry staring at her.

"Well, what?" Hermione tried to act normal.

"Draco and You talked." Ron narrowed his eyes, looking deadly murderous.

"And?" Hermione's voice when high.

"That's…unusual to say the least." Harry said in a strained voice.

"What's up with that?" Ron said.

"The war is over, Draco is no Death Eater anymore, Ron!" Hermione stared him down.

"But he was once." Ron said coldly.

"Harry! You asked the Ministry for his release and for him not to be punished! He's changed!" Hermione shouted at Harry. Harry swallowed.

"Hermione may be friends with whom she chooses, Ron. What she says is right; Draco is no Death Eater anymore." Harry looked down into his plate.

"What a friggin gay you are!" Ron shouted at Harry. "Hermione can be friends with Draco but that doesn't mean I'll be friends with her. Draco wanted to kill you Harry! Draco almost killed me!" Hermione remembered the Last Battle. Draco trying to kill Ron flashed in her mind. Hermione jumped out of her seat and ran out of the Great Hall crying.

Draco saw Hermione run out crying. He didn't run after her.

"See ya, Blaise." Draco said and walked out of the Great Hall. He saw Hermione crying at the foot of the stairs. Students from random houses stared at her as they walked down the stairs. Draco walked in front of her. Hermione tried to stiffen up and wipe away her tears.

"Hello." She croaked before sniffling. Draco didn't answer. "I should probably get to class now, er." Hermione shot up and started walking fast in the other direction.

"You can't run away so fast, your first class is with me."

"Oh, well," Hermione smiled a bit. She slowed her walk down a bit. "I guess there's no getting away from you then." Draco smiled, glad to see her happy again. He hugged around the hips.

"That's right baby, rawr!" Draco joked. Hermione laughed as they walked to class. His hand was still on her back as they walked.