Disclaimer:
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: This is in response to the 48 Hour Challenge issued by Rotiart at FAP. Also, pretend like HBP never happened, because I did, when writing this story. Er, I think I pretended like a lot of things didn't happen...so, let's make this an AU. :D

STUCK
DAY 2: The Last 24 Hours

-- 9:30 PM --
He's still not up yet. Maybe it's time I started being worried. And besides that, I finished his journal. It's left me very puzzled. Malfoy, apparently, suffers from unrequited love. For whom, I do not know. He was very vague about it. I feel like I have to reread that last entry to see if I missed a name...

There she was, standing all alone against the wall, watching the other people dance. And there I was sitting at a table and watching her. I ignored everyone else and waited for her to realize I was watching and wanting. I waited in vain. She never came over. Not even to shout at me for staring at her. But then, in all my years with her, she's always seemed to be oblivious to the obvious. Or maybe I wasn't obvious enough.

She just stood there, by the door, always watching but never dancing. I wonder what or who she was watching. I think I might be in love, or at the very least in lust and infatuated. But it's so wrong! Dad would definitely have a cow if he found out I was harboring any kind of romantic feelings for a muggleborn, let alone...

Ah! No name. How can he trail off like that?! He's leaving me in suspense. Who is this girl that's got him wound so tight? AND…who knew he could be so…deep?

-- 9:35 PM --
I slipped his journal back just as he woke up. He seems kind of delirious. Maybe I shouldn't have hit him so hard. But he was asking for it, hiding food from me. Hmph!

-- 9:36 PM --
"What do you think you're doing?!"

"What do you mean, darling?"

"Darling?! Stay back, Malfoy!" I yell, as I stick my arm out, trying to keep him at bay. I have no idea what he's up to. He just snuck up behind me and began to wrap his arms around me, like he was...like he was going to...like he was going to HUG ME! My thoughts are swirling around in my head so fast. "What's going on?"

"What are you talking about? You're acting odd, Hermione."

"I'm acting odd? You just called me by my first name!"

He laughs. "What else would I call my girlfriend by?"

His what? I can't believe this. I think I'm about to succumb to another Malfoy induced faint.

No! I must by strong...

"What the hell are you talking about, Malfoy? I think that hit on the head did some permanent damage."

"Hermione, are you back to this? You can't deny it anymore. You accepted my love. It was a magical moment."

"WHAT? In your dreams!"

He looks confused at this. I wonder why...

No time to think much about it. I have to think fast, to stop him and retrieve his senses for him. I pick up the closest thing and aim it at his head. I know that's what got me into this weird mess in the first place, but it was the only thing I could think of...

-- 9:40 PM --
So it's back to waiting again. Maybe this time he'll wake up with all his senses in place, because that was just too weird.

I know it's dangerous to keep causing trauma to his head, but…it was just too creepy! Right? Right? Right. I think.

Okay...so maybe it's not so bad having Malfoy act, um...nice towards me. I mean, he's not bad to look at...after all, he's got plenty of girls after him. Actually, this is a nice ego stroke, considering everything. He's one of the most sought after guys at Hogwarts, and it's like he chose me. Ha! Who cares if he was out of his mind at the time and won't remember it when he comes back to his senses? It still happened!

-- 9:45 PM --
I'm officially bored. I'm hungry, too. I wonder if Trelawney keeps any biscuits in here. She should have tea too...and water. I just realized it's been over twenty-four hours since I last drank something. I'm seriously parched. I might even be suffering from dehydration. Oh my goodness. I might be dying!

Okay, Hermione, don't panic. Breathe. Just look around the classroom calmly. Search for supplies. Don't forget to breathe. That's good. Breathe.

Whooo...

Maybe I should have Malfoy knock me out, when he wakes up. That way, my body can conserve what it's got, for now, and time will pass quicker.

Nevermind. Scratch that...I would never trust Malfoy with my unconscious body.

-- 10:00 PM --
Bored, bored, bored.

I am so bored.

When Malfoy is out, he's out. Geeze!

And it's so quiet without him being his annoying self. It's actually kind of creepy.

Maybe if I stare at him, he'll wake up...No, that's creepy of me. That's stalker-ish even! Oh my...I definitely do not want to be classified as one of his bimbo stalkers. Those stupid tarts, with their long, straight—oh so very straight—hair and their big, round, perfect-for-eyelash-batting eyes.

No, I am not jealous. Psh. Why would I be?

Just because their hair looks perfect everyday, while I always have to fight with mine doesn't mean I'm jealous of them. Nope, not at all. And I'm definitely not jealous that they get the kind of attention from boys—one in particular—that I always wish for. Nope, it doesn't bother. It definitely doesn't bother me...

"What doesn't bother you?" a deep voice asks from behind me, making me jump.

"Holy shit, Draco!" I grasp at my heart, which is pounding way too fast for my liking. "Don't sneak up on a person like that! What the hell are you thinking?"

Usually, I do not use such language. But I think I'll make an exception for nearly being given a heart attack, thank you very much. He always seems to put me on edge, no?

Especially with that small smirk/sly smile he's giving me right now, that's making my heart beat a little faster than it was already going. Merlin! What is going on?

"I was thinking that it would be amusing to see you jump, Granger. What were you going on about anyway?"

I glared at him. "Nothing that concerns you."

He shrugs at me. "Whatever," he says, turning away from me.

Well, at least he's back to normal. It doesn't seem like he has anymore misconceptions of us being involved in a personal relationship. Nope...it's just our hate-hate relationship, back to the way it was. This is great. Just great.

"You know what, Granger?" Draco asks from behind me, again, just as my heartbeat was beginning to regulate itself.

I growl at him. "I told you not to do that!"

He just shrugs and smirks, before plopping down against the wall and letting his long, lean legs stretch in front of him. Wait a minute...let me mentally slap myself. Self, tell me I was not just checking out Draco Malfoy's legs? Tell me!

"All right, geeze Granger. I was going to tell you."

"Huh?" I ask, confused. "Tell me what?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "Do you need me to recap for you?"

I nod my head, still so very confused. I think too much time with him is lowering my IQ. Yup. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. My brain not functioning has got nothing to do with the expanse of abs that Draco just showed while he stretched. Nope. Definitely not.

"Granger?"

"Huh?" I ask, again, causing him to roll my eyes.

"I said: do you realize we've been here for over twenty-four hours now?"

I shook my head, letting it sink in. No, I had not realized it. I'd been too busy with...other things that Malfoy shall never find out about. If he did, I'd probably be dead on the spot...

"Well, we have been."

"But how? Shouldn't Harry and Ron have noticed my absence by now?!"

Malfoy frowned, then said something that shocked me so much, I fainted for the second time in his presence: "You're right."

-- 11:00 PM --
Ugh...what happened?

"You fainted, Granger," Malfoy said.

I opened my eyes to find stormy gray eyes staring back at me, as his face hovered above mine.

"Ahh!" I screamed, in shock. I scrambled up to my feet hastily.

"Merlin, Granger! There's no need to imitate a banshee!"

I scowled at him, before murmuring, "Aww...poor wittle Drakie's ears hurt?" Which, by the way, just caused him to glare at me some more. Sigh. Such is our lives. So routine, don't you think?

"Granger, as we were talking about before. Why haven't Potty and the Weasel come looking for you yet, hmm? Surely they care more about their girl toy than this." He said the last bit in an odd tone, as if he was...as if he was jealous? But I didn't take the time to mull that over.

Who cares what tone he used? Who cares if he was jealous! He just insinuated that I was a slut. That bastard! He's so going to feel my wrath!

"For your information, I've never even been kissed before!" I yelled in the heat of the moment, glaring at him.

There. Feel my wrath.

Wait a minute!

I turned to look at him and found him staring at me oddly, one eyebrow quirked up inquisitively. A blush began to creep on to my cheeks.

"Really, Granger? Interesting. Interesting indeed."

I scowled. Damn it!

"Is that an indirect way of asking me to kiss you?"

"Of course it isn't! Get over your over-inflated ego, Malfoy."

"Oh, really? So if I did this, it wouldn't affect you in any way?" he asked, reaching a hand towards me and pulling me closer.

"N—n—no."

"And if I did this, you would pull away, right?" he asked, lowering his head down to mine, until our lips were just centimeters apart.

"Y—y—yes," I whispered, not even attempting to pull away. I don't know why. I just didn't. Did I mention that he was a sexy bastard?

"That's what I thought," he said against my lips, right before he kissed me.

Oh. My. God. Let me just tell you that all those rumors about what a sex god Draco Malfoy is...well, those are so very true. Can you imagine how true, if I could just tell from a kiss? Exactly. So true that you could melt into a puddle of hormonal goo just thinking about it.

Like I did, as soon as he let go of me. My eyes were still closed, my heart beating fast, my mind trying to order my legs to stay standing while reliving the moment. I could still feel his face hovering near mine.

When he didn't do anything else, I opened my eyes. He was smirking at me.

"Not bad, Granger," he drawled. "For an amateur."

And that's how he ruined a moment that was supposed to be one of the most special in a girl's life: my first kiss. But what could you expect from a ferret like him?

I scowled, slapping him and then kicking him in the leg. I would've aimed for where it hurt, but like I said before...my legs were like jelly. A kick in the shin would do...for now.

I ambled over to the other side of the room and plopped down on to one of the seats.

"I can't believe he stole my first kiss," I mumbled to myself.

"It's not exactly stealing, if you participate," he whispered next to my ear, making me jump. Merlin! I didn't even hear him come near me.

I glared at him some more. "It is still considered stolen."

"Is not."

"Is."

"Not."

"Is."

"Is."

"Not."

Hey. Wait. Did that just happen?

"Besides, Granger...you wanted it. And I needed some type of amusement. It is Friday night, after all. I should have girls hanging all over me at some party, by now. But no. I'm stuck in this dingy room with you. A prude."

I stared at him, trying to portray disgust in my eyes and ignore the jealous twinge that I felt at the mention of other girls with him.

It was a losing bet to get emotionally attached to Draco Malfoy just because he was my first kiss. I was smart enough to know that. And yet, I couldn't help it. Especially since, like every other foolish girl in this school, I was already crushing on him. Yes. I admit it. I, Hermione Granger, had a stupid school girl crush on Draco Malfoy, the bane of my existence. Who can deny that he's sexy?

"Why, thank you Granger," he drawled, next to my ear once again.

Damn. I really have to stop doing that.

"You know," he said, placing an arm around my shoulder. "If you wanted, we could give it another go. See where it leads?" He waggled his eyebrows at me.

I shrugged of his arm. "No. Stay away from me!"

"Aww...come on, Granger." He smirked at me. "Have pity on a poor soul."

"I don't think you deserve any pity. And I definitely don't feel pity for you not being able to be with any sluts tonight." I winced at my harshness, but I wasn't taking it back. The jealous twinge was making itself more known and besides, it was true.

"I wasn't talking about pity for me. I was talking about having pity on yourself. Don't you want to indulge yourself, Granger? If not for just one night?"

I stared at him, actually contemplating what he said. I contemplated for an actual five minutes before I mentally slapped myself and chalked it all up to shock.

"NO! I don't want to indulge myself. I have much better things to do." I paused, remembering our situation. "Er, much better things to think about."

"Oh, come on Granger. If I do my job right, then you won't have to be thinking about anything at all. Well, at least nothing that's unrelated to me and my body." He smirked that infuriatingly sexy smirk, before lowering his eyes to give me a once over. "I know you want to."

Okay. So I did. I was getting this odd feeling in my gut, and I believe it was lust. But I was definitely not giving in to Draco Malfoy's peer pressure.

"No, Malfoy. Definitely not. Final answer!"

"Okay," he said, moving away from me. "Your loss."

I watched as he walked over to his curtain from last night and sat down. When he got himself settled, he began to write in his journal again. And I was back to being bored. Great, just great.

-- 2:30 AM --
Malfoy fell asleep! I have entertainment now: his journal's got another entry. Yay!

Let's see...

I'm stuck in the stupid Divination room with that goody-goody Granger. What the hell! And to make matters worse, my wand isn't working and I have no idea why. But it's been interesting being locked up with Granger. Our spats are quite entertaining. Not to mention, she's a can't read handwriting.

I feel some guilt over what I called her. But only some, because I thought it was true. I mean seriously, are Pothead and the Weasel that stupid, or what? Of course they are. I already knew that. But the fact that they haven't taken advantage of can't read handwriting makes them infinitely times more stupid.

And Granger! I admit that she's smart. But sometimes, she can be so oblivious to the obvious.

Woah. Malfoy complimented me. In his journal. But why did he write so sloppy in some parts? I wonder what it says...

yawn

I should put this back before I fall asleep.

yawn

Mm...okay. Almost got it. Just have to be sure not to wake Malfoy.

"Ah!" I silently scream, as Malfoy grabs onto me a pulls me towards him. I look at his face to find him still sleeping. Odd, very odd.

His grip is loose, but for some reason, I don't want to pull away.

I lie down next to him. At the very least, at least I'll get the curtain as a blanket.

He pulls me closer, and I can feel all the hard planes of his body. Oh my. And he's so warm. Mmm...

yawn

...this really feels so warm and comfortable. And with his arms wrapped around me, I slowly begin to drift off...

-- 2:00 PM --
Mmm...

I feel so warm and comfortable and rested. I haven't felt so well rested in, well, ever.

I try to turn, before realizing that I'm next to a warm, very masculine body.

Of course, I scream.

"Bloody hell, Granger! What did I tell you about imitating a banshee?!"

I roll around and look into the face of a very sleepy Draco Malfoy. And let me tell you, when people are talking about that just-woke-up sexiness, they're talking about Draco Malfoy.

I wiggle out of his arms and jump to my feet, running my hands all over myself to make sure all my clothes are still in tact.

"You know, if you did that more slowly, it could be considered very erotic," he drawls, smirking.

I blushed and stopped my hands, before yelling, "What did you do to me?!"

He slowly stands and runs a hand through his hair, also taking the time to stretch before answering me. "Nothing. I fell asleep before you, remember? So if anything, you took advantage of me."

I sputtered. "I would do no such thing!"

He leaned in, and whispered, "Of course not," into my ear. He was about to pull away, but decided to add, "I told you you wanted it."

He walked away then, and lay back down, like he was going to sleep again. And he did.

Just great. Back to boredom.

-- 3:00 PM --
After I was sure he was back to sleep, I picked up his journal again. No new entries, but the identity of that mysterious girl still bothered me. I wonder who she is.

I reread many of the entries where she's mentioned, but he never mentions a name.

Why does this bother me?! It shouldn't. I'm not jealous. I can't be. There's no reason I should be jealous. No logical reason.

I set the journal back in its place, careful to keep my distance to prevent a repeat of last night and this morning.

And just in time, too. He woke up just I got to a chair and pretended to be staring at a spot on the wall. Phew. Lucky.

He stared at me for a moment, with an inquisitive gaze before turning away and stretching. I glanced at him as he stretched, and watched avidly as he arched his back and showed of his abs once again.

"Granger," he said, breaking me out of my reverie. "I'm hungry!" He pouted, too. Which looked adorable. Is there ever a time when he doesn't look good?

And now that he mentioned it, I was starving too. The only things I've eaten were those chocolate frogs he was hiding. My stomach grumbled in agreement.

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

"Find me food!"

"I'm not your slave!"

"Oh, kinky. So, are you someone else's slave then?"

I glared at him. "No. Let's just find some food. I'm sure Professor Trelawney has some tea and she might even have some biscuits."

He gave a deep, dramatic sigh. "Fine."

-- 4:00 PM --
After looking around Trelawney's cluttered storage room, we found some water, tea, and biscuits. Enough for the both of us, too.

We sat down at one of the tables and dug into our feast. Let me tell you, nothing has ever tasted so good.

"So Granger," Malfoy said, munching on a biscuit. "Tell me something about you."

I looked at him in surprise. "What?" I mumbled, wiping crumbs from my mouth.

"Well, we've been stuck in this room for over twenty-four hours and we don't know when we're getting out. Might as well be civilized, for the time being."

I stared at him, speechless.

"What? Cat got your tongue?"

I shook me head. "Well, let's see...I'm a hopeless romantic."

He quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? How so?"

"I love romance novels, chick flicks, and happy endings."

He nodded. "I'm a sucker for happy endings, myself."

I stared at him in surprise. He was just surprising me right and left. I guess there's more to him than meets the eye. All I have to do, if I wanted, is get to know him—the real him—better.

We continued talking in that way for hours, getting to know each other and being civilized, and soon, I felt like I was beginning to know him, to understand him.

I guess he felt like that too, because four hours later he asked for my advice. On that girl.

-- 8:30 PM --
"Hermi—Granger, I need some advice."

I glanced at him, and then nodded. "Sure, Malfoy. About what?"

He took a deep breath, before continuing. "Well, there's this girl I like, but she hates my guts. I don't know...I don't know how to approach her and tell her how I feel."

Don't feel jealous. Don't feel jealous. Act like yourself. Smile. "Well, this is a first," I forced myself to say. "Draco Malfoy not being able to get a girl just by looking at her?"

He shot me a sad grin. Wow. He must really like her. Don't feel jealous. Don't feel jealous. Keep smiling.

"Maybe you could write her a love letter? Pretend to be a secret admirer first. Let her get to know you. Then, maybe you'll find the right time to tell her."

He stared at me, before giving me a blinding smile. He really was gorgeous, even more so when he smiled like that. "That's an excellent idea. Thanks, Granger!"

He gave me a great big hug, not even trying any funny business.

We continued talking after that. But I could still feel the jealousy in me. I was hurting, and I didn't know why.

-- 9:25 PM --
pound, pound, pound

I looked towards the door. Had someone finally found us? Were we finally going to be free?

"Hermione! Are you in there?" a voice yelled through the door.

Yes! We're going to be free!

"Yes, Harry! Can you get us out?"

I looked over at Malfoy, to see if he was as ecstatic as I was to be finally getting out and to fresh food. But he only had a blank expression on his face.

"Yes, hold on 'Mione. Professor McGonagall is on her way."

-- 9:30 PM --
Professor McGonagall used a spell to unlock the door. She apologized to us profusely, telling us that sometimes the door did that. We told her it was okay, and she left us.

Harry and Ron rushed at me, enveloping me in a hug. I laughed, before pushing them away and scolding them. How could they have not noticed I was gone until now?

They stared at me with puppy dog eyes and got to their knees, begging for my forgiveness.

I looked over to Draco, who was about to walk out the door. He turned back to look at me, and then glanced at Harry and Ron. It was certainly a sight to see, and I know he found it amusing. Laughter danced in his eyes, as it did in mine.

"The offer still stands, Granger" were his parting words.

Harry and Ron stood, then.

"What did Malfoy mean by that, Hermione?" Ron asked.

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders, just as confused at them. I racked my brain over the past two days, and then remembered:

"Don't you want to indulge yourself, Granger? If not for just one night?"

I contemplated that, as I left the room with Harry and Ron.

Malfoy wasn't so bad after all. We could, maybe, possibly, become friends.

But I still wanted to know who that girl was. I admit that it bothered me that there was a girl. And it bothered me that it bothered me.

Oh well.

Fin

A/N: Wheeeeeeeeeeee! It's done:D What did you think? Constructive criticism is welcome, of course. Please review. :)