Draco Malfoy was not happy. Not happy at all. As a Slytherin prefect, one of his tasks was to do rounds at night with another prefect to ensure the safety of the castle and to ensure that no student was out of beds after curfew. Normally, he enjoyed such a task because it entailed power but tonight was most likely the coldest night of that year's winter and he was freezing himself off waiting outside the Great Hall for his pair. He was dressed in the thickest of coats, a fuzzy scarf, gloves and a hat. Yes, it was THAT cold that Draco Malfoy himself willingly placed a hat to cover his perfect locks. He was cold, yes he was, and starting to grow very impatient.
Hermione Granger was running. She was running as fast as her uncoordinated legs could carry her. She was late, and oh, how she hated being late. She was probably flying now and thanking Merlin that she cast a warming spell on her so that the cold wasn't so unbearable even with her speed. She was nearing the doors of the Great Hall when she found her pair shivering and extremely bundled up waiting, with his back on her. She practically flew down the last few steps and when she neared him, he turned around and crashed right into him.
"Well well! Caught myself a Granger!" Draco Malfoy smirked as Hermione righted herself.
"What are YOU doing here?" she eyed suspiciously. "I'm supposed to be doing rounds with Susan Bones and I think I'm stating the obvious when I say you're NOT Susan Bones."
"I bloody well am not Susan Bones! With looks like these, no one can mistake who I am." He stated proudly, although ending his statement with a shiver as his teeth had started to chatter from the cold.
Hermione took a second to look at him and found herself greatly amused. "I think I have, in front of me, a very cold penguin from the north."
"A what?" he asked, teeth still chattering.
"Nothing." She rolled her eyes. "Why are you so cold?"
"Gee Granger! I dunno! Maybe because I've been waiting for you for forever?"
"Malfoy, you've only been here for 10 minutes. Suck it up."
He stared at her in disbelief. "Like hell Granger, Malfoys never wait for anyone!"
"Oh stop making yourself so important, cast a damn warming spell on yourself and let's just go get this over with." She sighed, turning around and starting to walk.
"Aww shit." Draco mumbled, "I completely forgot about that spell." He quickly cast it on himself, put his wand back inside his pocket and caught up with Hermione.
They were silent for a while – Hermione wanting to be thorough in her rounds and Draco thinking of more ways to torment her.
"Why were you late?" Draco asked, finally.
"Why are you the one who's here tonight?" She asked, returning his question with a question.
"Why have you been avoiding me for a month?"
"Why do you care if I have?"
"Why are you answering my questions with questions?"
"Why are YOU answering my questions with questions?" She said giving him her best smirk.
Draco shuddered. "Eh! Granger! Have you been practicing my smirks?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy, you don't own the act of smirking."
"Fine. Answer my questions, then."
"Answer mine."
"Which one?"
"Which one, too?"
"You're confusing me, Granger."
She laughed, "You're just easily confused, Malfoy."
"Am not."
"Am too."
"Huh."
"What?"
"I think," Draco said with a smile spreading along his face, "I will answer YOUR questions for you, if you don't want to answer them yourself."
"Okay." Hermione said furrowing her brow. "Go take a stab at it then, oh genius one."
"You've been avoiding me for a month because of that kiss in the library. You can't get me out of your head because I blew your mind out with those few minutes when our lips touched that I got to have a taste of the oh-so-perfect – sense my sarcasm here, Granger – and so untainted Hermione Granger." He proceeded to chuckle in amusement. "And I therefore conclude that you were late because you made yourself look extra good tonight because you secretly knew I would be paired with you! Hah! You're secretly hoping I kiss you again!"
Hermione scoffed. "That is the most preposterous thing I have EVER heard, Malfoy! There is NO truth whatsoever to that."
"Oh really?" Draco asked, teasingly, still reveling in his thoughts.
"Yes, really!"
"Liar."
"I would think YOU are the liar here, Malfoy, creating such heinous stories!" She was starting to get extremely irked. "Can't believe you're so full of yourself!"
"So Granger, how do you feel being in such close proximity as I am?" He continued to tease as he reached for her arm, "If I touch you, will you shiver and feel tingly in special places."
"UGH!" Hermione screamed, "You disgust me, Malfoy!"
"Yet adore me just the same."
"You know what, let me play the same game!" She said, extremely irked now. "Let's see, you've been noticing that YES I have been avoiding you since the library disaster – yes it was a disaster – because YOU enjoyed that kiss! You've been thinking about me nonstop for the past four weeks – I've noticed you giving me looks everywhere we are – and all YOU want is to be with me and to get to kiss me again. And the reason why you're here and switched with Susan is because YOU wanted to be in close proximity with me. Hah! How does it feel when I touch you, Malfoy?" She reached for his arm and whispered seductively, "Does it make you shiver and feel tingly in special places?"
Draco was stunned silent for a good 20 seconds before he was able to respond. "Bloody hell, Granger, don't ever use that voice on me! You scared the living daylights out of me!"
She merely laughed.
"And that's just wrong!"
"Which part?" She said, still laughing.
"The whole of it! It's all a bunch of lies strung together!"
"Is not."
"Is too."
"I hate you, Granger."
"Oh Malfoy, the feeling is nothing but mutual."
They were silent again. They had gone through a hefty part of the castle and were surprised that there seemed to be no trouble tonight. It was probably the blistering cold or fear of the two students that made the rest of the school run back to their dormitories at the sight of them.
"I have not been thinking about the kiss, Granger." Draco said, finally breaking the silence.
"Seems quite the opposite, Malfoy."
"If you must know, and here is the TRUTH and absolute TRUTH, I am here tonight because that pig-headed Head Boy assigned me rounds on the night we have Quidditch practice."
"Huh, practice in the dead of winter." She observed.
"That was months ago and I only had time to catch up with rounds now."
She only remained silent.
"And I have 'noticed' your avoidance of me because I have been itching to have a verbal sparring with you but you always seem to have other things to do or are in no mood to fight back. I mean Granger, I haven't pulled your hair, made your books fly off or tripped you in the past few weeks! A man has needs! A man notices when there's a change in his daily routines!"
"Oh Malfoy, it makes me so happy to know that terrorizing me is part of what makes your day."
"Why Granger, it is. I live to see you all red in the face and about to pounce!" He said, clapping his hands in amusement.
Silence only on her end.
"I answered your questions truthfully. Your turn to answer mine."
"I never made such arrangements."
"Oh yes you did. Why are you dodging such harmless questions?" He suddenly perked up in curiosity, "Are you ashamed of your answers?"
"No."
"My my! Hermione Granger must be hiding a juicy little secret to be evasive of such meaningless questions! I wonder what the oh-so-perfect Granger has to hide? Were you doing something illegal? Were you smuggling in dragon eggs? Oh, that's not fun. Were you holding up a photograph of me and kissing me and crying your eyes out because you could never—"
"Gods, shut up! Fine! I am late because I lost track of time while I was with Ron," she was blushing at this point, "And I have been avoiding you since the fiasco because that same night, that was the night when Ron told me he had feelings for me and it was our… first real kiss." She blushed again. "And I hate that it's tainted with YOUR kiss!"
"You and the Weasel are… together?" He asked, perplexed. "But I've never seen you two together more than the usual."
"Yes, we're sort of together and well, we're taking it slow by… dating. And occasionally kissing. He said we should keep it on the low so people wouldn't talk about us so much and meddle with our umm… relationship."
He shuddered and then realized something, "Wait! You agreed to this AFTER I kissed you?"
"Yes, Malfoy, I did."
"Does he kiss BETTER than I do?"
"Why in Merlin's name would you even care? And I am not answering that question."
"Holy hippogriff, I don't think this has EVER happened to me in my entire life!"
"Which has?"
"That I kiss a girl and yet she still kisses someone else on the SAME NIGHT. My kisses are supposed to have lasting effects that make women want more from ME." He halted in his step, apparently, extremely bothered by this.
"Have I ever told you you're so full of yourself?" Hermione giggled, amused that she won this round and continued to walk.
"Did he make you moan?" He asked, catching up to her.
"WHAT?"
"Did that ginger make you moan when he kissed you, well, kisses you?"
"I am NOT answering that, Malfoy!"
"You did when we kissed. Does he nibble on your lip?"
"WHAT?"
"I did when we kissed and you seemed to REALLY enjoy it."
"Stop it!"
"Does he run his hands from your hair down to your neck all the way down to your lower back?"
"Malfoy, seriously, STOP!"
"You shivered when I did that. Do you pull into him closer and seem as if you don't wanna stop?"
"MALFOY, DON'T MAKE ME HEX YOU!"
"You were doing everything you can to keep sucking face with me. I think, if nobody else were around that time, you could have begged me to take you right there, right—OW!"
Hermione was fuming when he kicked him in the shins.
"What was that for?"
"I told you to QUIT IT!"
"Well answer my questions if you want me to stop!"
"NO."
"Does he make you feel like he wants to take you right then and there and have his way with you?"
"Oh god, yes! Okay? YES! HE KISSES BETTER THAN YOU!" Hermione finally almost screamed.
Draco stopped abruptly, in utter shock. They found themselves, strangely, in a corridor near the Gryffindor tower. Apparently, he had unconsciously walked with her all the way back to her dorm from the conversations they had been having. Currently, though, he was positively stunned at the words that came from her mouth and was frozen on the spot.
"Are you happy now, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, still livid from all the things that came out of his mouth. Then in one breath she huffed, "Yes, he makes me feel wanted, he makes me feel amazing, his hands run around my body when we kiss and he bloody well makes me want more!" She screeched and was currently breathing deep breaths.
Silence.
"Oh gods, I've said so much." She mumbled and started to run to her dormitory. She was about to turn the corner to the portrait of the Fat Lady when she was suddenly pulled back, was pressed against the wall and was covered by the body of no one else but Draco Malfoy.
"I don't believe you." He said and then proceeded to kiss her with all his might.
Hermione was nothing short of surprised. What surprised her even more was that she eagerly responded to his kiss. There was something more to this kiss. And she never really did believe that Ron kissed this way. Draco was passionate and he took the lead, yet he left room for her to do what she wanted. Ron did run his hands all over her yet not in this heated way that Draco did. Draco's touches were full of emotion, full of want, full of… desire. She never shivered with Ron, never felt the need to run her hands from his hair, down to his neck, down to his back the way Draco made her want to do – and boy did she enjoy doing it. And she lied, she definitely never moaned with Ron. At least, never the way Draco made her – and she could barely count how many times a low moan came from her during their heated kiss.
After what seemed like forever, they broke off, gasping for air. She was looking up at him, still with surprised eyes. He was gasping for air, but he had a small smile painted on his face.
"Don't you ever tell me he kisses you better than I do." He said in between breaths and while gazing deep into her eyes. Then he leaned in close to her and whispered, "No one will ever kiss you better than I do, Granger, no one."
Hermione's eyes only widened. She was breathing deeply now and blushing profusely from the kiss, from his closeness and from his words.
"You're right, Granger. I have been noticing you avoiding me because ever since that kiss, I can't bloody well stop thinking about you." Draco continued, still whispering in her ear and keeping her rather close. "I've kissed a good number of witches in my entire life but no one has ever kissed me the way you did. You're a fool to have thought that this kind of chemistry that you and I have can be found in someone else because it can't. Weasley may make you feel good but never THIS good. If I were the man in your life, I wouldn't be ashamed to hold your hand in between classes or kiss you in front of the entire school. I would let everyone know that you are mine as I am yours. I would never date you in secret, Granger, because you don't deserve to just be a 'good snog'. I won't bloody care what other people say about us because I'll have you and that's all that matters. They can just be jealous all they want. So don't ever, ever tell me that he is so much better than I am because Granger, Hermione, when it comes to you, no one will ever feel for you the way I do."
And with those words, he gave her one last kiss on the lips, much tamer, much shorter and so much sweeter this time, and walked away.
"Merlin, help me." Hermione whispered, still plastered stuck on the wall, "I think Draco Malfoy just told me he loves me."
A/N: Hi :) I just added this because inspiration hit me at 5 AM when I couldn't sleep. Hope you enjoyed. I dunno if I'm gonna continue cause it might ruin everything but I'll try I guess if inspiration hits again.
And as always, if I owned Harry Potter, I would be vacationing in Greece right now. Or the moon. Whatever. :)