Hermione walked and walked all over the castle until she found what she was looking for. She realised lunch had just finished and the thought crossed her mind that Ron, Harry and Ginny had missed it along with her but as a group of Slytherins left the Great Hall, a familiar face among them, Hermione forgot them.

"Malfoy." Her voice seemed to stun him slightly and the whole group stopped and looked around at her, all with matching looks of disgust. "Can I talk to you?"

He seemed to having some sort of internal struggle and the other Slytherins stood watching him with a look of confusion on his face. He turned and spoke to them, not loud enough for Hermione to hear and they walked away, Pansy Parkinson throwing a glare at Hermione.

"What is it?" He asked tensely and Hermione sighed; he was not going to like what she had to say.

"Can we go somewhere?" She asked and watched him search her face and nod curtly. She led the way out on to the grounds and they walked for a few minutes, passing by many good spots to sit down but there were too many others hanging around and they were already attracting looks. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin walking together was one thing, but a Malfoy and a Mudblood? She almost snorted at the thought of it. They finally made their way around the lake and Hermione sat down, looking out across and saw other people around but far in the distance. No one was looking their way and Hermione was thankful for it.

"What's going on?" He asked and Hermione noticed he wasn't looking at her but looking around nervously.

"I've told someone." She said and then corrected herself. "I told Ginny and then she told Harry and Ron because I asked her to."

"What did you do that for?" His voice wasn't angry and she looked over at him. She had expected him to be angry, to yell, but this quiet reaction was unnerving her.

"I needed to tell someone and that's why I told Ginny. But – I told the others – I just – they make me so angry and I just sort of let it out." Hermione admitted and Malfoy made an angry noise in the back of his throat.

"So I should expect to be cursed any day now?" He grunted and Hermione shook her head. "I really wish you hadn't done that. They're gonna kill me."

"You're not scared, are you?" She teased and he looked at her. It was clear from the anger on his face that he was not happy and she sighed. "Look, I know this is bad and I know I said I wasn't ready like a day a go but – if you – I don't know anymore." She said in frustration and wrapped her finger in her hair nervously. What she said couldn't be closer to the truth; she was at a loss for what was going to happen next or what to do.

"Well, neither do I." He said darkly and stood up, walking away from her and back to the castle. She watched his retreating back for a moment before standing up and running after him. In the distance she spotted a familiar red head coming out of the castle and she felt a prickle of unease. She caught up with Malfoy and spun him around, planting her lips on his in a desperate bid to make him see sense. There were people sitting on the grass around her but she found she didn't care anymore; people were going to know soon enough anyway.

"Draco – please, listen. You said – " She stopped talking as he kissed her again and she pushed him off. "You said you loved me!" She cried out and several people turned to stare.

"Granger, come on. Just let me go and process this." Malfoy said through gritted teeth and turned around. Harry, Ron and Ginny were walking towards them, Ron with a face Hermione couldn't describe but she knew it wouldn't be good. She heard Malfoy swear under his breath and watched him pull his wand out.

"No, don't! If you curse them, they'll only hate you more."

"So I'm supposed to let them take shots at me?" He asked her angrily and his eyes flashed dangerously. She pushed in front of him and took her own wand out, turning to face Ron, Ginny and Harry as they arrived. Harry was already holding Ron back and Ginny sent Hermione a look of apology.

"So it's true then!" Ron shouted and a crowd had now gathered to watch the exchange. Malfoy stayed silent behind Hermione and she glanced back to see him glaring daggers at the new arrivals. She turned back and took a step towards Ron.

"Ron – please – listen to me – "

"Don't you talk to me, you little slut!" There was a collective gasp at the word and Hermione felt herself grow numb. She had never heard him use the word and she could tell both Harry and Ginny were shocked too. This was her best friend, the boy she had once even thought she loved; how wrong she was. She took a step back away from him and Malfoy pushed in front of her.

"What did you just call her?" He said, his voice cutting through the tension in the air. Harry now had two hands on Ron to keep him away from Malfoy and Hermione saw Ginny had Ron's wand.

"Like you care, Malfoy! What did you tell her? That you loved her? What a joke!" He shouted, struggling to break free of Harry's grasp.

"Ron, just leave. This isn't anything to do with you!" Hermione cried, anger taking over her emotions and she glared at him.

"How could you? A Slytherin? A Malfoy?" He spat the name as if it was dirt in his mouth and Malfoy's hand twitched on his wand. "How could you believe what he told you?"

"What's it to you, Ron?" Hermione suddenly shrieked and with a short burst of pleasure she saw him step back a little at her outburst. "Since when do I have to run everything I do past you? You are not my father, you are not my brother and they way you are treating me now – there is no way I want someone like you as my friend!"

"Like I want to be seen with someone like you!" He shouted and Ginny put her hand on his arm.

"Ron, come on. Let's just go." She said and Ron shook his younger sister off.

"Look at him, Hermione. He can't even defend you properly. He doesn't love you." He shot and Hermione glanced at Malfoy. The Slytherin looked at her and in that second she felt a twinge of doubt at his feelings for her. A split second later, she realised she had fallen for him. She closed her eyes for a second and turned back to Ron.

"Just go, will you?" Hermione said as harshly as she could and took a step back, taking Malfoy's hand. She wanted more than anything to talk to him alone, figure out this whole mess but with everyone around, there was no way she could. She watched Ron's eyes land on their intertwined hands and he let out a growl of rage. A few people watching took a step back.

"You're a liar!" He spat at Malfoy and the pair ignored him. "If you really loved her, you'd admit it. Go on, ferret boy. Confess your undying love for this – "

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed at the word he had used to describe Hermione but Ron ignored her. Hermione looked then at Harry who had so far stayed quiet through the whole thing and he held her gaze for a moment, his face indescribable.

"He can't do it." Harry said quietly and Hermione's head snapped around to look at Malfoy. He was glaring at Ron but there was something on his face that seemed to break Hermione's heart the second she looked at it.

"Malfoy?" She asked and her voice seemed to break the spell. He looked down at her and simultaneously dropped her hand. Ginny gasped from next to them but Hermione ignored it, tears now stinging her eyes but she kept staring at Malfoy. "Do you?" It was a whisper just for him and their eyes locked.

His delay in answering told her all she needed to know and she took a step back from him, hardly daring to believe she had let herself be tricked.

"Hermione – I – "

She didn't let him answer but walked away as quickly as her legs would take her. She heard yelling behind her and the sound of a fist on skin but she didn't turn; if it was Malfoy who had been hit, she didn't care. Her tears fell freely and sobs escaped her lips.

How could she have been so stupid? Only hours earlier she had woken up next to Malfoy and felt happy, secure even. She had believed him so easily when he told her that he loved her and even now she had the slightest bit of doubt – why would he lie? Why would he lead her on for so long? She sighed as she entered the castle and made the trek up to the Gryffindor common room, ignoring everyone she passed and focusing on her own thoughts. She wanted to believe him so badly especially now she realised she had fallen for him but today had proved it. He wasn't ready for this, wasn't ready for anything; a relationship with a Gryffindor, with a Mudblood for that matter and Hermione should have known better.

She had let him trick her and she hated herself over and over again for thinking that he could change, thinking that he could be a better person. She finally reached the Gryffindor common room and once inside, made a beeline for her dormitory. She didn't want to see or speak to anyone and wanted only to be alone in her misery. She collapsed into bed and the sobs came loudly now, echoing around the room and she was incredibly thankful it was empty. She cried for what seemed like an eternity before she sat up, her face swollen and blotchy, and her breath coming in gasps. She padded into the bathroom and splashed water on her face.

What she wanted now was to know how he could have done that to her but she didn't want to speak to him or see his pale face. Hermione stared at her reflection and pulled a face. She was sick of everything. This crazy roller coaster of emotions she had been on had lost her Harry and Ron as a friend, had lost someone she thought she could really fall for and she had nothing to show for it. It had only been little over a month and it was already over, as if it was nothing. She cursed Malfoy under her breath and went back to bed, exhaustion and sleep overcoming her.

"Hermione!" The sound of her name being called jolted her out of sleep and for a moment, she had no idea what she was doing in bed so early in the afternoon. Her eyes were blurry and she opened them slowly to see a shock of red hair in her face and her eyes flew open.

"Ron?" She asked and heard a snort.

"No, it's Ginny." Hermione sat up and stretched, looking around to see Ginny sat next to her on the bed. "Do you know what time it is?"

"No." In a rush everything came back to her and she felt her face fall as she remembered what had happened.

"It's dinner time. Do you want to come down?" Ginny asked tentatively and Hermione felt her stomach growl in answer to Ginny's question. She realised she hadn't had any breakfast or lunch and decided to face the music. She nodded and climbed out of bed, finding her shoes and putting them on before walking out of the dormitory with Ginny. "Hermione, about before – "

"I don't want to know what happened. Don't tell me, please, Ginny." Hermione said without looking at the girl as they made their way out of the common room and through the castle.

"But Malfoy – "

"Ginny!" Hermione shot her a look then immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry. I just – I don't want to know what he said or did. I don't want to think about him anymore. I just want to forget him."

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked and Hermione nodded shortly, rounding a corner and heading down the stairs towards the Great Hall. She heard Ginny sigh and looked over.

"Who got hit?" She asked quietly and Ginny gave her a dark look.

"You'll see."

The Great Hall was buzzing with chatter but as soon as Hermione entered, both the Slytherin and Gryffindor table quietened down and watched her. She hadn't expected that at all and kept her head down as she made for an empty spot on her table. She sat down at the end of the table and felt as if she had a thousand eyes on her. Thankfully, Ginny sat next to her and she thanked the girl silently.

"Ginny. Stand up." It was Ron and Hermione looked up reluctantly. He didn't look at her but was glaring at his sister pointedly. She stared at him a moment before realising what was different about him; his left eye was swollen, the skin around it the many shades of purple and he could barely keep it open. The look of it made Hermione gasp and he ignored her still.

"What?"

"Stand up. Come and sit with me and Harry." Hermione's eyes shifted from Ron to Ginny and the two girls stared at each other for a moment.

"Ron, we are not five anymore. You can't tell me what to do. Bugger off." Ginny retorted finally and Ron stomped off angrily.

"Thank you. Sorry, I don't deserve it."

"Hermione, shut up. You haven't done anything wrong except fall for the wrong guy in my opinion – and you can't say I didn't warn you. Don't apologise to me." Ginny snapped and both girls started eating.

"Sorry." Hermione said shortly and ducked her head, focusing on the meal in front of her. "His eye looks sore." She commented.

"It will be, yes. Malfoy packs a hard punch." Ginny replied and their forced conversation made Hermione feel even worse. What she would give to go back to how it was between her and her friends; for Harry and Ron to be civil towards her again, for Malfoy to be nothing more than the idiot they had to put up with at school. The thought of him coupled with a prickling on her neck as if someone was watching her caused her to raise her head and look across the sea of heads in front of her. She found his cool grey eyes almost immediately and found him looking back at her. They stared for what seemed like forever, the air thick with emotions around them before Hermione looked down, her cheeks red.

She didn't want to look at him. She would simply have to avoid him for the rest of the year and forget about him. As she bit into a bread roll, she felt slightly better; she would think about it as if it was schoolwork. Avoiding him wouldn't be easy seeing as they shared a few classes and next year would most likely be the same but sharing classes didn't mean she had to talk to or look at him. It would be easy, she thought.

The weekend passed over in a blur. Hermione spent most of the time in bed or with her nose stuck in a book and rarely spoke to anyone. Ginny was a welcome relief to the silent treatment she was receiving from both Harry and Ron but she hadn't expected any less. She had a new found affection for the youngest Weasley and was extremely grateful for her friendship and kindness. It was Monday that was going to be difficult for more than one reason. Their first class was Potions with the Slytherins, and she had no Ginny in her class to talk to and would most likely be on her own.

Hermione arrived as early as she possibly could and took a seat in the back; they were doing only theory today. She watched the other students dribble in slowly and kept her eye out for a certain Slytherin before remembering she was supposed to be ignoring him. Harry and Ron arrived and she watched as they glanced around, spotted her, and then took a seat as far away from her as they could possibly get without sitting outside. She scowled and put her head down on the desk, closing her eyes and waiting for the voice of Slughorn.

A movement next to her disturbed her and she sat up, looking around to see Malfoy sitting down next to her, his eyes fixed forward. She was shocked for a second before looking to the front also and ignoring him as best she could. When he was finally settled, he rested his arms on the desk and the one closest to her touched her arm softly. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, wrenching her arms away and folding them tightly across her chest.

"I need to talk to you." He said quietly though there was no fear of him being heard over the chatter in the classroom as they waited for their Professor.

"No." Hermione said firmly and she saw him look at her out of the corner of her eye.

"You didn't let me explain – "

"No."

"Granger, come on."

"No!" She hissed and several heads swivelled around to look, including Ron. He glared back at the pair of them before Harry turned him around and Hermione looked over at Malfoy. "I don't want to talk to you, Malfoy. I have nothing to say to you."

"Well, good, because actually if you were listening you'd know I wanted to talk to you which usually means that person has something to say." The sarcastic tone in his voice only irritated her and she clenched her fists in front of her.

"Actually, I do have something to say." She said suddenly, her voice uneven as she fought to keep control. She started packing up her books as she spoke. "You lied to me. You defended me with your fists but you couldn't defend me with your words. You tricked me, you deceived me, you led me to believe you loved me. And you know what?"

He merely looked at her, his expression unreadable as she shouldered her bag.

"I fell for you." She heard the pain in her voice and saw Ron looking back at them but she ignored him and kept her eyes on Malfoy. "I believed you and I fell for you. How stupid am I?" She laughed coldly and turned to walk away.

"I didn't lie." She whirled back around and walked up to him, her face close to his.

"See this is where I still don't believe you, Malfoy. You did lie. You don't love me, you never did and you never will. This was some sick plot to get me to – to get me into – I can't believe I fell for it."

"Herm – "

"Don't!" She screeched and Slughorn chose that moment to enter the classroom. He looked around wildly, spotting Hermione with a red face and her bag on her back and Malfoy with a pleading look on his face.

"What's going on here?" He asked jovially and his students ignored him, much too focused on the drama unfolding in the back of the classroom.

"Just leave me alone." Hermione turned to walk away but again she was stopped, this time by physical force as Malfoy's hand whipped out and grabbed her arm, holding it tight. Ron stood up angrily but Harry tugged him back down. "Let me go!"

"No. Not until you listen to me." Malfoy said calmly and Hermione felt more hate than she could possibly explain as she glared at him.

"Mr. Malfoy, I suggest you let go." Slughorn had come over to them and was looking down at Malfoy with a look of distaste on his face. "Now or there'll be points from Slytherin."

Hermione smirked down at him but he didn't move. "I don't care about points." His voice was still calm and she marvelled at how he stayed so collected; it seemed only to prove further that he had no real feelings for her or he would be jumping up and down trying to prove it. Slughorn and Malfoy glared at one another and Hermione took this chance to pull her arm away, shooting one last glare at Malfoy before leaving the classroom. She walked quickly, intending on going to the library to study but footsteps behind her made her stop.

"Hermione, I swear, if you weren't worth all this hassle – " Malfoy started and she rolled her eyes.

"Why can't you do what I say? Why do you have to chase me?" She demanded with her hands on her hips and he took a step closer to her.

"You refuse to let me explain, Granger." He told her and she laughed.

"You don't need to explain. You lied to me, you don't love me – we've been over this!" She exclaimed and he shook his head.

"Listen to me now. When you asked me yesterday – in front of everyone – if I loved you, I didn't answer. I did not say that I didn't love you – I simply didn't answer. If you can recall our recent conversations about not telling people simply because we weren't ready? That was me too, Hermione. You were scared to tell people and so was I."

"Yes, but – "

"I haven't finished." He said through gritted teeth and she could see him getting angry. She took a step back but bumped into a wall and put the most defiant look she could muster on her face. "All of a sudden, you come out and tell me you've told the whole of bloody Gryffindor tower and then the Weasel comes out and tries to kill me – it's a lot for a guy to take."

"That's no excuse. It's only words." She huffed and he glared at her.

"Only words? Maybe to you, Granger, but I don't often go around telling girls I love them, especially not when I know it will upset my family and friends and most likely ruin my reputation too." He said coldly and his words made her look up, a sadness on her face.

"What's going to happen then? If you don't want to ruin your reputation – "

"Stop taking everything I say out of context!" He growled and she shut her mouth. "I love you, okay?" It was the first time he'd said it properly and despite his angry tone, she felt a pull inside her towards him and looked up at him.

"How do I know you're not lying?" She asked quietly and he sighed.

"You don't. You just have to trust me."

Hermione took a step forward and kissed him lightly on the lips, knowing then she never would have been able to avoid or ignore him, simply because he wouldn't let her. "I love you too, but against my will." She said and he laughed shortly.

"What are you going to do about the Weasel and Potter?" He asked and he spat the names out. Hermione gave him a look.

"Well, for one you have to stop calling them that. And two, there's nothing I can do. But let's talk about that later." She said and reached up to kiss him again. He smiled into her lips and his arms circled around her waist. He broke away again and she groaned.

"Hey, now. Just wait. I have one more question. How do I know you're not lying about loving me?" He said and she saw the insecurities that he rarely showed. It touched her slightly that he was such a different person at times and had feelings just as any other person would.

"You don't. You just have to trust me." Hermione grinned up at him and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. As his lips came down and met hers once more, she thought about how quickly things could change and feelings could develop. She hardly dared to believe that only a month ago she had regretted ever meeting Malfoy yet now she wanted to spend each day with him, his lips on hers and his fingers in her hair. It only took that one night and everything in her world seemed to have changed. She hoped Ron and Harry would come around though she couldn't be sure but she knew she had Malfoy and that was something she knew she could get used to.

Okay, so this is kind of the end. I toyed with idea of a sequel but I don't think I will now. I am sort of writing an epilogue though, so if you want that let me know and I will get it out soon.

For something that started as a oneshot this has gone really far and done way better that I thought it would. I only wrote this for a friend and didn't even ship Dramione to begin with but since writing this my feelings have changed. Thank you to everyone who read it and I love you all so much to those who reviewed! Please let me know if you want the epilogue. Thanks again.