"Mum! Dad!" Hermione yelled cheerfully as they opened the door for her and pulled her into a hug.

"Hermione," her mom said with a smile on her face, "is this your boyfriend? The same one you told me about last year?"

Hermione blushed. "Mom, that wasn't last year. It was two years ago. This is Draco Malfoy; he's just a friend of mine. He needed a place to stay. Oh, I hope it's alright that I told him he could stay with us over the summer?"

"Hermione, dear, you're rambling. And of course, it's quite alright." Hermione's mom said, smiling at Draco.

"Thank you, ma'am." He was ready to pour it on thick. He quietly wondered what 'boyfriend' the mom was talking about.

"What a gentleman! Just a friend, she says." The mom said to herself as she opened the door wide for Draco and Hermione to come in.

"Bring your stuff upstairs. I'll show you where you'll be staying." Hermione said to Draco. He followed her up the steps, and it looked like there was only one room up there. As she opened the door, Draco noticed how much the room smelled like Hermione. He liked it. Hermione let Crookshanks out of her arms and she leaped onto the light blue colored sheets.

"So this is my room." Hermione said.

"Wait, Hermione-"

"I know. You weren't exactly planning on staying in the same room as me. But there really weren't any other options. I mean, there's the couch, but-"

"It's fine, really." Draco said. "It's perfect."

Hermione smiled contently.

It took them a while to unpack their things, and by then, it was already nightfall.

"You guys, we're going to bed. Welcome back!" Hermione's mom called from downstairs.

"Night, Mum!" Hermione yelled.

"So, uh, where exactly am I going to sleep?" Draco asked.

"That awful-looking piece of furniture in the corner is a sleeper sofa." She lifted her wand to the grey couch and whispered, "Preparo." The average-looking sofa quickly turned into a very comfortable bed.

"Ah, nice." Draco commented.

"So, lights out?"

"Lights out."

The two of them lay in their separate beds in the dark quietly. Draco listened to Hermione's soft breaths. Hermione listened to Draco's heavy, hard breaths.

"Truth or dare." Draco finally whispered.

Hermione turned to look at him. She could see his outline in the dark. His shirt was off, once again baring his all-too-perfect chest. "Dare." She bravely whispered. She now saw that Draco was looking at her, too.

"I dare you to tell me exactly what you're thinking right now."

Hermione gulped. "I'm thinking...that you have perfect abs. And...and...and I'm wondering what they would feel like against my body."

Draco was smirking in the darkness. Even Hermione saw this, and blushed. "Then come over here."

"You can't dare me twice!" Hermione said.

"It's not a dare."

No one said anything for a long moment. Finally, Hermione quietly got out of her bed and climbed into Draco's. She didn't know what to say, or do. This felt so wrong, but so right. "Dr-Draco, I-"

"Shh, it's okay." He whispered. "Trust me."

They were both lying on the bed, facing each other. He slowly lifted her arms and placed them around her neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and soon, he was on top of her, their faces inches apart. Their noses touched. Instead of kissing her, he just squeezed her body into his. She closed her eyes, savoring the hug. "Draco." She whispered into his ear. "What are we doing?"

Draco covered his face in his hands, trying to shake off what just happened. "I...I don't know."

Hermione was shaking. "It's feels so right, but it feels so wrong." She cried.

"Don't cry. Please don't cry."

"I'm just, emotional right now. That's probably all this is. I miss Ron." Hermione stammered, climbing back into her own bed. "Draco, this won't happened again, do you understand?"

"Yeah." Draco said quietly.

They were quiet.

The rest of the week went by like this. Hermione decided to get a summer job at the bookstore around the corner, and Draco just spend his days outside, swimming, or sleeping in the sun.

Saturday had finally come, and Hermione was relieved to take a break from her summer work, even though she enjoyed it.

She woke up past noon. She was tired; still tired from the Final Battle.

Draco was lounging outside by the pool. She decided to surprise him by putting on her bathing suit and jumping in.

"It's a world record!" Draco said. "This is the most skin Hermione Granger has shown in her entire life!" He said it as if it were the most surprising thing in the world.

"Where are my parents?" Hermione asked, ignoring him.

"They went out for lunch."

` "So are you gonna come in the pool with me or are you just going to sit and try to get your pale skin some sun?"

"I actually have a question for you..."

Hermione nodded, giving him the green light to go ahead and ask.

"Well..." Draco started, picking his words carefully. "Today's actually my birthday. I was wondering if you wanted to go out somewhere tonight."

"What? Why didn't you say something? I would've gotten you a present, or something." Hermione said.

"I'm not really big on presents anyway. It's fine." Draco said. He wondered if she was going to answer him.

"Yeah, I'll go. Where are we going?"

"Well, I saw an interesting looking bar down the street, but-"

Hermione swallowed hard. "I haven't been to a bar since-"

"I know."

"I...I don't know about this, Draco. Was there anywhere else that caught your eye?"

"Hermione, you'll be with me the entire time. I won't let you out of my sight. I swear, nothing will happen to you."

Hermione looked away from Draco, trying to sort out her thoughts, and right as she did, Draco made a cannonball into the pool.

Hermione shrieked. "Draco!"

Draco laughed. He got suddenly serious as he looked at her and said, "Trust me?"

"Yes." Hermione replied.

"Well you shouldn't!" In one swift movement, he was underneath her in the water and she was lifted into the air on top of his shoulders.

"Draco! Have you forgotten that I'm afraid of heights?" Hermione yelled, hitting him on the head, trying to get him to put her down.

"Oh, no, I definitely haven't forgotten. But I won't let you down until you agree to come with me tonight."

"...Fine. You win."

"As usual."

Draco finally let her down, but when he did, she pushed his head down and dunked him under the water.