Chapter 3

If Hermione concentrated really hard, she found that she could just about ignore Malfoy for the few seconds it took to pass thorough the common room whenever she needed to. Unfortunately that didn't numb the feeling of his eyes boring into her back, which she felt every time.

Though she tried as hard as she could, she couldn't deny the fact that she was attracted to Draco Malfoy. She couldn't believe it, she didn't want it, but that didn't stop it. And, apparently, the feeling was mutual, all parts of it.

None of her friends seemed to noticed something was up, except for Ginny, who eyed her suspiciously any time she walked into a room. She hadn't confronted Hermione on it though, which Hermione was immensely pleased about. She didn't know how well she would be able to lie to her best friend. She was good at lying, but that was to her enemies, which usually involved someone's life or comfort being at risk.

It was one morning that changed everything, and it started with Hermione waking up late.

"Shit!" she swore as she read the time on her alarm clock. She had about five minutes to get to class.

It's ok, she thought to herself, she could make it.

She threw on her robes, grabbed her wand and her books and raced from the room. She stopped short as she entered the common room, the sight making her scream in surprise.

Malfoy was standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a towel slung over his shoulder. Hermione couldn't stop her eyes wandering down.

"Oh yeah," Malfoy smirked, "I know." Hermione's eyes darted up again.

"Wha..." she started, then slightly recovered, "shouldn't your towel be somewhere else?"

"No, I don't think so, it's fine where it is," he winked at her. Hermione gulped and turned to leave the room but, once again, she was stopped.

"You look adorable when you sleep, by the way," she heard from behind her.

She spun around.

"You came into my room?" she asked incredulously, then she realised why, "You turned off my alarm clock!"

He started laughing.

"You should really use something more permanent, that muggle device is very easy to tamper with."

"But...why would you do that?"

"You need to loosen up a bit."

"By being late for class?"

"Yes," he said simply. Hermione glared at him.

"I'm leaving now, you should get dressed," she told him. And with that she attempted to do the impossible and make it to class on time.

She didn't succeed. A classroom of heads turned to look at her in utter disbelief as she slammed the door behind her. She heard whispers fill the room. Hermione Granger was late for class? She attempted to catch her breath and faced Professor McGonagall.

"I'm so sorry professor I..." she couldn't finish her excuse, she didn't have one, or at least not an acceptable one. The professor took a few seconds to realise that her mouth was gaping open and snapped it shut.

"Oh...Hermione, perhaps you should sit down," she then composed herself and motioned to her usual desk, "as this has never happened before I will let it slide, but if you are late again I will take ten points from Gryffindor."

Hermione nodded and sat down at the desk, which was next to Harry and Ron. She glanced at Harry's book and opened her's at the same page, ignoring their gaping stares and silent questions. McGonagall began to explain the contents of the page before her but, for the first time, Hermione didn't pay attention to a word of it.

As the school day drew to a close Hermione found herself eager to get up to her dorm and away from Harry and Ron's questions. She took her usual path and recited the password to the portrait.

She dumped her books onto the table in the middle of the common room. Then turned around and gasped as she spun right into Malfoy. He was standing inches from her with a very determined look on his face. He grabbed her waist and leaned forward to sniff her hair.

"What the...what are you doing? Get off me!" she struggled to get free, "Malfoy I'm serious, I..."

She was cut short as he pressed his lips against her's. Her struggling stopped immediately as a fire raced through her. She shut her eyes, the blinked them open again when her mind caught up with her body.

"Malfoy..."

"Shhhh..." he whispered against her mouth. She obeyed, her body still unwilling to pull away. She let her arms slide around his neck. She felt his teeth pull at her bottom lips and she pulled him closer. He slid her robes off of her and shrugged his own off. He broke their kiss to lean down to catch her legs in his arms, lifting her off the ground. He carried her up to his room, not breaking his gaze with her the whole time. Hermione felt herself melt under his stare.

He lay her down on his bed and crawled over her. He lowered his head to kiss her, his tongue licked her lip, begging entry, which she happily gave. He leant over on his side, still kissing her, one of his hands stroking her cheek. He then let his hand slide down her neck, down over her ribs, under her t-shirt and then back up to cup her bra. She heard him growl with frustration.

He used both of his hands to rip her t-shirt off her, then undid her bra expertly and sighed with satisfaction as his hand felt bare flesh. He then lowered his mouth to her nipple and licked it lightly. He grinned as he felt it harden and placed his mouth on it, sucking hard. She moaned in pleasure. She grabbed a handful of his hair and bit her lip as he switched sides.

She tugged his t-shirt off him, which seemed to start a frenzy in him. He pulled her skirt down followed by her knickers. Following his lead, she undid the belt and buttons on his jeans, he kicked them off impatiently. Hermione gasped as she felt him hard against her. Was that all for her? He turned his head up to her and grinned as he took off his own underwear. She felt herself go red. He pulled his mouth up to her ear.

"You ready?" he asked. She nodded mutely.

She felt his hand slide down her again, sending tingles through her body. His hand went down past her hip to the top of her thigh. He rubbed the inside of her thigh teasingly, then moved his hand onto her opening and smiled when he felt it already damp, inviting him in. Without warning, he plunged his finger into her.

Hermione gasped and bucked involuntarily. Draco smirked and pulled his finger out only to push it in again, harder. Hermione let out a squeak and grabbed her hair. Draco pulled out his finger again, this time adding another finger inside her. He repeated this action over, getting harder each time, with Hermione gasping at each entry.

Hermione felt a million emotions hit her at once. She couldn't believe how amazing this felt, but what surprised her was that every time she felt Draco's finger enter her body she got more and more impatient. Impatient for what was about to come next. So when she felt she couldn't take it anymore, she shook her head fiercely. Draco immediately understood and released his fingers again, leaving them out. He looked up at her questioningly and she nodded. This was the only encouragement he needed.

He pulled himself up and took position over her, muttering a quick contraceptive spell. She felt him pressing against her, making her heart beat even faster. Draco found himself unable to wait any longer. He set himself between her legs, held his breath, and shoved himself into her. Pain coursed through Hermione and she let out a short scream. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt tears come to them. Draco looked up at her pained face, and his eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh, Hermione...I didn't know...shit!" Hermione shook her head sharply.

"No, it doesn't matter, just keep going,"

"But I should have..."

"Just shut up! Shut up!" Draco shut his mouth and started again. Fighting against the longing that filled every part of his body, he forced himself to go softer this time, not wanting to hurt her. Hermione clenched her teeth together against the pain that was covering up any pleasure. Finally she felt it begin to decrease until she was able to ignore it. She began to feel how good he felt inside her and she let out a moan.

"Harder!" She said, "go harder!" Draco looked up at her and saw that she meant it. He didn't need another invitation. He plunged harder and faster into her. Relief and pleasure engulfed him as he listened to her scream his name and she pull his hair. He loved the sound of his first name on her lips. She made it sound so good, she made it feel so good. He went harder and further into her until he felt couldn't go any more. In one last final attempt, he grabbed the backs of her thighs in his hands and hoisted her legs further up on him and he thrust himself into her. He heard her scream in his ear as he felt her spill around him. He followed a few seconds later, emptying himself into her.

He felt happiness and exhaustion wash over him and he collapsed on top of her, not enough strength to move. After a few seconds he rolled off her and lay beside her, panting heavily.

"Oh Merlin!" she whispered breathlessly. He had been thinking the exact same thing and somehow found this hysterical. He began to laugh loudly. Hermione stared at him in astonishment. She had never heard him laugh like this before, like he would never be able to stop. She realised she loved it. She loved the creases it made around his eyes, the sound of it and, most of all, the fact that every single trace of coldness was gone from his eyes. In that moment everything was forgotten, every insult passed between them, all the years of enmity. Gone.

In that moment she was head over heels for Draco Malfoy.

~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione skipped down to the common room the next morning. She felt good, different, but good. It was a free feeling, despite the twinge of pain she felt between her legs, she wanted to laugh out loud for no reason at all. She immediately caught sight of Draco as she entered the room, he was lying back on the couch with his hands behind his head. He opened his eyes and sat up as soon as he heard her come in. He stood up when he saw her.

"Hey, erm, about last night," he started. Hermione felt fear overcome her. Was he going to say that it was all a mistake and he didn't mean it? Or that it was a joke? "I can usually make it last longer that that, just so you know. It was only because it was my first time, you know, with you," he stopped for a second, an awkward look on his face. But that went away soon enough. "Those rumors that you hear about me and my, well, let's call them talents, they're not just rumors." He winked at her.

She felt instantly relieved, he had meant everything. She hadn't even noticed that it had been short, she just knew that it had been amazing. She smiled at him shyly and turned to leave, but stopped. She turned back to him slowly. She gulped, unsure of what words she should use.

"Erm...last night was my first time..." she stopped to look at Draco, who was looking at her curiously. She cleared her throat awkwardly and tried again. "Last night was my first time, and I just wanted to say, I mean, I wanted you to know that I'm, well, I'm glad it was with you."

Again she felt fear course through her, afraid he would laugh at her. But the smile that spread over his face wasn't mocking. He walked over to her, covering the distance in two strides, and slipped his fingers through hers. He looked down at their entwined fingers, then back up at her.

"I'm glad you're glad it was with me," he told her, still smiling. He pressed his forehead against hers and stared into her chocolate eyes, getting lost in them. He felt more vulnerable then than he had felt in his whole life. He was no longer in control of his heart. He had given it away to the person he was supposed to hate most in the world, so that she could do with it what she pleased. But the thing that scared him most, was that he didn't care.

When Draco stepped away from her, Hermione was able to snap back to herself.

"Eh, I have to go have breakfast," she told him, still a bit flustered. "This is still a secret, right?" He nodded gravely.

"It has to be," he said. She nodded in understanding, gave him one last smile and left the room.

She floated down to the Great Hall on a cloud. She knew she looked like an idiot, grinning from ear to ear, but she couldn't stop herself. She spotted Harry and Ron at a table and skipped over to them.

"Hi guys!" she exclaimed happily.

"Hi Luna...?" Harry said referring to her skipping. She laughed.

"Stop it Harry!"

"Ok, but seriously, what happened to you? You're not usually so...happy."

"Thanks a lot," she replied sarcastically, but it still didn't dampen her mood. "I just feel good today!"

"Have you been drinking liquid luck, Hermione?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Hermione looked over at Ron who had only half noticed her entrance as he stuffed his face with whatever breakfast he could eat.

"Hi Ron!" she said, waving in his face.

"Oh, hi Hermione!" he said, oblivious to her over enthusiastic mood. Just then, Ginny entered the Hall and made her way over to them. Harry greeted her by pulling her down onto his lap and and kissing her full on the lips. She tried to push him off, giggling.

"Oye! Do you mind? That happens to be my sister you're kissing right in front of me...while I'm having my breakfast, I might add!"

"Hey come on Ron, Hermione is like my sister!" Hermione's head shot up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked sharply.

"It means that soon Ron will be able to get back at me!" he laughed. Hermione's jaw dropped. Did he actually just say that out loud?

"Harry!" He looked over to see his girlfriend glaring at him.

"Aw, come on Ginny, Hermione, it was only a joke," he defended himself.

"Well it wasn't funny...at all!" Ginny told him, as Hermione turned red with embarrassment.

"Hey look it doesn't matter guys, I don't mind," Ron said.

"Well, we're not talking about you Ronald," Ginny told him through clenched teeth, "I need to speak to Hermione, so you two can go."

"But we were here first!" Harry protested.

"I haven't finished yet!" Ron complained. Ginny gave them both a deathly stare. They took one look at her and decided it wasn't worth the fight. They both got up moaning, and headed out of the Great Hall.

"Thanks Ginny," Hermione said and got up to leave but Ginny stopped her.

"Hey I'm not joking Hermione, I really do want to talk to you."

Crap, she has noticed something different, Hermione thought to herself.

"Look Hermione, you know I don't care wether or not you date my brother. I mean sure it would have been cool to have you as an official sister but a best friend is good enough," Ginny started, "but the thing is you are my best friend, and I can see when something is bothering you, even if you pretend you're ok. So from what I've seen is that you've been pretty upset about something over the past few days, and then suddenly this morning you're overly happy, I mean you're skipping in the Great Hall for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione laughed. Ginny was right, Hermione had been stupid to ever try and make her believe there was nothing wrong. Ron may be one of the least observant people on the planet but his sister, if anything, was the complete opposite. She thought over what she should do.

"Ok Ginny, you're right, something has been upsetting me over the past few days, and I truly am over the moon right now. But, the thing is, I can't tell you why. I wish I could, but I can't," she told her.

"Why not?" Ginny asked curiously and a little bit hurt that her friend was keeping something from her.

"Because I agreed with a certain person that I wouldn't," Hermione told her. There was a pause.

"Would that person be Draco Malfoy?" Ginny asked suddenly. Hermione widened her eyes at the unexpected question.

"How did you know?" she asked, not able to think up a better response quick enough.

"Well, let's see. You started feeling bad that day that you came down to breakfast with your eyes red and that was because of Malfoy. Every time his name is mentioned you snap to attention and, recently, you've actually started defending him when Harry or Ron insult him. You also spend a lot of time looking over at him when you think no one is watching you."

"Oh," Hermione said, surprised. She really had thought no one was looking when she took sneak peaks at Draco.

"Yeah, I know!" Ginny replied, "you made it pretty obvious, but don't worry, Harry and Ron still haven't noticed anything. I don't think they'd actually take it seriously if you shouted it in their faces, so they definitely haven't been looking out for it. I can hardly believe that you have a crush on Draco Malfoy of all people, I mean sure he's probably the best looking guy in Hogwarts, apart from Harry of course. I mean all the things he's done to you and Harry and Ron and everyone, he hasn't exactly been friendly..."

Hermione was still a little bit surprised that Ginny had actually noticed anything, and more surprised that she wasn't shouting at her for liking him. She decided then that if Ginny was good enough to be able to, not only notice there was some thing wrong but, to realise what it was too, then she was a good enough friend to be able to keep her secret. After all Draco had told Blaise. Hermione knew that Ginny was very good at keeping her mouth shut when she wanted to.

"Ok Ginny, look, you're right," Hermione started.

"Oh I know," Ginny replied immediately.

"Yeah except you said you couldn't believe I had a crush on Draco Malfoy but actually...well...it's more that just a crush really. I mean we're actually kind of secretly dating..."

"Oh Merlin! I did not expect that. You and Malfoy? That is very hard to believe, the crush, ok I could push myself to believe it, but this? This is very big."

"You can't tell anyone, I mean it Ginny!" Hermione told her, Ginny shook her head.

"I know, I know, I wouldn't dream of it. I mean if word got back to Harry or Ron they definitely wouldn't take it as kindly as I'm taking it now. And I'm still in shock. So is this a recent thing?"

"Very. We have officially been going out for about half an hour now. Except for there was..." Hermione trailed off.

"There was what?" Ginny immediately pushed, eager for more details.

"Well, last night, we...you know..." Hermione could feel herself blushing just talking about it.

Ginny's eyes widened.

"Hermione! No! Really? How did that happen? How was it? Is he really as good as people say?"

Hermione smiled mysteriously.

"I don't kiss and tell," she said.

"That means yes!" Ginny cried. Hermione shushed her nervously.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just so...you know!" she squealed excitedly.

"Ginny seriously!"

"Sorry! Hey does anyone else know about this?"

"Yeah Blaise, just Blaise," Hermione told her.

"Ok, wow! I still can't believe you're going out with Draco Malfoy! That's so weird!"

"I know, right? But I'm serious Ginny, you can't tell anyone, not a soul."

"No, no don't worry, I won't. Your secret's safe with me," Ginny assured her.

Hermione sighed, she really hoped it was.