The common room was as Draco had said, deserted. Hermione wondered just what was happening on the Quiditch pitch, because it seemed to her that she and Draco were the only two Slytherin's not on the pitch. Draco fell into a dark jade two-seater sofa, and beckoned Hermione to join him. She, too, fell down on the sofa. She had fallen next to him, and the sofa cushions had pushed them together, so their legs were directly touching- well, the fabric of their jeans was touching.

Draco seemed quite happy with the setup, and he had wrapped an arm over her shoulders, holding her there. After a moment, she relaxed, and he head rested on his chest, her eyes partially shut.

"So," Draco drawled, "You got pretty angry there." He said, somewhat amused.

Hermione sighed, "Did I overreact?" she asked grimly, "I just… I don't want you to think that I'm just using you until I can be with Harry and Ron again." Her eyes were downcast, so she didn't see Draco's surprise. He liked how Hermione was blunt; most people would beat around the bush, not say exactly what they were thinking; suggest it instead. Hermione wasn't like that though. She said what everyone thought, but never said; it was rather exciting, really. "I want to be friends with you, and even if I get put back into Gryffindor, I still want us to be friends." Draco watched as she picked up his hand.

She spread his long, tapered fingers, staring at them as if they were made of expensive fine china. She smiled at his hands, and enjoyed how they were warm in her hand. She looked up at Draco suddenly, and she saw that his eyes were wide, his lips parted in surprise. He couldn't help but think that this was the sort of thing "couples" did; cuddle up on the sofa, hold hands…

He swallowed nervously, and she dropped his hand, her cheeks flushing red.

He thought to himself that she was so cute. He didn't understand how he had ever thought she was ugly. Her wavy brown hair hung over her eyes, some of it still in a sloppy bun halfway down her head. Her eyes were warm and large. She was too cute, he thought.

He picked up her hand, doing the same with her fingers as she had done with his. He treated them like spun silk. She was blushing heavily now, realising what she had done. He tucked some of her hair behind one of her ears, enjoying the delicious blush on her high, arching cheeks. He leant toward her and his lips- ever so gently- brushed her red cheek. She jumped. "Do we have to be friends?" he asked; the question had been on his mind all day.

She looked sadly down at her hand in his, "I guess… if you don't want to be friends… I just thought." She shook her head, "Oh, never mind. I won't bother you again."

She stood up, only to have a pair of long arms circle her waist and pull her down; this time, she landed softly on his lap. Draco rested his head in the crook of her neck, "You misunderstood me…" he murmured. She was completely red now, and he could feel the heat radiating from her neck. "I like you, Hermione Granger." He pressed his lips against her neck, kissing the spot softly.

Hermione didn't know what to do; her mid was racing a hundred miles a second, and she couldn't hold on to a single thought. "Draco, I-" she frowned, not knowing what to say or what to think. She couldn't think about this right now. "I don't want to do this." She bit her lip, "Not now anyway. I need a friend- I want to be your friend right now." she felt guilty as a hurt, embarrassed expression took hold of the Slytherin boy.

"I understand," he nodded, "I'm sorry." He said, making Hermione feel dreadful. Draco shouldn't be sorry; she had enjoyed the kiss, and she hadn't exactly wanted it to stop… but she knew it wasn't right, and she wasn't ready for any sort of relationship- least not a sexual one with her childhood enemy.

She stood up, frowning at him, "Please don't be sorry. You didn't force anything on me… I just…" she sighed, her eyes pleading him to really understand. "I'm sorry. I think I might just go to bed now. You can go join the other Slytherins if you want? I kinda ruined your evening by making you sit there while my friends-" she used her fingers as quotation marks around the word friends, "- insulted you." She grimaced, "Sorry- again."

Hermione turned and walked towards the girls' stairs; Draco didn't stand up, but he did call out "I get it" as Hermione started to go upstairs. When she looked back at him, his lips were tilted to one side in an unfortunate smile. Hermione smiled similarly at him and went upstairs.

There was no one up there either. It was just her. she felt bad for leaving Draco downstairs on his own, but she flopped herself down on her bed; she felt too awkward to go find him. She knew she would just end up apologising again, and then things would become even more awkward. She shook her head, gazing up at the cream ceiling.

Her index finger reached up to touch her lips, remembering Draco's lips against them. It really hadn't been a bad kiss; quite the opposite, actually. It had been lovely… why was it, again, that she wasn't ready for a relationship with Draco? As she questioned herself, she realised that with all the changes her life was taking this year, surely a little bit of love interest wouldn't be too detrimental.

She sighed; she had made a mistake.

Draco looked uncharacteristically down when Christopher entered the boys dorms, slumping down on his bed; the one nearest to Draco's. "What happened, mate?" Christopher asked, raising one eyebrow, "We were waiting for you and Granger. You never showed." Christopher smirked, "What, did you and Granger get a little… caught up?" he winked.

"Shut up, Christopher." Draco sighed, in no mood for Christopher's perverted thoughts.

"Hey, man!" Christopher exclaimed, still smirking," I can't say I blame you! She might be kinda… Gryffindor… but she is cute." Christopher nodded appreciatively. "I can definitely see the appeal."

Draco scowled at Christopher, "Nothing happened, okay? She was meeting Potter and Weasley, and then we were talking…" Draco brushed back his- exceptionally- fair hair and sighed again, "Just drop it, alright?"

"Fine, fine," Christopher exclaimed; holding two hands up in surrender, "Well, you didn't miss that much." he frowned, "Mia's started dating some Ravenclaw- she brought him with her. Swotty, boring thing, he is," Christopher's expression had lost all amusement, "No humour, at all. I really don't see what the hell Mia sees in him."

Draco was happier to think about other people's problems than his own, so he shrugged good naturedly to Christopher, "She probably doesn't see anything in him, Chris," Draco pointed out, "I imagine Clover put her up to dating him." Draco looked at Christopher, "You know, if you wanna date Mia, you need to get Clover to like you. Mia doesn't do anything if Clover doesn't want her to- you know that."

Christopher smirked, "Well, that hasn't seemed to stop Mia every time we've had sex in the common room. I'm pretty sure Clover didn't give Mia approval to do that." He looked pretty triumphant. He looked at Draco, concern igniting in his eyes, "You like Granger, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah," Draco sighed, dragging his hand down his face, he didn't feel like lying about it. He did like Hermione, and it stung that she wasn't interested.

"Well, if you like her, make a move!" Christopher encouraged, "Honestly, mate; tonight would have been the perfect opportunity! You had the common room to yourself and you missed your chance!"

Draco sighed, "Okay, so we weren't just talking." Christopher looked more interested. He gestured for Draco to continue; tiredly, Draco did. "I kind of kissed her…"

Christopher looked confused, "How can you kind of kiss someone?" He furrowed his brows, "You either kissed her or you didn't? which was it?"

Draco wasn't sure he wanted to talk anymore, "I kissed her neck, I guess." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "It was sort of confusing. I mean, we were sort of… cuddling-" the word felt unbearably feminine on his lips, "- one minute, and holding hands, and then I made a move and kissed her neck, but she freaked out a bit." Draco felt very awkward discussing this with a guy.

Christopher laughed, "You are turning into a girl, Draco." He smirked, "Cuddling, holding hands, kissing necks," Christopher seemed to find the entire thing hilarious. Draco was feeling more irritated, less embarrassed now. He told Christopher to shut up. "But, seriously, why go for the neck? You always go for the lips first, man." He shook his head, "You lost your chance."

Draco, already in pyjamas, got under his duvet, getting ready to go to sleep. He stared up at the cream ceiling, "I know." He said miserably, "I missed my chance." He sighed loudly.

"Well," Christopher said optimistically, "You might get another one. Be patient, mate."

Draco nodded, and then shut his eyes, letting Christopher know that he was done talking. Draco felt negative; he wasn't expecting another opportunity like todays. Hermione looked pretty definite back in the common room; she wasn't interested in anything romantic. Draco sighed again; he would just have to be her friend, then, and if she ever changed her mind- well, she could make the first move. Draco didn't think his pride could stand another hit.

A/N: Thanks for reading, guys! Please Review (it would mean a lot) and I'm gonna start writing the next chapter right now because I have combatted my writers block and the ideas a flowing! Well, kinda, anyway.

I watched Divergent the other day; OHMYGOD! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I LOVED IT! OHMYGOD! TOBIAS ,YOU AMAZING MAN, YOU!

Okay… fangirl moment over… *ominous voice* for now!

Bye, Kate!