Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling; therefore I do not own Harry Potter.

Avoidance

Hermione stood up on two shaky legs as she reached out in front of her to find the light switch. She hesitated before turning them on, not wanting to witness the scene. As she switched the lights on, she watched as Draco stood up and tumbled back into the shelves. "Oh fuck," He caught himself before he fell over. Hermione scanned him, his pants were halfway up his legs, his robe was off, and his shirt was unbuttoned. Sanity had finally caught up to her when he began to yank on her skirt and she quickly shoved his hands away and rolled off of him. She muttered a fast, "We can't," and he reluctantly let her go, only because she was out of his reach.

"We need to get back," She informed him, as she buttoned up her shirt and handed him his belt. He took it, staring at her. After they fixed their clothes, Hermione reached for the books and picked them up and faced him. "Is my hair okay?" She patted it down. He gave her a smirk and she shook her head, "Never mind," Not wanting to hear a snotty comment about her hair, she opened the door and he followed her out. He walked out in front of her, not saying anything.

Once they got back to the classroom, Hermione felt as if everybody knew exactly what they did, like they were reading into her. She looked down and heard Malfoy sit in his seat as she handed the books to Snape. "Sorry," She mumbled. "It was harder to find them then we thought." She looked up at him and Snape eyed her.

"Take a seat, Miss Granger." And she did. Ginny leaned over to her and whispered,

"Is everything okay? You look a bit flushed, did you and Malfoy fight?" Hermione put a hand on her neck and wiped the sweat off.

"Um sort of," She looked over at Malfoy who was flicking a button on his shirt. Hermione took in a breath and stared at the front of the classroom. She almost slept with Malfoy again! And he was letting her! She cursed Ron, this was his entire fault. He was making her do stupid things. Not even stupid things, dangerous actions. Hermione just could not sleep with Malfoy and have everything be peachy keen afterwards. Maybe in an alternate universe, but certainly not in this one.

Friday's sucked. Really sucked. Draco cursed the day Friday was made and sat down in the Slytherin common room. Why did he and Granger always have some type of physical encounters on Fridays? Specifically these last two Friday's. He was pretty glad Granger had stopped them both in that closet. What would have happened if they had sex again? Would it become a routine thing? Draco shuddered at the thought.

He knew he wanted it. But this was just getting too crazy. Shagging a Mudblood in the Forbidden Forest, and then almost again in a classroom closet? She sure knew how to pick her spots. Draco dropped his head in his hands and closed his eyes. Willing the images from last week and today to slip from his mind. It would make everything so much easier. Kissing Granger was like an addiction. One that he simply could not break. Or else he would have shoved her off in the closet and not the other way around. Shit.

"You know," someone purred into his ear. "You're looking a bit tense." Pansy. "I could get rid of some of that tension, if you want?" She began to massage his shoulders. Draco rolled his shoulders back and shook his head.

"Get off!" He stood up from the couch and stepped out into the corridors of Hogwarts. He did not need anybody touching him at that point. He ran a hand through his hair, making a few pieces stick up, and did not even notice the two Ravenclaw girl's checking him out. He wandered down a hall, trying to get away from as much people as he could, when an idea popped into his head. Draco began to sprint down the hall to Snape's classroom, and threw open the door to his office. Snape abruptly looked up from the papers he was reading, and eyed Draco.

"There best be an excuse from this intrusion." Snape said to him. Draco, breathing heavily, made his way to Snape's desk, bent down and put his hands on the desk and lowered his head to be eye level with Snape.

"You have to get me out of that detention." He tried to control his breathing. "I'll do anything else; just get me away from those Gryffindor girls." Snape watched him carefully. Draco tugged on the collar of his shirt and loosened his tie with his finger and rolled his neck.

"Mr. Malfoy, your problems with your classmates do not concern me and-" Draco slammed a hand down on his desk.

"No! You don't understand," Draco lowered his voice. "I cannot be in there anymore, I will do anything-"

"That is enough, Mr. Malfoy." Snape rose from his desk to silence him. Draco lifted his head to watch Snape. "You will continue to serve out this detention till the end."

"But-"

"It would be in your best interest for you to leave, Draco." He slurred his name out a little too long for Draco's likings. Draco let out a low growl deep in his throat, stood up, and straightened himself out.

"You don't know what you're doing." He sneered at Snape and turned on his heel and left the classroom. When Draco left the classroom, he ignored the raised eyebrows people were throwing in his way. He knew he looked like he just got in a fight, minus the bruises and marks. His shirt and tie were loosened, his hair was everywhere, and he could not stop sweating. He also couldn't control his infuriated heavy breaths. He had to get out of that detention. He was going to ignore Granger in every possible way he could, even though his mind always seemed to wander back to her.

By the time the weekend past, Draco only left the Slytherin common room to eat and go to a Quidditch game. Truth be told, he did not even know who won or who was even playing against Gryffindor. He left through halfway of the game and went to sleep. He was pretty sure he even missed a couple meals the past two days. The only thing he really managed to get done was his school work and he had also successfully managed to not see Granger once.

But ignoring her on the weekend was easy; it was school that was the tricky part. On Monday morning, Draco got up and went down to the Great Hall before a quarter of students were even there. He grabbed two pieces of toast and left for the library. He ate the toasts and dropped his bag on one of the empty tables and sat down. He needed to come up with a plan of avoidance. He could not skip class; he had more than one with her. And if he skipped detention he would only get into more trouble with Snape. Draco needed him off his back.

He brushed some crumbs of his robe and let his eyes wander around the library. It was quiet and empty except for Granger in the corner. Wait. Draco sat up in his chair and turned around in his seat. Shit! Granger in the library! He turned back around and then shook his head. He was being a total idiot; Granger in the library should not surprise him at all. He almost chuckled, she was way too predictable. No, no, she definitely wasn't predictable. Or else he would have seen the last two Friday's coming. And he was certain the last thing that would ever happen between him and Granger was… that.

Draco rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and coolly played off the turnaround glance. He wondered if she had the same idea as him, to ignore her. Stop. You are being a total pussy. He scolded himself. What was happening to him? Since when was he afraid of the Mudblood? Running away and hiding in his room from her? His pride got the best of him as he pushed himself away from the table, stood up, and strolled over to her. Her back was to him and she had no idea he was behind her.

Draco smirked, put his arms between her and onto the table and bent down next to her ear. "Granger," His hot breath tickled her ear. "Where have you been?" Granger jerked back so fast, she knocked heads with him.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, stumbling out of her chair and into one of the library shelves.

"Jesus!" He rubbed his already bruising jaw. "Can't seem to," he cracked his jaw; "make enough marks on me, can you?" Hermione dropped her hand that was rubbing her head and frowned.

"Ha ha, very funny Malfoy." She reached over and began grabbing her things. "Just leave me alone?"

"Ooh I've heard this one before." He quickly reached over and put a hand on top of the last book she was about to grab and looked over at him.

"Give it to me," Draco picked it up and pressed it to his chest.

"Nah, I don't think I want to." He teased. What the fuck am I doing? He was taking this game of his to a whole new level, with the help of Granger of course.

"Come on," She reached out to him, but he swatted her hand away.

"Don't be so touchy, Granger." He winked. Hermione folded her arms and began to tap her foot impatiently. "That's very irritating." Draco complained.

"So are you!" She grabbed at the book in his arm again. "Now, give it here!" She tried to pull it out of his grasp. "I don't have time for these games-" Draco put a hand around her neck and pulled her face to his. Their lips smashed down on each other's in a forceful way and she began to squirm against him. Draco dropped the book to get a better hold on her, she fought against him to pull away but when she finally realized he was too strong for her, he could feel her calming against him and relax into the kiss. Their bodies were pressed up against each other and Draco could swear he could feel some heat radiating from them. He was initiating the kiss this time? What was wrong with him? "Draco," Hermione murmured into his mouth. "We… need…" Draco began to trail kisses down her neck and she threw her head back. "Stop," She breathed lightly and unconvincingly.

"Fine," Draco let her go and she quickly stepped back, looking astonished that he actually listened to her. He looked down at the dropped book on the ground, gave her one final look of annoyance, and turned to go and grab his stuff to leave.

Hermione stood there, shocked at what had happened. Her head began to hurt, was it from him? Or their heads knocking together a minute ago? Probably both,she sighed to herself and quickly gathered up the rest of her things, hesitating at the dropped book on the ground, she touched it and she could swear she could still feel the heat from his touch on it. She picked it up and pressed it to her chest. Then she looked around to make sure no one was watching her, and dropped it into her bag and left the library. Her brain still fogged up from moments ago, she stumbled into the Great Hall, and luckily he was not there.

This was getting out of control, the days following Monday, from their encounter in the library. Hermione had noticed the weird ticks whenever she came into his view or even just when she was in the same room as him. He would rub the back of his neck, crack his knuckles, bite his lower lip, or her favorite, run a hand threw his hair, making him look beaten and tired, in a very sexy way.

She knew she had her nervous ticks too, tapping her foot, biting her nails, she was sure though if she tried his- run a hand through her hair thing it would not look even a quarter as attractive as he made it. She was also beginning to feel sick. It was Thursday, meaning tomorrow was Friday. And they both knew that Friday's always seemed to go against them.

She had no idea what was going on between them. But she figured bedding your enemy would take some toll on the people involved. It was not like they could ignore it, it happened and they had to face the consequences.

In the library, when Draco had kissed her, first this time, she noticed, she really tried to pull away from him. He just had a hold on her and she knew she would not win, so she gave up, and thought about Ron and Lavender together, and the next thing she knew she was kissing him back, before he actually chose to listen to her for once and released her. She was thankful in a way that he did that, but also disappointed, which she shamed herself on. She should have been more than relieved to be out of his grip, but she felt more alone than anything else.

She just needed to feel that she was wanted. Even if it was by Draco Malfoy. Her enemy. Her secret romancer.

"Seriously though, it's not like I even asked him to do it!" Lavender gushed from the couch.

"He is so sweet!" Parvati held up a necklace that Ron had given to Lavender as a present. Hermione had caught a glance of it earlier, even though Lavender had shoved it in her face; she refused to look at it at that point. It was a silver heart that had a banner on it that said forever. Joke! Hermione scoffed from her seat in the common room. She wondered if Draco would ever buy a girl an item that labeled her his. She huffed in annoyance at herself; she should not be wondering things like that. This was Draco Malfoy after all. They were not a couple, they were not anything.

Lavender, regarding Hermione in her seat, thought that she was huffing at her. Lavender stood up and walked over to Hermione. She bent down and placed a hand on Hermione's knee, Hermione watched her closely. "I know you're still upset about Ron breaking up with you." She said, trying to look as sympathetic as she could, even though Hermione knew Lavender was rubbing it in her face. "But you will find a guy someday. There has to be someone who will want you!" Hermione stood up, knocking Lavender to the ground, and glared down at her.

"You have no idea." Was all she would let herself say before heading over to the picture frame. "Nice necklace, probably stole it from his mum." Hermione knew she was being cold, but saying that was the only way to stop her from punching Lavender in the face. Now that she has a record of physically abusing people, she needed to be careful.

"Huh!" She heard Lavender say unbelievably from her spot on the ground. Hermione left the common room and stomped down the moving staircases.

How dare she rub that in my face! Hermione clenched her fists and tried to control her breath. Her blood pressure rising with every step she took. All she wanted to do was take that necklace and stomp on it with every ounce of strength in her, and then toss the broken pieces at Ron.

Hermione needed to calm herself down. She needed to take some sleeping pills for later that night. Luckily she had brought some Muggle one's from home. Hopefully those would kick in and do her some good tonight. She hadn't gotten a regular good night sleep since the Forbidden Forest, minus her very uncomfortable and unfortunate surroundings when she woke up.

She made her way to the girl's bathroom, the one that Moaning Myrtle occupied. Maybe she could take out some stress there, and consult the ghost. Once she rounded the corner and into the bathroom, her breath stopped short, and she shivered as she came to a stop. Draco was bent over the sink, his hair pushed back, and he was washing his face. What was going on? She quickly and quietly stepped behind a wall and peeked over at him. What was he doing in here?

She watched as he shut off the water and had his eyes closed as his head lifted up, she could see him from the reflection in the mirror. She could also tell he looked like he was losing it. Hermione gulped, very much wanting to run out of there. She squinted at him, he looked afraid. She rarely ever saw Draco Malfoy afraid. Vulnerable. She took a step closer to him, still trying to stay out of his sight and held onto the corner of the wall, so she didn't fall over.

Hermione quieted her breathing, so she did not disturb him. She wanted to reach out and touch him but the fear of him yelling or slapping her, held her from such contact.

"Boo," Myrtle said into Hermione's ear and she stumbled out from behind the wall. Myrtle cackled and flew into one of the bathroom stalls. Hermione watched as Draco's eyes snapped open and he turned around to stare at her.

"Draco," She said calmly, trying to soothe him so he would not hurt her.

"Spying Granger?" And as short as she had seen it, he was back to his cocky mean self. Hermione frowned and cleared her throat,

"I was just coming in here when I saw you. I didn't want to disturb you so-"

"You thought you would watch me?" He smirked. Hermione let her eyes settle on his appearance. She eyed him and used that Gryffindor courage in her to say the next thing,

"Are you okay?" He seemed a bit taken aback, but he hid it well.

"Like you would care!" She shrugged,

"Maybe I do,"

"No I'm not okay," He scoffed, heading over to her. Hermione instinctively took a step back. "I slept with a," he quieted his voice, but it was harsh and stung through her, "Mudblood." Hermione stared at him and then yelled,

"I didn't ask to be one!" She could feel the tears building up in her eyes, and blurring her vision. "It wasn't my choice!" Draco frowned, this was a new one. The emotions from her encounter with Lavender were already built up inside of her and Draco was just adding on top of them, making them pour out. "Just like you didn't choose to be Pureblood!" She finally cried. "You- you just are!" She pushed on his chest. "So stop calling me something I didn't choose to become! Just stop!" She slapped his chest lightly. "Stop!"

"Stop!" Draco grabbed her hands and their fingers intertwined. "I get it, just stop." He said calmly. Hermione whimpered pathetically and looked up into his eyes. His face had relaxed and his eyes looked warm.

"Okay," She whispered. Draco's eyes traveled to their hands, like he hadn't even known they were locked together.

"Okay then," He dropped her hands and her fingers rolled back into her palms before she let them hang loose at her sides. "This is really fucked up, Granger." He sighed to her. "What happened and what's going on." Hermione nodded slowly, her eyes staring at a spot on the tile floor.

"I know," She said softly.

"We keep," he took in a long breath, "coming back." She met his eyes again.

"I blame detention," She threw her arms around his neck and their lips crashed together for the second time this week. She gave up trying to hold herself from him.

A/N- Thank you guys for your reviews, they are very sweet! They make me feel better about my writing, so I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story.

Keep reviewing or telling me your thoughts or asking questions!

Brittany