AN1: Ohmygosh! So I wrote this from about 11:00pm to maybe 12:30am last night. And after I finished it, I edited it until 1:30am. Have a life? Who, me? Yeah, right!

Disclaimer: I own the bags that are under my eyes, but I sure as hell don't own HP.

Dedicated to: ERICA!!! My best friend! Partner in fanfic! Partner in hilarious IM conversations and inside jokes! La clase de espanol tres buddy! Bridesmaid for my eventual wedding, if not maid-of-honor! (Hopefully not like Bride Wars! Haha.) Love you!

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They didn't know when it started, and they didn't know how it started. It just did. And both of them wouldn't change it for anything. The two of them agree that it was second year after Hermione was petrified by the basilisk. That was the start. It was just the tip of the iceberg.

Second year Draco Malfoy didn't actually want Hermione to be the next one to die after fifty years. He may have said that, and that's what his friends thought should be her fate due to her status, but he didn't think that at all. If she did happen to...not survive...then who would he have to argue with, to compete with? Somehow it became a bit of a not-so-friendly competition to try to beat her scholastically.

Once she was petrified, he was scared out of his mind. Every night, past curfew, he'd creep into the hospital wing and sit by her bedside just wishing that she would wake up. The day it was announced that the Mandrake Restorative Draught was ready, he was very happy. Somehow, school wasn't the same without Hermione.

FLASHBACK:

Madame Pomfrey was quite surprised when a little Slytherin boy, son of the most elitist and bigoted wizard in Britain, was in the hospital wing clutching the twelve year old muggle born, Hermione Granger's hand. She didn't think it would be prudent of her to say anything, so she didn't. Instead she went about her work preparing the potion to be administered.

Smiling slightly to herself, she tapped young Draco on the shoulder. "Would you like to give her the potion?" He nodded and she handed him the vial. Gently, and with more finesse she ever thought could come from a mere second year, he sat Hermione upright against the bed frame. He pushed her bangs out of her face and looked slightly apprehensive. Draco glanced behind him at Madame Pomfrey and she bustled away, pretending to be busy with something else, but all the while watching him from the corner of her eyes.

He put his pale hand on her mouth and carefully pried her lips open. His face turned a slight shade of pink. He placed the vial to her lips and poured it into her mouth. Once the vial was empty, he sat there and waited anxiously. The only sign of nervousness he gave off was the fact that he was wringing his hands together furiously.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open and on instinct, Draco covered her hand with his. Her lips formed and 'O' of surprise and she looked down at the contact between them. Her first coherent thought was along the lines of: what the heck is going on!?

Sensing her confusion, Draco smiled softly at the just-awakening female. "Welcome back, Hermione."

END FLASHBACK.

Since that fateful day, the two most unlikely students had warmed up to each other. It was gradual, but by about fourth year, they were such great friends that it was becoming hard to keep it a secret. Knowing that they were two people who had been brought up completely different and in the two houses with the most enmity between them only strengthened their resolve to stay friends. And stay friends they did. But eventually, it wasn't just friends that the two wanted to be.

Miss Hermione Granger was afraid. At the start of fifth year, she got the feeling that Draco liked her, possibly a bit more than as a friend and she felt that she liked him that way too. Hermione didn't want to admit it to herself and she especially didn't want to get her hopes up if this wasn't actually true. So instead of dwelling on it, she pushed it to the back of her mind and tried to forget. That worked...if only for awhile.

Mister Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, had no suspicion that she liked him. The only thing he was aware of was his feelings for her. And those he didn't want to admit. He loved the friendship that they had and the absolute last thing he wanted to do was to ruin it. They had a bond. They had started to tell each other everything, everything of course except for how they both actually thought of the other, deep down.

Miss Ginny Weasley, the only person who actually knew what was going on. She knew about their friendship and Draco knew that Ginny knew. He didn't have a problem with it. In fact, she had hung out with them a couple of times. And Ginny, well, she was more perceptive than Hermione and probably even Draco gave her credit for. Ginny saw it coming before probably either of them did. She knew that they would eventually—if they hadn't already—start to turn their friendship into something more.

So that fateful night, when Draco told Hermione, via messaging parchment, that he liked her, she almost immediately told Ginny. Of course Ginny was thrilled for her best friend, but at the same time she was absolutely exasperated with Hermione. She didn't seem to understand. The words she was saying to Ginny and what she was replying to Draco's messages were almost totally contradicting. Hermione's normally calm voice was seriously an octave higher and yet she was still trying to get Ginny to believe that she didn't like Draco back. Yeah, right.

The gist of the conversation between Draco and Hermione that night: Draco seemed off. Hermione wanted to know why. Draco didn't want to tell her because he said that he didn't want to 'ruin their friendship.' (By then it was obvious to Ginny was going on. Hermione had a slight feeling, but wasn't positive.) Hermione insisted on knowing what was bothering him. Draco admitted to liking her for awhile now. Hermione admitted to liking him back. (At this point, Ginny wanted to scream in utter excitement but decided that it would be wiser not to.) Draco asked 'Really?' Hermione said something confirming that. He wanted to know how long she knew. She said "A bit ago." (Even though she confessed to Ginny that it just hit her after he confessed to her.) They said some other things, Ginny couldn't really remember. And then, of all the stupid things, Hermione asked if he would rather this hadn't happened. (Ginny was ready to throttle her at this point!) Thankfully, he said that he wouldn't rather that. And now, they weren't sure what to do. Ginny was all for the relationship but knew that Ron especially would take it terribly, considering that he was always angry at Draco. And they all also knew that Draco's friends wouldn't be too thrilled at all. So at this point, all of them, including Ginny, were pretty much thinking: 'Now what?'

After almost an hour of talking to Ginny, Hermione claimed she needed sleep. Since Umbridge had the school on a tight leash, no one was permitted to be in any place other than their own dormitory past 11pm. Meaning that Ginny couldn't stay and talk with Hermione about what she and Draco should do. They still hadn't figured that out. With a disappointed sigh, Ginny left and told Hermione to keep her updated...or else.

Hermione was ready to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come to her at all. She tossed and turned restlessly. She kept imagining Draco. Not that it wasn't pleasant or anything, but it was distracting. She was also thinking about everyone's reactions and thinking about trying to keep their relationship under wraps as they did with their friendship. Somehow, even with her muddled thoughts, Hermione fell asleep and dreamed peacefully of her and Draco. There were no nightmares tonight.

The next morning Hermione woke up and saw Ginny right up close to her face. "GET UP! NOW!" Hermione jumped back in surprise.

"What do you think you're playing at?! Were you trying to give me a heart attack? Good gracious, Ginny. Please."

Ginny just rolled her eyes. "Get up you lazy Gryffindor! If you won't get up, then at least tell me what you're going to do!"

"I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know. I have no idea."

"What do you think you should do?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking you." Hermione screeched defensively.

"Sheesh, don't get your knickers in a twist."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry; I don't mean to be rude. I'm—" Ginny clamped a hand over Hermione's mouth and growled menacingly.

"If you don't stop apologizing, I will not hesitate to throw you off the Astronomy Tower." Hermione nodded. "You know what you need?"

"Hmm?"

"I think that you need to get some quiet time to think."

Hermione sighed in relief, wrongly thinking that that meant Ginny was leaving her and allowing her to go back to sleep.

"So, get up, get dressed, and go to the library!"

"Why can't I have my quiet thinking time here?"

"Because I'm in here, I won't let you get your thinking time; you know that! I'll just fill your mind with pointless chatter." She pushed the older Gryffindor off the bed. "Now go!"

Mumbling to herself, Hermione went through the motions of getting ready. Once she was ready, Hermione found herself being pushed out the door by Ginny.

"Bye! I'm going to redecorate your room!"

"What?!"

"You'll see, now go!"

Hermione got halfway to the library and stopped. I don't want to go to the library. I'll take Ginny's advice about quite time to think, but I'm not going to the library. I know of a better place.

Changing her direction, Hermione went up to the seventh floor corridor and walked back and forth past a particular tapestry thinking: I need a quiet place to think.

Just as she knew it would, a door appeared and she hesitantly walked in, not sure of what she would find. A rueful smile grew on her face. It was indeed a quiet place to think. It was their spot; the spot that Draco and Hermione met every so often to hang out without the prying eyes of anyone else watching. The couch was there, the fire, the bookshelf and of course the beanbag chairs. Those were her favorite. There was a green one and a blue one. But the blue one...was occupied.

She gasped and the person sitting there, not surprisingly it was Draco, turned around. It was like he read her mind. He knew her so well at this point, that she wouldn't have been surprised if he had. He grinned at the sight of her.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." She said.

With an answering grin, but feeling slightly awkward, she sat next to him in her green beanbag chair.

His grin dimmed a little. "Are you feeling okay?"

She marveled at how he picked up so easily on her emotions. Hermione had never been able to lie to him before, and it always stood true. She shook her head.

His grin dimmed even more. "Is it because of last night?"

She nodded and Draco looked uncomfortable.

"Well, if you want to forget this ever happened and just go back to being friends, that's fine with me."

For the first time since she had seen Draco today, Hermione spoke. "No! I mean...well I don't know what I mean. It's just..." She trailed off and couldn't seem to look Draco in the eyes.

"Well I know that I really like you. Do you still like me?" He said.

"Of course. It's just...I don't know where we should go from here."

Silence fell over the two of them as they thought of what they could do.

"I think," Draco started, "that we should just go for it. We both like each other, and I think that's all that matters right now. I'm not going to lose you. To hell with everybody else! If I'm with you, I think I can manage."

"But what if something happens and we split apart?"

He thought about that for a moment. "We have to trust that our friendship is strong enough to handle...well, anything."

Tears brimmed behind Hermione's eyes. Try as she did to keep them under control, one fell down her cheek.

"Please, don't cry." He brushed the tear away and smiled crookedly at her. He covered her hand with his, so similar to what he did in second year when she was just waking up from being petrified. This gesture meant so much more now than it did then.

Draco looked at her firmly, his eyes locking with hers. His eyes were soft and full of feeling, and they said everything Hermione needed to know. The look in his eyes erased all of her doubts. Slowly, they both leaned in and briefly touched their lips together. It was quick and feather-light and yet it was so very intoxicating for them both.

Again, their lips made contact and this time, it lasted. They stayed like that easily getting used to the feel and taste of the other's lips. It felt like an hour, but it was really just seconds before they pulled apart again. Hesitantly, Draco put his arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her onto his beanbag leaving no space between them. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, letting his warmth seep down into her heart.

For now, this would do. Everyone else could wait.

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AN2: AWWWWW! Dang. What a cute ending...if I do say so myself. Please review! Hm, this was slightly weird for me to write (especially the end) because it has sort of a double meaning. Argh, but it's so freaking cute!!!

Hey! You! Yes, you! Go read AND REVIEW Singing and Potions by Ducky1414. It's absolutely fantastic and it is totally not getting the credit that it deserves!! I know that many of you are reading this, for this story is on many alert lists. So if you won't review this chapter of BL then at least read and review this Dramione one-shot by Ducky1414. It's amazing!

lovelove, Amanda

*pins button on letterman jacket that reads: "I support E/G!"*