A/N: I can't quite remember when I last updated, so sorry if it's been a while :)

Hermione sat in her potions class, textbook opened on her desk as they waited for Slughorn to arrive. She wasn't really reading it, but she knew that if Harry and Ron thought that she was reading they would leave her alone. She wasn't in the mood to smile and nod whilst they rambled on and on about Quidditch and other things that she couldn't care less about. She was busy trying to figure things out in her head. It had been nearly a week since her encounter with Malfoy on the couch and since then she hadn't been able to stop thinking about the way he'd made her feel. Whenever she saw him she'd remember the feel of his lips around her areola and his fingers inside her. She'd get carried away and imagine what it would feel like if he replaced his fingers with his tongue or even that, often leading to her feeling extremely guilty as she felt the moisture in her knickers.

A big part of her wanted it to happen again, but she knew it was wrong. She'd felt guilty after he'd turned down sleeping with her because he'd been right, she should lose her virginity to someone that loved her, someone like Ron and she would. It was his birthday in two days and she had decided that she would finally do it then, like a gift to him. And yet she still couldn't stop herself imagining running her fingers through platinum blonde hair rather than fiery red. She was beginning to realise that Malfoy had been right about there being consequences of their arrangement, though they were not what she had thought. She hadn't expected to start lusting after Malfoy. But that was all it was, lust. She didn't love Malfoy, not like she loved Ron.

As she came to that realisation Slughorn finally strolled into the classroom and began explaining what it was they were to be brewing. Unfortunately, Hermione was paired with Malfoy. This was not particularly unusual. Ever since they had both been named heads they were often paired together in class, as though they were used as some kind of an example. She gave a quick smile to Harry and Ron before heading over to Malfoy.

'Hey there Granger.' He said without looking up from his textbook as he read what they were going to need.

'Hey.' She said quietly. He lifted his head to meet her eyes and she immediately began pushing away the mental images that came whenever she looked at him. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile as he looked at her. 'You start setting up and I'll get the ingredients.' He said and she nodded, shivering slightly as she brushed her shoulder as he moved past her.

They were a good team when they worked together, they both knew what they were doing and got it done without having to stop and answer questions or bother the other about what they were supposed to be doing. As Malfoy prepared the ingredients Hermione tried not to stare at his hands but could not help herself. He worked with a grace that made it clear that he knew what he was doing. Much like the other night Hermione thought to herself and couldn't fight the blush that crept up her cheeks as she remembered the way that she had sucked on those very same fingers. She saw him smirk out of the corner of her eye and she knew she'd been busted as he dumped the ingredients into the cauldron and waved his hand in her face.

'Don't tell me you miss my fingers Granger.' He chuckled as her blush deepened.

She swatted his hand away from her face and glared at him. 'Shut up Malfoy.'

'Ah, you don't deny it.' He continued to laugh.

'Not now Malfoy, anyone could hear.' The last thing she needed was someone to overhear their conversation and put the pieces together, especially someone like Harry or Ron who were only two tables away.

Malfoy leaned uncomfortably close to her, his lips so close to her she could feel his hot breath on her skin. She resisted the urge to lean into him. 'Can they? Tell me the truth Granger, do you miss me touching you? Did you like the way my fingers felt in your cunt?' She gasped slightly at his words and they quickly moved away from each other as the sound caught the attention of Seamus and Dean at the next table. They looked at Hermione quizzically and she gave them a reassuring smile. She relaxed as they shrugged and went back to their potion.

She whirled on Malfoy, 'Knock it off!' she spat at him.

He raised his hands up in surrender, 'I was just messing with you, calm down.' He smirked.

She turned her attention back to their potion but he was still standing all too close to her. 'What?' she said angrily, stirring the potion with more aggression than was needed.

'How's Ron?' The question was innocent but the implication was obvious.

'Can we please talk about this later?' She ground out through gritted teeth.

'That bad huh?' The glare she gave him them seemed to convince him that now was not the time and he stepped back from her and went back to only focusing on the task at hand.

The rest of the lesson went by rather quickly after that. They completed their potion without a hiccup and soon Harry, Ron and Hermione were heading back to the Gryffindor tower to relax before dinner. As soon as they got there Hermione sat down and found a fresh piece of parchment, beginning a paper they had been given that day for transfiguration.

'Are you really starting that already Mione?' Ron groaned. Harry just laughed, 'Mate, I know she's your girlfriend but sometimes you act like you don't know her at all.' Even Hermione chuckled at that.

After a while of Hermione doing her homework and the boys playing wizard chess Harry finally spoke. 'Malfoy isn't giving you any trouble is he Mione?'

She snapped her head up to look at him, simultaneously knocking over her ink pot spilling black ink all over the dull red carpet. 'Crap!' She exclaimed, picking up the pot and using a quick cleaning spell before the mess got too large.

She tried to go back to her work hoping he had forgotten his question but was interrupted by an impatient 'Well?' from Harry.

She looked up at him again, this time without spilling any ink. She opted to play dumb, 'Well what Harry?'

'Is Malfoy giving you trouble?'

'Why would you say that?' She carried on writing, attempting to seem disinterested.

'I dunno, he just looked like he was giving you a hard time in potions is all.' He said looking at her intently.

'Oh that. No, he was just messing around. It was fine, nothing I couldn't handle.' She gave him a smile. 'I wish you guys would give it a rest. He's not so bad anymore; he hasn't once called me mudblood this entire year. Maybe you two should try putting aside some of you old hatred and at least be civil with him.'

Ron looked outraged. 'Are you really defending him right now? What are you guys, best buds or something?'

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. 'I suppose that yes, I am defending him but no we're not' she curled her fingers into quotation marks, 'best buds,' she spoke mockingly. 'But you both have to understand that I live with him, I think I might know him a bit better than you two. Honestly, if he were to have changed at all, I think we can agree that I'd be the first to not only notice but accept it.' They were both looking at her with their mouths hanging slightly open. She smiled softly at them. 'I'm just asking that you give him a chance.'

Ron scoffed but Harry's face softened. 'You've always been so kind hearted.' He gave her a warm smile, 'But he hasn't given us any indication that he's changed, he still treats us like dirt. If he acted as though he were able to look past prejudice for us, we'd do it for him.'

'Speak for yourself.' Ron muttered and they all went back to what they were doing, both Hermione and Harry realising it was a pointless endeavor to even try to get Ron to look at Malfoy any other way.

Hours later Harry, Ron and Hermione were heading back from dinner. Before Hermione left them to go to her own dorm she grabbed Ron's forearm, stopping him. She nodded at Harry, letting him know she wanted a minute alone with her boyfriend. He smiled knowingly and after a quick 'catch ya later' to her and Ron he continued on to the Gryffindor tower leaving the couple alone.

'What's up Mione.' He looked at her affectionately, lightly stroking a finger across her cheek.

'I wanted to talk to you about your birthday.' She tried to sound seductive but she didn't think it was really working. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. 'I thought that maybe you might want to… umm… spend the night with me.' She looked him dead in the eyes.

'Uh yeah, I suppose so, I mean Harry said he was going to organise something that night in the Gryffindor tower. Maybe tomorrow night?' He said as though he were completely unaware of her meaning.

She chuckled, placing her hands on the sides of his face, 'Ron, I just asked you if you want to spend the night with me and you're practically checking your diary to see if you can pencil me in.' she laughed.

He looked confused for a minute before realisation seemed to dawn on him. 'Oh! You mean…' She nodded and smiled as she watched the glee that graced his features. 'Forget what I said, I'll spend the night with you any damn time you want.' She laughed as he wound his arms around her waist.

'Tomorrow night is brilliant.' She smiled as he brought his lips to hers. For a few minutes they just stood in the corridor, arms wrapped around each other. They eventually broke away, both breathing heavily. They disentangled themselves from each other knowing they couldn't stand there all night.

'I love you Mione.' Ron said, pressing a light kiss to her cheek before turning to leave.

She smiled to herself as she headed back to her dorm. When she entered the room, she found Malfoy spread out on the couch, a book propped up on his chest. She walked around the couch and knelt down on the floor next to him. She wanted to talk to him. She was nervous, although it was only a day's difference, she hadn't anticipated finally sharing herself with Ron the very next day rather than two days' time. Finally having it planned made it all the more real to her. She thought about how strange it was that less than a week ago she'd been more than ready to give her virginity up to Malfoy on this very couch and now she was nervous about doing it with her actual boyfriend the next day. She believed that Malfoy would know just what to say.

'What's up Granger?' he dropped his book to his chest and turned his head to look at her.

She didn't look at him at first, instead trying to find the right words. He noticed her hesitation and sat up. He tugged on her arms lightly, encouraging her to join him on the couch.

'I'm going to have sex with Ron tomorrow night.' She finally said it. She looked up at him to find his face pulled into an expression that was part amusement and part something else that she couldn't quite place.

'That's a good thing right?' He smiled at her. Her heart sank slightly for no apparent reason. She supposed that there was a small part of her that was disappointed that he seemed so happy that she was about to sleep with someone else, however ridiculous that was. She knew that he was never going to sleep with her and that it wasn't like that between them. She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts and let the more reasonable side of her brain take over.

'Yeah, I suppose.'

'You suppose' he repeated and then lifted her chin so she was forced to meet his eyes. 'It is a good thing Granger. You love him and he loves you. You have nothing to be nervous about. It'll be brilliant. And you know what? Even if it isn't it doesn't matter. Nobody's first time is how they expect it to be but that's the beauty of a first time. You get all that awkwardness out of the way so that all the next times are infinitely better. You'll be great Granger, don't worry about a thing.'

Hermione didn't know what to say. He had said it all with such confidence that it seemed to spread into her. She was right, he did know just what to say.

'Thank you.' Was all she could respond with. He nodded and went straight back to reading as she pulled out the essay she had begun earlier and slipped back down to the floor and starting working on it on the coffee table. However, she couldn't stop thinking about the next night. Malfoy seemed to notice.

'You're still worried aren't you?'

She looked up at him from her work. She nodded before looking down.

'What is it in particular that you're worried about?' He asked seeming genuinely concerned.

She felt it was best to be honest. When it came to this stuff over the past week he hadn't been anything but honest with her. 'I don't know what to expect and that makes me nervous.'

He moved off the couch and sat down next to her. 'You mentioned that he'd done it before, is that right?'

She nodded. 'Well in that case, you can relax a bit because he'll know what he's doing.' He nudged her shoulder gently.

'But what do I do?' She bit her lip and she saw a glint of something pass over his eyes briefly.

'If he does it right then he should do something similar to what I did to you the other day to get you ready and then you'll do it. It will come naturally to you Granger, I promise.' She bushed at the memory but she did feel slightly more comfortable with his reassurance.

'Will it hurt?' She asked him. He took one of her hands in his and she appraised their entwined fingers with both relief and apprehension. His sudden comforting gesture made her think the answer to her question would not be pleasant.

'Maybe.' He looked in her eyes and she saw in them that underneath his intense, don't give a shit about anyone exterior, he did actually care. They was a softness in the way that he looked at her that told her that he wasn't taking pleasure in her discomfort but rather he was seeking ways to alleviate it. 'Probably, a bit. If he treats you right, it should be nearly painless. Well, this is what I've been told of course, my own first-hand experience would do you no good.' He smiled and she laughed. In this moment, she was so thankful that they were no longer enemies. She knew now that what she had undertaken with Malfoy was really quite morally wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. That had sparked something between them that Hermione was glad that she had.

She felt much better but there was something that was still nagging at her. She took a deep breath, 'What if he wants me to do… you know… stuff, like to him?'

'Like head?' He said it flatly, as if it were something that was perfectly normal in conversation.

'Yeah.' She averted her eyes from his.

'It's your first time, he wouldn't make you do that. That's something that you can explore later.'

'But what if he wants it?'

'Granger, you don't do anything that you don't want to ok? I don't care if you love him, if there's something you're not ready for then you tell him. He won't make you do anything you don't want, I'm sure. And if he does, I'll kill him.' She looked up at him expecting to see the joke in his eyes but there was no amusement in his face. He was serious. Even though she knew Ron would never hurt her, the thought of Malfoy looking so protective somehow gave her some peace of mind.

He softly traced comforting circles on the back of her hand before his tone turned light again, 'You're more than welcome to practice on me if you'd like.' He winked at her and she rolled her eyes, trying to hide the fact that his suggestion made her stomach start up some acrobatics.

'What? No? Fine, your loss.' He took his hand back from hers and playfully examined his nails in mock disinterest to her rejection.

'Yes because me not sucking your cock is my loss.' She said sarcastically, holding her hand to her heart as if she were actually pained by this and quietly trying not to think about what it would be like to actually do it. She couldn't risk another physical encounter with Malfoy. He had already had too much of an effect on her.

'Such vulgarity Granger!'

She laughed. 'I'm just full of surprises.' She shot back.

'Yes I'm sure you are.' His tone was no longer playful and Hermione tried to ignore the lust in his voice as she felt heat rush to her own core.

She began packing up her things. 'I'm heading to bed, I'll see you tomorrow.' She moved quickly without waiting for a response.

Thanks for reading!

I don't really like this chapter. It felt like a really lame filler chapter that had to be there just so I could get to the good bit. Sorry if its crap :P