Disclaimer: There is not one thing I own except my plot, the random book titles, and the quill Draco used to write down his thoughts. Other than that? I don't own one damned thing, because the wonderful J.K. Rowling does. Enjoy!

Ch. 10

When I woke up, my head hurt so bad I almost threw up. Everything felt fuzzy, and I couldn't quite figure what was going on, or where I was either. My eyes were still blurry for a moment when I opened, but when they had nearly cleared, I could make out a figure just above my bed. It looked like a pale face….dark robes…..and pale blond hair. I nearly jerked in my bed when I realized that Malfoy's body was so close to mine, but I felt my spine lock, and I couldn't move. I groaned.

"Oh hello," he quipped, obviously quite amused. "It's about time you came to."

Sitting right by my bed on a stool, was Draco himself. He had been playing with the potion bottles on my bedside as he spoke, his light fingers brushing over them, one eyebrow raised. I struggled to sit up in my bed, my back aching painfully as I did. Of course, Malfoy had taken me to hospital wing after I had fallen from the tree. I felt guilty as I remembered seeing the looks on Ron and Harry's faces when we had passed them.

Was I their enemy now?

I still couldn't comprehend how I had fallen asleep. In such pain, I wouldn't have been able to.

Had I fainted?

Not knowing what to say to Draco, whether to stay quiet or thank him, I bit my lip and played with the ends of my blanket.

"Madam Pomfrey had to give you a sleeping drought to check for broken bones", he said, almost guiltily. "You would've screamed too much if she had done it while you were awake." I then realized that one of the potions on the table was a bottle of Skele-Gro.

"I have broken bones?" I asked worriedly, looking at him for once. His icy grey-blue eyes met mine.

"None that she could find…but I told her to give it to you anyways…..just in case."

I felt a blush coming on, at the fact that he had gone to the extra precautions to make sure I wasn't hurt. I shook it out my head.

'Probably so Dumbledore wouldn't give him grief, the twat. '

"Last time I checked, patients without broken bones shouldn't be taking a potion for them. What if I sprout an extra bone in my arm or leg? What are you going to do then Malfoy?" I scolded. If I hadn't been wrong, there was an ounce of playfulness in my words that I couldn't seem to remove. I frowned at myself.

He laughed slightly, but it was more like a dry smile. He didn't respond to my comment, either. There was an even amount of silence between us, before I decided to speak up.

"Were you…uh….um…were you…here….with me…the whole time?" he looked up at this, and it took all that was in me not to look away again.

He did not make me nervous…..at all.

"Well I brought you here and got Madam Pomfrey to fix you up, but then once you were asleep I had to go excuse the both of us to Dumbledore and McGonagall…they weren't upset really, just concerned. I had to persuade them to change the Head meeting to another day, since it's obvious you wouldn't have been able to attend, and they can't have had a meeting with only one Head representative- but other than that, I've been here the whole time. You didn't think I'd leave you alone did you?"

He went through all that trouble? I had never expected that of him, especially if it involved me.

"Thank you", I murmured shyly. Okay, so what if he was a little intimidating? Just a little! But then I remembered what he had actually done. I went from shy to incredulous in half a second.

"You what? You rescheduled our entire meeting? Do you realize what this means? Now our whole year of meetings has to be pushed by-"

Oh will you just relax for a minute Granger?" he replied looking at me distastefully as I shrilled. Who knew you could still be this insufferable after falling out of a tree, for Christ-sake."

I glared at him. "Excuse me, but last time I checked, you're the reason why I'm in here now. So I'd shut it, if I were you."

I saw a glint of smirk cross his features. "Blame me all you want. But in the end, we all know it was you who fell trying to spy on me, and ended up looking like you'd gotten torn up by the whomping willow afterwards." He smiled victoriously as I seethed.

"In no possible way, was I following, stalking, or spying on you Malfoy. The fact that you would even insinuate that would I waste my perfectly good day by trailing after you on school grounds is ridiculous.-"

He leaned closer, staring at me intently, a trace of a smile on his face.

"Why would you even try and make it sound like I would want to follow you? You can be really daft sometimes! Had it ever occurred to you that I had wanted nothing more than to sit in a peaceful tree reading a few books? No, I'm sure it hadn't! All you care about is yourself! You're nothing but a stupid, frivolous, smug, domineering twat!-"

He leaned even closer a bemused smile branded on his face. Was he trying to egg me on? Sure. Taunt the girl that fell out of a tree on your account, why don't you?

"-And another thing! I bet you never even took the time to realize that I had been at that tree first! It was my tree, and just like everything else, here you come along to steal it. We wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't been a greedy fishmonger and decided to take what wasn't yours! Why can't you just learn to have your own things? You can't even do that, let alone leave someone in peace!"

He was even closer now, and I hadn't even been paying attention to the fact. I was now yelling in his face.

"I really hope you know how annoying you are, and how insufferable you are, because-"

He was so close I could count his eyelashes.

"Draco Malfoy, you are definitely one of the most infuriating people I've ever met, and if you think that you can just-"

"Shhhhhhh." He murmured, stopping me in my tracks. I took a moment to catch my breath.

And not a moment later, his lips were on mine.

My eyes widened as his lips began to move softly against mine. I felt a tingle in my spine and a tug on my waist.

And then I was kissing him back.

Somewhere between the lines of saying no and giving in, my body had given in on its own accord. It took me a while to realize it, but for some reason, it seemed as if I had wanted this for a very long time. Finally deciding, the conscience decided that I should kiss him back. I didn't know where it came from. Somewhere inside of me, I had willed myself to relax, and actually enjoy the kiss. My eyes fluttered closed after a few seconds, and my fingers had magically found themselves entwined in his soft, silky hair. He pulled me closer to him, one hand at the nape of my neck, the other at the curve of my waist. His lips coaxed mine, and I found myself sighing.

He groaned at this, urgently slipping his tongue into my mouth, suddenly I was returning even more eagerly than before, even overpowering him as I grabbed his hair, whimpering impatiently, biting down on his bottom lip, hard. I felt him smile into the kiss, and I struggled to breathe as my chest was attacked by a warm feeling that spread down to my core. Then, we were fighting for dominance, Draco sometimes letting me take the lead, other times surprisingly attacking me aggressively, which believe me, I quite enjoyed. How long had it been? Seconds, minutes, hours? I couldn't tell, and frankly I didn't care. There was something wrong, I knew it, felt it, but just as equally, I felt something right. As quickly it had come, it's suddenly, and surprisingly came to a stop. Draco's lips became still and frozen against mine, and his hands suddenly slacked. I felt something disintegrate within me. He pulled away, letting my arms fall from his shoulders and stepped back.

Had I done something wrong?

Then I looked in his eyes, his sad, wistful, almost mourning eyes. He stared at me, shocked, breathing harshly.

"I… - I'm sorry." He opened his mouth to say something else, but instead, darted his gaze away from me, and walked, almost ran, out of the Hospital Wing, leaving an echo that not only blared my ears, but made me feel strangely detached. I pressed my fingers to my lips, not really knowing how or what to feel. Had that really happened? Was it a dream? I hoped so, because at least in dreams, you could cry, but not really feel it. It reality, however, it seemed quite the opposite.

vvvvvvv

I pulled off my robes, and pulled at my shirt, the buttons scattering over the floor. How could I? How could I have done that? I was shocked-no worse. I was petrified by what I had done. It wasn't the kissing, it involved it yes, but the most alarming fact in my opinion, was that I hadn't been able to control my actions. At all. I had acted on nothing but impulse, as if some unknown spirit had been telling me to do it. It was wrong, and stupid. She was right, I laughed grimly to myself.

I replayed the image I kept in my head, the one where her golden brown curls were tousled and her cheeks tinged with red as she yelled at me. Then I thought of when she said my name, softly, almost as if it were sacred. I really should've taken more gratitude in the moments where she called me Draco. I regretted these as soon as I had pictured them.

She was right. I was selfish, stupid, and insufferable. I had kissed her, taken advantage of her against her own will. She hadn't really wanted to kiss me, she only thought she had. I was a monster. I slumped against the wall of my bathroom, with a destroyed shirt and a cold feeling in my stomach. How could I have done that, to her of all people? Was I mental? Surely I was. I wished I could've taken it all back. She probably would never speak to me again, then somehow Potter and Weasley would find out, and they'd hex me into the next century. Not that I didn't deserve it though. I halfway ignored the feeling of jealousy that hit me, imagining those two comforting her. It was supposed to be me-

Wait.

There it was again. There was that stupid feeling I got when I thought of her and I together. I still couldn't place it. Somehow, I didn't want to. That was it, I promised myself. This time, I really wouldn't think, speak, or look at Granger. I couldn't. I wouldn't. End of story. I just had to ignore her, and all of this-this stuff, would go away. I could have my life back. Once again, I ignored another thought.

'What would life be like without her?'

vvvvvvv

Hey guys! What did you guys think? I hope you guys enjoyed it! I told you Dramione would progress! We'll see how it goes! BTW! Would you guys like the next chapter written in Draco's POV or Hermione's because I can't decide at the moment! Please send in your vote! Love you all! Please send in your vote, because remember, this story is for you! Reviews anyone? Please and thank you! :D