When Hermione awoke the next morning, she was surprised to feel another body in her bed. Without opening her eyes, she thought back to last night, and suddenly remembered Draco Malfoy was behind her. She rolled over and laid her head on his shoulder, draping her arm across his chest. As she placed a kiss on his cheek, he smiled in his sleep and rolled toward her, wrapping his arms around her body. Laughing slightly, Hermione nuzzled down into his embrace, feeling safer than she had in a long while. She tried to think back to the last time she felt this way. Although she couldn't conjure a specific memory, she was sure it was before she had sent her parents to Australia.

"I love you," she whispered to the still asleep Draco, and lay there for a few more minutes. When her stomach grumbled, she tried to extricate herself from his grip without waking him, and was soon in the kitchen getting ingredients together for pancakes.

Draco woke to the smell and sizzle of bacon. Still not completely conscious, he rolled in the bed a little, searching for Hermione. After realizing she was not there, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Nothing had changed since last night, he noted, except there was a bag on the chair against the wall. With curiosity, he rose and looked inside it. It was filled with men's clothes. Draco couldn't help but sigh. Only Granger would do something like this after only one night.

He pulled out a pair of white jeans and a navy tea shirt. They smelled clean, but he was still dubious as to their origin. Once he was dressed, Draco walked back down the hall, letting his nose guide him to the source of the delicious smell. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Hermione standing in front of the stove with her back to him, frying bacon. On the counter next to her was a large stack of pancakes.

She was dressed in the same nightgown she had put on last night, except she had a short robe of the same colour green over the top. Draco walked quietly up behind her and took a pancake off the plate. Leaning against the counter next to her, he peered over her shoulder, but wasn't looking at the stove; his eyes sought other treasures. He was pleased to note that she wasn't wearing a bra this morning.

Hearing his intake of breath, Hermione looked up and noticed Draco had woken. Smiling, she teased him. "I guess there's no point in my getting plates then," she said, gesturing to the uneaten pancake in his hand.

Pulling himself out of his state of awe, Draco replied, "I don't see the point in using something else when hands can do the job just fine."

"Well, then. We might have to explore the double meaning I sense in there later." The laugh in her voice made Draco realize what he had just said, and he laughed too.

Grabbing plates and forks, Hermione set the table and Draco brought over the food. When they were both seated, they began to eat. Draco liked sitting across from Hermione. It allowed him more time to eye her gorgeous figure and face. He noticed small things he hadn't seen last night: the black hidden in her curly brown hair, the pink tinge to the skin all over her body, the excitement in her eyes as she talked about her plans for the day.

"And I thought maybe we could go to the park later, if you aren't doing anything, but I have to be back here by 4:30 so I can get ready for my classes."

"More dancing?" Draco asked, hoping he would be allowed to observe.

She laughed. "No, I'm attending a muggle night school to earn my college degree. Just in case I want to go into a muggle job at some point in my life."

"Ever the bookworm," he muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" She replied, laughing. "Knowledge is power, thank you very much. And I would like to see you survive a class at my school."

Draco sneered and took a bite. The two fell into a comfortable silence when Hermione pulled out a thick text book that read Thomas' Calculus and flipped to a page filled with very complicated looking images. He watched her focus intensify, her eyes stare determinately at the page until the world around her seemed to have disappeared.

Finished eating, Draco grabbed both his and Hermione's dishes, scourgified them, and then placed them in the cabinet she had grabbed them out of earlier. She looked up gratefully at him before turning the page. "Err, Hermione," he cleared his throat and began again. "Hermione, what are we doing?"

"Hmm?" She asked, glancing up again, then, noticing his dark expression, closed the book and turned in her chair to face him.

"What is this? What is… us? Are we a couple? Are we just friends with benefits?"

Hermione bit her lip. "I'm not sure. I think that we could definitely be more than friends with benefits, but I guess I don't know where you stand," she said matter-of-factly.

Draco's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I thought I made that quite clear last night."

Her head tilted in confusion.

"Hermione, I have loved you since our early years at Hogwarts."

"Oh…" she breathed. Her eyes seemed to look through him, rather than at him, and her head tilted to the side. "Well… I suppose," she said with a smile, "that that changes things." She jumped off her chair and into his lap, arms wrapped around his neck. "What are we doing in here then?" she asked slyly, before standing and pulling his hand in the direction of the bedroom.