Only In Dreams

Stretching her cramped back in the small chair, Hermione dangled her legs over the arm and opened her eyes slowly. Bright sunlight greeted her, and she craned her neck to look at the clock on the wall. Realizing she was late for class, she jumped out of the chair, only to fall over.
"Ow, my head," she said, picking herself up off the floor. Dizziness set in as she slowly made her way up the stairs to her room. Letting herself, in she soon saw that all her roommates were still sleeping. Throwing a glance at the calendar hung on the wall near her own bed, she saw it was Saturday. Cursing herself silently, she turned her sheets down and crawled into her comfy bed for a few more hours rest. Just as she closed her eyes, something jumped onto the bed and padded it's way from her footboard to her face.
"Hello Crookshanks," she whispered without opening her eyes. She reached out blindly and pet her cat as he purred up a storm. She continued to pet him, wishing for sleep to come again. As her hand began to fall asleep though, someone else grabbed it and held it close to them. Scared, she thought it best to not open her eyes right away.
"Um, hello?" she said in a raspy voice, thick with sleep.
"Hi," a voice replied smoothly. Cautiously, she began to open her eyes. As black became fuzzy shapes, Hermione thought she was looking at Seamus. But as she slowly opened her eyes some more, the fuzzy shapes turned into solid objects and she was soon staring into the liquid mercury eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"How... how did you get in here? How did you get the password?" she asked him, pushing herself up into a sitting position.
"Shhh," he told her, pressing one of his fingers to her mouth. When he was convinced she wasn't going to speak, he pulled his finger away and pulled her face close to his. As a bead of sweat ever so slowly took shape on her forehead, Draco kissed her softly on the lips. Unsure of a reason, she began to kiss him back. As they shared in each other's happiness, the fog in Hermione's head began to clear.
"What are you doing?" she heard loudly in her ear. Hermione opened her eyes to find herself sitting up, kissing the air, with her roommates watching her.
"What are you doing?" Lavender repeated. Feeling her face heat up as she blushed, she looked at her roommates.
"Nothing, nothing at all," she said quickly before jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and snapped her fingers at the candles. Inside the dimly lit bathroom, Hermione studied herself in the mirror for a moment. Leaning her forehead against the cool glass in the mirror frame, she began to calm down, asking herself an important question.
"What am I doing dreaming about Draco Malfoy?"

Shuffling her way to the Great Hall, Hermione felt both nervous and foolish for what had happened in her room before breakfast. Her eyes darted around nervously as she stepped through the doors, afraid Lavender and Parvati would do the typical thing and tell everyone they know. She sat herself down at the end of the Gryffindor table where she could be left alone and surveyed what was being served for lunch. After choosing just an apple, she collected the books she'd brought down with her and headed for the library, careful to have the apple finished before stepping into the library. Choosing the same table she had the night before at the back of the room, she quickly made herself comfy and set to work on her Transfiguration homework. Stretching her legs out in front of her under the table, she took a brief moment to research a fact for her essay when she heard someone in the row behind her. Turning her head slightly to see who it was, she cursed under her breath.
"Are you following me?" she asked Draco. He looked up from the book he was reading and flashed her a devilish smile.
"What would make you think that?" he asked her, putting his book down and coolly making his way to her table.
"I noticed you had the Vision Recall Draught book marked in your Potions text. What ever would you need that for? That's a fourth-year potion and we all know there's no need for you to do extra credit work from a lower year,' he teased, taking the seat across from Hermione. She just watched with mild amusement as he reached for her Potions book and thumbed his way to the potion he was referring to. He quickly scanned the page once before reading the summary out loud to her.
"I already know what it says," she interrupted him. His eyes shot up at hers; angry he hadn't been able to finish.
"So why do you need it then?" he pried. She narrowed her eyes.
"It's no one's business and even if it were, I would not be telling you!" she explained angrily. Suddenly, Draco's eyes lit up like a child's.
"So what you're saying is that Potty and Weasel don't know either?" he asked. When she didn't answer and avoided his eyes, he rubbed his hands together in an evil fashion.
"Granger, there's some Slytherin in you yet," he told her. Hermione looked disgusted as she turned her attention back to her homework, hoping he'd leave. Fifteen minutes later, however, Hermione looked up to find him still sitting there, now doodling on a piece of parchment he'd stolen from her and using her extra quill and ink well. Hermione rolled her eyes and jotted down the last few sentences of her essay. As she shuffled her papers to switch subjects, Draco cleared his throat.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"What are you working on now? Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he asked, never lifting his eyes up from his page.
"No," she told him plainly. "Why?" Draco shrugged.
Only because my grades aren't the greatest and..." he trailed off, mumbling the last bit.
"What?" she asked him, straining to hear.
"I said I was wondering if you could help me out a little? You know, maybe just tell me what I'm doing wrong or something," he said. Hermione considered it.
"But why should I? You've treated myself, Harry and Ron like dragon dung for well over four years and I'm sick of it. And then you expect me to forgive you at the drop of a wand just so you can get better grades? I don't see any benefits in it for me. So tell me, Draco Malfoy, why should I help you out?" she said angrily. Draco sat back, stunned.
"You could've just said no," he told her, pushing her quill and ink well back towards her. He began folding the piece of parchment he drew on. First in halves, then in quarters.
"Sorry," she apologized quietly. Draco gave a lazy half smirk, as if to say 'whatever'. He folded his parchment once more, into eighths and placed it down on the table.
"Bye," he said quietly before leaving. Hermione stared after him a moment, shocked at how civil he was being. As soon as he disappeared through the library doors, she jumped up and grabbed his piece of parchment. Unfolding it quickly, she was surprised at what she found inside. He had drawn a rough, but beautiful sketch of Hermione's hands, hard at work on her homework. Blushing slightly, she folded it back up and placed it between the pages of her Potions textbook.

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening in the library writing essays and occasionally taking a break to look at Draco's drawing. After stopping for about the tenth time around seven- thirty in the evening, she decided it was best to just stop for the night, as she couldn't seem to concentrate much. She gathered her books and carefully tucked Draco's picture in her homework before leaving the library. As soon as she entered the Gryffindor common room, she was hit with a wall of noise as some of the students had thrown a small party. Hermione waved to a few students as she made her way through the crowd, but at the bottom of the stairs to the girls' dormitory, someone caught her arm.
"Hermione! Thank Merlin! Quick, I need helps with my Charms!" Ron practically shouted at her. Not in the mood to help or lecture, she simply pulled her Charms sheets out of the load in her arms and passed it to Ron.
"Just return it in the morning," she told him, and she made her way up the stairs, leaving a baffled Ron just staring up at her. Up in her room, she pulled out Draco's picture and tucked it into the top drawer of her bedside table before putting her books away in her trunk for the night. She walked over to the window and looked out onto the Hogwarts grounds, watching Hagrid tend to his garden with Fang, the boarhound, by his side. She let out a quiet laugh as she watched Fang bounce around at Hagrid's feet while he tried to manoeuvre his big body throughout the small garden. Hermione sat in the window for hours, curled tightly into a ball. She was so quiet her roommates didn't even notice her when they herded themselves into the room and into bed. When all the girls had finally gone to sleep, Hermione rose from her seat in the window and dressed in her nightgown to the sound of Parvati's soft snoring. She climbed into bed and got comfortable, but before putting out the light, something made her stop. She reached into the top drawer of her bedside table and took one last look at Draco's drawing, feeling an almost connection with him for a brief second. Smiling to herself, she placed it back in the drawer and put the light out.

Do I have to?" Hermione whined at six in the morning the next day. Harry and Ron had managed to drag her out of bed, with the help of Dobby, to come watch them practise some new Quidditch moves. Both boys protested that they wanted an outsider's opinion on their moves. Eventually she got tired of hearing them complain and she just gave up and agreed to join them. After a very brief celebration in the common room that involved Seamus coming out of his room and throwing a lump of coal at Ron's head, the three friends made their way down to the pitch. Hermione climbed the tall stairwell to the top of the stands while Harry and Ron went into the change rooms to put on their Quidditch robes. Shivering against the cold wind, Hermione tried to pull herself into as small a ball as possible. Soon the boys emerged from the change rooms and were quickly flying around in the air above Hermione's head. She watched with little interest, commenting on what she saw and what she thought after each play or move as they floating in front of her. As Harry and Ron were demonstrating the hardest move they were trying out, Hermione heard footsteps on the stairs. Eventually, a blonde haired boy poked his head over the top of the stairs.
'Not him again!' Hermione thought. Draco stood at the bottom of the stands, watching Harry and Ron zoom around in the air. As they slowed their flying down, Draco made to move to the top of the stands this time. Turning to climb the stairs, he caught his first glimpse of Hermione. He managed a small smile as he took the stairs two at a time to join her.
"Hi," he said softly as he sat down beside her.
"Hi," she replied. "I...I liked your drawing. Thank you for..." She paused, a little embarrassed to continue. "Thank you for making my hands beautiful." Draco's hair fell into his eyes and Hermione had to resist the sudden urge to push it back.
"I was bored and I wanted something to draw. Your hands were the first thing I saw," he explained. Feeling a little rejected that he only drew them because he was bored, she turned her head away from him.
"But I didn't make them beautiful. They were already like that," he told her as he stood up. Hermione felt her face grow hot at Draco's last comment. She turned to face him but found he was making his way to the bottom of the stands.
"Draco, wait!" she called out. He stopped and looked at her. When she said nothing else, he started to turn again, but something made him stop."That's the first time you've ever called me by my first name without me hurting you in any way," he told her. He then finished his descent down the stairs. Once he'd disappeared from sight, Hermione realized she'd been holding her breath. Exhaling, she saw Harry and Ron flying over.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Harry asked, manoeuvring his broom so he was able to land in the stands.
"What did Malfoy do?" Ron asked angrily as he followed Harry. Hermione held her hands up defensively.
"Nothing! Nothing! He had to ask me a question about a homework assignment" she explained, hoping they'd buy it. Both boys stared at her for a second.
"Fine, but he'd better watch his step," Ron warned.
"Sure, whatever you say," she told them. "Now, if you don't mind, I have my own homework to do so I'll just see you both later." She pushed her way past them to the bottom of the stands, Harry still holding a sceptical look on his face.

Later that night, after dinner had been served and eaten, and after everyone had settled into their evening activities (or homework), Hermione was hard at work in the library, researching the Vision Recall Draught and what her dreams meant. She now knew just about everything on the potion, but none of the books she read about dreams seemed reliable enough. Sighing heavily, she placed a book back in its spot on the shelf and decided to try just one more. She ran her finger along the bindings as she read the titles. Her finger stopped at one titled Behind the Meanings: What Your Dreams REALLY Mean. Interested, Hermione picked it up and carried it to her table. Flipping to the index, she read the title of each chapter until she came to the one dealing with people in dreams called People and What They're Doing Inside Your Head. She flipped through the pages until she came to it and quickly scanned the entire chapter. Finding it more useful than the Muggle trash she had been reading, she went back to the beginning to read the chapter more thoroughly. At last she came to a part of the chapter she thought was most helpful. As she began copying out some points she thought were most important, her eyes slowly became heavier and heavier.
'I'll just rest my eyes for a second,' she thought to herself. She put her quill down and rested her head on the book. An hour later she was still asleep and the only student left in the library. Tucked away in the back corner, Madam Pince, the librarian, had forgotten she was there when Draco walked into the library.
"I'm sorry but I'm about to close up. You'll have to come back tomorrow morning," the older witch told the Slytherin.
"I'm only here to get on book, I know what it's called and I even know where it is. I'll only be a minute," he explained quickly. Madam Pince thought a moment then waved him off in search of his book. In one of the last rows, Draco pulled a book off the shelf and started walking to the end of the row when something caught his eye. He turned to see Hermione asleep at a table by herself. He moved closer and put his book down on a nearby table. Taking his school cloak off, he draped it over her shoulders before he caught a glimpse of her work. She had her Potions text open to the Vision Recall Draught, another book was opened to a page dealing with people in dreams and a piece of parchment lay next to her head, covered with scribbles of notes and questions he figured she had that needed answering. His eye caught his name in one of the questions, but he never had a chance to read it.
"Mr. Malfoy? Are you just about done?" Madam Pince called.
"Sorry. Yes, I'm coming," he called back. He took one more look at the sleeping figure before grabbing his book and heading to the librarian's desk. As he left the library, closely followed by Madam Pince, Hermione pulled Draco's cloak more tightly around her shoulders in her sleep.
Hours later, Hermione awoke in the empty, dark library with a sore neck. She sat up and rubbed it.
"That'll teach me to fall asleep at a table," she told herself. She closed all her books and piled them up. As she rose from her chair she felt something fall off her back. She looked at her chair to see a Slytherin robe bunched up in a ball. With a small smile she picked it up and folded it into a tiny bundle before grabbing her books and leaving for Gryffindor Tower.

"Harry, can I borrow the map for a moment?" she asked just before lunch the next day.
"What for?" he asked her.
"I just need to return something to someone and rather than run all over the place looking for them, I thought I'd make it easier on myself," she explained. Harry nodded in understanding and opened his bag, soon producing the Marauder's Map. She muttered the activation charm and scanned the parchment for Draco's name, which she spotted out on the Quidditch pitch.
"Found who you're looking for?" Harry asked as Hermione wiped the map clean. She nodded and waved to him before leaving Gryffindor Tower at a quick paced walk. She soon arrived on the pitch to find Draco practising with a Snitch. He spotted her down on the ground and lowered his broom to land beside her. He gave her a smile as she reached inside her own cloak and pulled out his.
"Thank you," she said as she handed it back to him. He took it gratefully and snapped it on.
"It was no problem. You looked cold anyways," he explained. She smiled at his answer before turning to leave. He watched her walk back up to the castle, her hair dancing around in the wind. Once she was safely inside, he turned his attention back to his hunt for the Snitch. Back inside the castle, Hermione stopped in the Great Hall for lunch before heading off to Potions. Since she was one of the first people to arrive for class, she pulled out her homework and double and triple checked her work before handing it in to Snape. Soon, students began filing in for class and Draco came strolling in alone shortly after Ron and Harry. He tossed a small roll of parchment on her desk as he passed and luckily no one, Ron and Harry included, saw it before she snatched it off her desk. Looking at her friends to her left, she unrolled the parchment.

Were you researching the Vision Recall Draught because of a dream you had involving me?

'A little conceited, aren't we Draco?' she thought to herself as she rolled it back up and tucked it into her cloak. She looked at Draco, who was staring at something off to her right and shook her head. He motioned for her to write back but she shook her head again and motioned that they would talk later. He gave her a thumbs up as Snape began the class.

After dinner that night, Hermione was already working on that day's homework in the library when Draco approached her.
"Mind if I sit with you?" he asked. She shook her head.
"As long as you don't mind the funny looks we'll probably get," she said as Draco took his seat. He shrugged and pulled open his books. They worked in relative quiet, save for the soft voices from other students, quills scratching and paper shuffling, for a good two hours before she heard soft singing. She stopped writing, quill poised in mid-air, trying her best to listen and find out where it was coming from. She looked all over the library but it didn't look like anyone was singing when she thought it was coming from Draco's side of the table. She looked directly at him and saw his lips barely moving, but moving nonetheless. She leaned in closer, straining to hear.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you, so please don't take my sunshine away." Hermione snorted with laughter, unable to hold it in anymore. She laughed behind her book while Draco just stared at her like she was crazy.
"What the hell is so funny?" he asked her finally. Her body racked with giggles, it took her a while to get out a sentence that made sense.
"You...you were singing...a Muggle nursery rhyme," she managed finally, still giggling.
"What? I was not singing!" he protested but Hermione just nodded. He leaned in close.
"Which one?" he asked in a whisper.
"'You Are My Sunshine'," she told him, and for the first time in her life, Hermione Granger watched as Draco Malfoy blushed a shade of red that would have put Ron to shame.
"Okay," he said quietly before turning back to his homework. Hermione, too, went back to her work, but occasionally had to stop to fend off a case of the giggles where Draco would shoot her a threatening look When Madam Pince announced the library would be closing, both Draco and Hermione gave up early and closed their books.
"My father is coming tomorrow. He made a big donation to Hogwarts for...something. There's supposed to be some sort of presentation at dinner tomorrow," he told her in a very bored voice. Hermione was less than happy as every encounter she ever had with Lucius Malfoy had ended, well, badly.
"That's great Draco," she lied.
"Not really. He's going to find out my grades have been slipping lately," he told her. She saw the disappointed look on his face and reached out to pat him reassuringly on the arm.
"Thanks," he said. She just gave him a small smile. As they left the library, side-by-side, many of the pairs of eyes still in the room followed them until they were out the door. Outside the library Draco turned to Hermione.
"I'll try my best to keep my father away from you tomorrow. I know you two don't have the best of a history," he said.
"Thank you, but it's not necessary," she told him, but he held up his hand.
"I insist," he replied. "I also insist we do this again." He motioned to the library doors.
"I'd like that, a lot," she answered smiling.
"Great!" he said, now smiling too. They said good night to each other and went their separate ways

The next day, it was rainy and dreary outside. Many of the students' moods matched the weather outside by being abnormally quiet, sad and sluggish. One of the students that didn't let the weather get to them was Hermione as she kept running last night's studying with Draco over and over in her head. She walked to class with a bit of an extra jump in her step, and luckily, no one seemed to notice as they were all preoccupied with themselves. As she, Harry and Ron entered Defense Against the Dark Arts that morning, she looked for a set of desks close enough to Draco. She saw his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, took one set but he was sitting by himself and the only other set left was in front of him. Hermione lead the way to the desks and was about to sit next to Draco when Harry stopped her.
"Hermione, why don't you let one of us sit with him? I don't want him bothering you," he said. She shook her head.
"If either of you sat with him you'd cause more trouble than I would. Besides I can handle myself fine. I'll sit with him and you two can sit in front of us. There won't be any problems that way," she explained. Harry opened his mouth to protest but Hermione shut him up by dropping her books on the desk and sitting in the chair next to Draco. Harry could do nothing else because their professor walked in just after she took her seat so Harry and Ron sat in the set in front of her. Draco smiled at Hermione after the boys were facing the front again.
"I'm here to help you out for the day. Hopefully we do something that will let me help you," she explained quietly. He nodded as they both turned their attention to the professor who announced they would be working with their seating partners on a small project. Both Harry and Ron looked back at Hermione, but she just motioned for them to turn back around. The Professor turned the chalkboard around to reveal a list of things they could do their project on and they were asked to pick on of the topics. Chatter began throughout the room as the pairs began discussing which topic they would research.
"Which one do you want?" Draco asked. Hermione craned her neck to get a better view of the chalkboard.
"I actually like a lot of them," she told him. "There's the history of Azkaban one, and the unicorn one, the dragon one and the history of the Ministry of Magic. I think the Azkaban one would be interesting to do." She looked at Draco who was playing with his fingers and she realized what she did.
"Oh, I'm sorry. We can do the dragon one instead," she told him.
"No no, it's okay. I kind of like the Azkaban one too. Sadly, I don't think my father would be too interested in it," he explained.
"It's okay. Don't worry about your father for now. Are you sure you want to do the Azkaban one?" she asked cautiously. He nodded.
"As long as you're okay with it Draco," she said. He nodded again. As the professor walked around the room, asking for everyone's selection and handing out instruction sheets, Hermione and Draco thought up a few ideas they might be able to use for their project. Harry and Ron watched them closely as the Gryffindor and Slytherin acted as enemies as best as possible. Once they'd given their selection and been handed their sheet, the boys turned around to discuss their own project.
"And yours?" the professor asked.
"The Azkaban history," Draco said. With a nod from the professor, their selection was written down and they were handed a sheet with instructions on certain things they had to cover in their report and presentation. After close to an hour of planning and discussing, class ended. As Harry and Ron tried to pull Hermione away, she and Draco agreed to meet later for research, though neither of them looked pleased about it in the boys' eyes. Hermione spent the rest of the day in the protective custody of her friends, much to her annoyance, even during lunch. When dinner finally rolled around, she was grateful for the break as they both had a quick Quidditch meeting at the beginning of dinner. Squeezing in between Ginny and Seamus, she ate dinner as she spoke with Ginny about her courses. When Draco entered the hall, closely followed by Crabbe and Goyle, he gave Hermione a quick wink before replacing his normal scowl on his face as he took a seat in between Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table. From her seat, she had a perfect view of Draco in his spot. She gave a wink back, but Neville caught it and questioned her on it.
"Just an eyelash in my eye is all," she told him quickly, turning back to her food. The students ate their meals like normal, chatting as they ate. Eventually, Harry and Ron joined them, but because it was so cramped near Hermione, they had to sit a ways down the table with Dean and Colin. Not long after they sat down, Professor Dumbledore stood up and held his hand up for silence. Soon, the Hall was filled with nothing but the echoing sound of burning candles.
"I hope you've all enjoyed tonight's splendid feast. I know I certainly did. But that is besides to point. Last week, Hogwarts received a very generous contribution to our Potions section. And so, to celebrate the contribution, we have held this delicious feast and asked the contributor to join us for dinner. I'd like you all to please welcome Mr. Lucius Malfoy," Dumbledore announced. The Hall filled with applause, the loudest coming from the Slytherin table.
"Thank you everyone. I'd just like to say that if it were not for a fine establishment like Hogwarts, my only son, Draco, would not be getting the education he needs. I felt it only necessary to contribute to his education and the education of his peers. With this money, I'm hoping all students will be able to learn and benefit more from the subject of Potions. Thank you again," Lucius said as he stood up at his chair. The Hall filled with applause again when he finished his speech. Hermione looked over at Draco who rolled his eyes dramatically then laughed a little. She gave him a smile before turning back to Dumbledore, now standing up again, as he announced the upcoming Quidditch game, the Hogsmeade weekend on the following weekend and a few other minor announcements.

After dinner, Hermione, Harry and Ron were walking back to Gryffindor Tower when they passed Draco and his father in the hallway.
"Granger, don't forget we're supposed to be meeting up to do that stupid project later," Draco growled.
"I wouldn't be the one to forget," Hermione said as she pulled the boys down the hall. Lucius watched the entire display with interest. Around the corner from the Malfoy's, Hermione turned to her friends.
"I forgot something in the Great Hall. I'm just going to run back and get it. You go n ahead without me," she told them. They agreed and headed off to the Tower. Once they were of sight, Hermione crept a little closer to where they last saw Draco and his father to find that they were still there.
"...But you never told me you were working with the girl!" Lucius said.

"Father, it's for a school project. We were paired together by the professor for a boring project. I can handle her on my own," Draco protested.
"I'll have to speak to your Professor. Have you change partners. I'm sure you could easily work with Crabbe or Goyle and stick the other one with her," Lucius told him.
"But Father, think about it. If I work with her, my grades will rise a little more. If I continue working with her, I'll soon have grades just like hers. There will be no more low test marks," Draco said, reminding his father. Lucius thought for a moment before replying.
"Maybe it is all for the best. I'm sure those lumps you call friends do absolutely nothing for your grades," he told his son.
"Very well, I won't do anything about it. I must be going now. I'm expected at the Ministry soon. Oh yes, and your mother says hello and gives her love," he continued. His father bid Draco a goodbye and left his only son standing all alone in the front hall. Looking dejected, Draco stood there for a moment or two, before replacing his usual scowl again and angrily walking towards the dungeons. Hermione found the confrontation weird, but did nothing except head back to Gryffindor Tower on her own.

Entering the library again, later that night, Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted to say anything to Draco about the fight between his father or if she'd rather let it be. She tried making a decision on the way to her normal table at the back of the room, but by the time she reached the table, she still had no idea what she was going to do. She was about to sit down in her usual chair when someone placed a hand on her back.
"Whoa there Hermione. There's more than one chair at the table. Think you could use one of them?" Draco said. Jumping up right away, she fought to keep from blushing as she scooted over to the chair to his left.
"Sorry about that, a little preoccupied I guess," she explained, pulling her books open.
"About what?" he asked her, pushing his books aside so he could lean in closer, in case it was a secret.
"Oh it's nothing," she said with a wave of her hand.
"Well, it must be something if you just about sat on me," he pointed out. She sat back in her seat and thought about whether she should say anything. Sighing heavily, one side lost the battle.
"I was...thinking about the fight you had with your father earlier, right before he left. I overheard and...I was wondering how much of what you said was true?" she told him hesitantly. Draco eyed her suspiciously as he too leaned back in his chair.
"I didn't mean any of it Hermione, none of it. I respect you too much now. Why would I mess something like that up?" Draco said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Hermione shrugged.
"I know, I just felt the need to ask. I'm sorry," she said. The pair worked in silence for a few hours, before Hermione decided to call it a night.
"I'm going to head back upstairs now," she told him, gathering her books and heading for the door. Draco grabbed his books quickly too and ran after her. Catching up to her just outside of the library doors, he held up a hand for a moment so he could catch his breath after running full speed after her.
"Hermione, listen. I meant it earlier. I respect you too much to mess anything up with you. You're special, and I like that about you," Draco said, pulling on her arm to bring her closer. She gave him a smile as he looked into her eyes.
"I know I've never been the best guy, but I'm saying I'm done with that now. Hermione...I like you, a lot," he went on. Hermione continued to smile as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Thank you Draco. I like you a lot too," she said. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, then unwrapped her arms from his waist and made her way to Gryffindor Tower, leaving behind a happy but shocked Draco Malfoy.
"Wait!" he called out making no attempt to move. Hermione turned and waved at him.
"Good night Draco! I'll see you tomorrow," she called back before turning a corner.
"Good night," he said quietly to himself. He stood in the cool hallway for several minutes before finally making his way down to the Slytherin dungeons.
'Tomorrow indeed,' he thought to himself as he walked. 'Tomorrow indeed.'