You Wouldn't Know

It was only half an hour later when Hermione woke up, eyes drooping with her head on one of her books. AS she room slowly came back into view, she looked to her right, spotting a head of blonde hair. Is that Malfoy? What is he doing here? She lifted her head up, finding herself in the library. The lights were out save a small oil lamp and there seemed to be no one in the library except them. She looked over at Draco, watching him work and she began to realize what they were doing there. Draco met her stare and gave her a small smile.

"Morning," Draco said sarcastically. Hermione looked over at him, a guilty expression on her face.

"Oh hi," Hermione replied. "I am so sorry about just dozing off. I don't know why I did that but, um, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. No one's perfect. I'm almost done with the essay anyways," Draco said, gathering the notes he took. "Oh, I hope you don't mind but I took the notes you had taken before you fell asleep."

Hermione smiled sheepishly and answered, "Of course."

Draco nodded his head, putting down his quill and looking over the essay before passing it to Hermione for inspection. She read it over, surprised at how good it actually was.

"It's great. Good job," Hermione said, nodding her head in approval and passing the essay back to him. He gave her a smile, receiving the paper. Hermione looked at him, gazing into his eyes, seeing the familiar grey swirling. Seeing him like this again, reminded her of everything that had happened in between them. She broke the eye contact, knowing that she needed to talk to him about everything that had happened between them. "Hey Draco, I have something I need to talk to you about. Lately, I feel like we have been, more friendly. Like in class, I would catch you looking at me and you have been treating me like nice. Not that it bothers me but... And the other day, when we were doing our Potion's assignment, we, um, kissed."

Draco stared at her, absorbing everything she had said. It was then he realized, he had to tell her something. "Well, Hermione, I've gotten to know you a lot lately and I've realized that you are really a good person. And well, I really like you."

Hermione's eyes widened as he leaned closer to her, closing the space between them, making Hermione's heart pound in her chest. Before she knew it, Draco's lips were once again pressed against hers. She didn't fight it though, She didn't want to. She thought about him and everything they had gone thorough. From the forest to the hospital wing, to what happened in the hall, to the looks in class, to the studying, to the kisses they had shared, she realized something. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

Blushing, she pulled away from him. "Um, I should probably go before Harry and Ron burst in here and find us here."

Draco nodded, understandingly and pulled away from her. Smiling, he picked up her already packed bag, slipping in one last book and handed it to her. Accepting her bag, she bid him one last farewell. She exited the library without a glance backwards, knowing if she did it would be harder to leave. She walked down the hall, all the way up to the Gryffindor Tower, where she found Harry and Ron playing Wizard's Chess.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said without looking up from his game. "How was studying with the royal pain?"

"It was fine, but I am really exhausted. Goodnight," Hermione told them. They both muttered in response and Hermione walked up to her dormitory, dropping on her bed. Lazily, she pulled out one of her books, thinking to study ahead for tomorrow's lessons. But as she pulled out one of her books, she noticed a piece of parchment wedged in between two pages. Curiously, she opened her book and pulled out the letter. Her heart pounded when she saw who it was from.

Hermione,

Care for a walk around the lake tomorrow evening? I feel we have much more to discuss. Please meet me right at sunset tomorrow. I will wait for you.

Draco

Hermione smiled widely at the thought of seeing him again. She laid aside the note and set down her book, all attempts for reading forgotten. She laid down, resting her head on her feather pillow. Before she knew it, sleep imprisoned her.

* * *

The next night, Hermione ate quickly at dinner, not wanting to be late. Giving Ron and Harry a hurried (and fake) excuse of where she was going, she streamed out of the Great Hall, running back to the Gryffindor Tower for her cloak. Pulling it on as she ran, she quickly came to the front doors of the castle, where she stopped for some breath. Then she pushed the doors open, sunlight streaming over her face in a golden glow. She took a deep breath of the cold December air and walked slowly towards the lake. Surprisingly, she found the familiar blonde already there. She smiled as she approached him. He only had to take a single glance at her before his face broke into a genuine smile. They walked towards each other, smiling sweetly at one another.

"Hey Hermione," Draco said, walking by her side. "I'm glad you made it."

"Yeah me too," Hermione said, looking over at him. Then, she looked up at the horizon. The golden glow of the sun mingled mixed with red and orange. Blackness was creeping in but the visible sun still continued to shine with all effort. "The sunset is beautiful tonight."

"So are you," Draco said, never taking his eyes off of her. She looked back at him in surprise as he took her hand. He took a deep breath and plunged in. "Hermione, ever since you first started going out with Harry, I've been going crazy. Harry was so happy with you and it made me upset that I couldn't be happy. But then I started to study with you and get to know you better and I realized something. I was jealous of Harry. Because he had you. You are so smart, pretty, perfect, pure, and full of life. Whenever I am around you, I feel like I am not the Malfoy everyone always stereotypes as evil and conceited. You have changed me Hermione, and I love that change and don't ever want it to go away. What I am trying to say is, I love you Hermione."

"Bravo, Draco, but I am afraid that you will never get to love her or anyone again. The Dark Lord needs you but you still refuse to give in and now your time has come." An icy voice spoke behind them.