When A Slytherin Loves A Gryffindor

Hermione Granger was lying sleeplessly in her bed, snuggled under the warmth of the bright red and orange covers.

Her eyes were tracing the lines of the curtain that surrounded her bed, when out of the corner of her eye she caught a figure slowly slipping into the darkness of the room. Instead of jumping away in fear, she smiled as the figure made its way to her bed and opened the curtain around it.

"Aren't you just the rebel, Draco? Not only are you sneaking into the Gryffindor room, but this is also a girl's," she grinned as the figure took a sit at the foot of her bed.

"I'm just you average troublemaker," he smiled at her, his voice just above a whisper. Even with the room scarcely lit by the moon outside the window, he was able to see her figure, now sitting up, on the bed. Wild brown hair pulled back from her face, and chocolate covered eyes staring at his own.

"So, what's the reason for your visit?" she asked carelessly, gazing into the silver of his eyes. He looked like a ghost sitting in the darkness, silver-tinted pale skin that emanated the light, with his blanch hair hanging over his face.

"I have to talk to you about something Hermione, can we go into the common room?" he asked her. She nodded and got up as he did and they slowly crept out of the room and down the winding stairs, not saying a word until they reached the couch in front of the dead fire. Draco reached into his black cape and brought out his wand, "Incendio". As the word left his lips, a brilliant fire, explode from the dead fireplace; bring warmth and light to the room. They were sitting far apart from each other. Hermione sitting at the very end of the couch, her legs drawn to her chest with arms draped around her knees. The white nightgown hanging loosely from her shoulders. Draco was sitting on the other side of the couch, staring into the flames.

"What's wrong Draco?" Hermione asked after a few seconds of silence. Even with the fire blazing near her, she felt an air of coldness coming from Draco sitting so far away from her. He turned to look at her, silver eyes reflecting the fire before them. "Come sit here," she patted the spot next to her. He stood up and walked over to her end of the couch and sat his body as close to her as he could. She put her legs down, and leaned on his shoulder, draping her arm around his chest, "That's better," she yawned.

"I've been thinking about us Hermione. As much as it hurts me to be sitting here talking to you. I know it's something that has to be said," he said slowly, laying his head on hers.

"What is it Draco?" she said, reaching for his hand and holding it in her own. It was silent again, the only sound coming from the fireplace.

The story between the two of them, was like most love stories.

Him a Slytherin, and her a Gryffindor, just the thought of them being a bit in love was unheard of.

They were from two different walks of life, but had somehow found each other. It hadn't always been that way, Hermione once thought of him as a selfish, git, someone incapable of any sort of love for another human.

That was until she saw him sitting in the library at night.

Reading books from the moonlight, like herself. As soon as she approached him one night, her feelings about him changed. It was a slow process at most, meeting at night in the library, before school started and afterwards. Forming a sort of bond between the two, that wasn't visible to the eye.

Even passing each other in the hall, they exchanged a quick glance, one that held something more then before.

It was almost the prefect relationship. No one could ever expect Draco Malfoy to be in love with Hermione Granger. But of course that was at the start, now almost a year after they fell in love, things were getting difficult. Draco wanted so much to hold her during class, so much to grab her in the middle of the hallway and kiss her, but he couldn't. They promised each other from the start that their names would never get in-between who they were, but now things were different.

Draco knew it, and no matter how many times she denied it Hermione knew it too.

"You know how much I care about you. I can't express that enough to you sometimes Hermione. I hate sitting across from you in class, just having to watch you all day and not hold you. It kills me Hermione. Then having to pretend to hate you, I can't do it anymore," he admitted to her.

"Then stop doing it Draco. Who says we can't just come out with it? We shouldn't care what everyone thinks anymore. I love you Draco, I always have, and I can't stand it either. I think we should just let everyone know. We said from the start we wouldn't let our names get in the way,"

"That was before all this Hermione. At first it was easy just pretending, it was easy lying to everyone. It's not easy anymore, and I don't like doing it anymore. I hate lying to people, and then lying to myself. Every time I have to make fun of you in class, say something stupid. I hate that feeling of lying to myself, saying I don't really mean it,"

"We just have to pretend a little more Draco. We'll graduate soon, and then we'll go live somewhere and get married, it'll be prefect," she said, hopefully. He didn't say anything for a minute. "I don't want us to end up like Romeo and Juliet,"

"Who?" he questioned confused at the Muggle reference.

"Two star crossed lovers, who let their names get in the way of their love. They died because of it,"

"We aren't going to die Hermione," he said concernedly.

"I know we aren't, but it's the same thing Draco. We are from two different sections of the world, but we are in love, and that's all that should count,"

"But it doesn't Hermione. I know you know this, you are the smartest girl I know,"

"Draco please don't do this. Sometimes the smartest people even make the biggest mistakes. For once I don't care what my brain says, I'm going by my heart, and my heart tells me that I love you Draco Malfoy," she said with tears springing from her eyes.

They were silent again, tears springing from her eyes, and even a small one slipping out of the corner of his.

"I love you Hermione Granger, and that's why I have to do this, because I love you more then anything in the world, never forget that,"

Draco let go of her hand, and slowly stood up. He closed his eyes, not wanting to look back at her, knowing what he'll see. He walked out of the common room and through the portrait, knowing that the warmth of the fire would have to console her till her friends would find her in the morning.

As he walked down the cold drafty halls of Hogwarts, he knew what he had done; he had left the love of his life behind him.

But that was the price that had to be paid.

When a Slytherin loved a Gryffindor.