'Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.' -Amy Bloom-

I felt as if I had been staring at her for my entire life, despite the fact that I had only known her for seven and a half years, if you count the year of the Final Battle that is. I had always been taught as a child the purebloods, like myself, were above everyone else. I was taught that we were smarter, better at magic, and virtually better at everything else than anyone else. Therefore, it was of great surprise when I reached Hogwarts and met my match, a mud- I mean muggleborn witch by the name of Hermione Jean Granger.

This witch truly was and is my match in everything, aside from flying and Quidditch that is. Here was proof that my 'purest' teachings from childhood were wrong, terribly so. At first, I merely watched her to see just when she would slip up, then as the years pasted I began to see just what a few years had done to her. She began to grow attractive, much more attractive. She had a good heart as well as mind and body and I was beginning to see that was well.

So, I grew fond of her, though I had always thought that I would never be able to tell her. I thought myself a coward for not being able to tell her the way I felt so I hid it with harsh words and cruelty. After the war, I dropped most of the act to the point that though I still did not have the courage to tell her, I had let go of the mask of harsh words and cruelty that I had hid behind and finally, we were friends. Finally, after all of those years, I was her friend, we shared the Heads Dorm, but I still didn't have the heart to tell her.

()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()

So, here I sit in what is rapidly becoming 'my spot' in the Hogwarts Library, only about ten steps away from where she sits. She has a small, well small for her, pile of books around her and her face is buried deep within one of the books. She huffs in frustration, closing the book with a nice thud. The same thing continues to happen the next few books.

By this time I am grinning like an idiot as I watch her frustration grow. Finally, I get up and walk over to her just as she slams yet another book close.

"You know, if you keep it up, at this rate you're going to get thrown out," I say leaning a hand on the table.

Hermione looks quickly up at me. Blinking a few times, she smiles at me.

"Oh, hey Draco. I didn't see you there," she says.

Of course you didn't. You never see me, I think bitterly to myself. But I couldn't remain angry for long with her looking at me with that sweet face of hers.

"I haven't been here long, you haven't missed anything," I say.

"Alright, do you need me to help you find something?" she asks me sweetly, that adorable little smile still on her face. Every time I see that look I melt. My angel, I call her silently in my mind. That is what I believe an angel should look like, like Hermione.

"Nope, nothing that I'm really looking for," I say simply enjoying her being so close to me.

"Oh, well, in that case, I must be going," she says as she gets up, flicking her wrist making all but a few books fly to their respective places. Then she gets up, walking away with her books. The moment is gone and I'm left no better off then when I was sitting in my chair.

()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()

I lie on my bed, confused. How can one girl cause me, Draco Malfoy, to feel like this? I currently have no clue. Unfortunately, Zabini found out that I like Hermione. But, thankfully he has been really understanding about it.

Yep here he comes.

"You know what you need to do, Draco?" he asks me leaning against the side of my four-poster bed.

"What?" I ask back, still staring up at the ceiling. It has become increasingly boring.

"Write her a note. You won't have to actually say what you feel to her. She'd just have to read it," he says.

I sit up and look at him in shock. Was he really this stupid? "Zabini, that's just about the…best idea ever!" I exclaim jumping up.

He grins at me. "I thought you might like it. I mean, I wouldn't really think of you as the kind of guy that stands in front of a girl and pours his heart out to her."

"I'm gonna ignore that comment," I say as I walk over to my desk and sit down in the chair. I pull out a quill and parchment, dip the quill in the ink well and look down at the paper…Now then, what was I going to say to her?

Blaise walks up behind me and says sarcastically, "You might want to start with, oh, I don't know, 'dear Hermione'."

I glare at him and he puts his hands up, backing away all the while chuckling.

"I was just messin' around, mate," he says, grinning at me.

I roll my eyes at him, but take his advice and begin to write.

Dear Hermione ………

What the heck goes next? I think to myself. This was going to take a while.

()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()

I look down at the note in my hand. It is pathetic but it gets my point across. It's just so…stupidly simple.

Dear Hermione,

I'm not quite sure how to put it so I'll just put it in the words

of a very famous muggle.

"I love you- those three words have my life with them."

-Alexandra-

It is as simple as that, or rather as difficult or complex as that.

If you hate for it, then I completely understand. If not…well I

cannot tell you how happy I would be. If you really want to know

the whole story, just meet me by the Black Lake tomorrow(Friday)

after classes. I'll be waiting,

Yours Truly Forever,

Draco

There she is, standing the 'Golden Trio' ,as the textbooks and papers call them, in the hallway, talking and laughing.

Blaise gives me a push towards her and a nervously walk up to Hermione.

"Hermione," I say.

She turns, sees me, and smiles. "Hey Draco," she says to me.

"Um, this is for you," I say, handing her the parchment.

As soon as she takes it I turn around and walk quickly away. Once I round the corner of the hallway I break into a full out run, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

I am a coward…

()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()o()

I stand by the edge of the Black Lake, looking into its murky depths. I had been waiting for almost twenty minutes and was on the verge of simply giving up hope and going back to sulk in my dorm.

I sigh, picking up a rather flat smooth stone and pull my arm back and swing it forward, with a snap of my wrist, letting the stone fly through the air and skip over the glasslike water's surface.

"Nice throw, but I bet I could make one go farther."

I whip around and see Hermione standing about ten feet away from me, smiling.

"Hermione!" I say, surprised that she had even decided to come, "you came."

"Did you think I wouldn't?" she says, walking up beside me and looking out at the Lake.

"Well, yeah, I did think that," I reply, still staring at her.

"So…you know why I'm here, right?"

"To tell me that you don't feel the same way, I know," I say, turning away from her.

"Not quite," she says, pulling me closer to her and making me face her.

Again I am brought to the amazement of just how beautiful her eyes truly are. I know that I must be blushing at just how close we are now.

"Look Hermione, I know what you could never picture yourself with me, but I beg of you, just don't actually say it to my fa-" I am cut off mid-sentence by her lips, which have oh so wonderfully just decided to come up against mine.

My mind goes wonderfully blank as she pulls back and smiles at me.

" 'If I know what love is, it is because of you.' Herman Hesse," she says with a smile. Ah, another love quote, again muggle. I do believe that I really do like them, muggle quotes. They are just so…lovely.