Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter

"You slept with Weasly." Draco announced in a deadly calm voice.

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. "Really Malfoy, why do you have to be so melodramatic about everything?"

"Answer the damn question, Hermione!" he spat

"You know what? I won't answer because its none of you damn business!"

"Of course it's my business if you go out on a date with me when you are already seeing someone else!"

"It wasn't date!" Hermione said in a tight voice. Even though rage continued to boil inside her, she could not help the slight twinge of nostalgia. This sort of childish, immature fights had been so common to their relationship once. Some things never changed.

Draco narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. "It's a date if I say it's a date!"

"Well then it was a pitiful one! And for you information, Malfoy, I don't date."

"No, you just sleep around, don't you, Granger?"

Furious now, Hermione slapped him hard across his face with her whole strength before he could say anything else. Angry red welts appeared on his cheeks as he stared at her in stunned disbelieve. The sound of the harsh slap seemed to reverberate around them angrily.

"How dare you imply that-" Hermione's words were smothered by the mouth that descended down on hers all of a sudden. Rough hands fisted themselves in her hair in a punishing grip.

Hermione struggled against his hold, fought against his lips, refusing to give in to the kiss. She tried to move her ace away but that only made him tug at her hair harder in an attempt to hold her mouth to his.

His tongue darted out of his mouth and shoved itself between her lips forcefully as his hands moved to her waist. He gripped her hips and aggressively yanked her closer, a low growl emanating from his chest as their tongues met. It wasn't sweet, and it was miles away from being anything near tender. Hermione had to let go, had to surrender to the hundred sensation coursing down her body at the taste of him. Here was relief, here was mind numbing pleasure, a break from the pain. Only he could give it to her. Only Draco.

She smashed her face closer, their teeth banging together as she pushed her tongue deeper and met Drcao's aggression with her own.

His teeth skimmed her lips and tongue, pinching and scraping as he plunged deeper and tightened his grip on her waist. She breathed raggedly into his mouth, moving impossibly closer to his body, and suddenly he was spinning her around, walking her backwards. Hermione stumbled, attached to his lips and forced to grab hold of his disheveled hair to steady herself. She knew it was hurting him, but the grunt he made, low and gritty in his throat, told her that he liked it like that.

And then she was pressed against the rough brick wall and he was wedging her between it and his urgent mouth. She pulled his hair harder, willing him to let all his anger out as he bucked his hips against her, already aroused.

This was more than lust. It was more than affection. And it was much, much more than love.

This was hers and Draco's unbridled frustration. Venting via kiss as their teeth clanked and tongues dove and danced aggressively. She pulled and moaned with him as she violently returned the kiss, eager and brimming with need to show him how much she wanted him. How much she needed him. There never had been anyone else. Never would be. She yanked his hair in her fist and pushed away from the wall to get closer, deeper, and rougher than him.

Draco abruptly jerked away, breathing raggedly as his palms went to slam against the brick wall at either side of her head. His body was still flattened against her as she panted and opened her eyes to meet his.

His eyes held a dark glimmer as he trapped her between him and the wall. His arms creating stiff and tense bars of imprisoning flesh around her. He breathing was uneven on her face as he stared at her and the hands that were still full of his hair.

Hermione exhaled and leaned her head back against the wall in surrender while releasing his hair. She closed her eyes and whispered the two words she had tried so hard to deny. "Only you…"

Only you.

Warmth spread through Draco as his brain registered the two words. All the anger and resentment drained out of him as he smiled against her lips. Tenderly, he kissed the corners of her mouth, her cheeks, the tip of her nose and her closed eyes. "Only you, Hermione, only you."

She sighed but didn't open her eyes. "I am sorry," he whispered.

"I didn't sleep with Ron." She said quietly. He dropped another kiss on her lips as relief washed through him.

"I did kiss him." She finally opened her eyes. "I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing,"

The utter devastation in her eyes made his heart ache. "Did you want to feel something?"

"I wanted to prove you wrong!" she cried. Her eyes were a little hysterical now. Color that he had put on her cheeks with his kiss now drained from her leaving her pale and looking sadder than ever. "You say no one affects me like the way you do and I wanted to show you that you are wrong. But I ended up proving you right. I hate it, Draco, I hate needing you like this. I don't want this dammit!"

Her admission was supposed to make him feel smug but it made him feel more guilty instead. He should be gloating but rather he was overcome with an impossible urge to apologize to her for putting her in such a position.

Because he could do nothing else, he crushed her to himself, clasping her to his chest and hugging her tightly. He kissed her on the top of her head and felt her stiffen in his arms. He felt helpless because Hermione could take lust but not intimacy.

He cupped her cheeks and pulled her face up so that she could meet his eyes. Her eyes were soft as she regarded him. Melted pools of chocolate that weakened his knees. For the first time since he had met her after five years, she was letting down barriers.

"Let go, dammit. Just let go!" he whispered achingly.

And she did, going completely pliant in his arms. For Draco, It was like coming home. It was like finally grasping the star that he had been reaching out for in the night sky all his life. His heart was once again on calm waters after a terrifying storm. Tension left her body in an instant as she leaned into him as flexible as fluid.

"Why did you leave damnit it, why?" she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't you know how much it hurts to live without you? Why do you keep doing this to me? Why Draco?"

"Never again. I swear Hermione, baby, I will never leave you again." He kissed her everywhere on her face frantically, desperate to make her believe his words.

"Make me believe in you again, Draco."

"Okay." He punctuated the word with another kiss on her lips.

"And don't you dare hurt me, you goddamn, bloody ferret!" she said furiously.

He laughed against her neck. "Can't make that promise, Granger. I live to give you hell."

"Idiot."

He slipped his hands inside her robes to slide them around her waist. He drew chaste kisses along the column of her neck inciting a low moan from her. He knew how much she liked being kissed on her neck. With the tip of his tongue, he traced her skin, slowly, until she was writhing against him. And then he brought his teeth down hard on the spot that had been driving him crazy all night, the spot where her neck and shoulders met.

Her scream was muffled as she dragged his head up and took his lips. Joy spread through him because this time Hermione had initiated the kiss.

After a long while, they stood panting, trying to recover from the earth shattering kisses. Hermione whispered against his lips, "Stay with me tonight."

"You mean…"

"No Draco, its too soon. Just spend the night me. I don't want to be alone tonight." As if as an afterthought, she added, "it's the night that my parents died. I can't bear it alone."

Draco hugged her tightly, remembering a conversation of a long time ago. The first time that Hermione had talked to him about his parents.

"McGonagall's a bitch!" he burst out as soon as he entered the common room after two hours of detention with the transfiguration professor.

He stopped, surprised at finding the room in darkness. He found Hermione sitting on the window seat quietly, her gaze lost in the brilliantly starry night sky outside. A shimmery mist hung over the qudditch pitch. A light breeze caressed her hair, blowing soft tendrils around her face. The faint moonlight highlighted her curls, and threw a pale unearthly glow over face.

Something tugged at his heart at the sight of her, something unexplainable, forbidden. Something wonderful.

"Hermione?"

She looked up at him. And that's when he noticed how sad her eyes were. He didn't want to care. He didn't want to feel that pang in his heart. But he did. So, without another word, he crossed to her, sat beside her and cuddled her into his arms.

"You know, Draco, I never imagined there was a part of you that's so teddy bearish." She said with a hint of smile.

"What do you mean?" he growled.

"You like to cuddle."

"No I don't!" he exclaimed. The very idea was preposterous. "Malfoys do not cuddle, Granger. It's almost illegal."

"What are you doing now, then?"

"Umm- giving you a shoulder to cry on? Why the hell are you complaining? You look like you could do with a little cuddling!"

She smiled sadly. Even though she spoke lightly, her eyes still carried that hunted look. "Thanks for being here." She whispered, kissing his cheek sweetly.

"Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

She sighed. "I miss my mom and dad."

He knew there was more. He waited.

"They don't remember me." Her voice dropped even lower and he had to strain to hear her.

"How can you parents forget you? Don't be ridiculous!"

"They forgot because I made them forget."

He gaped at her. "Why the bloody hell would you do something like that, Hermione?"

She glared at him now. "The same reason you continue to kiss Voldemort's ass! To keep your family safe. You should understand better than anyone!"

"Hermione, I am not committing any selfless act of heroism. You keep thinking that I do everything just for my family. I know it makes it easier for you to be with someone like me. But please don't keep up that illusion. I only think about me. My parents may not be very nice people but they love me dammi! They love me and they are the only two people in the world who do. I can't bear losing that love. So if I want to keep them safe from Voldemort, its only for myself. Don't compare yourself with me."

"You know, Draco, there is something called unconditional love. It's hard for muggles to be around magic. My parents did not understand a lot of things about me but I was always their daughter first and a witch later. I never got a chance to be a freak around them. I belonged with them no matter what. I have to keep them away from harms way just like they did for me. And if it means I have to let them go to keep them safe, I am fine wit that. I don't have their love now but I remember it and its enough."

"Then why are you so sad about it, Hermione?' he asked softly now.

"Because sometimes I wish I was still a little girl and had that security of a home and the protection of my parents. I don't like the feeling of looking after my own back."

He hugged her tightly. "It's all a part of growing up, sweetheart. You just learn to accept it sooner or later. In your case, its sooner."

She nodded against his chest and closed her eyes. He sat with her like that well into the night, loving the feel of her sleeping in his arms, feeding on her innocence and trust. He hated that he would have it break her trust one day soon.

Telling him about her parents had been a sign pf trust back then and this time around too. She was letting him in again. And he would crucio himself to hell before he messed it up again, Draco resolved.

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