Hello and welcome to my little Dramione one-shot. This is the first fanfiction I've ever been brave enough to post, sooo I hope you like it :) I know the title sounds pretty cheesy, but I'm happy with how it turned out, so I hope you enjoy!

- Rachel

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my love for J.K. Rowling and her books.

Edited 1/7/2016 : So I've made a few improvements, I wrote this when I was about 14 and people still seem to enjoy reading it so I thought why not, let's make it a little bit better. Thanks for reading! :)

Malfoy, My Hero?

Hermione stared at herself in the full-length mirror. Glad to be alone in the 6th year girls' dormitory, she wondered for the thousandth time why she had gotten herself into this mess. Would aggravating Ron really be a good enough reason to endure Slughorn's party with Cormac McLaggan?

"It won't be that bad, stop complaining, Hermione", she told herself sternly. The truth was, she had started to care less and less about making Ron jealous. Who cares if he's with "Lav Lav"; Hermione was beginning to think her feelings about Ron were just friendly, and nothing beyond that. Their moment had passed, but now she was stuck going to the Slug Club with McLaggan, of all people.

"I'd rather go with Malfoy than McLaggan", She thought aloud, and then laughed softly. That was ridiculous, Cormac was not nearly as bad as Malfoy, but, there was something about McLaggan that had always creeped her out. The way he stared at her sometimes…

She shivered involuntarily. "Well, Crookshanks, do I look presentable?" She asked the ginger cat resting on her trunk. He purred back approvingly, probably just excited to have the room to himself. Hermione almost wished she could stay, maybe tell Cormac she was ill and curl up by the fire with a good book.. No, she told Harry she'd be there and she wasn't going to back out. Harry she'd almost forgotten about him. Alright, this won't be so bad, she decided, as she grabbed her small clutch bag with her wand inside and set out down to the common room.

Downstairs, she saw that Cormac was waiting with a rose for her—something that made her like him a little bit more. This was squashed with his next words,

"Hermione", he greeted her at the bottom of the stairs, "You are looking as beautiful as ever. And, your hair, you've gotten most of the frizziness tamed. We look great as a couple, don't we?"

Hermione didn't know whether to be offended or not by his comment, but she decided to play nice to get the night over with as fast as possible, "Thank you, Cormac. Yes I used a smoothing potion, let's get this over—I mean, we should go now or we'll be late", she gave him a forced smile, and walked over to the portrait hole.

Hermione saw Ron across the room with Lavender on his lap, and saw him shoot Cormac a glare. This gave her a little satisfaction, she hoped he knew what he had missed out on.

Cormac held the portrait open for her, and they set out for the party. The walk there was filled with Cormac talking about himself. He had gone on a safari this summer, met the minister, and did many other impressive things that Hermione tuned out after awhile. When they finally arrived, Hermione was never more relieved to spot Harry and Luna.

She headed towards them, and, to her dismay, Cormac followed.

"Hey, Hermione, you look great! Oh, hey… Cormac", Harry greeted them. He was unsure of how Cormac would act towards him, Hermione could tell. Harry had chosen Ron over him for the keeper position.

"Hi, Harry, hi Luna! I love your… dress" Hermione smiled at the girl's extravagant pink cocktail dress. Being around Harry was finally something to make her feel better.

"Harry! Glad to see you!" Cormac unexpectedly greeted Harry with warmth, shaking his hand, and then proceeded to put his arm around Hermione's waist and pull her next to him. This, and the fact that McLaggan had acted as if Luna didn't even exist, were enough to make the happiness that Harry brought turn to right back to annoyance.

"Wow! This is quite a party, isn't it? Nothing compared to this party I went to last year, but I'll tell you about that later. Hermione, dear, can I get you something to drink?" Cormac turned toward Hermione, who pulled away and muttered "Yeah, a butterbeer would be nice"

He walked away toward the beverages, and Hermione sighed in relief, "Finally! Do you think I can sneak out the back, Harry? Cormac is even worse than I thought he would be. All he talks about is himself. My head's going to explode if I hear about one more broom his father bought him." Hermione closed her eyes and began rubbing her temples.

Harry laughed, "Come on Hermione, he can't be that bad."

Hermione gave him a look.

"Okay, maybe he can," He laughed again, "Just stick with me and Luna, we'll keep the conversation revolved around nargles… or vampires or something, won't we, Luna?"

Luna was staring off into space, but she seemed to have been listening, as she said, "Did you know that Vampires are strongly allergic to kittens? But not cats. It has to do with the—"

She was cut off as Cormac returned, bringing three butterbeers with him. Hermione gave hers to Luna, and then walked over to a table to sit down. The other three followed, and the rest of the party was spent with endless talks of quidditch between the two boys, Luna staring off with her trademark dreamy look, and Hermione sitting in silence. She could tell that Harry wasn't nearly as annoyed with Cormac as she was, but she could definitely see that he was soon tired of talking with McLaggan.

When the party was finally dying down, Hermione tried her best to hint that she was tired and ready to leave. Cormac wanted to talk to every official at the party, though, so by the time they had left, they were the last to do so. Harry, being a good date, had gone to walk Luna back to Ravenclaw tower, so Hermione was left alone to walk back with Cormac to the common room, something she was definitely not going to enjoy.

As they walked, Hermione crossed her arms to block out some of the chill from the cool castle night air. She had no jacket, just her sleeveless dress, and Cormac seemed to notice, as he put his arm around her shoulders and held her close to him. Hermione hated how he kept doing that, but she just took the warmth and didn't say anything, knowing that after tonight she would never have to talk to Cormac again.

Cormac started talking again, so Hermione tuned him out and began thinking about her schoolwork. She had found that she would have to start working harder if she wanted to beat Harry in potions. She just had to prove to him that using a book from some "half- blood prince" couldn't always be reliable. The risk he was taking..

She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize that Cormac had been leading her through some long trail through the castle that she had never taken to get to the common room before.

"Cormac, where're we going?" She asked him, confused as to where they were exactly.

"We're just taking a longer route to the common room. Plus, I want to show you something." He replied, and Hermione was sure she didn't want any extra time with him, but now she would have to follow him back to the common room, or risk being lost in the castle at night.

They turned a corner, and Cormac stopped. He turned to Hermione and, before she knew what was happening, pushed her against the wall and kissed her.

Disgusted, Hermione tried to pull away and tell him "Cormac, stop, stop!"

"Come on, no one will see. I've been waiting for this for a long time" He whispered in her ear. He had her pinned against the wall, and as his hand began to run up her side, Hermione knew he was planning on doing more than kiss.

She was scared. She tried to push him away, but he was strong, probably twice her size and much taller than her.

He grabbed her wrist painfully, and she dropped her bag, with her wand inside. Now she had nothing but herself to fight back with, and that soon proved pointless.

He continued kissing her, moving down to her neck and moving his hand down to her leg, inching up her dress. She cried out for help, but was cut off when he put his hand over her mouth.

"No one will hear you, Granger. Shhh… just be still and you might enjoy this as much as I will"

Tears fell from her eyes as he laughed softly, moving his hand up her thigh, under her dress and holding her tightly against the wall with his body.

Before he could go any further, though, he was knocked back by a stunning spell, and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Hermione slid to the ground in shock, and then, looking around, found none other than Draco Malfoy some ten feet away, wand outstretched and looking down disgustedly at McLaggan.

Hermione was confused.

Malfoy? Wait, was I just saved by… Malfoy?

She held her wrist, seeing bruises already blooming where Cormac had grabbed her, and then tried to wipe the tears that were still rolling down her face.

She tried to breathe deeply, you're safe, Hermione, you're safe,

"You're safe, Granger." That time it hadn't been her that said it, and she looked up to see Malfoy standing a couple feet away, looking awkward and like he didn't know if he should leave or not.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

Was Malfoy really offering her words of comfort?

"I said you're safe, so you can stop your blubbering," He covered, trying to sound like the git that Hermione had always known him to be, "And why would you go to a party with him anyway. He's probably as stupid a Gryffindor as they come."

Hermione ignored his jab, bewildered at the fact that she was speaking some-what civilly with Draco Malfoy, and replied,

"I… had thought he would make Ron jealous. I know now it was a huge mistake. You're right, he is probably the stupidest Gryffindor of all time"

Hermione laughed a little, and then stopped. Had she really just laughed at something Malfoy had said?

To make the night even stranger, Malfoy took a seat on the ground a couple feet in front of her, leaning back with his signature smirk in place.

"You went with McLaggan to make the Weasel jealous? Wow, you tortured yourself, and not even for a very good cause. Now if it were to make someone like me jealous, then maybe, it would have been worth it." He smirked at her, and Hermione rolled her eyes,

"As if you are so much better. Why are you talking to me anyway? I think this is the longest time we have ever spoken without exchanging insults, or without you calling me a mudblood. And why did you save me, anyway?" The whole situation was just so absurd.

"What is this, twenty questions?" He replied in his infuriating way,

"Well, maybe I'm not as terrible as people make me out to be. Maybe, just maybe, I wasn't going to stand by and let this pig do what he wanted with you. Maybe I'm more of a gentleman than you think I am, and maybe I just want to talk with someone after a terrible day, even if it is you."

"I don't believe you. I've seen firsthand that you are, in fact, as terrible as you seem. And what are you doing wandering the castle this late at night?" She asked, curious that he should be travelling the corridors alone at this hour.

"What are you? My mother? Well, as terrible as I was, new… shall I say… events in life have brought me to realize that I don't really care about making you, Potter or Weasel miserable anymore. I've got bigger purposes."

"Which are…?" She asked curiously. She couldn't help but feel that this was turning into the strangest night of her life. She was having a civilized conversation with Malfoy, after all.

"I'm sorry Granger, but your insight into the life of the dashing Draco Malfoy goes no further than that. Now, would you like me to show you the way back to what you Gryffindors call a common room? I assume you have no idea where you are."

He was right. McLaggan had led her into some corridor that was dimly lit and completely unfamiliar.

McLaggan. She shivered as she looked down at his unconscious body.

"What should we do with him?" She asked Malfoy.

"Well," he replied, "you can slap him around a little, if you wish. I wouldn't mind. I already hate Gryffindors, with your whole crusade of good, and now that I know he's a fraud, it makes him even worse."

Knowing that Malfoy was joking and would never expect her to do it, Hermione stood up, grabbed her wand out of her bag, and pointed it at McLaggan. She promptly cast a charm that turned his hair pink, then made his pants and shirt disappear, and, getting caught up in the moment, bent down and slapped him in the face.

She looked up to see Malfoy staring at her, and then he burst out into laughter. Hermione had never heard him laugh in a non-menacing way, she was surprised at how nice it sounded, and soon she was giggling too.

Laughing with Draco Malfoy. Who would have seen this coming.

When he finally caught his breath, Draco looked at her appraisingly, "You know, Granger, you're not half bad. If you weren't a mudblood you'd make a good Slytherin."

Malfoy walked off, leaving Hermione to process this… compliment? From Malfoy?

She gathered her wits and rushed to catch up with him, not wanting to get lost.

Don't read so much into it, Hermione. It's still the same Draco. He still…wait… I'm calling him Draco now? Merlin, what has come over me?

"So… Malfoy, are you sure you know where you're going?" She asked him.

"Granger, unlike you, I have an uncanny sense of direction. That, and McLaggan led you towards the Slytherin common room."

Hermione shivered, from the cold air, McLaggan's name, or maybe both, and Malfoy noticed, saying with his trademark smirk, "Shivering to get me to put my arm around you now, Granger? Well, my robes will have to do, I honestly cannot be seen hanging on the likes of you" He teased.

"Very funny, Malfoy," she replied, but she was grateful for the robes and put them on quickly.

Soon they came to the corridor with the fat lady's portrait (Hermione didn't bother asking Draco how he knew where it was), and she turned to face him.

"I never got to thank you. I think I was in shock, but, maybe you're not as bad as you seem, Draco." She said, looking up at his grey eyes, partly covered by his messy pale blonde hair.

"Well, I guess I can count this as my one good deed of the year. Even if it was for you." He replied jokingly, and then in a more serious tone, "You're welcome, Granger."

She smiled up at him, wondering why she had never met this version of Draco Malfoy before, a Draco who could actually care for others and would give Hermione Granger a compliment, and she suddenly yearned to trace the side of his sharp jaw with her hand…

She stepped away quickly, realizing just how close they were standing, and stammered, "Uhh well, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, or uhh whenever…." And turned to walk towards the portrait.

"Hermione?" She heard called after her, and, turning, saw Draco still standing there, smirking, "I will need my robes back, unless you wish to sleep in them. It's understandable if you're hoping to dream of me. "

"What? Oh right sorry..." She muttered, embarrassed, and walked back to him, taking them off as she went. As she handed them to him, their hands touched and he looked her in the eyes.

All traces of mockery were gone as he quietly said, "You look amazing in that dress, by the way. It's a shame you had to waste it on him. I think I prefer your curls, though." He lifted a hand and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

They were even closer than before, and Hermione could see the flecks of silver and blue in his eyes as he leaned down towards her.

He dropped the robes he was holding and used his hands to pull her closer, one resting on her neck and the other holding her waist, and then he kissed her.

Hermione had never been kissed like this before. His lips were soft and warm, he was being gentle but she could tell he was holding back. He smelled like aftershave, a fresh delightful scent, and she suddenly forgot everything else that had happened that night.

She ran one hand up his chest and brought the other up to entangle in his hair, and she decided that for once, she wasn't going to overanalyze this. She loved the way he was touching her, the way she could feel his heart racing as fast as hers.

Nothing that had happened tonight mattered, because she was kissing Draco Malfoy, and, in that moment, she was blissfully happy.