As Hermione stared into blue eyes, she could quite easily lose herself. They did not belong to the person she wanted them to, but they were close enough. Slightly greyer and you might almost think you were looking into the eyes of-

Ron broke her out of her thoughts by placing a gentle kiss on her nose.

"What's wrong Mione? You looked like you were somewhere else for a while there." She smiled at him. He was gentle with her, caring about what she thought if she was upset. She knew she would marry Ron one day. But despite that thought, a certain person was always at the back of her mind.

"Nothing, Ron. I was just thinking of NEWTS. Wondering what my results will be..." She smiled sheepishly as Ron shook his head, smiling also. He would expect that to be on her mind.

"Typical Mione," he said, a loving smile still planted on his face, "Just relax, we've only got a few weeks left of school. Enjoy it." He kissed her on the top of her head and turned to Harry who was deep in conversation with Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas about Quidditch.

Hermione thought about what Ron had said. Only a few weeks left of school, soon they would be out in the real world. She may not see many of her classmates again. She definitely wouldn't see him again.

She stared across the hall at the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy, the cold hearted, arrogant, obnoxious, insufferable... undeniably handsome-

This time she cut off her own thoughts, but continued to peek under her lashes while stirring her porridge. The git had somehow made frequent visits into her thoughts, and Hermione hated it. Something had changed recently, she still hated him, that was a fact; but Hermione found something beginning to form behind the hate, a warm feeling that she felt whenever she looked at him.

It had started after Harry defeated Voldemort just a couple of months before. Draco's father had been locked away in Azkaban, and without the impending doom of having to serve a muggle-hating psychopath, Draco had begun to relax more. It seemed like she was the only one who had noticed, or maybe not, but she was the only one who was captivated by it.

She'd never really seen Draco Malfoy laugh before. She had heard him snigger and chuckle evilly, but never laugh out of happiness. Now he did. He was still as arrogant and pompous as ever, of course, he wouldn't be Malfoy otherwise, but now he seemed to be less two-dimensional.

It started with her watching him out of curiosity, then interest, then infatuation, and now she was sure she couldn't take her eyes off him for more than one minute. She hated herself for it. For thinking these thoughts while her perfect boyfriend was sitting next to her. Ron was ideal for her, and Malfoy was so wrong, and for that she wanted him badly. If only to quench the thirst, just to see what it was like.

She peeked around her table guiltily; thank goodness no one could hear her thoughts. They would probably choke on their breakfast if they heard her thinking like that, of course she could hardly believe she was thinking like that; but then again, she was a teenager with hormones, and Malfoy just happened to have a great affect on said hormones.

She allowed herself one more peek over at the Slytherin table; there he was with Blaise Zabini on one side and Pansy Parkinson, his girlfriend, on the other. He seemed to be telling them a story of some kind, Pansy was giggling uncontrollably and Blaise nearly spat his pumpkin juice at the person across from him while trying to hold in his laughter. Draco laughed at this, his eyes sparkling. Hermione looked closer at his eyes. She could see how she always thought of his eyes when looking at Ron's. They both reminded her of the sky; Ron's on a sunny day, Draco's on a stormy day. It matched them both perfectly.

Hermione was so deep in thought she didn't notice when the eyes she was so focused on became focused on her own. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Hermione noticed. Draco was looking at her with an amused look on his face and a raised eyebrow. She felt her stomach flutter at his attention but quickly looked down to her cold porridge, blushing. This didn't deter Draco's stare though, he had simply rested his chin on one hand, making himself comfortable while never taking an eye off her.

Hermione could feel his eyes on her, unnerving her. Eventually her head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at the silver haired boy. He simply feigned an innocent expression, while continuing to stare at her. His companions were too busy talking to even notice the silent exchange happening across the room.

Out of stubbornness, Hermione crossed her arms on the table in front of her, her eyes still meeting his. She was determined not to let him win. She wouldn't let him know the effect it had on her. Draco seemed just as determined to win, and unnerve her in any way it seemed.

His tongue slid out of his mouth and traced his bottom lip. Hermione's eyes, much to her attempts at self-control, followed its every move. It took only seconds for the sight of Malfoy seductively licking his lips at her to hypnotise her. She was no longer aware of the people around her, just the beautiful boy across the room.

Moments passed with Hermione watching those lips, that tongue...her own mouth had parted slightly at the sight. She was mesmerized.

Then the sight was gone.

She looked back to the rest of Malfoy's face. He looked pleased with himself, and he was smirking at her. Hermione blushed again; this seemed to satisfy him more as he began grinning. One of his newly found grins. Hermione tried to hold in a smile which crept to her face, but much to her chagrin, was unsuccessful. She looked down, forcing it off her face.

She should not be smiling at Draco Malfoy.

She looked beside her, and relaxed. No one had seen that, thank god. They were all still arguing over the best Quidditch teams. She looked back over to Malfoy who was still smiling at her, but he looked deep in thought. His wand was in his hands. A second later he pointed down toward his own bowl, and then gestured to hers with a quick nod.

Hermione gave him a strange look, but nevertheless looked down at her bowl. The sultanas she had added to her porridge spelled out a messy, three worded message, 'Lake in 10?' Hermione's eyes widened.

He wanted to meet her at the lake in ten minutes? She couldn't believe it. Why would he want to meet her? Explanations flooded her mind; they ranged from evil, to just plain wishful thinking. It was a Sunday, and Harry and Ron were about to go have a casual game of Quidditch. All her plans involved for the day were reading in the library. She felt guilt at the pit of her stomach.

Meeting Malfoy, no matter what he wanted, was wrong. But this might be her only chance to speak to him properly before they went their separate ways. She wasn't sure why it was so important to her, but something told her she should go, the devil on her shoulder she assumed.

She looked back up to gray, questioning eyes, and all her doubts were gone. She gave a quick nod to Malfoy, and turned to those next to her.

"Ron?" he turned from his friends to look at her, smiling. "I'm going to head off now, but have a good game. I'll see you later, alright?" She smiled as he said a quick goodbye and kissed her on the cheek. Hermione got up and strode out the doors of the Great Hall, heading in the direction of the lake. Across the room Draco Malfoy left his friends and headed in the same direction only 5 minutes later.

Hermione sat on the lake shore, leaning against one of the large rocks scattered along it. The weather outside was not the best. It was overcast and stormy. The wind was blowing her hair back; she closed her eyes breathing it in.

What are you doing, Hermione? The guilt in the pit of her stomach fought her again. You lied to Ron just so you could meet Malfoy. That's not like you. You're supposed to be honest and loyal.

She looked down ashamed at her own thoughts, and considered leaving, when the crunch of footsteps on the rocky shore grabbed her attention. Draco Malfoy stood there looking down at her.

"Well, well, Granger. Fancy seeing you here," A small smile played on his lips. Hermione smiled back reluctantly.

"What it is that you wanted to talk about Malfoy?" Hermione hoped her fake innocence would help alleviate some of the guilt. Malfoy wasn't easily fooled. He tilted his head the side and gave her a knowing look.

"I think you know, Granger," She swallowed nervously as he made himself comfortable beside her, leaning his back against the same rock, his arms resting on his bent legs.

"You've become quite interested in 'studying' me over the last few months," he looked pointedly at her, "I've noticed."

Hermione blushed slightly and swallowed nervously. So now he thought she was obsessed with him. How embarrassing...no matter how true it may be. The realisation that she was in fact obsessed made her blush even more.

"I've just noticed a change in you, that's all." She tried to keep her voice as confident as possible, but her nerves could be clearly heard through it.

"I see. And who are you to have noticed a change? We've barely spoken in our seven years here." Hermione became defensive.

"Look," She shot to her feet glaring at the blond boy who was still sitting comfortably, "if you just came to make me feel like an obsessed idiot, then I'm leaving." She turned and began to walk the other way, her feet crunching along the shore, leaving Draco to watch her go.

How could she have been so naive? He was right; she didn't know him in the first place to make judgements about who he was now. From the way he treated her just now, he was still the same condescending, arrogant prat he always was.

She wasn't sure why that thought hurt her so much, but it did. He would never be hers anyway. Ron was perfect for her, comfortable and safe. That thought depressed her even more. She couldn't get rid of the need for Malfoy, though; she still needed to extinguish the longing for him. Suddenly, an idea came to her.

Hermione had been walking briskly in a random direction when she left Malfoy. She hadn't realised it was toward the Forbidden Forest until she stood at the opening between several tall, green trees. She tried to peak through them, but it was too thick to see anything but black.

"Granger, what are you doing?" Malfoy stood about 20 feet away; he started to walk toward her. "Don't even think of going in there, because if you get attacked by a werewolf, don't think I'm saving your life. A Malfoy only looks out for himself, you know." He crossed his arms. He was now only standing a couple of feet away from her.

"Oh please, Malfoy. That just gives me more incentive to go in there; it's the one place I'm certain you won't be! Now, if you'll excuse me." She turned toward the forest and entered through the trees, breaking into a run.

"Bloody hell, Granger!" She heard Malfoy call from outside the thick trees. She then heard him begin to run in after her, "Granger! If you die, I'm going to get the blame for not saving you! Stop being an idiot!"

Hermione smirked. Little did Malfoy know, she knew exactly where she was going.

She ran for what seemed like hours, with Malfoy on her trail not far behind, until she came to an opening in the trees. She stopped, just in time to hear Malfoy trip over a fallen branch not far away and curse loudly.

The opening was completely bare of trees; instead it was curtained by the branches around it. The sunlight shone through in random streams, lighting it up in comparison to the forest around it. In the middle was a small, deep pond, surrounded by beautiful white flowers. The ground surrounding it was covered in fallen leaves. Hermione had found this spot in her fourth year, and she often snuck here to read in peace, after performing the proper charms against the forest creatures, of course.

"Granger, you complete mental case!" Hermione was torn from her thoughts by the sound of Malfoy approaching from behind. "Don't think that just because I followed you in here that I care whether you live or d-," He cut off his rant when he looked in front of him.

"How did you find this place?" He asked moving forward toward the pond.

"I come here to read sometimes. It's my favourite spot at Hogwarts, not including the library." She looked sheepishly at his smirking face.

"No surprises there, Granger. Wait a sec...If you knew this place was here, that means...That means you lured me here!" He looked at her, slightly outraged.

It was Hermione's turn to smirk now, "5 points to Malfoy for using his brain." She said sarcastically. He scowled at her.

"I certainly wouldn't have picked you for the type, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not impressed though." He stood three feet away from her, still admiring the surroundings. He suddenly turned to her, a wary look on his face. "I just hope you didn't bring me here to murder me."

Hermione had to laugh at that. "Like I would go to Azkaban just so I could murder you, however tempting it is that's not why."

He relaxed and let out an exaggerated breath. "Well that's a relief. So why am I here? Let me guess, you wanted to get a little naughty with me, so you dragged me here away from prying eyes, and your clingy boyfriend, so you could take advantage of me." He finished this with a triumphant grin, clearly hoping to get a heated reaction from her.

Hermione looked him in the eye, her face holding a mischievous smile. "Actually, that's exactly right. Another five points to Malfoy, you're good at this." She winked at him. Oh god, since when do I wink? Hermione forced herself to relax, for today, she was someone else.

The look on Malfoy's face was priceless. His grin faltered and faded and his eyes widened at what she had just said. "What?" He looked like he was about to faint. Hermione had to stifle a laugh.

"I said," she stepped toward him slowly, "That's exactly right."

There was a small silence for a few seconds as Malfoy regained his composure. Once relaxed he spoke again.

"Don't you have a boyfriend, Granger? Weasley," He spat the name, "if I'm not mistaken?" He crossed his arms.

"Correct." Hermione said, not giving anything away.

"And you realise I have a girlfriend?" He raised an eyebrow, still not believing what was happening.

"I do. Are you saying you have too much of a conscience, Malfoy? If so, we can go." She turned to walk away, but knew that her comment would snare him.

"I have nothing of the kind." He said quickly, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her toward him. Before Hermione could speak, Draco's lips crushed hers frantically. Seconds later he softened the kiss, massaging her mouth with his own; his tongue entered her mouth, and met her own. Hermione let out a soft moan.

One of his hands grasped her hair at the back of her head, while the other ran down her back and pulled her closer. Hermione had already ravelled her arms around his neck forcing them as close as they would go. They broke apart and gasped for breath, Draco's eyes were glazed over as he stared at her. He kissed her again, this time less frantically. Hermione felt her conscience and willpower leave her, thinking only of the boy in her arms. No one else existed at this moment.

They broke apart once again and stared at each other for a few seconds. Hermione grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it over her head. She was now standing there in her bra and skirt. Draco's eyes followed the length of her body, he reached out to hold her again but saw that she was also slipping her skirt off. He breathed heavily as he watched it shimmy down her waist.

Hermione walked toward the pond. Her back was turned to Draco but he watched every move intently. She unclipped her bra at the back, and let it fall gingerly to the ground. She then pulled her knickers down over her hips, and let them slip down her legs. Draco's breath caught in his throat as he saw her naked body. She was magnificent. He memorised every curve, before she dove into the pond.

She resurfaced seconds later and brushed her hair out of her face with her hands, looking at him expectantly. He strode over to the edge of the pond, while unbuttoning his shirt. It slipped off his shoulders and Hermione took in his muscular chest; he was the most perfect thing she'd ever seen. She couldn't believe she was doing this, but every time she looked at him her doubt was quashed.

He eventually ridded himself of his clothing and dove in, surfacing a few inches in front of Hermione. They were now face to face, with nothing between them any longer. Draco raised his hand and brushed it along her cheek, following the line of her jaw, then down her shoulder and eventually to her hip, which he tightened his grip on as he pulled her toward him.

She could feel his body against hers. Every muscle and every movement was felt by her skin. His rapid heartbeat matched her own. He leaned down to kiss her again. This time the kiss was slow, tender, and gentle. Hermione laced her arms around his head as he deepened the kiss, and they tried to get as close as possible with one another.

Minutes later they broke apart, and looked each other in the eye, their noses still touching. Hermione could feel his warm breath on her face, and it was intoxicating.

Draco's hand ran down her hip to her thigh, he brought it up around his waist, the other followed automatically. He waded over to the edge of the pond and leaned Hermione against it. In one second, the two became one. They both knew there was no going back from this.

Exactly one week after the incident in question, Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table, once again stirring her porridge mindlessly. It was early and there were only a few people up already, she had left before the others awoke. She needed to think.

Hermione was confused, angry, and depressed all at once.

She was sure that day with Draco would have helped her forget him; it was only lust after all. She was sure of it, or at least she used to be sure of it. She was certain one experience would alleviate her attraction towards him, but it had in fact made it worse.

She remembered back to that day. After they had made love, they lay under the trees on a conjured blanket, surrounded in flowers. She remembers how they had made love countless times more. She remembered him holding her in his arms as she rested against his chest. They seemed to get along in that moment, laughing about things and talking like they were lovers, friends, not enemies, not strangers. It was at that moment that Hermione's doubts about Draco had been proven wrong; he had changed, but he was still the same. The funny thing was she didn't mind that, and actually came to like it.

As the day wore on, they lay there, still. They had performed charms to hide from the forest creatures and to keep them away, and as they stared up at the sun moving in the sky the forest got darker and darker. Dragonflies had come out and were flying above them, she remember how one had landed on Draco's nose while his eyes were closed.

She found herself smiling at the memory. She realised her mistake and quashed the feeling, looking around to make sure no one was watching. Look at yourself, Hermione. You're turning into a nervous wreck. If you had nothing to hide you'd have nothing to feel guilty about.

Hermione had come to a realisation. It wasn't the change in Draco that made her attracted to him; it was his changes that had made her notice him more, and look at him in a different light. She was sure the attraction was always there, but it had always been laced with hate and resentment.

The moment she looked at him with more than just a scowl, or to retort to a rude comment, was the day she could pin point as her down-fall. She was scared, because she no longer hated him. She just wanted him even more than she had before.

She remembered leaving the forest that afternoon. Draco had kissed her goodbye and ran toward the castle, a leaf still in his hair. She felt free that day, she felt like her plan had worked. That she had quenched her thirst for him, but she was wrong.

As the days wore on, she found herself thinking about him even more. The way he kissed, touched, the way he had breathed her name right next to her ear as they made love. The thoughts made her stomach do flips. She knew she was in love with him. The guilt ate away at her.

I've just made everything worse. She let her head fall in her hands. Her breathing increased in pace, she felt herself on the verge of a panic attack. She hadn't realised that the hall was now filling up with late rising students.

"Mione? Are you ok?" It was Ron. She turned to look at him, he was eyeing her with a concerned look on his face, his hand found its way to her shoulder.

Oh god. He still looks at me like I'm the most perfect thing. I don't deserve him. Not at all.

Harry was next to Ron now, also looking concerned. "Hermione, what's wrong? You don't look well..."

She simply sat there staring at Ron, her thoughts running a million miles an hour through her head.

Please just realise on your own that I'm not worth it. Stop looking at me like that. Why do you have to love me so much?

Across the hall the Slytherin table was filling up. Draco was seated between his girlfriend and Blaise. He was buttering a piece of toast, while his fellow Slytherins chatted amongst themselves. He let his eyes wander the hall. The Hufflepuff table was boring as ever, so he quickly lost focus on that. The Ravenclaw table was much the same. Bloody hell, doesn't anyone at this school do anything interesting? His eyes then fell on the Gryffindor table, or on three Gryffindors in particular, The Golden Trio.

Something seemed to be wrong between them. Weasley and Potter were staring at Hermione, their faces filled with worry. Hermione looked shaken, guilty, upset.

Draco bit into his toast. He wasn't surprised she was feeling that way after what happened last week. He had known it was just a lack of judgement on her part, a moment of insanity, and that she had probably been sick with guilt all week. He, on the other hand, had not felt guilt at all. Sure he was with Pansy, but that was more a relationship of convenience, than passion, at least in his opinion anyway.

He was betrothed to Pansy since they were little, no point in fighting the inevitable, but it doesn't mean he could have fun along the way, right?

Hermione was definitely what he called fun. He loved that she was passionate, loyal and-

Did you just say you loved something about Granger? Dear god, you're losing it.

He thought for a second while staring at the girl across the room. The annoying thing was he didn't feel loathing toward her anymore. Just an urge to take her on the table here and now, he didn't care who was watching.

He shifted in his seat and looked around. That's it. I'm definitely bloody losing it.

It was supposed to be just sex. Just a onetime thing, nothing more, but he still wanted her with a burning passion that went right through him. She was supposed to just be another victory, another notch on his belt, he was supposed to just get what he wanted from her and that would be it.

The thing was, it wasn't as simple as that. Since that day with Hermione-Why are you still calling her by her first name? Since that day with Granger, he had been turning down Pansy's advances on a regular basis. He had also turned down a couple of Ravenclaws, one other Slytherin, and a Hufflepuff. Though he would have turned the Hufflepuff down regardless, but still, this was unusual for him.

Perhaps I need to be with her a few more times, maybe then I'll get bored and I can go back to normal?

That sounded like a good plan. He wouldn't mind sleeping with her a few more times. That had to be it; he just wanted to conquer her a few more times. She had always been untouchable, the one he wasn't supposed to have. That's why he still wanted her. That was definitely it. If you say so. He looked back over at her, she was standing up speaking something to her to idiotic friends, she was smiling the most pathetic excuse for a fake smile ever and then she left, leaving the two boys looking at each other concerned. They didn't go after her though; they just shrugged and sat down, digging into their breakfast.

Malfoy on the other hand abandoned his breakfast, and sauntered casually out the hall. He was about to do some propositioning of a certain Gryffindor. She wouldn't resist him though, who could possibly resist him?