Here's chapter seven. Now we're back on schedule! I'll definitely try my best to get a chapter up every Sunday from now on. If not, there will be two every other weekend, like there has been for the last four weeks. Enjoy lovelies!

-R

"Are you saying you're attracted to me, Granger?" Draco asked, rather surprised at her last remark. Hermione stopped where she was and turned to look at him. They were standing a few feet apart. Hermione's hands clasped nervously in front of her, and she bit her lip.

"I'm saying you're attractive. There's no denying that, Malfoy. You know how you look, you tend to publicize it whenever possible." Hermione responded.

"That's not a denial," Malfoy observed, closing the distance between them. He stopped about a foot away. Hermione stared at her shoes for a minute before looking back up at him. She was blushing a little.

"Let's just finish our rounds. It's getting late." Hermione stated, turning and walking briskly away from him. Draco stood in shock for a few moments before running after her.

"Granger, what...?"

"Nothing, Malfoy." She snapped. "Let's just get this over with. Please."

He was completely baffled. They had gone from playful banter to...he didn't even know, in approximately thirty seconds.

She was embarrassed. He had deduced that, but why? Because she was attracted to him? Why would that embarrass her? Unless she thought he was going to ridicule her for it. That is something he would've done in the past. But surely she knew that things were different now? The circumstances weren't the same, he himself had changed. He didn't care about blood status anymore, if that's what she was thinking. He really just cared about her.

"Granger, wait," he called. She appeared to speed up. He jogged after her, grabbing her wrist. She immediately yanked it out of his grasp.

"Don't, Malfoy," she insisted, avoiding eye contact. He his hands on either side of her head, forcing her to face him.

"Look at me, Hermione," he murmured. She glanced up at him at his use of her first name, eyes wide. They stood like that for a few moments, his hands on her face, just staring at each other. He couldn't help it. He leaned in.

Hermione did nothing to stop him. Their lips touched. Draco was tentative, waiting for her to respond, to reciprocate his kiss. Just when he was about to pull away, she sighed and leaned into him, moving her lips with his. His hand moved from either side of her head to her lower back and neck. She fisted one hand in his hair, the other one running up and down his chest. It was the perfect first kiss; better than he ever could have imagined.

He opened his mouth a little in an attempt to deepen the kiss, but she seemed to remember herself and pulled away immediately. She looked up at him in shock, breathing hard. She looked like she was about to have a panic attack. "Hermione," Draco started, trying to reassure her, but she interrupted him.

"Don't Malfoy. Please." Her voice broke a little and she turned and ran towards the stairs. Malfoy watched her go. When she was out of sight he swore, turning and almost punching the wall, before thinking better of it. A broken hand would get him nowhere with Hermione, and it would fucking hurt.

He sighed, and started toward the dungeons. If Hermione was going to abandon patrols, then so was he.

"So she just ran away?" Pansy repeated. Draco sighed exasperatedly.

"Yes, Pansy. That's what I just said," Draco replied.

"That blows," Theo said. Draco scoffed, burying his head in his hands.

"So what's your next move?" Blaise asked. Draco looked up at him.

"My next move?" he reiterated.

"Yeah. What are you going to do next?" Blaise enunciated slowly. Draco looked at him blankly.

"Well, obviously she hates me, so, nothing," Draco replied miserably.

"Okay, don't be absurd, she doesn't hate you," Pansy spoke up. "She's probably just confused. She's not used to guys being interested in her, and all of a sudden you are and you're being very nice to her and she likes you but she's not sure why. And then you kiss her and she likes it. I mean, at least I think she liked it. And she's confused because you've been horrendous to her for the entirety of the time that you've known each other. Not to mention the fact that her best friends continue to hate you and she should hate you, but she doesn't. She also probably feels like she's betrayed her friends and, you know, the entire Light Side by kissing you. She also probably thinks it's a prank of some sort and that she's about experience some terrible humiliation."

Draco stared at her. "How could you possibly assume all that?"

Pansy lifted a finger and pointed to herself. "Female," she stated, as if that should explain everything.

Pansy did have a point. Many points, actually. "Should I go talk to her?" He asked her.

"Yes, definitely," she answered. "She's probably still awake. In fact, she's probably agonizing over what just happened. I think you should come out and tell her how you feel. It's not like you have a lot to lose at this point." Draco sighed.

"Okay, I'm going."

Hermione had collapsed on her bed as soon as she had gotten back to her room. She had all but directly admitted she was attracted to Malfoy. He had kissed her. She had liked it. What was happening to her?

Her face was flushed, her heart was racing. This was a disaster. Harry and Ron would be furious with her if they found out. And they would murder Draco. It was all probably a practical joke too. The whole Slytherin House was most likely in on it. She would positively die of embarrassment once everyone found out. She would probably have to move to America to escape the humiliation. She would die alone and no one would come to her funeral. Everything was ruined.

But she refused to cry. She would not waste any tears on that, that ferret. She would, however, weep freely once her friends abandoned her and all was lost.

She heard a knock at the her door; the one connected to her and Draco's common room. It was him.

"Hermione, please come to the door."

She wished he would stop using her first name. She enjoyed the way it rolled off his tongue too much. His tongue.

"Please go away, Malfoy," she moaned, rolling over and burying her face in her comforter.

"Hermione, I know you think this is some sort of practical joke, but I swear to you it's not. Please, let's talk about it," Draco pleaded. There was something in his voice that motivated her to get up. Once she was standing, she sighed, slowly starting towards the door.

She opened it a crack. He was standing there, leaning on the doorway. He looked disheveled. She realized she probably did too.

"Hermione," he sighed. She couldn't do this. Not when he was looking at her like...like that. She went to close the door, but he grabbed it with his hand and pushed it open. She squeaked and stepped away from him. "May I come in?"

She nodded warily. He came in and took both her hands in his. "Hermione, I know you think this is a prank, but it's not, I promise. I-"

"Why should I believe you?" Hermione demanded, yanking her hands out of his. He opened his mouth to provide an answer, but he realized that she was right. She didn't have any reason to believe him.

"You'll just have to trust me, Granger," he responded. "Hermione, I know you'll find this hard to believe but I-I..." She looked at him expectantly but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. Emotions were never his strong suit. He moved towards her. "Just let me show you, Hermione." He put one hand on her waist. She didn't push him away, so he put the other one on the back of her head.

"Draco," she started, heart beating furiously. This was a bad idea. He didn't let her finish the protest. He kissed her, passionately. He didn't wait for her to give him permission to enter her mouth, he simply did. She responded immediately. She couldn't help it. Draco Malfoy was a damn good kisser.

She bit his lip and he growled into her mouth, wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing her against him. She brought her hands up to his chest, and for a moment he thought she was going to push him away, but she pulled his shirt from his trousers and slipped her hands under it, caressing his stomach and back. He broke away, gasping.

"Hermione."

She stilled, and looked up at him. His eyes are seriously beautiful, she thought. "So what, exactly, was that supposed to show me?" she asked innocently. She was standing on her tip-toes, and their arms were wrapped tightly around each other. He touched his forehead to hers, noses touching as well.

"I like you, Granger," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Oh," Hermione replied, smiling as well. She tried to contain it by biting down on her lip.

He laughed and pulled away. "Oh? Are you serious?" She shrugged.

"This is all very sudden, you have to admit," Hermione said.

"True," Draco conceded.

"Since when have you felt this way, Malfoy?" Hermione wondered.

"Since very recently," he lied.

"I see," Hermione mumbled. They stood still for a while, just holding each other. "Well, would you like to stay for a while then, Draco?" He beamed at her, and Hermione had to physically stop herself from swooning.

"I would love to stay, Hermione."

So, in the beginning of the chapter, Draco says that "it's the perfect first kiss". I just wanted to clarify that it doesn't necessarily mean that it's his or Hermione's first kiss, I just mean that it's their first kiss. And of course, it's awesome, because I mean, Draco Malfoy. And eep, the kissing scenes. It's the first time I've ever written anything of that sort so please, let me know what you thought. Feel free to criticize, I love any feedback.

Review, review, review! I adore your reviews so leave them, always.

Mwah, until next Sunday!

-R