I'll Always Love You.

Hermione chewed the end of her pencil as she read through the exam in Transfiguration.

What does Human Transfiguration replicate the natural ability of?

She snorted at the easy question and quickly wrote down Metamorphmagi. Since she could remember, she never had a problem when it came to taking test or studying. It came naturally to her, which is why other students called her a bookworm. She just hoped one day a professor would surprise her and make it challenging. She finished the rest of the exam with some time to spare. Without a thought, she looked towards the front and found Draco writing down an answer with grin. With a look of satisfaction, he closed the paper and leaned back in the chair. Suddenly, she jumped as Ginny poke her in the side to get her attention. She was about yell when her best friend passed her a folded up note. With a look of confusion, she opened it.

So, how did it go?

Rolling her eyes, she started to reply when the ball rang. Throwing the piece of paper in the trash, she gathered the rest of her belongings and followed the class into the hallway.

“I don’t appreciate my notes being thrown out,” Ginny mentioned as she appeared beside Hermione.

“You’ll live,” she laughed at her friend as they walked into the Great Hall for lunch.

“You’re lucky I’m even speaking to you,” her friend crossed her arms as she sat the table. “You never told me what happened last night.”

“Not my fault you were asleep when I came in.”

Ginny raised an eyebrow, “What about this morning?”

Hermione gave her an innocent look, “I forgot?”

The red head snorted and grabbed a green apple, “Bull.”

Hermione smiled and grabbed herself some lunch. She wanted to tell Ginny about last night, she really did, but for some odd reason there was a part of her that wanted to keep it to herself. Maybe it was the fact that the date wasn’t as horrible as she thought it would be, except for the part where Draco decided to scare her.

“I’ll just find out myself,” Ginny said and looked behind her with a mischievous grin.

Confused, Hermione turned to see Draco walking towards the Slytherin table and widen her eyes as Ginny yelled him over. She covered her face with a groan and tried to leave, but Ginny grabbed her hand before she could move.

“Good afternoon ladies,” he greeted with a smirk.

“Good afternoon,” Ginny replied and pointed at the empty spot beside Hermione. “Would you like to join us?”

Hermione snapped her head up and glared at her best friend, but she only beamed.

“I’d love too.”

This can’t get any worse, she thought to herself as Draco made himself comfortable.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking,“ Ginny began and looked at Draco with a sweet smile. “Were you a perfect gentleman last night?”

I stand corrected.

She went to say something but Ginny beat her to it.

“It seems my best friend is hiding things from me nowadays.”

Suddenly, Draco’s eyes lit with mischief as his smirk grew into a grin.

“I’ll tell you what happened.”

Ginny almost bounced out of her chair with excitement.

Draco turned so he was facing Hermione, “It seems your best friend likes the taste of Slytherins.”

Then her mouth dropped in shock.

“His lying Gin, “Hermione almost slapped him. “Nothing happened.”

“Oh?” Draco grabbed her hips so she almost sat in his lap. “I seemed to remember the way you moaned my name last night.”

The red head’s mouth dropped further, if that was even possible.

Hermione wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Or at least hide. She looked towards the front entrance to avoid glancing at her best friend and found the Patil twins walking to their table. It seemed her guardian angel lived up to its reputation as she realized she still needed to talk to a Ravenclaw and this was a way for her to leave. Without saying goodbye, she roughly pushed Draco away, grabbed her book bag and quickly ran off. She knew Ginny would get her eventually, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t drag it out.

“Hello Hermione,” Padma Patil greeted once she spotted her.

“Hello, “she replied and she could feel Ginny’s eyes burning a hole into her back. “How’s your afternoon going?”

“Okay,” Parvati Patil mentioned. “We just had Potions.”

“That’s awful,“ Hermione smiled sympathetically. “Do you two have a minute?”

They both nodded and she beckoned them into the hallway. For the next five minutes she asked questions about The Gray Lady, hoping to get some insight. The twins helped as much as they could by mentioning she resided in the Ravenclaw Tower but can only be see every full moon. Realizing tonight was her only shot in discovering the diadem, she thanked the twins and quickly ran off to prepare.

***

Peeking around the empty hallway that falling night, Hermione quickly moved out from behind a statue and made her way towards her destination. She glanced out the window to found out she had a small amount of time before the moon completely set and increased her footsteps. As quickly as she could, she ran up the steps towards the Ravenclaw Tower and stop in the exact location the Patil twins told her to be. When the Gray Lady didn’t show in the last five minutes, she grew nervous and looked out the window again, knowing she still had more time for the full moon disappeared.

“Come on,” she whispered to herself and hoped for a miracle.

She so was wrapped up in the moment that she failed to hear the footsteps behind her.

“You know,” a deep voice began, “if I didn’t know you any better, I’d think you were meeting someone up here.”

Turning around quickly, she looked at Draco in disbelief, “What are you doing here?”

“I followed you,” he shrugged like it didn’t matter. “I knew something was going on when you rushed off to talk to the Patil twins at lunch this afternoon and I grew curious.”

Looking back at the window, Hermione realized a quarter of the full moon was missing. Knowing the opportunity would be lost, she started to push Draco down the stairs.

“You need to leave.”

““Does Granger have a boyfriend?” he resisted without a problem and turned to look up at her with a smirk. “It seems you do have a naughty side in you.”

“Please,” she begged and tried to grab his shoulder.

“Now, now,” he pushed past her and crossed his arms that reminded Hermione of a demanding parent. “Who is this bloke that’s got you so twisted?”

Afraid to look out the window once again, she turned and felt her heart dropped into her stomach. It was gone. The only resemblance of the full moon left was the casted light on the school grounds.

“I missed her,” Hermione whispered to no one as the rest of the world became dark.

“What?” Draco looked at her confused.

Suddenly, her whole body lit up with anger as she turned to look at him. This was his fault. If he hadn’t shown, The Gray Lady would be here and she wouldn’t feel like she messed up big time. Deep down, she didn’t actual know that, but it was easier to blame someone else.

“You did this,” she spat with venom.

Draco backed up as she pushed his shoulders roughly, “What are you talking about?”

“If you hadn’t shown,” she began and pushed him again, “this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Granger I do---“

Hermione felt the stinging in her hand as Draco’s head twisted to the side. She went to hit him again until he grabbed her wrist hard enough to leave a bruise and pushed her into the nearest wall.

“I’ll only say this once Granger, “he began with a murderous look, “you’re lucky I was caught off guard because I would’ve put your head on a spike.”

Hermione pushed him off and started to attack him yet again. Draco went to retaliate until he saw the tears running down her face and stop, allowing her to scratch his neck. Grabbing her arms softly this time, he held them at her side and looked at her with concern. He could never resist a crying woman.

“Why are you crying?”

She sniffed, “It’s your fault.”

“What is?”

“You ruined everything,” she yelled and pulled out of his grasp to run down the stairs.

Hermione didn’t make it very far as she tripped over his foot and lost her balance. She watched Draco’s face turn into horror and closed her eyes to brace herself for the fall. When she didn’t feel any pain, she looked up to find the Slytherin’s arms wrapped around her waist and her hands gripping his shirt.

“You caught me,” she mentioned with shock and loosened her fingers.

“I wouldn’t have let you fall Granger,” Draco gave her a small smile. “No matter how annoying you are.”

She laughed as Draco’s smile turned into a grin until she noticed their faces were inches apart. Hermione didn’t know how or what happened, but all she could think about was the way his body felt against her own. She could hear the soft whisper of his breath as he exhaled and tightened his hold, leaving no room between their bodies. Looking up at him, his eyes locked with hers and the world around them disappeared as he brought his head closer. As she felt the softness of his lips, Hermione gathered her senses just in time and pushed them apart. They looked at each other until she turned and ran down the stairs.