It was nothing out of the ordinary, he explained. Just a small room a little way down from the Slytherin quarters.

"Doesn't it make you feel segregated from the rest of them, though?" I asked as we passed the wall where I knew the secret entrance to the Slytherin common room lay.

He glanced down at me as we continued along our way. "And what's wrong with that? I am different from the rest of them."

I tried not to roll my eyes but the urge was too much. His lips curved into a smirk, clearly pleased to get a reaction out of me.

"Wouldn't you rather fit in?" I asked, suddenly curious as to what goes on in his platinum blonde head. "I know when I first started here, being from a family of Muggles, it separated me somehow, and I longed to belong properly. I never felt I did though... I still don't, if I'm to be honest."

Draco stilled, stopping in his tracks as he turned to face me, his eyes full of regret - something that I was growing accustomed to seeing in him lately.

"I'm sorry," he murmured woefully, "I couldn't have helped."

That was a fucking understatement.

I shrugged. "You learn to take it. Not that you should. But there comes a point in life when you realise that you can't change people - they can only change themselves."

I suppose the question I really wanted to ask him was, could he, Draco Malfoy, change? Because knowing that he could would be the only way I could even start to begin to forgive him for all the years of verbal abuse he'd given me.

But I decided to save the question for another time seeing as he was about to treat a wound on my head, and I didn't want to piss him off.

He seemed to take in my words, though, his expression remaining thoughtful as we walked the rest of the way silently through the dungeons, only stopping when we reached a rather nondescript black door which he tapped open with his wand.

Yet, rather than go straight inside, Draco appeared to hesitate, hovering at the threshold.

"Everything okay?" I asked, trying to peer over his shoulder, wondering what the hold up was.

He turned to face me, and I could see a look of apprehension in his eyes. Then, to my surprise, he held his wand out to me.

"Take it," he urged, moving to press it into my hand, "I want you to feel safe."

"Really, there's no need-" I said hastily, declining to accept it.

"You just got attacked. Now, I can tell you that I have no intention of harming you - and I don't, by the way. But you don't know that. You can't take my word, you shouldn't take my word. But you can take my wand, and make sure that you're protected."

"How do you know that I won't attack you?"

His head gave a tiny jerk and I could clearly see that I'd had him there. "Damn it, Granger, just humour me for once, would you, and take it."

Smirking, I complied, curling my fingers around the ten inch hawthorn stick. I wasn't sure if it was just my tired and disoriented mind, but I could have sworn it vibrated a little, as though coming alive under my touch.

Whether Draco noticed it or not, I couldn't be sure. But he gave me a curious look before stepping aside and flourishing a hand out to the room in front of him.

"After you."

I threw him a warm smile as I moved past him. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside, tentatively looking around at my surroundings.

It was everything I'd expected. Green. It contained a giant four poster bed, with matching dark oak furniture, including his very own desk in the corner. In addition, there sat a black leather sofa against the wall, a door to where I presumed his bathroom lay, and a huge walk-in wardrobe.

"Very nice," I complimented, nodding impressively around me. "So, who do you have to kill around here to get a room like this?"

I looked back over my shoulder, my smile freezing on my lips as I noticed the little colour in his face completely draining, giving him the look of someone who had just seen a ghost.

"I was just kidding," I said at once, the panic in his eyes troubling me. "I assumed your family's vast fortune got you the room."

After a moment's hesitation, his face visibly relaxed, his lips curving into a smile. "Are you suggesting that our headmaster is taking bribes?"

"Maybe," I shrugged. "It's got to cost a fair bit running a free school in a magnificent castle like this."

"I haven't had it for long, to be honest," he confessed, closing the door. "Snape pulled some strings over the summer to get it organised. In fact, you're my very first visitor."

My eyes widened in surprise. "But... what about Pansy-?"

"What about her?" He was staring at me with interest now, his hands tucked idly in his trouser pockets as he patiently awaited my response.

"Doesn't she come over for like... sleepovers?" My gaze inadvertently rested on the bed, my face growing hot at imagining all sorts of x-rated things that could have happened between the silk sheets.

"Why would she do that, Granger?" I could hear the hint of a smile in his voice. Feel his eyes watching me curiously.

"Isn't she your girlfriend?" I asked airily, keeping my voice light and indifferent.

"No. I don't do relationships."

"But you went with her to the Yule Ball," I said, feeling a flicker of confusion. "I thought-"

"So? One date doesn't constitute a relationship, Granger. Neither does the occasional kiss... which I do do, by the way."

A silence fell, and I found myself suddenly feeling very flustered as I recalled the way he'd kissed me and how good it had made me feel.

I began fanning myself with my hand. "Gosh, it's rather warm in here, isn't it?"

His eyes danced in amusement, lips twitching at the corners.

"Take a seat," he offered, "I'll just fetch my medi-kit and then I'll take a look at your head."

I decided the sofa would be the safest bet. I perched myself down, waiting for Draco to return from the bathroom. He joined me soon after, a small silver tin in hand which he placed on the floor by his feet.

"Here," he said, sitting so close, I could smell the citrusy scent of his cologne. I closed my eyes as his hand went to my head, his fingers gently coaxing my hair aside.

"There's a small cut," he murmured softly, his warm breath tickling my neck, "but I think I can fix it with a spell."

"What's the tin for then?" I asked as I passed him back his wand.

"The odd potion and lotion," he shrugged. "I've even got a bezoar, just in case. Now hold still, it'll probably hurt a bit, but I promise you this is the best way to fix it."

I braced myself as he began to mutter a spell that I'd never heard before, and I instantly felt the wound on my head knitting together. I sharply sucked in air between my teeth, the pain making me feel nauseous.

It was over in less than two minutes. As soon as he lowered his wand he reached down for his tin and removed from inside it a small glass vial containing a deep purple liquid.

"You'll need this for the pain," he said, pressing it into my hand as soon as I turned back round to face him. "Otherwise you'll never sleep tonight. Which, by the way, I think you should do here. You can have the bed, of course. I'll take the sofa."

Woah. Stay the night in Draco Malfoy's bed?! With him right there sleeping like a gentleman on the sofa?

"Draco, seriously, there's no need." I rushed out, having not expected such a blunt invitation.

"Yes, there is." He said in a voice that told me he wasn't to be argued with. "You've had a head injury and need someone with you in case of concussion."

"Some of us sleep in a shared dormitory, you know." I reminded him, although I doubted any of my dorm mates would notice I was dead until the rigor mortis set in, and even then all they'd do was just complain about the smell.

"I want to make sure you are alright, though," Draco pressed. "And I'm no Madam Pomfrey, but I do know a few things about medicine."

"Draco Malfoy the Healer." I said impressively. "I think we've found your future career."

Our eyes met, lips simultaneously pulling into smiles. And just like that time in the library, I felt that electric charge in the air and I found myself forgetting how to breathe properly.

His smile faltered and fell as though he had felt something too.

"I'm sorry," he murmured quite suddenly into the silence, grey eyes piercing solemnly into mine.

"For what?" I frowned in confusion - was he apologising for taking my breath away?

He held my gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he swallowed. "For stealing your first kiss."

I looked away, just as my heart skipped a beat.

"It's okay," I said, feeling flustered.

"No- it isn't," he said fiercely. "After what I saw McLaggen doing to you, I realised it wasn't okay. He disgusted me. No one should treat you like that, and what I did wasn't much better."

I looked back up at him, the sincerity in his eyes causing my pulse to quicken. Being this close to him, I could see just how tired he really looked, the dark shadows beneath his eyes, the grey tinge to his pale skin. My heart actually ached for him and I longed to touch my hand to his cheek, to offer him a small piece of comfort.

"What you did... it was misguided." I said. "But you're nothing like Cormac. He's a pig."

He wrinkled his nose, scoffing. "But pigs are cute, and McLaggen certainly isn't."

"You think pigs are cute?" I raised my eyebrows, my lips tugging back into a smile.

"Yes, why not?" He shrugged. "They get unfair press. And they're no more greedy than dogs or humans, so why do people refer to the excessively selfish as pigs?"

"We can call him a cunt, if you'd prefer?"

His eyes widened, a flicker of amusement dancing in his silver irises.

"Why, Granger," he drawled, a smirk twitching at his lips, "I didn't think I'd ever hear your mouth utter such a word."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Malfoy."

"Clearly." Pocketing his wand, he got to his feet and silently strode across the room to his walk in wardrobe.

He re-emerged seconds later, carrying what looked like a green Quidditch top in his hand.

"You can wear this," he said, dropping it into my lap. "You'll find my bathroom is equipped with spares of everything. Oh, and take this too, of course." He added, handing me back his wand.

"No..." I said firmly, immediately handing the wand back. "I trust you, Draco."

To my surprise, he didn't take this statement at all well, his face immediately hardening as a fierce scowl furrowed his brow.

"You shouldn't," he growled. "You shouldn't trust me, Granger."

"Well, I do," I said simply. And to show him, I unstoppered the vial of potion he'd given me, and knocked it back in one go.

It was literally like... magic. The pain in my head vanished completely, my whole body relaxing from no longer having to endure it.

"What is this?" I breathed, looking down in wonderment at the empty glass bottle in my hand.

"It hasn't got a name," he shrugged, "it's just something I concocted myself. I like to experiment in our lab at home."

"And it's safe?" I asked, failing to hide how impressed I was.

"Perfectly," he smirked, folding his arms across his chest, "and for the brightest witch in our year, Granger, you are extremely idiotic for not asking these questions before drinking it. But luckily for you, all my potions have been House-elf tested."

I looked up sharply, my mouth falling open in horror.

"What?" He asked, his eyebrows raised, baffled by my reaction.

I felt a familiar sense of outrage stir inside of me as I pictured my little S.P.E.W. box nestled safely in my trunk back in my dormitory, an impassioned speech already forming at the tip of my tongue.

"Let me tell about a little campaign of mine..."

Oh boy. Draco Malfoy was about to find out just who the real Hermione Jean Granger was.

*****