"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

- John Green

*****

He was at first confused when he opened his eyes.

Something was missing, and - in his still sluggish state - he couldn't work out what.

And then, he knew, and his arms suddenly felt horrifically empty knowing that he'd fallen asleep with her in them and now there was nothing there.

Sitting bolt upright, he looked around from the bed, hoping for a sign of her. Surely he hadn't dreamt it, the burden of his secret so heavy that he had vividly imagined pouring it all out to her?

He shook his head, trying to dispel the doubts. It had been real, he knew it. But then that must mean she woke up, took one glimpse at the offending Mark on his arm and realised what a mistake she had made. She was quite possibly up in Dumbledore's office right that second, informing him of what Draco was doing.

For all he knew, Aurors would be on the way to arrest him at any minute and he'd be in a cell next to his father before the hour was up.

Or even worse, Voldemort had somehow found out that he'd had 'inappropriate relations' with a Muggle-born, and was sending Death Eaters out to kill him.

He was catastrophizing, he knew. He did it a lot these days. But then it was difficult not to when, in his experience of late, the worst always tended to happen.

He couldn't breathe, the tightening in his chest getting worse. Flashing white lights began to obscure his vision as his throat all but closed up, and he went to loosen his collar, but, of course, he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Breathe, he told himself, just fucking breathe, you big pussy!

And then the door suddenly flew open, and in walked a big pile of books.

"Oh good, you're awake," Hermione Granger's cheery voice spoke as her head bobbed up from behind them. "I thought I'd get in early to the library, I know prefects are allowed in the restricted section without permission, but I didn't want anyone asking questions on why I was getting so much material out on dark magic. Anyway, I think I may have some good ones here, but a trip to somewhere like Knockturn Alley might prove more useful for what we need. Perhaps I could convince Harry to lend me his Invisibility Cloak, but with the insufferable way he is these days that might not be my brightest idea. Oh, and I thought I'd pick us up some breakfast to start the day so I swung by the kitchen on my way down. The house-elves were ever so accommodating when I explained it was for us. They never forget an act of kindness, you see. A simple fact owners like Sirius would have done well to remember."

She walked over to the desk and dumped the dozen or so books down. Then, reaching into her satchel, she retrieved from it a brown paper bag which she flourished proudly in front of her. "Continental this morning, my favourite!"

Stunned, Draco just stared at her, saying nothing as she skipped towards the bed and dropped the breakfast bag in his lap, before returning at once to the pile of books on his desk.

He peered inside. It contained two croissants, two green apples and two bottles of water.

He glanced back up, speechless. She had sat herself down at his desk, humming away as she pulled the large dusty tome from the top of the pile and began to leaf through the many, many pages.

"How- how did you get back in here?" He croaked, eventually finding his voice which was hoarse and still thick with sleep.

"I used your wand," she said brightly, turning to him with a smile that caused his heart to flutter. "Don't worry, I left you mine." She nodded towards his night stand where, indeed, her own wand lay. "I would have asked but you were fast asleep and I didn't want to disturb you. I mean, I could have taken mine and just blasted your door down à la Harry, but I thought this way was a lot less dramatic."

He swallowed, a million questions still buzzing around his head.

"But why the books?"

Abandoning the desk, and the book she was already a third of the way through, Hermione stood up and walked over to the bed, the mattress lifting as she sat down on the edge beside him and reached into the bag for one of the apples.

"I'm going to try and get you back your freedom," she said, glancing down at the skull with the serpent tongue on his left arm. "I don't believe for a second there isn't a way to remove it."

Draco just looked at her in disbelief as she took a large bite of apple. He blinked, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"You're really trying to help me?" He murmured quietly, his heart beginning to thud at an accelerated pace. "Even though you know what I am?"

Her mouth still full of apple, she simply nodded, smiling as soft tendrils of long dark wavy hair fell around her heart shaped face. He gazed into her large brown bambi-like eyes which looked as though they could stare right into your soul, and felt a comforting warmth spread over him.

Right then, she had never looked more beautiful to him.

"You are not a bad person, Draco," she whispered once she had swallowed down the mouthful of apple. She reached out and entwined her fingers with his, her hands feeling ever so soft and warm and giving Draco an immediate sense of calm. "If you were, I don't think I would be sat here right now, would I?"

It was at that exact moment (he so he would later reflect on in life) when he, Draco Malfoy, fell hopelessly and unequivocally in love with Hermione Granger.

And he hadn't even boned her yet.

*****