Brown eyes stared into grey. "Y-you really...love me?" Hermione asked, skepticism furrowing her brow. "Yes! I do, I always have," Draco responded fervently, hoping she believed him. It had broken his heart when she went with that stupid arse Ronald Weasley. He had only broken her heart. Draco had seen the fiasco at the Yule Ball, sniggering with Crabbe and Goyle, hoping that they would never talk again. Alas, the trio stuck together. The years after that were terrifying. The Dark Lord in his home, killing a teacher right in front of his eyes. His father was locked up in Azkaban, his mother crying softly every night, trying to ensure Draco didn't hear her, but he always did. This year was different. He was older. Wiser, maybe. Hardened by the trials he had gone through, like tempered steel. Hermione softened him. He fell in love with her hair, her eyes, her laugh. That smile which was so hard to elicit, but once he managed to, lit up a room. It had been very difficult even gaining her friendship, considering the torment he used to cause her and her idiot friends. "Just a few years ago, I was a Mudblood. Now, I'm your love?" Hermione hissed, pulling up her sleeve to reveal "Mudblood" etched into her arm, deep, magical scratches an echo of the torture at Malfoy Manor. "Is this a plot, Draco? Butter me up the whole year, nearly seduce me," she said with a wry chuckle, "And then what? Break my heart and run right back to your Pureblood Slytherin friends?" "No! Of course not! How do I make you see that I do truly love you?" He raked his hands through his platinum hair, nearly missing Hermione's whisper. "K-kiss me."

And that's all MWAHAHAAHAHAAAA I WON'T WRITE MORE WITHOUT SUGGESTIONS THIS ISN'T MY BEST WRITING BC I WROTE IT IN LIKE FIVE MINUTES BUT I CAN DO BETTER JUST OWL ME