Count Your Blessings

A/N: I've decided to take a different direction with this story. Originally it was going to be cut short with Hermione falling for Draco during their escapades but I enjoy the idea of secret courting. Hopefully you all do too! I already have a few key chapters I'm in the process of writing and they'll be fantasmic, hopefully.

Avanell, HarryGinny4eva and Dreamweaver: I had to type in size 8 font on a really tiny laptop on the plane because this elderly woman next to me kept trying to peak at what I was writing. It was horrible. Their first time was supposed to be in more detail but the prying eyes of the old bag made it not so =(

Thanks to everyone who commented and/or reviewed!

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When they woke up after their first night together, Draco had said nothing. She wasn't even aware that he was awake before her. Not until her eyes fluttered open and two larg beautiful windows appeared and rained on them a shower of bright light. Apparently, the Room of Requirement was trying to tell them that it was morning. Her gaze focused on two bright cobalt blue orbs, which turned out to be almond shaped eyes attached to a very wide awake Draco Malfoy. He was staring down at her, watching her sleep. Why? She didn't snore, not to her recollection. Nor did she sleep with her mouth wide open. She slept like any normal person, or so she thought anyway.

Her eyes danced along the messed tuff of blond hair that hung low over Draco's face, almost covering those eyes of his. Of course, even a paper bag over his head couldn't conceal those beautiful gems. Beautiful gems? What in the world was she thinking? Especially about Draco Malfoy! Her most sworn enemy turned anti-hero. Something didn't fit right, at least that's how she thought of it.

He didn't stare at her much longer. Pulling his arm from under her, Hermione realized that she had been using him as a pillow. No wonder she felt slightly warm in the morning. Draco scooted over to the edge of the bed and hunched over with his head in his hands. A loud bellowing groan echoed across the room as he rubbed his eyes and shook his head. The mop of silvery blond locks swayed with each movement, reminding her of crashing ocean waves.

Draco rose from his seat and stalked over to the other side of the bed, looking for something. It was then did Hermione realize that he was stark naked. His perfectly sculpted behind was just barely lighter than the rest of him. She wondered if he tanned in the nude or whether he was normally this pale. Shaking her heads of images of a naked Malfoy slathered in sun screen holding up a metallic mirror to his face in all his glory, Hermione propped herself up with her elbows until she could will herself to sit up right.

She heard the elastic slap of his boxers against his skin, followed by rustling of his pants and belt. Still reveling from last night's...encounter...Hermione barely moved. She tucked her hair behind her ear and rubbed one eye. The brush of wind hit her lightly, causing her to look up. Draco had tossed Hermione her forgotten clothing. The buttons on her nightly robe were dangling by the thread and she spotted what looked like an odd white stain at the corner of it. Oh Merlin.

The gravity of the night's actions hit her as if she had been running full speed toward a wall. She pulled her clothes to her and silently dressed as well. Draco had finished far before her and stood near the window staring outside. The silence was eerie yet calming. Not having to worry about what to say made things easier for Hermione. He had explained everything the night before. Well almost.

The potion was very complicated, to say the least. Unless brewed under specific conditions and with the correct ingredients, as well as proper brewing technique, the potion was useless. If anything, it would have given Hermione really bad gas for the next few days. However, this potion was the real deal. What it did was far more dangerous than anything she had read about, even from books in the Restricted Section of the library. It preyed on the secret desires of the individual. Heightening them to an extreme that was both fatal and absurd.

Draco used the example that if a person who was financially unstable took the potion, their need and greed for money would increase a hundred fold. They would be willing to backstab, kill, and even maim in order to get their hands on money. Only then will they be able to think and feel clearly. It was no wonder that the potion Hermione took caused her to feel and act differently.

She didn't need Draco to explain it, although he did and went into it with a definite smug. Being the girl out of the Gold Trio, Hermione was both caught between a hard place and forbidden. She couldn't express emotions for either Harry or Ron because of their friendship, nor could she get close with any one else. It would have left sour mouths between her, Harry and Ron. What made it worse was the fact that Draco was the most forbidden piece of the puzzle. Her hatred for him, turned into subtle longing, made it clear that only he was able to soothe the aching feeling between her thighs.It was strange that Draco said these things with little change in tone, as if he really didn't care or he already knew. He also didn't tease or pressure her. Everything was up to her. Every touch, every kiss, she'd initiate and he'd follow. It was odd, truly odd.

They didn't speak a word until they had left the Room of Requirement and were standing in the middle of the deserted hallway. Both looked around, unable to meet each other's eyes. Clearing his throat, Hermione brought her eyes to him for the first time in a long awkward time. He smirked, that playful smug look he gave after he finished saying something utterly cruel.

"You should get to the showers. People might wonder why you look disheveled and as if you've been shagged thoroughly," he said lightly, wiggling his eyebrows.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "What about you? Aren't any one in Slythering going to wonder why you're coming back in the morning looking as if a troll had beaten you with his loin cloth?"

Draco grinned more and more wilder by the second. He brought his hand to Hermione's waist and pulled her closer to him, his lips kissing the top her her head lovingly. He seemed to realize what he was doing was wrong, or weird, or maybe both, and pulled sharply away.

"Who says I don't go back to my room like this every morning, Granger?" He then said with a matter-of-fact tone, causing Hermione to groan.

Feeling his warm touch against her chin, Hermione's eyes fluttered up to meet his. Draco leaned down closer and closer. She could literally taste his sweet kiss on his lips even before it happened. It was light and to the point. Draco wrapped his arm around her and held her to him firmly, his lips pecking hers, despite her attempts to squirm out of his grasp. The kiss was causing her to get light headed and dizzy. So much so that when she finally broke free of him, she turned and walked the wrong direction to the prefects' bathroom.

"Wrong way," Draco called, thumbing behind him as Hermione wheeled around and stormed on past.

She knew he was watching her as she tripped on one of the steps and nearly ate stone as he let out a loud laugh. Not bothering to look behind her, Hermione spoke the password to the bathroom and walked in for a very long soak.

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Hermione was on a war path. She had finally been able to think clearly. She was finally able to see clearly without temptation and made good use of it. Spending almost every waking moment in the library, Hermione was able to complete the week's worth of missed or half completed work. She knew her perfect scores were slipping and if she had to keep up with this charade then she needed to keep her grades up. No more disturbing thoughts of what lay behind Seamus Finnegan's trousers, or the sounds Ron would make if she kissed him in just the right place. Everything was right with the world. Everything except one thing. One person, actually. Draco Malfoy.

She noticed that he'd often be staring at her when she glanced at the Slytherin table's direction. Pansy didn't look too pleased either as he almost always waved her off and turned to talk to Blaise. Only then would Hermione receive an even more scathing look from the Slytherin girl. When walking to and from class, Malfoy would opt to stay behind knowing quite well that Hermione was almost always the last to leave. There he'd lightly graze her hand with his or stand unnaturally close to her while pretending to read her notes.

Neither of them spoke about the other night and her mind was clear for two whole weeks. He surely didn't change his demeanor against them, constantly picking on Ron for breaking his nose or Harry for the bruised chin. He did, however, refrain from saying crude remarks to Hermione about her heritage. Although, he did comment on her poor attempt at squashing a beozar root after Snape paired them together.

She had gone to visit Snape earlier that day and asked about the counter potion. He was less agitated then before, which was probably the result of not having her throw herself at him at every waking turn. He indicated that the potion would last past Christmas and into February or March because of how long it had to brew.

Hermione was becoming impatient, especially when she knew that this clear mind wasn't going to last forever. She felt the full effects of it the when Dean Thomas accidentally brushed up against her. Grabbing her books, she made a beeline to the library where she flung her books into a corner desk in anger. She hated this. All of it. She was sick and tired of feeling this way just as things were beginning to get normal.

"Something wrong?"

Hermione spun around and nearly collapsed at the sight of Draco. He stood there with one hand on the strap of his book bag, his eyebrow raised in curiosity. Taking a breath, Hermione threw herself at him, her lips aching for his. Draco stumbled back and dropped his bag, grabbing her waist to steady her. Hermione's lips trailed down his jaw, nipping and nibbling at the skin.

Draco grasped her firmly on the shoulders and pulled her from him. He looked around the aisles and pulled Hermione into a secluded nook where he pinned her against the wall. It took less than a minute before he was thrusting into her; her skirt hiked up, knickers dangling on one foot that swayed with his movements.

He grasped onto the nape of her neck, his lips parted and breathing heavily against the center of her throat. Hermione moaned loudly as her fingers dug into his muscled forearms. He moved against her roughly, pushing all of his length deep into her warm heat. Her walls clamped down around him as both came to an excruciatingly blissful climax.

Draco lowered Hermione to the ground, steadying her by boxing her in. She quickly flattened her skirt, buttoned her shirt while he tucked himself back in and fixed his outfit. They looked at each other and his wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to blush.

"Better?" He asked after they returned to Hermione's studying nook.

"No," Hermione replied honestly, watching him bend down to pick his bag up. He looked at her with a quizzical stare and she quickly added, "Not like that. Everything is good in that department."

"Well what's 'not' better then?" He asked, picking up a few of her books that she had thrown at the table and unfortunately fell to the ground.

"This." She said frustratedly, "All of this."

"All of what? Shagging the Prince of Slytherin?" He asked smugled, leaning against the table with his arms crossed, "I thought nothing could be better than that."

"Oh get your head out of your arse. You know perfectly well what I mean," Hermione spat back, unable to look at Draco as he held that perfect crooked grin.

She let out an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up into the air, "Just when I think things are going back to normal...this happens."

Plopping down into her seat, Hermione ran her hands to her face, stuffing back tears that had begun to form in the corners of her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was to cry in front of Draco freaking Malfoy. He wouldn't even let it down and if he had, she sure as hell wouldn't.

Coming as a shock, which nothing was anymore, Draco sat beside her and placed a hand on her back. Feeling him pat her gently made her feel a little better. This yo-yoing thing between them was certainly odd from the outside, but inside they held far more in common than they'd agree to. He wrapped his arm around her and brought his lips to her cheek, blowing her hair out of his way. It tickled and she managed to let out a small laugh.

"Look to the bright side. You get to look at my marvelous body whenever you want." He spoke with a hint of laughter in his voice, causing Hermione to laugh.

"Right because I like staring at your pasty white arse," she rolled her eyes and leaned back to look at him.

Draco brought his hand up and brushed her hair blocking his view. "You know. You're not so bad when you're not with Potter and Weasley."

"And you're not so bad when you're not galloping around on your high horse."

"That horse has died a long time ago I'm afraid."

"Not a bad thing."

"No?"

"No."

Draco smirked and leaned in, his lips inches from Hermione's.

"Draco?" A voice called from behind a few stacks of books.

Hermione stiffened and felt Draco leave her. He took a position furthest away from Hermione as Pansy appeared from the other side. Her eyes narrowed at Hermione but she seemed to smirk as the redness of her eyes. Pansy looked to Draco, who merely stared at her.

"What?" He asked forcefully, walking past Hermione's table and knocking a few books to the ground. "Oh, sorry about that Granger. Looks like your second hand books know where they belong. Why don't you join them?"

Pansy let out a girlish high-pitched laugh as Draco wrapped an arm would her shoulder. He turned her back toward the direction she came in but looked over his shoulder at Hermione and winked. Hermione twisted her lips to the side and let out a sigh. Things were definitely going to get more interesting.