Harry glared across the potions classroom at the back of Malfoy, hating him now more than he had before the war. He had thought they had patched things up after Harry saved his life... but now he wanted nothing more than to shove Draco Malfoy's face in his cauldron and wait for the after effect.

Harry had absolutely no idea what Draco had done to get Hermione to like him so much, but it made him so angry that he wanted to scream. How dare he take the girl that Harry had never really verbally said he wanted? What did he think this was? A free-for-all?

But the truth was, yes, Harry did want Hermione to be his. He wanted to be able to buy her chocolates and tell his friends that they were for her. He wanted to be able to brag to all of the boys who fancied her (and there were a lot) that she was his. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and comfort her when she was scared, and wipe her tears away when she was sad. And hold her close to him until he was forced to let go, and even then he would find a way to get right back to her. But he also wanted her to be happy, and if being with Malfoy made her happy, then he figured he would just have to live with that constant pain.

Harry was careful with the word love, because it was a powerful word that was often tossed around as if it had no meaning, but it did. He cared for Dean and Seamus, but he wouldn't say he loved them. Neville, Luna and the Weasley's, however? He loved them with a burning passion. And before all of these feeling for Hermione had blossomed up, he had loved her the same way he loved Luna and how he now loved Ginny- as a sister. But all of that was messed up.

He loved her as a best friend. Like a sister. But how can you say you love someone like a sister when that isn't how you feel at all?

You can't.

~~~~~

Hermione sat next to Harry and Ron in the Great Hall that day.

Visual happiness and relief bloomed on their faces as she took her old place next to Harry, and she smiles at them. "Hey guys. I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

Harry expects for her to say something along the lines of an explanation of why she had been avoiding them. Sure, she probably felt guilty like Harry had, but Ginny said it was something about her being afraid to fancy him. Harry couldn't understand why, he had kissed her that night, not the other way around. And he didn't bite or anything...

But that wasn't at all what she said. "I'm feeling a little worried about our positions exam. I was rewriting the one over Dittany, the one that's due tomorrow, and I reckon it's to long. Do you think it'll be alright?"

Harry and Ron quickly picked up that she didn't want to talk about the past few weeks, and just wanted to act natural. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Hermione... you always do, and whenever you overwrite you get extra credit, not lost points." Harry says, taking a corned beef sandwich (not like the dried ones Mrs. Weasley would send with Ron) and bites into it.

Ron frowns. "Why did you have to rewrite you Dittany essay? You're always so careful with you homework, you never let anything get spilled on it..." He trails off, waiting for an answer.

Hermione goes noticeably pink and shakes her head. "I just felt like redoing it, that's all."

Ron smirks at her in a knowing way but says nothing, taking a Hagrid sized swig of pumpkin juice. His eyebrows raise from behind the goblet as someone approaches from behind them, and it's none other than Draco Malfoy. Harry glares at him, scooting closer to Hermione and wondering if she was dating him. Draco's eyebrows raise in amusement, and Harry knows instantly that Draco understands why Harry is mad at him.

"Hermione, I brought you some more." He says, the flicker of amusement in his eyes dying away. "You can mix it with your pumpkin juice, and it should work just fine." Hermione holds out her hand and Draco presses something into it, closing her fingers around it. He straightens up. "Potter, do you think you can meet me outside of the library during our free period? Thanks."

Without waiting for a response, he turns and strides back towards the Slytherin table. Harry wonders what on earth he wants, before turning to see Hermione dumping a vial full of liquid into her goblet.

Harry was fed up with all of the potion nonsense that had been going around this year with her. First, George playing around with Ron and pretending to put love potion in Hermione's cocoa before the ball. And then Ron actually slipping something into her drink on the train before he asked her to go to the ball with him instead. And then Ron giving her another love potion, so that she would stay with him, and she ended up getting sick. And here she was, dumping more liquids into her drink.

Ron, who was watching her too, pales at the sight of the love potion, and Harry knows that a tidal wave of guilt is crashing over him. But by the time they turn to say something to Hermione, she had drained the goblet and set it down on the table with a loud clang.

"Hermione, did you put a love potion into your drink? I thought you were allergic to the moonstone!" Harry stutters, tipping her goblet over so that a single drop falls from it and splatters on the table. "And you just drank a whole goblet of it... Hermione are you insane?"

She smiles sadly before getting to her feet. "Trust me, Harry. It's helping me this time." And then she turns and walks out the door.

~~~~~

Draco was perched on the window sill, looking outside at the bright blue sky that had small tufts of white clouds scattered here and there. He sat, waiting for Harry to arrive, and when he finally did, it was already fifteen minutes into their free period. Honestly, was Potter planning on taking up his entire free hour?

"You wanted to talk to me?" Harry says curtly, hiding the venom that would have seeped into his voice. Draco frowns at his attitude, but says nothing.

"Yes, I did. And I'm sure you know what I want to talk to you about?" He absentmindedly starts tapping a rhythm into the cold stone walls, his cool gaze sweeping Harry up and down, who crossed his arms and leaned onto the wall next to him, not far from where the corner connected them.

"You want to talk about her." Harry said her name as if she was someone he had lost, someone he had been grieving over for so many years now. But the truth was, they hadn't talked in a while, and Hermione was 'in love' with someone else.

Draco nods. "Look, Potter, I gave her the potion because she asked for it, and I even did the research to find a doable substitute for the powdered moonstone that she was allergic to. You saw how willingly she took the potion. She wanted me to make it for her."

Harry pushes his dark black hair out of his green eyes and then pushes his glasses farther up his nose. "Don't act like that." He mutters angrily.

"Like what?"

"Like you don't fancy her! It seems like everyone does now! Instead of being just pretty she turned absolutely beautiful, and now everyone seems to want to take her out! It's so stupid, when I've had feelings for her and it's not just because of her looks, unlike most of the people who keep trying to claim her for their own. I want to have her, but then there's all you idiots giving her love potion!" He looks at his hand to see that they're clenched into fists, and he lets out a big rush of air. "Don't- don't act like you don't want her like the rest of us."

Draco stares at Harry for a long moment, taking him in. He really did feel for Hermione, not just some stupid crush. "Potter, I'm not going to tell you that I don't have any feelings for her."

Harry presses his eyes closed and pinches his lips together. "Why do you even fancy her? All you ever were to her was mean, and you called her a mudblood-"

"Because she forgave me." He said as if it were the most simple thing in the world. "I fancy her because she forgave me, even after what I did. I was mean to her because I was jealous that she was your friend and not mine. I wanted to be her best friend, not you." He frowns at the floor. "But that's not how it played out. And now that she's giving me another chance, and when I took it, she was even better than I thought she would have been."

Harry, now speechless, pulls something out of his pocket. It was a Galleon, the same ones used for the DA so many years ago. The ones that were made by Hermione. "I made the three of ours special, Ron, you and I." She had said. "Not special as in they have different things on them... but I handmade ours- the others are just copies. Not as significant."

Draco looks at it too. "She made those for the DA, didn't she?"

Harry knows that Draco already knows the answer, so he ignores his question and asks another, one that had been picking at him for a long time, tearing at his brain. "Earlier today, I asked her why she was taking a love potion after all of the bad things that happened to her, and she told me that this time it was helping her, not hurting her. I know she was taking that potion to make her love you. But that doesn't make sense. Why was she trying to love you?"

Hurt seems to flicker in Draco's eyes, but not hurt at what Harry had said. Hurt because he remembered that she wasn't trying to love him at all, and she wasn't trying to care for him. "She isn't trying to love me."

"I'm sorry, maybe love is too strong a word... like? Care for? Adore? Admire? Fancy?" Harry suggested, picking at a loose string on the hem of his cloak. Draco pinches his lips in annoyance.

"She isn't trying to like, care for, adore, admire or fancy me."

Harry's brows furrow in confusion. "Then why-?"

"She thinks that if she takes a love potion, it will make her realise that there are 'other fish in the sea' so to speak, and that she will start to fancy someone else than the person she does currently." Draco spits out, his heart crumbling at the words. There, the truth was exposed for him to see, and it hurt like hell.

"Is... is it working?" Harry asks, hoping the answer was no. The last thing he wanted was to watch as Hermione dated and drifted from person to person, 'checking out every fish in the sea'.

"I don't think so... she's shown me proof of her feelings, and they're pretty.... pretty strong. The person she likes is so clueless, to be honest." Draco adjusts the bag strap slung over his shoulder and checks the time. Their free period was almost over, and he had spent it talking with Potter.

"Does he like her back?" Harry asks casually, beating around the bush. Draco caught on to what he really wanted to ask, but said nothing, for he knew he would ask eventually.

"I reckon so."

"Could you... who does she fancy?"

"You, Potter, you great git." Draco sighs. "You."