Disclaimer: Characters are not mine; see author's note for plot.

A/N: Credit to Allybally for the plot (of which I am stealing with her permission) even though it was written for 15/Love, not Harry Potter. But she says she supports this pairing, and this fic is therefore dedicated to her.

Hermione Granger, who had predictably become Head Girl, and Draco Malfoy, who had to be Head Boy in order to make this a proper Draco/Hermione fanfic, were sitting in comfortable silence in their shared common room on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

"Did you hear about Harry and Pansy?" Hermione asked, growing rather bored of the magazine she was reading and turning to her counterpart.

He set down his book and looked at her thoughtfully through his hair, which had a very annoying habit of falling in his eyes in a very sexy way. "Well, Granger, you must really be bored."

"I am," she replied swiftly, giving him a thoroughly annoyed glare.

He grinned at her. "Oh, don't take my comments the wrong way. I'm happy to gossip with you. Merlin knows you probably don't get enough of it with Potter and Weasley."

Hermione gave a very ladylike snort. "And you're willing to fill in? Should that tell me something?"

It was his turn to glare. "Funny. But you were saying…?"

"They broke it off; apparently Slytherin-Gryffindor relationships just don't work."

"They were together?"

"Not really," Hermione said, rolling her eyes ever so slightly. "So it was the end of what never was."

"How very poetic of you."

"Bugger off."

"But they flirted shamelessly," he protested, returning to the topic of conversation.

"And it was so obvious to everyone around them."

"Even when they were bickering with each other they were flirting!"

"And they were always casting each other these little glances when the thought no one was looking," Hermione agreed, smiling a little.

"It was like the sexual tension was always there, especially because they're both not horrible looking."

She looked at him, smirking a little. "Is that your way of saying they're both hot?"

"Yes, but I figured if I'd said that you'd never have let me live it down."

"Probably not."

"Even between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, they spent enough time together that they gained a better understanding of each other."

"Now who's being poetic?"

"That wasn't poetic!" He defended solidly. "It was just more something along the lines of what you would say." He smirked.

"You're not actually as funny as you think you are."

"I beg to differ."

"Anyways, everything they say to each other has some underlying meaning."

He looked at her for a few seconds, though she didn't notice because she was staring into the fire which was perpetually burning throughout the winter. "As if they always wanted to snog each other right there."

"He could insult her and she would insult him back, but he'd be counting the number of times she licked her lips and she'd be watching his hair fly around when he made those funny hand movements he always makes when he's angry."

"You do that too, you know," Draco said.

She stared at him. "Do I?"

"Yes."

"Well."

"Erm..." Draco cleared his throat. "So basically, those two should just sleep with each other and get it over with."

"Sleep with each other? That's hardly Draco Malfoy language."

"I wanted to protect your virgin ears."

"Oh, ha ha. Really, you're hilarious."

"You told me before I wasn't."

She glared at him again.

"Good night," Hermione said after a few moments of more comfortable silence. The silence, however as peaceful as it had been, was still filled with some sort of…Tension that Hermione couldn't quite place.

He watched her through his pale hair as she strode away, then went back to his book.

A/N: Erm, well, sorry Allybally. I sort of stole the counting-lip-licking part as well. But I'm sure you'll understand.

To the rest of you: A couple doesn't have to make out in a fic to prove that there's something there….By the way, can you guess what the tension Hermione noticed was? I'll give you a hint: They mentioned it earlier in the fic...