'This cannot be happening!' Hermione thought, 'I cannot like Draco! Anyone I can like but not Draco! Who cares about his gorgeous blue eyes . . . his beautiful blonde hair . . .'

Hermione snapped out of her daze and stared up at Professor Snape who was shooting her dirty looks.

"Ms. Granger! Pay attention, you don't want to be mixing the wrong potions. That could lead to a lot of trouble"

Hermione nodded. She glanced over at Draco. He was sitting up straight though he looked like he was in another world.

Hermione sighed and began to take notes on Snapes never ending lecture.

*

It was late and Hermione was sitting up in her bed trying to get a spell right.

"Hi!"

Hermione looked up absent-mindedly, "Oh hi Tamara"

Tamara was in her second year at Hogwarts and had a big crush on Ron. He was the only one who didn't know it. She had medium length dark unruly curly hair, green eyes, and dimples.

"Watcha doing?"

"Homework"

"Oh. Sounds fun"

"It is"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing"

"Yes there is . . .spit it out"

"It's . . . Draco"

"Why in Heavens name would you be thinking about Draco?"

"I . . . well see I . . . like him"

Tamara spit out her Every-Flavor bean and sat up straight, "You like Draco?!"

"SHH! Yes and I'd appreciate if you didn't announce it to the whole Dormitory!"

"Sorry but . . .Draco?"

"Yeah"

"How long have you liked him?"

"About a month now"

"Wow, and you never told me?"

"Well, I was going to but . . . you have enough boy problems to deal with. And I knew you'd wanna play match maker"

Tamara turned red, "What boy problems?"

"Maybe a certain boy named say . . . Ron?"

"Who said my name?" Ron walked into the room and walked over to the girls.

Tamara dropped her box of every flavor beans and her eyes bugged out. "Oh h- hi Ron"

"Hey Tamara. Want some help?" Ron bent down and began to pick up the beans.

"Oh thanks. I'm so klutzy"

"No problem. Can I have one?"

"Sure you can have them all. I'm not hungry"

Hermione burst out laughing. Tamara turned around and mouthed 'what?'

"Never mind"

Tamara and Ron exchanged confused glances then went back to picking up the beans. Tamara popped another in her mouth then gagged and spit it out.

"Eww! Vomit!" she explained making a sour face.

"That's absolutely disgusting. That's why I don't eat those horrid things," Hermione said.

Ron rolled his eyes, "You're picky"

"Am not! I just wouldn't want to end up eating a ear-wax flavor bean"

"Yuck" Tamara murmured then popped another bean in her mouth.

"HEY! I thought you said I could have them!" Ron teased.

"Sorry" Tamara said with a full mouth.

"Well If you two don't mind I have to get this spell right" Hermione shoed them out of the room and began to swish and flick her wand murmuring different spells to herself trying to get the words right.

"Need some help?" someone asked. Hermione looked up and stared into the face of the person she would have least expected. Draco.

"Oh Draco, what are you doing here?"

"I was just looking around and I heard your voice" he said. Hermione couldn't believe how nice he was being.

"Oh won't you get in trouble?"

"Not if I have this" Draco grinned evilly and held up Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

Hermione gasped, "How'd you get that? It's Harry's"

"He won't miss it"

Hermione looked around frantically. It suddenly felt extremely hot and her robe felt too tight.

"So do you need help?" Draco repeated.

"Umm no thank you. I was just . . . going to see Harry!"

"That freak? Ok, suit yourself" Draco slipped on the cloak and disappeared (no pun intended) down the hall.

Hermione dashed out of the room and over to the boy's dorm and looked around for Harry. She spotted him, Ron and Tamara eating every-flavor beans and talking.

"Hi" she sat down beside Ron and tried not to look too panicked, "What are you talking about?"

"The Hogwarts dance coming up" Harry explained.

"Oh, who are you guys taking" Hermione asked grinning.

Ron's face turned as red as his hair and he shrugged quickly. Harry did the same and was suddenly very interested in the lint on his robe.

"I heard Draco was taking Pansy" Ron said trying to change the subject.

Hermione tried to hide her hurt expression, "R-really? How do you know?"

"Fred told me"

"Oh" Hermione trudged out of the room sadly.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked concerned.

"She . . .um . . . she's just stressed" Tamara retorted.

Ron gave her a look that he knew she was lying but dropped the subject anyway. "Are you going to the dance with anyone?" he asked.

"No, but I do have my eye on a certain someone . . ."

"Who?" Ron asked. He seemed very interested in her answer.

"That's for me to know and you NOT to find out!" Tamara flipped her hair and walked away.

"And you thought Hermione was a nightmare" Harry said expecting to get a laugh from his friend. Instead Ron gave him a weird look and said he had to go.

*

Hermione, Ron, Harry and Tamara were sitting before a table of food waiting for Professor Dumbledoor to be done his announcements. He gave them the go ahead and everyone began to eat greedily.

"MAIL!" Someone hollered from the Hufflepuff table. The 4 friends looked up just as letter smacked Hermione across the temple.

"Ouch!" she picked up the letter, quickly tearing it open.

"Anxious are we?" Ron said.

Hermione ignored him and began to read the letter. It said:

Hermione,

Since I saw your gorgeous eyes and long brown hair

I knew I loved you but I couldn't have you. It wasn't fair.

I admired you from afar and we exchanged quick hi's

I'll love you always and that love will never die

Be waiting tomorrow for the rest of this poem

Love always,

1 Yoflam Ocard

Hermione sat puzzled while her friends tried to peer over her shoulder. She pulled the letter out of view and tucked it back in its envelope.

"Oh come on Hermione! You have to tell us!" Tamara pleaded.

Hermione shook her head.

"What could be so personal?" Ron asked.

Tamara poked him, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Please Hermione…please?" Harry begged.

She shook her head; "It's my letter"

"She'll show me later" Tamara stated matter-of-factly.

"Show you what?" Lavender Brown swished her long dark hair and sat down.

"Hermione's got a secret admirer" Ron teased.

"Do not!" Hermione stuffed the letter into her robe and stomped off.

"What's wrong with her?"

Harry bit into a chicken wing and shrugged, "She's been awful cranky lately"

"She's umm having some…guy problems" Tamara said quickly; her and Lavender exchanging glances.

Ron rolled his eyes, "She needs to sort out her priorities"

"Boys are priority!" Tamara and Lavender said together.

"You can't tell me that your not thinking about girls I mean with the dance coming up and all" Lavender said.

"Well…" Ron began.

Lavender pulled Tamara over and whispered in her ear, "He's gonna ask you!"

Tamara turned a deep shade of red and shook her head.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper" Harry muttered.

The girls gave him a pleading look and Tamara asked, "And just whom do you think your taking?"

"You'll find out soon enough" Harry answered and took another Chicken wing.

*

"Ah, I am NEVER GONNA GET THIS RIGHT!" Ron threw his wand across the common room in fury, his eyes in slits.

"Whoa" Tamara ducked just as Ron's wand flew past her.

"Oh sorry" Ron muttered.

"No problem. What are you doing?"

"My spell won't work!"

"What one?"

"Ongardium Leviosa"

"Found you're problem"

"What?"

"It's WINGgardium" Tamara explained.

"You sound like Hermione"

"Sorry, well I hope you do well" Tamara was about to turn to leave when Ron called her. She spun around, "Yeah?"

"Would you – maybe - . . . like to – go – to – the – dance with me?"

"I'd love to" Tamara grinned and walked away. Ron sighed a breath of relief.

*

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Hermione groaned.

"You've been saying that for the past 10 minutes! What's wrong?" Harry asked annoyed.

"My diary! It's gone!"

"You keep a diary?"

Hermione shot him a flustered look, "Obviously if I lost it!"

"Where was it last?"

"Underneath my mattress"

Harry stifled his laugh, "Oh"

"Harry Potter don't you dare laugh at me!"

"I wasn't laughing"

Hermione rolled her eyes and began to groan, "I'm done for!"

"What could be so important in a diary?"

"If only you knew!" Hermione let out a grunt and flopped onto her bed. She began smacking her Potions textbook against her head.

Harry laughed, "You look like Dobby!"

"Dobby?"

"Yeah you know. Malfoy's families house elf"

"I don't remember him"

"Never mind"

"WHAT AM I GONNA DO!? WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS WOULD WANT A 12-YEAR-OLD GIRLS DIARY?!"

"I would" Seamus Finnigan said grinning.

"This is the girls dorm Seamus. Out you go!" Hermione said.

"What about Harry?"

"What about Harry?"

"He's a boy"

"Well he umm is helping me with homework."

Seamus let out a deep sigh and walked away clutching his Dark Arts textbook and muttering away.

Tamara skipped in her eyes glowing.

"What could possibly be so great? What did Ron ask you to the dance?"

Tamara looked over at Hermione, "I'm sorry what?"

"I said did Ron ask you out?"

Tamara nodded, "Can you believe it?"

"Yes I can."

"This is gonna be so great!"

"What are you gonna wear?"

"I never thought of that"

"Know what? I think Ron has liked you all along just kept his mouth shut."

"He has" Harry confirmed. He was looking through one of Hermione's books absent-mindedly flipping from page to page.

Hermione and Tamara glared at him, "And you NEVER told me?" Tamara squeaked.

"Ron made me keep it a secret"

"Secret Smegret. You should've told me"

Harry shrugged and looked at his watch, "It's nearly supper time, we better go"

The girls nodded and talked excitedly as they bounced along behind Harry going over every detail they could think of for the dance. They turned onto a corridor and Harry smacked right into Draco.

"Watch where you're going!" Draco muttered knocking Harry one more time in the shoulder.

"That guy is gonna be all alone for the dance if he keeps up that attitude" Harry said scowling.

Hermione and Tamara giggled with their heads together and walked off grinning towards the Great Hall.

Once they were there Harry pulled Ron into a corner, "What's up with Hermione? She's turned all giggly and perky"

"How should I know? You probably know more then I do"

"No I don't. They won't tell me anything and Hermione's diary was stolen and I thought she would go mad!"

"Well Ginny did when she lost her diary"

Harry nodded, "That's true but I still wonder what's in there that's so utterly important"

"Maybe her secret crush" Ron answered dramatically.

Harry looked interested, "Do you think it is?"

"Who knows. It could be notes from class for all we know. Who are you asking to the dance?"

Harry blushed, "Well . . .I was thinking of Lavender"

"Wicked! When are you gonna ask?"

"Um I'm not sure yet"

"Oh ok, well can we go eat now? I'm starving"

"Like always"

The two boys sat down next to Hermione and Tamara who were whispering in frantic voices. The mail came at that moment and yet another letter hit Hermione. She excitedly tore it open and read the letter,

Hermione,

We're in two different dorms that are always fighting

But I've liked you almost forever, maybe even the first sighting

I was cruel at first, trying to hide my true emotions

But then one day I couldn't hide it anymore, I found out in Potions.

I would like to ask you something, please don't say no

I will meet you tomorrow at 9:00 AM sharp outside in the snow

Love,

1.1 Yoflam Ocard

"Ooh he asked you to meet him! This is gonna be interesting!" Tamara bit her sandwich.

"You read my mail!" Hermione said.

"No, I just simply glanced at it. Whoever it is has good rhyming skills "

"Should I meet him?"

"Well of course! I'm dying of curiosity!"

*

It was 8:53 the next morning and Hermione was shivering outside in the snow. She tugged nervously at her robe and her teeth began to chatter.

"Hi" someone behind Hermione said. She spun around and almost fell over with shock with who she saw. Yep, you guessed it. Draco.