Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters, themes, and places belong to J.K. Rowling.

Draco Malfoy was pacing in front of the chimney of his flat in London. He was nervous. Not that he was going to admit it ever; he had asked Hermione to be his date for the Ministry of Magic's annual Winter Ball and she hadn't given him an answer yet.

You see, Draco and Hermione were dating; they had met again after the war and decided to give each other another chance after being assigned the same case while working as aurors, so they went for coffee one day and became inseparable since then. They had kept it hidden for a while until now; Hermione was worried about Harry and Ron's reaction. Draco, on the other hand, wanted to tell the world.

And so here he was, pacing his living room waiting for her to owl him back. It had been a day since he asked her so he was eager to know the answer.

/

"Granger." Draco said, his tone soft.

"Hmm." Answered Hermione from beside him.

They were sitting in Draco's library, it was past midnight and they had just gotten back from their date. Draco insisted she stayed the night, and Hermione not able to resist his charm agreed. She was currently reading a book, curled up in the sofa with Draco, when he said:

"Go to the ball with me." He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles softly.

"Draco…" Hermione sighed and closed the book, "I don't know."

"I think it's time we stop hiding, love." He pulled her closer so she was now sitting in his lap. "I'm sure they will understand."

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed, "Let me think it through, okay?" she paused, "their opinion is important to me."

"I know, love." He kept calling her Granger, on rare occasions he called her by her first name, but most of the time it was always 'love'. And Hermione's heart always melted at that.

She then kissed the corner of his mouth and he just smiled softly at her. Merlin, he was mad about her, he was turning soft.

"Okay," was all he said.

/

He was still waiting for her owl when the flames in the fireplace turned green and out came Blaise Zabini. He looked at the anxious Draco pacing the living room and smirked.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, mate?" Blaise said with an amused face.

"Hello to you too" was Draco's dry answer.

Blaise stepped out of the chimney and sat in a chair looking up at Draco who was still pacing around.

"Thinking about Granger, are you?"

Draco stopped pacing and looked at Blaise perplexed.

"How–" he stopped mid-sentence and said "No. I'm just stressed out, I've been very busy lately," Draco lied.

"You're lying" said Blaise, "I know you're dating Granger, I've seen how you two act around each other" he said chuckling, "its sickeningly sweet."

"I'm not dating Granger."

"You are."

"I am not," Draco insisted.

"Oh, c'mon don't deny it! Luna told me." Blaise was smirking now. He and Luna had been together for two years now, a very odd pairing in Draco's opinion, how did it happen? He had no idea, but then again he had no idea he would end up falling for Hermione Granger of all witches, and he did. Not that she knew he was in love with her. Draco snapped out of his reverie and turned back to Blaise.

"And how did Looney Lovegood find out, may I ask?" Draco answered, and thought about what he just said, he didn't admit to be dating Granger but he didn't deny it either.

"I love how you didn't deny it," Blaise laughed, "Luna is very intuitive, and she and Ginny are very close to Hermione as you should know. So Hermione may or may have not let it slip that she was dating someone. Now she didn't say it was you, but she did mention it was a certain Hogwarts fellow whom she used to loath. The first person that came to mind was you."

Draco was silent for a moment. Damn it, Granger.

"Fine." He said finally, "I asked her to be my date for the Winter Ball."

"And…?"

"And we may or may not be dating."

"I see" was Blaise's answer. Those Slytherins, Draco thought. If Blaise weren't his best friend he would have denied it all.

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the window. Draco stood up from the couch and walked over to the large window in his living room, he noticed a small brown owl with a letter tied to its leg. Hermione's owl. He opened the window and the owl flew in, Draco took the letter from her and gave it a treat.

Blaise walked to the window and noticed the neat handwriting in the letter Draco was holding. He guessed it was from Hermione so he nudged Draco with his elbow to open the letter. Draco complied but didn't read it out loud.

Draco,

I would be delighted to be your date for the Winter Ball,

I'm ready. I don't want to hide what we have anymore.

Love, Hermione

"She said yes," Draco said quietly.

"Of course she said yes, you twit." Blaise chuckled, and then walked back to the fireplace to floo back to his office, "See you later," and with that the flames turned green and he disappeared.

It was the night of the Ministry of Magic's annual Winter Ball, Hermione and Draco where standing outside of the building where the party was being held. She had a tight grip on his arm and was taking deep breaths; Draco's other hand was rubbing soothing circles in her back while he pulled her close to him.

"We can leave if you like," he said to her.

"Just give me one more minute," she said looking at him. "I can do this."

"Okay," answered Draco.

Hermione took one last deep breath and walked along with Draco inside the venue to the party. She stopped abruptly and turned to Draco. He offered her his arm and she took it.

"It'll be okay, love," he whispered to her and kissed her temple. Hermione offered him a small smile and nodded. "They'll understand."

Together they walked further into the room, and suddenly everything went quiet. All heads turned to them and the whispers started, but it didn't last long because in that moment the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, started his speech welcoming all the guests and congratulating all ministry employees for their excellent work this year.

Draco and Hermione sighed with relief and proceeded into the venue, greeting some co-workers on the way, which didn't seem too surprised of seeing them together. The saw Blaise and Luna dancing before they spotted Harry and Ron, who were standing next to the bar, a glass of firewhiskey in each of their hands; she approached them slowly while holding Draco's hand.

"Harry, Ron!" she said smiling, trying control the shakiness in her voice.

"'Mione," Ron turned to her and engulfed her in a hug breaking her grip from Draco's hand, "you look beautiful."

Hermione blushed slightly and turned to hug Harry, while Draco stayed back watching his girlfriend and her friends. She looked beautiful indeed. Hermione was wearing a navy blue silk gown, her hair was up in a bun with a few strands falling on the sides, her make up was natural and her lips were cherry red. Draco himself was wearing black dressing robes, and his hair was perfectly styled to the side. They both looked impeccable and elegant, the perfect match.

After they pulled apart Harry noticed Draco and extended his hand to him, "Malfoy," was all he said while shaking hands.

"Potter," was Draco's response while nodding his head, "Weasley," he did the same with Ron, and then stepped back sneaking his arm around Hermione's waist and pulling her close to him.

After a long pause Harry was the first to break the silence, " so its true then, you two are together now?"

"You knew?" Hermione asked surprised.

"I think everyone in the wizarding world knows," said Ron, "you two aren't that good at hiding your relationship."

"And here I was thinking we were brilliant at it" said Draco sarcastically, "What gave us away?"

"I told you, you should've used the floo network instead of walking out of my office, Draco," said Hermione with flushing slightly. Draco just sighed and suppressed a laugh.

"Well for starters, you two bicker constantly like an old married couple," chuckled Harry. "But I've noticed as well your change in attitude toward Hermione, " continued Harry looking at Malfoy, "and uhh, Ginny told me." Harry finalized shrugging.

"Oh Ginny," said Hermione shaking her head, and then turned to look at Ron. " And you're okay with this?" Draco tensed next to her. He knew Ron's friendship meant a lot to Hermione, and although she and Ron had never been together he knew they both fancied each other at some point.

"Honest?" said Weasley, "It's bloody weird if you ask me, but if Malfoy makes you happy then I'm happy for you," he finished. Hermione then wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Thank you, I am happy."

Draco relaxed at the little encounter, Hermione returned to his side and wrapped her arms around his. All was well with the Golden Trio. You see, Granger? There was nothing to be worried about. Draco looked fondly at her and thought about how much she had changed him. He was still the snobby git he was before but his views had changed after the war, Hermione had helped him see the light, she brought out the good in him. And now he was madly in love with her, and she had no clue about it.

"Can I have this dance, Granger?" Always calling her Granger, old habits die hard, I guess.

They both walked to the dance floor hand in hand, Draco placed his hand in Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him while she wrapped her arms around his neck, and together they swayed to the slow tune that was playing. Hermione laid her head in Draco's chest and sighed contentedly, this event turned out better than she thought. Why was she so concerned? Deep down she knew her friends were going to accept her relationship with Draco, but she still worried about their reaction. And Draco. Always making sure she was happy, and content with everything. She never thought that out of all her Hogwarts classmates she was going to end up with Draco Malfoy, ex-Death Eater; behind that dark mask he was so caring and loving, nothing compared to what he used to be. She saw the real him, and she loved him because he was himself when they were alone.

Draco was so different from Ron, or even Viktor Krum. Draco's intellect was the same level as her, they could hold a conversation for hours and never get tired, they bickered all the time but they always had witty comebacks for whatever the argument was. She never thought in a million years that she was going to fall in love with Draco, but she did. Oh Merlin, she was in love with Malfoy. And he had no clue about it.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Draco spoke softly in her ear.

"I am," she said, "thank you,"

"You're welcome," replied Draco before looking into her eyes and kissing her softly. The kiss was short and sweet but it held a deeper meaning in it. They were both madly in love for each other and the kiss implied just that. In the heat of the moment Draco couldn't help but let the words slip out of his mouth.

"I love you," he breathed.

"I know," said Hermione and kissed him again. He knew she felt the same way.