A/N: When I started writing Lost Letters of Love, I had contemplated writing the actual story that went a long with the letters and newspaper articles that I had been writing. For a long while I pushed it aside because I had a lot of other projects I was working on. Then one day the idea struck me after writing Bell of the Ball of how to tie that story into Lost Letters, which then led to this story.

I am happy to be introducing A Series of Moments. I cannot promise that it will be a a completely happy tale throughout the story, but I can promise that it will go along with the letters. I will try to let you know which one the chapter corresponds to in the Author's Note each time. Also as you read, pay attention to the dates at the top of the section. This will be my first time using these so we'll see how it goes together!

I do not have a writing schedule for this yet because I'm not sure how long it will take me to write the chapters, but I am very excited to share with you the Prologue.

Bell of the Ball and Lost Letters of Love are capable of being read as standalone stories as well as A Series of Moments. However if you are interested in reading them in order it would be Bell of the Ball and then this story. You can pick up the letters as you go or read a head to get an idea of what's coming next.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of these wonderful stories. The characters all belong to J. K. Rowling.

A special thank you to xxDustNight88 for helping me work through the issue of being stuck I was having with this section. An additional thank you to k-lynne317 for alpha reading this for me before I posted. I love you both very much!

I love reading the reviews that you all leave and they are the big reason that I keep doing what I am doing.

Love always,
~starr

~ One Month after Bell of the Ball ~

The weeks following their kiss under the mistletoe at the Yule Ball seemed to fly by. Draco and Hermione were so busy with their studies that they barely had time to spend with one another. A gentle touch of the hand as they entered class. A chaste kiss in the corridors just minutes before curfew. A sidelong glance as they studied in Head Student common room. Just a series of brief moments throughout the week.

Draco was tired of not being able to spend time with Hermione. They hadn't really talked about their situation since that night. At that time they had decided to just see where things took them. Well, as of late, it had taken them nowhere.

So Draco decided that tonight he was going to talk to Hermione about what they were going forward. They were a month out from exams and he knew that Hermione would be spending every free moment she had studying for her N.E.W.T.S. and the other tests she needed to take to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This meant that Draco would see much less of her. Then an idea struck him.

He could ask her to help him study for his N.E.W.T.S. and help him prepare for the three years of Auror training he would undergo if he could score high enough on his test. With Hermione as a tutor, there was no way he could fail. Plus it would mean that he got to spend more time with her. That could lead to them talking about more than just school.

Popping his head into the common room from his bedroom door, Draco smiled slyly when he spotted Hermione hunched over at the desk scribbling away on a piece of parchment. Her wild curly mane was pinned back with quills to keep it from falling in her face and he could see a few pearls of sweat beading up on her forehead. She was starting to panic. She needed a break. He knew that was his cue to step in and hopefully bring her back off the edge she was nearing.

"Granger, take a break. The books will still be there in a little while," Draco remarked as he walked over towards the desk and peered over her shoulder, "Geez. Think you've taken enough notes?"

"What do you want, Draco?" Hermione huffed, rolling her eyes as she sat her quill down. She turned her head slightly to look up at him. She smiled softly when she saw his slate grey eyes looking at her sweetly.

Draco grinned when his eyes met hers. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. An even greater smile forming on his lips as he felt her melt into the kiss. The brief connection was more contact than the pair had shared in months.

"What was that for?" Hermione blushed as she turned more in the chair to face him.

Draco shrugged as he carded his hand through his hair, "Dunno. I do know that I've missed kissing you though. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Hermione hung her head and nodded, "I've missed kissing you too. I've just been so busy with studying and head girl duties, and…"

Draco chuckled as he listened to her ramble. It was sweet to hear that she missed kissing him, but of course she followed it up with reason why they hadn't been doing so. Reasons that didn't need to be there.

"What are you snickering at?" Hermione snarled popping her head back up as she glared at him, pulling Draco's attention back towards her out of his thoughts.

"You," he replied simply. His face beaming with pride in his answer. That was until the wind was knocked out of him when Hermione smacked him in the chest.

"Hey!" Draco pouted as he rubbed his chest where she had hit him, "That was unnecessary."

"What was I doing that was so funny?" Hermione asked unamused with his fake pain. She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for his answer, "Well?"

"I just thought it was funny that you said you missed kissing me too and then followed that up with a bunch of reasons why we hadn't been snogging our lips off," Draco explained as he reached out to caress Hermione's cheek gently, "I just wish we would have spent more time together before exams got so close…"

Hermione's face softened as he spoke. She wished for that too. She also wished that she would have found out how great of a kisser he was before she had dated Ron. She was still reeling from the last fight that the pair had had just nights before the Yule Ball.

"Why the bloody hell did you buy an emerald green dress, 'Mione?" Ron yelled as he stormed into her bedroom from the common room where the couple had been studying for their potions exam.

"What does it matter, Ronald?" Hermione asked, "A dress is a dress. The color means nothing."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she plopped down on her bed. This was a usual Friday afternoon for her since she and Ron had began dating after the war. She'd listen to him blow up over something so minor for an hour and he'd storm away from her. Then within forty-five minutes of him slamming her bedroom door behind him, he'd be back knocking on her door quietly asking for permission to come in. They'd sit down and talk. He'd apologize. She'd forgive him. They would kiss and make-up. It would be like nothing hurtful was said.

However this time was not going to be like all the other Friday afternoon fights. She'd let him storm out, but he wasn't getting back in. If he left, then this time they were done. She was tired of dealing with his temper.

"You're a Gryffindor, Hermione! That's what matters!" Ron blurted tossing his hands in the air, "You aren't some slimy Slytherin who wears green and all it's obnoxious shades."

"Obnoxious shades?" Hermione scoffed, "That's the best you could come up with?"

Ron carded his hands through his hair. He was frustrated and Hermione could tell. He was sick of fighting with Hermione, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why she had begun befriending the slimiest of all Slytherins, Draco Malfoy.

"Why have you been befriending Ferret-face?" Ron asked exasperatedly looking at Hermione, who was sitting on her bed with her arms crossed over her chest with a smug look on her face.

"You mean Draco?" she corrected, quirking her eyebrow in disgust.

"You aren't even calling him Malfoy. What the hell is wrong with you? He's not worth calling by the first name. Once a damn Death Eater, always a fucking Death Eater. What the bloody hell has gotten into you?" Ron grumbled.

"Get out!" Hermione hissed, standing up from the bed and pointing towards her door.

"What?" Ron asked confused by the sudden change in her persona.

"You heard me!" she yelled, "Get the fuck out and don't come back!"

"Hermione," Ron pleaded taking a step towards. She took a step back away from him and shook her head.

"We're done," she replied coldly, "Now leave."

Ron looked at her dumbfounded. This was the first time she had ever kicked him out during one of their fights. He tried to take another step towards her, but she stepped away from him yet again and pointed towards the door. No words said.

He hung his head and left without another word. Once the door had closed behind him, Hermione crashed onto her bed and began sobbing.

Memories of that night still flooded her mind especially at night when she couldn't sleep. Of course, she was still friends with Harry and Ginny, but she hadn't spoken to Ron since that fight. She knew that they would never last. It was just the flash of the cameras and the praises sung of heroes that brought them together. Behind the praise and honor, there stood no hope for them as anything more than friends. Currently there was no chance as friends either.

However, here she was now in the common room with Draco Malfoy. The same Draco Malfoy whom she had kissed behind the secrecy of a mask at the annual Yule Ball. The same Draco Malfoy whom she had just shared a sweet, soft kiss with in the middle of their common room. The same Draco Malfoy whom she stole kisses and soft touches from any chance they were alone in the corridors. The same Draco Malfoy whom Ron referred to as a Death Eater. The last nail in the coffin for her and Ron's relationship.

"Hello?" Draco asked as he waved his hand infront of her face. "What's going on in the head of yours?"

Hermione shook her head, shoving the thoughts of Ron aside. "Oh, just innocent thinking. Did you need something from me when you came in here?"

"I was wondering if you'd help me study for my N.E.W.T.s. I figured I was bound to pass with flying colors if I had you as a tutor," he said with a sweet smile on his face.

"I suppose I could be inclined to help you study," Hermione hummed with a smirk, "But what's in it for me?"

"You'd be spending quality time with me of course," Draco responded proudly as he puffed up his chest.

Hermione laughed. "Well pull up a seat. We've got a lot of work to do."

Here their educational and emotional relationship began to develop. They began to understand each other on a deeper level. The pair studied together each night up until the beginning of exams and they celebrated as the exams came to end. Both of them passing with the highest of scores. Hermione's were, of course, just a little bit higher than Draco's.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

~Three Months Later~

With graduation from Hogwarts right around the corner, Draco didn't want to lose the special bond that he and Hermione had formed, especially when he left for Auror training and she began her internship with the MLE. He wanted a chance to get to know her on an even deeper level. Also he didn't want to lose his cheerleader when things got tough for him.

The night before graduation Hermione found an envelope folded neatly on her pillow. Her name scrolled across it in the finest penmanship she had ever seen. She knew right away who it was from after the hours she had spent watching him copy her notes that he needed to study for his exams.

Hermione,

Would you like to have dinner with me tonight at the Three Broomsticks?

Yes No

Draco

Hermione smiled as she quickly grabbed one of her quills and circled her response. She assumed that the note was enchanted in some way, so he already knew her answer. In fact, she was proven correct when a new note appeared at the bottom.

I'll come knocking for you at 8.

Draco released the breath he had been holding since he slipped the note onto her pillow. He had been so nervous all evening while waiting for her to find it. He was too busy being afraid that she would say no that he had forgotten to think about what would happen if she said yes. Now he had to make himself presentable, rather than the mess of a man he currently was as he laid face down sprawled out across his bed.

"Pull yourself together Malfoy," he scolded himself, "It's just a date. It's not like you've never gone out with a girl before."

It was true. He had been on many dates. Although, none of them seemed to have as much at stake as this one tonight. Usually dinner was just a courtesy to get the young witch he was after to invite him back to her room to cap off the evening. Not tonight however. Tonight was about asking Hermione to be his girlfriend for the long haul, not just a quick end of the year fling.

Burying his face into the pillow in front of him momentarily, Draco pushed himself up from the bed and went to begin getting ready. He had a little over an hour before he needed to meet Hermione.

Hermione checked the clock one last time. 7:50 pm. She still had plenty of time. All she had to do was slip her shoes on and wait. His note said he would come knocking, so she didn't want to spoil his fun by waiting for him in the common room. Her nerves were scattered all over the place. She was excited to finally get the chance to spend some time with Draco that was not restricted to studying, but at the same time she was also nervous. This was her first date since separating from Ron. She didn't want to get her hopes up for tonight, but there was always going to be a piece of her hoping for more.

She slipped into her shoes and sat patiently at her desk waiting for the faint knock upon her door. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She tried taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but the excitement and nerves were far too much her to handle all at once. She closed her eyes and began repeating the quiet mantra to herself that had been helping her curb her anxiety since the war.

"It's only a moment," Hermione whispered. She paused a moment to exhale the breath she held before inhaling as she repeated the phrase. This was becoming a part of her everyday routine. It wasn't something that she was proud of, but it was something that she had to deal with.

A soft knocking at her door drew her back out of her thoughts. She smiled to herself as she walked over to open her door.

A new adventure waiting to unfold.

A new series of moments ready to begin.