Hogwartz, Valentine's style.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns HP, not me.

Summary: Just a cute Draco/Hermione one-shot.

Spoilers: None.

He couldn't believe this. It being Valentines and all, and she was standing him up for God knows what. He buried his hands in his pockets, not realizing his phone was going off seconds later. He wondered who'd be ringing him now; it couldn't be her, could it?

Attempting to hide his anxiousness, he reached for the ringing device and answered it, sighing when it turned out to be his father, and not her. His precious dinner was tonight; something stupid about adding more pure-bloods into his friends' circle, whatever the hell that meant. People weren't showing up yet, and here he was blaming him for all of it. Blaming him for being out on a date, well a first date, even though his father had forbade him from seeing her in the first place. No wonder he was out there now, waiting on her, freezing his butt off, instead of faking a smile he'd get yelled at for later. He just hoped she'd show; it'd been almost half an hour since she'd last called, and if he didn't show up at the dorms soon, Crabb and Goyle would surely have his head.

Tugging his coat closer to him, he shivered for the umpteenth time that night, realizing he'd been wrong to wait outside, but if he hadn't her rose would wilt. And now, well, now he wasn't so sure he didn't expect it to freeze to death like him. Letting himself chuckle for the first time that night, he soon frowned again when he realized she wasn't going to come. He'd been a fool to come, he'd known. With a forlorn glance back toward Diagon Alley, he ducked his head into his coat and continued walking toward the dorms.

''Draco, wait,'' he heard, just before turning the corner and leaving the alley for good. It was past eight, curfew would soon be coming. Most nights he skipped it, but tonight he'd relish in it, in not looking like a lovesick dork around her. ''Draco Malfoy, I said wait!''

''You little so --,'' He started back, turning on his heel to insult whoever it was, not realizing their voice had been muffled by the wind. After seeing it was her, not just some know-it-all wizard who wanted to start a fight, he cleared his throat, his voice softening. ''Hermione, what…''

Three steps led her to him, as she held out a box. It wasn't much, but she considered this her excuse for making such a late entrance on their first official date. She just hoped he understood.

''I'm sorry this took so long. I wanted us to have an official first date, Draco, and this was part of that. I hope you'll forgive me.''

He took the box, glancing around with an eyebrow raised, unsure of what exactly this was. He was familiar to first dates thanks to Pansy, but this was different. He'd liked Hermione for a while, even longer than Pansy, and now was their time to try and make things work. ''What is it?'' he asked, that eyebrow still arched in her direction. She smiled, a little giggle getting loose. ''Open it, and you'll find out.''

He opened it, finding a ring. Glancing toward her, she pointed to the card left over. Picking that up next, he opened the card to reveal a simple spell, which she explained he had to say to the ring. That there was a surprise with the ring that only this spell could reveal. ''You've got to be kidding,'' he said with a laugh, as she shook her head and nodded once more toward the ring. ''Say the spell, Draco.''

''Okay, okay,'' he replies, saying the spell and watching the ring sparkle with gold and silver, shimmering and sparkling with secrets. He frowned at it, watching as a picture of him asking Hermione out in front of the whole Hogwarts, including Potter and Weasley, and her wide smile being his answer. He couldn't hold back his own blush, and looked back up at her with a small grin.

''….I knew there was a good reason to wait for you.''

''Please! If I'd been ten seconds later, you'd be sleeping by now.''

He shrugged, moving to place an arm around her shoulder, his warm breath warming her up from the dreaded cold. ''Maybe… but I'd have been dreaming of you, Hermione.''

The End.