I do not own any HP works or characters or rights etc. But I AM quite enamored with them.

This is my first fan-fic. Let's see where it goes.

Chapter 1: Pansy's Own Blunder

Despite it being the late hours of a Friday night, the Hogwarts library was not empty. And Ron Weasley wasn't at all surprised. It couldn't be anyone but his favorite book worm, Hermione. He advanced with a Lumos spell to light his way toward the tables where she'd be sitting. He confirmed his guess when he heard pages turn from one of the books from the extensive library collection.

He was going to surprise her, he decided as he grinned. It's so late, he thought, she'd welcome a friendly face. What could she possibly be studying for at this time, anyway?

He peeked his head around a bookshelf and brought his wand up to see… not-Hermione.

"What? Who are you?" A startled voice hit him as he reeled from his discovery: it was Pansy Parkinson. Crying. Over… some sort of magical text?

"Err..sorry," he ducked his head and tried to move across the room with purpose, like he hadn't been lurking in the library just by mere curiosity.

Pansy sniffled out a little cry and looked back down to her books. Her Slytherin robes where crumpled, messy, and she had obviously neglected to place a light protection spell on her make-up, which was running down her cheeks. The girl looked deplorable- and though Ron hated her for having tormented his friends and Hermione in particular, he couldn't revel in her pain at the moment.

He simply looked away and tried to shake off the image of Pansy's freaky breakdown in the library. But then, like a slightly selfish goon- which (he had to face it) he sometimes was, he moved back toward her table to ask what book it was they would need to research the Dark Arts essay assigned by Slughorn over the weekend.

She began to point a shaky hand to her left, but then she quickly brought it to her chest.

"Forget it," she yelped quietly.

"What..? What's your problem?" Ron scoffed at her. "I'm not asking you to kiss Godric Griffyndor's shoe- I asked for simple directions on homework." When she buried her face in her palms, he gave up and began to turn away.

"Whatever, Pansy. It's not like I can't get any of my friends to tell me about the homework," he grumbled in exasperation.

"No! It's not that," she moaned out sorrowfully. "I just mean… that I'd probably be no good authority on school work anyway," she shrugged.

"What, you mean you're failing?" He let out a small laugh- it's not like he wasn't doing poorly in Transfigurations.

"Oh, just with classes in general! I've been messing it all up in just the worst possible ways," she whined and brushed the pages of the texts before her.

To Ron, she didn't really look so… dog-like at the moment. Maybe it was the sadness that made her look more approachable and human. So he pursued the conversation, trying to make her feel better about something he didn't understand.

"Oh.. err, blimey! It really can't be as bad as I've done this year. It's too late to worry about homework," he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No, you nitwit!" She hissed and shrugged him off, looking at the page before her. "You don't understand. This isn't school work, it's a spell gone wrong!"

Ron read the page's title: "Entrancing Enchantments." They were supposed to make people fall in love with the one that cast the spell, but who did Pansy try to…

"Oh, Pansy! I really don't care what you did to Malfoy," he snorted when he realized her probable target. He began to walk away, before he threw his head back to wish the two of them well.

"No, you idiot!" She cried out into her arms. "He won't love me! It's horrible! The spell is making him melt for that horrible witch that you're friends with," she groaned out as she picked up her things and shuffled out of the library quickly.

Ron was left behind in the library, practically petrified at Pansy's mistake. Malfoy and Hermione? He rushed back to the Common Room.

"So who cares?" Harry lazily spoke, trying to fall asleep despite Ron's complaints. He obviously didn't have much faith in any magic of Pansy Parkinson's. The girl couldn't have been any stupider.

"What, Harry? It doesn't bother you that the little ferret's going to be throwing himself at… our friend? I mean, the little git probably thinks he's entitled to Hermione, or something," Ron huffed falling backwards on his bed.

"It's not like Hermione would give in, though… And why should you care, Ron?" Harry turned away from him in his own bed.

"I'm not.. I'm just.." Ron looked toward the door of their room. He didn't know why he should care.

"You know, Ron… This might actually be fun," Harry faced him again and pushed up on his elbow. "I mean, think of it- Malfoy following us like a puppy!" he laughed.

"Yeah," he complained. "He'll pursue us tirelessly and use all of his fortune to impress Hermione at any opportunity. It sounds like great fun, Harry."

"No- you're not looking at this the right way…" Harry tried to explain to him. "MALFOY WILL BE WAITING ON US! I mean, talk about finally bringing some humility to him!" He was smirking now, all his intentions of sleep forgotten.

"Yeah, I guess…" Ron thought it over. "Sure. Fun…"

Sure enough, a Malfoy full of hope was waiting for them at breakfast the next morning. Hermione grumbled as he prattled about her hair that morning, throwing a cross look to Harry and Ron who were both snickering.

"Oy, Malfoy!" Ron called to him. "Ms. Granger could use another bottle of pumpkin juice at her table. Want to bring us one of the ones from your table?"

As Draco Malfoy hurried to please "his lady," Hermione turned to Ron furiously.

"Why did you do this to him? It's atrocious! You can't just play pranks by using people. Ron, you're being-"

"Hermione, Ron didn't do anything," Harry grinned widely. "It must just be… Malfoy being weird or something." He elbowed Ron until he agreed with him.

"I know it's a spell," Hermione rolled her eyes at them and pushed away from the table when she saw Draco returning to their table.

She rushed off, looking back only when she felt the penetrating stare of Pansy Parkinson on her. The yippy Slytherin was glaring meanly across the room… but trying to confront her would only probably give Draco a chance to catch up with her again.

Sighing, she began to move toward the Gryffindor Common Room. Somewhere there were the quills she planned on returning in Hogsmeade. She had too much on her mind to think of putting them in her bag as she descended the staircase when they caught the attention of an extremely bored Peeves. He swooped down to pilfer her quill set, yelling after her. Surprised, she turned away from him, but lost her footing on the stairs.

Peeves laughed maniacally as he left her grasping for the banister she wasn't going to reach in time. She fell back quickly. Hermione shut her eyes and waited to land on her butt embarrassingly. Instead, she fell down into a pair of strong arms. She loosened her grip on the case of quills and opened her eyes. Lord, it's Draco, she thought as she pushed out of his arms, mortified.

"Erhmm, thanks, Malfoy."

"Right. Of course," he put his hands back in his pockets. He wasn't wearing robes- just black pants with a fitted dark colored turtle neck, bringing out his silver eyes. "I… saw you running into a bit of trouble with Peeves," he pointed up to the stair where Peeves had swooped down on her.

"Yes. It was lucky that you were here," she admitted.

"So, Hermione- you're going to Hogsmeade?" He asked, looking down at the unopened quills in her hands.

It was odd for her to hear him speak her first name. He said it really warmly, too. Perhaps Harry hadn't been lying about Malfoy that morning. Maybe he was changing…

"Yes, I am," she replied more warmly this time.

"Well, I am too…" he mentioned as they began to descend the stairs together.

Considering everyone went to Hogsmeade, it wasn't a spectacular coincidence, but Hermione smiled and agreed to spend the afternoon with him anyway.

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