Disclaimer: The story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloosmburry Books Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright is intended.

A/N: I was supposed to post the second part of the sequel a (very) long time ago, but the way I ended part one made things difficult for me. I tried to modify the first part, and then I wasn't satisfied with it anymore so I rewrote the whole thing. Hopefully it's better than the previous version. I'll also stop lying lmao, I think it'll be longer than 3 chapters but don't fret I'm already halfway through the next chapter so you won't have to wait this long (for the people still following this story).

XXX

"Are you still sulking?"

Draco didn't need to turn around to recognise the voice that echoed suddenly in the quiet dormitory. It belonged to the traitor who used to be his best friend, barely two days ago. Before he chose to spread a vile lie about him, in front of Gryffindors no less. The blond didn't know if he could ever move past this particular brand of humiliation. The less Blaise deserved was to bear the brunt of his displeasure, and Draco was quite adept at expressing displeasure.

With a dramatic sigh Blaise let himself fall on Draco's bed, and before his best friend could react, hogged him like an octopus. "Would you stop sul- sto-stop hitting me, damn it. Hey! That was the crown jewel of my House you just almost destroyed." Blaise let Draco free with a glare. "What if I told you, even after what you just did, something about Gran-"

"I don't know why we should be talking about her," Draco stated calmly, apparently engrossed with the cuticle of his forefinger.

Blaise smirked. "Hmm, really ?" He spread on the bed in a dramatic fashion and almost dislodged Draco from his place before continuing, "Listen. I really wanted to let you two resolve on your own that mad sexual tension you had going on, but obviously you can't be trusted to do what's need to be done. You wouldn't be here moping if you had taken the advantage I gave you"

For about thirty seconds, Draco tried not to react. Put all his Malfoy stoicism into it, even. However, when the first word tumbled out of his mouth, he knew he had utterly lost what little dignity he had managed to retain until now. "What advantage ?" Almost outraged he said, "she obviously didn't need your little remark to hate me, but now it's just… Wait. What sexual tension?"

The smirk adorning Blaise's face grew exponentially. "Well, well, well... It means exactly what you think it means," he said, sighing in a dramatic fashion. "If I had even the smallest reason to think that this… thing was a pathetic one-sided little crush on your part, I'd hex you until you see reason, but since it is very much reciprocated, I can't let this occasion of pissing your father off go." Blaise straightened out, a deceptive glint in his eyes. "Don't you remember ? I swore on my great-grandmama's grave that I wouldn't let that insult go."

Draco pulled a face at that particular memory. His father definitely went too far that day. "Now we're past the social niceties, do you want to know what I know about your not-so-secret-crush-anymore, or not ?"

Draco exhaled before nodding to his friend. He would consider all the ramifications of his decision later. Much, much later.

XXX

Hermione was having a really, really bad day.

If she thought about it long enough, she was having a really awful week, actually, since what was now dubbed "The Amortentia Incident" by not only her Slytherin-Gryffindor mixed potion class, but the entire sixth and seventh years now. If she found herself at the end of another smirk, heads were about to swell from a nasty hex. However, the universe, Merlin and Morgana weren't that preoccupied with her fate since that egotistical git of Blaise Zabini had overheard something he really shouldn't have heard, and from the smug look he sent her way he wasn't going to keep it to himself.

She should have pushed him down the stairs and claim it was an accident.

Openly scowling she stormed down the hall and made her way, far, far away from anyone under the age of eighteen. Hagrid would be a welcomed distraction from all of this nonsense.

The very second she put a feet in the gamekeeper's hut she was greeted by his booming voice asking what in the name of Merlin and all that is magic had happened in potion class and did Maloy implied she smelled because she was a muggle-born ?

As far as distractions went, it was very bad.

She explained that nothing had happened between Malfoy and her but a misunderstanding. Because there was no way in hell that what Malfoy had said was true. There was no way that he'd smelled something even barely associated with her in professor Snape's cauldron. He said that because he wanted to humiliate her and imply she smelled, imply she was filthy. And it backfired. Spectacularly. But that was only because to Zabini, anyone was fair game to mess with, and he wanted to raise the utmost chaos.

However, she couldn't deny that for one second she entertained the thought that Malfoy had truly inhaled her scent. Her traitorous brain focusing on what happened between them before, and the way he was once, no matter how brief that was. She made the mistake of trusting him because she thought there was something worth underneath. He proved her wrong very fast.

Fool me once, they say. Not twice.

At least, at the time no one was here to witness what an imbecile she could become when she thinks she can help people who don't need or want to be helped. Thank Godric for small mercies.

Shaking her head, Hermione decided that enough was enough and this was the last time today spent wondering about Malfoy. With a forced cheerful voice, she asked her giant friend about his day, and will her mind to stay off anything Slytherin-related.

XXX

With a feign nonchalance, Blaise laid on one of the old, wooden bench of the deserted Quidditch pitch. Through narrow eyes he'd been examining his best friend's back for the past ten minutes, and from what he'd gathered, Draco was taking his latest revelation pretty well. Blowing mildly, the young wizard thought that if the blond chose to act on that little piece of information, things would definitely get more interesting in the future. If one could called an apoplectic Lucius Malfoy interesting.

Abruptly, the dark-skinned wizard got up and started to drag a very reluctant and very puzzled Draco Malfoy behind him.

"Where are you dragging me off ?" the blond asked suspicious. "Didn't you see that I was a bit busy planning the next few months. If I want to survive them, that's it. Without being disowned and disemboweled by my father."

"Don't be so dramatic! First thing first, your father will need to survive the news of you ending 300 years of pure bloodline before considering murdering you. I truly hope the news will be enough to finish him off but if it doesn't, I will personally rub in his face that his future grandchildren will be half-blood." Blaise appeared thoughtful for a second. "If that doesn't do the trick, I will probably just poison him and be done with it."

Draco glared at the back of his friend's head. "Why am I friend with you again?"

"Because I'm the only in Slytherin who can put up with your diva antics and pry informations out of your mouth for the fun of it, and not to ruin your - ill-formed - plans. I also helped you with your revenge against your annoying cousin Charles when we were six."

"Shut up."

Blaise winked at the disgruntled wizard behind him. "Stop scowling like that, we're almost there. And, believe me, with all the work you've got to do before she'd even consider being seen in public with you, you'll start smiling a tad more if you want her to understand that 'mudblood' was for you the equivalent of 'my dear' and your declaration of love was just…lost in translation," Blaise finished with a smirk.

"Nice to hear that my misfortunes bring you joy, mate," Draco muttered, still scowling. "And why exactly do you mean by 'we're almost there'?"

When the familiar silhouette of the half-giant's hut - Draco couldn't bring himself to call it a house - appeared in his field of vision, he cursed loudly. Then he panicked and tried to freed himself from the strong grip exerted on his arm. He knew exactly what Blaise had on his mind, and he knew that he was painfully unprepared for the conversation his friend was hoping would take place in a matter of minutes. He couldn't do this now. He'd mucked everything up and she'd hate him with the intensity of a thousand Firefyends. Well, more than she already did anyway.

From the corner of his eyes the blond caught a sudden movement behind the heavy (and quite ugly) curtains and renewed his struggles with a new vigor. Blaise stopped walking and tried to immobilize Draco with only a modicum of success since both wizards fell on the ground after a few seconds of wrestling. There the dark-skinned wizard sat on his best friend's tordo to pin him to the ground.

"Are you going to behave, now?"

Draco only glared at him when a voice suddenly rang somewhere behind him.

"What in the name of Merlin are you two doing here?"

Of course, Blaise had to bloody laugh at this. And pat his cheek mockingly before removing his annoying arse of him.

Later, he thought. Blaise won't know what hit him.

XXX

Hermione pushed the door and exited the hut slowly, carefully measuring each breath she took in a futile attempt at keeping her rising fury at bay. She knew Blaise was bound to spill out what he overheard in her discussion with Ginny, she just thought she had more time before she was forced to confront Malfoy. Glaring at them, she saw Zabini step aside, grinning while Malfoy picked himself off the ground and dusted his clothes, staring at everything but her .

Splendid, she thought to herself.

An awkward silence fell between them when neither party gathered the courage to talk first. Therefore, Hermione opted to stare at Draco, Draco to stare at Blaise and Blaise...to transfigure a rock into a mirror and admire himself, Draco noted, an half-amused, half-desperate frown on his face.

She, however, was clearly not finding the sight even remotely funny and threw an angry glare at the dark-skinned wizard who, probably sensing himself at the receiving end of two glower, feigned an innocent expression.

Raising his eyebrow, he said "Why are you both looking at me like that? I thought the game was to openly ogle the prettiest person here and it's obviously me."

Sighing, Hermione begged Merlin to give her enough strength - patience, really - to deal with those two morons. "I'm not going to wait a minute longer for you - both of you - to tell me what the hell is going on here ?" Hermione could feel her suppressed anger beginning to rise again.

Draco glanced at her and found himself unable to answer. Then his Slytherin upbringing kicked in and his face became blank once again while he dusted his already dusted uniform. He sensed more than he saw the elbow that drove the air out of his lungs. Wheezing, he threw daggers at the retreating form of his best friend before turning back towards Granger. Even if he disapproved the method, he understood Blaise's point and knew he had to actually talk to her.

"Walk with me," he said rather brutally before wincing.

The reaction was instantaneous. "EXCUSE ME?"The nerve of him to...demand something of me. "How dare you order me around like I was some sort of-of," she stopped, searching for the right word to express her affront.

Holding his hands in front of him, he cut her before she could launch into her rant, "I'm sorry, i'm sorry!"

Stunned into silence, Hermione could only stare at the blond in astonishment. Did...did he just apologise? She stammered awkwardly, "Hum...good. Because you should."

Draco glanced at the ground before replying with unnecessary pomp, "Would you be amenable to a walk with me?" adding almost pleadingly, "Please."

She shuffled nervously on her feet and nodded.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, watching the castle from a distance before settling somewhere between the greenhouses and the Whomping Willow, away from prying eyes.

"I wasn't lying," he started, unsure. "About what I smelled, I mean. I didn't realise it was Amortentia, but I wasn't lying, and I know how it sounds, me trying to-to...I don't even know what I'm trying to do, in fact," Draco muttered. "I know what it looks like, me trying to make you believe anything what I say, but it's not like last ti-"

"No. Not. A. Word. Not on this," she cut him viciously.

The blond looked uncomfortable at once. "I never apologised for this. Hell, I never apologised for a lot of things in my life. For a seeker - someone supposed to be fast - I'm late for a lot of things in my life, including overcoming some of the most harmful precepts I've been brought up with. I'm not sure I deserve forgiving, I probably won't ever forgive myself for what I did to you but I want to try, to be better. To be someone else."

"What do you expect from me?" Hermione asked bitterly. "Absolution?"

At her question, Draco looked at her for the first time since they came here to talk.

Hermione resumes, "You are after something you can only grant to yourself, Draco. My forgiveness can only lead you so far."

"Not absolution, then. Something else, your trust. At least, a small part of it," the blond replied

"I don't know if I should cry or laugh at your audacity. Do you really think I want to trust again, that I want to give you a chance to redeem yourself to me? What make you think I want anything to do with you. Your newly-found conscience and subsequent guilt are none of my business."

"I know. But you kept it, Hermione," he stated calmly.

Draco turned his gaze towards the lake after this. It was a beautiful sight, really. The sun was moments away from disappearing into the night, and its soft lights were painting a beautiful canvas on the surface, while The Giant Squid, who swam lazily around, was troubling the surface episodically, momentarily disrupting the mesmerizing sight.

They stayed like this for a very long time, neither of them talking. Side by side until the stars shone bright in the sky and the air around them grew cold. And then, Hermione stayed some more after Draco left, but not before casting a warming charm around her.

She stayed because he has been right. She had kept it.

XXX

The long gallery was blissfully desert when she finally made her way back to the castle and she didn't meet anyone during her walk towards Gryffindor's tower.

There she quickly took off her clothes, mindful of the sleeping girls, and sighing, finally let herself fall on the bed.

She stayed awake for awhile and only when she began to drift away did she grabbed the object on her nightstand, concealed by her charm.

She fell asleep with the unassuming little ivory locket with an M engraved in it in the palm of her hand.