It was Friday, which meant Hermione didn't have another lesson with Malfoy until Monday, but despite the fact that she didn't really want to see him, the fact that they were not doing any work was really bugging her. She considered doing it herself, but she wasn't going to allow him an A for not doing a thing. She had spent most of the day reliving what had happened that morning, but she just could not get her head around it. Why had she become so angry? And why had she called him Draco? And held his hand? She remembered feeling so guilty, as if she'd hurt someone she loved, which is why she had reached for his hands, as if to apologize. But I don't love Draco. Far from it. There it was again. She had called him Draco, even in her thoughts. What is going on? She thought to herself whilst sat alone in the library that night. She needed to talk to him. She couldn't concentrate on her work, and she couldn't think about anything other than him. Deciding that if she was going to do it, it should be now, she slammed the book Charms for the Advanced shut, put it back on the shelf where she had found it and left the library.

Her first thought was that he would be in his common room, but somehow she felt it unlikely he would be there when he didn't have to be. Where else was she going to find him? She didn't really want to ask any Slytherins in case they snapped at her. Luckily though, she spotted a Ravenclaw prefect and decided that they would have probably seen him on their travels. She approached the young curly haired girl and asked, and got the reply she was looking for.

"I've just seen him sat under a tree outside, go out this door here," she pointed to the door she had just come from, "and go down the steps, but don't follow the path. He was under one of the trees on the right hand side. I barely saw him because he was so far into all the trees, the only reason I recognised him was because of that shiny hair of his." This girl seemed very uninterested in Hermione's intentions, which of course she was grateful for, but seemed very interested in talking. With this thought, she gave a thank you and swept out of the door leading to the grounds. The air was humid and warm, and she felt her hair frizzing up immediately, but she didn't really care, she'd never really cared about her appearance until she'd fallen for Ron, and even now she knew her hair was uncontrollable so she'd given up. She reached the edge of the trees and scanned the surrounding, looking for a flash of pearly blonde hair. Then she saw it, and she suddenly felt a jolt in her stomach as if she was pleased to see him. She took a deep breath and walked over to where he was sitting, back leaning against the tree, a roll of parchment resting on a book on his knees. He was drawing again. He must have been so deep in thought because Hermione called his name and he didn't even blink, so she stepped closer, and cleared her throat as loudly as possible. His head shot up, and at the sight of her hastily rolled up the parchment, placed it out of sight and shot onto his feet, towering over her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at him with soft eyes, and a sweet smile.

"What the fuck do you want?" He snapped, still breathing heavily from his panic. She winced at his use of curse words but shook it off and kept her face welcoming.

"Sorry I startled you," she began, dropping her head bashfully as his eyes stared into hers, "I did call for you, but you were so lost in your drawing that you didn't hear me." She laughed nervously, looking back up at him. She felt so tiny beside his tall, slender body.

"That doesn't answer my question." He snarled. She took a breath. Patience, Hermione. She reminded herself.

"Look, I just, I wanted to talk about what happened earlier, and I wanted to apologize about what I said, it's not my place to say anything about you family, and I'm truly sorry." She sighed. That wasn't so hard.

"Good, so you should be," he snapped, "anything else?" He was trying his best to make this difficult for her but she saw straight through it. She knew he wanted to know what happened today as much as she did, and she wasn't leaving until it was sorted.

"Draco please, will you sit, and talk to me like a civil human being? We need to talk about what happened today and we're not going to get any work done if we don't." She kept her lips in a firm line, her eyes pleading yet hard at the same time. He sighed, nodded, and sat down back into his position against the tree, and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and a quill and began drawing again, as if it helped him concentrate. She sat down beside him, legs crossed, elbows resting on her knees and her hands moulding together. She opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it, speaking in a slow voice, as if trying to figure out a puzzle, and hearing his own voice trying to explain it would help.

"I, I don't really know what happened. I criticised your work and you lost it." He said.

"Because you hadn't done anything for almost half an hour." She replied patiently.

"I couldn't concentrate. I was distracted."

"Okay, by what?"

He looked up at her, straight into her eyes. He wanted to say "you" but he couldn't let himself. He had to have more time on his own before he went that far.

"I don't know," he said, still staring into her eyes, which were staring back. "Just drawing, I guess."

She broke their eye contact and looked to the piece of parchment. He followed her gaze. He hadn't drawn much, but what he had managed to do was the trunk of a tree, with butterflies flying around it and an owl poking its head through a little hole in the trunk. Why he'd drawn this, he did not know, but it was better than drawing her and having her realise.

"You're very good at it." She traced her thumb over the parchment, the butterflies flying towards it. She giggled, and he felt a pang in his stomach, as if it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"I love art." She said. "In the Muggle world drawings and paintings usually reflect the feelings of the artist, or tell a story." She laughed again, and pointed at his drawing. "I think this one could be the start of a beautiful fairy-tale." She said. He smiled and gave a quick chuckle.

"Hm. Yeah, maybe I could turn it into a picture book." He turned his face back to hers, only to gasp with surprise at how close she was. So close, in fact, that he could feel her warm breath on his chin, and he could smell a hint of apple in it. He looked into her eyes. She was still admiring the picture when she moved back and caught his gaze. She smiled, and he smiled back, and they stayed like that for a couple of seconds, only to have the moment ruined by a crow flying out of a nearby tree, making a loud rustling noise in the leaves. They both looked up to the source of the noise, and Draco seized the opportunity to look at her again. Her creamy white skin was like a canvas on her face, and with her piercing brown eyes, perfectly shaped nose and pale pink lips, he couldn't help think that she herself was a piece of art. A masterpiece for that matter. He could draw her and only her for the rest of his life. As his eyes travelled to her mess of hair, he noticed a couple of red leaves tangled into it, making her look like some kind of beautiful forest creature. He reached to remove the leaves from her hair, but at his touch Hermione jumped and their eyes met once again. She was looking at him in confusion, but it was as though she was amused. "Sorry," he said, "you've got leaves in your hair." She sat up as he raised his hand again, dying to touch the golden curls and feel them beneath his fingers, but she beat him to it and he dropped his hand immediately, turning his head away.

"Oh, this bloody hair," she said, irritated, trying to untangle the leaves without tangling her hair even more. "You wouldn't believe the trouble it gives me in the mornings. I don't even bother trying to put it up anymore, it just takes too much energy. It's at its worst in this humid weather, it just goes wild. I wish I knew some kind of spell to tame it, even just a little." She looked at Draco and he snorted, and her cheeks turned a powdery pink. "Sorry," she said, "here I am going on about my hair to a boy who's hated me for 6 years." At this, his head shot back to her gaze, as if she'd just swore.

"I've never hated you, Granger."

They stayed there for an hour, talking, and they had both found it a little awkward at first but then it just felt so normal, as if they'd known each other for years. They talked about Transfiguration and agreed that they would both come up with ideas and write notes, and would meet again the next day to catch up with everyone else. They had talked about what they wanted to do in their careers, neither of them were sure. They had even reminisced memories of the past few years at Hogwarts, talking about various teachers and subjects. They did disagree sometimes, well, most of the time actually, but it was more like friendly banter than actual arguments. Hermione had felt so comfortable it was so strange, yet so right, and as she walked up to the Gryffindor common room she remembered his words. "I've never hated you, Granger." He said. Each time her head replayed these words to her she smiled the biggest smile she had done since she'd been paired with him. Something was changing between them, and she felt that it was for the better, but she still knew there would be inevitable problems if they were to ever become friends.

She declared the password to the fat lady, and climbed through the portrait hole. The common room wasn't very full, it hadn't been at all this year since Fred and George were no longer here to cause the havoc that she actually missed. She smiled at the thought of them and turned to see Harry and Ron, sat in their favourite armchairs by the fire and she walked over to join them.

"Hello." She said as she dropped her bag by the side of her chair and fell into it, feeling herself relax against the fabric as Crookshanks jumped onto her lap.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked, as though it was one o clock in the morning. She didn't want to lie to them, but she didn't really want to tell them the whole truth either, knowing how they would react to hearing that she was becoming friends with Draco Malfoy.

"I was in the library." She said, honestly.

"You're never there this late," said Ron suspiciously. She'd been in such a good mood that she'd almost forgotten all her feelings for him, but his words brought them all back, and it flattered her that he would notice this. "Have you been outside? Your hairs all matted." And at these words, she was ripped from her high. Great, now the main thing she hates about herself the person she loves hates it too. But then Draco's words echoed in her head once again and she tried to repress a smile. She had to tell them. They would find out anyway.

"I was with Draco." She said in a matter of fact tone- but then realised she'd said Draco and panicked.

"Who?" Harry and Ron shouted in horror.

"Malfoy. I went looking for him because I wanted to sort out what happened today. We're almost two weeks behind everyone else so I went to talk to him so that we could agree to be civil at least until we've finished the task." She lied this time. They were being rather more than civil, and she hoped it would carry on long after the task was finished.

"And you went after him without telling us?" Ron said, as if he was her bodyguard. Here we go again, she thought.

"Yes, Ronald," she snapped, "As I have told you time and time again I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." She felt her heart race now, beating against the feeling of it being crushed.

"Well, yeah, when you're using magic," he said, not even looking at her, "but Hermione, what if he'd called you a, you know? Then what would you have done? You would have been too upset to do anything about it, which is where I would come in and beat the ferret to a pulp." He laughed. She felt like he didn't take her seriously at all, and this both broke her heart and infuriated her, plus the fact that he thought himself brave yet he couldn't even say words like "Mudblood," or "Voldemort."

"Called me a what? Ron? A Mudblood?" She was shouting now.

"Hermione, don't..."

"Don't what Ronald? Say Mudblood? Why? It's just a word! It's never affected me in the past other than the first time it was used against me, since then it's just made me stronger. Why are you so afraid of it?" She was trembling, anger and heartbreak and humiliation burning up inside of her. "Is that what you think of me?"

"WHAT?" Ron shouted, getting to his feet, Harry following in order to try and restrain him. Hermione stood also. "Hermione, you know I don't think of you like that!"

"Then what do you think of me Ron? Huh? You're always talking down to me, are you ever going to realise that I'm in lo..." She broke off. Oh my god. I almost told him. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, she could almost hear it screaming in anger and frustration and hurt and all sorts of emotions she wasn't used to. She looked at him in fear, and judging by the expression on his face she knew that he had guessed what she was going to say. Harry had too, as he was staring at Hermione, jaw almost on the floor. She felt her chest rising and falling rapidly under the sounds of her sharp breaths. She looked back at Ron, who was staring back in shock, and then she saw a smile curling up his face.

"Hermione, do you really" he reached for her hand "do you really feel that way about me?" Harry soon shot out of sight, leaving the two of them alone. Her lips were trembling, her eyes were wide with panic, and she could hardly breathe.

"I. I. I'm going to bed." She said, and shot out of the room as if a summoning spell had been put on her. As she entered her dorm, the other girls stared at her, they had obviously overheard what was going on downstairs, but she just walked straight past them to her bed and drew the curtains around her, then cast a silencing charm around herself. She was in so much shock she wanted to cry. She put both hands on her forehead as if trying to magically clear her mind, but all she could do was scream. She had so many feelings pulsing through her right now that she couldn't think straight. Breathe, Hermione, breathe. Come on you're stronger than this. Breathe, calm down, and try and get to sleep. With this thought, she closed her eyes and took deep, slow breaths, until she was calm, and worn out. She fell asleep almost instantly, the day replaying in her head like a dream. The only part that repeated though was her outdoor meeting with Draco, and as she slept, a smile formed on her lips.

Malfoy awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. It had taken him hours to get to sleep, and after looking at the clock and seeing it was 8 a.m., he realized he had only managed 6 hours sleep, whereas usually he could sleep all day without a problem. All night he had been thinking about his encounter with Granger, and he had never felt so much confusion in his life. He did hate Granger, well at least he used to, so why had he told her different? Maybe he didn't want to think of how it would make her feel to have it confirmed. The way things were changing between them frightened him. He hated himself for letting it happen, he knew he shouldn't be acting like this, she was a Mudblood for Salazar's sake, and he was a damn Malfoy. People like him wouldn't look twice at people like her, and dreaded his father's reaction to him having decent conversations with Granger. He had to stop this. However he couldn't deny that he was warming to her. She was smart, headstrong, and although he hated to admit it, he found her beautiful. The only thing holding him back was his family's beliefs and the fact that she was a Mudblood. He had felt so comfortable the day before that he decided it couldn't do any harm if he were to be friendly with her, as long as no one saw them together outside of class, he could not take the comments from his fellow Slytherins if that was to happen, especially from Pansy.

Granger had decided for them to meet underneath the same oak tree that Draco went to when he wanted to think or just have some peace. It was, you could say, his special place that no one else knew about, and it felt strange yet comforting to know that he was now sharing it with Granger. They were not meeting until 2pm though, so he got dressed and left his dorm to go for a walk around the Hogwarts grounds, taking advantage of the beautiful day. Luckily, he got out just as Crabbe and Goyle began to stir, fortunately avoiding the "where are you going?" and "I'll come with you." He had loved it in the first two years, but now he was so sick of them being so far up his arse that he was surprised he wasn't telling them to get lost.

Draco made his way down to the small pebbled beach leading to the lake, and started skipping rocks. The atmosphere was different at Hogwarts this year. He didn't know what, but he had the strongest feeling that something big was coming.

Hermione went downstairs into the common room to find it quiet as usual, and sat down alone at a table and opened her copy of Advanced Potion Making, trying to distract herself from the inevitable conversation with Ron that would soon come. She wasn't surprised though, when Harry came downstairs alone, heading straight for Hermione.

"Morning." He said as he took a seat next to her.

"Morning, Harry," she replied, not taking her eyes from her book. She heard Harry sigh.

"Look, Hermione, about last night-" he began, but she cut him off.

"Ron sent you down here, didn't he?" she snapped, slamming the book closed and turning to meet Harrys shocked expression.

"No, he's still sleeping, I wanted to talk to you about it."

"About what?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"Hermione I know you like Ron." She looked up with a start, eyes wide open, and opened her mouth to speak but Harry stopped her. "It's not just because of yesterday, I've known for ages. To be honest I think I knew before you did!" he laughed. Hermione just stared. "Look. I know because I feel the same way about Ginny, and don't act surprised because I know you know"-he said as Hermione had looked up-"I see you looking at Ron the way I feel I look at Ginny, and I know, it's a horrible feeling thinking that he doesn't like you back but Hermione you have to believe me when I say that he does. He has done ever since fourth year when he saw you at the Yule Ball."

"No. He, he can't possibly, he's never shown any sign, anytime I've been forward with him he's ignored it."

"Because he doesn't realise you're doing it, you know what Ron's like." Hermione didn't have an argument for this. Harry was probably right, Ron was quite oblivious. The realisation that he might actually feel the same way made her chest swell and created a big pool of heat in her stomach, and she smiled.

"You should know too, that Ginny feels the same way about you. She never stops talking about you, she really loves you." Harry smiled at this.

"I know." He said. Hermione frowned in confusion. "We've actually been going out with each other since The Hogwarts Express, we spoke about it while you and Ron were on Prefect duty, and we've been keeping it a secret until now, we haven't told anyone because we don't want Ron to go mad." He smiled, and then scowled at the thought of Ron's reaction.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione threw her arms around him and squeezed him into a tight hug, "I'm so happy for you." She pulled back. "Ron won't mind you know, Ginny's openly liked you for years and he's never warned you away from her." She said.

"I suppose you're right. Okay, I'll make you a deal. You talk to Ron and get yourselves sorted out, and I'll tell him about me and Ginny. Today." Hermione took a deep breath.

"I…I don't know Harry, I'm not sure I-"

"Hermione, you and Ron are perfect together. You already act like an old married couple so I doubt that much will change" Harry smiled. Hermione returned a wary smirk.

"Ok, deal," she said, but not now, I'll do it tonight, I'm meeting Malfoy later and I don't want Ron to try and stop me."

"You're meeting him again?" Harry said in disgust.

"Yes, Harry, we're so far behind everyone else, we just have to get some work done outside of lessons. Besides, he's changing, the way he was with me last night was like a completely different person. I really do think he's changing for the better, Harry. And honestly, I quite enjoy his company now." She said honestly. Harry was her best friend, and she wasn't going to keep things from him. He stared at her in utter disbelief, but obviously decided there was no point arguing with her, as he sighed and said,

"Just, just be careful, Hermione, for all you know, he could be changing for the worse." And at this point their conversation was terminated as Ron and Ginny entered the room, and Hermione and Harry looked at each other with a smirk, each turning red as if they could read each other's minds.

By the time her meeting with Malfoy had arrived, Hermione had finished all her homework in the hopes that she could concentrate on Transfiguration for the rest of the weekend, and also so that she could avoid any serious conversation with Ron. She was extremely nervous about telling him but she was also quite excited. She knew it could either go perfectly well and she and Ron would finally be together, or it would all go wrong and he would never speak to her again. All she could do was hope for the first option. She looked at her watch and saw that it was 1:45, so she closed her books and got up from the table in the corner of the Gryffindor common room at which she, Harry, Ginny, and Ron were all sat.

"I have to go." She declared as she swooped her stuff up into her arms. Harry's eyes flew up to catch hers, a warning glare in them, to which she answered with a roll of her eyes and subtle shake of her head. Harry kept his gaze on her as Ron spoke.

"Where are you going?" He asked abruptly, as if he didn't want to miss a thing.

"I need to go to the library so I can find some books on werewolves for this Transfiguration assignment." She said, trying to keep her voice still. Ron began to gather his work, too.

"I'll come with you," he said. Hermione gave a start at this and said, a little too quickly,

"No! You can't." Seeing the shocked disappointment on Ron's face she explained. "It's just, we're so far behind, I need to get as much work done as possible, and you being there will just distract me." The three pairs of eyes looking at her softened, and Harry struggled to hide a smile, at which Hermione turned red.

"Oh, okay." Ron said, sitting back down. "I'll see you later then."

"Yes, um, okay," she replied, picking up her back and throwing a look at Harry who was now shaking trying to hide his laughter, while Ginny patted his back, looking at him confused. Hermione swung her bag over her shoulder and walked towards the portrait hole. As she began to climb through, she heard Ron's voice again.

"What's so funny Harry?" And at this, Hermione started laughing to herself.

Authors Note: Hi guys I just want to say thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and added it to your favorites or story alerts and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

This chapter is a little earlier than I had planned but I'd done writing it and wanted to get it uploaded before Glee starts again next week.

I hope you liked this chapter, please review, and THANK YOU xxxxxx