As much as we would like to, neither of us own Harry Potter

Chapter 2

While in the shower, Hermione began to ponder who sent her the rose, although she already had a pretty good idea. 'Malfoy,' she thought to herself. 'But when did he have the time to get me a rose between the saving me and now?' she wondered. 'Though, I suppose if he is going to see family, he probably wouldn't have taken a carriage…'

Hermione let her mind wander back to her previous school years, going over each detail in her mind 'in remembrance' she told herself, but really she just didn't want to admit that it was also to discover if Malfoy had left before the start of term before. She couldn't recall, but then again she was pretty intent on ignoring him, and had done a pretty good job.

After Hermione had gone out with Krum in 4th year, and Harry was taken to that horrid graveyard and defeated Voldemort, Ron had been quick to ask her out in the beginning of their 5th year. Seeing as 5th years took O.W.L.S, she and Ron didn't do much dating other than for studying. Once exams were over, and they went on real dates, she discovered that it was just awkward and she didn't like Ron that way, much like it was with Krum. Harry and Hermione were both relieved by that discovery – no longer did Harry feel left out. Hermione broke up with Ron as quickly and painless as possible, but it seems that he either didn't get the memo, or didn't care if she was in the relationship or not – he would go out with her either way. Hermione gritted her teeth and went along with it, and distracted herself as much as possible along the way, which is how she finally got Harry and Ginny together. It was quite a challenge, and Hermione prided herself on being the sole person who succeeded. She got her two best friends together, and redeemed herself in the eyes of Molly Weasley, who was not happy when Hermione broke up with Ron. His brothers were glad when she broke up with him – they all knew it wouldn't last.

Feeling the water pound on her face brought her back to reality. Sighing, she turned off the shower, performed a quick drying spell on herself, and dressed. She was extremely grateful that her hair had started to cooperate over the summer; now, instead of being bushy and unmanageable, it curled in ringlets that were a bit below her shoulders. Realizing she was running late, she hurried down to the feast.

* * * * *

"Ugh, I'm so hungry I would eat a hippogriff," Ron complained.

"Now Ron, sorting is an important part of the first day here. Much more important than the feast," Hermione scolded Ron.

"She's right, you know," Nearly Headless Nick started from where he sat a few chairs away from them.

"Oh, sod off," Ron muttered.

"…and now, I bid you all, tuck in!" Dumbledore exclaimed happily and sat down as the plates magically appeared full of food.

"Fignalnay," Ron groaned, him mouth already stuffed full of food.

"Ronald! That is absolutely disgusting!" Hermione exclaimed while Harry looked away and Ginny made a face of disgust. Anxious to look anywhere else, Hermione let her eyes wander around the Great Hall. 'Hmm…,' she thought to herself, 'I wonder…' and she decided to try her theory out. She glanced over at the Slytherin table, and felt a rush of excitement and disappointment when she saw Malfoy sitting there, eating like a civilized human being unlike Ron, who seemed to be stuffing his mouth full of potatoes and counting how many he could get in before he had to swallow and start again. Malfoy, feeling someone's eyes on him, looked up into the brown eyes of Hermione. He seemed pleasantly surprised to find her staring at him, and gave her a small smile before going back to eating. Hermione quickly looked away and let the rest of dinner finish quickly.

"Hermione, are you coming?" Harry asked, jolting her back to reality.

" No, I'll be right there, I need to talk to McGonagall about something."

"Alright, see you in the common room," said Harry, who proceeded to drag Ron out with him, sensing that Hermione wasn't ready to deal with him. He was right.

Hermione had actually lied to them – something she did very infrequently. She, for once, didn't want to talk to McGonagall about anything. So she hung back and waited until most of the people cleared the great hall before getting up and slowly walking towards the exit, apparently lost in thought. When she reached the doors of the Great Hall, a voice spoke to her.

"Granger. Granger! Hermione!"

Hermione jumped and spun around, startled, knocking into the person speaking to her and almost falling over. Malfoy recovered immediately and caught her before she could do anything more than stumble off balance.

"Granger, when I told you to be more careful, I wasn't kidding," Malfoy said, his hand still gripping her arm. His words caused her to look up at him in, the surprise showing in her brown eyes when she saw the concern and warmth in his grey ones. He smiled at her, and let go of her arm to push a stray curl behind her ear.

"Promise me you'll stay safe this weekend," Malfoy said softly, locking his gaze into her eyes.

Something clicked into place and Hermione said with a smile, "Don't worry, I only seem to be accident prone when you're around."

Draco laughed, took a step closer to her and said, "It's good to know I'll always be around when you need saving." He was now so close to her that she could feel his breath on her forehead. He bent down, whispered "See you on Monday, Hermione," put something into her hands, and left. She stood and watched him leave, stunned.

Hermione glanced down and realized she was holding a black rose, identical to the one she found on her pillow earlier. 'So I was right,' she thought with a smile. Hermione's thoughts then drifted to a certain Slytherin with blonde hair and grey eyes, and Hermione became completely lost in thought as she made her way out of the Great Hall and up to the Gryffindor common room. She was so lost in thought as she walked out of the hall that she didn't notice Dumbledore chuckling to himself - he so loved displays of inter-house unity.

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A/N: Read and Review please!!!