Draco watched his owl fly into the distance towards the east and turned back to look at Prema, she uncovered her ears as he looked back at her and smiled.

'Anything else I could do for you?' she asked dutifully

'no thanks' he said, she turned to walk out of the door but before she reached it he asked 'have you got anything to do?' she turned back to face him.

'um well I have to ask your mother for anything she'd like me to do. But no'

'well if they haven't got much for you to do, you can come up and see me again later if you like' Prema blushed again and smiled before nodding and leaving the room. Draco laughed slightly to himself and began to search for a new shirt to wear.

x.X.x Later In The Burrow x.X.x

BANG! BANG! BANG!

'ARGH! I HATE THAT GHOUL!' Ron yelled at the roof as the pipes in the attic moved about. Hermione and Harry sat on the extra bed which was temporarily Harry's watching him and looking uncomfortable. Ron looked towards them both and Hermione quickly diverted her eyes to outside the window. 'sorry' Ron apologised 'it drives me mad living with that THING! It's honestly worst than Peeves at school! Do you want to go out to play quidditch?'

'Sure' Harry answered quickly, they looked towards Hermione who looked back at them

'oh you know I don't like to fly, but I'll take out a book to read while you play.' she smiled awkwardly.

'fine, your loss' Ron shrugged, 'come on' he and Harry stood up and went towards the door. Hermione cast another look at the grey sky outside, not much light to read. Suddenly she spotted a small black dot just above the horizon made by the nearby trees. She looked towards Harry and Ron again, who hadn't noticed but just reached a stop by the door.

'are you coming 'Mione?' Harry asked, she stood up quickly and walked to the door to stop right behind them

'sorry, yeah… I'll get my book, you two go ahead.' She followed them out of the room quickly and followed down the stairs. She opened the door to Ginny's room where she was staying and spotted Ginny on her bed.

'Harry and Ron are going to play quidditch if you want to join in' Hermione told her, hoping she'd leave. Luckily Ginny looked happy and nodded to Hermione as she left the room to catch up with Harry and Ron. Hermione closed the door silently as Ginny ran out of sight and ran to the window, swinging it open and leaning half out of the frame. The owl she had spotted upstairs was very close now and Hermione held out her arm for it to land, then as it did so she whipped it inside and closed the window.

Kokapo let Hermione remove the letter from his leg before hopping to the floor to look for mice, bugs or crumbs that may have been hanging about. Hermione unfolded the letter and read, then looking unsatisfied with the reply, sat down on her bed to reply:

'Draco,

I'm sorry but I don't believe you. I am really worried, you looked almost sick. And I know you say that you have enough people worrying about you, your mother, father and even Prema but as your friend I know I have to try to help you if I can.

I swear that nothing has been bothering me, I really saw this and it wasn't my imagination. I don't even care that we can't tell anyone we're friends as long as I can believe that you trust me. Do you trust me Draco? Because I know that I can talk to you, but I also know that YOU CAN TALK TO ME! Please be a friend and reply properly.

Trust me.

Hermione'

She rolled up the parchment and put it almost robotically onto the owl's leg. Then crawling underneath the extra bed in this room, which was hers, she pulled out a packet of biscuits and took one out for the owl to eat before flying back.

'Peck him until he writes a letter at least this long' Hermione said to the owl, holding her hands several paragraphs worth of parchment apart. Finally she opened the window and the large owl hopped out, immediately breaking into flight. Hermione watched it go for a moment before closing the window, grabbing her book, and heading for the door.

As Hermione opened the door she got a surprise on the other side. The Weasley twins fell through the frame, and Hermione automatically put her hand on her hip.

'hear anything interesting?' she asked

'trying to get a boyfriend 'Mione?' Fred asked her happily

'no!' she said firmly 'don't you have something better to do than to listen at doors?'

'Peck him until he writes a letter at least this long' George said, in an attempt to sound like Hermione. 'did you mean this long Hermione?' he continued, stretching his arms as far as they could go and grinning.

'I was just writing to a friend!' Hermione told them sharply 'and I'm not in the mood for jokes' she pushed past them and made her way to the stairs as they stood shocked at her brusqueness. As she reached the boys and Ginny, she sat against the broom shed and listened to them argue that Ginny couldn't join in.

x.X.x In Malfoy Manor x.X.x

Draco had dressed and neatened his hair, he was laying spread out on his bed as there was a small knock on the door.

'yeah?' Draco called out, Prema poked her head around the door frame with a smile on her face; Draco smiled slightly as well.

'your mum didn't want anything' she told him 'she says it's up to you to dismiss me for the day when you no longer need me here'

'okay… you like shopping right?' he asked

'uhh yeah' she replied

'I forgot some things from Diagon Alley, will you get them for me?' Draco asked

'of course' Prema told him 'have you got a list?'

'yeah. Oh and one more thing?' Draco said, 'can you side-along apparate me there too? And then we could maybe get uhh, a coffee or ice cream or something together when we're done?'

'Draco, are you asking me out?' she asked shocked, Draco never replied except from a nod, she paused for a moment and carried on 'Look, Dray, I think you're gorgeous and I know that you know I think it. but I don't want to get in trouble, I work for your family.'

'come in and shut the door' Draco ordered, now sitting up seriously. Prema followed his orders dutifully, 'if this is what you're worried about then don't worry, really. My mother doesn't care what I'm up to, she's not going to find out unless the house elves tell her and that's only if they find out. If you're really worried we'll do this out of your work time, you can sign a date saying your going and then we can go to Diagon Alley, it just means you wont get paid for it… that might be a good thing anyway, otherwise it's like paying for you to be with me' Prema laughed

'you are cute Dray… but you know you're also almost four years younger than me'

'does it matter?' he asked, Draco signalled Prema over to sit by him, she considered for a moment then a grin growing wider over her face came to sit beside him.

'you're right. Sure I'll go out with you' she whispered, suddenly Draco put his hand on the side of her face and pulled her in to kiss him but she soon broke away.

'technically I was just paid to kiss you' she admitted awkwardly.

'fine, go sign out and meet me back here when you're done.' Draco smiled.

Prema ran off into the hall and down the stairs, pressing her wand upon the book that she's meant to sign out with, it recorded the time exactly and noted it into the correct box. Then she raced her way back up to Draco's room and went in without knocking. He was currently under the bed, he grabbed a list and slid out again, putting it safely into his pocket. She noticed him look her up and down, and felt self conscious. She looked down at what she was wearing, not exactly good enough for a date but it'd have to do, unless...

'Draco, I'm not really dressed for a date' she told him

'well it's nothing big' he said, 'but if you want you can go home to change first.' she grinned and considered, she had the perfect outfit.

'I'll be right back' she told him, as she apparated away. Draco suddenly wondered whether or not he was dressed well enough and searched his wardrobe for anything better than his polo shirt, he selected a blouse and replaced his top with it, leaving the top button undone so it wasn't too formal either. Seconds after he'd finished changing Prema apparated directly into his room with an inadvertent 'pop'. He turned away from the wardrobe to see her in a figure-hugging red summer dress, not too formal or casual either; he was happy he had changed.

'you look good' he smiled awkwardly at her, suddenly seeing her in another way to his house maid he realised he didn't know how to compliment her. 'shall we go?' she held out her hand to him and he took hold of it firmly. Almost embarrassedly, but happily Prema smiled and intertwined each of their fingers lovingly, and cast the spell. They were sucked through the, to Prema, familiar feeling of apparating and seconds later stumbled down into the leaky cauldron. The force of the landing made Draco all but trip into Prema, making him apologise repeatedly, which she found adorable.