Sorry for such a late and small update. I've been really busy, but I wanted a chapter out. I hope you liked this chapter. I'll try to write another one by next week. I have big plans for the next few chapters.

Chapter 6: Friends

The school week passed by so quickly. Hermione was coming to love her cat more and more. Luckily, Draco didn't mind as long the cat didn't ruin his stuff.

Over the week, they had worked on the Halloween Bash a little more. At this point, they were almost done with everything, and they only had some final touches left. They still had 4 more days, but Hermione didn't like working on the weekend, so they only have one day's worth of work left.

Hermione still hadn't talked to Ron, and both of them were still being stubborn. However, Hermione made up for it by spending time with her friends. She was sorry for bringing their argument in between everyone, but nobody believed Ron, and they all thought he was being paranoid.

Hermione cleared her head of the sad thought. It was Saturday, and Hermione was excited. Draco kept to his promise, and Hermione was going to spend the day with Draco and his friends.

She got ready and waited for Draco. Finally, he came out.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. We're going to Hogsmede."

"Okay."

Both of them started to walk downstairs. They grabbed some breakfast and ate. After everyone was done, Hermione went over to the Slytherin table. Draco started to introduce his friends to her.

"This is Blaise."

He pointed towards a tan boy that looked Italian.

"This is Theo."

He pointed towards a short boy who was standing near Pansy.

"This is Daphne."

He pointed to a slim, pretty girl who was wearing green.

"And you know Pansy."

"Yeah. Hello."

"Hello Granger."

"Please, can we do this on a first name basis?"

"OK, Hermione. It's nice to finally meet the person who managed to put a smile on Draco's face."

"I don't believe I'm the only reason."

"Oh, but you are."

Draco started blushing. Hermione felt a little happier after learning this.

"Let's just go to Hogsmede."

"OK."

They reached Hogsmede, and they went into Three Broomsticks to get some butterbeers. As they drank, they sat and talked. By the end of the day, Hermione found that she got to know Draco's friends a lot better that she thought she would.

"It's getting late, we should go back."

"Oh my! You're right Hermione."

"Yeah, you guys go. I have something I need to do."

"What is it Daphne?"

"Nothing. My sister wants to talk to me."

She scowled, and Hermione could tell that something was wrong.

"Oh, OK then. I would love to meet your sister."

"No you wouldn't."

Draco gave her a look, and Hermione dropped the topic. They all walked back to the school, leaving Daphne to find her sister.

At school, the group had dispersed, and Hermione went looking for her friends. While she was looking, she ran into Ron.

"I saw you being all buddy buddy with the ferret and his death eater friends. Are they recruiting you?"

The sarcasm that Hermione heard in his voice hurt her a lot. Did he actually think that she would join them and spend time with then if they were death eaters?

"I told you that I wasn't going to deal with you until you gave up on your silly ideas."

"They are not silly. Just watch. He's going to break you and betray you and you're going to come crawling back telling me that I was right."

"I don't even know how I still consider you a friend. I always used to say that Draco was rude because he judged me on my parents and my blood. Now you're doing the exact same thing to him."

"Fine. Don't believe me."

Hermione stomped away. Why did Ron have to do these type of things? She tried to stop thinking about all of the problems that Ron caused, and she went to dinner.

After dinner she walked back to the Head Dorms with Draco.

"Why doesn't Daphne like her sister?"

"Me and my friends were forced into following Voldemort. People like Daphne's sister did it because they wanted to. They thought that Voldemort had the right ideas. They hate you and everyone who wanted the light to win."

"So is she one of the people who sit alone on the end of table?"

"Yes. Now, I don't feel like talking about this now."

"OK, I'll drop it. Just remember, you are not a bad guy."

"Sure..."

By then they had reached the head dorms, and Hermione had turned to look toward Draco.

"You did what you had to. You didn't want to and you didn't do anything that you weren't forced to do. Nobody hates you for that. Even your housemates sit and talk to you now. It's only a few select idiots that think you're a bad guy."

"Thanks Hermione."

"No problem."

She could tell that he was still worried about it. He looked a little more broken than usual.

"OK, let's change the topic."

He thought for a moment and brought up the very topic that Hermione never wanted to talk about.

"Tell me what's up with Weasley."

"What do you mean?"

"You were yelling at him earlier today, and you guys haven't talked since last weekend. He also stares at me like he wants to kill me every time he sees me."

"He still thinks you're a Death Eater who's going to betray and kill us all. The war has made his ego a little bigger, and made him more paranoid."

"I see. And none of you believe him."

"Of course not! He's being delusional, and we all told him that, many times. We aren't talking anymore."

"You put me above your friend of seven years?"

"He is not acting like my friend of seven years. You are actually acting like the person that I became friends with."

"Thank You Hermione."

He didn't have to say what he was thankful for. The silence afterwards answered that question for them.

Eventually both of them went to their rooms with that conversation still on their minds.

Hermione fell asleep pretty quickly, but Draco sat on his bed and did his homework. He was trying to concentrate, but he couldn't. Every time he tried to work on his homework, his mind kept going back to Hermione. He couldn't understand why he never felt more at peace than when he heard her laugh, or why he always looked forward to spending time with her. She was like a disease, only he didn't want the cure. What was he going to do about her? After all, they were only friends, nothing more. He couldn't focus on his work, so he put his stuff away and tried to sleep.

The next day both of them worked on the Halloween Bash. The finally finished near the end of the day.

On the 30th, they went to Professor McGonagall's room to show her their plans.

"Are you sure we have everything?"

"Yes Hermione. You've already checked several times."

"OK."

They reached the door to the Headmistress's office.

"Lemon Sherbet."

The door opened and they stepped inside. Professor McGonagall looked up and acknowledged their presence.

"Hello. Do you have the plan with you?"

"Yes. Here you go."

Hermione set the plans in front of the professor and the three of them spent the next couple hours looking at plans.

It was past midnight by the time Hermione and Draco got back to their dorms. They had not finished the plans, but they were hoping on finishing by the end of the week.

They reached their goal, and at 1:00 in the morning on Saturday, all of the plans for the Halloween Bash were complete. All they had to worry about now was getting costumes for themselves.

Hermione went to sleep and didn't get up until the afternoon. She considered it as making up for her loss of sleep over the week.

She woke up in the afternoon and went to the library. There she pulled out a book. She was going to enjoy the day. As she tried to read, her mind kept going over to Draco. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She loved the way he looked, the way he smelled, and everything else. She didn't know what was happening, but all she knew was that she was happy as long as she was with him.

The book was now long forgotten. She kept pondering over the mystery that was Draco Malfoy. What was happening to their friendship, and what was happening to her? She decided that she would talk to Ginny about it. She needed a second opinion, and she needed a way to clear her thoughts.

Hermione tried to concentrate on her book, but she gave up around 11:00. She went back to the dorm rooms and found Draco in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"Making coffee. I really need to fix my sleep schedule."

"Same, but coffee isn't going to help."

"2:00 was early for us this last week, coffee isn't going to make me any less sleepy."

"OK, make me a cup too."

"Sure."

Somehow, Hermione's plans to get sleep disappeared. Both of them drank coffee and talked late into the night. Hermione lost herself in her conversations. When she finally went to bed, she felt more at peace, then she had ever felt before. She didn't know what was happening to her, but she knew that it was related to the boy next door, and it was a good thing.