Draco walked into the Head common room and collapsed on the couch.

Crookshanks instinctively hopped into his lap and nudged his hand. He smiled and sat there petting the fluffy cat while thinking about its owner.

He had been quite preoccupied during most days, practicing Quidditch and organizing the sporting events with the other school prefects, but every night, when he had a chance to relax; his mind would always drift and think of HER.

It had been a crazy few weeks, what with having to organize the tournament and be the Quidditch captain. But he had found himself pondering more and more at night about Hermione and how feeling attracted to her went against everything he had been taught by his family.

He was starting to realize increasingly that she wasn't just the annoying know-it-all he had always found so irritating, but that she was truly intelligent and hard working. And he had to admit that he admired that about her.

And he realized that maybe everything his father had taught him about muggle borns wasn't true.

Just as he laid his head back and closed his eyes, thinking about her warm caramel eyes, the door to the common room opened softly and Hermione walked in, not noticing him on the chair.

He brought his head up and stared at her. She was walking towards her bedroom door when she felt his presence and turned to look at him.

She frowned slightly, looking at Crookshanks, who was now sprawled on his lap.

"Good evening, Malfoy. Crookshanks, come now, you've got to have dinner".

She patted her lap softly, calling the cat, but it simply gave her a blank stare and laid its head back on Malfoy's lap.

She rolled her eyes and headed towards her room, muttering under her breath.

"Wait, Granger." Draco stood, lightly pushing the cat of his lap, for which he received an angry growl from Crookshanks.

He walked over to her, stopping a few inches closer than he would with anyone else. Hermione looked up at him, a mix of emotions on her face; she looked scared and excited at the same time.

"Yes, Malfoy?" she asked, her voice now a whisper.

Draco was lost in her gaze; he simply stared into her warm brown eyes and lost his train of thought.

He suddenly realized what he needed to say and snapped out of his momentary trance.

He noticed that she was now chewing nervously on her lower lip, his eyes darting quickly to her mouth, and then back to her eyes.

He cleared his throat and spoke softly,

"So, I'll wait for you out here tomorrow night, at 7 pm. Then we can walk to the ball together".

Hermione looked confused for a moment, before realizing that what he was talking about.

"Oh, of course, the ball…um, sure Malfoy, I'll be ready at 7".

He saw her quickly pull a lock of hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear, before turning around quickly and rushing into her room.

As he walked back to his room, he felt the fluttering knot in his stomach untangle and the pounding of his heart in his chest had subsided by the time he undressed and took a shower before going to bed.


Hermione walked out into the warm morning breeze, ready to head to Hogsmeade.

There were many students going into town today, as it was the international school's last weekend at Hogwarts and the student seemed to want to take advantage of their few days left of freedom.

"Hermione! Over here!"

Hermione turned around to see Ginny calling and waving at her.

She was with Lavendar, Luna, Parvati, Padma, Hannah and a few other 6th years from Gryffindor.

Hermione rushed over to meet with her friends, and they made their way to Hogsmeade.

After walking into several different jewelry and beauty shops, Ginny led her to a gown boutique to help Hermione pick out a gown for the ball.

Lavender and Luna followed while the other spread out to other shops around town.

"Have you all bought your dresses already?" Hermione asked.

"Of course, Hermione, if you leave buying your dress to the last minute, you'll never find anything decent." Lavender replied, while walking over to browse the different hair accessories at the front of the shop.

Hermione groaned and Ginny just rolled her eyes at her.

"Don't worry, Hermione, I'm sure we'll find you something great to wear."

"Have you bought yours yet Gin?"

Ginny was now sorting through the different gowns in the store.

She replied without looking at her. "Well, yes, but it's understandable that you haven't had time, you've had to organize everything. Here, try this on"

She pulled a light pink dress from the rack. Hermione took it and went to the changing room.

They went through several different gowns and none seemed to flatter her very much.

Hermione was getting frustrated as each one she tried on would look worse.

There were a couple of dresses that looked alright, but not really stunning and she couldn't really decide what she would do.

Finally, Ginny left one last dress on the hanger outside Hermione's curtain.

Hermione saw it and immediately said no.

"No, I'm sorry, but I refuse to wear that color" Hermione said, poking her head out of the curtain, a serious look on her face.

Ginny sighed and gave her a look, "Just try it on, please. Who cares what color it is, if it fits?"

Hermione scowled and Ginny rolled her eyes, as she walked over to her and shoved to hanger into Hermione's hands.

"Try it on"

Hermione took the dress while mumbling something Ginny couldn't hear under her breath.

The dress was beautiful; the straps were a medium thickness, with her back completely exposed, up to the top of her bum.

It fit perfectly, and Hermione loved it, if it weren't for the color, that is.

She walked out of the dressing room and made a face as the other girls stood there staring at her in shock.

"Hermione, that dress is stunning on you!" Lavender cried.

"Yes, it looks very beautiful indeed" said Luna, who was now trying on a fluffy feathered purple hat.

"Ok, well Hermione, I think it's pretty obvious which one you'll be buying today" Ginny said as she walked over to her.

"I don't like the color" said Hermione giving Ginny a pointed look.

Ginny giggled softly, "Hermione, it looks great on you, it matches your eyes and hair perfectly, and who cares about the color? It's gorgeous on you"

Hermione motioned for Ginny to go into the dressing room with her.

Once behind the privacy of the curtains she whispered "If I wear this, he'll think it's for HIM, and I don't want him to think that Ginny!" Hermione's voice was whiny.

Ginny rubbed the bridge of her nose, clearly exasperated.

"Look, I'll ask if they have another color, but if they don't will you please just buy this one? I'm sure it'll be fine, just don't give him any reason to think you want anything from him, ok?"

Hermione averted her gaze nervously.

"Wait" Ginny whispered. "Wait, you DON'T want anything to do with him, right?"

Hermione looked at her nervously,

"No, I mean, I don't think so, I… look I don't know. I want to not feel attracted to him, but I can't stop feeling there is something between us ever since that night" Hermione confessed, looking absolutely terrified.

Ginny sighed and gave her friend a little hug.

"Look, Hermione, if you have feelings for him, don't kill yourself because of it. Just make sure you know that it's not just a sexual attraction and that he feels the same way."

"That's the thing, I don't know if he does. I mean, sometimes we have these moments, and he's been a lot nicer to me so far. But I don't trust him. What if he just wants to hurt me?"

A voice called out "Girls, are you done in there? We have to get going to soon to meet with the others."

Ginny popped her head out the curtain

"Yeah, we'll be right out"

She looked over to Hermione who was now putting her clothes back on.

"Don't worry, 'Mione, just do what you feel is right, and if it's meant to be, you'll know how he feels too."

Hermione smiled at her friend and they made their way to pay for the dress and various other accessories that Lavender picked out while she was changing.


Draco was pacing around the Head common room, waiting for Hermione.

It was 7:08 and she still hadn't come out from her room. He wasn't even really sure if she was in there, since he had been in his room getting ready and hadn't seen her all day.

He was nervous and he didn't know why.

"Come on Draco, pull yourself together, she'll be here. And if she doesn't, then who cares? It's Granger for fuck's sake!" he thought.

But a part of him did care, as much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, he had been looking forward to going to the ball with her.

He'd have an excuse to be close to her, and touch her and smell her.

He was standing by the fireplace now, lost in thought, when he heard her door open.

He was stunned by the sight of her.

Her hair was up, with soft brown curls falling down her neck and framing her face, she had worn light make up, lightening her face and making her looks as if she were glowing. His stomach somersaulted as his eyes trailed down to her dress, which was a dark emerald color and shimmered slightly in the light.

It was accentuating her curves even better then their fateful night that summer.

He was awoken from his brief ogling by her voice,

"So…are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes, let's go".

"Oh, just one second".

She suddenly remembered something and turned to go into her room once more.

Draco sucked in his breath as he saw her turn.

Her back was smooth and bare, as he noticed the dress was cut very low, and felt his heartbeat quicken at the thought of being able to touch her there in mere moments when they had to dance.

She hurried back out and smiled "Ok, I'm ready"

He gave her a curious look, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing I had just promised Ginny to let her borrow a bracelet of mine. And had to get it"

Draco fought the urge to take a blow at the expense of the Weaslette, but it came out automatically,

"Well, I guess she would need it, as she could probably never afford it"

Hermione's smile faded and turned to a frown.

"Let's just go, Malfoy"

She stomped towards the door, ignoring his outstretched hand.

"Great, now she's mad at me. Way to go Draco" he thought.

Catching up with her outside their door, he called out "Wait!" she kept going.

Ignoring the voice in his head telling him to not say anything he blurted it out "Granger, I'm sorry"

He almost surprised himself, but he knew that was the only way to get her attention.

She stopped in her tracks, and looked back at him curiously, a small smirk on her face.

He sighed inwardly knowing that she couldn't stay mad at him for long if he had said those words.

"Excuse me, did I hear correctly? Did Draco Malfoy, just apologize? To me?" She cocked her head to one side and a stray lock of hair fell in her face.

He walked closer to her and offered her his hand for the second time that night.

"I didn't mean it, I'm sorry...Hermione" There, he said it, he said her name.

He noticed her face change slightly from playful to worried, as a blush crept up to her cheeks.

She smiled slowly and took his hand "I forgive you…. Draco"

Hearing her say his name to him was like music to his ears, for some reason, the way she said it, just made him want to ravish her on the spot.

He took her hand and cradled it in the crook of his elbow.

"Well then let's go, Head Girl" he said and gave her a wink.

She smiled and rolled her eyes.

It was going to be an interesting evening.


Hi! So, I'll be updating soon, please don't forget to review if you liked the chapter!!!

-J