A Real Smile

AN: Hey hope you like this one. Thank you to all whom followed, favourited, and reviewed this story. What do you guys think of new Doctor? I'm gonna wait to see him in action before I judge him. I miss Matt and he hasn't even left yet.

LadySarahj: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the chapter and the references. Yes, I have seen AVPSY; I waited with baited breath for it to be uploaded –which was 1 am for me. Ha. Btw, what do you think about Peter Capaldi?

Joleigh13: There isn't really a lot of jealousy in this chapter; at least, not for Draco or Hermione. In the next chapter there will be but I'm trying to make Draco as nice as possible because I don't want him to hurt her –he doesn't want to either. Thanks for sticking with me, hope I don't disappoint.

DramioneAddiction: Thank you, I think your review is quite eloquent, actually. Yeah it is a bit mean but he's still Draco, he still has a bit of nastiness but he's not going to be really cruel to her or anything. You'll have to read it to find out whom and when, silly: D. Glad you like the story.

Cat130: Thanks!

Mickey: Thank you! Your wait is over.

CaribbeanTrinidadian: Thank you! Here you are.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or StarKid (I stole some lyrics to use for this chapter.)

Chapter 9

"First day back at Hogwarts and you're already in the library?"

Hermione turned around and saw Draco leaning against the wall.

"This is the first time I've been here since I came back; I have to make up for the time lost during the summer." She grinned.

"I'm sure the library missed you as much as you did."

"Did you miss it?"

"No, I have a massive library at home."

"Rub it in."

"Although, I didn't have an insufferable know-it-all sitting with me; and that was a shame."

"I didn't have an annoying git with me, which I kind of missed."

"You didn't go to Weasley's this year?"

"No I visited Ron…oh, you dickhead." She slapped him lightly on his arm. "Won't you sit down?"

"I have to go… Pansy and Blaise are waiting for me."

"Oh, ok. You two um, seem quite close now."

"Who, Pansy and I?" He asked, looking confused. "Oh you mean yesterday, you thought? EW no, I was pretending. I thought you would know me well enough to kill me if I acted like that to Pansy without reason."

"Oh, that's good." Relief flooded her face and Draco noticed.

"You seem alleviated by this, were you jealous?" He smirked.

"No," She answered, looking down. "I'm just happy to know you aren't brain damaged." He chuckled at this. "You deserve someone who's more your type."

"That's kind of the explanation for my behaviour yesterday...it's complicated. I have to go but I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll try to come by the library unnoticed but it's harder to nowadays, so I don't know when I'll be able to."

"That's fine," She replied, pretending to be nonchalant "I'll see you when I see you."

He nodded and left.

She wondered what he meant and why he was pretending to be with Pansy.

"You deserve someone who's more your type."

"That's kind of the explanation for my behaviour yesterday…it's complicated."

***Space****

The next day at breakfast Harry, Hermione, and Ron received a letter from Dumbledore, requesting them to come to his office on the 20th of September, as he had something important to discuss with them.

"What do you suppose it is?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, hopefully he'll shed some light on things like Hagrid's disappearance." She answered and both boys nodded.

"Malfoy has one too." Harry observed, and she saw that Draco possessed a letter identical to theirs.

"Great, so the ferret will be there." Ron griped.

She didn't see Draco in the library that day, she saw him attempting almost every day after that but his efforts were always thwarted; his friends would come and bother him and drag him away –he no longer had the excuse of working with her for Potions. She decided to not worry about what he had to say; instead she would wait with hope. She would sit facing the Slytherin table so that she could glance at him occasionally, she felt lonely and she missed him terribly.

Two weeks went by since she last spoke to him and she wondered if he missed her as much as she missed him. Not likely, considering he doesn't feel the same way about me. She thought glumly before drifting off to sleep. She was woken up in the morning by something jumping onto her bed; she opened her eyes and discovered that they were covered by long red hair.

"Wake up you old fart." Ginny said.

"If you get off me I might."

Ginny sprung to her feet, pulled Hermione from her bed and into a bone-crushing hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks Gin." Hermione grinned. "Do I get my present now?"

"No, come down to the common room and we'll all give you your presents."

Hermione excitedly bounded down the stairs to receive her gifts from her friends and birthday wishes from her fellow Gryffindors. She then went down for breakfast with a large smile on her face.

The owls came in to deliver the mail and a few came and brought presents from her muggle friends and family –they would tell her parents to send them to her because they didn't know where her school was. There was also a present from Viktor which Ron groaned at. When she had finished opening and inspecting them all, another owl landed on the table with a rectangular package.

She removed the brown paper to reveal a worn out book. She carefully opened it and couldn't believe what it was; it was an autographed, 1st edition of Pride and Prejudice. She saw a note in between the pages and read the familiar, neat handwriting.

I know this is one of your favourites so I hope you like it. I think I've told you before that it's my favourite muggle book. It's seems fitting; my favourite muggle book for my favourite muggleborn. You're the only muggleborn I actually know personally; so don't think you're special or anything. She paused in her reading and laughed at this.

"Who's that from Hermione?" Harry asked.

"My…grandmother" She replied and he went back to eating as the book looked very boring to him and she continued reading.

Well anyway, have a great birthday, Hermione. Hope you get a lot of books and…books. Have fun.

She looked up at the Slytherin table and saw Draco was watching her. She mouthed 'thank you' and then read the last line of the note.

P.S. Don't hate me, but I told you people should give you flowers more often.

She looked up again at him, confused. He simply looked at his watch and waited two seconds before he jerked his head upwards very slightly. She saw an owl fly down with a bouquet of red roses.

"Who are they from?" Ron interrogated.

She looked at the note, despite being fully aware of who they were from.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

"My aunt." She lied.

Another owl flew down in front of her and delivered a basket full of Red Vines and Sugar Quills. Hopefully I can get away from my stupid friends one day and help you out with these. The note said and Hermione smiled sadly at it.

A third owl swooped down bearing another bouquet of red roses.

Sorry, this is the last one I swear, but I was bored and as my friend you are entitled to receiving lavish gifts from me. She frowned at the word "friend" but kept reading. More importantly, I know that your face will be redder than these roses when you receive them, although it won't be as red as Weasley's. She looked up and saw that Draco was right; Ron was as red as a tomato, as was she. Don't you just love how I can make you happy and embarrassed, and enrage Weasley at the same time? Do me a favour, tell him your parents owled them to you and they're from some muggle friend. Make sure he knows that it's a guy. Enjoy your birthday you old witch.

"More roses? Who are they from?" Ginny asked excitedly. Harry looked curious and Ron looked furious.

"My friend…Tom." (As in Tom Felton? Maybe)

"Oh." Ron said.

"Who is he?" Ginny demanded.

"Just a muggle friend, he asked my parents to send these to me."

"Tell me all about him."

"There's not much to tell."

"Well…" She realised this was an opportunity to talk to Ginny about Draco without revealing his identity. "He's really nice, even though he used to bully me years ago."

"Is he hot?"

"Well yeah I-I guess." She blushed

"What else?"

"He's really smart, and even though we're practically from different worlds we still get along really well."

"So if he bullied you why are you friends with him?" Ron asked.

"Because he's not what I thought he was like, he's actually really nice but he never shows it to anyone."

"I can think of one person he shows it to." Ginny said with raised eyebrows. "So does he like you?"

"Um, a little privacy Ron?" She said to the redhead who was blatantly waiting eagerly for her answer to Ginny's question. He begrudgingly turned around and talked to Harry. Hermione and Ginny scooted further down the bench.

"He sees me as only a friend."

"But the roses…"

"I know, but he's rich so he likes to give lots of things to his friends, he even said so in his note. Also he knows how much of an arse Ron was to me so he thought he would make him jealous."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm not really his type. He's happy to stay friends."

"But are you?"

She stared at her hands before she shook her head.

"I knew you liked him."

"It's a bit more than that."

"Oh you poor thing."

"I'm fine really." She protested.

"Are you sure about how he feels, though?"

"Yes, I am."

"Okay." Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going to go put my presents in my room, I'll see you later."

"Yeah."

Hermione got up, gathered her things and motioned with her free arm to Harry and Ron, explaining what she was doing. As she was leaving she glanced at the Slytherin table. She frowned when she saw that Draco wasn't there anymore; she wanted to thank him.

She walked towards Gryffindor tower but stopped when she heard footfalls resonating throughout a corridor to her right. She saw Draco walking towards her, she opened her mouth to speak but he put a finger to his lips. He pulled out a box from his pocket and gave it to her. He leaned in and whispered in her ear "Happy birthday Granger." and kissed her cheek before disappearing.

She hurried into her room and placed her presents carefully on her bed. She held the new one in her hands and sat on the bed. She heard someone come into the room and she hastily hid the box under her pillow.

"Oh it's just you." She sighed when she saw it was Ginny.

"What sneaky thing were you doing?" Ginny asked, sitting on the bed with her.

"I uh…was going to open a present I just got."

"Is it from him?" Ginny asked and Hermione nodded. "Well, open it!"

Hermione reached under her pillow and retrieved the red box tied with a gold ribbon.

"Gryffindor colours." Ginny observed. "That's so sweet."

"You have no idea." Hermione replied, ignoring Ginny's confused expression; she undid the ribbon and removed the lid. They looked inside the box and gasped simultaneously. "It's beautiful." Hermione said and Ginny nodded. Hermione gently lifted it out of the box and held it up to examine.

The sunlight shimmered through the sapphire heart and it glinted off the small diamonds above the main jewel. (If you want to see it, the URL is on my profile.)

"Sapphire," Hermione said "it's my birthstone."

"He definitely likes you."

"Gin, I told you he doesn't."

"Hermione please –sapphires and diamonds?"

"He's rich; he buys loads of expensive things without thinking twice."

"But look at it Hermione."

She looked at the necklace; it had a heart-shaped, dark blue sapphire pendulous inside a heart-shaped frame adorned with smaller sapphires. It was crafted in white gold and had diamonds above the frame for the finishing touch.

"It's so romantic." Ginny observed.

"I doubt that's what he was going for…but a girl can hope, can't I?"

"That's the spirit." Ginny grinned "Now turn around."

Hermione obliged and Ginny put the necklace on her.

"Hermione you look stunning, if only he could see you now. You could take a picture, though."

"That's brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed and proceeded to explain to her confused friend. "I took a picture of him during the summer and he said I could keep it if I gave him one of me."

"Can I see this picture?"

"No."

"But you said he was hot." She pouted.

"I don't have it with me."

"Fine."

"Let's go and see if we can find Colin." Hermione rose and Ginny followed.

"But he has a wizard camera" Ginny argued

"Um, I can freeze it so that it looks like a muggle picture." Hermione said, although she wouldn't need to, considering that she was really going to give it to a wizard.

***Space****

Hermione walked into the Potions classroom with Harry and Ron. They were no longer paired up with their partners so the trio made their way to their usual seats.

"I think I left something at my old table." Hermione said, going to the back where Draco and Blaise were sitting.

"What do you want Granger?" Draco scowled.

"I left something here; if you could move your pale arse out of the way then I'll get it and be gone."

"The sooner the better." He moved so that Hermione could reach into the shelf inside the table. "Nice necklace, was it Weasley?"

"It was from a muggle friend, if you must know. What's the matter, shocked that a muggle could have such good taste?"

"Good taste, does that mean you like it?"

"Of course I like it."

"I thought you would, not knowing what superior jewellery is."

"And you're a jewellery expert?"

"I know enough, having bought copious amounts for my girlfriends."

"Of course you do, other than your money why else would anyone want to be with you?" She walked away before he could reply and heard Zabini mutter "You never buy jewellery for your girlfriends."

"She doesn't know that." Draco replied.

Hermione sat down with a wide smile on her face.

"Nice necklace Hermione, who gave it to you?" Harry asked.

"Thanks Harry, it was a muggle friend of mine." She said evasively and Ron grumbled, knowing which muggle friend she was referring to.

At the end of the lesson Draco rose to leave and noticed something was on the shelf inside the table. It was a small envelope with his name on it. He pocketed it, wanting to know what Hermione had written to him.

When no one was looking he opened the envelope and found a note.

Those had better be the only presents; they really are too much but thank you, I love them. It was very thoughtful of you; you knew that it was one of my favourite books and that sapphire is my birthstone. I told my friends the roses were from a muggle friend called Tom, and Ron was really jealous but hopefully he will have forgotten about it by the end of the day. The book is amazing, the necklace is beautiful, the candy is delicious, the flowers are lovely, and you're wonderful. Now stop!

He chuckled at her frustration and his heart warmed when she called him wonderful, he noticed there was a picture in the envelope. It showed Hermione in the Hogwarts kitchen with a bouquet of roses next to her. Her small smile was shining brighter than the pendant she wore. Draco pocketed the picture and note again. He will have forgotten by the end of the day, you say? Well we can't have that. He smirked to himself.

(If you want to see that picture, the URL is also on my profile. Will you look at, pretty please?)

***Space****

Hermione was sitting in the common room, Parvati and Lavender were gushing over her necklace and Ron was rolling his eyes. Hermione heard a screech and saw an owl fly in. Oh no, I told him no more. She thought, but the owl didn't fly to her and she felt relieved yet somewhat disappointed. The owl flew over to Ron and dropped a bouquet into his arms.

"Who are they from?" Lavender asked.

"They're for Hermione." Ron mumbled. Ginny dragged Hermione over to where he was standing next to Harry and read the note to Hermione. Hey Hermione, happy birthday again, you didn't think I would only give you only two bouquets did you? I thought I'd send you these as well so you have more variety. I hope you like the necklace and the book. Have a great day.

Love, Tom.

She smiled and smelled the roses; they were yellow with red tips. (Yellow roses with red tips represent friendship, and falling in love.)

"Now will you wake up and smell the roses?" Ginny asked. "Not literally, you just did, but don't you realise he likes you?"

Harry and Ron had gone to talk to Dean so she turned to Ginny. "I told you, he's doing it to make Ron jealous; he likes winding him up."

"Don't be ridiculous he's never met Ron." Ginny thrust the note into Hermione's hands but as soon as it touched her skin, new text appeared below the old.

Was Weasel as angry as I expected? If yes, good. Are you angry? If yes, bad. Don't be mad Granger; I only wanted to piss him off after how he treated you at the ball…and every day in general. Hope you liked the presents and the flowers; if you want more don't hesitate to ask. You deserve it, Hermione. Happy birthday, don't study, don't help anyone with their homework, and tell me if that ginger git bothers you, I doubt Potter will defend you. Not that you can't defend yourself, you're more than capable of that. Weaslette might protect you. She's like you, pretty yet scary. (Don't tell her I said that.) Hope you had an awesome day.

Hermione cringed, waiting for Ginny's reaction. The writer of the note was obvious.

"You…" Ginny started but Hermione covered Ginny's mouth.

"There are people around, let's go to my room." Hermione said and Ginny nodded and followed her upstairs, luckily there was no one there and they sat on Hermione's bed. Ginny opened her mouth to speak before Hermione stopped her and put a silencing charm on the room.

"MALFOY?"

Hermione looked down, not knowing what to say.

"The ferret, really Hermione?"

"He's not so bad you know."

"Tell me how this happened."

"At the Yule Ball, you know how Ron got really mad and we had that big argument?" Ginny nodded and Hermione continued. "After I sent him to his room I got away and started to cry. Then Draco appeared and bothered me, then we started talking and he told me I shouldn't let Ron push me around and he apologised for everything he did and I forgave him. It's funny I actually got over Ron before the Yule Ball –probably when he asked me as a last resort, but I didn't realise it until I talked to Draco about him. Anyway, the next day he asked if we could become friends and I said we could. He asked Snape to partner our class with people working at the same level because he knew Snape would put us together. This gave us a reason to work together and be in the library with no questions asked. I started to like him more as time passed, I wish people could see how nice he really was. Do you remember when Crabbe and Goyle turned into blueberries?" Ginny nodded again. "That was him, and he talked Snape out of giving Harry and Ron detention for it, despite hating them. He came over to my house for his birthday during the summer, and my parents absolutely love him. My muggle parents!"

"Wow."

"You know he listens to me when I talk, and we have such interesting conversations. We still have good-natured repartee but he never insults me and he's nice to me. He notices things; he noticed that my teeth were different right away, it took Ron and Harry ages to notice them."

"Are you going to tell him how you feel?"

"I promised my mum I would."

"Your mum knows and she's ok with it? Does she know he used to bully you?"

"Yeah she does and so does my dad, but they both forgive him; and like I said they love him now."

"They're not the only ones." Ginny said slyly. "Sorry, but I'd never thought I'd see the day when Hermione Granger falls in love with Draco Malfoy."

"Tell me about it."

"I mean, loads of girls have crushes on him –I included, but I'm not competition and we all just like him for his looks, everyone knows he he's horrible. Or at least most people do," She looked at Hermione blushing "I'm not one of them anymore."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "You believe me."

"Of course I do; you're an excellent judge of character so I trust you're telling the truth, unless he's cursed you or something."

"Thank you for understanding." Hermione said, hugging Ginny. "Now do you realise that he doesn't like me?"

"No, I haven't changed my mind."

"He sent me all these things to make Ron jealous."

"But the Gryffindor colours, it must have killed him to do that. It was so nice, and just look at the note. Oh he thinks I'm pretty –sorry, getting side-tracked. Look, he thinks you're pretty too."

"So, he's complimented me before."

"When? What did he say?"

"He said 'you looked absolutely beautiful tonight, even when you were crying' after he walked me to the tower the night of the ball."

"Awwww that's so sweet."

"He doesn't like me though, why would he?"

"You're intelligent, charming, beautiful; why wouldn't he?"

"He doesn't Ginny, there's absolutely no way he does."

"No there's no way, that there's no way. Don't listen to your mind. What does your heart say?"

"My mind is racing but my heart it beats faster."

"You're in control, commander and master, Lady Fate creating disaster, but she ain't the boss of you. You have to tell him, listen to your heart."

"I want to, and I want to tell him how I feel."

"You have to tell him. So he'll promise to stay, so he won't go away, don't let him get away." Ginny grabbed Hermione's head, "'Mione, he can't get away!"

"I don't know, it's hard to get him alone and what will I tell Harry and Ron?"

"Quit stalling and making excuses, and if they can't understand I'll jinx the stupidity out of them."

"You're amazing, Gin."

"So 'Mione wha'cha gonna do?"

"I'm gonna listen to my heart."

AN: Sorry for the cliff-hanger, although you could hardly call it that; it's not very exciting. Anyway, tell me what you think of this chapter in your reviews (and there will be reviews or you will be exterminated! EXTERMINATE!).
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