The Quidditch match was about to start. She and Blaise were in the packed stand and she was pleased to see a real mixture of houses in the crowds. Draco and Ginny's team and their opponents were all warming up on their broomsticks and the excitement was building.

The match started and for once Hermione was drawn into it. She knew Draco and Ginny were good players but watching them play as a team she realised they weren't just good, they were brilliant. There matching speed and observation made them powerful team mates, able to pass and dodge and block almost in unison. Amazing.

"Bloody hell, they're good," Blaise said beside her, his eyes not leaving the match. There was a break in play and Blaise leant over and started to undo Hermione's cardigan. She put her hand over his to stop him.

"Why are you trying to undress me?"

"I'm wondering what you're wearing underneath."

"What? Why?"

"Is it decent?"

Hermione pulled a face at him. "Yes, of course it's decent. I'm not a slob you know."

"Good because I've arranged to meet Draco and Ginny down by the lake after the match."

Hermione turned in her seat to look at him. "You've done what?"

Blaise grinned at her indignant expression. "You heard me."

"Well, I won't be coming." Hermione turned back to the match.

"Yeh, you will." Blaise also turned back to the match. "Bloody hell, that idiot nearly knocked Ginny off her broom then!"

"I'm not coming. I mean what possible reason would there be for us all to meet after the match? I hope you have not been blabbing, Blaise." Hermione looked at him again.

"Of course I haven't! I told Draco that I wanted to ask Ginny out but I knew she wouldn't come without you. So I asked if he'd come along as well, just this once."

Hermione turned in her seat again. "Blaise! That sounds distinctly like a set-up to me. Are you telling me Draco agreed to this? What did you have to do to in return?"

"Calm down! He agreed quite readily actually. In fact he seemed perfectly happy about it."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care what you believe. You're coming with me even if I have to drag you there by your hair." Blaise flashed a grin at her as he said this, taking the sting out of his words.

"And what did you tell Ginny? Did you ask her out?"

"No, not yet. I'm going to though, I still can't believe she's split with Potter!" Blaise did a little excited shuffle. "I told Ginny that I thought it was about time you and Draco started putting the past behind you and she offered to help me with getting you two to get along better."

Hermione put her head in her hands and groaned. "I can't believe you've done all that!"

"You're welcome."

"I didn't mean I'm grateful!" Hermione hit his arm. "God, you're annoying."

Blaise took absolutely no offence to this, knowing she didn't mean it. "God, you're a moaner."

The crowd cheered and they both realised the match was over. Draco and Ginny were flying around the stadium, victorious. Blaise grabbed her hand and practically dragged her with him down to where the teams were going to get changed.

"I'm going to go in for a minute," he pointed at the boys changing room. "Don't you dare think about not being here when I get back."

"Okay, quit on about it, I'll be here." Hermione sighed.

She gazed around the stadium and at the happy faces of the crowd, heading back to the Castle and felt quite proud of herself and the rest of the committee. The whole house unity thing seemed to be working. She remembered this was Draco's idea and she reluctantly admitted it was a good one. She seemed to have been waiting for ages when the door opened and she turned around expecting to see Blaise. Instead she came face to face with Draco. His hair was damp as he had obviously just had a shower, his skin was glowing and his clothes looked pristine as always. With a supreme effort and still riding on the exhilaration of the match going so well, Hermione tried to be friendly.

"Well done on winning. It all went really well, it was a good idea."

Draco smiled at her, a proper smile. "Of course we did, of course it did and of course it was."

It was a very amusing and witty answer and to her own surprise Hermione actually laughed. He was an arrogant git but his reply was very clever and funny. It was the first time she was aware of his sense of humour.

"Are we all still going to the lake?"

Draco nodded. "Yes..." he paused for a second before continuing. "Has Blaise told you all about Ginny?" Hermione nodded. "So are you okay if we leave them alone for a while? We could just take a little walk for ten minutes..." Draco watched her assessing her reaction.

"Oh...errr...yes." Hermione stumbled over her words, firstly at the thought of spending time alone with Draco and secondly she was surprised by Draco's thoughtfulness and willingness to help his friend's quest to go out with Harry Potter's very recently ex-girlfriend. Before she could engage her brain to give him a more coherent answer a loud, grinding, screeching sound interrupted her thoughts. She met Draco's puzzled gaze and they both stepped backwards, looking upwards to where the sound was coming from.

It was dusk now and for a moment Hermione couldn't see properly what was making the noise. The next moment she heard Draco shout and she felt herself being pulled towards him. It took a moment to register that it was actually Draco pulling her against him until she felt his hand on her arm and waist. He grasped her right against him and then she felt him bend them both over and place his arms over her head.

Things happened quickly then, she heard Blaise and Ginny yelling at them, the air seemed to go black around her and then she felt Draco and herself being pushed by a huge weight and her legs crumbled beneath her. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, Draco was on top of her and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Just as she was about to panic she felt the weight lift and was faced with Blaise and Ginny bending over them anxiously.

"Draco...Hermione...are you okay?" Ginny was asking urgently.

Hermione sat up and moved her head and neck then she nodded. "I'm fine, I think. What happened?"

Ginny nodded towards the large scoreboard which was now lying on the floor, bent and battered. "It fell down off the side of the building. I tried to stop it with magic but I was at the wrong angle and the spell didn't work. We had to watch as it landed on Draco and you. Good thing Draco noticed and managed to protect you both."

"Bloody hero I am..." A far less smooth than usual voice mumbled from next to them and Hermione glanced over to see Draco prostrate on the floor, holding his head. Blaise was bent over him waving his wand at Draco's forehead.

"Is he okay?" Ginny asked before Hermione could get the words out.

"Yeh, he's just a bloody attention seeker." Blaise answered with a grin. Then slightly more seriously he looked back at Draco. "He cut his head and this spell isn't fixing it as quickly as I'd like."

Hermione shuffled closer to the boys and watched Blaise sealing Draco's cut. It was quite large and deep and Blaise wasn't doing a particularly good job at mending the skin. She felt around for her wand.

"Move over, Blaise. Let me do it." She waved her wand over Draco's forehead and immediately the skin began knitting together.

"Show off." Blaise mumbled from behind her.

Hermione was concentrating hard on Draco's cut but she was acutely aware of his eyes watching her intently. The cut was deep and she was beginning to wonder if she could seal it or if it was going to be a trip to Madam Pomfrey. She leant further over Draco so she had a clearer view of the cut, she could almost feel his breath on her face and his wonderful scent was washing over her. At last she was satisfied it was fixed so she sat back on her heels and met her patients eyes.

"How does it feel now?" she asked.

Draco touched his head carefully. "It feels fine."

"Good."

Draco went to sit up and without thinking Hermione grabbed his arm to help pull him up and there it was again that jittery feeling in her stomach. His eyes seemed to be glued to hers and she suddenly felt embarrassed and turned away.

They all turned to look at the scoreboard. Blaise moved it against the wall with his wand.

"It's huge, it could have killed you!" Ginny said.

"We'll tell McGonagall before we go back to our Common Rooms." Blaise said. He glanced over at Draco and Hermione. "Do you want to go straight back now? After all that drama?"

Hermione was about to answer but Draco got in first. "No, I'm fine let's go to the lake as planned."

Next chapter by the lake - think you'll like it - it's my favourite one I've written so far. Hope you liked this one - loving the reviews and as usual I want more! x