Starflower1984: Haha you are too cute, I didn't stop! :)

Bianca the crazy slytherin: Thank you so much for your encouraging comment :) Yes it's true that I don't just make them fall in love like that because it doesn't make sense for two people who hated each other for so long to suddenly just have feelings.

Pantsoflove: Thank you! I don't think it's all that great though haha although I don't know how to make it better :/

Whatnameshoulditype: Thank you! The storyline is going to get a lot more interesting, I can guarantee that ;)

Spam3: Thank you! :)

ANEwrites: Haha you forbid it. Unfortunately, they aren't going to get a break any time soon… The more difficult the chase the sweeter the reward :)

Tessa Cresswell: Haha I don't know.. I see some stories which get a hundred reviews per chapter and I wonder what's wrong with my story, why is it so much worse than theirs :/

Beachlover11: Haha thank you!

BelleBelles: Haha Draco's pride doesn't allow him to have a straightforward confession. I do write for myself, it's just that when no one reviews I feel like no one's reading so there isn't any point in me writing since the story is already in my head.. Writing is to share that story with others? But if no one reads then it loses that meaning.

Angelica: Haha yes we are :) I don't know if you still read my story but that wasn't the last chapter!

Midnight: Haha thank you! :) I hope I will have enough encouragement to finish it.

Guest: Oops I'm sorry, slight oversight on my part. But because the story is halfway through I won't change it because it'll get confusing.. Sorry hope you understand :(

Playwright82: Haha thank you! You're nice, yes that would be awesome! I need some criticisms to tell me how to improve my writing! Every time after I finish a chapter I feel like something is missing and I don't like it, but I don't know how to make it better :/

Nathy Zavzik: Haha and the story is continuing now :) I do hope for more reviews though!

Love bleeds red: Ginny and Blaise are taking a backseat for awhile, but don't worry there will be plenty on them as well! Can't wait to write about them :)


Hermione lied on the bed she and Xander shared, staring idly at the ceiling, a small smile playing on her lips as she thought about the day. She felt like a silly teenager all over again but she didn't care, it was nice to be a kid once in awhile. Picking up her phone again to check for new messages, she sighed for the umpteenth time when she saw that Draco still had not texted her. It was driving her insane. Hermione rolled onto her stomach and looked at Xander who was sitting in front of a mirror and dolling herself up. Hermione made a face, why couldn't she look like Xander or know all about fashion and girls things the way Xander did.

"Where are you going tonight?" Hermione asked.

Xander turned, "A blind date!" She adjusted a scarf around her neck and smiled, "So what do you think of this? Super cute right?"

Hermione frowned, "Won't your neck get hot and sweaty?"

Xander shook her head, "Hey men like it even more when you cover up suggestively! Makes their hands itch and want to take something off. Alright I'm going first! Don't wait up for me."

Hermione called out after her, "Don't drink too much!" She rolled back onto her back and sighed, biting her lip unconsciously. Just then, her phone rang, "You have a new message! You have a new message!" Hermione mimicked it out of habit, before realizing that the message was probably from Draco and she scrambled to reach for her phone, eagerly opening her inbox. She stared it for a moment, before leaping off her bed to change.


Hermione apparated to the address he texted her and frowned. She had known that it was a fancy club, but now that she was actually here, she didn't want to go in. Hermione was sure that it would be full of rich snobs and the last thing she wanted was to face them. She just didn't belong in this kind of place. Biting her lip, she headed in, keeping her head low and tried to avoid the stares that people around her were giving. Hermione fidgeted with the scarf around her neck, Xander had better be right about this, her neck was starting to itch.

Walking further in, Hermione tried to fight off the feeling of self-consciousness with all the purebloods glaring and sneering at her. Why did Draco have to choose this sort of place, couldn't he pick somewhere that was closer to her comfort zone? Hermione looked around desperately, and heard a few women whispering excitedly behind her, "Isn't that Draco Malfoy? Ohmygoodness he looks even more handsome up close, plus he's one of the richest young bachelors around!" Hermione followed their gaze and saw him sitting in a corner booth, looking at his drink and she smiled with a mixture of relief and pride. All these pureblood women couldn't get the attention of Draco, but she could. He had chosen her out of everyone.

Sliding into the booth and sitting across him, Hermione cleared her throat and asked, "Isn't this too fancy a place just for me to hand over two dollars?"

Draco looked up at her and frowned, "Did you hurt your throat or your neck? Do you need that thing to stop some sort of bleeding?"

Hermione blushed and quickly untied the scarf, stuffing it into her bag, She shouldn't have listened to Xander. Taking off her sling bag, she put it onto the table and said, "I'm going to the restroom."

Draco watched her go, smiling to himself before looking back at his drink after he had lost sight of her in the sea of people. His gaze wandered and he saw her bag. The smile faded from his face as he looked closer at it, seeing that her bag was held together by safety pins. It looked old and terribly worn out, used way longer than any bag should have been, the kind of bag that he would have thrown away long ago, or given it to a beggar on the street.

Hermione returned and sat down, looking at him nervously as she said, "I don't know what kind of alcohol you like, but I can buy you a few beers…. Since there are some things that I feel bad about."

Draco looked at her stonily, his eyes angry.

Hermione was taken aback, "You don't like beer?"

Draco replied curtly, "I think you are the first woman I haven't been able to handle since I was born. Not thinking about whether a woman's good family background will be helpful for my businesses or whether a woman's genes will be good enough for my child, but instead how much a bag like that will cost. It's the first time I have to think about something like that. Everyone else would have bags that could feed a family for years, and I would be considering how beneficial they would be in terms of status of wealth. But for you, I have to think about how much a garbage bag like that could actually be worth."

Hermione was puzzled for a moment before she froze as she realized that he had seen the safety pins on her bag, the one with the buckle that had snapped in George's office, the one she still had to use because she could not afford a new one. Mortified, she snatched it off and table and looked away, her cheeks flaming with shame.

Draco continued coldly, "If you had had any respect for me, you would have paid more attention to your appearance, at least once. You should know that I'm a public figure with my family, wealth and status, and already by meeting you in public, many other purebloods will be looking down on me, couldn't you at least try to look as though you weren't born in a dump? I'm not the kind of guy that would actually make someone come all the way here just to give me two dollars. Don't you have any clothes I haven't seen before, or any decent bags that aren't torn and tattered?"

Hermione was on the verge of tears, unable to formulate a response. His words hurt more than anything else, and she felt so ashamed of herself again. It seemed that before Draco had come into her life, she was happy and proud of herself, but now he was always made her feel worthless.

Draco went on, with a steel edge to his voice, "Did you not have enough time to change? Was it just coincidental that I called you over when you were busy or did you not even have enough money for a bag? Answer me. Is it true that I've been excited all day about using two dollars as an excuse to meet a woman who can't even afford to buy one bag?"

Hermione clutched her bag tightly as she fought to keep calm, her voice wavering ever so slightly, "It seems that you are mistaken, but my intention of coming here was only this," She took out two dollars and slammed it onto the table before taking off, tears threatening to spill over. Draco stared at the two dollars on the table, a steel mask of indifference on his face, his expression unreadable.


As Hermione walked out of the club, her eyes were downcast, her mind buzzing and distracted. All she knew at the moment was that she hated Draco and never wanted to see him again. Walking forward, not really looking at where she was going, she bumped into someone and a pair of hands reached out to catch and steady her.

"Oh? Granger? Bumping into me again? Are you doing this on purpose?' Blaise teased, "Why are you here?"

At that moment, Draco walked out of the club, his face unmoving even when he caught sight of Blaise holding Hermione. Blaise caught Draco's eye and looked from Hermione to him, "Did you come here to meet Draco? Oh man, whenever he has that stone face on it means he's really angry."

Hermione swallowed and tried to push past Blaise, "I'm sorry, please excuse me."

Blaise caught her bag and said, "Hey wait a min-" Hermione's bag strap snapped again under the sudden force, the safety pins unable to hold it together. Hermione quickly grabbed it back, and she slowly lifted her gaze to meet Draco's. He looked scarier than ever, it would have been better if at least there was some anger showing, but it was emotionless, nothing.

Blaise joked, "I'm sorry, I guess since I exercise a lot and I'm muscular, I underestimated my strength."

Her eyes still on Draco, Hermione whispered, "No, it's not your fault."

"Oh! You fixed it with safety pins! That's a smart idea, but why didn't you just use a simple repairing charm?"

"I… Its… My bag's been too used, the repair charm doesn't work anymore. Every time my bag breaks, the charm gets less and less effective, and now holding it together with safety pins is better."

"Oh… That's unfortunate. But here, let me try to help you put the safety pins back properly and fix it."

"No, its alright… I'm fine…" Hermione's voice trailed off as Draco walked off, not bothering to look at them anymore.

Blaise called out, "Hey! Where are you going? Are you just leaving like that?" Looking down at Hermione, he noticed her staring in Draco's direction and he bit his lip, uncomfortable and unsure of what he should do. Sighing, he tapped her shoulder and gave a small smile, 'Do you want to take a walk with me?"


They walked along the road, past the small up market cafes under the city lights, in a somewhat comfortable silence. "Her eyes are so sad," Blaise noticed. He wanted to cheer her up, she looked like a kicked puppy. Nudging her, Blaise smiled, "Don't be so sad! He's the best in this entire world at saying hurtful things. Since he was born he's been annoying. But I'm really curious, you guys used to really hate each other in school, what kind of relationship do you two have now?"

"Well…. We're in the sort of relationship where we can see how each other truly feels through a bag. Are you and him close?"

Blaise laughed, "I'm sure you remember that at Hogwarts I only had him and Pansy as friends. I'm also the vice CEO of Malfoy Enterprises, so we're pretty much like brothers now. You want to know something? Every time he opens his mouth, it seems that he's always talking about you."

Hermione looked at Blaise, hating the sound of hope creeping into her voice, "Draco keeps… talking about me?"

Blaise nodded, "Yeah, he really drives me insane sometimes."

Hermione looked down and smiled softly, liking that notion. They continued walking in companionable silence and suddenly Blaise said, "Hey Granger can you keep a secret?

Hermione looked at him curiously, "Sure, what is it?"

Blaise smiled and whispered, "This might come as a shock but have you heard of BeeZee?"

"Of course, who hasn't?"

"Well, I'm him."

"What?"

"I'm BeeZee."

Hermione stopped at stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. Blaise was BeeZee?! But…. How could that be possible… BeeZee's music had been the only thing that had kept her going after the war, when she thought she had lost everyone. Totally overwhelmed, Hermione suddenly hugged Blaise tightly and whispered, "Thank you so much, you saved me."

Taken aback, Blaise awkwardly put his arms around her and patted her head, "Are you ok, Granger? I don't think I did anything to save you."

Tearing slightly, Hermione pulled back and smiled, "BeeZee's music did. I told myself that if I ever had the chance to meet him I had to make sure he knows how grateful I am to him."

Blaise laughed, "What are you talking about?'

"Before the final war… I sent my parents to Australia and modified their memories so they wouldn't remember me or the life they had before, just in case I didn't make it back alive. I'm not too sure why, but after the war when I tried to restore it, the memory never came back. Maybe it was because I never believed I would still be alive and performed too strong a charm, maybe it was because my parents were traumatized when I told them that they had to trust me and forget for a little while, maybe it was a mixture of both reasons, I don't know. But after I found out that I could no longer be my parents' daughter since they didn't know I existed, it crushed me. However at that time I still had Harry and Ron and the Order, they helped me numb the pain. It never entirely went away, but it was bearable. As time passed, since there was no more Voldermort, there was no purpose for the Order anymore and it ceased to exist. Everyone went their own way and even Harry and Ron didn't have time for me anymore… Five years after the war, my father passed away. I go back to the muggle world once in awhile to check on my parents. Standing from afar at my father's funeral, watching my mum cry, unable to be of any comfort to her, me not getting to say goodbye to my dad one last time…. I was a wreck. But now there wasn't anyone to help me. And then, I heard your songs for the first time. It was like, there was someone who understood me, someone who cared about me, even if I didn't know him. You helped me to pull through at a time when no one could, and no one tried. Thank you, you've done so much for me, and I don't think I will ever be able to repay you."

Blaise listened quietly, touched, "I'm glad my music helped you through. Honestly. I never knew that it would make such a difference to anyone. You know what Granger, maybe we could've actually been friends in school."

Hermione laughed, "Maybe, if you weren't so moody and depressed all the time, walking around like you hated the world."

"Well it was because no one wanted to talk to me that's why I was so depressed," Blaise teased.

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Blaise!" They turned to see who it was and Hermione noted that a petite, rather attractive girl was walking towards them, grinning.

Blaise smiled, "Annabelle! What are you doing here?"

Annabelle laughed, "I was meeting my friend for dinner when I saw you. Is this your new girlfriend?"

Hermione was about to protest when Blaise suddenly pulled her close and teased, "Do we look good together?"

"You look good with any girl Blaise," Turning to Hermione, she smiled and extended her hand, "Hello, I'm Annabelle, what's your name?"

Slightly startled, Hermione shook it and said, "I'm Hermione Granger. And I'm not together with Zabini."

Annabelle looked at Blaise and smirked, "Not even on first name basis and already saying that she's yours? You've gotten worse Blaise."

Turning back to Hermione she asked, "Hermione Granger as in the girl of the Golden Trio who defeated The Dark Lord? Along with Potty and Weasel?"

Hermione frowned, those nicknames sounded awfully familiar.

Blaise quickly said, "She's Draco's cousin, on her mother's side. She's two years younger than us and attended school overseas so you probably wouldn't have seen her before. And well, she's really close to Draco, which is why she calls them Potty and Weasel also…"

Hermione nodded and looked at Annabelle who was still smiling. "Such a cheerful disposition, it's difficult to believe that she's related to the Malfoy or Black family, let alone be close to Draco," Hermione thought.

"Oh! I just remembered! Did anyone tell you, Draco's blind date failed again. I have no idea how many he's been on, but his mum told my mum that she really wants him to marry this latest one," Annabelle said excitedly,

Blaise snorted, "His blind dates hardly every work out because he doesn't do anything for them, he doesn't go out of his way to buy them anything or visit them, they always have to find him and girls don't like that. Who is it this time?"

Annabelle shrugged, "That's Draco. I'd like to see what kind of woman he would actually bother doing anything for, he must really like her a lot for him to do that." Hermione gaped at them; Draco never did anything for anyone before? Never even went to them? Then, why….?

Annabelle continued, "Anyway the girl this time is Ginny Weasley, sister of the weasel in the golden trio, both of you should know her right? What's she like? Why does aunt Narcissa want them to marry so badly?"

Blaise's face changed as his heart clenched, Ginny… Married to someone else… And it had to be Draco… He just couldn't entertain that thought. Why hadn't Draco told him… Well granted Draco usually didn't tell him about his blind dates and Blaise normally didn't care, but this was Ginny… Everything changed when it came to her. Hermione was shocked, "Ginny?! She went on a blind date with him? Why didn't she tell me anything?"

Blaise suddenly mumbled, "I have to go." And he walked off, his shoulders hunched, reminding Hermione very much of how she had been when she just walked out of the club. She stared after him, contemplating whether to chase after him and provide him comfort the way he had done for her, but decided against it. He probably wanted to be alone.

After bidding farewell to Annabelle, she walked home slowly to gather her thoughts. Today had been such a crazy day… Draco had sort of confessed to her, but after that he had gotten so angry that it scared her, and while her own anger had subsided, she still resented him and the way he always made her feel inferior. The last thing she wanted was to see him again. If possible, she hoped that after this incident he would stay away. It was just too embarrassing. And then she found out that Blaise was BeeZee, the singer who had provided her with so much strength to pull through, and whom she had a secret crush on. She had never thought that it would be Blaise. Yet, no matter how impossible it seemed, it was true. But right now, suddenly feeling exhausted, all she wanted to do was sleep.


Back home, both Blaise and Draco were out taking a walk, beer in hand, feeling depressed. At a crossroad, they met and stared. Blaise broke the silence, "Let's talk."

They sat out on Draco's porch, both thinking of how they should phrase their questions. They spoke out at the same time, "I have something to ask…"

Draco asked, "Did Granger get home ok?" while Blaise also asked at that same moment, "I heard you went on a blind date?" They glared at each other for a while, both annoyed that the other party was trying to talk when he was.

Draco frowned, "I always go out on blind dates, so what? Did you walk her home or did she go off on her own?"

"What was the woman you went on a blind date with like?"

"Did Granger mention me?"

"Annabelle told me that she dumped you… Is that true?"

"Did she mention me at least a little?"

"Did she really dump you?"

"Did she still keep that crappy bag? Even a paper bag would be better."

Blaise exploded, "Hey, are you going to marry someone with that kind of bloodline and status? No, right? Your mother and your pride would never allow it, so if you're just going to play around with her, don't bother worrying or asking about her, just play around. If you're going to get married through a blind date anyway, it shouldn't matter to you. And you haven't answered my question, I asked what was that girl like!"

Draco rolled his eyes, "You said you already heard that I got dumped, happy? Besides, it was Ginny Weasel, absolutely disgusting, mum must have gone insane. Of course the date was a disaster, never wanted to see another redhead from that family again. Let's just talk about Granger instead."

Blaise looked at him suspiciously, "What kind of dirt does she have on you that's got you behaving like this?"

Draco didn't reply. He got up slowly and said, "You tried to push back the filming of your music video by a week. Did you really think that James and I would let that happen? You're really like a child playing in a world of grown-ups. You're still going to France tomorrow to film, better get ready. And remember to pack more foundation cream, your face is starting to get wrinkly."

Blaise yelled, "What?! James that jerk! Eurgh Draco, I'm never going through with this stupid romantic getaway thing!" Looking down, Blaise suddenly had an idea and a slow smile spread across his face.


The next day, Blaise stood in front of his production team who were waiting for him, nervous as they knew that Blaise had wanted to push back the filming by a week and when Blaise did not get his way, he was scary. Blaise looked at everyone and smirked, "Change of plans. Everyone switch your phones off, you're my team so you listen to me."


Draco lounged on a chair, looking at the two pictures of Hermione he had taken with his phone. Sighing, he picked up a book and attempted to read but to no avail. He had ordered this book immediately after he met Granger again for the first time, it was titled "Understanding Poverty." He really couldn't understand what went on in her head, and he had never had to understand what the word 'poor' meant, but now he wished that he knew. Draco stood up and walked back to his bookshelf, putting the book back and leaned against it, so full with books that it would keep Hermione happy for days. Draco laughed bitterly at the irony of it, his bookshelf could keep her happy without doing anything, and yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.

No use in thinking about her again, it would be better to just go to work and try to get his mind off her. He had unfinished work with Pandora anyway, and even though today wasn't his work day, surprising them once in awhile would keep them on their toes. As he walked off, he didn't notice that one of his poem books lying on the table suddenly, silently, flipped open as though someone had magically opened it, and stopped at a certain page, where the poem read:

A sunny day suddenly means nothing.

Someone is walking into my heart.

I looked forward to where destiny is bringing us.

My fascinating, precious, woman, flew here by chance.


Hermione frowned at her phone and looked up at Xander, "Hey did you sign me up for some lucky draw at Pandora?"

Xander tilted her head, "No, I didn't. Why?"

"I just got a call from Pandora saying that I won the lucky draw, third prize. Did they make a mistake? You only win a lucky draw after you buy something from there… And there's no way I could have afforded it."

Xander snapped her fingers, "I thought you were supposed to be smart! If it's not you, and it's not me, who else could it be? My president of course! He must have wanted to surprise you! Ahh that's cute… Guess he can be sweet as well."

Hermione shook her head, "He wouldn't do that…." She contemplated for a moment before saying, "I'll go to Pandora to get it. Oh, by the way… Could you lend me the new bag you just bought?"


Draco walked through the doors of Pandora, enjoying the shell-shocked stares his employees were giving him as they scrambled to get themselves in order and bow to him. Walter ran over and almost slipped as he lost his footing and panted, "Why are you here? You don't come to work today."

Draco smirked and handed him a file, saying, "Tell this department to get the winter brochure ready by tomorrow, I want to check it and…." He trailed off as he saw Hermione walking inside, looking around with a slip of paper in her hand, evidently searching for something.

The anger and the worry he had felt yesterday all came rushing back. He stared coldly at her, waiting for her to notice him.

And she did. As though she felt the chill from his gaze, Hermione froze, her heart beating fast. She had hoped not to run into Draco today.

They just stood there, looking at each other, lost.