DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own any other characters in J.K. Rowling's original series. I merely am here to demonstrate a different approach to the plot, characters, and overall experience in the world of witchcraft and wizardry.

Author's Note: I know everyone is very nervous to see if Hermione and Draco reconcile, but it wouldn't be a Draco/Hermione story if they didn't! Of course they will, but you'll have to read for yourself to find out. I'd just like to take a moment here to let you all know that updates won't be coming in as steadily as I'd like, unfortunately. I have a busy week preparing for school on Tuesday, and finishing off my summer break. But I promise you that I won't be like everyone else and have you waiting weeks for updates. I'll try my hardest to get them out there. I'd also like to let you Hermione/Draco fans know that after this story, I'll be starting a brand new one involving another romance between them. I just finished reading an amazing story on here and it's got ideas swimming in my head for what I want to do after this. The story will star an older Hermione and Draco, and involve much more steamy scenes than in Forbidden Necessities. It will also involve an exciting business opportunity for both of them! Look forward to that… I think the first chapter should be up by the end of September. All that being said, here's the tenth chapter! I'm so pleased with where this story is heading, and I hope you guys are too.

Chapter Ten:
Further Interruptions

Hermione stayed in her dormitory the entire day, never even leaving to join her friends downstairs for some food. She continued to lay curled up in a ball until the sun rose the next day – the twenty-seventh of December. It was only when the piercing sunlight from her window brought bright red through Hermione's eyelids that she decided to open her eyes.

Blinking around the room for a moment, she vaguely realized why she was still in her dormitory to begin with – Draco Malfoy, the lying ferret. You're being ridiculous, she told herself as she threw back the covers of her bed. She refused to let Draco's actions bring her down once more, and she would make the best of a horrible situation by spending every waking minute with Harry and Ron; they always knew how to make her feel better. Therefore, Hermione lifted herself from her lying position to sit up on the edge of the bed, although she immediately regretted the decision. Her entire body ached and groaned uncomfortably, and she felt weak as if someone had pummelled every inch of her body.

She stood up and, after wobbling on her feet for a few minutes, carefully walked over to the standing wardrobe. She threw open the doors and gazed at the mirror behind her clothes. Her eyes were red and sore from sobbing for one whole day, and her hair was frizzier than ever and stuck out in weird places. Her skin felt dirty for lack of bathing for the day, and she was shaking all over from lack of nutrition. Her face was pale white, and her lips were chapped and red from chewing on them.

Grabbing a fluffy white towel out of the wardrobe, along with a change of clothes and her bathrobe, Hermione threw the bathrobe over her body and tightened it. She slipped her wand into the pocket of the bathrobe and threw open her dormitory door, weakly dragging her feet down the stairs.

The common room was empty, and Hermione blew a sigh of relief at the lack of Draco Malfoy as she made her way to the statue of Godric Gryffindor, which led to the Prefect's bathroom. She delicately pressed the ruby glinting in the handle of the sword that Godric was resting himself upon, and it sank into the granite. Godric split apart to reveal the stairway leading to the bathroom, and she dragged her feet down those stairs as well.

The Prefect's bathroom was also happy, and Hermione blew another sigh as she dragged a wooden table from her left to block the door in which she had just exited from. She cast a simple locking charm on the main door of the bathroom so she would be able to have her privacy and began to turn a variety of knobs around the large swimming-pool bath. Hot water, thick bubbles, lavender-scented oils and candy-smelling foam poured out of the taps, quickly filling the tub. She then turned off all the taps, removed the bathrobe, and sank into the warm water.

Hermione remembered how Harry had told them about the wonderful bathroom in their fourth year, and she immediately knew why he spoke so fondly of it. The bathroom was silent, and the portrait of the mermaid was empty – though Hermione saw the swish of a green tail disappear under the depths of the water. She brought a granite jug from the side of the bath and dipped it into the water, beginning to pour the warm, foamy water over her hair.

Hermione didn't want to leave the bathroom, so she remained in its warm depths for a while. She began to do some rounds around it, feeling its warmth spread through her skin and into her insides. When the tub began getting cool and the foam dispersed, Hermione began turning on the taps again until the bath was filled with warm water once more, and bubbles covered every inch of her body. Coincidentally, she immediately forgot about the incident with Draco yesterday, and allowed the bubbles to intoxicate her.

Until the sound of someone running into a door broke her moment of peace.

Whipping her head around, Hermione saw the handle for the secret stairway to the bathroom turn and heard a voice cursing from the other side of the door. "Bloody hell, fucking head bashed into the door. Granger? You in here?"

Hermione made sure she was completely covered as Draco Malfoy managed to push the door open and knock the table on its side. He was rubbing his forehead with one hand, where a large bump was visible, and his other hand was clasping the other side of the doorknob.

"Yes, I'm in here," she snapped, folding her arms over her chest, even though the bubbles were clearly blocking Malfoy from seeing anything. "What do you want?"

Draco nodded his head towards the towel that was shoved underneath his arm. "I was coming for a bath," he said. "Good to see that you're up, everyone thought you were dead."

I may as well be, Hermione thought. She sank back into the bath, ignoring the burning gaze that Draco was giving her behind her back. She could feel his eyes on her, peering over her exposed shoulders and back. She purposely flipped her hair over her shoulder so that her back was fully covered with her curtain of hair.

"You don't mind if I join, do you?" Draco said with a sneer, padding his way over to the far side of the pool. "I promise I'll stay way the hell over here."

Hermione ignored his question and sank even lower into the bath, the foam covering her up to her chin. Draco took her silence as a yes as he took out his wand and held the towel out in front of him.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he muttered, and the towel levitated in the air in front of him, opened and covering his body from his chin to his knees. He made sure the spell would last him before he began to strip from his clothing. Hermione tried her best not to look, but she couldn't help taking a quick glance when he had finished undressing. His shoulders were creamy white and a single, dark freckle was on his right shoulder. He had broad shoulders, masculine and thick, and his collarbone stretched against his skin. His legs, as she cast her eyes down to his calves, were not overly hairy. The visible hair was light blonde, and the muscles in his calves tensed as he began to lower himself in the tub. Hermione adverted her eyes again, and when she looked back she saw a quick glimpse of a single trail of blonde hair beginning from below his smooth, belly button – and firm abdominal – leading to the top of the bubbles, hiding his manhood from her.

"Much better," Draco said once he was sunken into the tub. He grinned over at Hermione and raised his arms to rest them along the edge of the bath, and Hermione couldn't help but notice how firm and large the muscles in his arms were. They tightened at every movement, and Hermione raised herself slightly out of the tub until the tops of her breasts were only just covered. She fought with her thoughts for a moment, debating with herself on whether or not she should ask Draco about what happened in the common room yesterday.

"What happened?" she asked timidly, raising her arms to run her hands through her hair. She saw Draco's eyes follow her movements, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"With what?"

Hermione lowered her arms again and frowned. "The other night…"

"Oh!" Draco immediately understood. "Hermione, you had that all wrong. I know it looked like I had spent the evening with a girl, but I didn't. I was with Crabbe and Goyle for the night. I never see them any more out of classes, you have to sympathize with me there. You can ask either of them to conform it." He grinned sheepishly, stretching his fingers so the muscles in his arms stretched wonderfully. "Not like it should really matter. I didn't know we were a linked couple, you know."

Hermione bit her lip and dropped her head, blushing. True, she and Draco weren't together, but the idea of him with someone else made a knot in her stomach tighten uncomfortably. When she had seen Gladia and him rushing down the stairs in the Gryffindor dormitory, her felt crestfallen and tears had welled in her eyes. She couldn't help the feelings she had towards Draco Malfoy; and now that they were there, she couldn't get rid of them.

"My point exactly," Draco said with a low chuckle, raising his feet out of the water and flexing his toes in the air before lowering them again. His face suddenly turned into a serious expression as he gazed over at Hermione. "But I don't blame you for being suspicious. I know I would have."

Hermione smiled shyly and reached under the water to rub at her stomach, which was growling. She didn't even realize that she hadn't eaten for over twenty-four hours, and her stomach was reminding her of that fact.

When Hermione looked back up, Draco was in front of her, his body only two feet away from hers. It was obvious he was trying to be cautious with her, considering both of them were completely naked in a tub in the middle of a Prefect's bathroom. Of course, a Prefect could walk in any minute by simply saying "Pine fresh" and "Alohamora" if they really needed to use the bathroom. However, Hermione was no longer worried about being seen.

"Look," Draco said slowly, sifting through his thoughts to pick the right words to say. "Can we stop being ridiculously stupid with one another? We both know how we feel, and we can't deny that." He took Hermione's hands in his own sopping wet ones. "If you would like no one to know about us still, then so be it. However, I would like to be something much more than just Head Boy and Head Girl, something more than enemies, something that we have felt for a while now."

Hermione looked up at Draco, her heart beating loudly in her chest. She suddenly became very conscious that she was wearing absolutely nothing and almost pressed up against Draco. He moved even closer to her, and she suddenly felt something on her thigh brush against her. Merlin, he's less than a foot away from me! How can I even possibly feel that? She swallowed and looked down, gazing up at Draco. His eyes were full of passion and lust, and he seemed to know exactly what was happening underneath the water.

"Hermione," he said breathlessly, moving his head closer towards her. "I've wanted you since the minute you sat beside me on the train in September. Can we forget our fights, our differences, and become what we both want to become? A couple?"

Hermione didn't answer him. Instead, she leaned her head forward so their lips pressed together in a fiery kiss. It was nothing she had experienced before, considering all of their kisses had been particularly passionate, and something about the intimacy of their naked bodies so close to one another made it much more real.

Draco responded by dropping Hermione's hands and wrapping his arms around her lower back, pulling her right up against him. She could feel… him… pressed between their stomachs, and her hands clutched the back of his hair as their mouths moved in perfect time with one another. Her breasts were pressed to his chest, and their legs were wound around one another underneath the depths of the foamy water.

"Draco," Hermione breathed, her head tilting as Draco's kisses followed down a line at the side of her neck. His kisses met her shoulder, and then grazed very carefully over her collarbone. He was nearing her breasts when her hands found his hair again and she pulled him up to face her. "Not yet."

"Why?" he growled lustily, resting his hands on either side of the edge of the bath behind Hermione and dipping to kiss her mouth passionately once more. She managed to pull herself away once more.

"Someone could easily see us," she whispered. "Besides." She pulled away and looked up at him with love in her eyes. "My stomach is begging for food at the moment, and I should be telling my friends where I went off to. Perhaps tonight, in the common room, we can… talk. And we can call it our official first date." She smiled at this. "Our first date."

Draco knew damn well that she did not mean talk, and a grin spread across his face as he bent to lay one more kiss on her lips. "Fine," he said, pulling away and swimming towards his towel on the other side of the pool. Before he grabbed it, he took an enormous breath and sank his head under, coming back up and flipping his soaked hair away from his face.

Hermione giggled and watched as he climbed out of the tub, his area completely covered in bubbles, and wrapped a towel around his waist. She then did the same, pleased to see she was also completely covered, and wrapped a towel around her chest, where it stopped at the highest point of her thigh. Draco walked over and met her on her side, combing his fingers lazily through her wet hair.

"So," she said after a moment of silence between the two of them. "What do you plan on doing for our first date then?"

Draco smirked and circled his arms around her waist, the towel around his own hips slipping slightly. Hermione was gracious enough to reach down and help him tighten it, her eyes never leaving his. "Well, I suppose we could have somewhat of a picnic in the common room, right in front of the fire. I can get us some food from the kitchen."

Hermione frowned, and Draco didn't understand why. Suddenly, he knew, and he rolled his steely blue eyes. "Oh Granger, can't you give the house-elves a rest?"

"They do all that work and ask for nothing in return…" she said quietly.

Draco sighed irritably and shook his head. "You are still the same stubborn book worm I met in first year."

"Hey!" Hermione frowned. "I'm not stubborn."

"But you admit to being a bookworm." Hermione blushed. Thinking this was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he tipped her chin up so her eyes were on his again and became very soft and heartfelt with her suddenly.

"How did I end up with you?" he said with a smile.

Hermione didn't respond once more, but her frown transformed into a smile almost instantly, and she hurried past him to race him up to the common room. He was quick to follow.

Hermione was welcomed in the Great Hall with an enormous cheer from the Gryffindor table, to her surprise. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Neville all clapped as loudly as they could, and she felt completely happy once more as she sank into the seat beside Harry. She was fully dressed, her hair was dry and smooth, and she had even sprayed herself with some lavender-scented oil to match the oil she had used in her bath earlier; the bath she had shared with Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, her boyfriend.

The word boyfriend made her heart flutter happily, and she turned her head as she Draco walk into the Great Hall, grinning from ear to ear. They caught one another's eye and blushed quickly before turning to their own group of friends. Hermione's stomach was swirling with nerves and excitement as she anticipated their evening tonight. Although she had no idea what time she would need to show up in the common room, she was anticipating it more than anything.

Almost as if the owls could read her thoughts, the post arrived and hundreds of owls soared around the enchanted ceiling, searching for their owners. A tawny owl swooped down and nearly missed a jug of pumpkin juice as he landed next to Hermione's plate. Attached to his feet was a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet, and a small cream envelope. Hermione untied the two articles from its legs, dropped two Sickles into the sac on its foot, and it soared out through the window once more.

Turning her attention away from her friends, who had all received their own posts, Hermione wordlessly handed Ron the Daily Prophet – "You reading that?" – and opened up the peculiar cream envelope. There was a single sheet of white parchment inside and a scribble of green handwriting over it. She quietly read it to herself:

Granger,

For our "date" tonight, you should come up to the Head Tower at nine. I expect you to be on time, I will not tolerate tardiness young lady! And make sure you wear something revealing… did I say revealing? I meant practical. (No I didn't)

And I've changed the password for the tower, so no one will be able to interrupt us. It's butternut squash.

Your git,

D

Hermione smiled and peered over the letter at the Slytherin table, where Draco was peeking over the brim of his goblet and winking at her. She blushed and dropped her head, shoving the letter into her pocket before beginning to pile on mounds of food onto her plate. Luckily, none of her friends asked her about the letter.

After breakfast, Harry and Ron were debating on whether or not they should get some extra practices in before their match against Hufflepuff right at the beginning of the second term. Considering they were only missing one person, Ritchie Coote, so Harry had asked Hermione if she would consider filling his place. Hermione thought this over and, despite the fact that she was a horrible flier, she agreed. The rest of the Quidditch team – Harry the Seeker, Ron the Keeper, Ginny the Chaser, Neville the Chaser, Demelza Robins the Chaser, and Jimmy Peakes the Beater got up to head in a straight line towards the changing rooms.

Hermione changed into Ritchie Coote's uniform and was pleased that he was such a thin and small boy, since the robes were only a little baggy. She shoved on a cap that Ginny leant her, slid her feet into some second-hand dragon hide boots and gloves, and followed the rest of the team out of the changing rooms with a Nimbus One Thousand under her arm.

Since it was still December, the air that whipped around them was icy cold and stung at their exposed areas of skin. A crisp white sheet of snow lay on the Quidditch field's ground and their foot prints left two-inch deep indents as they walked towards the center of the field. Ron and Harry were carrying the box that contained all of the balls for Quidditch, and Ginny had already mounted her broom. Hermione stood awkwardly among them, feeling very out of place. She was no good at flying, let alone any good at Quidditch, but she knew Ron and Harry were only trying to be polite when they asked her to join them.

"Okay, since Ritchie's not here, this is going to be a little difficult," Harry said, rubbing his arms to keep himself warm as Ron kicked open the crate. "But Hermione is just sitting in as a seventh person and we appreciate her for it."

The rest of the team smiled at Hermione, which made her feel a little more relaxed, and Harry continued. "Needless to say that we are going to kick Hufflepuff butt next week, so there is no need to worry about one less team member. We're all ready?"

Everyone nodded and mounted their brooms simultaneously. Hermione followed suit, looking extremely nervous, and was the last to kick off from the ground as the rest of the team soared into the air. Ron was still on the ground, and he had just realized the two Bludgers, the Quaffle, and the Golden Snitch.

For a moment, Hermione sat on her broomstick, suspended in the air and completely still. She watched as Harry zoomed around the stadium, looking in every direction for the Snitch, and squealed in fear as Jimmy shot past her in a blur of red. The club she held in her right hand was shaking with nerves, and she immediately regretted telling Harry and Ron that she would join them for the practice.

"Come on, Hermione!" Ginny yelled from the other side of the stadium, diving underneath Demelza swiftly as she came roaring towards her to retrieve the Quaffle in her arms. "All you have to do is swing that club when a Bludger comes near."

Hermione nodded to Ginny, and turned just in time to see a black blur hurtling itself in her direction. She clenched her eyes shut, raised the club over her shoulder, and pelted it at the exact time the Bludger was about to knock her off. Opening her eyes, she saw that she had hit the Bludger far over the heads of Ginny and Demelza, who were battling for the Quaffle now, and towards Harry.

"Look out!" she screamed, and Harry turned his head, pulling his Firebolt to the right just in time to miss the Bludger. Hermione was scared she was about to be yelled at, but Harry looked pleased.

"If you could just do that to the other teams Seeker, Hermione, we'd surely win!" he yelled with a smile on his face. Hermione blushed and bent lower into her broom, slowing herself down to hover by the hoops near Ron.

Ron did an amazing backwards flip and knocked the Quaffle away with the tail of his broom before straightening himself again. He glanced up and, noticing Hermione was there, flushed pink in the face. Hermione sighed, exasperated, and turned to face him.

"Honestly, Ron. What have I done?" she snapped. "You barely speak with me anymore, we haven't actually spoken in days, and you've been acting like an idiot with me. I know you're fine with everyone else because I see you talking to Harry normally."

Ron mumbled something Hermione couldn't hear, swallowed hard, and then pointed in the field towards them. Hermione turned her head and saw another Bludger heading its way towards her. She rolled her eyes, lifted the club once more, and smacked the black ball as hard as she could. She sent it in a new path heading towards Harry once more, and warned him to duck yet again. Harry seemed to be laughing at this.

Deciding that it was useless to try and get anything out of Ron at the moment, Hermione edged forwards on her broom to guide it around the stadium, her club at the ready for any Bludger heading her way. She was pleased to learn that she was getting the hang of Quidditch, and cursed herself for not contemplating trying out for the team earlier. If she had known she wasn't that bad at the sport, she would've tried out ages ago.

After a few more Bludgers came in her direction, which she swiftly knocked away from her, Harry called it quits. Everyone dived towards the ground, landing softly on the snowy surface and waiting for Ron and Harry to collect the Bludgers and shove them back in the crate. After Harry had chained in the last one, he turned to face the team.

"I was really happy to see the progress we made today," he said with a genuine smile. He then turned towards Hermione. "I swear, if Ritchie wasn't such an awesome Beater, I'd be kicking him off the team and asking you to join, 'Mione."

Hermione blushed deeply and the rest of the team agreed, clapping her on the back and telling her she had done a great job for her first try at Quidditch. They all made a beeline back towards the change rooms, where they changed out of their Quidditch robes and back into their casual wear silently.

"If you two have nothing better to do, I think it'd be a good idea for us to find a deserted classroom and start practicing our Charms for the beginning of next term," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Flitwick said we should be well familiarized with the Flame-Freezing Charm by the beginning of next term."

Harry and Ron both groaned, but agreed that it had to be done and began to sneak around the corridors of the school, searching for a deserted classroom. They finally came across one on the fifth corridor hidden behind a row of columns. Obviously, the classroom had not been used for some time since it was very dusty and had cobwebs building in the corners of the room. However, Hermione was able to arrange a number of objects in front of them in order to practice.

"This is stupid," Ron muttered as Hermione held up a piece of parchment to his extended wand. It was the second sentence he had said to her in days.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It is not."

"Why can't Flitwick just teach us the non-verbal form?" Harry asked as he viciously began to stamp out a fire he had started on a peacock feather.

"It's too advanced, even for us." She shook her head in frustration. "Ron, would just try the damn charm already?"

"Alright, alright," he muttered, holding his wand firmly in his hand. Hermione held out a normal Muggle match that she had nicked from Filch's office – in the drawer labelled "Strange Objects I've Never Seen" – and lit the parchment on fire, throwing it in the air after shouting, "Now!"

"Frigus Incendia!" Ron yelled and, to his surprise, the parchment remained on fire as it fluttered to the ground, not appearing to be burnt as he bent to examine it. He skimmed his hand over the blue flames, and smiled. "It worked! It didn't burn me at all!"

"Good job, Ron." Hermione was pleased to see that Ron had gotten past whatever had been bothering him before, since he rushed over to hug Hermione tightly.

"Shall we try now, Harry?" she asked as she stepped away from Ron's arms. She was still going to find out what had been bothering him, but when she had the opportunity to speak to him in privacy – without Harry.

Harry nodded and stepped forward, frowning. "I can't get it," he complained.

"It takes practice." Hermione lifted another peacock feather in front of them and scraped a match against the side of the matchbox once more. A tiny white flame appeared on the end of the match, and she proceeded to light the feather, throwing it into the air and yelling, "Now!"

"Frigus Incendia!" Harry bellowed, pointing his wand directly at the feather. To everyone's delight, the feather floated back to the stone ground and had burst from its white-red flames to cool blue ones. Harry picked up the feather cautiously, beaming as the flames danced around his fingers without any harm done.

"Excellent, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, clapping him on the back. Hermione beamed in approval and stood in front of both pieces of burning objects that now lay on the ground floor.

"Aqua Eructo," Hermione said, and a jet of water burst from the end of the wand to extinguish the flames. She pocketed her wand once more with a smile on his lips and turned to her two best friends. "Shall we go down for dinner?" she said, glancing down at Ron's watch to read the time. It was already seven-thirty.

"We shall!" Ron clapped his hand to his stomach, rubbing it in circles and licking his lips. "All that work made me hungry."

Harry and Hermione both laughed, leading the way out of the classroom and making their way down to the Great Hall. Hermione hung back as Harry pushed open the Great Hall doors, grabbing the sleeve of Ron's jumper to pull him back.

"What –"

"Can I talk to you later?" she asked, frowning up at him. Hermione deserved to know why Ron had been treating her differently for the past three weeks or so, and why he had seemed angry and confused about everything she said.

"Aw, Hermione, this isn't about the past few weeks, is it?" He frowned down at her. Hermione noticed how tall Ron really was; he must have grown an extra two inches over the summer, making him at least six foot four by now. She had to crane her neck to really look up at him.

"Yes, it is. So you know that you were doing it on purpose!" she snapped.

"Of course I know, 'Mione. But it's not important now, can't we just forget about it?"

"No!" Hermione frowned and crossed her arms. "Promise me we'll talk about this later. Well…" She paused, remembering her date with Draco at nine. "Tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" Ron asked with a frown.

"I have a Prefect's meeting," she said. It wasn't a lie, considering she was going to meet up with Susan and Ernie to ensure they could do patrols in her and Draco's place for the night.

"Fine. Can we go eat now?" He had already turned to the Great Hall without waiting for her answer, and she let him go in this time.

The second night of wonderful food – Yorkshire puddings, roast beef, roasted potatoes, boiled pea pods, chicken legs, loaves of bread, custards, and chocolate puddings – left Hermione so full that she wasn't sure she would be able to eat any of the food that Draco brought up later that night. Glancing over at the Slytherin table, she saw no sign of Draco, Crabbe or Goyle along the long table. Pondering this for a moment, Hermione wondered if perhaps they were up to something.

"Hermione, look at this," Ron said from across the table. She adverted her eyes to Ron and grimaced; he had shoved two roasted potatoes into his nostrils, three into his mouth, and one in each ear. Ginny was shaking her head in disgust, but Harry was roaring with laughter alongside of Neville.

"Weasley!" McGonagall barked from the staff table. "Get those out NOW!"

Ron snorted, spit, and plucked every potato from their lodged area, hooting hysterically with the other two as Ginny and Hermione shared grimaced expressions at him. When Hermione turned her attention back to the Slytherin table, she saw that Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were now seating in the empty seats she had been looking at before. Draco was piling small amounts of food onto his plate and was deep in conversation with his two goons.

After dinner, around eight-thirty, Hermione excused herself from the Gryffindor table where Harry and Ron were attempting capture the Chocolate Frogs that had come bursting out of their crackers. The fireworks from the crackers were still glittering over their heads as Hermione made her way towards the Hufflepuff table, where Susan and Ernie were happily finishing their puddings.

"Hey," she said as she took a seat across from them. Susan looked up first, her brown hair sweeping over her shoulders delicately.

"What's up, Hermione?" Ernie asked, wiping his mouth on a yellow napkin beside him.

"I know it's my turn to patrol for the night, but something came up," she said, folding her hands neatly in her lap and looking from Ernie to Susan. "Can I ask you two to do a big favour for me and patrol for the night? I swear Draco and I will take your turns one night."

Ernie contemplated this for a moment, glancing at Susan before both of them nodded. "Alright," he answered. "But only because you're a pretty decent Head Girl."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you so much you two," she said. She lowered her voice and hid her hand from the staff table. "Five points for Hufflepuff for your courtesy." She stood up, leaving the two Hufflepuff Prefects beaming after her and made her way back over to the Gryffindor table.

"I've got to get up to the Head Tower," Hermione said as she stood behind Harry and Ron. "I'm not feeling that well."

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, though Ron had a curious expression on his face and interrupted Hermione before she could answer.

"I thought you had a Prefects meeting," he said.

Hermione tried her best not to blush. "I cancelled it, since my stomach's not feeling quite alright. Don't worry, it's nothing so serious that I'll need to go to the Hospital Wing," she said quickly after looking at Harry's worried expression.

"Lots of bed rest then," Harry said, reaching behind him to give her hand a squeeze before almost tackling over Ginny to get a Chocolate Frog that was trying to escape.

"Night," she said quietly, turning away quickly from Ron's penetrating glare as she made a beeline towards the Great Hall doors. She didn't even stop to look at Draco, who was still sitting with Crabbe and Goyle and talking in hushed voices. She made her way directly up the marble staircase towards the Head Tower, where the portrait of Dumbledore was waiting for her. He had a yo-yo dangling by a string on his ring finger, tossing it up and down on its string with a delighted smile. He glanced up from his yo-yo as he saw Hermione arrive.

"I've just taught it how to play dead," he said in a delighted voice, letting the yo-yo dangle motionlessly on the end of its string before rolling it back up into his hand.

"That's wonderful, Professor," Hermione said with a small smile. "Butternut squash."

"That's the ticket!" Dumbledore beamed before he swung himself forwards, and Hermione began to climb into the portrait hole. She paused as she heard footsteps advancing from behind her, and turned to see Draco walking up the stairs.

"You shouldn't be going in yet," he said, ignoring the fact that Dumbledore could hear every word they were saying on the other side of the doorway.

Hermione backed herself out of the portrait hole and closed it, winding them around a corner so they were out of sight from Dumbledore. She grinned and crossed her arms. "Well, you seemed to be discussing something very important with your goons back there."

Draco grinned, and grabbed Hermione's hips as he pressed her against the cool stone tower walls. "You're a sneaky one, aren't you Granger?"

Hermione grinned and loosely hung her arms around his neck. "That I am, Malfoy," she purred on his lips.

Before he could control himself, Draco smashed his lips into Hermione and pressed hard up against the wall. His hands freely roamed the front of her torso and his tongue traced a line at her lips, while she let out a soft moan of pleasure.

"Err –"

Hermione and Draco whipped their heads away from one another to see Neville Longbottom standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at them and shifting from foot to foot.

Author's Note: Longest chapter yet! See, I promised you guys. This was a lot of fun to write, because it had a lot of similarities to the original Harry Potter books, although I added my own personal touch to it. New update tomorrow! You should all be grateful that I'm such a nice person and updating loads before school begins. What's Neville going to do?! Thanks for reading!