TA –DA! :D

As the sun poured into Hermione's window she turned the other way to try and buy herself at least five more minutes of a dreamless sleep. She tried to remember at what time she went into her room and changed, but nothing came to mind. She closed her eyes tightly trying to remember, but everything after her phone call with Harry was a blur. She let out an exasperated sigh and finally opened one eye slightly to examine her surroundings. Staring back at her were the same pictures of her, Harry and Ron from a few months back, one of her and Ginny from a party and her parents on their wedding anniversary. The coffee table sat perfectly centered in the room with a few muggle magazines stacked neatly next to the remote control. She shoved her face into the pillow on the couch she was sleeping on. "I never even left the room!" she shouted into it.

Her pity party was interrupted however when Victor had requested to be buzzed in. "Yeah, sure come on up." Hermione said without thinking. She scratched her head and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall and nearly jumped out of her skin. "I never changed or cleaned up!" she shouted as she ran down the hallway to her bathroom. Her hair was dry and knotted and her makeup was clumped and smeared all over her face. "Way to go, Hermione!" she said to herself as she splashed cold water all over trying to get the streaked mascara off her cheek.

"Hermione?" Victor called as he opened the door to her flat. "Are you okay? You left the door unlocked." Hermione stopped and tried to recall when she unlocked the door. This whole Draco thing was really starting to mess with her. "Hermione," Victor's voice came from the hallway "You left the door unlocked, that's not like you, are you okay?" he asked walking into the bathroom to pat her on the back. Hermione was still in her state of shock and didn't answer him for another minute.

"Yeah, I just unlocked it…" she said not only to him, but to herself as well. She had to of, Victor was right she never forgets to lock up.

Victor smiled and kissed her on the top of her head and looked in the mirror at the two of them. "You look like you were out all night." Victor said examining her reflection and then trying to run his hands through her matted curls. "Should I be worried? Is your wild side starting to come out, love?" he said jokingly. Hermione smiled and laughed a little.

"Not so much my wild side, but defiantly my crazy side…" Hermione muttered as she stood up straight and looked at her own reflection.

Victor smiled and put an arm around her and kissed her again, only this time on the cheek. "Looks like I'm in for some surprises." He said smiling brightly. He walked out the room and reached for the door. "I'll just let you finish up in here" and closed it behind him. Hermione looked back at her reflection and smiled coyly.

"You have no idea…"

Hermione took a quick shower and tried to rinse all worries and thoughts of Draco out of her head and really relax but she was having a tougher time than she thought she would. She stepped out the shower, wrapped the towel around her body and stared into the steam covered mirror. She lifted her hand and wiped it across the foggy glass to catch a better glimpse of her. Her eyes were only a tad bit puffy, but other than that she didn't look as disheveled. She ran her hands through her wet limp hair and smiled. The smile was forced, but it would be enough for now. She got herself dressed in a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt and quickly ran some hair product through her hair to control her curls that spiral out later.

She walked outside the stuffy bathroom and saw Victor in the kitchen pouring something onto a plate. It wasn't until he walked it over to her table that he noticed she was standing in the doorway. "Someone looks much better…" he said beaming at her setting the plate down. "Not that you look bad earlier, just…" he trailed off and shoved his hands into his dark pants. "I made you something…" he said trying to recover.

Hermione smiled and walked over to him and gave him a hug. "I know, and thank you for coming over. It means a lot." She said into his cotton button down shirt. She pulled back and smiled up at him. He leaned down enough to kiss her forehead and smiled back. He pulled out her chair and took the seat across from her.

"You didn't have to do this…" she said looking down at the cheese omelet cooked beautifully in front of her. "Really, I'm not that hungry." But as the words came out her mouth quickly filled with saliva and before Victor even had the chance to respond she had shoved a forkful into her mouth.

Victor laughed, "Don't worry about it." He said "So I thought we would spend the day together." Hermione looked up at him with a little strand of cheese leading from her lips to the plate; Victor rarely took off work to spend time with her.

"Really?" she asked after she swallowed. "You don't have any business meetings or clients to see?"

"Nope, I got the day off." He said smiling. Hermione smiled and ate the last piece of her omelet. "Great! Let me just go get my coat and purse, and we'll go!"

A few minutes later Hermione and Victor were walking down the busy streets in silence. She looked around at all the people bustling around them. Victor didn't say where they were going and she didn't ask instead her mind began to wander. Each person who she examined she tried to picture what their love lives were like. She tried to catch a glimpse by observing their manner and facial expressions. She decided that the older woman sitting at the bus stop was a widower and was on her way to lunch with her daughter, the only one who truly had her heart still. The woman jogging into the park was a high powered career woman who didn't have time for a boyfriend. The young boy walking with his hands in his pockets and would smile at every young girl who passed was just hitting that age where he began to notice the opposite sex, he was excited and hoping to find a match. The girl with her headphones on and no expression just broke up with her boyfriend and possibly had to move out or maybe she made him leave…

It was then that a small thought occurred to Hermione; how many of these people were doing the same thing to her?

She looked over at Victor who had his hands in his pockets like the young eager boy, but the look of the girl with the headphones, eyes fixed on something in the distance. Then down at the ground and her boots hitting the pavement with a small rhythm. She tried to make herself step out of her body and evaluated what her and Victor looked like to everyone around them. She sighed it wasn't hard to figure out. They were a couple in counseling, only with each other because of the connivance. There was no spark and their relationship was predictable. There was no connection.

The thought made Hermione want to cry a little, but she quickly pulled it together, and felt Victor's arm wrap around her waist. "Here we are…" he said with a smile in his voice. Hermione looked up and saw a small boutique in front of them. Just by looking at it she could already tell that everything inside would cost more than her rent!

"What are we doing here?" she asked staring at the dresses and shoes in the display window.

Victor smiled and kissed her forehead, "Here's what I want you to do…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and reached inside to pull out his credit card and slipped it in her coat pocket. "Pick whatever dress you like and get yourself a nice pair of shoes to match. Don't worry about the cost; you know I have the money. After that you'll know what to do."

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked still allowing what he said to fully sink in.

"I have some other plans…" he pulled her closer to him and moved a strand of hair out of her face. "I'll see you later, I promise." He leaned down once more and kissed her lips very softly. Hermione moved her hands up his arms and kissed him back, just as softly with just the right amount of passion. "Happy shopping, love." He said when he pulled away and gazed into her large brown eyes. And with that he was gone.

Hermione walked inside the boutique and was dumbfounded at the sight in front her. "Victor called me and asked for my help, with your fashion sense I knew that he was going to need a lot of it!" said Ginny Weasly standing right in the entrance of the boutique. Hermione ran over to Ginny and threw her arms around her and repressed the urge to start crying again.

"I'm so glad that you're here!" Hermione said into Ginny's soft red hair that was held back by a thin white headband.

"Don't get all mushy on me now, besides it hasn't even been that long!" Ginny said pulling away and walking towards the evening dresses. Hermione knew that Ginny was right, they has just seen each other, but after a day like the other then your best friend was just what you needed to feel better.

Hermione and Ginny settled on a dress that was absolutely breathtaking on Hermione and a pair of shoes that were practically made to go with it. They went to a salon a few blocks down to get Hermione's hair and nails done. Hermione so desperately wanted to talk to Ginny about the lunch with Blaise, Parvati, and the unexpected guest, but she knew that it was out of the question. They were out all day and never had a moment truly by themselves. Besides she knew that Ginny didn't like Draco and didn't like hearing about him, especially if Hermione's feelings were attached to them. She had convinced Ginny that she was over him before going out with Victor, anyways.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked as her nails sat under a dryer. Ginny set down the muggle magazine that she was flipping through and get some serious entertainment out of. "What's going on?" Hermione asked when she knew she had Ginny's attention.

"You're waiting for the hairdresser to take those curlers out your hair." Ginny answered back.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "No I know that! I mean with Victor…" she said in hushed tones. "Why is he doing all this?" she asked looking straight ahead. "First off it's a day off that he's not doing anything to 'get ahead in the game' and then gives me his credit card for a makeover?" Hermione recounted. "It's all very, unlike him…"

"What? To be generous?" Ginny asked curiously.

"No to be so out of the ordinary…" Hermione said trying to figure out what was happening. Then a thought hit her cold. "He's… he isn't planning…is he… going to propose?" Hermione asked trying to choke the words out her mouth.

Ginny laughed and patter Hermione's arm "Don't worry, it's not serious. He just wants you to have a nice evening together. "Hermione relaxed a little and smiled, but still could not shake the feeling that something was going to happen that she was not ready for…

Stay with me guys! PLEASE!

I love you all terribly and hope you still love

My story and don't want to abandon it completely!

It's still going and will be finished! I'll try to speed it up

But I am sorry and hope you will still review…

PLEASE&THANKYOU!

*fingers cross that some still enjoy the story*