One Week to the Halloween Ball -

"What in Godric's name do you think you're doing?" Hermione yelled, crossing her arms and putting on her most powerful, disappointed pout. There were two students, one Ravenclaw and one Gryffindor making out in one of the coves in the dungeons. She hated being down in the damp heat of the lower levels, and now she would have to deal with this incident.

"Ummmm…looking for…something." The Gryffindor, who she vaguely recognized as a third year, attempted to lie. Merlin he was terrible at it. The girl he was with seemed to be shamed into silence, based on the red tone of her skin.

"Ten points from each of your houses. Now off to bed." She hated taking points from her own house, but if the younger years were stupid enough to get caught, she would have to. Sighing, she remembered how she, Ron and Harry were with that map and his cloak, and she felt herself soften.

"Go back to your dorms, and try not to be out after curfew anymore okay?" She tried to give them a smile to add on, or just don't get caught. The Ravenclaw seemed to understand her meaning, smoothing back her brown hair and giving her a muttered apology. The Gryffindor just cowered in fear, and she sighed again, but this time out of exasperation.

"What's your name?" Hermione asked, watching as the boy fidgeted nervously.

"Roger." He finally admitted, and she couldn't help but smile at how much the boy reminded her of a young Harry. His hair wasn't nearly as dark, but his eyes were a beautiful green. She vaguely recognized him as one of Griffin's Granger fan club.

"Well Roger, I trust that you understand what you've done and why I had to take those points away." He nodded, and she smiled at him. "Just try to be more careful okay? Not all the Prefects will be as lenient, and Merlin help you that it wasn't Professor Abignail or the Headmistress that found you."

The blood seemed to drain from his face at the thought, and Hermione barely contained her laughter. "Now off to bed with you." He started at a near run towards the direction of Gryffindor tower, and Hermione closed her eyes, pulling her hand up to rub the bridge of her nose.

"Nicely handled Granger." A low voice drawled from the shadows. She knew the voice, how couldn't she know the voice.

"So its back to Granger is it?" She probed, turning to the direction of the voice. Draco Malfoy appeared out of the shadows, still in his uniform.

He didn't seem to know what to say, frowning at her. How had they already gotten back to quiet animosity, she thought. She knew he had been avoiding her actively since day one of the Theo conspiracy, but she missed him.

"Malfoy…" She called, watching as he turned on his heel to walk away from her. When he didn't stop, she called out to him again. "Draco…" Trying to contain the longing in her voice had proven challenging, and a bit of it slipped through.

His head turned towards her, his eyebrow raised in expectation and his grey eyes burning hers. Merlin she could swim in those eyes and never tire.

"Why are you avoiding me?" She asked, straightening and picking a piece of lint off her skirt. There was a glint of something behind his eyes that looked to her a mix of guilt and regret. Taking a chance, she moved forward, lessening the space between them.

"I see you in Potions, and we bump into each other on rounds at least once a week." Was his simple response, as he crossed his arms and lent on the wall next to him. In the light from the torches, his features flickered. His sharp cheekbones looked almost demonic in the fire light, and she couldn't help but notice how beautiful he looked.

"That's a piss-pour answer and you know it." She took another step closer to him, watching his expression carefully as she approached. "Are you upset about me and Theo?" The innocence in her voice sounded almost real, and she was proud of how well she could act now that this charade with Theo had become more involved. Not that deception was a skill she was particularly proud to be a master of, but in cases such as this she was glad for it.

A stray curl fell in her face from behind her headband and she blew on it to push it out of the way. He watched this action with barely withheld fascination before responding.

"I couldn't be happier for Theo. He's a good bloke and my best mate. Why wouldn't I be happy that he's landed himself the Golden Girl." There was a smirk on his face during the last phrase, knowing how much she hated to be called that.

"Then why?" She asked, her voice more demanding than before. Their plan for the Halloween Ball was moving along, but she needed to know that it would work out in her favor before they had their big fake break up.

"I told you, I'm not good at sharing." His voice was low, almost dangerous, and there was a hungry glint in his eye. Every instinct in her body told her to pull away, and yet she found herself a step closer to him still.

"I'm not some object for you Slytherins to toy around with. I have every capability of dating Theodore and still maintaining your friendship. Blaise doesn't seem to have this problem. He even got Parkinson to call off her vendetta. So why do you have a problem?" She was standing so close to him now that if she only put her hand out, she could touch him. His smirk turned down into his signature scowl, and she felt her breath hitch. For the first time since the new year had started, he looked every bit the Malfoy of her childhood.

"I can't be your friend Granger." He warned, shifting his body away from her.

"Bloody hell Malfoy. If you want to be a fucking arsehole and not be my friend anymore because I'm dating your mate than fine!" She went to turn away from him, feeling an angry disappointment rise in her chest. How could she be so stupid? The boy who stood in front of her was the same pompous spoiled brat that she had hated growing up, and she was so annoyed and angry that he had reverted back to that shallow caricature of himself. The man she had seen in those first few weeks of school had apologized; he'd been intelligent and witty and handsome. That was not the man she was speaking to now.

Before she could even take a step away from him, she felt a strong grip on her wrist. Pulling her back to him, Draco crashed his lips against hers. Shock was soon overtaken by desire, and she started kissing him back. His lips were softer than she had expected, and she melted into him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she deepened the kiss before he was suddenly pulling away.

"Goodbye Hermione."

"What…" She began, but she was too late. He had already turned away, disappearing back into the shadows of the dungeons. She wanted to chase after him, but it would be futile since he knew them better than she did. Her lips didn't stop burning the whole time she finished her rounds and made her way back up to Gryffindor tower. Luckily the dungeons were close to the end of rounds, and it wasn't long before she stood outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Still dazed by the unexpected kiss, she nearly missed it when Neville asked her how rounds had been. She must've looked out of it because he made her sit on the love seat and asked a house elf to bring her tea.

"Everything okay 'Mione? I know the term has started picking up. Not too stressed are you?" Looking at Neville, Hermione just got more awkward, knowing she couldn't even begin to explain what was going on to him. Perhaps she was being unfair to Neville, keeping him out of all of this, but she knew that he wouldn't be thrilled about her crush.

"Yes, I just…think I spent too much time in the dungeon. You know how hot it gets down there." It was a pitiful excuse, and she could see in Neville's eyes that he knew it, but he didn't press her. She drank her tea and chatted with him a bit about her day. Playing off the whole 'not feeling well' schtick she was swinging, she insisted on heading up to bed. Luckily she had already finished both her Potions and Runes assignments, so she didn't have any homework to worry about. Focusing on anything but Malfoy's lips and the feeling of them on her own seemed impossible.

The door had barely shut to their dorm before she hurled herself on her bed. Taking that as a universal sign for Hermione wants to talk, the curly haired witch felt a dip in the mattress off to her side.

"What's happened now? Caught some fourth year having a wank in some hidden corridor somewhere?" Hermione lifted her head slightly to glare at the red-headed witch before returning to her position face down in her pillow.

"Malfoykissedme." She mumbled into the soft down pillow. There was no way Ginny could've understood her, but she had to say it once before so she could be sure her voice wouldn't shake.

"What was that?" Ginny coaxed, tickling Hermione's side to get her to move away from the thing blocking her voice.

"I said…" Hermione started, sitting up, but clutching her pillow to her lap. "Malfoy kissed me." She drew out the words, saying it slowly, as if saying it too fast or too loud might make it untrue. It had happened, she had experienced it, and yet saying it out loud made it seem like the most bizarre thing that had ever happened.

"Oh…well that is an interesting development. It kinda works out perfectly though, since it gives you and Theo a reason for your public break up." Hermione stared at Ginny with wide eyes.

"That's all you have to say?" The curly haired witch clutched the pillow tighter to her chest, starting to play with a loose thread on one end. If she focused, she could still feel his lips on hers, which was an entirely new situation.

"No sorry. Of course not! How was it? Disgusting? Ferrety?" Ginny smiled at her, and Hermione bit back the urge to hit her with her pillow.

"It was…" She held a hand up to her mouth, brushing her fingertips along where his lips had been only minutes before. "I've never had a kiss like it before. Not with anyone."

"Wait a second, how many boys have you been kissing?" Ginny remarked, clearly taken aback at Hermione's experience. The red-head had been known for her very public relationships with a number of boys during her earlier years, but Hermione, other than Victor Krum taking her to the Yule Ball, hadn't had eyes for anyone but Ron.

"I…don't have to answer that." She insisted, feeling a flush come to her face. Truly it had only been a handful, but she didn't like the assumption that she was inexperienced with boys.

"True. You don't. However, we both know how good I am at getting information out of you." There was a playful warning in Ginny's voice and Hermione groaned.

"Fine…ugh. Well there was Victor during my fourth year. He was lovely, if a little too over-eager in the snogging department. Fifth year, well fifth year it was Zacharias. We only kissed the once, and then we mutually agreed that nothing romantic was going on there. Sixth year was when that whole Ron and Lavender show occurred. I only kissed McLaggen once or twice but he was bloody awful. My mouth felt like the Black Lake afterward." Ginny blurted out a laugh, breaking her focused silence. Hermione couldn't even be mad at her because it was comical just thinking about the fact that she had kissed Cormac.

"Then of course there was your brother. He was my first boyfriend, so naturally I just assumed that how I felt kissing him was how kissing was supposed to feel. Comfortable and warm. I was wrong Ginny…Malfoy's lips…I can still feel them on mine. Like white heat burning me. Is that…is that what it feels like for you and Harry?" Ginny went to make a sarcastic comment, but seeing the slightly unhinged panic in Hermione's eyes, she relented. With a sigh, she scooted closer, so that Hermione could rest her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

"At first, yeah. After we won the Quidditch cup, when Harry kissed me that night in the Common Room, it was spectacular. I knew then that he was it for me. I mean I'd had a torch for him since I was 11, but you never think that your childhood crush will be the love of your life. When he…when you all ran away last year to do your horcrux hunting, as mad as I had been at him for leaving me behind, when he came back it was like I could breathe again. I'm not making any sense, but then love rarely does." It was rare that Ginny was so open about her feelings, and Hermione just nodded at her, not wanting to interrupt.

"Now that we've been together for almost two years, its not as fiery anymore. There's still a passion there, but it doesn't burn from the inside out like it used to. Its kind of like…bloody hell this is difficult to describe." Hermione cut Ginny off, pulling the girl into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry that we left you here while we were on the run Ginny. I know that it was horrid, but with Ron with us and your entire family being watched for being in the Order, we were worried." Ginny waved her off, shushing her.

"Trust me, Harry has apologized enough for twenty lifetimes. He apologizes every time I see him still. Its actually getting rather annoying, and if I wasn't so absolutely besotted with the wizard, I might have taken issue with it." The two girls shared a smile at that. Hermione was honestly so grateful for Ginny. Harry had been falling apart after Voldemort's fall, and Ginny had been one of his biggest supports.

"Oh yes, a horrid problem to have." Hermione laughed at the thought and smiled again. Ginny really did always know how to make her feel better. "I can't…stop thinking. About how Malfoy and Harry are like…well in muggle literature there's this idea of a foil, or someone who serves as an opposite of a character."

"So Malfoy is what? The anti-Harry? I'm not sure Harry would be too thrilled to hear that comparison." Hermione just shrugged.

"I'm just…I can't help but think how different these past years could've been. If Draco wasn't a death eater's son, Harry wasn't the Chosen One, and I wasn't a muggleborn." Ginny rested her head on Hermione's shoulder, trying to express her support for the curly-haired witch.

"But you are a muggleborn, and Harry was the Chosen One, and Draco is a death eater…or well I guess its was for that last bit. Honestly 'Mione, we only have a week left before the ball, maybe you should just try and act like everything is normal until then. We have the plan. You and Theo break it off in a very dramatic and public fashion and flea straight into Malfoy and Daphne's open and waiting arms." Ginny groaned, dramatically falling back onto Hermione's bed. "I can't believe I'm helping my best mate date a ferret, albeit a very fit ferret."

Hermione laughed at that, firmly planting a pout on her face and whacking the red-head with the pillow she had been clutching to her chest. "I can't believe I've become one of those silly girls who's whole life is crying over boys. I haven't even had a chance to really prepare for my assignments due next week. Maybe I should get my Arithmancy homework done before…"

"Oh no you don't. No going back to being sensible. This is the most fun I've had in years!" Ginny's evil smile was disconcerting, but also comforting in a weird way.

"Merlin forbid my future get in the way of your entertainment." Hermione teased as she got up to sit at her desk. "Come on Gin, its far too early to go to sleep. Might as well get ahead. Don't you want to be able to spend the whole of next weekend with Harry without me nagging you."

Ginny pretended to consider it for a moment before groaning loudly. "Not only have you managed to be sensible, but now you're making me sensible."

Four days to the Halloween Ball -

Hermione hadn't seen Draco since what she had decided to refer to as the incident. He would come in for meals, but never looked up, and certainly never looked at her. He had also been absent from potions the day before, sending Theo in with some tripe about feeling ill. She hadn't expected anything to be worse than seeing him after their kiss, but somehow not seeing him was even more awful.

Breakfast was proving to be a repetitive action now, Hermione would come down with Theo, Ginny and Neville, eat a croissant with jam and an apple, and wait hopelessly for Malfoy to dash over to her table and snog her blind. She could barely even think, and she absolutely hated it.

"Oh ginger wench." Theo called, resulting in an expected eye roll from Ginny.

"Yes pompous git?" Was her loving response. Of the long-term results of her fake relationship with Theo, Hermione's least favorite was his and Ginny's budding friendship. Perhaps evil partnership or co-conspirators was a better term.

"How goes our plans for the ball?" Hermione tuned them out, instead turning back to her charms essay. She wanted to give it another read over before class, and not wanting to hear Theo and Ginny go over the plan for the eight millionth time was the perfect excuse.

"Hey Hermione." She heard a voice call and was surprised when she turned around and the female sixth year Ravenclaw prefect was standing there.

"Oh hello…I'm sorry, I know you've introduced yourself to me, but I can't seem to remember your name." Honestly since coming back to Hogwarts, she had not really made an effort to learn the names and faces of those outside of her year. Even within Gryffindor, she only really knew about a handful of students other than Neville and Ginny, and most of those were only because they made up her fan club.

"That's alright. My name is Daria. I actually had a favor to ask you." Hermione signaled for the girl to go on, offering for her to sit in the empty space next to her at the table.

"Okay well you see, my boyfriend already graduated, going through the Auror training like Potter you know…anyway, he has off from training tonight and its our three year anniversary and well…Leora and McGonagall said that I could go into Hogsmeade with him as long as I got someone to cover my patrols. I know you just went last night, but everyone else is either on patrol already or busy." The girl was speaking a mile a minute, but Hermione just gave her a comforting smile and a hand squeeze.

"Don't worry Daria, I can patrol for you. Just tell me which wing you start in and when." There was something about this girl that made her feel hopeful, like they weren't recovering from a war, like everything was okay.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" The girl threw her hands up and wrapped Hermione in a tight hug. "I start on the seventh floor actually so it won't be far for you. Mine's the later shift, so you just have to meet my partner near the portrait corridor. Thank you again!" She nearly squealed with excitement, her prim curls bouncing as she walked away.

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked, half of a muffin in her mouth. Hermione shot her a look of disgust before answering her question.

"One of the younger prefects, asked me to cover for her tonight." She stated it simply but frowned when Theo's eyebrow shot up the way it did when he knew something she didn't.

"And what precisely is that look about Nott?" She asked, utilizing her best prefect stare. It rarely worked on Theo, but it was worth a try.

"Oh I'm sure its nothing." The side-eye look he shared with Ginny let Hermione know that it was something though.

"No no no. No more conspiracy between you two. Godric, you would think you two are the ones in a fake relationship." Realizing a moment too late how loud that had been, Hermione noticed four new sets of eyes staring at her.

"What do you mean fake relationship?" Neville asked, his mouth hanging open. Hannah swallowed the bite of apple she had been taking and nodded vigorously at Neville's sentiment.

"Oh well…ummm…its not…we're not…you see…" She stammered, glancing desperately at her Slytherin friend to recover from her carelessness. He just shook his head at her, shrugging.

"You might as well tell them. We only have four more days left anyway." The shock on her face must have made her look ridiculous, because Ginny intervened.

"So its like this Nev, Theo and Hermione are only pretending to date to make certain…other people jealous." Hermione nodded tightly at Ginny's words, suddenly preoccupied with ripping apart the leftover pieces of her croissant. Hearing it said out loud made it sound even more silly and childish, and she was ashamed.

"Why wouldn't you tell me Hermione? Blimey I didn't talk to you for days after this whole business started." He began, and she couldn't blame him for being angry. He was one of her best friends, and she had been lying to him.

"Oh calm down Nevvy. I can't blame 'Mione for not telling us. After all secrets only really work if no one knows about it. Now what I'm wondering is who could you possibly serve to make jealous using Theo." Hermione's heart began to beat faster. She was not ready for anyone besides Ginny and Theo to know about her crush. Ginny, sensing the rising panic in her friend's face interrupted Hannah before it could go any further.

"Theo here has quite the little crush on Daphne Greengrass." Ginny offered, her tone teasing enough that Theo managed to blush a little.

"Can't blame you mate, she is gorgeous…not that I noticed. I don't look at anyone but my beautiful and wonderful girlfriend." Neville tacked on, shooting an apologetic smile to his Hufflepuff, who just laughed him off.

"Even I think she's gorgeous, so no worries there Longbottom. So who's Hermione's guy? You and Ron aren't trying to date again are you?" Seizing the opportunity, Hermione blurted out. "Yes…its Ron…I'm hoping that Ron will…give me another chance." Her words sounded hollow to anyone who knew about her and Ron's relationship, or distinct lack there-of, but it seemed to appease Hannah for the moment. Neville gave her a stern look conveying a need to talk later but didn't say anything to contradict her.

"That's so romantic! Does the Halloween Ball play into this plan at all? Theo said something about four more days. Harry and Ron are coming right?" Hannah's eyes lit up, and Hermione felt a twinge of guilt lying to her even more. Ginny, once again, swooped in to save the day though.

"Yes! Harry even bought new dress robes to match my dress." Distracting Hannah with dress talk managed to eat up all the rest of breakfast, and she and Theo made their quick escape to Charms. Thankfully Neville had started walking Hannah to class, so they didn't have to worry about her trying to catch up with them.

"Trying to get back with Weasel aye Granger?" Theo remarked, the cool observing look in his eyes that made him look far too snake-like.

"Okay look I have to tell you something. I wasn't going to, but its driving me crazy not being able to talk to you about it." He eyed her with an apprehensive concern but nodded his head slowly.

"Draco kissed me." She blurted out, still getting a strange feeling saying it out loud. Theo, for the first time in the duration of their acquaintance, looked shocked.

"What do you mean he kissed you? Tell me exactly what happened. Word for word if possible." Theo insisted, pulling her sharply into a hidden alcove off the corridor they had been walking in.

Hermione did her best to accommodate his request, not that it was hard to remember; it seemed to be burned into her memory.

"You're sure he said goodbye. And that he was bad at sharing?" When she nodded her head, he turned away from her, pacing. "Fuck!" He spit, and she nearly flinched at the anger in his voice.

"Why…what's going on?" Her voice trembled, and she could feel the sharp sting of tears in the corners of her eyes.

"He's giving up. He's conceding you…he's…ugh." He took a deep breath, grabbing at the bridge of his nose. His normally slicked back brown hair fell in his eyes as he raked his hands roughly through it.

"Did you know that Draco is a Occlumens?" At the shock on her face, Theo sighed and continued. "Well when you are as skilled an occlumens as he is, you get exceptionally good at compartmentalizing, at locking away things and people and feelings that you'd rather not see. Everything has its place, and he's putting you back in your box of forbidden things."

"Forbidden things…now Theo that's ridiculous." She felt a rush of heat to her face, and she realized she was blushing. Biting the inside of her cheek to try and squash her blush didn't seem to do anything.

"Fuck Granger…He's yielding the fight." He sighed again and leaned against the wall next to her. "Look when Draco and I were younger, there was this one book of stories that my nanny used to read to us. When my mother died and we stopped spending so much time at my manor, we fought about who got to keep the book we both loved so much. It was stupid and childish, but Draco wanted it all to himself. He took it from my hands and I started crying…I was so upset. He made me a promise that day that he'd never take something that was mine again. Stupid bastard is probably giving up on having you to make me happy."

It was simultaneously one of the sweetest things she'd ever heard and enraging.

"I am not some story book that he can give you! I am a human being. If I want to date that ferrety git I will bloody well do so!" The rage was making her nearly vibrate, and she felt as if she could shoot fire from her eyes. "Who does he think he is giving up on me? You know what…I know exactly who he thinks he is. Theodore we have a new game plan for the ball. I am going to make that arsehole understand just who he is messing with." He flinched at the use of his full name, and she gave him a very Slytherin smirk.

Stomping off to class, Hermione slid into her seat silently and pulled out her quill, some parchment, and her completed essay. When Theo slid in beside her, she silenced him with one quick look, and he just held his hands up in surrender. Class that day was just a review for their examination the following class, so she tuned out, rapidly scribbling her new plan onto the parchment she had pulled out. By the time Charms was over, she had a rather ingenious plan to make Malfoy not just jealous but begging on his knees for her attention. This would show him to treat her like some sort of toy. She was a goddamn lioness and he would do well to remember that.