It's been a while since I updated and I appologize. There's a lot going on in my life right now and im sorry to say that my writing has taken a backseat. Not to worry, I'm still going to continue to update they just might not be as often as I used to be with them.

Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:
JazzedVanilla: Not to sure on how long the story will be since I dont do outlines for my stories and just kind of write the chapters as they come to me. If i had to take a guess i would have to say no more then 30.
pink-strawberries: im happy you liked it
HarryPGinnyW4eva: glad to hear you're enjoying it
padfootsgrl79: it's going to be great :)
mjmusiclover: thanks for the review... like always ;P
Zenna Jahan Skyfyre: sorry the new chapter took so long to get updated :(
xo-melodrama: last chapter wasn't my best and i agree, it could have been longer.
silvereyedwolf: Pansy should be making an appearance in either chapter 12 or 13, so keep an eye out for her :)
soccersyd: hope you like it!
Irmorena: yay!
dracomalfoyswifey: i already have Pansy's reaction planned out in head and i hope youre going to like it
daniela1417: im happy you like their growing chemistry becuase i was afraid that it was a possibility i was moving to quickly with it.
90sgurl: thanks!
forever-heartbroken: no worries. hermione's friends are going to be making an appearance within the next couple of chapters, so you'll def. be seeing them soon

Last Chapter: "You promise nothing bad will happen?"

"Yeah." Draco said with a smile. "I promise."

"Well… alright then."

"Great. So, 7:30?"

"7:30." Hermione said with a nod, continuing to organizing her papers.

"Uh, do you want some help?"

Hermione smiled up at Draco and then nodded her head. "Sure. That would be great."

Draco moved around the table and stood next to Hermione, helping her to organize the desk. Neither noticed the small glances they kept stealing of each other as they finished putting all the papers back before they would head in their separate directions to get ready for the party later that night.

Ten

April 12th
Day 5

The sun was just setting as Draco knocked on Pansy's front door, waiting patiently for his date to answer. After a couple seconds of waiting, Draco heard scurrying from inside the house and then a voice yell.

"I'll be right there!"

Draco smirked to himself. The Gryffindor was either running late or trying to finish dolling herself up, and he doubted she would ever run late. The thought of Hermione making herself look good for a date with him only caused Draco's smirk to grow more and his ego to practically burst. This night was going to go just fine.

Just as the door opened, Draco quickly turned his smirk into a smile, but the smile didn't last for very long. His jaw practically hit the ground when he saw the site before him. Hermione's hair ran in curls down her back and shoulders while her lips were highlighted in a light pink, making her smile look a million times brighter. Her brown eyes seemed to pop out at Draco as the black eye liner and mascara lined them perfectly.

'And her curves…'. Draco thought to himself, suppressing a groan in the back of his throat. The dress hugged every curve on her body to the point of where Draco could explain them to anybody in full without missing any details. The dress was perfect in every way on her, showing off her beautiful shoulders and long legs. "Granger, you look-."

"Is it too much?" She asked immediately, forming her lips into a tight line and folding her hands in front of her. "Because I can-." Hermione pointed behind her, trying to explain that she could change into something else, but Draco quickly cut her off.

"No!" His sudden cry for her to keep the dress on caught Hermione, and even himself, off guard. Draco cleared his throat as Hermione stared back at him, one eyebrow raised into the air. "No, you look great." Draco said in a calmer voice, smiling kindly at Hermione.

Hermione smiled back at him, trying to hide a blush. "Thanks."

They stared back at each other, Draco examining the dress more carefully. It was then that he realized that he had seen this dress before. And not only had he seen it, but he had pointed it out that he liked it enough for the designer to make it. It was the same dress that he had pointed out to Amanda back in Pansy's shop. It was the same green one that he saw in Pansy's sketch book, the same one he saw on the rack in the store, and the same one that caught his eye right off the bat. And that dress wasn't the only thing that was catching his eye tonight.

Draco cleared his throat again, noticing that he was staring at Hermione's dress in awe as she stared back at him curiously. "So… are you ready to go?"

"Sure." Hermione said, turning back to look inside the apartment. "Just… let me grab my purse." She disappeared inside the house for a couple seconds then came back out, still smiling at Draco. Draco held his arm out as Hermione latched onto it.

"Hang on tight." Draco said, gripping Hermione's arm tighter as he apparated. With a pop, the sun disappeared completely and their feet hit a pebbled walkway. "Well, here we are." Draco said, looking up at the huge manor in front of him.

"Wow." Hermione said looking up at it as well, unlatching her arm from Draco's and taking a step forward in amazement. "This place is huge." Hermione paused, turning back to look at Draco who was smiling at her. Hermione smiled back, the turned back to look at the manor. "It looks bigger then-." Hermione paused, licking her lips nervously as she realized she was about to mention something that she didn't really want to bring up.

"My manor…?" Draco asked slowly, already knowing what she was going to say.

Hermione cleared her throat nervously, turning back slowly to Draco. "Yeah…." She slowly approached Draco, looking up at him sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's actually smaller." Draco said with a smile, purposely cutting Hermione off so they could avoid talking about that one night not too long ago when The Golden Trio was captured and brought to Draco's manor. "My manor beats his by about two acres. It's not that much, but it's still enough." Draco said to Hermione as he closed the distance between them, placing his hand on the small of her back. Hermione nodded back, understanding his reason for cutting her off and thanking him with her eyes. That night was something that she never wanted to talk about again. "So… are you ready?"

Hermione nodded, allowing Draco to lead her up the pebbled walkway towards the front doors that towered over them. "Hey Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a curious voice as they walked.

"Hmm?"

"Who's Manor is this exactly? You never told me." As the question left Hermione's lips, Draco knocked firmly on the door and watched as it opened straight away, a tiny house elf standing before them.

"Oh, hello Winky." Draco said with a smile, ignoring the look Hermione was giving him for not answering her question.

"Ah, Mister Draco." The house elf named Winky said with a smile. "Master Blaise told me to expect you as one of the guest this evening."

"Master Blaise?" Hermione asked in a whisper, looking at Draco with her mouth open slightly. "Blaise Zabini?"

Draco didn't look at Hermione, instead he kept his full attention on the house elf in front of him. "Is everybody in the ballroom?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, thanks Winky. I can take it from here." The house elf bowed slightly before walking away back towards the kitchen. Draco turned to Hermione and smiled, placing his hand back on the square of her back and guiding her towards the ballroom. "Come on, Granger." Draco said, holding out his arm. "And you might want to take my arm. I'm not exactly sure who's going to be here tonight."

"'Not sure who's going to be here tonight'?" Hermione repeated in a hushed whisper. "What in the bloody hell is wrong with you Malfoy?"

"Will you relax, Granger." Draco said, looking at her with a warm smile.

"How can I relax? I wouldn't have come if I knew Blaise Zabini would be hosting this party. Blaise Zabini is-."

"My best mate." Draco said, cutting Hermione off before she could insult his friend.

"Well, he might be your best mate but I've always seen him as an ass. I didn't even think you two got along." Hermione said, just remembering how the two weren't seen together very much in Hogwarts. "When did he become your best mate? Every time I saw you two, you were always shooting daggers at each other."

Draco let out a little laugh as they inched closer towards the ballroom. "Well I started working at the Ministry at the same time that Blaise did. We worked in the same department and saw each other almost every day, so I guess you could say that started the whole 'bonding' experience. Then when Goyle and I stopped talking…" Draco sighed. "Well it was depressing for me." He said as he ran his free hand through his hair. "Blaise saw how depressed and lonely I was and offered his friendship, which I gladly took. Now that I'm used to him… he's not that bad of a guy."

"Look Malfoy, I don't want to go in there." Hermione stopped right as they were about to walk through the door, causing Draco to freeze in his spot as well.

"Come on Granger." Draco was practically begging.

"No, Malfoy. It's just going to be filled with a bunch of people I never liked and people that never liked me. What's the point of going in there? I'll just get glares and be ignored by everybody the entire night."

Draco smiled at her stubbornness. "No you won't. You'll be with me."

"Oh, right. Mister popular over here." Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco.

"I told you earlier that nothing was going to happen to you tonight, didn't I?" Hermione just stared up at Draco as he pleaded with her. "I promised you that nothing would happen, and I'm going to keep that promise." Hermione let out a groan, turning her head and looking at the doors that led to the ballroom. "Besides, nobody could glare or make fun of you in that outfit." The words left Draco's mouth before he even knew what he was saying, but it was too late to take it back. Hermione turned her head and looked at Draco, not believing he had just given her a compliment. "Come on. We'll go and dance, have some drinks, and just catch up on old times."

Hermione let out a tiny laugh. "Because we have those 'good old times' to catch up on."

"Please, Granger. I promise that nothing will happen, and if something does happen, we'll leave straight away."

Hermione sighed. "Alright. But if one thing happens Malfoy then I'm out of there faster than you can say prejudice purebloods."

Draco let out a laugh, holding his arm out yet again for Hermione to grab a hold on, then pushing the doors of the ballroom opening and stepping inside. Hermione's mouth fell open as she looked around at the beautiful room. The walls were painted a deep shade of purple that seemed to run right up to the ceiling. The window sills were painted white and matched the white tiled floor that made Hermione feel like she was walking through snow.

As they walked farther and farther in, Hermione couldn't believe how many people were at this party, and it seemed that Draco couldn't either. "I cannot believe he got this many people to come in such a short amount of time." He spoke under his breath, talking to himself more than anybody else, but Hermione had heard him.

"What do you mean a short amount of time…?" She asked, looking up at Draco.

"Uh…." Draco quickly tried to think up an excuse. He didn't think Hermione would appreciate the fact that this party was only planned earlier that day and that she was the cause of it. "Oh, look, Blaise is coming this way." Draco said quickly, pulling Hermione quickly towards Blaise, ignoring her protest.

When they finally came face to face with Blaise, Draco stuck out his free hand and shook his best mates politely. "Some party you got here, mate."

"Thanks Draco." Blaise said, taking a quick glance at the person latched onto Draco's arm before looking back up at his friend. It took Blaise a couple seconds to register exactly who the person was latched onto Draco's arm, but once he did, he quickly turned back to her in shock. "Granger?" He asked, his eyes big with surprise. "Hermione Granger?"

"Hello Zabini." Hermione said, forcing a smile and moving slightly closer towards Draco.

Blaise chuckled to himself before looking back up at Draco, but once he saw the glare that Draco was sending his way, he quickly stopped laughing and turned back to Hermione. "Sorry." He quickly apologized, the evidence of a laugh still painted on his face. "I just never thought it would have a member of the golden trio in my manor." Especially holding onto the arm of my best mate. Blaise finished the last part in his head, thinking that Draco wouldn't exactly appreciate it very much.

"I can assure you, Zabini, that I never exactly planned on it." Hermione retorted back.

Blaise smiled back. "No need to get nasty Granger. I was just simply making a comment."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Draco quickly cut in. "There's a lot of people here, mate. I must admit I didn't expect this many."

"I have my connections." Blaise smirked, looking around the room. He paused when he seemed to have spotted somebody and then quickly nodded his head in their direction. He turned back to Draco and Hermione with a smile. "I'm afraid I have more guest to attend to. You know where everything is at Draco, just make yourself at home."

"Thanks." Draco said, watching as Blaise started walking in the opposite direction then turning to Hermione. "Would you like something to drink?" Draco asked her.

"Sure." Hermione said, allowing Draco to lead her towards the drink table. He quickly poured himself and Hermione a glass of wine, then handed hers to her and led her towards one of the empty tables. They both took a seat and sat in an awkward silence for what felt like hours, just staring around at all the people who were dancing. As Draco watched them dance, his eyes seemed to wander towards the far end of the dance floor and that was when he spotted him.

Standing out in the background due to his black, spiky hair and long legs that made him a couple inches taller than the average person was Theodore Nott. He was extremely thin, weak built, and Draco had always despised him. He was always too good to hang out with all the other Slytherins. He kept to himself almost all the time, only speaking to them when it was convenient for him, and he was extremely sneaky, never stopping until he got exactly what he wanted.

Draco rolled his eyes when he saw Nott spot a blonde in the audience and start to approach her, but then he stopped suddenly, his eyes landing on Draco. They glared at each other for a couple seconds until Nott's eyes traveled over towards Hermione, and then his glare was replaced by a look of interest and it didn't take long for a smirk to appear across his lips.

Draco watched in horror as the tall Slytherin approached them. He knew that Nott would try and take Hermione from him, and he wasn't exactly sure if Hermione would be able to say no to him. Nott could put on his charm if he needed to, but he could also turn it off in a second and turn back into the slime ball that he really was, and Draco was determined to keep his promise to Hermione that nothing would happen to her.

Draco quickly stood up, turning to Hermione and trying not to sound so rushed as Nott quickly made his way over towards them. "Want to dance, Granger?" Draco asked, holding his hand out.

"Oh, I don't know Malfoy." Hermione said shyly, smiling up at Draco slightly.

"Come on Granger, that's what the music is for."

"I know what the music is for, Malfoy." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm just not very good at dancing."

Draco laughed. "You dance fine during the Yule Ball."

"Yes, well… Viktor was leading me then."

"Then I'll lead you now." Hermione looked up at Draco still unsure. "Come on, Granger. Stop making up excuses to not dance with me."

"I'm not making up excuses, Malfoy."

"Then what do you have to lose?" Draco continued to smile at her.

Hermione sighed, standing up and taking Draco's hand. "Fine. But one quick dance and I mean it."

Draco took Hermione's hand and quickly led her towards the dance floor. "Whatever you say Granger." He said, turning his head to notice that Nott had stopped only a few feet from where they were standing, a glare sent directly in Draco's direction. Draco smirked back at him and then turned to Hermione as they found a spot on the dance floor.

They stopped off towards the side of the dance floor, both turning to face each other. Draco slowly placed his hands on her waist as Hermione placed hers on Draco's shoulder, both moving cautiously and sneaking glances at one another before they came in contact with each other. They started moving with each other to the music, staring into each other's eyes for a couple seconds before Hermione turned her attention to the crowd around her. Draco, however, kept his eyes locked on Hermione. He couldn't help it. She was so… different from everybody else he had ever dated and he couldn't help but notice that it was actually nice having her around. Sure she was still a buck-tooth beaver know-it-all but she had some good qualities as well. He was finally starting to realize why Potter and Weasley kept her around for so long.

Draco came back into focus when he heard Hermione clear her throat. He looked down at her to see her staring at him with one eyebrow raised in the air. He smiled at her which only caused her to look even more shocked. "Why are you staring at me like that, Malfoy?"

"I-uh, I wasn't staring at you, Granger." Draco said quickly.

"Yes you were."

"I was just thinking and you were what I happened to be looking at. It was nothing but coincidence." He replied, finding his excuse extremely stupid and knew that Hermione wouldn't believe it for a second.

"Whatever." She said under her breath, turning back to watching the people around them dance.

Draco, who didn't want to lose whatever brownie points he had gained with Hermione, decided that it was time to step up his game and try to work some of his charm on her. "So Granger, what's it like in Australia?"

"I'm sorry?" Hermione asked as she looked up at Draco, her lips hiding a smile that she obviously wanted to show.

"What's Australia like? You know, what's the weather like there?" Hermione couldn't help but smile at Draco's question. "Why are you smiling?" He asked seriously.

"Are you really making small talk about the weather in Australia?" She asked with a small laugh.

"Yes." Hermione laughed harder this time. "What I can't make small talk about the weather in Australia? Maybe I'm interested in visiting Australia some time and I wanted to know what its like."

"Alright, fine." Hermione said, still smiling brightly. "Where I live at it can get pretty chilly in the winter time but come summer it's nice. Personally I like the heat."

Draco scoffed. "I can't stand the heat."

"I don't think any Slytherins can." Hermione commented. "Especially since seven years of your life are spent in the dungeons of Hogwarts."

"That has nothing to do with the preferences of hot or cold, Granger."

"Please Malfoy." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "It's freezing down there. Nobody can spend a good portion of their life living there and not come out loving the cold weather."

"Fine." Draco said with a small smile, not really wanting to get into an argument when he was trying to win her over, especially one so silly. "How about the wizards and witches there?"

"What about them?"

"Were they nice, mean, weird, normal…?"

Hermione laughed. "They were actually pretty weird. But then again all people in Adelaide are slightly strange."

Draco laughed. "Well then I guess I know where I'm not taking my next vacation."

Hermione slapped him lightly on the chest with a small smile. "It's not that bad. It's actually a really beautiful city."

"Is that why you chose to go there to work?" Hermione looked up at Draco confused, waiting for him to finish his question. "It only makes sense for a beautiful person to go live in a beautiful city." The words left his mouth before he could stop them, and he regretted saying them right away. Hermione bit her lips together and lowered her head as Draco stared down at her. She didn't respond, but Draco couldn't help but notice that her cheeks had turned a light shade of red. He also couldn't help but notice that the way they were dancing and holding each other had suddenly turned extremely awkward. Draco decided he needed to break the awkward silence. "Granger I'm-"

"I think… I think I'm done dancing for now." She said, only looking up at Draco for a split second before lowering her head. Draco wanted to smack himself in the face for what he had said. Just when everything as starting to go right, he had to say something dumb and ruin the whole thing.

"Do you… want to go for a walk outside? The Zabini Manor has a beautiful garden if I do say so myself."

"Sure." Hermione said with a small and awkward smile. "Just let me go powder my nose real quick."

Draco laughed slightly, finding those words foreign from Hermione's mouth, but nodding anyway. "I'll be right here when you're done." Hermione nodded and then turned her back on Draco, heading for the exit. As he watched her leave a though came to him that maybe she was making a getaway. But no, Hermione Granger was too good a person to ditch anyway. But it had become awkward. Maybe it became so awkward by what he had said to her that it was enough to make her flee. As Draco watched her turn the corner, he shook his head and smiled to himself. Hermione wasn't leaving, he was just paranoid.

Deciding he needed to drown his paranoia, he headed for the drink table, quickly pouring himself a glass of firewhiskey. He brought the liquid up to his lips and allowed it to burn his throat on the way down. To busy concentrating on the crowd and the liquor in his hand, he nearly dropped his drink when someone spoke directly next to him.

"What are you doing mate?"

Draco turned around, glaring at Blaise as he quickly checked to see if anybody had seen him jump. "What the hell Zabini!"

"What?"

"Don't what me! You scared the shit out of me." Blaise smirked, trying desperately to hide a laugh, but Draco noticed. "It's not funny."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Blaise said, actually laughing this time. "Maybe if you weren't thinking about Granger so hard you would have noticed that you walked up right next to me."

"I wasn't concentrating on Granger."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to me, mate. I've been watching you this whole time." Draco said nothing in response,. There was no use lying to Blaise, he would find out the truth eventually anyway. "What are you doing?"

"Enjoying my firewhiskey." Draco replied, showing it to Blaise before taking another sip.

"I mean with Granger." Blaise said, getting annoyed. "Since when are you interested in the Gryffindor beaver?"

"Since I decided to help my family name."

Blaise stared back at his friend blankly for a few seconds before he finally realized what Draco meant by what he said. "You're using her?" Draco's response was to take a sip of his drink. "Wow Draco." Blaise said, shaking his head and turning to watch the people dancing. "And to think… people actually thought you changed into a better person, including myself."

"I am a better person!" Draco snapped, turning to glare at his best friend.

"This doesn't exactly help to prove that."

"I know that. But something's are more important than others." Draco paused, seeing the questionable look on Blaise's face before deciding to explain himself. "If I look like a bad guy to her in the end, then fine, but at least my family name will be restored.

"And please…, enlighten me, how are you going to 'restore' your family name?"

"Granger is known as Potters best friend, brains of the Golden Trio, and the symbol to all the muggleborns out there. I'm known as son of Lucius Malfoy, ex-Deatheater, and a guy that all around hates muggleborns and everything they stand for. If I at least befriend Granger, everybody will think that the Malfoy's have a change of heart. Nobody will think badly about us anymore, especially since they know that Granger doesn't."

"You said at least." Blaise pointed out.

"Yeah, I did." Draco said as his eyes wandered the room.

Blaise laughed. "What…? Are you planning on marrying the Gryffindor?"

"Like I would sink that low." Draco snapped, refilling his glass with more firewhiskey. "I'm going to make her fall in love with me Blaise, and I'll do what I have to do to achieve that." Draco sipped his drink. "Even sleep with her."

Blaise shook his head, seeing flaws in his plan. "It's not going to work, you know that right?"

"Trust me, it will."

Blaise just rolled his eyes. "This is all going to blow up in your face, mate." He said under his breath, watching as his friend ignored him.

Draco knew that the possibility of his plan failing was there, but he was determined not to see that. He needed this plan to succeed and he would do whatever he had to do to achieve that. As his eyes wandered the room, keeping an eye out for when Hermione came back, he spotted Nott, a charming and fake smirk on his face as he tried to get one of the girls to dance with him. "What did you invite Nott for?" Draco asked his friend.

"You know, just because you didn't get along with him in school doesn't mean that everybody else didn't."

"He's a fake, Blaise."

"Nott and I got along in school, mate. We both pretty much kept to ourselves, staying away from your little group of friends as much as we could, and in the end I think that is what saved our asses."

"Yes, well, the difference between you and Nott is that Nott did come to 'my little group', as you so nicely put it, when it was convenient for him." Draco sighed slightly, watching Nott cautiously. "He annoyed the bloody hell out of me."

"You know Draco-." Blaise suddenly stopped talking at the look on Draco's face. Draco, who had still been watching Nott, had suddenly stood more upright and Blaise could sense that he was suddenly more tense, especially when he saw the glare that he was shooting at Nott turn to a sudden look of horror. "What?"

But Draco didn't answer him because the one thing he promised Hermione was about to come crashing down. Hermione had entered the room seconds ago but Nott had seen her before he had, and now he was quickly approaching Hermione with the same determined look on his face. Draco had to do something and quickly. "Shit." Draco swore, throwing his glass in Blaise's hands and practically sprinting over towards Hermione.

Long chapter for you guys! This chapter was actually even longer and rounded out to be about 6000 words, but I personally thought that was to much for one chapter so i decided to split it into two. Just click that little next chapter button and keep on reading. the good stuff hasn't even happened yet :)

oh yeah... and review please! love to hear what you guys think!