A/N: Thanks to my reviewers, shaymars and nineandthreequarters23!

CHAPTER 11-

When I eventually got back to the common room, Draco wasn't there. I hadn't been in there since that afternoon as I had got had got ready for the ball in Gryffindor Tower, and was surprised when I saw a small trunk at the front of the room holding the clothes Draco would need over the Christmas break, waiting to be collected by the house elves in the morning. I checked in his room and balcony to see if he was there, but the only sign he had been in there recently was the blue tie on his bed.

I went across to my room and got changed into my pyjamas and packed a bag ready for going home tomorrow. I spied Draco's jumper on the back of the chair and I broke down into tears again. I waved my wand a folded it up, putting it into my bag. I knew I was going to miss him, so I took it with me. I sent my luggage down into the common room and climbed into bed, wishing for Draco's father to grant the impossible: call off the engagement.

'Hermione, what's wrong?' The following morning, we were sat on the Hogwarts Express making our way back to Platform 9 3/4. My eyes were read and puffy and I was staring aimlessly out of the window, not particularly looking at anything.

'Nothing. I'm fine, Ron.'

'Hey, Ron, can you go and get us some chocolate frogs?' In the reflection of the window, I saw Harry hand Ron a handful of sickles and he got up and left the compartment, sliding the door closed behind him. 'What is it, Hermione?' I turned from the landscape to look at Harry and Ginny. 'Did something happen at the ball last night? Is it Draco?'

At the mention of his name, I began crying again. 'Hermione?!' Ginny leapt across from the other seat and put her arm around me, whilst Harry knelt down in front of me. 'What happened?' I told them what happened last night everything from the chat to the jumper. 'He shouldn't have kissed you.'

'But I wanted him to, Ginny.'

'Right, where is he?' Harry stood up and opened the compartment door, looking both ways.

'Harry…?'

'I'm going to kill him!' Harry took his wand out of his pocket and began to walk down the corridor.

'Harry, no!' I ran out of the compartment with tears still streaming down my face and grabbed Harry's arm, other students staring at us. 'Don't, please. You don't want to start the war earlier than necessary.' Theodore Knott walked past us and sniggered. Harry tried to jerk out of my grip but I pulled him back. 'Please, Harry…' He put his wand back in his pocket and went back to the compartment and we all sat in an awkward silence until Ron came back.

'They were out of chocolate frogs, so I got sugar quills instead…' Ron looked at all of us to see us all angry, upset and confused. 'What's happened?' We all stared at different things around us, none of us speaking. Ron eventually put the quills down on the seat, muttered something about Lavender and left. We carried on like that until we arrived at the station, occasionally sucking on one of the quills.

'I'll send you your presents with the owls, guys.' Harry and Ginny nodded and I hugged them both, a warm, understanding hug of Ginny; a cold and ridged one off Harry. 'I'll see you in the New Year.' They nodded and I took my bag and Crookshanks and went back to Kings Cross Station to wait for my parents.

'When Theo said Hermione was crying, she was crying over you, wasn't she?'

It was Christmas day, and I was at outside by the fountain at the Manor in the dark. My father had came over when I was inside at the party to tell me he would announce the engagement in a few moments, so I went outside, to enjoy my last few moments as a free man by myself, thinking about Hermione. My father must have told the same to Pansy, because she ended up standing next to me.

'I don't know. Maybe.'

'What happened? You looked so happy together at the start of the ball when you came in through the doors.' I told Pansy everything, up until the point at which I spent the night back in my old bed in the Slytherin dungeons. 'I have an idea, Draco.' I looked at Pansy and raised an eyebrow. 'I can't believe neither of us thought of this before!'

'What is it, Pansy?!' I shook her shoulders, making the blue dress she was wearing shiver in the dim garden lights.

'If we're not here, the engagement can't be considered as binding. It'll just make your father look like a fool. Get your broom. I'll go and find Blaise.'

'Why do we need Blaise?'

'Because… you really don't know?' I shook my head. 'We're going out. No one knows because of the engagement, but we're going out. Why do you think I was in his room that night after the dance practice? How did no one ever work it out? You and Hermione were easy to guess, and yet you probably tried harder than us to keep it a secret… anyway, I'll get Blaise to get his broom and take me somewhere. Get your broom and go to Hermione's house and tell how you feel.' Pansy took both of my hands and stepped towards me. 'I can tell Hermione likes you. And the longer you leave it, the longer it will be before she's okay again. You know where she lives, right?'

'Yeah, I saw it on an envelope once. Thank you, Pansy.' I kissed her on the cheek and let go of her hands.

'What for?'

'For just making me realise what I want. Accio broom!' My broom zoomed into my hand and I quickly mounted it, flying in the direction of Hermione's house, hoping I wasn't too late.

I sighed and led back on my bed, kicking off the heels I had worn. Me and my parents had just got back from a neighbours Christmas party, but they were too drunk to notice that I stood lent against a wall all night, not dancing or speaking. When we had finally got home in a taxi, I had to drag them up the stairs to their bedroom so they wouldn't mess up the house.

Getting up again, I opened my window wide to let in the cool winter air and drew the curtains, taking Draco's jumper and putting it over my black lace dress. I breathed in the scent of Draco, feeling tears well up in my eyes again. He's probably already engaged now. And even if he wasn't, that kiss at the ball two nights ago probably would have been a dare from one of his friends. I got up to go to the bathroom to get the makeup wipes, but there was a knocking sound at my window.

It'll probably be an owl with a Christmas present. I threw back the curtains, to see Draco hovering outside my window, in green and black dress robes, on his broom. I stepped backwards with my mouth open, and he flew closer to the window.

'How did you find me?'

'When I found the letters from Krum, I saw your address on some of them.' I nodded slowly, taking in everything. 'Can I come in?' I stepped forwards and opened the window fully, stepping aside to let him fly in. He slowly flew in and dismounted his broom, landing softly on my bedroom carpet. He propped his broom up against the window and looked at me. 'What were you crying about on the train?'

'Isn't it obvious?' I turned away from him and sat on my bed.

'Yes, but I didn't want to think you were crying over me. Or crying at all, actually.' Draco walked towards my bed, but didn't sit down. 'I left the party. Before the announcement. So did Pansy.'

'What?' I turned to look at him.

'Pansy worked out that if we weren't actually present for the announcement, that it wouldn't be legal or binding. So she left with Blaise, who she's dating by the way, and I came here.' I blinked several times and he sighed, running a hand through his slicked back hair, messing it up so it looked like it had done this year at school. 'Look, I know you probably think that I kissed you for a dare, but Hermione, you have to believe me that I didn't. I know I probably shouldn't have kissed you because I didn't even know if you liked me back, but I just had to let you know somehow because of the enga-'

Unexpectedly, I stood up and kissed Draco softly. 'I was hoping I was wrong about thinking you did it for a dare. And I was. And I really like you. But what about your father?'

'Do we have to talk about it now?' Draco took both of my hands and stepped closer towards me so our noses were almost touching. 'I don't want to think about it until I really have to. And I can't go back home tonight. Could I possibly spend the night here?' I hugged him tightly and I breathed in his smell.

'Yes. And please remind me when we go back to Hogwarts that I need to thank Pansy.'

The next morning, I woke up in my bed still wearing my black lace dress and Slytherin jumper. I turned over to see an empty yet warm space beside me. Draco. I sat up and saw his broom still lent against the wall. He hadn't left yet. I turned to other side of my room to see him stood by my bookcase, looking at everything on it.

'It's not that interesting, Draco.' He turned and smiled at me, reaching to put his top back on.

'How come some of the pictures don't move?' He said as he began to button up his shirt.

'They're muggle photos. They're not supposed to.' I got up and wrapped my arms around him, and he kissed me on the forehead. 'Do you have to go?'

'Yes. The longer I leave an explanation, the worse my father will get. I don't want to go, but I have to.'

'Will you write to me?'

'I can't. There's a high chance my father will intercept the notes or the ministry will. I can't put you under that risk.'

'But, what about being a death eater? Your father will definitely make you become one now after this.'

'I know. So when we go back to Hogwarts in January, I'll be a death eater.' I felt tears began to roll down my cheeks at the thought of Draco, permanently scarred. 'Don't do that.' He wiped away some of the tears but I carried on.

'How can I not do this?! You might not be the same.' Draco wiped away the rest of my tears with his thumb and took both of his hands in his own.

My feelings for you won't change, Hermione. It'll just be a mark on my skin, that's all.' I nodded and buried my head in his chest. 'I need to go.' I looked up at him and he kissed me softly, entwining his hands in my hair. He let go of me and mounted his broom, flying out of the window. 'Come here.' I leaned my head out of the window and he kissed me one more time before flying off back to Malfoy Manor.

'Do you have any idea what you have done to the family name? First you want Viktor Krum in jail for life, then you were posing with mudblood Granger for the Daily Prophet, and now you and Pansy go AWOL during your engagement announcement! Anything else you'd like to tell me? Perhaps you've become friends with the Boy-Who-Won't-Die?!'

It was eight o'clock in the morning, and the house elves had been told to look out for me arriving back home so they could alert my father. I was stood in the biggest reception room in the manor, with my father screaming in my face.

'No.' But we did have a nice little conversation the other night. 'I left because I didn't want it. I don't want to marry Pansy. And she doesn't want to marry me. She's in love with Blaise.'

'Where did you go last night?'

'The Leaky Cauldron.'

My father narrowed his eyes at me. 'Malfoy's don't go in places like that.'

'Well, maybe I don't want to be a Malfoy anymore.' My father slapped me, and I tasted blood in my mouth. 'Can you seriously blame me for thinking that?! First you abuse my mum, then you go and kill my older sister just because she was female! Not to mention abusing me for the entire summer! Do you honestly think I want to be a Malfoy when all you do is bring destruction to people's lives?!' I turned and ran up the stairs and eventually arrived in the West Wing of the Manor where my bedroom was. I took out my wand and looked in the mirror, quickly healing my cheek with a simple spell Hermione had taught me. Hermione. I sighed as I thought of her.

You're doing all of this for her.

I know. And I'd appreciate it if you'd shut up. I began to get changed into my ordinary clothes, leaving my dress robes in a pile on my bed for the house elves to come and collect later.

'Draco?' I looked up to see my mother stood in the hallway outside my room. 'Where did you go last night?'

'Who's to say I went anywhere? How do you not know that I flew on my broom all night long?'

'Because even you get broom sore occasionally.' My mother stepped into my room and took my face in both of her soft yet scarred hands. 'Who is she?'

'There's no one, mum. I just didn't want to marry Pansy.' I stepped away from her and gave some food to Sphinx, who was sat quietly on her perch in the corner of my bedroom.

'Draco, I'm your mother. I can tell. Who is she?'

I sighed. 'I can't tell you. It's not that I don't want to, because I really do. But if you knew Dad might beat you again to get it out of you.' She nodded and hugged me.

'Does she like you?'

'Yes. And I want it to work. She's not just a one off, like all of the other girls I've dated.' I paused and contemplated in my head how I felt about Hermione. 'I've never felt this way about a girl before, Mum. Ever.' She hugged my tighter then looked up at me.

'Well in that case, I can't wait to meet her.' She paused. 'You know, your father does love us both.'

'He has a funny way of showing it. Torturing me all summer and torturing you for most of your married life together.'

'I think Voldemort changed him. You know, everything was fine and happy one day between us, and when Lucius found out our baby was a girl he was delighted. But when she was born, he completely changed… Maybe after the war is over, and Voldemort is gone, everything will be normal once more.' I nodded and kissed my mum's cheek.

'Hopefully.'