A/N: Hello again! This is going to be a long(ish) but VERY IMPORTANT A/N, so if you want to skip over it feel free, though I'd advise you come back to it :)

A few things: To all of you lovely people out there getting a little antsy, we love you and we're sorry. We know you're desperate for some good ol' Dramione loving, but we need you to hold on because you've still got a little while longer to wait. What you read is miles behind what we've typed and we promise you there's some good stuff coming your way; good things come to those who wait, and thank you for waiting with us :)

Secondly: This chapter is kind of a two-parter. Something will happen this chapter (or has happened if you've come back to this A/N) and its partially to do with the love pentagon we mentioned on the first chapter. Draco's reaction (coming next chapter) may ease a little of your tension.

Thirdly: As for actual action, we'll just say 'Christmas Eve.' It seems distant but in terms of chapters, it actually isn't. And we promise that in the New Year at Hogwarts, the pace picks up quite a bit.

Finally- thank you so much for the reviews, as always. Please continue to review because they make us smile and do happy little dances, and until next week, we apologise again and we leave you with Gred and Forge...

While only seconds before Draco had been heartily devouring his bacon, the moment Blaise sat down beside him his mood dampened considerably and he lost much of his appetite. Unconsciously he shifted a little away from Blaise and stabbed his food moodily. And today had seemed like it might actually be a good day, he thought.

"Happy Hallowe'en, ferret! Very convincing costume. I almost didn't recognise you with that troll mask on," he grinned.

Draco half-heartedly chuckled and flicked bacon at him. Since that night at the Astronomy Tower Draco had found it very difficult to be around Blaise, knowing that he was keeping something so awful from him, yet knowing that if he said anything that Blaise would be heartbroken or would attempt not to believe Draco because he wouldn't want to lose Daphne. At the very least, his deception hadn't been revealed by Theo who had thankfully said not one word to Blaise it seemed. He did occasionally catch Draco's eye and grin maliciously, making him feel even more uneasy than he already did; he had a sneaking suspicion that Theo was just biding his time. If he was or he wasn't, Draco decided, he was fine for the time being and that was all he could hope for.

"So what are you doing today?" he asked, forcing his tone to sound friendly, and not as though he'd rather be anywhere but with Blaise.

"Oh, nothing much. I'm going into Hogsmeade since everyone else is, but I'm spending the day with Daphne." As it did now as a reflex, his stomach twisted up at the mention of her name. He froze up a little bit, though Blaise didn't seem to notice. "She's seemed a bit down lately so I offered to take her to Madam Puddifoot's to cheer her up." Draco was trying hard not to shake with anger. "Luckily for me she said she'd rather just go to the Three Broomsticks. I'm hoping she might feel a bit happier at the feast tonight. She keeps saying she's fine but I can tell that she's not. If she wasn't so moody lately I might have tried to convince her to sneak off near the Shrieking Shack with me- I've always wanted to have sex outdoors."

While Blaise laughed at his own crudeness, Draco's guts twisted horribly and he resolved to stay far away from the pub all day.

"What about you, up to anything much?"

Blaise stared at him while munching on a piece of toast. Draco could barely meet his eye but still tried to act normal.

"Nothing really. I need to replace that Hangover Potion I had. I used it all after that time in the Common Room last month."

Blaise laughed. "Oh Merlin, that was a good night. Drama and drunkenness all rolled into one. I was a mess afterwards." He grinned. "We should definitely do it again soon, it was hilarious."

"Yeah," he replied noncommittally. A long pause followed his words.

"Have I upset you or something?" asked Blaise, sounding uncharacteristically concerned. "You've just not been yourself around me lately; you've been avoiding me like I have dragonpox."

Draco looked at his friend's worried face. Surely he couldn't leave him as anxious as he was, afraid that he'd in some way offended Draco somehow. He had to tell him now, even if it would hurt him, and fuck his promise to Daphne…

"Listen Blaise-"

"Pumpkin pie!" Daphne cried, sashaying over to plant herself on Blaise's lap.

"Sugar lump!" he replied, before she captured his lips in a kiss that Draco knew was a lie. He turned away and angrily stabbed his bacon whilst trying not to vomit at the horrendous, mushy act Daphne was putting on that Blaise was so eagerly reciprocating. Daphne opened her eyes mid-kiss and stared at him and he shook his head at her in disgust.

Glancing across the room, he saw Dean Thomas sat at the half empty Gryffindor table, shaking with supressed rage, staring straight at Daphne and Blaise so obviously that Draco was surprised that he was the only one who had noticed; even Seamus Finnigan, who seemed attached to Dean at the hip, hadn't noticed, and was instead wolfing down breakfast. Next to him, Blaise and Daphne broke apart and she looked at him with fake affection. Draco could see now how fixed her smile was and the dead look in her eyes that made it so starkly clear to him that she did not feel the same as Blaise did. It was the same look his father had now whenever he looked at Draco or his mother.

"Ready to go?" she asked with feigned enthusiasm. Blaise nodded and they got up.

"We'll talk later, yeah?"

Draco nodded, feeling terrible and knowing that they wouldn't. Blaise laced his fingers through Daphne's and the pair of them walked off hand in hand; Draco saw Daphne turn back and give him a look that told him plainly that she'd known that the moment before her arrival Draco had been about to go back on his promise. As she looked away, he saw he gaze shift in Dean's direction and her loving demeanour slip for a second to be replaced with hurt and remorse. He watched them leaving before returning to the remains of his breakfast, playing with it rather than eating it.

A light breeze rippled through the trees and through Hermione's hair, playing gently with her curls. Though the sun shone down brightly it was not particularly warm and she wrapped her red and gold scarf a little more tightly around her neck. She walked at a brisk pace towards the school gates feeling spectacularly happy- the happiest she'd been in weeks. Today, she decided, would be the day when everything would start to go right again. Spotting Hagrid and Fang on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, she waved merrily and he waved back. Her feet crunched over the fallen leaves that were dry for once as for the past few days the rain had ceased, and she and many other pupils made their way towards Hogsmeade. She passed through the gate where Professor Flitwick was checking off names of students going into Hogsmeade, and was double checking them for any concealed Dark items. It was another reminder of the state of the world outside Hogwarts which again made Hermione feel petty and silly for worrying about little things in her life.

Then again, after a rocky start to October, things had definitely improved after her row with Pansy. Malfoy had barely spoken to her since then and that was just how she liked him- silent. He had seemed in a particularly foul mood though Hermione didn't care as long as it was keeping him out of her way. Pansy too had said nothing to her since. In addition, she and Theo had been on much better terms and had reached a point where if they met a corridor they could smile at each other rather than hurry off; it wasn't much but it was some form of improvement, and Hermione hoped if things today went well, they could progress back to the almost-friendship they'd had before their first patrol.

Unfortunately, Ginny still wasn't talking to her, but at the very least, Hermione had been able to get on top of her immense workload as Head Girl, which had doubled when communication with Malfoy had stopped due to his awful mood. Not only had she got on top of her work, but she had gotten some well needed rest, and she knew that she would make today a good day starting by working out some of the remaining kinks in her personal life.

She had by now reached the village, but it was still hours before she was supposed to meet Fred and George, so she decided to do a little shopping. Being in Hogsmeade without Harry and Ron was a new thing and was almost enough to make her want to return back to the castle and cry, but instead she decided not to let it bother her today and so for once she tried to forget about them. She didn't really know where to go. She did have a quick wander around Zonko's, mainly just for something to do rather than because she actually wanted anything, and she had to leave when she became overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of so many students in such a small space.

She stepped back out into the village, wondering what to do to kill time. As she was in dire need of a new quill (given that most of hers had been ruined when her bag had broken and soaked them in ink) she headed to Scrivenshaft's Quill shop.

While she was browsing various types of ink, vivid red hair caught her eye and she saw Ginny at the other end of the shop examining some spell-checking quills. Without pausing to think, Hermione wandered over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, hi," said Ginny guardedly when she turned and saw Hermione.

"Hi."

There was a pause while Ginny looked at her feet and Hermione tried to find the right words.

"Listen, I'm sorry for snapping at you like I did. I was just really tired and irritable and stressed. I don't like it when we fight. You're all I have at the minute," said Hermione with a small smile. When Ginny beamed back hers grew.

"I'm sorry too. I've been awful, I know I have. Forgive me?"

They smiled at each other and hugged, and then queued up together to pay for their goods. Hermione felt elated at how easy it had been to get back on good terms with her friend.

Exiting the shop Ginny flipped her hair over her shoulders and pulled on her gloves as the breeze had picked up a little since earlier. Hermione's scarf whipped about in the wind.

"I'm going to go to Gladrag's to look at some robes… You coming?" asked Ginny.

"No thanks," she replied, "I have some stuff to do."

She was being deliberately vague; though she knew it was a little mean seeing as Ginny was their sister, she really didn't want Ginny tagging along to see the twins when she desperately needed their confidential advice.

"I'll meet you back at Hogwarts for the feast though?"

With a departing hug, she and Ginny parted ways.

Having no real need of anything else, she just decided to peruse the local shops while she had the opportunity. She went into Dervish and Banges first to browse the wizarding wares, but had to leave when a shelf full of Sneakoscopes reminded her painfully of Harry and the pair he'd hidden in his uncle's socks during their train ride in third year. It only took silly, vague little memories like that to trigger an acute sadness in her these days.

Then she visited the book shop and spent a good hour and a half looking through the vast array of volumes. She was quite surprised to see Malfoy wandering through the maze of shelves and crooked stacks of books as she'd never seen him with a book- he didn't strike her as someone who read. Still, he stayed in the shop all the time she was there, though she didn't realise until she was paying for several books she had picked up and saw him curled up in one of the battered armchairs within the shop, reading a thick novel, surrounded by several other piles of books. He was biting his lip as his eyes skimmed over the words and his brow was gently furrowed. It was another one of those moments when Hermione realised that for all the assumptions she had made about him, she really did not know Malfoy very well at all. When she walked past him as she made her way to the door, he looked up and they nodded curtly at each other before he returned to his page.

Bags in hand, she left the little shop to find that the sunshine of the morning had disappeared and had been replaced with bleak grey clouds. It was colder now than it had been when she'd left the castle and she pulled her robes closer to her as she walked through the picturesque high street, noticing for the first time that like in Diagon Alley, many buildings were boarded up and empty. Her mood dipped a little and a chill began to set into her skin so she decided to duck into the nearest of the open, brightly lit shops, which happened to be Honeydukes.

Stacks of fudge, platters of coconut ice, shelves of sweets and slabs of chocolate surrounded her and she was overwhelmed with nostalgia, feeling exactly the same bewilderment and joy as the first time she'd walked into the place. It hadn't changed even with the onset of the war, and she happily looked over all the confectionary, taking in the giddiness of the younger students, for whom this was their first foray into the dazzling sugar heaven of the little sweetshop. She moved closer and closer to the back of the shop, pausing occasionally to pick up a bag of Fizzing Whizbees, some Peppermint Imps, a toffee or two, though she had to hastily rush past the Toothflossing Stringmints because they reminded her too much of her parents. Then she spied her favourites, Liquorice Wands, and ambled over to pick up a few.

The shop was utterly packed, mostly with fourth and third years, and so she struggled to keep out of everyone's way. She ended up rather boxed in a corner and so she had to push her way (very apologetically) to the counter to pay. She'd been stood in the queue for a few seconds before she noticed that she was stood behind Theo. Taking this as an opportunity to fix something else, she poked him in the back. He span around, disoriented and looked at her a little awkwardly when he saw her.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "I just wanted to let you know that by this evening I'll be able to talk to you again. I just have one last thing to do first. Will you meet me in the Entrance Hall tonight before the feast?"

"Ok," he said, smiling tentatively, before turning back around as though he didn't know what else to do.

She smiled at him again when they both left Honeydukes and she watched him walk into a similarly packed Zonko's. She was considering going back in again herself, purely for something more to do but it was growing colder still and the clouds overhead were thickening, looking heavy with rain. It was about half one, and so she decided to just drop into the Three Broomsticks and warm up with a Butterbeer while she waited for the twins.

To her surprise, when she entered the warm, packed pub to the delightful tinkling of the bell over the door, there was a redhead already sat at the bar with their back to her and she knew instantly that it was one of either Fred or George. Happily, she made her way towards him and sat on a stool beside him.

"Hi!" she said excitedly.

The redhead turned to look at her, and she didn't need to see that he had both his ears to know that it was Fred. His eyes lit up and he reached out to pull her into an embrace.

"Hey Hermione!"

When he released her, she noticed a few empty glasses already in front of him.

"You're early," she remarked. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, about half an hour."

Hermione laughed. "Why so prompt? Have you been looking in Zonko's?"

"Something like that," he smiled.

He ordered two Butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, grabbed both of the glasses when they were served and then guided Hermione to some empty seats by the roaring fire- her favourite spot. Hermione thanked Fred for the drink and took a large gulp of the liquid, feeling it fill her with warmth.

"Where's George?" she asked. Feeling a little hot from the drink, she shed her coat and unwound her Gryffindor scarf. Fred too took off his outdoor clothing, and she noticed with a smile that he was wearing his old house scarf also.

"Oh, he's back in Diagon Alley. Someone has to keep the shop running. We have a couple of assistants, but we wouldn't trust them as far as we can throw them… and I guarantee you, we couldn't throw Melanie far at all. We think she might be part troll." He took a swig from his glass as Hermione chuckled to herself. She'd very much come to appreciate the twins humour over the summer. "Did you like the letter?"

"I did, the glitter was an excellent touch." She laughed. "I was still finding it in my hair after a week though."

Fred chuckled, and then grew a little more serious. "So down to business now. What's troubling you? Your letter was pretty intense."

Hermione paused thoughtfully.

"Hmm… Well, you remember in the holidays when the boys left to…" She paused, aware of how many people were sat nearby. "…Well, you know what they went to do." Fred nodded. "Just before they left Ron told me he wanted to say goodbye to me specially and... and..."

She stopped, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, you kissed. Me and George know." He looked amused.

Hermione stared. "How?"

"Because by the time he said goodbye to the rest of us he had a bloody stupid grin on his face and his ears were pink. Plus, you were as red as a tomato. You didn't have to be a genius to work it out. Even Mum knows."

"Oh…" Hermione blushed a little.

"Thank Merlin he didn't try to say goodbye to us specially…" said Fred with a shudder and a grin. "But what's this got to do with anything?"

"Oh… erm… yes," said Hermione, shaking herself. "So, Ron and I kissed. But then he left without saying anything else, and now I don't know where I stand with him. Am I his girlfriend? Was it just a kiss? It's caused a fair bit of confusion."

"Why?" asked Fred slyly, as though he already knew what Hermione was about to say.

"I kissed someone else."

Fred whistled softly. "Anyone we know?" He was still smirking, and he winked at her.

"Not unless you know Theodore Nott."

"Isn't his dad a Death Eater? Wow. You really can pick them Hermione." He didn't sound angry, just amused. "From a first-class prat to a possible Death Eater. He's a Slytherin, I take it?"

She nodded, embarrassed.

"I always knew you had a thing for snakes," he said roguishly, sniggering to himself when Hermione blushed deeper at the innuendo. "But honestly, if Ron didn't explicitly say that you were his girlfriend then for one he's a total idiot, but still, you shouldn't feel guilty for kissing this Nott bloke."

Hermione bit her lip. "But Ron does like me, doesn't he?"

"You could say that. If by 'like you' you mean that he writes you love letters then hides them under his bed."

Hermione frowned. "He writes me love letters?" It didn't sound like Ron at all.

"Probably," Fred grinned.

"So, if he does like me, I can't just go round kissing anyone I like, can I? I can't do that to him."

"Can't you?" he counteracted, unusually serious. "Be honest- do you like him?"

She scoffed. "Of course I do. I love him-"

"Yes, but do you fancy him?"

Hermione was startled by Fred's question. Did she fancy Ron? He was lovely, and sweet and kind… but then again he did have a quick temper, foul mood swings and a tendency to be a little bit dim. He was one of her closest friends and she knew if she gave him the chance he'd treat her well. But if she really thought about it and was honest with herself, really, truly, starkly honest… she wasn't really attracted to him.

He wasn't fantastically physically appealing; the sight of him did not give her butterflies and his touch did not make her skin burn with desire. Their kiss had been pleasant (and long overdue of course) but hadn't triggered any kind of fireworks; in fact there hadn't even been as much as a spark- at least not for her. The more she thought about it the more she realised that she'd only gravitated towards him because Harry had Ginny and it made sense for her to end up with one of her two male best friends. It was all too… convenient. To enter into a relationship with Ron would be to settle for him and that was fair to neither of them. Hermione was sick and tired of settling instead of doing what made her happy.

She looked at Fred over the rim of her glass, which she'd raised to her mouth without realising.

"No."

"There you go then. I know it might feel bad to upset Ron, but if you don't really want to be with him then you shouldn't feel bad for doing what makes you happy. Ron will get over it eventually."

"I suppose," said Hermione.

"You shouldn't settle for anyone because you're worried about their feelings." It was as though Fred was reading her mind. "You don't need to." She was struck by his unusual show of sensitivity. "Now forget about Ron. Let me tell you about some new products me and George are designing."

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon laughing at Fred's tales of life in the business world, and he spent a good half hour moaning about Melanie and the other shop girls. He had done a fantastic job of cheering her up; her guilty conscience had been cleared, her heart was light and carefree and she felt truly wonderful for the first time since the end of summer. She felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her.

At around five o'clock, after several more Butterbeers and when Hermione had a sore stomach from creasing up so much with laughter, she decided she should probably make her way back to the castle so she could meet Theo before the feast. She stood up.

"I should get going," she said a little regretfully. She'd been enjoying herself. Fred stood too.

"Really?" he said, sounding disappointed. "So soon?"

"I've been here for over three hours Fred!" she laughed. She pulled on her scarf and cloak and fastened it. "I had a brilliant time though."

"I did too." He looked at her a little sadly. "We should meet up again though."

"Definitely. There's another weekend scheduled a little before Christmas."

Fred nodded.

"Thank you so much for today," she added sincerely.

"You're very welcome," he replied kindly, pulling her into a hug.

His body was warm and he smelled exactly like the peppermint smoke that had burst from the letter he had sent her; his arms were strong and comforting around her. After a few seconds he pulled back but did not release her from his hold. His hands slipped a little lower, so that they were more around her waist, and he looked at her intently. There was something different to his gaze; not the normal, cheeky glint he and George both had, but something more intense; something more raw. His smile faded to a look of pure nervousness and his eyes dropped to her lips. Before she knew what was happening, he had lowered his face and crashed his lips to hers.