Author's Note: Due to an overwhelming request for me to continue (and a few Howlers), I've decided to add a few more chapters. Enjoy! -Amanda

The Plan

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was it. The moment of truth. No turning back now. Or was there? Who said that they had to tell everyone today? Why not give it another few days? Or weeks?

"Um…Draco?" she asked, looking up at him. He was standing next to her outside the Great Hall. He didn't respond. He had a death grip on her hand; she was starting to lose feeling in her fingers. His already pale face was as white as a sheet. "Draco?" she repeated a bit louder. Nothing. "DRACO!" she all but shouted, shaking her hand a bit.

This brought him out of his trance. "Huh…what?" he said loudly, giving his head a jerk and turning to her. She smiled and raised their joined hands. When he saw her nearly-purple fingers, he released them. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Do you maybe want to…wait to do this? See how it goes first?"

He looked positively overjoyed at the thought of this. "Could we?" he burst out. Then he cleared his throat, obviously not wanting to seem too eager. "I mean…sure. You know, uh…whatever you want, love," he said, with what was obviously supposed to be a nonchalant shrug. Despite what he said, he still looked more than a little relieved.

"I suppose we should, um…say our goodbyes here, then?" she asked, a little disappointed.

"Yeah…," Draco said, looking around. Then he pulled her hand and whispered, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" she whispered back, her heart pounding in her chest. He pulled her around a corner and into a broom closet. Once they were in and the door was closed, she leaned against it. "Hi," she said softly, smiling.

He smiled down at her, stepping close and reaching under her robe to put his hands on her hips. "Hello there," he replied, his voice a low growl. Then he lowered his head to kiss her.

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Ten minutes later, Hermione was in the girls' bathroom, fixing her hair and splashing water on her face to try and get rid of the flush that only comes from a good snog session. When she looked presentable, she slipped out and made her way to the Great Hall.

Luckily the stares and whispers didn't follow her this time. Zacharias Smith had recently turned his nose into a rutabaga, apparently while he was trying to hex someone, so that was the main point of conversation this week.

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Two weeks and countless meetings in broom closets later, Hermione and Draco decided that it might be a good idea to tell their friends something, that way they might not be so angry later on. Once they'd decided on the story, they promised to tell their friends that night.

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole into the common room and plopped on the couch, a scowl on her face. Harry and Ron looked up from their game of Exploding Snap. Ginny had already gone upstairs.

"What's the matter, Hermione? Find out you only got a 101 on that Transfiguration test?" Ron asked.

"No. I wish that was it."

"What could be worse than that?" Harry asked, trying not to smile.

Hermione sighed. "I've been asked to tutor Malfoy for extra credit. Snape asked me when I was patrolling." She'd chosen Snape because one, he was Malfoy's head of house, and therefore anxious to keep him on the team, and two, because Harry and Ron weren't likely to ask Snape about it. And she really had been patrolling…for most of the time anyway. OK, part of it. The rest had been spent in a broom closet.

"So say no," Ron said with a shrug.

"But I could really use the extra credit. My classes have gotten almost unbearable lately."

"So do it then," Ron said, looking exasperated.

"I suppose I better. Besides," she said, looking thoughtful, "this could work out to my advantage."

"How's that?" Harry asked.

"Well, without me, he'll be kicked off of the Quidditch team. Not to mention stripped of his prefect title. Gives me a bit of leverage, wouldn't you say?"

Harry and Ron grinned.

Hermione grinned back, though for a different reason. Mission accomplished.

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"You've got to be joking!" Draco exclaimed angrily, balling up a piece of parchment and throwing into the fire in the Slytherin common room. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Blaise Zabini looked up.

"What's wrong, Draky?" asked Pansy, sounding concerned.

"I have to be tutored. By the mudblood, Granger," he answered through clenched teeth.

"Why?" asked Zabini in a bored voice from where he was sprawled on the couch, reading Playwizard. There was a witch on the cover, wearing only a partially open robe, but not leaving much to the imagination.

"My grades are a bit low in Herbology and History of Magic. If I don't pull the grades up, I'll be kicked from the Quidditch team and have my prefect's badge taken away." It wasn't a total lie; Herbology and History of Magic were his worst subjects.

"Oh, poor Draco!" Pansy cried, coming over and throwing herself onto him. Zabini and Crabbe snickered as Malfoy grimaced, but Goyle looked away, an angry look on his face. "What are you going to do?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" he said angrily. Just then, a house elf appeared, holding a piece of parchment.

"M-Mister Malfoy, please?" the house elf asked from the center of the room.

"Yes, here I am. What do you want?" he asked it sharply. It hurried over and held the parchment out.

"A m-message for you, sir," it squeaked nervously. Draco snatched it away.

"Who sent it?"

"M-Miss Granger, from Gryffindor House, sir." Draco scowled and opened the parchment.

"All right then. Well, why are you still here?" he snapped at it, immediately feeling guilty after it bowed and disappeared.

It read:

Draco-

I told them our story-worked like a charm. Meet me in the library tomorrow evening at 10.

Tell your friends I want to meet you so late because I don't want this to interfere with my studies during the week. Mention that you don't want to be seen with me anyway.

I'll be waiting.

Yours,

Granger

Draco scowled, hoping it was convincing enough, as he really wanted to grin.

"What's the mudblood got to say?" Zabini asked. Draco balled his fist to punch him, but somehow managed to keep his arms down. Instead, he balled up the parchment and threw it into the fire, where it landed next to what was left of the first one.

"She wants me to meet her tomorrow night in the library. Says she doesn't want this to interfere with her normal studies during the week."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Typical Granger. Are you going to go?"

"I suppose. Better to do it late at night when no one can see us together than in the middle of the day," Draco replied with a shrug.

Everyone nodded their approval of this reasoning.

Draco smiled internally. Nice work, Granger, he thought. I must remember to compliment her on her impressive attention to detail.

Author's Note: I wanted to warn everyone that the chapters might not come as quickly for awhile. The first 10 pretty much formed themselves in my head while I was writing…I just typed what I imagined in my head. Have you ever seen Alex and Emma? Well he says something like "I create the characters and they tell me where the story goes." Same kinda thing. I do have a few ideas, though, and I'll be working as constantly as I can with 2 small boys running around!