Disclaimer: see chapter one.

Author's note: I got so many reviews and follows after that last chapter! Welcome to all the new followers. I hope you enjoy the rest of the ride :D I try to update once every five-six days. And I really appreciate reviews, in case you guys hadn't gathered that from my desperate requests for them. I particularly enjoyed people's guesses as to the reasons for Draco's attitude change. Rest assured that you'll find out the answer eventually!

Thanks as always to Caroline, Marnel, and Rianne.

September brought no change in Draco's attitude. He still showed up in the library and was therefore not completely ignoring Hermione's existence, but he may as well have been. He never started a conversation and gave one-word replies whenever she attempted to talk to him. Hermione tried not to let it get to her, but it was difficult. His frustrating lack of response was in such stark contrast with his cordial behaviour over the summer that Hermione could scarcely believe he was the same person. She wanted to know what was wrong but didn't know how to bring up the issue. The last thing she wanted to do was spark a return of the previous year's fights or drive him even further away.

She had some distraction when her internships and classes started up again. Like last year, she was spending four days a week at the hospital. This semester, she would be stationed at the ward for creature-induced injuries. The healer in charge of the ward, Healer Winslow, had a reputation for being difficult to work with. He was young - especially given his position as head of a ward - and was known for his competitiveness, particularly towards female healers. With this prospect, Hermione was glad that at least she would once again be in the company of Matthew.

"Hey, Hermione," Matthew greeted when she met him in the staff room before their shift. "So how was your summer?"

"It was good, thanks," she said. It wouldn't do to heap her worries and annoyances on Matthew. Besides, her summer had been great, at least until a few weeks ago. "I went to Rome. I visited the Colosseum and the Forum Romanum, the Sistine Chapel... It was lovely." She decided not to mention Draco. Matthew didn't know much about where she stood in regards to him. Given the recent complications, it was best to keep it that way.

"Sounds good," Matthew said. They started on their way to the creature-induced injury ward on the first floor. "I'm guessing it was sunny there - you look tanned."

She nodded. "Absolutely; it was steaming hot. Thank goodness for cooling charms. What have you been up to?"

"I went to Egypt with my family," he said. "Saw the pyramids and everything. It was great fun. My little sister almost died from excitement. Then we got separated from my little brother in Cairo, which was less fun. He disappeared somewhere in a busy street. We wanted to track him with charms, but you can't go walking around a muggle city with your wand out. Then my dad called magic 'useless', which didn't go over well. It was a bit tense. My mother and sister were in hysterics by the time we found him. Turned out he wanted to buy souvenirs and was persuaded by this trader to go into a shop... Anyway, it all worked out in the end."

"It must be odd to have one magical parent and one non-magical," Hermione mused.

"Usually it's fine," he responded. "They grew up very differently, of course, but they respect each other. In tense situations there's occasionally a bit of contention. Normally the magical folks in the family don't use too much magic around the house. Even when we do, my dad is pretty comfortable with it. It's actually worse for my brother, I think. David used to be really jealous of Martha and me. I suppose it's not easy being the only non-magical sibling. And there isn't anyone he can talk to about it, except for Dad. His friends are all muggle; he's not allowed to tell them about us."

They had to halt their conversation when they reached their supervising healer's office. However, even this short exchange reminded Hermione how nice it was to have someone to share stories with. She was glad to have Matthew at her side again. He was consistently friendly and amicable, unlike her unpredictable husband. She could trust Matthew not to drop her like a stone whenever he got sick of her.

Healer Winslow looked up from a stack of paperwork when Hermione and Matthew reported to his office. "Ah, my trainee healers," he said. He looked them up and down. His eyes lingered on Hermione for a moment. She abruptly felt uncomfortable. "You're late."

Hermione glanced at the clock, which read two minutes past eight. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Sorry," she said.

Winslow pursed his lips. "You'll be stationed at different parts of the ward," he announced, "so you can each show what you're worth. I won't have you relying on each other to compensate for your weak points."

Matthew glanced at Hermione, then responded with a neutral, "All right."

Winslow assigned Hermione to the emergency department and Matthew to diagnostics. It made her wonder whether the healer knew diagnostics was her favourite field and purposely assigned her elsewhere. She tried hard not to think the worst of Winslow, but his piercing stare sent chills down her spine.

The first week of her internship was challenging. Hermione didn't know anyone in this department and barely saw Matthew at all. Thankfully, the emergency department's staff were all friendly enough. After a few days, Hermione started to relax a little. She even came to enjoy the work at the department. It wasn't her favourite, but it wasn't too bad. It could never hurt to get some experience in different areas. After her healer training was over, there would be more than enough time to specialise.

As she acclimatised to the emergency department, however, there were two major frustrations in her life. The first was Draco's continued refusal to acknowledge her existence; the second was Healer Winslow. She didn't see her supervisor very often, since he didn't spend much time in the emergency room. When she did see him, however, it was downright dreadful.

"Matthew," he said, the first time the two trainee healers came to evaluate the workweek with him. There was a beat before he added, in a lower voice, "and Hermione." Matthew glanced at her a little uncertainly, and they both sat down in the chairs next to the healer's desk and took out parchment and quill. "How was your week?" Winslow asked, looking at Matthew.

"It was fine," Matthew said. "I enjoyed the work. There was one patient I had some trouble with." He described the case and mentioned the diagnostic spells he'd performed.

Healer Winslow turned his attention to Hermione. Just like during their first meeting, it made her feel uncomfortable. There was something predatory in his gaze. She was disgusted by the way his eyes lingered on her chest for just a moment too long. "What would you have done?" he asked.

"The same spells as Matthew, except I wouldn't check for snake venom," she responded, trying not to show how much Winslow's gaze affected her. "You've already ruled it out with the second spell you performed, since it would make the limb glow blue if snake venom was involved."

Matthew nodded in agreement, quickly jotting down what she'd said, but Healer Winslow said, "It can never hurt to double-check." Matthew glanced up uncertainly, and Hermione had to resist the urge to shake her head. Of course it could hurt to double-check - each spell had its repercussions, however slight. Besides, an unnecessary spell was a waste of time and effort.

Throughout the rest of the meeting, Healer Winslow opposed nearly everything Hermione said, all the while alternating between smirking at her or focusing exclusively on Matthew. She was exhausted by the time an hour had passed and they were free to go home.

As the weeks passed and the temperature dropped, so did Hermione's mood. Her previously enjoyable afternoons in the library were rendered tense by the silence that hung over her and Draco like a blanket. Every day, she wished for a change, but it never came. Almost against hope, she sent Draco an invitation for dinner on September 19, her birthday. Rather than accept her invitation, however, all he did was send a house-elf with a note and a present. The note held a flimsy excuse about having too much work. The present held a novel, which she put in the back of her wardrobe and resolved not to read. She went out for dinner with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Sandy instead.

She sought distractions from Draco by spending more time with other friends. She visited Luna, had coffee with Neville, and helped Dean and Seamus (who had finally gathered the courage to ask one another out last year) move into their new flat. Over the summer, she hadn't spent much time with her friends, and it was good to renew the communication lines and catch up. However, none of them knew about her strange friendship with Draco, and she was too unsure of their reactions to tell them. The visits were fun but ultimately unsatisfying.

St Mungo's had turned from an escape into its own source of trouble, because the situation with Healer Winslow continued to frustrate her. He seemed to look down on her, but she couldn't tell why. The fact was, however, that he paid much more attention to Matthew than to her, except when he was watching her with his leering, almost lustful stare or making condescending comments. Hermione was almost glad now to be working alone most of the time, for whenever she was with Matthew, Winslow left no opportunity untouched to remind her of her place. On the other hand, whenever she was alone with Winslow, she was even more uncomfortable. The way he looked at her body made her shiver.

"I just don't know what to do," she told Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Sandy on a Friday night. She'd explained how Healer Winslow treated her, much to the outrage of her friends.

"He seems like a terrible supervisor," Sandy said. "Can't you ask someone for help?"

"Like who?" Hermione said with a sigh.

"That other healer," Harry said. "The one who treated you when you were sick. What was his name, Stanton?"

"Canton," she said. She'd considered seeing Canton, but doubted he'd be able to help her.

"Yeah, him." Harry nodded. "He's involved in your training as well, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is, but I'm not sure that's a good idea." She sighed. "What can he do? Besides, I can't prove anything. What if Canton doesn't believe me and Winslow finds out about it? That would only make things worse."

"I'm sure he'd believe you," Ginny assured her, but Hermione remained doubtful.

Five weeks after the start of her internship, she found herself in Winslow's office on a Tuesday morning, defending her actions in a case at the emergency department. "Analgesics were the first priority," she said, "because the patient was obviously in pain. I knew this localised painkilling spell wouldn't worsen the bite."

"You couldn't have known," Winslow countered. "You hadn't diagnosed the injury. Administering the painkilling spell without knowing the cause of the pain was irresponsible."

"Visual inspection of the affected area revealed absolutely no indication that it could have been an acidic poison," Hermione protested. "Besides, the man told me what bit him!" She watched helplessly as Winslow shook his head. She knew she'd acted according to the protocol. Her actions had been virtually without risk, but Winslow was her supervisor and could essentially say what he wanted.

"A diagnostic spell would have been safer," Winslow repeated. "Matthew, what do you think?"

Matthew glanced at Hermione. For a moment, she was afraid he'd disagree with her as well. It wouldn't be a strange thing to do. She couldn't expect him to take her side over that of their superior. "If visual inspection and the patient's story didn't indicate an acidic poison, I would also have administered an analgesic spell first," he said. Hermione exhaled in relief.

Winslow nodded. "I suppose it was not completely unreasonable," he conceded, looking only at Matthew. It was more proof that he disagreed with Hermione because of personal reasons rather than because she was actually wrong, but she didn't comment. She was glad when they could leave the office and return to their duties.

"What an idiot," Matthew said. "You were totally right to use analgesics first."

"I don't know what he has against me," Hermione said.

"Probably just jealous 'cause you're smarter than he is," Matthew said easily. "Come on, one more hour and we're free to go home."

The last hour of the day involved two difficult patients who wouldn't listen to a word Hermione said. She went home tired and frustrated. When she went to the library to study, she was greeted by silence, as always. Draco was working but didn't even look up when she came in.

She sat down at her desk and tried to concentrate on her work. Ten minutes in, she moved from one book to another in the hopes that another subject would help her attention span. She had no such luck. The letters danced on the page. All she could think about was Winslow's stupid smirk as he told her she was wrong, even though she knew she wasn't.

"Are you all right, Hermione?" Draco said. She turned to find him watching her, worry on his face.

It made her furious. What gave him the right to ignore her for weeks and then suddenly pretend to be worried because she was upset? She threw her books down and stood up. "As if you care. Leave me alone!" she bit out, and fled from the library.

Her mood did not improve the next day. At the end of her shift, her first internship report was returned to her and she found that Winslow had graded it as Acceptable. It was a pass grade, but she hadn't received any grades lower than Exceeds Expectations in years. Winslow's smile as he handed her the report nearly drove her insane.

She fled to the staff room and ran into Matthew. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked when he saw her face.

"Got my internship report back," she muttered. She handed him the parchment.

"An A?" Matthew said with a frown. "How on earth did you not get an O? Do you think…" He glanced at her again and noticed the tears in her eyes. "Come on. What you need is a cup of tea."

He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the elevator. A few minutes later, they were on the top floor, in St Mungo's tea shop, which was a good deal quieter than the staff cafeteria. Matthew had got tea for the both of them and was now reading her report while she sipped at the cup.

"This is good," he said after a while. "Better than mine, certainly, and I got an E."

"I just don't know what to do about it," Hermione said with a sigh. Matthew's concern and immediate action comforted her a little, but she still felt out of sorts.

"You should see Canton," Matthew said, taking a sip of tea.

"What can he do?" she muttered.

"Everything. He's in charge of healing studies, so he's essentially Winslow's boss, at least in this situation. Besides, you're his favourite student and you've clearly been wronged. You have proof now, too. I bet Canton would give this an E at least," he explained, tapping the report. "You should really go see him, Hermione. He won't stand for this."

She wasn't sure whether Canton would really take her side in this. What if he agreed with Winslow? Perhaps her report really hadn't been as good as she'd thought.

When she'd finished her tea, Matthew stood up. "Come on. I'll go with you. I can testify that he treats us differently."

It was rather nice to have someone else take charge for a little while. She followed Matthew to Canton's office.

When Canton heard what had been going on in the creature-induced injury ward, he was outraged. Within fifteen minutes of entering his office, Hermione had obtained a promise that Canton himself would take over her internship supervision and re-grade the report. She'd continue to work in the same department, but would report to Canton rather than Winslow. "If he gives you any more trouble, just let me know," Canton said. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

She heaved a sigh when they were standing in the staff room again. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Feel better?" Matthew said with a smile.

"Much," she responded with feeling. "You were right about Canton. Thank you for going with me, Matthew. I really appreciate it. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

He looked at her speculatively for a moment. "Well," he then said, "you could go on a date with me."

It was so out of left field that for a few seconds, all she could do was stare at him. "I'm married," she said eventually.

"I know," he said cheerfully. "But it's one of those unions of convenience, right? I know the customs; my mum's a pureblood, remember? I assumed you could date."

Hermione blinked, not sure what to say. "I can, yeah," she managed after a moment. "I, uh... I'll have to discuss it."

"Okay," he said slowly, looking a bit doubtful. "Is that a tentative yes, or are you trying to let me down easy by not saying no directly?"

She bit her lip. Really, why shouldn't she go out with him? She liked Matthew. He was great. "It's a tentative yes," she said. He broke out into a smile, looking so genuinely pleased that she couldn't help but smile as well. "I'll talk to Draco and get back to you tomorrow," she promised.

"All right," he said, still grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." The smile was still on his face as he disapparated.

The library was empty when Hermione sat down to study. She was a little nervous about discussing the issue of dating with Draco; there was no telling how he'd react. Mostly, though, she felt relieved and upbeat, which was quite a change from her average state of mind in the past month. She was incredibly glad to be rid of Winslow, and being asked out by Matthew was flattering and exciting. However, her excitement somehow also intensified the irritation she felt about Draco's behaviour to her. When she heard his footsteps behind her, she resolved to just get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Hermione, I-" he began.

She cut him off. "Can I go on a date with someone?" she asked, without looking up from the work on her desk.

It was silent for a moment, but then Draco said, "Be discreet about it." His voice was clipped.

She turned to find him watching her with no discernible emotion on his face. "Discreet?" she echoed, frowning at him.

"If next week's Prophet headline reads Married war heroine kisses boyfriend at Fortescue Ice Cream Parlour, you'll be in trouble," he said, still completely impassive. She didn't know why his lack of reaction disappointed her. Hadn't she wanted to avoid a fight?

"I'll be discreet," she said curtly, and turned back to her books. After a moment, she heard Draco leave the library. She wondered briefly why he'd come to the library only to leave so soon, but quickly decided she didn't really care.

She owled Matthew straight away. It wouldn't be fair to make him wait longer than necessary.

Dear Matthew, she wrote,

I have a green light as long as I'm 'discreet'.

Hermione

Apple returned within an hour, a note tied to his claw.

My apartment, then? Saturday, 6:30? I'll have the fireplace open for you.

Matthew

She wrote back, Looking forward to it.

In anticipation of Saturday, she wanted to talk to Ginny. In the past two months, she hadn't said much about Draco. She knew Ginny wanted more information, but for some reason the youngest Weasley had decided not to pry. Hermione was grateful, but felt that Ginny deserved to know what was going on. Harry, too, should know what the last few months had been like. She owled them and dropped by through the floo that night.

"I have a date on Saturday," she announced when Harry had presented her with biscuits and a mug of tea.

"With Draco?" Ginny asked at once, apparently very pleased with that idea.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "Of course not. With Matthew."

"Oh," Ginny muttered, seeming put out. "Well, okay."

"Allow me to compensate for my wife's lack of enthusiasm," Harry said. "That sounds great, Hermione!"

Hermione chuckled. "Thanks, Harry."

"What brought this on?" Ginny asked. "And what does Draco think of it?"

"I should really start with the summer," Hermione began, "because I'm afraid I've been holding out on you." She told them about Draco's strange, erratic behaviour in August, how he'd withdrawn from her, and how much this autumn resembled last year, before they'd become friends. Then she explained how Matthew had helped her that afternoon and then asked her out. "I don't know what Draco thinks of it," she concluded, "because he hasn't told me. I don't know what got into him, but it's pretty clear I'm persona non grata again."

"Something must've triggered it," Ginny mused. "Are you sure you didn't say anything he might've interpreted wrongly?"

"I don't know," Hermione said. "If I did, he should've told me instead of treating me like a pariah. Either way, I think the important thing is that I have a date on Saturday." She smiled at the thought.

Ginny examined her for a moment. Then she smiled and said, "Right. A date with Matthew."

"Sounds like fun," Harry said.

"Yeah, sounds like fun," Ginny said, but her heart didn't seem to be in it.

Hermione didn't see Matthew during her internship the next day. She was glad she'd sent him an owl, rather than having to look for him in St Mungo's. She did see Canton, who came to evaluate her first five weeks of internship with her and re-graded her report with an O. It only made her feel more grateful to Matthew, because she doubted she'd have had the courage to go to Canton without him.

That afternoon, Draco was absent from her study session. Hermione tried to ignore that fact and focus on her upcoming date instead, but it wasn't easy. Throughout all of his silence and irritability, Draco had remained a faithful visitor to the library. He hadn't missed a single afternoon in the past two months, not even for brewing. Now, it seemed he'd finally taken her 'leave me alone' comment to heart. Rather than helping her concentrate, however, his nonattendance left her distracted. She spent most of the afternoon trying fruitlessly to figure out where she'd gone wrong this summer and whether there was any chance of restoring their relationship.

She'd never visited Matthew's apartment and was rather nervous when she flooed there. Matthew had mentioned before that he lived in Southend-On-Sea. One of the many benefits of apparition and floo was the speed with which one could commute to the other end of the country. It negated the need to live in a city as expensive as London. When she'd stepped out of the fireplace, she found herself in a small but nicely furnished living room. It had large windows overlooking the Thames estuary. The sun had already set, but it was still bright enough outside to enjoy the view.

"Is that you, Hermione?" Matthew called from behind a door. She followed the sound of his voice and found herself in the kitchen, where he was peering into the oven. "Hey," he said, smiling at her. "Hope you like lasagne."

"Sure," she said, smiling back. Her nerves dissipated. Matthew was easy to be around; this date was nothing to fear.

"Good," he responded. "It needs another ten minutes. Come on." He led her back to the living room. She sat down on his sofa, and he handed her a glass of wine before occupying a chair. It was quiet for a moment.

"I talked to Canton again yesterday," Hermione said. She told him about her re-graded report and how glad she was to be rid of Winslow. They talked for a while about their internships. Now that they were stationed at different parts of the ward, they each had their own anecdotes about crazy patients. After ten minutes, they moved their conversation to the dinner table. The lasagne was great, as was the ice cream Matthew served as dessert.

"That was delicious," Hermione said when they'd finished the meal. She felt quite content to be sitting here with Matthew. She didn't really feel in love and wasn't sure where this would be going, but at least they'd had a lovely evening.

"It's probably nothing compared to what your house-elves cook up," Matthew said with a chuckle. "Living the high life, right? My mum used to hate it. She was only too glad to find a perfectly ordinary bloke to marry."

"I can imagine," Hermione said. "I like the Manor though. I missed my old apartment at first, but I'm used to the grandeur now."

"So what's it like, being married?" Matthew asked.

Hermione wasn't sure how to answer that. "How do you mean?" she said evasively.

"It's obviously not a normal marriage," he said. "So what is it? Do you see him at all? I'm guessing you're friends or something. He did save your life, no strings attached - that sounds like a good place to start a friendship."

Hermione chuckled. "Actually," she said, "that's not quite what happened. This is classified information, of course, but it was not a 'no strings attached' kind of situation." She summarised the events that had led up to her marriage. Before long, she found herself telling him of the strange, complicated relationship she'd built up with Draco. Matthew had never gone to Hogwarts but had been home-schooled by his mother. Consequently, he didn't know Draco at all and knew little about his involvement in the war other than the media coverage of last year's trial, which had been largely coordinated by Hermione. Unlike nearly everyone else Hermione knew, Matthew wasn't biased against Draco. Besides that, he was a good listener: attentive and quiet save for the occasional question. She even told him of Italy and the silence that had descended on them afterwards.

"I'm sorry, I've been talking forever," she said when her story was finished.

"I like listening," Matthew said. He was looking at her thoughtfully. "Let me put the kettle on." He stood up and took the dishes to the kitchen. When he returned to the table, he still seemed deep in thought. "So," he said after a moment. "What did you think of tonight?"

She blinked at the straightforwardness of his question. "Um," she hedged. "I'm not sure. I mean, I had fun, I really did, it's just..." She trailed off.

"Just that you see me as a friend," he finished for her.

"Well, yeah," she said, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks.

"Right," he said. He went to the kitchen to make tea and returned a moment later with two mugs. When he was seated again, he tapped his fingers on the table. It reminded her of Draco. "So," he said again, "I realise this is an intrusive question, but... do you have feelings for him? Draco, I mean. Because to be honest, you sort of sound like it."

"I- What?" she sputtered.

He chuckled. "That would be okay, you know. If you did."

She raised her eyebrows. "You wouldn't mind?" she asked sceptically.

"Well, of course I would mind," Matthew responded. "Look, I really like you, Hermione. You're great. But it doesn't seem like your heart is in this, and if that's because it's really somewhere else, I'd prefer to just know for sure."

That made her think in earnest about whether she thought of Draco that way. She'd never considered it, and certainly it would only complicate the strained relationship they had. "I don't know," she said finally.

Matthew nodded. "Okay. Well, either way, I suspect it's best if I don't pursue you."

"I'm sorry," she said. She meant it. She could see how easy it could be to be with Matthew. She wouldn't ever be able to marry him or move in with him, of course - her agreement with Draco prevented that. But she could picture more dates with Matthew, could imagine sharing things with him that she couldn't share with Draco. As she thought of it, however, she knew it wouldn't be fair. He was right: her heart wasn't in it.

"No worries," he said lightly, though he didn't seem as chipper as before. They drank their tea in silence. For the first time that night, things threatened to get awkward. Before Hermione could get overly anxious, though, Matthew said, "So I ran into Winslow yesterday. Boy, was he ever in a foul mood. I don't think he was too pleased to be kicked off supervision."

"Really? What did he do?" Hermione asked, and just like that, the tense atmosphere was gone.

Hermione ended up staying until late. When she flooed home at midnight, she felt relaxed and content. She wasn't sure how disappointed Matthew was after being rejected, but the rest of their night had been fun, and he hadn't seemed too disheartened.

As she undressed and got ready for bed, she remembered the question he'd asked her after dinner. Suddenly, she found herself wishing she could talk to her mother. It was impossible and she knew it, so she usually tried not to think of her parents too much. Now, a vivid memory came to her of the time she'd told her mum how she felt about Ron. Her mother had been so understanding, so kind about it...

She resolutely banned the thought from her head. Rather than dwell on impossibilities, she picked Crookshanks up from his corner of the room and hugged him to her chest. "What do you think, Crookshanks?" she whispered. "Do I have feelings for him?" She didn't want to think about it, but now that Matthew had brought up the issue, she'd have to face it and think it through logically. The truth was that she'd been a long way towards falling for him in the summer. Looking back, she could see it: the hope that he'd show up when she was swimming, the excitement she felt each time he asked her to play chess, the warm feeling she got when she was watching him smile as he sped around on his broom.

Then, of course, Draco had dropped her like a stone. She'd never been able to figure out why he withdrew from her so suddenly, but her newfound realisation brought new possibilities to the fore. What if he'd seen through her and noticed she no longer saw him exclusively as a friend? She considered the option as she curled up under her blankets. It wasn't impossible that Draco's abrupt refusal to talk to her was his way of rejecting her. Certainly Draco's methods of dealing with relationships were unorthodox enough.

If that was so, it meant Draco was willing to give up their friendship in order to deter her from falling in love with him. Either he hadn't valued what they had, or he really didn't want to be confronted with romantic aspirations. Given how he'd gone out of his way to spend time with her after their return from Rome, Hermione guessed it was the latter. This meant that she had to accept the hopelessness of her attraction to him. Draco clearly wasn't interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with her.

She knew her feelings for him would probably not last forever. Even so, it was a chilling prospect to be stuck in a marriage full of unrequited love. Despite this, it cheered her up immensely to have a rationale for Draco's behaviour since August. Knowing the suspected cause meant she could think about solutions. There had to be a way to restore their friendship. Spending more time with Draco would intensify her feelings for him, but it was better than not talking to him at all.

Crookshanks seemed to sense that she could use some company and curled up beside her pillow. She reached out and petted him. "What's the best way to get our friendship back?" she whispered. Crookshanks purred. "That's not helpful," she said, chuckling quietly. "I should probably start out slowly, see if he's still willing to talk to me. Then I can gradually increase contact. Like boiling a frog by slowly warming the water - although really, the science behind that metaphor is seriously flawed."

It was just barely light enough for her to see Crookshanks yawn. It made her smile. "Fine, I'll go to sleep," she said. She pulled the blankets up to her chin and closed her eyes. With so much to think about, however, it took a long time for her to fall asleep that night.

Author's note: What did you guys think of that, eh? I'm curious to hear what your opinions are on Matthew and their date.

The line somewhere at the beginning about Dean and Seamus was a spin-off waiting to happen, of course, so I actually have a draft version of a one-shot somewhere on my computer. I hope I'll get around to finishing it at some point, and then I'll probably upload it. Which reminds me, I'm also planning to write some oneshots for this 'verse from Draco's point of view. I've actually got one ready – it's a companion piece to chapter 14, which you guys of course haven't read yet. But you can expect that story and perhaps some others to be posted after the story is done!

Reviews plz kthxbai.