Hermione was amazed that so far no one had noticed the ring — or at least if they had they hadn't commented on it. Harry and Ron knew about it, of course. They had heard all about the marriage proposal and seen and examined the ring when she and Draco spent the evening with them explaining what had been happening during their time on the project, including why she had been so unstable over the last couple of months.

Draco had acquitted himself particularly well during the evening, she thought happily, and Harry and Ron had been far more open-minded and willing to listen to both sides than she had expected. Although her friends were naturally annoyed to hear about Draco's behaviour to begin with, especially when she explained to them how he had hurt her so badly twice — the fling with Pansy almost causing Ron to punch the Slytherin boy in the face in fury — they had also, which surprised Hermione no end, been willing to listen to and accept Draco's side of the story, too, actually taking it in and considering it fully as he explained things from his perspective.

She had to admit she was impressed at how he had stated his case, happily acknowledging his faults and the misunderstandings about their relationship which had caused the first rift between them without trying to unduly blame her for what had happened. Because of this, she ended up admitting to her faults, too, finally acknowledging that she might have intentionally misled Draco as to the sort of relationship he could expect to have with her, which had led to the first argument.

Harry and Ron were astonished at how much had happened between the couple without anyone knowing and were unable to believe that they had managed to keep the whole thing a secret for so long. They were more than a little prickly to start with, particularly when they heard about the engagement, seeing as it had happened so quickly — at least to their eyes.

But discovering that Draco had saved Hermione's life without making a big thing of it went a long way towards lessening their enmity towards him and they were eventually talked round and began to understand that Hermione and Draco's feelings for each other were both real and equally matched — the couple really were in love.

Hermione felt incredibly proud of Draco when he swore to Harry that he would help him to defeat Voldemort in whatever way he could. Hermione sensed that Ron, in particular, was somewhat sceptical of Draco's oath but she knew what a big step it was for her fiancé to pledge his allegiance to someone he had always detested previously and she was sure he would live up to his promise.

Once back in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione spent quite some time talking to Ginny about Draco, too, wanting her friend to know about her relationship with him and the engagement before she noticed the ring for herself and accused Hermione of trying to hide things from her. Ginny was excited for her although she, too, evinced a healthy amount of scepticism about Draco's ability to turn away from his family upbringing, albeit with a little more tact than her brother had shown.

Hermione couldn't help but imagine whether things would have been different if she had been able to talk to her friends about her relationship with Draco as it developed. She suspected they would have been different, but probably not better. Assuming her relationship with him had even managed to get to the stage where he could betray her as he had with Pansy — which Hermione suspected was unlikely as Ron and Harry probably would have talked her out of being with him in the first place despite his saving her life — she definitely wouldn't have given him a second chance. The hatred her friends had for Draco would have kicked in and she would have gone back to hating him, too.

She had Professor Snape and his surprisingly unbiased desire to ensure that they both succeeded at their Potions N.E.W.T. to thank for the two of them getting back together. Snape was the one to open her eyes to the situation Draco had put himself in for her, and it was thanks to him that she had finally managed to convince Draco that he needed to come over to her side, even if he was annoyingly stubborn about it to begin with. At least he had seen sense eventually.

Hermione knew she needed to thank the Potions Master, especially as he was the one who was likely to get it in the neck from Draco's father when he found out about their engagement. Knowing what Lucius Malfoy was like he would be sure to blame Professor Snape for pairing them in the first place and putting his precious son in danger of bewitchment by a Mudblood.

She sighed as she looked at her watch, realising she was going to be late for dinner. As she packed up her books, Hermione's thoughts turned, as they always did, to Draco. She knew he was eager to get married, mainly because it would give him the intimacy he so ardently desired with her and that she, even with the engagement, still felt hesitant about.

But she was not yet reconciled with the idea of marriage, even though she had said yes, and was inclined to wait until after the war she and her friends were convinced was now imminent. She knew part of this was because of her friends' scepticism about Draco's reliability — which she didn't share, at least not exactly — but also because she couldn't help but hope that once Voldemort was gone there might be less opposition to the union from his family.

As she walked towards the Great Hall she considered how she truly wished the world was different so Muggle-borns like her could stop worrying about people like Lucius Malfoy and his Death Eater friends. But Hermione knew in her heart that the sad truth was that even if Voldemort was defeated, Lucius was unlikely to change his opinion on Muggle-borns even if he had to keep those views well hidden. That wouldn't make her and Draco's proposed marriage any more acceptable to him, and she couldn't help but worry what would happen when he discovered, as he eventually would, that they were engaged.

Although in one way Hermione was pleased that Draco no longer cared what anyone thought about their relationship and had come to terms with being a blood-traitor, she had become more circumspect and understood better the protection this secrecy had given them, and she couldn't help but wish that protection could keep them cloaked forever.

'What's that?'

Pansy Parkinson pointed at the ring on Hermione's finger, staring at it with a mixture of envy and scorn.

'What's what?' Hermione asked, pretending she didn't know what Pansy was talking about.

'That ring on your finger,' Pansy said. 'Why are you wearing it? Don't you know it's bad luck to wear a ring on that finger unless you're engaged?'

'Bad luck?' Hermione repeated, sounding confused. 'Why's it bad luck?'

'Because you'll never get married,' Pansy retorted. She looked Hermione up and down for a moment then added bitchily, 'Mind you I don't think you need to worry about that, do you, Hermione? No one would want to marry you anyway.'

Hermione looked blandly back at Pansy, trying to calm herself. She was annoyed with the Slytherin girl's attitude and felt tempted to tell her the truth, knowing it would hurt her. Instead, she decided to annoy her.

'Actually, it isan engagement ring,' she said, and she held out her hand so Pansy could see it better. 'It's beautiful, isn't it?'

Pansy's mouth opened in astonishment as she gazed at the ring.

'You're engaged? Who the hell are you engaged to?'

Hermione smiled enigmatically.

'You're lying,' Pansy said, the words coming out in a rush. 'You're not engaged. You can't be.'

'Really? Why's that, Pansy?' Hermione enquired.

'Apart from the fact that no one would want you, you're too young. You're still at school,' Pansy said.

Hermione shrugged and reminded her, 'We're eighteen. We became adults at seventeen, so we're plenty old enough and we've only got another couple of weeks before we leave school for good.'

'Tell me who you're engaged to. Is it Potter?' Pansy demanded.

Hermione chuckled. 'Harry? Of course not. He's going out with Ginny.'

Pansy scowled. 'So it's Weasley, then.' She snorted derisively. 'You can have him. You make the perfect couple actually — the Mudblood and the pauper blood-traitor.'

My fiancé is a blood-traitor, but not the one you think, Hermione thought as she debated whether to drop the bombshell. She decided she wasn't ready to let the secret out just yet. The longer it stayed hidden, the safer both she and Draco would be. Ignoring Pansy, she waved at Harry and Ron who had just entered the room, late from having to walk down from the North Tower where they had a Divination class with Professor Trelawney. Pansy noticed the greeting and looked vindicated, convinced that Ron was Hermione's beau.

'Congratulations, Weasley,' she said in a sickly saccharine voice as Ron and Harry joined Hermione.

Ron stared at her in confusion. 'Congratulations for what?'

'Your engagement.'

Ron looked even more confused. 'My engagement? I think you've got the wrong person, Pansy. I'm not engaged.'

As he said it he saw Pansy stare at him for a second, then look at Hermione, her smile growing wicked, and he understood what she was talking about.

'My mistake,' she said sweetly. 'I thought you and Hermione were engaged but that's obviously not the case. She was just teasing me with that new ring of hers, probably because I told her it's bad luck to wear it on that finger.'

'No.' Ron's voice was grave and he shook his head as he spoke. 'Hermione and I are not engaged.' Pansy looked triumphant and beamed at Hermione as if she had caught her out. 'It is an engagement ring, though,' he continued.

Pansy's smile disappeared instantly. 'So who's the fiancé?' she demanded. She looked around the room at the Gryffindors, desperately trying to work out who it could be. Her eyes alighted on Neville, who was talking to Justin Finch-Fletchley. 'Is it Longbottom?'

Hermione shook her head, looking amused. 'Neville? No, it's not him. He is a really nice guy but not my type.'

'Is he in this room?' Pansy asked.

Hermione shrugged, having just seen Draco walk through the door with Blaise. They, too, had come from Divination.

'Why are you so interested to know?' she asked.

Pansy ignored the question and instead said, 'Are you so ashamed of him that you don't want anyone to know who he is?' She sniggered. 'That'll be a good marriage if you're already trying to hide him.'

'I don't believe I've tried to hide the identity of my fiancé. I just haven't told you who he is,' Hermione told her. 'I don't really understand why you want to know. I mean, it's not as if you're going to be invited to the wedding or anything, is it?'

Pansy looked furious. 'Why don't you want to reveal who it is? Is it someone awful, is that why you don't want to tell us?'

Hermione smiled as she looked at her friends. 'You're the only one in this group who doesn't know who it is, Pansy, so I'd hardly call that keeping it a secret. I'm not telling you because it's none of your business. Why do you even care?'

'Because I want to know who it is,' Pansy said clenching her fists in annoyance at not knowing.

She knew she was being petty and should just walk away and ignore it, but curiosity was eating away at her. If she was honest, she was a bit put out that Hermione Granger, the world's most annoying Mudblood had apparently, somehow connived to hook herself a husband and a beautiful and obviously extremely expensive antique engagement ring before Pansy had even managed to get Draco to commit to being her boyfriend full time. It was more than a little galling — it was patently unfair.

She studied the trio intently, seeing Weasley's mocking smile along with Hermione's blander one. With Harry looking mildly amused too, Pansy realised she had been set up. Of course Granger wasn't engaged. Weasley had just picked up on the joke and run with it, bloody idiot that he was.

'It's all right, I've just realised that you're all pulling my leg,' Pansy announced grumpily. 'Very funny, I'm sure, but it's still bad luck.' She looked specifically at Hermione. 'I hope you never get married, Hermione. It'll serve you right.'

Hermione shook her head with amusement. 'Thank you for that kind sentiment, Pansy, but I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that we're winding you up. It's definitely an engagement ring, so I think that means I'm at least a step closer to getting married than you are.'

She flashed the ring again, knowing it would annoy Pansy.

'So why won't you say who your fiancé is?' Pansy asked.

'Why do you want to know so badly?' Hermione shot back.

'I just want to know who would be stupid enough to marry you,' Pansy told her, her eyes flashing with anger as her temper soared at not knowing the secret of Hermione's fiancé.

'Ah, that would be me,' Draco announced, his voice calm and steady. He had appeared behind Hermione, having left Blaise talking to a Ravenclaw Draco didn't know very well about some club they both belonged to.

Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation at Draco's indiscretion and Harry and Ron both looked at him in surprise that he had revealed his secret quite so casually.

'What?' Pansy yelped. 'What the hell are you talking about, Draco?'

Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and rested his head on her shoulder, no longer caring who could see them now that their secret was revealed. Pansy's shriek had caused others in the room to look at them so he was now dealing with the whole class rather than just Pansy. He could tell from the expressions on their faces that Harry and Ron clearly thought he was mental, but Draco was relieved that the whole stupid charade he'd had to play all year was finally over and now he could reveal exactly how he really felt about Hermione.

He smiled widely, ready to play to the audience. Now he was going to do this he was going to enjoy it. To hell with his stupid bigoted housemates and their pathetic views that were completely and utterly wrong. The only one he would really miss would be Blaise, but if he was a true friend he would understand why Draco was doing this and would forgive him, even if he didn't believe Hermione was worthy of him.

'Hermione is my fiancée,' he said smugly, taking hold of her left hand to show off the ring.

Pansy gasped and theatrically clutched at her chest as if she was having a heart attack. Then she shook her head over and over.

'No . . . no, Draco. Stop it. You're lying. Why are you doing this? It's not funny.'

Draco looked pityingly at Pansy. 'It's true, I'm afraid, Pansy. Hermione and I are getting married.'

'I always knew you were a blood-traitor,' Theo Nott said coldly. He and Blaise had joined Pansy and Theo took hold of her arm as if to support her.

'You're right, I am, Theo. Guilty as charged,' Draco admitted flippantly, holding his hands up in supplication.

He moved away from Hermione in case any of his friends went on the attack, which was always a possibility with the unstable idiots he shared a house with. Crabbe and Goyle both looked their usual confused selves and Draco was fairly certain that they didn't understand what was happening at all, which was fortunate otherwise they might be a problem. He turned away from the massive boys to look at Blaise just in time to see a look of disappointment flash across his friend's face, but after a moment it was replaced by an expression he couldn't fathom at all.

'What can I say — I fell in love with Hermione while I was working with her on the project,' he told the room although he continued looking at Blaise as he said it, hoping his old friend would understand that he was explaining to him in particular. He cut away to gaze adoringly at Hermione for a moment, then looked back at Blaise. 'She is truly brilliant . . . both intellectually and spiritually. She's one of the best people I have ever met in my life . . . actually maybe the best. She made me see how different the world was from the way I had always believed it to be.'

'She turned you into a blood-traitor,' Theo growled.

'She convinced me that Muggle-borns are just as deserving to be in the wizarding world as Pure-bloods and Half-bloods,' Draco replied. He saw Theo wrinkle his nose in disgust at the thought. 'Hermione's stronger magically than you are, Theo, so I don't know how you have the temerity to turn your nose up. In a fair fight she'd beat you hands down. Someone with power like that isn't going to weaken our Pure-blood abilities, she'll make them stronger.'

Theo pulled his wand out and pointed it at Hermione. 'Let's see if that's true, shall we?'

Hermione stared at him for a moment but before she could react Draco moved to stand in front of her. He had drawn his own wand and was pointing it at Theo.

'I know what you're like, Theo. You don't play fair and I know you'd attack Hermione if she went to get her wand out. If you really want to embarrass yourself then we'll have a proper duel once Hermione's ready, but I really wouldn't advise it. Imagine how embarrassing it'll be when the whole school finds out you got your arse kicked by a girl, and a Muggle-born at that.'

Theo glared malevolently at both Hermione and Draco, but after a moment he lowered his wand. Draco kept his trained on the Slytherin for another few seconds to ensure Theo was finished before lowering it.

'It's not worth the effort,' Theo snapped, trying to pretend he hadn't just been bested by Draco.

Draco smiled and looked around at the unhappy faces of what he assumed were now ex-friends.

'I'm sorry if you don't like it but I won't be changing my mind. I love Hermione and I am going to marry her.'

'Your parents will never let you marry her,' Pansy retorted. She looked happier at the thought of the marriage being blocked.

'They can't stop me, Pansy. I'm an adult and free to make my own choices,' Draco pointed out.

'You can't marry her if she's dead,' Theo said.

Draco stared at him. 'Is that a threat, Theo? I really hope for your sake it's not.' He looked around the assembled class, his face fierce. 'If anyone attempts to try to hurt Hermione in any way you will have me to deal with . . . even if she kicks your arse first. No one will threaten my fiancée, that's a promise.'

Blaise looked as if he was about to speak, as did Theo, but at that moment Professor Flitwick entered the room, looking flustered. He was carrying a pile of parchments that was almost as tall as him.

'I'm sorry I'm late, everyone. I had a little problem I had to sort out. I thought now that your exams have all been completed we'd have a bit of fun.'

Draco watched as the rest of the Slytherins moved as far away from him as possible, none of them saying a word although Pansy and Blaise both looked at him reproachfully. He ignored them and moved closer to Hermione, confirming his solidarity with her.

'What the hell did you do that for?' Hermione hissed after Professor Flitwick had finished explaining what they were going to be doing for the lesson. She and Draco had paired up for the tasks ahead. 'I was doing fine without you ruining it.'

'How did I ruin it?'

Hermione glared. 'I was winding Pansy up because she was being so nosey. I had no intention of telling her who you were.'

'Why don't you want anyone to know?' Draco asked, sounding irritated.

'Because the longer it was a secret, the safer we were,' Hermione pointed out. 'It wasn't that I didn't want her to know it was you, I was just trying to be sensible . . . and it was so much fun watching her squirm as she tried to work out who it was. She actually asked if it was Neville at one point.'

'Were you tormenting her because of what I did with her?' Draco asked.

Hermione flushed. 'No. I was annoyed because she told me that no one would want to marry me.'

Draco snorted. 'This coming from the least marriageable girl in the school. I can't believe you listened to her.'

'I didn't. I'm not that stupid. Anyway, this is proof that she's wrong.' Hermione waved her hand. 'But it was interesting watching her vacillate between being convinced that I was lying and wondering who it was.'

'Well, I'm sorry I ruined your sport,' Draco grumbled.

'It's all right,' Hermione told him soothingly. 'I just thought we were keeping it quiet. Now everyone here knows, and by dinnertime the whole school will know. How long will it be before it gets back to your parents?'

Draco shrugged. 'I'm not really too bothered, to be honest.'

'You don't want to get married, then?' Hermione asked. There was a sudden cold feeling in her stomach that she didn't like.

'What on earth makes you think that?' Draco asked confusedly. 'Didn't I just tell everybody we were getting married?'

'Pansy's right, though, isn't she? Your family won't let you,' Hermione said sadly. 'Your father will find a way to stop it. You know he will.'

'So let's get married,' Draco said. He grinned at her as he grabbed her hands.

Hermione stared at him. 'We're already engaged. Remember, I've got the ring.'

'Yep, but I meant actually get married,' Draco told her.

Hermione shook her head. 'We can't. It's not possible.'

'Of course it is,' Draco said matter-of-factly. 'We can do it on Saturday. It's a Hogsmeade weekend.'

'We're not supposed to leave the school, remember? I'm not, anyway, because of that promise you made to Voldemort,' Hermione reminded him.

'Don't worry about that. I think things have moved on a bit since then. There's a war coming and it's probably going to be within the next few weeks, from what I've heard.' He pulled her closer. 'Please, Hermione, let's just do this and then we can concentrate on fighting for the Order of the Phoenix, not on what my father may or may not do.'

'Can we get married that quickly?' Hermione asked. Her heart was racing at the thought of actually becoming Draco's wife. She couldn't believe it was a real possibility, not in the short term at least.

'I'll get it sorted,' Draco promised sounding confident. 'Will you marry me if I do?'

Hermione thought of her parents, who she had sent to Australia to keep them from being caught up in the coming war, and her best friend and almost-sister, Rachel, who she had put a spell on so she wouldn't remember that they were friends. Her face turned wistful.

'What's the matter?' Draco asked.

'I was just thinking about my mum and dad . . . and Rachel. I really wanted them at my wedding. I'd always promised Rach she would be my bridesmaid, just as I was going to be hers.'

Draco sighed. 'I know it's not ideal, my love, but I think it's the only chance we're going to get. We can always have another wedding — a proper big wedding with everyone we want to invite — once the war is over and your parents are back and Rachel remembers us again.' He looked hopefully at Hermione. 'What do you think?'

Hermione bit her lip as she considered it. 'I want Harry and Ron there.' Draco sighed again. Before he could say anything she added, 'We'll need two witnesses anyway and you don't have anyone to suggest instead, do you? And I want Ginny to come as Rachel can't. She can be my bridesmaid.'

'Gods, Hermione, this is supposed to be a secret wedding,' Draco reminded her tersely. 'We can't invite the whole bloody school along.'

'It's not the whole school it's three people,' Hermione pointed out. 'And if they can't come then I'm not getting married.'

Draco gave the loudest sigh yet. 'All right, but only those three . . . and don't tell anyone else.'

'I wasn't the one who announced it to the whole class,' Hermione reminded him waspishly.

'You're right. I'm sorry,' Draco said. He saw Professor Flitwick was getting close. 'We'd better do a spell before Flitwick notices we're not working,' he told Hermione.

Hermione absentmindedly waved her wand and a shower of sparks appeared.

'What were you trying to do, Miss Granger?' Flitwick asked, seeming surprised that Hermione had got a spell wrong.

'Sorry, Professor, I meant to make it rain stars but I missed a movement because I wasn't concentrating,' Hermione explained. She waved the wand again and a massive shower of multi-coloured stars rained down on the entire room.

'Oh, well done, Miss Granger. Your turn, Mr Malfoy,' Flitwick said, looking expectantly at Draco.

Draco waved his wand with a flourish and produced a beautiful bouquet of flowers which he presented to Hermione with a low bow.

Flitwick smiled. 'Very nice, Mr Malfoy and what a lovely gesture.'

He walked away, leaving Hermione and Draco alone again.

'I still don't understand how you're going to arrange the wedding,' Hermione said. 'You can't get away from the school and we can't just wait until Saturday and hope.'

Draco smiled mysteriously. 'Don't worry, Hermione. I'll sort it. I've got a plan.'

'What sort of plan?' Hermione asked, staring at him suspiciously.

'A secret one,' Draco whispered, his smirk infuriating. He winked at her.

'You're not going to tell me, are you?'' Hermione said, sounding frustrated.

Draco's grin was wider than ever now. 'No, because it's a secret.'

Hermione and Ginny spent all week working out what they were going to wear for the wedding. They still weren't convinced that Draco would be able to organise anything at such short notice especially without being able to leave the school to do so, but they were determined to be ready if he did. Ginny was also sorting out Harry and Ron, both of whom were somewhat dismayed at the rapidity of the apparent upcoming nuptials.

At first, they tried to convince Hermione to cancel, still trying to work out why Draco had revealed his hand in Flitwick's class and suspecting something underhanded at work but when she refused point blank to even consider it they took to muttering about what a bad idea it was every time she was alone with them.

Worried that they wouldn't come to the wedding, Hermione finally sat them both down and explained why they were doing it so quickly and why she so desperately wanted her best friends to be there with her. She was aware they still weren't convinced she was making the right decision but at least they stopped commenting so negatively and she no longer felt like bashing their heads together.

She spent the next few days after Draco's revelation walking around with her wand out, worried that she would be attacked by someone, despite his warning, although fortunately that threat never materialised. Everyone appeared to have taken Draco at his word, and although she was aware that people were talking about her and almost every Slytherin Hermione came into contact with gave her the evil eye, no one dared to come anywhere near her.

As Hermione had predicted, knowledge of their engagement had spread like wildfire around the school and by the time she entered the Great Hall for dinner on that first evening she burned under the scrutinous gaze of not only the hostile Slytherins but the rest of the school as well. Feeling unexpectedly awkward at her sudden fame, Hermione blushed as she made her way to her seat in what seemed to be the longest walk ever, trying to ignore everyone but her friends and Draco.

As she finally took her place at the table she glanced up at the head table, wondering what they thought about the disturbance her arrival had caused. Surprised, she realised that the Headmaster was looking at her and smiling, not seeming bothered by the increase in conversation. Professor Snape was also staring at her but he was wearing that inscrutable expression that stopped her from working out what he was thinking. She just hoped he would be ready to step in if anyone from his House decided to free Draco from what they must see as a terrible fate. He acknowledged her with the briefest nod of his head, then turned away to talk to Professor Sinistra.

'Everyone's talking about you,' Ron hissed as she sat down opposite him. 'I can't believe that half the school is jealous that you're marrying Malfoy.' He looked and sounded disgusted. 'What is it about that bloke?'

'He's extremely handsome,' Hermione said. 'And when you actually bother to get to know him he's really nice, too.'

Ron snorted as he speared several pieces of chicken on his fork and transferred them to his plate.

'I'm sure there's been some not so nice stuff said, too,' Hermione suggested quietly.

She noticed Ron and Harry both went a bit red as she said this, but neither of them looked eager to share.

'There have been a few comments,' Harry eventually admitted. 'It's all rubbish, though, and anyone with half a brain cell would know it's not true.'

'I don't really care what anyone says or thinks,' Hermione told them honestly. 'The only people I care about are you two and Ginny, and you all know the truth. Everyone else can speculate as much as they like.'

Once the food was all eaten and the platters removed from the table, Ginny moved from the group of friends she had been sitting with and sat down next to Hermione.

'I hear you drugged Malfoy with an almost lethal dose of a love potion stronger than Amortentia in order to get him to marry you,' she announced jovially.

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Really? God, you'd think they'd have a bit more imagination, wouldn't you?' She frowned. 'They don't even know what they're talking about. There is no love potion stronger than Amortentia.'

'Ah, but everyone in the school knows what an amazing potion maker you are after your project, so they think you concocted one especially to trap Malfoy. Apparently, you knew Amortentia would be detectable so you created something that no one, not even Professor Snape, would spot.'

Hermione looked half-impressed, half-bemused by this extraordinary story. 'When was I supposed to have had time to do that? A love potion that no one could detect! God, I wish that was the case, I could make a fortune. Who the hell started that story?'

Ginny shrugged. 'I don't know exactly, but I think it was the Slytherins — most of the rumours seem to be originating from them. Not Pansy's lot, of course. They've been far more malicious, as you'd expect considering how humiliated she's feeling at the moment. That one was probably first years who are in awe of your ability to pull Malfoy. First years are a strange lot and they always believe any old rubbish.'

'Well, if that's the worst thing they're saying, I guess I should be pleased,' Hermione said.

'Some of Malfoy's cronies are likely to get hexed once he hears what they've been saying,' Ginny told her. 'It's all been pretty nasty stuff about sex.'

Hermione shrugged. 'They can think and say what they want, Ginny. Draco and I haven't done anything but kiss so I've got no dirty secrets to worry about being exposed. If they want to think that I lured him by having sex that's up to them.'

'But the things they say you've done,' Ginny told her quietly. She sounded quite upset.

Hermione knew that Harry and Ron had to have heard the same rumours as they were looking just as sympathetic as Ginny. She sighed as she realised everybody in the school now probably assumed that she had done all sorts of perverted things with Draco. Her stomach roiled worryingly. But there wasn't any point in getting upset. It was what it was. She, Draco, and hopefully her best friends knew the truth, so no one else mattered. She just wished her stomach would understand that and stop making her feel sick.

'Draco and I have only kissed,' Hermione repeated more loudly, not caring that other people at the table could hear. 'If anyone wants to listen to gossip and slander, that's up to them. I know some people have such dull lives they like to stir things up for others, and I'd hate to stop any fun they're having doing it.'

Ginny looked impressed. 'I don't think I could be so calm if I were in your position.'

'I honestly only care what my friends think, Ginny. We haven't done anything so there's no point in getting upset over a few words. I suppose Pansy's been feeding them her bile, has she?'

'Oh, Pansy and her friends have been pretty wicked in what they're saying, too, but actually, they haven't mentioned sex much — at least not you and Malfoy doing it. Pansy's story is that you put the Imperius Curse on him while you were working on your project and used it to convince him that the two of you should get married. She's adamant this is true because of that argument you had just before the end of the Potions project.'

Ginny stopped for a moment, biting her bottom lip worriedly as she debated whether to tell the rest of the story. It had seemed just as funny and improbable as all the other rumours being circulated when she had heard It, but now she was telling Hermione about it Ginny thought that it might be upsetting for her friend to hear, even though the story wasn't true. If Hermione took it the wrong way it could cause an argument between her and Draco.

'How did she come to that conclusion?' Hermione asked, interested to know how Pansy's mind worked. It was useful to know what lies she was spreading so Hermione would have an effective weapon to use against her should she ever need to deal with her.

Ginny looked dubious about replying but then said, 'She's citing that argument as proof. She says the argument happened when Draco managed to break free from the curse and got away from you. He went running straight back to her — his real true love.'

Hermione's stomach roiled again as she knew what was coming next. The question was, did Ginny believe it? Although Harry and Ron knew about Draco's indiscretion, she hadn't told Ginny because there was no need for her to know as far as Hermione was concerned. She just hoped this wasn't going to be enough to start her friends off suggesting once again that she should cancel the wedding.

Ginny rolled her eyes and sighed theatrically. 'Pansy says she knows she's his true love because they had sex that night and it was the "best night ever". Apparently, she was honestly convinced that he was going to ask herto marry him, but then you ruined it because you managed to put another spell on him before he could do that. Now she's telling everyone you've used Dark magic to bind him to you and removed all his memories of the person he's really in love with, so he gave the ring to you instead of her.'

Hermione waited to see what else she was going to say, expecting some comment about Draco and Pansy as a couple but instead, Ginny chuckled. 'She's really upset that you stole her boyfriend and her beautiful engagement ring, Hermione.'

Hermione shook her head and tried to look amused too. 'Well, I'll certainly give Draco the opportunity to change his mind and go back to his "true love".' For a moment her heart fluttered as she remembered Draco going off with Pansy and the pain she had felt at the time, but she shook the thought away. 'But somehow I don't think he's going to choose her.'

'No, I don't think so either. He'd be mad to dump you for her, especially after everything he's done to be with you,' Ginny said.

Hermione saw Harry and Ron glance at each other, then look in her direction, and she accurately guessed that they were thinking about Draco's previous indiscretion and how part of the story was accurate.

Before either of them could say anything about it to Ginny she said, 'Well, I know Draco can be a complete idiot sometimes, but I think he knows what he's doing this time — at least I hope he does.'