(This is my Harry Potter/Cinderella Story fanfic and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Basically, this is the plotline of A Cinderella Story but to Harry Potter, with some slight alterations.

I'm sorry I've taken so long to update, my life has been busy with lots of college work – I'll hopefully update more chapters soon and eventually get this fanfic finished. I know there have been faults in the plot and typos etc and I apologise for those. Also, I realize this story has some pretty much identical things as the film, but also misses out moments; I just hope that doesn't bother people.

I don't own the characters; they belong to JK Rowling and her fabulous imagination. The plotline isn't mine either. So nothing belongs to me really.)

Chapter Fourteen

Draco was already in the owlery when Hermione arrived. She blushed and lowered her head. She approached an owl and began to attach a letter when Draco noticed her.

"Hey Hermione." He greeted politely. Hermione jumped and turned around to face Draco.

"Oh, hi Draco."

"What are you doing? I mean, what are you sending? I know what you're doing of course." Draco asked equally politely, without saying anything mean at all. He was treating Hermione really courteously which surprised her even more about what Draco is really like.

"A letter to my parents." Hermione replied.

"Saying?"

"That I've been offered a placement at St Mungo's." Hermione couldn't believe she'd told him. He'd probably laugh at her, even though he was being nicer.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Wow, that's amazing. So have I. I've just sent a letter to my parents also telling them I got a placement too."

"Wow that is amazing." Hermione was astonished. "You want to be a medi-wizard Draco?"

"Yeah. I do." Draco replied stiffly, expecting Hermione to laugh at him. After a short pause, where she didn't laugh, she finally said.

"Well done." Hermione smiled "That's a great decision and a good path to follow."

"Thanks." Draco smiled back. 'Hermione is actually a really nice girl. If only she thought I was nice too. Maybe she will one day, I can show her I'm actually a decent person. This apprenticeship will help because we both are going to be doing the same thing.' Draco thought, as he smiled.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd want to do that though. I mean. Well, sorry, but…your father and your history. I would have expected you to be different. Years of spending time with Harry does that to you. He was always suspicious of you, and of Professor Snape. Last year of course Professor Snape showed his true colours; he killed Professor Dumbledore," Draco flinched "but Harry was there and he told us about you…how you faltered. You couldn't, and didn't, want to go through with it. That's why this year he's been better around you. There is less animosity. And of course, you're more popular now than ever as a result of last year."

Draco nodded.

"I don't want to be popular though. It's not me. I'm not really like the Draco that everyone sees. I'm not evil. I'm good. My dad was a death eater, he made me one, but I didn't want the mark. Unfortunately I've got it. Nothing will ever get rid of it. But, it shows me, reminds me, what people see when they look at me. You'd think everyone would hate me, but they don't. I'm the school 'bad boy'. I don't want that though, it's a stupid reputation. I'm not like that. I just…can't show people who I really am. It's too different from the Draco that they know. So, I continue to live up to the reputation." Draco looked thoughtful as he paused. Then he looked at Hermione. "Hey, Hermione, do you ever feel like if you show people who you really are, they won't accept you?"

"Yeah, I do." Hermione replied slowly as she sent the owl off to her parents. She thought about what to say next carefully "Like being yourself isn't good enough."

"Right." Replied Draco, nodding his head.

"Like you're wearing a mask." Hermione added, biting her lip. Draco gazed at Hermione and tilted his head slightly at the comment before replying.

"That's exactly how I feel." Draco was surprised at how insightful Hermione was.

"You just want to be honest with this person and say 'This is me. I'm the one you're looking for'" Hermione said, treading on what felt to her like dangerous grounds. Surely he'd pick up on what she was saying.

"Yeah." Draco nodded.

"Draco, I'm," Hermione was about to confess she was Juliet.

"Hermione!" someone called her name. Hermione looked to the side. Neville was waiting to talk to her. "I need to talk to you."

"I've got to go anyway. Thanks. Very much." Draco said, walking away and out of the owlery before Hermione could tell him she was Juliet. Hermione walked over to Neville.

"Hey Neville, what is it?"

"You were talking to Draco. You're his Juliet aren't you?" Neville said. Hermione gasped.

"You know!" Neville nodded. "You haven't told anyone have you?" Neville shook his head. "Thank you. Please don't."

"I won't. I thought…well…we've got something in common."

"Which is…"

"The night you were with Draco at the ball…I was with Pansy Parkinson."

"Pansy?!" Hermione was shocked.

"Yeah, she was getting some grief from Vincent Crabbe and I kind of helped her out. She was grateful and, well, she kissed me." Neville blushed but smiled.

"Aw, how sweet," Hermione lied, trying not to grimace at the thought of lovely Neville with the ugly pug-faced cow. "Does she know it was you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I told her the day after the ball. She…well, she said nothing could ever happen between us, but not in a nasty way. Then, she just left. So, I came to say that maybe you shouldn't tell Draco you're Juliet. After watching you two talk though, I've changed my mind. You should tell him. So, now, instead, I wish you good luck." Neville said kindly, before leaving the owlery also. Hermione smiled and left also. I'll tell Draco soon' she thought.

She went and found Harry and Ron.

"I talked to Draco today. Not as Juliet, but as Hermione. He didn't hate me. We actually got on." She smiled.

"So you told him everything?" Ron asked.

"Well, no, I didn't. I'm going to though, soon."

"When?" Harry asked.

"I'll tell him on Saturday, you know, tomorrow after the Quidditch match when Hufflepuff play Slytherin. I'll find him somewhere and confess who I am." Hermione said. Her friends smiled.

"Good for you. Good luck too" They said in unison. Hermione shook her head, grinning. 'More like Fred and George now than ever' she thought to herself, amused.

Outside in the grounds of Hogwarts the Patil twins were talking to Pansy Parkinson and her friend Millicent Bulstrode. Both were 'crying' and had pieces of parchment in their hand.

"And then she told us she wanted to steal Draco away from you if it was the last thing she did." Parvati told Pansy.

"She has always been so jealous of you." Padma added as she sniffed loudly into a piece of tissue to be dramatic.

"Go on." Pansy urged.

"So, that was when she invented this 'Juliet' plot. She wrote a letter and addressed it to Draco. When he wrote back she continued to write to him in a way that made him feel attracted to her. She wanted to trick him into liking her so he'd dump you and go out with her after the ball." Parvati lied.

"We wanted to tell you sooner, but she said if we did, she'd curse us," Padma said before adding on the end in a hushed whisper "with the avada kedarva curse."

Pansy and Millicent shared a look that clearly showed they doubted that.

"If you don't believe us, read some of the letters she kept." Said Parvati as she placed the pieces of parchment in front of Pansy, who started to leaf through the letters, scanning each page. "She calls him Confused Dragon and she goes by the name Misunderstood Muggle-born…but her real name is Hermione Granger."

Pansy's face changed upon hearing that name, as did Millicent's. Pansy looked at the twins and said darkly.

"So…that little boyfriend stealing, bushy-haired, buck-toothed, know-it-all, mudbloos bookworm thinks she can take Draco away from me and get away with it. Well, we'll just see about that."

A few minutes later Padma had approached Luna Lovegood, who would be doing the commentary for the Quidditch match tomorrow.

"Hey Luna. Draco woke up late today and asked me to tell you he would like you to make a little announcement tomorrow before the match. Basically, he wants you to say 'Romeo would like to meet his Juliet today after the quidditch match' just before the game. After you say that, though, a few friends of mine and myself would like you to say 'but before then, some seventh-year students have made a little piece of drama to perform to the school to rouse team spirits.' Got that?" Padma said. Luna nodded, her eyes open vacantly. Padma placed a piece of parchment with those words written on in her hand anyway as a reminder. "Thanks, bye."

Padma walked away and joined her sister and the two Slytherin girls. They were off to rehearse their little play as part of their plan for revenge.