Hermione was walking towards the lake at a slow, leisurely pace. She knew that both Harry and Ginny were late sleepers and seeing as how this was Sunday, they would be sleeping doubly late. She'd slept surprisingly well last night. Her exhausted body had taken over and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she had known no more.

Partly hoping, but not really expecting, to see Draco there this morning, the amount of disappointment from him not being there was shocking.

Suddenly, an eerie feeling crept over her, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. That's odd! This is the same feeling I had last night: Almost as though some-one is watching me.

Before she could become concerned about it, the sensations passed. It happened so quickly that she began wondering whether it was real or not.

Deciding that her nerves were merely playing tricks on her, Hermione continued on her way. I love this lake. There was a large rock beside the water, close enough that anyone who wanted to could dangle their feet in the water, and she headed towards it.

No sooner had she sat down, then she heard a voice call her name. She'd offered a wave hello in their general direction, but didn't bother to look at them, as she was in the process of taking off her shoes.

A shadow fell across her, and a voice floated by. "Hello 'Mione. I've missed you."

…………………………………………………………………………………

Draco woke extremely early. Well, extremely early for him anyway. He was tired, and his body longed to return to sleep, but he was unwilling to do that. He would be returning to Hogwarts today, and was anxious to be on his way.

A quick snap of his fingers called a house elf. "Sir?"

"I'm going to get a quick shower. When I finish, have my breakfast brought to me." As an after thought he added, "Please."

"Yes, sir." The house elf bowed respectfully, then seemed to hesitate before asking cautiously. "Would the young master be eating with his mother, sir, or in his own room?"

"My mother's awake?"

"Yes, sir. She did not go to bed last night, sir."

Draco reached out to grab the elf's shoulder, but stopped when the creature automatically cringed away. "Stop that. I'm not going to punish you. Tell me, where is my mother now?"

"In the sitting room, sir. She has not left that spot since she talked with the young miss last eve."

"Well hell! Never mind the shower, just bring some breakfast to the sitting room. Enough for two."

"Yes, sir." The elf disappeared, but Draco wasn't there to see him do so, he was already heading down the hall.

She was indeed sitting on the couch, just as the house elf had said. Other than the shadows under her eyes, you would never know that she hadn't slept all night. Her clothes looked clean and straight, and not one hair was out of place. Draco half expected her to say something to him about his unkempt appearance, but she barely seemed to notice him.

"Mother?" He asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

Her eyes appeared sad and she shrugged. "Oh, this and that. Yesterday did not go at all the way I had hoped."

Filled with compassion, Draco patted her arm. "I know. I didn't like it either. I gather that you talked with her?"

"Yes. I sat her down and explained everything. I apologized for giving her false hope, and for making judgment about things when I didn't know the whole truth, I even offered her an out."

"You did?" That was a surprise. After Pansy tried to hex me last night, I thought she'd lost any sympathy mother might have felt.

Narcissa seemed to know what he was thinking. "I wasn't happy with her actions last night, son, and make no mistake about it, I did discuss that with her. But I have thought of her as my future daughter-in-law for most of your life now, and I truly love that child. It hurt me to hurt her."

"I can understand that." And he really could. Regardless of how upset he'd been with her lately, Draco had known Pansy all his life, and they had been very close. Draco had been the one she'd wronged, but he still felt bad at having hurt her so badly. He could only imagine how much worse it would feel to his mother, who felt like she'd betrayed the girl. Still, one thing his mother had said captured his attention. "You said you 'offered her an out'? Did she take it? What was it?"

"No, she wouldn't accept. I explained to her how I'd cast the confundus charm on the floo network, and I had yet to remove it. A minor adjustment or two and everyone that left here would have no memory of that particular part of the evening. I explained to her that I would make it so that no-one ever knew of it: be as though it never happened. But I also told her, and quite firmly, that you were off limits. She would never have you, and if she tried to trap you again, well, I'm too much of a lady to say it a second time, but rest assured that all thoughts in that vein have been destroyed."

Draco nodded his approval. It made him feel remarkably better that she'd at least been offered a chance to make her own choice.

Narcissa laughed. "I wish you could have seen her dramatics! She cried and sobbed and claimed that if she 'couldn't have you, then it didn't matter who she had', just going on and on about living half a life. But the long and short of it is, she accepted. I think she was too proud of the fact that she's the first seventh year student in your class to become engaged. Her pride won't let her give that up."

Draco laughed too. That sounded just like Pansy. "So it all worked out for the best?"

Narcissa nodded. "It all worked out for the best. By the time she left, she and Mallory were making plans as fast as they could. Crabbe didn't say anything, just sat back and let his mother make his decisions for him. Once they're married, I'm sure that Pansy will be more than willing to take over that job. She'll have someone to boss around and do her bidding, and Crabbe will have someone to do his thinking for him!"

Feeling much better about the whole situation, Draco gave her a strong hug. "I'm glad everything worked out. More for your sake, than for theirs, but glad none the less."

"Yes." Narcissa's smile faded a little. "While I'm making everything clear, I know that I owe you an apology, son. You were right when you said that Pansy wasn't meant for you, and I should have listened. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Can I be nosy and ask why you're so sure I was right all of a sudden? You knew about her personality before, so I doubt that has anything to do with it."

With a secret smile, Narcissa reached down and cradled a small black bag in her hands. Judging by the sounds it made, there appeared to be several small metal things in the bag. He threw a curious glance at it.

"What's in there?"

"The reason I'm so sure that Pansy wasn't the one who was meant to be."

Unsure what she meant by that, but unwilling to waste anymore time prying it out of her, he jumped up. "Well, I'm off to get a shower, then if you don't mind, I'd like to go ahead and return to Hogwarts. I have someone I'm anxious to see!"

………………………………………………………………………….

Hermione looked up, her eyes filled with shock as they took in a face that she hadn't seen much of lately. "Ron! What are you doing here?"

His expression was hurt. "Why would you ask something like that?"

Okay, that was rude, but seriously, what did he expect me to say? 'Hi! You've been mean to me, broken our friendship, and ignored me, but you're back now, so it's all good! No need to talk it out or anything.'

"Sorry. I didn't think, it just sort of popped out."

Ron's smiled. "That's my Hermione. Just acting without thinking things through."

Look who's talking!

Ron sat next to her on the boulder and threw his arm around her shoulders, ignoring her when she tried to squirm away. He started talking, for the most part sounding as though nothing had ever happened between the two of them. "I'm missed you so much! You have no idea! Classes have been murderous because the teachers are all babbling about nonsense and going ninety miles an hour. By the by, did you get the rest of the notes from Potions last week? I had to leave because of those-"

Hermione had been trying to gently get his attention, but finally she couldn't stand it any longer. "Ronald!" she burst out. "Do you honestly believe you can behave the way you have been, then just waltz up and ask to copy my notes? Is that all you wanted from me? To copy my notes?"

"Well what did you expect?"

"To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from you. The last I heard, you never wanted to speak to me again. I was 'as good as dead to you', remember?"

"Well that was before."

Fury began building in her eyes. "Before what?"

"Before, when you were hanging out it that jerk off, Malfoy. Surely you didn't expect me to stay friends with you while you were fraternizing with the enemy!"

"Draco is not the enemy! Haven't you learned anything?"

"Guess not."

She stared at him incredulously. " I can't believe you! Well, I've got news for you, Ronald Weasley: I'm still friends with Draco Malfoy and hopefully I always will be! In fact, I'd like to be a whole lot more than merely friends with him!"

"Oh, please." Ron snorted. "The whole school's talking about how Pansy Parkinson got engaged last night. Who else would it be to, if not that blonde little ferret?"

Hermione felt her heart sink at that news, but she refused to let depression over come her at this point in time. She'd deal with that later. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that he's taken!" Ron sneered in her face. "I'm saying that he's done the first sensible thing of his life and chosen some-one from his own House to be with!"

"That-that doesn't mean that we can't still be friends." Hermione was trying desperately to keep her voice from wavering. Calm, Hermione. You need to stay calm.

Another snort. "Don't fool yourself, 'Mione. He's through with you. Now you can be back where you belong: with me!"

Throwing his arms around her waist and pulling her close, Ron lowered his head as though to kiss her. "Come on, 'Mione," he whispered. "We've been putting this off for long enough. I love you and you love me. That blonde ferret is gone from your life for good."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Weasel!"

The voice came from behind them and was filled with malicious intent.

Hermione looked up. "Draco!"

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A/N: Really wanted to get this in for you guys before I left for my long weekend. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are awesome! )