Second update of the day! I have loved reading all your reviews so far, and I am so glad so many are involved with this story. It truly does make me so happy. I have also loved reading your ship comments of a few other characters, and I just want to remind everyone, that nothing is ever as it seems in this story.

I was told I was very Slytherin like from my last chapter and it made me laugh so much. Every quiz/ test I have taken, I have always been in Slytherin. Maybe that should be a little bit of a prewarning for you all with the upcoming chapters.

Again, sorry for any grammar/ spelling mistakes and please continue to leave your great reviews!

Much love xo

Chapter Thirteen

Ginny sat on the couch, watching Daphne reading trying to read her book, as her mind went into overdrive. She dared a glance at the back of the common room, to which she saw the boys playing a rather tense game of Exploding Snap. Harry had convinced Blaise it would be a great idea to play a game, just minutes after Theo had dropped his bombshell on them. Theo had also been dragged along by a persistent shove from Daphne. Ginny smiled slightly to herself when she noticed even Ron had joined in on the game, grinning to himself when a card exploded in Blaise's face.

Something was off about what Theo had witnessed under the spell. Ginny couldn't explain how she knew.

She just did.

There was absolutely no way that Luna Lovegood was Theodore Nott's soulmate. No way in hell.

Not that there was anything wrong with Luna- No, Ginny absolutely adored the ground that she walked on; but she struggled to see how they were meant to be. They just didn't seem like they would mesh well. She in all honestly didn't know Theo that well either, but she still couldn't imagine the pairing.

After the shock had worn off, she really and truly paid attention to the Slytherin. Theo looked absolutely devastated. He certainly didn't look like a boy who had just figured out who the love of his life was, and she was pretty sure it had little to do with Blaise's crush on the Ravenclaw.

Ginny heard Daphne sigh as she chucked her book to the corner, running a hand through her jet black hair. She decided quickly with Daphne distracted that she would try and investigate what the hell was going on.

"Hey, Daphne. The lake that you saw under the spell- what did it look like?" Ginny tried to keep her tone light as to not arise suspicion. She had no idea where the bloody hell she was going with this, but she was rolling with it.

"It looked like water," the girl laughed, shifting more comfortably in her seat as Ginny rolled her eyes. "When I was first put under it was hard to tell as it was dark. I saw the lake again last night in my dream, and I realised it was in a back garden. There was a huge Tudor like house just in the distance." She answered seriously.

Ginny nodded her head. Definitely not The Burrow like she had originally thought. A wave of relief flooded through her body for Daphne. She was so thankful that she did not need to put up with any of her brothers for the remainder of her life.

"Did you see any colours?"

"Yeah, silver and green." Ginny was fairly confident that the colours everyone had been seeing were the Hogwarts House colours.

Ginny was nibbling on her thumb, deep in thought, when was momentarily distracted by the cover of the book Daphne had been reading.

"Mythical creatures and where to find them?" Ginny read aloud, raising her eyebrow at the flushing Slytherin, who quickly snatched the book up to her chest. Not something she would have expected her to read, but at this stage, nothing would have surprised her.

"Yeah, um, my granny and grandad- well, more my granny had a fascination with magical creatures. She has hundreds of books on every magical creature you could think of in their summer house in the hills."

"Well, now you have caught my attention," Ginny mused, placing her feet on the table and waiting for Daphne to continue. She chuckled slightly, placing the book back down. "I need to hear all about your granny and grandad."

"They went to Hogwarts together, but they didn't actually get together until the end of sixth year. It was quite the scandal actually- them falling in love."

"Why?"

"Well my grandad was a Slytherin, but my granny was a Ravenclaw. It was completely unheard of back then. They were both were purebloods, but the romantic mixing of house's was a big no, no." Daphne grinned, her brown eyes twinkling as she shared her story.

"Blasphemy!" Ginny cried dramatically, clutching at her heart for more of a dramatic effect. She noticed that both Harry and Theo looked up from their game at that moment; Harry affectionately rolling his eyes, and Theo smiling softly. Ginny quickly observed that Theo's smile was not directed at her.

"It truly was back then! Anyway, I used to spend my summers with them. We would pack up and go to their summer house. It was in a beautiful secluded part of Scotland; surrounded by nothing but hills. I absolutely loved going there!"

Ginny smiled to herself, mentally ticking off points as the eager witch continued her story.

"My grandad considers himself a bit of an inventor. Every summer there would be a new bit added to the house- it ended up looking like a really odd house in the middle of nowhere," Daphne laughed, her face stretched out in a grin as she spoke about her memories, "to make matters worse my granny and grandad split the house right down the middle in their house colours. So, it was an odd mixture of blue, bronze, green and silver."

"I'm surprised you weren't placed in Ravenclaw." Ginny spoke, leaning back into the pillows, trying in vain to control the smile that wanted to burst.

"The Sorting Hat almost did, but I asked to be put into Slytherin. I didn't want to be disappoint my dad." Daphne's voice remained steady, but Ginny could tell that she didn't want to relive any of those memories.

"And the book?" Ginny asked, redirecting the conversation back.

"Oh, yeah. So, my granny is obsessed with mythical creatures. She was the one that got me interested in it. She has a dozen copies of The Quibbler in her room come to think of it. I tried to convince her that most of the stuff written in there was nonsense, but she didn't listen to me."

It was like a hallelujah moment. Ginny nodded her head calmly at Daphne, but inside she was bloody screaming. When she didn't respond, Daphne raised her eyebrow.

"Ginny?"

"Oh, sorry! I was deep in thought. I need to speak to Harry about something. Excuse me." Ginny practically flew of the couch, leaving Daphne flabbergasted on the couch. She approached the boys within seconds, feeling a little out of breath, but mostly wanting to jump for joy.

"Blaise, can I talk to you quickly?" Ginny rudely interrupted, earning a glare from Ron, that she completely ignored. If the Slytherin was surprised he didn't know it. He pushed himself up from his seat, nodding his head as he followed Ginny up the stairs towards the dormitory. She made sure not to look at Theo.

They had barely reached the entrance to the boys' quarters when she turned suddenly to face a surprised Blaise.

"Theo thinks that Luna is his soulmate. Actually, I even thought the same- up until about five minutes ago." Ginny blurted out all in one breath.

Blaise stared at her for a few seconds before he cracked up. Ginny wasn't exactly sure what his reaction would be to the news, but she hadn't been prepared for laughter.

"Sorry! That was funny." Blaise spat out between laughter. "Luna is definitely not his soulmate."

As if sensing the oncoming barrel of questions, he added "I know she's not because she's mine. I've already spoken to her." Blaise grinned down happily at her.

"I knew it!" She whispered, slapping Blaise on the shoulder. He pretended to wince for her ego, but Ginny merely waved him off.

"I can't believe he thought Luna was his soulmate."

"Well I mean, he saw the Quibbler and a house that resembles hers, as well as the Ravenclaw colours. We all thought it for a moment." She admitted. "Does Theo have a lake in his back garden? Is his house Tudor like?"

"Yes, and yes- we used to play in the lake when we were kids." Blaise nodded, eyeing up Ginny with curiosity. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Did you know Daphne has a Quibbler reading Granny that lives in an odd shaped house in the hills?" She mused. Blaise's eyes widened as he absorbed her information. "The Sorting Hat was going to place her in Ravenclaw. She has been seeing a lake in the garden of a Tudor looking house."

Blaise laughed brightly.

"Man, he's fancied her for as long as I can remember."

….

Draco still wasn't calm when he finally entered the common room hours later. He was angry at Hermione, but he was mostly angry at himself. He couldn't even blame her for the way she had acted. He had made over six year of her life a misery. Nothing would ever take back all the horrible words he had shouted, or the sneers he would give her as she walked past him in the hallways. Sure, he gave all the Gryffindor's a hard time back then, but he always reserved a little bit extra for the curly haired witch.

Cursing himself for his own stupidity, he didn't realise he had walked squarely into Ron Weasley.

Oh, this day was just getting better and better.

"Watch it, Malfoy." Ron snapped.

"I clearly wasn't paying attention, Weasley." Draco muttered. He was far too tired for another argument, and he had much less patience for Ron than he did Hermione. His stomach did a weird sort of flip as he thought of her. Guilt was doing weird things to his body lately.

"Didn't you leave with Hermione?" Ron asked calmly, although the accusation was there hanging in the air between them.

"She's not back yet?" Draco was unable to keep the concern out his voice.

"No. What happened while you two were gone?" Ron only raised an eyebrow at him.

"We got into an argument." Draco answered vaguely, itching to get away from the Weasley.

"Over what?" Ron dug deeper, watching him with narrowed eyes.

"I don't know, Weasley! That's the problem!" Draco was getting frustrated now. His palms were beginning to get clammy and his mind was calling out to go and find out where she was.

What the fuck?!

"What is your sudden fascination with Hermione lately?"

"I don't have a fascination with-"

"Fine, I'll rephrase it. Why are you suddenly acting like you give a shit about her now?" Ron interrupted him, with an edge to his voice.

Draco stared at him. He couldn't even argue with the stupid prat that he was wrong. For months now, all Draco had been able to think about was that fateful night at the Manor, and the know it all witch. Although, he hadn't expected to suddenly notice the shape of her body, or how beautiful her chocolate coloured eyes were, but he was certainly not going to mention that to Weasley.

"I wish I knew myself." Draco finally admitted, careful to keep his expression blank.

All Ron did was huff. "She will most likely be out near the Black Lake. Mione normally always goes there when she's upset."

Draco just stood there, numbly nodding at the redhead, and before he was even aware, his feet were moving for him.

Daphne looked up from her book, watching as Draco dashed back out the common room like a wizard on a mission, with a small smile tugging at her lips.

It was the grey sky that made it all click.

She felt a warm body slump down next to her on the couch, and before she had time to register what was going on, Theo snatched the book from her hands.

"So, what is it today then, Daph? Are we on fairies or vampires?" Theo wiggled his eyes playfully at the beautiful girl.

Daphne laughed loudly, as Blaise and Ginny smiled at each other from the other end of the room.

….

He didn't know what to say, and he didn't know why he felt so strongly about seeing her again, but he had to sort this out. Hermione had to know once and for all that Draco Malfoy did not give a shit any longer about blood status. He didn't care that she was muggleborn. He didn't think that she was dirty, or inferior to him. He wanted more than anything to tell her that she was in fact better than him in every way. She was a better person- a purer person. He knew that she would go out of her way for anything, and that she would do anything she could to help. Merlin, she was even trying to help the bloody House-Elves.

Even if she never wanted to be in the same room again with him, he had to get this off his chest. He could no longer live with this guilt. It was eating away at him, forever lingering in the back of his mind, and he wanted to prove to her that he had changed, and he would continue to change for the better.

He also had no fucking clue as to why it was so important to him at this moment in time to say this all to Hermione Granger.

Draco finally arrived at the Black Lake, thanking Ron quickly, when he recognised her wild curls blowing in the breeze. It was already dark, and there was a slight chill in the air. He slowly approached her from behind, trying to find whatever fucking courage and confidence he had left, when she suddenly turned to face him.

"You stomp like a Hippogriff. I heard you coming a mile away." She didn't sound angry, but Draco was now away at how quick Hermione's mood could change.

"Charming as always, Granger."

She shrugged her shoulders, looking back out over the Black Lake. "How did you know where I was?"

"Believe it or not, Weasley told me."

"What Weasley? There are two still left in Gryffindor." Hermione quirked her eyebrow, glancing over her shoulder, as he moved to stand next to her. He huffed, glaring at her slightly before watching the still water.

"Ron." He practically bit out.

"Why would he tell you?" The surprise was clearly evident in her voice, and Draco couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"I know, Granger- I was shocked as well."

They fell into a comfortable silence, both watching the Lake. Draco narrowed his eyes, looking up into the sky as he noticed stars finally beginning to peak out from behind the clouds. He could tell that when the clouds disappeared, the sky would light up. He almost didn't want to ruin the moment, but his hands were beginning to grow clammy once more.

"Granger, I just wanted to say to you properly that I don't care that you are a muggleborn. Your blood status makes no difference to me, and I am truly sorry for the way I treated you." Draco didn't look at her as he spoke. He continued to stare up into the sky. He was worried about how he might react if he were to make eye contact with her.

It wasn't the speech he had planned out in his head, but it would have to do.

"I appreciate that, Malfoy." Hermione breathed, sighing when the wind suddenly whipped a chunk of hair in her face. "Between the stupid wind, and my missing shampoo bottle, my hair is going to be one big knot when I get back inside."

Draco curtly laughed at her exasperated expression as she tried to control her hair, "Missing shampoo?"

"I think someone took my shampoo bottle. It's the only shampoo that controls this!" She added, circling her arm around her head as the wind continued to terrorise her hair.

Draco smirked, opening his mouth to ask her another question when the last cloud in the sky shifted. Just like he had expected, the black sky light up with thousands of stars, and he instantly felt the nervous bubble in his stomach settle.

"Who needs books when you have that!" He whispered, pointing up to the shimmering sky. "Let's try and see if we can find that constellation of yours."