This is a non-canon story. Different couples, different situations, etc. I am changing a lot from the book and doing it my own way. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. If you do like it, then please, leave me some reviews because I love reading about what people think of my stories.

Disclaimer – I own nothing except my own ideas. Everything else belongs to Rowling.

Chapter 5

"Dearest Narcissa,

Things at Hogwarts have taken a scary turn. I am looking after Draco as best as I can, as I've promised you three years ago. And please, have no fear for me, I'm taking very good care of myself as well. Especially since you've been sending me those delicious butter cookies every fortnight. I'm glad you can appreciate my sweet tooth!

I know that you've been waiting for my recollection of the tournament so far, and I'm sorry for making you wait this long. I trust that Mr. Malfoy has kept you somewhat informed, although I doubt it's very accurate. We all know how Mr. Malfoy likes to interpret things to benefit himself somehow.

As you, and the rest of the wizarding world, already know, Harry's name was picked by the goblet. I had assumed that the Headmaster and the tournament officials would have brushed it aside as a mistake or a fluke. But they didn't, so he is now part of the tournament as a fourth competitor.

The first task was actually this past weekend. Harry was lucky enough to find out that they would be dealing with dragons. Draco was smart enough to remind me of the summoning charm, Accio. I quickly tried teaching Harry, even though he barely had enough time to learn. But he got the hang of it right before the task. Draco also suggested that Harry accio his broom...which is exactly what he did. You already know that Harry's a superb flyer! He flew around the dragon and narrowly escaped his death, but he retrieved the egg. He apparently needs that egg for the second task, but he doesn't know why. That's what we're working on figuring out now.

The entire school is now preparing for the Yule Ball, tomorrow. Harry and Ron still haven't asked anyone to the ball. I believe Draco has chosen Pansy Parkinson, as requested by his father. As for me … well … I haven't yet told Draco this … or Harry and Ron … but Viktor Krum has asked me to attend the ball with him. I have accepted because … well … I'm not the prettiest girl in the school, so I doubt someone else will ask me. I do not have your beauty, although I wish for it sometimes.

So, I shall write again soon, and let you know how the ball went! Thank you again for the new bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion! I can't wait to use it for the ball on my hair. I shall send you pictures as well. Hopefully I can sneak a few of Draco for you.

Wishing you lots of love and safety!

Hermione Granger"

She sighed and blew air onto the wet magic ink, helping it to dry a bit on the clean parchment. She folded the letter and placed a special seal on it that will only allow the intended reader to break the seal. She stood up from her seat in the library and stretched her limbs before gathering her books into her bag and heading for the owlery.

It was already 9pm and snow was falling heavily outside as Hermione made her way up the long tower of the owlery. She smiled and waited patiently until a bird decided to assist her. The brown barn owl flew down towards her, resting on a spot next to her head and pecking her ear lightly.

Hermione smiled, pulled out a snack from inside her robes and fed it to the willing owl. She then handed him her letter and stroked his chest gently.

"Take this to Narcissa Malfoy." she whispered. "And make sure she's alone when she gets it, ok?"

The owl pecked at her ear once more before flying out of the tower. Hermione stared after the owl as her mind began to wander over what Draco was doing at the moment. She had already admitted to herself that her constant thoughts about him recently had began to slightly bother her. She didn't know why her mind kept moving across to Draco, but she knew there had to be some subconscious reason. She did recall feeling a sharp pang of anger and sadness when Draco had informed her that he would be taking Pansy Parkinson to the Yule Ball, but she brushed it aside quickly, not giving it another thought … until now.

She leaned against the stone framed window, staring down at the soft blanket of snow that was quickly covering the ground, as her mind began to roll over so many thoughts at once. Her mind was so lost to her at this point that she didn't even notice someone quietly coming up to her from behind, until they placed a cold hand on her shivering shoulder.

"Hermione! You're freezing!" Draco's voice reached her ear. "How long have you been here?!"

Hermione jumped slightly and turned around to face the pair of concerned grey eyes staring at her. She looked up at the clock in the tower and realised that she had been standing by the open window for a full two hours. She frowned and shifted slightly before screaming out in pain as both her legs gave out. Before falling onto her face, Draco swiftly picked her up into his arms, holding her bridal style as he walked out of the tower, heading straight for the enclosed hut at the bottom.

"Draco, what are you doing!?" Hermione gasped as she clung to his robes, but quickly relaxed as she realised how warm he was compared to her. She smiled slightly as her body soaked up his warmth like a sponge.

Draco kicked open the door to the hut underneath the owlery, carrying her over the threshold and into the slightly warmer room. He frowned and placed her on the nearest chair before pulling his wand out and casting a warming spell throughout the room. Hermione's body shivered uncontrollably even though it was slowly warming itself back up.

Draco returned his wand to the inside pockets of his robe and glanced across the room at Hermione. She was curled up on the chair with her arms wrapped around her body.

"How could you not realise that you were standing out there for so long?" he snapped angrily.

"I was … thinking." Hermione offered the poor excuse, too exhausted to think of a lie.

"What were you thinking about?" Draco questioned.

"Nothing." Hermione rushed out too quickly.

"It must have been something if you were so entranced that you forgot the time!" Draco bellowed.

Hermione's anger quickly rose to its peak as she shot Draco a hard glare that would have cause Harry and Ron to run away in fear. But, so accustomed he was to her, that he just gave her a harsh glare right back. He growled angrily as he pulled out his wand again and casted a stronger warming spell over her freezing body.

"Thank you." Hermione whispered.

"Now … what had you so worried that you lost track of time and place?" he asked again.

"Harry still can't figure out the egg." she lied perfectly.

Draco sighed and pulled up a chair next to her. He glanced around the room and quickly realised that they were sitting in a cleaning hut. He glowered angrily at all the mops and brooms around them.

"Hermione, if we can't figure it out, you really think Potter will?" Draco rolled his eyes towards her.

"No, I suppose not." she sighed. "I just wish there was more we could do. He's very stressed out at the moment. I'm hoping that the ball tomorrow will help him unwind a bit."

Draco stared at her curiously, causing her to look away from him out of fear of him being able to read her so easily.

"Are you … excited … for tomorrow?" he wondered.

"Yes." she admitted. "I've never been to a ball before. I'm very excited to see what happens."

"You still haven't told me who you're going with." Draco turned his entire body to face her.

"No, I haven't." Hermione sighed.

"Well?" he snapped. "Are you going to tell me!?"

Draco bore his eyes into her, hoping to show her how much he needed to know. The past few days had been pure torture for him. He had seen the look of anger and hurt that had crossed her features that day when he revealed who he had to take to the ball. In his heart, he had wanted to take her … but that would have led to major repercussions that neither one of them were ready for. So, he had just stared at her until she gracefully pushed her emotions aside and gave him the political response he had been waiting for. But now, the mere thought of Hermione going to the ball with any other person besides himself, was getting him angered to the point of becoming irrational and insane.

"We should get some sleep." Hermione said softly, still not informing him of her choice.

"Ok." he agreed, knowing that she would never give in, even when pressured. She would give any torturer a damn hard time.

Draco stood up and offered his hand to her. She took it gingerly and they walked to the castle in comfortable but tensed silence. Once they arrived at the castle's entrance, he dropped her hand and stopped walking, staring after her as she entered the castle first and disappeared from his sight.

Hermione barely slept that night and decided to take a vial of dreamless sleep and lie in the next day. She didn't know that Draco had secretly gone to the library 10 times throughout the day, looking for her. She didn't know that Harry and Ron had paced at the foot of the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories all afternoon. No, Hermione Granger didn't know anything because she was too deeply asleep.

It was Ginny Weasley who finally roused the sleeping girl, to remind her that the ball was to start in two hours. Hermione flew out of her bed and took a long shower before she began the long task of dealing with her curly bushy hair. After a full hour, she was finally able to get her hair smooth and silky and styled in a sophisticated knot with hanging tendrils around it and her face. She slipped into her light periwinkle-blue dress robes and a pair of stylish silver heels.

She took a deep breath and entered her dorms, only to find it empty as everyone had already begun to head down to the Great Hall. She looked at herself once more before she quickly rushed out of the dorms and out of the common room, heading straight for the Great Hall. She stopped at the staircase leading to the hall's entrance and peeked out to see that the tournament contestants were preparing to enter with their escorts.

As she appeared and slowly made her way down the stairs to Viktor Krum's outstretched hand and smiling face, she noticed Harry had turned to stare at her with a shocked expression on his face. Never before had he seen his best friend, or anyone else for that matter, looking so exquisitely beautiful. Hermione gave Harry a shy smile and took Viktor's hand, instantly causing Harry to realise that she did indeed have a date, and it was, surprisingly, the most sought out male in their school at the moment. He knew then that Hermione Granger was going to shine tonight, and he felt a huge sense of pride well up inside of him. She was, after all, his best friend.

Hermione and Viktor entered the hall first and she instantly felt every eye in the room focused on her. She kept her head up and looked straight forward as Viktor pulled her into position for the opening dance. As Viktor reached down and firmly placed his hand on her waist, pulling her slightly closer against him, Hermione's eyes fell upon a pair of angry grey ones. The guilt she felt was overbearing and she wanted to run away and cry, but instead was lifted into the air by Viktor as the dance began. Her head began spinning, as she twirled around the floor with Viktor, looking in every direction for that pair of grey eyes once more.

Draco watched, as the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on, danced around the room with a man she had no business even being near. His blood was boiling as the voice in his mind kept screaming at him that she was his. He should have asked her to the dance. He should have said fuck it to everyone and just asked her.

As the first song finally came to an end, Hermione looked around for Draco, but was swiftly led away by Viktor towards a group of Durmstrang students. Hermione sighed and placed a fake smile on her face as she introduced to everyone around her. She tried to keep up with the conversations, but the only thing on her mind was the revelation she had come to. She was in love with her best friend. She quickly made a note in her mind to tell Draco how she really felt the next day. She would not be one of those girls who hid behind their crush and hoped that he would start things first. No, she would lay her feelings out on the table and hope that they were reciprocated.

As the night dragged on, she kept up her fake happy facade. The band had been fantastic to listen to, even though she knew none of the songs, but now she was finally free of Viktor as he had offered to go and get them something to drink. She, at first, went in search of Draco since she hadn't seen him at all after the first dance. But giving up hope, thinking he had returned to his rooms, she went to find Harry and Ron.

"Harry! Ron!" she greeted the two sulking boys at their table. "Viktor is getting us something to drink, would you like to join us? You can ask him about quidditch, Ron."

"No, we don't want to have drinks with you and Viktor!" Ron spat out. "How could you, Hermione? He's the enemy!"

"Enemy?" Hermione's anger instantly rose. "What are you talking about? You're the one who was most excited to see him when his school arrived! Isn't he your favorite player?!"

"He's Harry's competition." Ron snapped. "You should have known better. You should have just come with me instead!"

"You asked me as a last resort!" Hermione clenched her fists. "How is that supposed to be flattering to me!?"

"What did you do to him?" Ron wondered. "Did you imperio him to ask you?"

Hermione inhaled sharply as Harry opened his mouth to reprimand Ron, noticing the hurt look on Hermione's face.

"I can't believe you just said that to me, Ronald." Hermione gritted her teeth together. "You … you … you spoil everything!"

Hermione turned on her heel and left as Harry stood up to run after her. He ran as fast as he could as she disappeared out of the Great Hall, heading straight for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Hermione pushed open the bathroom door and entered but stopped at the sight in front of her.

Draco Malfoy had Pansy Parkinson pressed up against the wall, with the strap of her dress robes hanging off of her shoulders. Draco turned his head to tell whoever had interrupted them to fuck off, but his eyes landed on the real person he wanted to kiss at the moment.

Hermione stared at the scene in front of her as unknowing tears rolled down her face. Harry finally caught up to her, saw her crying and turned to see what she was staring at. He glared at Draco before realising that something was very … very … wrong.

A/N

Now, I know a lot of you wanted Draco to take Hermione, but trust me...it gets better from here! Thank you for all the reviews and keep letting me know your thoughts!