AN: READ FIRST. I apologize if this chapter is particularly long, but it's sort of already two chapters jived into one. So I do hope you still read, plus, there's something in the end you shouldn't miss, because from there the plot will start to change. ;)

Thanks for pointing out that Three Broomsticks is in Hogsmeade, not Diagon Alley, and I'm really sorry for the mistake.

Draco woke up the next day with a head ache, he decided it was due to the fact of his alarming realization last night.

He looked to his left, and sure enough, there was the girl he'd just been thinking of wide awake the whole time last night, sleeping soundly.

Now, Draco Malfoy was stubborn, and he still didn't forget the fact that he still is a Slytherin, a Pureblood, and a well-known Malfoy for that matter. He wasn't about to step down and stoop so low to be level with what he considered inferior and low. He was after all, taught and bred that he was superior.

So he did not believe his realization last night, however much it seemed real and true, he refused to believe it, and sooner or later, he was again that cold Slytherin towards the Muggle-born beside him.

He smirked. He knew he'd never have feelings for her. Of course not.

Soon everyone was awake and went down in their pajamas still, too lazy to change, and they ate breakfast.

"Ooooh. Hello Drake Mendez. Good morning!" Fred and George said cheering. Draco looked at them and scoffed.

"Excuse me, who said you can talk to me?" He said coldly and sat down far away from the rest. He didn't sit down next to Hermione, to Harry's surprise and anger, Draco could see her multi colored boils appear.

"Who said you can keep the stuck up attitude, Malfoy? I thought we had a clear understanding…" George said threateningly, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Draco's nose.

Draco looked down at the wand. He had forgotten that he was supposed to at least try and get a long or else he was cursed off by jokers who were (to his alarm) allowed to perform magic. He gulped. It was as if the past two days he's been in the Burrow have been thrown down the trash ever since he made a big realization and tried his best to push it away. Apparently, he seemed to have pushed away those memories too.

"Alright." He simply said and sat down beside Hermione. They all noticed that Hermione's boils disappeared without so much as mere contact.

"Oi! Looky! The boils disappeared! NananaNAna!!!" Ron said happily.

They all looked.

"Blimey!!!" Fred exclaimed. "It's not that, Ron actually said something smart!!" He said.

"Way to go ickle Ronniekins!" George exclaimed while the rest burst out laughing and Ron just went beet red.

"Oh yes, it's supposed to." Hermione suddenly said.

Fred cocked an eyebrow. Hermione smiled and said, "I've been researching about it, and turns out, if it is involuntarily healed by the owner, it can only last 5 days, and as it is already the third day, it's starting to wear out…." She said happily.

"You simply have to be a know-it-all, do you Granger?" Draco asked smirking and Hermione glared and stomped on his feet.

"It's just because, you on the other hand, know nothing at all." She simply said.

"Alright alright! Settle down you big pair of girls!!!" Ginny was saying exasperated towards her twin brothers.

They were laughing so hard that they were all rolling on the floor already.

They all finished their breakfast and were currently at the twins room, sitting on the floor playing truth or dare, much to Draco's displeasure. He was beside Hermione again, no contact, but he inflicted results still.

"I can't believe you had a crush on Sirius, Gin! Whoaaa!!" George was saying through huffs and puffs of ridiculous laughter. Harry was simply quiet and trying to contain himself, while Hermione, Ron and Draco were smiling goofily.

"Well….! I thought his long dark hair was rather… sexy. I mean! It's not like everyday you get to stumble across some convicted murderer who is actually innocent and hence is already feared and that's just so sexy!" Ginny spluttered when she saw her brothers howl with laughter.

Draco wasn't disgusted, he was just surprised and amused.

Harry on the other side, spoke up, "I can't believe you chose my godfather over me, Gin!" He said turning red.

"Oh no Harry it's not th—" Ginny was cut off.

"Awww. Mr. Boy who lived is jealous of my own mother's cousin?" Draco said trying to irritate the boy. "Ooooh very interesting." He teased and Hermione nudged him hard with her elbow.

"Shut up!" She simply said.

"Oi…." Fred suddenly said.

Draco knew that tone, it wasn't good, it wasn't any good. Three days in the Burrow and he already knew the different kinds of effects the Weasley twins' tones had.

"How 'bout you if you're such a great big Slytherin Prince, eh…? Why don't you spill the beans, eh? Alright, truth, or dare?" He asked wickedly.

Draco looked at the red headed twin and didn't even dream of choosing dare since he was fully aware of what these twins' creativity could do to him.

He swallowed hard, and said, in a low, low voice, "Truth."

"Aaaaaaah." George suddenly said satisfied. "Payback." Ron and Harry added, grinning.

They all huddled together, well, all except Hermione, who was simply sitting down since she had nothing else to do and didn't really approve of such a game. They whispered, nodded, and when they finished talking and started to face them, Draco could see that they all had identical evil, very very evil grins.

Suddenly Draco was more afraid of them than Lord Voldemort.

This is NOT good….

"So…. Dear Drakie-poo…" Fred started.

"Stuck here in the Burrow with nothing to do…" George added.

"His stupidity gave 'Mione boils we thought were forever…" Harry started.

"But then to heal they had to be together…" Ginny said satisfied.

"So now we all wonder if maybe, just maybe…." Ron trailed.

"Dear Drake's developed feelings for the lady?" They all chirped excitedly.

Merlin's beard they must be really stupid if they had to make it rhyme and all, they just get amused with everything, do they??? Draco thought to himself.

Draco bit back a reply. Had they been intruding my thoughts last night?? He was being silly, he already concluded that he'd throw away the thought since it wasn't really expected for a boy like him, and so he just had to say no.

He scoffed at first and saw Hermione go red. "You idiots!" He heard her hiss.

But they just continued smiling and looking down right goofy.

"Of course not." The Malfoy said coldly.

"Ooooh! That must've hurt!" "Dang!" "Denial denial denahahial!" "He's getting all touchy!" "He's being defensive!" "Oooooh! So he has got feelings for Hermione!" "Oh wait 'till the whole Gryffindor hears of this!" "The news of the year!" "Oh wow!" "The money we'll make!" "My my we can—"

"For crying out loud!!" Hermione suddenly said exasperated, they were all muttering and saying lots of things, Hermione didn't know who had uttered what.Although she was very sure that the money making part were Fred and George.

"He doesn't like me, okay?!" Hermione said exasperated, and Draco was suddenly getting stiff beside her. It felt weird for her to say that when he knew it sounded a bit wrong.

He brushed the thought away. I'm getting, mental, I am..

"Anyway, shouldn't we get dressed?!" Herrmione said exasperated.

Fred and George suddenly gasped. ("Oh you guys are definitely girls!!" Ginny exclaimed.) "You're right Hermy!!" The twins said. Draco smirked and looked towards her, he was about to snap a snide comment about the nickname when Hermione said, "Oh you try Malfoy, you just try." She said very vehemently that Draco actually got scared.

He kept quiet. He suddenly felt like a dog, being bossed and asked to be quiet, this and that, he realized that he became loads of animals in this household. An experimental rat, a pet dog, and Merlin knows what else is still to come.

Someone save me from this hell, please.

"Alright, everyone, dress up, we're going to a muggle mall!" Fred exclaimed.

Ginny squealed. "No way?! Oh I can't wait to go shopping! They have the best fashion! Our world is just too… shabby." She said excitedly.

Draco's eyes widened. "Excuse me?! I refuse to go to a Muggle and filth infested place!!!" He said incredulously.

George drew out his wand, "Oh you just try, Ferret." Draco noticed it was always George who did the threatening and Fred just watched in satisfaction.

Draco gulped, "Oh alright."

Ten minutes later they were all gathered near the door, ready to go out. ("Be careful!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.)

When Draco saw Hermione he found that he was staring. She managed to pull off a mini skirt and a halter top, and she looked stunning. She had tamed her curls and it was flowing gently, landing on her shoulders. He hadn't even realized he was holding his breath.

He had finally breathed. He had to admit, she was attractive. But, he thought, he had no time for this nonsense and quickly brushed all possible images and thoughts of Hermione away.

"Alright! Off we go then!" George said excitedly, and as always, Draco and Hermione were together again, although this time they weren't pretending to be a couple, (AN: And no, it's not because they already are, although I can't wait!! Hehe.) because they didn't need to do anymore of the hand holding and contact making, the spell was wearing off already.

They would just seem like really close friends to the people.

They arrived at the mall, and Draco wasn't Drake Mendez, since there were probably no wizards or witches hanging around at the mall, and if by chance there were, they'd probably say they were hallucinating when they see Draco and Hermione, or Draco with Gryffindors for that matter.

Hermione could see the boy beside her was actually fascinated by the sight he saw. He was gaping at the attractive lights in the stores and blinking signs and all the color and machines, the designs and the decoration, the mannequins, everything. Hermione smirked.

"So, liking it, huh, Ferret boy?" She said to him.

Draco suddenly snapped back to reality and simply said, "Excuse me, I was just marveling at the lack of magic here in the Muggle world. Horrible, really." He said and shrugged.

Hermione chuckled and Draco actually liked hearing her soft chuckle. He mentally slapped himself.

They were passing by lots of stores, Ginny would squeal and drag them in occasionally when she saw stores with beautiful clothes and the twins and Ron and Harry would stop by arcades and candy stores, the vending machines and the like. Hermione was simply eyeing the bookstores and their shelves upon shelves of literary pieces, well, no surprise there.

The surprise was Draco who wasn't really interested about the mall, he seemed to be looking at one particular subject only.

Hermione.

Of course, no one noticed, because he didn't seem to notice himself. Soon enough, he realized what he was doing and bit his own tongue until his eyes watered. That should wake me up.

Suddenly, he heard Hermione shriek. "Amanda!!!!" She suddenly said. She held Draco by the arm and dragged him towards a friend of hers. The twins, Harry, Ginny and Ron followed suit, they were in a circle.

"I can't believe how much you've grown!" Amanda said excitedly at Hermione, eyeing her. She was with a boy, a very handsome boy for that matter. He was tall and lean, with muscles in all the right places, he had piercing blue eyes, and playful light brown hair. He seemed to have been in the beach lately, he was sporting a sexy tan.

"Well, thank you! I can't believe I'd actually see you again!" Hermione squealed in return. Amanda suddenly bit back an answer when she saw the people Hermione was with.

"And what's this, you're with boys? My, my Hermione… and a whole lot of them! Handsome twins, handsome." The twins beamed and bowed."Fred and George, at your service!" "Why, a charming raven haired boy! Why've you got that scar? Oh, I have a cream at home that would erase that in just three days!" She squealed excitedly, and Harry smiled sheepishly and introduced himself.

"Oh, and a tall and cute red head again! My my!" She exclaimed as Ron turned beet red and said his name quietly. "And a lovely sister, am I right? Red heads aren't exactly easy to miss… wow, absolutely beautiful! I love your hair by the way!" She said to Ginny, and Ginny blushed and gave a quick thanks as she introduced herself.

Draco was starting to get annoyed at her girly expressions and girl talk, he had no time for this.

"Oh and my oh my…" Amanda's eyes went saucer large. She seemed to have spotted Draco. "And the most handsome of all…." She trailed. At this, Draco smirked at the Weasleys and Potter, they simply stuck out their tongues and Draco smirked again.

"Platinum blond hair and look at those eyes! Gray! Wow Hermione…" She trailed as she noticed Draco and Hermione were close together. "You didn't tell me you have a boyfriend….?" She asked cocking an eyebrow.

Draco smirked even more. Ha! Torture torture torture… Torture the Muggle-born. LalalalaLA!!! Draco suddenly stopped. He was scared. He's been singing in singsong tones since he got at the Burrow. That was not, cool. Not cool at all.

"Oh, this guy right here?" Hermione motioned to Draco. "Nah, we're…. best friends." Hermione grinned sheepishly.

Draco cocked an eyebrow. Best friends? What a lame excuse. Not a very good liar.. Draco stepped up and smiled, and shook Amanda's hand. "Hello, I am Draco." He said in a sassy voice. Amanda seemed to have blushed.

"Ehheem." Someone suddenly said. They all looked and saw that it came from the guy Amanda was with.

"Oh!" Amanda said in surprise. "Guys, this is Gerard." She motioned to her companion. "He's my cousin. I'm just showing him around." She smiled gently.

Hermione looked at him and he moved forward. He held out his hand and Hermione took it, he kissed it and said in a gentle voice, "It is a pleasure to meet you." His eyes seemed to be smiling. Hermione blushed and quickly removed her hand or else she would blush even more.

Draco saw that the guy was interested in Hermione. It took no genius to see that he was attracted to her, the way he looked at her, the way he seemed to be talking always directly to her, taking her hand and kissing it, making Hermione turn a ridiculous shade of red.

Suddenly, some emotion Draco was unknown to welled up inside him. He then decided he didn't like this Gerard, and he didn't know why.

"Well, anyway, we better keep going then." Draco said coldly to stop any conversation whatsoever that might've been stirred by Gerard if they stayed longer.

"Oh, right." Fred and Hermione, also Amanda said at the same time. They all chuckled. They then parted.

But before Gerard could fully leave, he whispered to Hermione something Draco couldn't hear and Hermione smiled. She whispered back and Gerard nodded, then waving goodbye, they parted ways.

Draco was then dying to know just what that bloke might've said to Hermione.

"So, what did he say?" Draco said rather harshly.

Hermione was taken aback and she glanced at him. "Why do you want to know?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing in particular, I just don't like that bloke." Draco said coldly as they were striding towards the escalator to go a level down.

Hermione smirked. "If I didn't know any better, you're just jealous!"

Draco glared at her. "Oh please! I just don't like him. He's too much of a pretty boy. I bet he's stupid or something…" He said.

Hermione glared and hit him. "You're so arrogant! You're in no position to judge him and call him stupid!" She said testily as they were getting near the escalator.

The twins were already riding, obviously exhilarated by the unfamiliar escalator and kept riding and riding again, up and down, up and down. They looked embarrassing, while Ron, Harry and Ginny were watching in amusement.

"What?!?! I'm just saying!!" Draco said defensively.

"Then why don't you like him, huh!?" She asked him harshly.

"Is it bad to not like a person?? Geez Granger, you don't control me!!" He snapped. They were getting closer. Ron, Harry and Ginny were already down at the foot of the escalator, so were the twins, they were all looking childish and mental.

"And you don't control me either! So I don't need to tell you anything! And you don't need to go around bossing me!!" She practically screamed.

"Fine! I was just curious anyway, is that so bad?!" He asked testily, they were about to ride the escalator, the twins asking them to go down excitedly.

Suddenly, Hermione wasn't able to retort an answer anymore, instead, she let out an ear-splitting scream.

Draco had missed a step in his anger and was tumbling down the escalator, occasionally being bumped and hit by the rising of the electronic steps. He hit the landing with a loud thud and banged his head at the cemented floor.

He didn't even manage to let out a scream, the pain was too much, and immediately, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George huddled over to the boy who just landed at their feet.

Hermione felt her heart jump out her throat and panic swarmed all over. She immediately ran down the escalator and went to Malfoy.

"MOVE!" She said in her impatience and Ron and Harry immediately backed to give her space.

"Malfoy! Malfoy!! DRACO!!" She started saying, panicked and worried. She grabbed him by the shoulders and bent down, so her face was right in front of Mafloy.

She shook him in an attempt to wake him up. "Draco, DRACO! Please wake up, please wake up!!" She said hysterically.

Draco didn't respond.

They looked at one another, they didn't know what to do.

Hermione bit her lip. She thought this would hold back the tears or the scream she was about to project.

She shook him some more.. She held his face, hoping that those eyes would open and she'd be able to breathe again.

"Draco... DRACO!! Oh please wake up!!!" And she started shaking him again.

Suddenly, Draco stirred. His eyes slowly, painfully, heavily opened, and he looked intently at Hermione, his gray eyes more intense than ever.

He tried to move his lips, and they could all see that he was having a very hard time. It seemed to have cost him every ounce of energy he had. Then, he finally spoke.

"Who are you?"