Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, not anything affiliated with it.

Hermione's POV

I am in the library studying for a Potions test when I hear someone sneak up next to me. I turn around to see Draco with a nervous smile on his face. He appears to be hiding a small picnic basket, like the stereotypical ones you see in muggle movies, behind his back.

"Hey Hermione, I was wondering if you wanted to have a picnic dinner tonight on the Astronomy tower? Before you ask, I already got permission to use it from Professor Sinistra. No one will bother us, it'll just be you and me. Also I know we don't have any homework due for the next 3 days, so don't say you're too busy." After a moment he adds. "Please come."

For a moment I'm too shocked to respond. He seems to know me well enough to assume what I might object to, and the questions I would ask of him first. He's left me with no other response besides yes or no, and me being the person I am, I can't really no to this proposal. Besides, there doesn't seem to be a problem with the situation as far as I can tell; it's not as if I don't trust him.

"I would love to come, just give me a second to pack up my books." At my response, his nervous smile turns into a grin. He patiently waits while I gather my stuff, as he knows that I'm very particular about my school work and supplies and I very much dislike it when people mess things up. When I'm finished gathering my stuff we walk up to the astronomy tower, dropping my books in our common room on the way.

Once we get up there, Draco pulls a blanket from the picnic basket, and sets out a plate of pumpkin cookies, tea sandwiches, a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries, a container of vanilla ice cream with a cooling charm to prevent it from melting, and a jug of lemonade. The food seems like more of a lunch thing, but before I say anything, he conjures a swirly orb-like light and makes it hover above us to give the effect of a sun. We eat for awhile in silence before I decide to start the conversation.

"This food is really good. Did you make it yourself or did you manage to persuade some of the house elves to do it for you?"

"I got one of the house elves that used to work at Malfoy manor to do it, with the exception of the cookies. As I said the last time we were up here, the house elves were pretty much parents to me. Well anyway, Dobby had this amazing recipe for butter cookies, and I decided to ask Winky if Dobby ever taught it to her. Apparently he did, and with a little bit of persuasion, she helped make all of this for us."

"Wow, that's really cool. You really did put a lot of thought into this. I do have another question though, you don't have to answer but I'm just a little curious. Why did you bully me so much in our earlier years and what made you change?" I can see that he's formulating his answer, and I let him have a few moments. He opens his mouth a couple times but then shuts it, and flustered and slightly rueful smile on his face. He finally responds after a couple of minutes.

"Well, I was brought up with all these prejudices against muggles and muggle borns. I never knew any muggle borns, so it was easy to believe that they were 'animals' and lesser than us purebloods. When you're young, you believe whatever you're taught, especially when it comes from your parents. It doesn't matter if it makes sense, it's just all you know. When I met you, it was still easy to pretend that you were less than human. My conscience did nag at me when I bullied you, but I didn't want to get hurt by my father so I just got worse. As I got older, I started doubting these ideas, but I couldn't very well suddenly change my views and attitude. I was worried that the Slytherins and my friends would judge me or tell my father, and he would have been furious. It got so much harder when Voldemort came back. Especially when I was tapped to become a Death Eater.

I never actually had a choice in the matter. If I refused the mark, my family would have been hurt as punishment. My father may have been unnecessarily cruel to me, but he is still my family. I have always had very strong love for his mother, even though it was unrequited. It was because of this that I was reluctant to disobey his orders, and I became a Death Eater. As things progressed in sixth year, I felt like my soul was being crushed more and more every day. The weight of everything I was doing was awful, but I had to keep doing it for the sake of my family, and myself. It was a matter of survival. I was essentially being blackmailed. During that time, I had to re-enforce the mask I had already started building from a young age. I hid my emotions from everyone and pushed every doubt I had deep into the recesses of my mind. I had to bury everything that could have caused me to slip under many layers as some Death Eaters used Occlumency and Voldemort often used it at the drop of a hat to see if he could trust his followers."

He finishes his answer, and I realize that I've gotten a much lengthier and deeper answer than I had hoped for. He's basically thrown his heart out there for me to catch, and I can't afford to drop it now. I have to choose my next words very carefully, or this will all crumble like a house of cards.

"I've never thought about it that way. I guess it never crossed my mind that any Death Eaters might have doubts, and what might become of them. One of the shortfalls of the "good" people in war, is that they assume that the other side either is completely for what they're doing or they don't want to do it at all. I guess that's true, but they also assume that they can just stop what they're doing at the drop of a hat and join us. It's not that easy is it? If Voldemort ever found out, he would make your life a living hell and hunt all your loved ones wouldn't he. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that last year."

I can see all the plain emotion in his eyes as he relives all of the turmoil he went through over the last few years of his life. I get up from where I'm sitting and give him a tight hug. Not a soft reassuring hug, a strong hug that will let him know that I'm there for him, that I'll be there for him to hold onto for dear life whenever he needs me to. I try to convey as much emotion into it as I possibly can with such a simple gesture. I feel him hug me back just as tight, and we just sit there like this for awhile. When we finally let each other go he looks at me with a cautious look and asks me a question.

"Hermione, I've wanted to ask you this for awhile now, and I got approval from Potter the other day to do this, but would you be my girlfriend?" I stare at him for awhile, the answer right in front of me. It feels too good to be true. I've always wished I had the courage to ask him, but I guess he beat me.

"Absolutely! I've wanted to ask you the same thing since that potions class." I can tell he knows exactly which class I'm talking about, as I'm guessing we both had similar experiences. "Draco, I've wanted to say this for awhile, but I love you."

"I love you too Hermione, I'm never letting you go." He then pulls me in close to him and kisses me. It's a lot softer than the one we had on stage during the ball, but there is so much more emotion behind this one. We pull away and look at each other's eyes, before packing up our stuff to return to our dorm. We drop off the dishes and basket by the portrait that leads to the kitchens for the house elves to pick up, then retire to our rooms, to consumed in thought to focus on homework right then.

Author's Note: Sorry this is a smaller chapter, but it was mostly a bit of a filler chapter before the next big event. Sorry as well for the later update. Please review, I really appreciate feedback, and I apologize for any errors in my work. I think a lot faster than I can type, and I have very hard time finding the errors in my work unless I print it which uses a lot of paper. Anyway thanks for your support, and have a great week. Till next time!