Harry wasn't sure what had caused Hermione to depart Hogsmeade in such a rush as no sooner had Ron offered to kiss her under the mistletoe, than Ginny had grabbed him to do the same. By the time they tore themselves away from one another, Ron and Hermione were already having words and then Hermione stormed off. When he'd asked Ron about it, he had shrugged and said that Hermione hadn't wanted to go to Hogsmeade anyway and had decided to head back to school early.

Harry wished he'd gone after her then to find out what was really happening as Ron's explanation didn't really sound right, but he'd let Ginny convince him to grab some food first. After eating, they had headed back to Hogwarts, but rather than go off to see Hermione, Harry had once again let Ginny distract him, this time by dragging him off to bed. As it turned out she'd been right about their privacy and their physical relationship had taken off with a bang. By the time they'd dragged themselves out of bed and returned to the common room, they found Ron had already gone down to dinner.

Harry had been hoping to speak to Hermione over dinner, but when he and Ginny entered The Great Hall, there was no sign of Hermione. Since it was the holidays and there were only a handful of students at the castle, the house tables had been replaced with a large round table. Even the Professors ate at the round table.

"No Hermione," Harry sighed as he and Ginny made their way to where Ron was sitting.

"Have we missed Hermione?" Ginny asked her brother.

"I haven't seen her," Ron answered with a shrug.

"Miss Granger hasn't been down to dinner yet," Professor Dumbledore interjected from where he was sitting a few seats away from Ron.

"I hope she's okay," Harry muttered. "What exactly did she say when she left Hogsmeade, Ron?"

"Not much," Ron answered with another careless shrug.

"She had to have said something," Harry pressed. "What exactly happened? She seemed upset."

"It was nothing," Ron protested.

"Then you can tell us," Harry insisted. "I want to know what happened, Ron. She seemed fine before that kiss."

"You want to know what happened, I'll tell you what happened," Ron snapped. "She was too pushy and I had to tell her to calm down. She went off in the huff, and clearly she's still sulking."

Ginny seemed convinced by Ron's explanation, but Harry didn't think it sounded at all believable. He knew for a fact that Ron had feelings for Hermione, and he was fairly sure that Hermione didn't reciprocate the feelings. So if anyone was going to push the kiss, it made more sense for it to be Ron, not Hermione. And since Ron liked Hermione, Harry couldn't see him objecting if she had been a bit pushy.

Harry decided that the only way to get the truth was to talk to Hermione, and he'd planned to talk to her after dinner. However, Ginny had other plans and he'd had to spend a couple of hours with his girlfriend before being able to visit his best friend. By the time he did make it to the head dorms, it was getting late and he was hoping that he wasn't going to be disturbing Hermione. Not to mention the Head Boy, who he doubted would be thrilled by his visit.

As luck would have it when he knocked on the door, it was Draco who eventually answered. He was guessing the blond had either been in bed, or getting ready to go to bed as all he was wearing was a pair of green checked pyjama bottoms.

"I've come to see Hermione," Harry explained.

"She's already in bed," Draco said. "But if you come in, I'll see if she's still awake, and if she wants to see you."

"Why wouldn't she want to see me?" Harry asked with a frown as he entered the common room. "And why are you acting like her bodyguard, Malfoy?"

"I'm just being a gentleman," Draco returned with a smirk. "Wait here, I'll be back in a minute."

Harry was totally baffled as to what was going on as Draco vanished off upstairs, obviously to check with Hermione that she was willing to see him. A few minutes later he returned and confirmed that Hermione was happy for him to go up to her room.

"Isn't there charms preventing me from entering her room?" Harry asked in shock. "I thought it was standard procedure to stop the boys entering the girls rooms?"

"Maybe up in Gryffindor Tower," Draco snorted. "But I can assure you, it's not like that elsewhere. Well, certainly not in the dungeons, and not here in the head dorms. You'll be able to get in to see Hermione."

Harry's eyebrows arched at Draco using Hermione's first name, but he didn't say anything as he headed up to see his best friend. Briefly knocking on Hermione's door, he entered her room and gasped at the sight that greeted him. Hermione was lying in bed, but her right foot was wrapped in a bandage and propped on a cushion.

"What happened?" Harry gasped, carefully perching on the edge of Hermione's bed well away from her foot.

"I slipped on some ice on the way back to the castle and sprained my ankle," Hermione answered. "Malfoy helped me back to the castle and he's been looking after me ever since."

"Malfoy's been looking after you?" Harry questioned in shock.

"Yes, he's been great," Hermione answered with a smile, her eyes twinkling at something Harry clearly didn't know about.

"So he's not all bad?" Harry checked, rather intrigued by the way Hermione lit up when she mentioned her fellow head.

"He's definitely not all bad," Hermione assured her friend. "As I said, he's been great."

"And Ron?" Harry asked. "What happened there?"

"Did you not ask Ron?" Hermione questioned.

"I did, but I didn't believe him," Harry admitted. "He said you came on too strong when you kissed and when he tried to get you to back off you stormed off."

"The bloody git," Hermione hissed. "He's the one who came on too strong. I was trying to get him to stop, and he kept pushing it. I literally had to yank myself out of is grasp."

"I can't believe he did that," Harry snarled. "Wait until I get my hands on him, I'll bloody kill him."

"Don't," Hermione urged. "He's not worth it. He took it too far, and if he apologises of his own free will, I'll accept it. But I don't want a forced apology. Nor do I want to dwell on it. It's done."

"I still can't believe he went that far," Harry muttered. "I know he likes you, but I thought that by now he might have gotten the hint that the feelings aren't returned. They're not, are they?"

"No, they're not," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "I've tried being nice about it, but maybe I should have been clearer."

"You shouldn't have had to be clearer," Harry said. "He had no right to force the kiss."

"Let's not dwell on Ron," Hermione suggested. "How was the rest of your day? Did you have fun down in Hogsmeade?"

"We came back from Hogsmeade early. But Ginny and I had plenty of fun," Harry replied with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows, making Hermione laugh. "What about you? How was your afternoon?"

"Aside from the pain in my ankle, quite pleasant," Hermione answered with a smile.

"With Malfoy?" Harry teased.

"Yes, with Malfoy," Hermione said with a nod.

"So will I see you tomorrow?" Harry asked. "Or will you be staying here for Malfoy to look after you?"

"Chances are I'll not be able to walk very far, but you can come and see me," Hermione suggested.

"Consider it a date," Harry said with a grin. "I should be getting back now. I'll see you tomorrow, Hermione."

Saying goodnight to his friend, Harry returned to the common room, where Draco was waiting for him. Thanking the Slytherin for taking such good care of Hermione, Harry headed back to Gryffindor Tower where he informed Ron and Ginny of the fact Hermione had hurt herself and would be confined to the head dorms for a few days. Ginny immediately asked when they could see Hermione, but Ron was pretty quiet and mumbled something about catching up with her later.

The next morning Hermione's ankle was feeling a bit better and she was able to move around slightly better on her own, but she still decided to remain in the head dorms, a decision backed by Draco, who was still determined to be her knight in shining armour and look after her. After breakfast the couple settled down on the sofa and Hermione decided it was time they got to know each other a bit better.

"How do you suggest we do that?" Draco asked with a suggestive smirk.

"By playing a game," Hermione replied. "Not that sort of game," she chuckled, when Draco's eyebrows shot up and his suggestive smirk grew even wider.

"What sort of game did you have in mind?" Draco asked with a chuckle.

"A game to help us get to know each other better," Hermione said. "We give each other two options and we have to say which one is our favourite and why. I'll start. Potions or Transfiguration?"

"That's easy, Potions," Draco chuckled. "First of all, it's taught down in the dungeons, which is my domain. Secondly, the Professor is my head of house and godfather, and thirdly, it's more complex than Transfiguration."

"I would have guessed Potions, but I didn't know about Snape being your godfather," Hermione said. "See, we're already learning about each other. Your turn to ask me one."

"Fact or fiction?"

"Oh, that's tough," Hermione mused thoughtfully. "I love learning new things, but I also love to lose myself in a novel. I guess if I had to pick, I would say fact. You can never know too much. My turn again. Cats or dogs?"

"I know you've got a cat, and he's not a bad ball of fluff, but I have to admit I'm a dog person," Draco replied. "I grew up with dogs around the manor. We've always had Labradors."

"Ooh, I didn't know that," Hermione said. "To be honest, I never thought you would be an animal person."

"People can surprise you," Draco chuckled. "Back to me. Ice-cream or cake?"

"I'm not really much of a sweet person," Hermione admitted. "Both my parents are dentists and they're pretty strict about how much sweet things I can eat. But if I had to pick, I would say cake. Now I've got a good one for you," she said with a smirk. "Blaise or Theo?"

"Oh Granger, that is cruel," Draco remarked with a shake of his head. "You expect me to pick between my two best friends?"

"It's the rules of the game," Hermione replied with an innocent smile.

"Okay, but this is just between the two of us," Draco said. "Blaise. I've known Theo longer, and while we're good friends, there's a different bond between Blaise and I. He spends so much time at the manor and he's like the brother I never had. And since I had to answer a tough one, I'll throw it back at you."

"What, Blaise or Theo?" Hermione teased. "I don't know either of them well enough to choose."

"I meant Potter or Weasley," Draco laughed.

"Harry," Hermione answered without thinking.

"Wow Granger, that was fast," Draco remarked with a low whistle. "You didn't even have to think about it."

"It's not a hard choice really," Hermione admitted. "Ron and I are friends because of Harry. Without him, we wouldn't really know each other. But we have become real friends, or at least I hope we have. But it's different with Harry. Our friendship is deeper, and a bit like you with Blaise, I think of him as a brother."

"He did come to see you yesterday, and there was no sign of Weasley," Draco noted. "So I guess I should have guessed your answer. Not that I could have predicted how fast you answered."

"I think it's my turn again," Hermione said, returning the focus to the game they were playing. "Quidditch or sex?"

Draco snorted at Hermione's question, surprised by the turn her questions had taken. "I can't believe you've just asked me that."

"I thought I would spice things up a bit," Hermione said. "So come on Malfoy, quidditch or sex?"

"Again, this is just between us," Draco cautioned. "I love my quidditch, and even though I never see myself playing quidditch professionally, I can't imagine never playing it again. Now, I've never actually had sex, but I would imagine that would be damn hard to give up, especially if you're doing it with the right person. So I guess my answer is sex in the hopes that it's as good as the hype."

"Oh my god, I can't believe you've just outed yourself as a virgin," Hermione gasped.

"Only to you," Draco reminded her. "I trust you not to spread it around."

"My lips are sealed," Hermione vowed. "So come on, your turn again."

"Okay, kissing me or kissing Krum?"

"Viktor was a good kisser," Hermione mused. "Very experienced. But I have to admit, our kiss last night was much more memorable."

"Memorable enough for you to repeat it?" Draco asked hopefully.

"I think that can be arranged," Hermione replied with a smile as she carefully scooted across the sofa towards Draco.

Forgetting all about their game, the head students decided on a more traditional way to get to know each other. A way that involved lots of kissing, and just a bit of groping.