Disclaimer: Again, I do not own anything except the plot.(no, not even Draco.sigh..). The familiar characters still belong to the lovely JK Rowling

A/N: Well, here's chapter 2 of my story. I hope you all like it! I decided to go ahead and write another chapter anyway.

An Invitation For Tea

Draco woke up to the sound of a soft snore in his arms. He looked down and couldn't believe his eyes. "Granger?!" he thought incredulously.

Then memories of the previous night came flooding back. He remembered of how she had comforted him, how he had cried, and she cried also to the thought of his being under the Cruciatus by his own father.

"What on Earth would make her so soft towards me?" he mused.

Hermione stirred. "Don't kill him, Voldemort. Take me instead! I'll give anything to save Harry!"

Draco couldn't help but be surprised at the terror on her angelic face. "Shh," he whispered into her hair. "It's alright, really."

She quickly sat up and looked at him. "What on earth am I doing in your bed?"

He was a bit taken aback by this, but raised an eyebrow of curiosity instead. "Well, we sort of had a long talk last night, and you kind of fell asleep."

She must have remembered last night's events, because she slowly leaned back into his arms. "Is it terrible, Draco?" she asked timidly.

"I can handle Lucius," he answered.

"Don't do it."

"What?"

"Don't kill him."

Draco stared at Hermione with a bewildered expression. "Who would I want to kill, and why?"

"Your father, Draco. He needs to stay alive to realize what he's done. Maybe we can get him sent to Azkaban."

Draco stiffened at this. "We couldn't do that."

"Don't you want to?"

"Of course I do," he snarled. "Did you forget that he has my mother under the Imperius curse?"

"Go to Dumbledore," she mumbled.

He shook his head. "No!"

What makes him so afraid? She wondered silently. "Well anyway, we'll be late for breakfast if we don't get a move on," she said and found her way out of his bedroom and into the bathroom.

She brushed her teeth and looked in the mirror and sighed. Hermione could see her tear strained face clearly. It was obvious she had been crying over Draco's troubles. Was there really a different side to the cold-blooded Slytherin that she, Harry, and Ron were oblivious to this whole time? She pondered the thought and quickly changed into fresh robes. Hermione grabbed her books and headed down to the Great Hall.

"Wow, 'Mione, you sure look tired," Ron observed as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Didn't get much sleep last night," she muttered.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "That prat Malfoy giving you trouble?"

Her neck craned over to Harry. "He is not a prat!" she snapped.

Just then, the Great Hall was filled with many loud screeching noises as the owls made their ways into the enormous room searching for their recipients.

An owl from her mother and an unfamiliar Eagle owl dropped letters onto Hermione's plate of toast.

"Whose owl is that?" Ron asked curiously staring at the Eagle owl. Hermione ripped the letter from the Eagle owl open and read:

Dear Hermione,

I'm sorry if last night's events startled you a bit. I think you're right; we can become good friends. How about we meet for tea in our common room after lunch?

Yours, Draco M.

She quickly glanced at Ron. "Daily Prophet owl sent me a notice," she said. Hermione scoped out the Slytherin table and saw Draco staring at her. She smiled at him and nodded her head. He smiled in return.

"Well!" she exclaimed. "Time for Double Transfiguration!"

Ron moaned. "McGonagall has really got it in for me this year."

"Nonsense, Ron," she replied as the three of them began to walk towards the Transfiguration classroom. "Professor McGonagall is a very fair teacher and witch, and is very highly thought of wizard world wide."

Harry shook his head. "Who cares if she's fair!" he said as they turned the corridor. "Too bad she doesn't favor the Gryffindors like Snape and the Slytherins."

"Well, what else do we have for today, Hermione?" Ron piped up noticing the tension building between her and Harry.

"Oh honestly, Ron! It's Friday! All we have is Double Transfiguration and Double Care of Magical Creatures and we're done for the day," she reminded her best friend.

"Right," Harry agreed and they stepped inside of the classroom watching other seventh year Gryffindors and seventh year Ravenclaws piling in.

After Transfiguration, they slowly began to walk down to Hagrid's hut just outside of the Forbidden Forest.

"Alrigh' der 'arry, 'ermione, an' Ron?" Hagrid asked.

"Just fine, Hagrid," Hermione replied, "Thank you."

Care of Magical Creatures always seemed to speed on by them, and soon the trio found themselves wandering back to the Great Hall for lunch. Just as they sat down, Hermione noticed Draco staring at her and he got up from the Slytherin table and left the Great Hall.

"Oh!" she exclaimed to her friends. "I just remembered I still haven't started the Transfiguration essay!"

"Of course you haven't," Harry said dismissively. "We were only just assigned it!"

"Mind you, I'm very busy with Head Girl duties, Harry, and I intend to keep up with school work."

"Have you gone bloody daft? It's a Friday afternoon. You have the rest of the day off. There's no need to leave lunch early," Ron told her.

Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, guys, but I had better leave. I'll see you at supper!" and with that, she left and followed Draco back to their common room.

Draco stood at the entrance. "Didn't think you'd show, Hermione."

"Of course I would. I told you so. I keep my word."

"That's good to know," he said as they sat down on the sofa. "Tea?" he asked after pouring himself a cup.

"Yes, please. Heavy on the cream, light on the sugar," she added and then laughed. "That's the way Mrs. Weasley drinks hers as well."

He looked up at her. "You keep up with the Weasley family, do you?"

"Yes. They are a most loving family. They may have more children than most people would like, but to them, the more the merrier!" she said cheerfully.

"I wish my family were like that," he replied wistfully.

Hermione took a long sip of her tea. "Haven't you got any siblings?"

"I only wish."

"It must be terrible to be an only child."

"I wasn't an only child at one point?"

"Oh?" she asked curiously.

"When I was ten years old, I had a baby sister named Katrina. Just before I left for my first year at Hogwarts, she died." He snapped his fingers. "Just like that."

"I-I'm sorry," Hermione stammered.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Don't be. Father probably decided he needed to practice his Avada Kedavra on someone," he added bitterly.

She was silent.

"He practiced the Unforgivables on our house elf Dobby, you know."

"Dobby?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I always felt sorry for him. I had taken a special liking to him. If truth be told, I was absolutely delighted when Potter had set him free."

"You know," Hermione began mischievously, "you can see him if you'd like."

"Dobby?" he asked. "Nah. Probably off somewhere working for a nice household."

"You're right," she agreed. "Although I happen to know he works at the same Wizarding School you attend, Draco."

"You mean?"

She laughed. "Yes. I've been visiting Dobby ever since our fourth year. Loveable creature, that one. I can take you down to the Kitchens one day, if you'd like."

He smiled. "Yes, I'd like that." He kissed her cheek and stood up. "Well, the buffoons Crabbe and Goyle are probably waiting for me. I had best leave. Thank you for your company."

She smiled and stood up as well. "You're most welcome. And thank you for tea."

"My pleasure," and with that, Draco was out the portrait hole.

A/N: Well, there's chapter two for ya. I bit of what I wanted to happen. I desperately need to give my story a plot though. I appreciate reviews!