(TFG: J.K. Rowling's characters!

some1-Yeah, she was kind of, wasn't she?

BraveSpiritGryffindor-Thank you!

snwflakesweety-Thanks! Don't worry, I won't forget.

Dark Queen of Roses-Thanks!

Couchpotato01-Thanks!

DolceExpressivo-I never said they would get together... *mentally curses herself* heheh... Thanks!

Sweet Sorrow-yeah

SilverDragonGoddess-lol! Thanks!

Girl-Named-Belle-Cool... yeah, he is kinda creepy isn't he?

Clare-Thanks!

horsegrl8311-Thanks!

whale girl-Thank you!

Ellie-Thanks! Yeah, I dunno... I just thought since it's winter and all...

christinamalfoy-Yeah, I love Draco, too... the best character there is!

Slim-Shady's-Modeling-Baby-Yup! Me, too!)

Discoveries-30-Preparations

Hermione decided to to see her friends in Gryffindor, so after dinner she made her way up to the tower. Inside everyone was busy doing something. "Hey, Harry. Hey, Ron," she said. But neither looked up, they just made little noises, as their eyes stayed on the chessboard. She sighed, looked around the room, and spotted Ginny in a corner, by herself. She walked over and sat down beside her. "What're you reading?" Hermione asked.

Ginny looked up and blushed. "Oh!" She looked down at the book, then back up at Hermione, showing her the cover. It was the potions book she'd given her. Looking down at the page she saw that it was also on the 'love potion' page. Hermione smiled, and said, "It's okay. Were you thinking about making it and using it on him?" Ginny nodded.

"Well, where are you going to make it? That one takes a while to make, and you can't just have it in the middle of the Gryffindor common room, because someone'll see it," Hermione said. Ginny's expression grew sad. "It's okay. I've got an idea. I can help you make it, and we'll do it in my room. Since I share it with no one, nobody can find it. I'll just keep it in a corner of my room or something... no, wait! I'll keep it in my closet. You know... in case Draco comes in. He might be suspicious. Come on, let's go!"

They left, with nothing but the book, and went to Hermione's room. Draco wasn't in the common room, and she couldn't hear him in his own room, so they didn't have to sneak into hers. Inside, she locked the door, and went to fetch her cauldron. She found it, brought it out and looked at the book, propped up against her trunk. "Okay, let's see what ingredients we need..."

~*~*~*~

"Thanks for helping me, Hermione," Ginny said.

"No problem. We can work on it tomorrow after dinner, as well."

"Okay. See you."

"'Bye, Ginny!" Hermione said, as Ginny closed the door behind her.

~*~*~*~

"What's the hurry, Herm?" Ron asked, as he noticed how quickly Hermione was eating. "Need to get to the library before it closes or something? You know you could always borrow the you-know-what." He lowered his voice.

"What? Oh, no, I don't need it. I'm not going to the library, anyway."

"Then what could possibly be so important that you need to eat so fast?" Ron asked, then his eyes widened, and he smirked. "Ohh... I see how it is." He nudged her with his elbow. "Need to hurry back to Draco, huh?"

"Oh, shut up!" she said, hitting him on the shoulder. "I'm not 'hurrying back to Draco.'" she mimicked. "Actually, I just have to work on something."

"So it IS homework, then?"

"You're wrong, again. It's not homework, but I can't say what it is, so don't bother getting me to spill the beans. I won't tell. I don't tell other peoples secrets!" she said, gulping down the last of her pumpkin juice and leaving the Great Hall.

She looked around and saw Ginny sitting on the staircase waiting. "Hey, Ginny, come on. We'd better keep working on that potion." They went to her room and closed the door.

Hermione dragged the cauldron out of her closet, and the book along with it. She flipped it open to the correct page, and began reading. "Oh, no! We've messed up the potion! We added an incorrect ingredient yesterday! We'll need to start over!" Hermione said, setting the book down, and looked at Ginny.

"That's okay. What should we do with the rest of this potion?"

"Add water and mix it a bit, then just dump it out the window."

"What? Why water?"

"So it won't be so strong. It'll hurt the plants the way it is, but water will fix that. Just make sure nobody's standing under it, or we might have some explaining to do."

Ginny nodded, and followed her directions. Then she rinsed out the cauldron again, and came back to where Hermione sat. "So what ingredients do we need, instead?"

"Let's see here..." Hermione scanned the page. "Well, instead of beetle's eyes, we'll need crushed bicorn horn, and-"

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! "Hermione, can I talk to you?" Draco opened the door. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize Ginny was here. Say, what're you working on? We don't have Potions homework today." He started walking over to them.

"Oh... it's nothing, really," Hermione said. "Just trying out potions from this book." Hermione held up the book and showed him the cover.

"Oh. Well, I'll see you later, Mione," he said, winking, and walking away.

She smiled at him, and watched as he walked out, then turned back to Ginny. "Maybe we'd better finish working on this tomorrow."

"Alright," Ginny got up and left.

Hermione was just putting her things away, when she felt arms around her. She turned her neck around and smiled at him.

"I was waiting for her to leave, out in the common room," Draco said, then started kissing her neck, softly. Draco moved around to where he was standing in front of her, and kissed her on the lips, while pushing her backwards into a wall. As he did this, he started unbuttoning her shirt, and was almost down to the last button, when Hermione moved her hands to stop him. "Draco... maybe we shouldn't do this right now," she whispered.

He looked at her eyes and then stepped back. "Okay... I'll back off," he held his hands up a little, as he walked backwards to the door, then turned around and left, closing the door rather loud behind him.

Hermione watched him leave, and went to go lay on her bed, tears falling silently on her pillow.

~*~*~*~

The next morning, Draco wasn't speaking to her much. He was polite and all, but he wouldn't talk to her. And it hurt. Really bad.

Hermione had completely forgotten about the Quidditch match that evening, and had to tell Ginny that she wouldn't be working on the potion with her tonight. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and she was going to make a point of being there for Draco, to cheer him on.

When the time came, Hermione left for the Quidditch field and got the best possible seat she could, and waited. Ron came over and sat beside her just before the game started, and noticed she didn't seem to be in a good mood. "What's wrong, Herm?" he asked. "And please don't say nothing."

"It's complicated."

"Well... at least you didn't say 'nothing,'" he commented. "But really, Hermione. What's bothering you? Maybe I can help."

"I don't think so."

"W-" he began, but she interrupted.

"No, Ron. Please don't say anything. I'll figure it out on my own. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

So he quit badgering her. But that didn't mean he didn't keep looking out at her from the corner of his eye, worriedly. The game was alright. Slytherin won, and that made Hermione happy, in a way. Because Draco had won. She was happy for him. She knew she probably shouldn't have been cheering for Slytherin, when it was her own house that lost, but she didn't care.

After the game, she was just on her way to her room, when someone spoke out of the darkness. "Good evening, fair maiden. And what would a lovely lady such as yourself be doing at this hour?" She turned and looked.

"Montgomery? What are you doing?" she asked. It was none other then Steve Montgomery... Draco's least-favorite person (and no, I didn't forget Malgarcon's name... it's a totally different person).

"Just standing here. Waiting..."

"For whom?"

"You."

"Me? Why me? Don't you have better things to do?"

"Not really. Unless you count beating your little boyfriend in wizard dueling."

"You couldn't beat Draco if you tried!"

"Oh, couldn't I?"

"That's right. And just why are you waiting for me? You never said."

"Because..." He stepped closer, and started kissing her furiously on the mouth. She tried to escape, but his grasp on her arms was strong. Then, she figured, since he was only holding her upper arms, she could reach into her robes, still, and take out her wand. Well, she did, get to the wand, but it was hard to actually grab it, and she instead knocked it out and it rolled across the floor. She struggled against him, but it was no use. He was too strong. She kept her eyes open, in case someone came by. Nobody. No one to help her. And now Montgomery was holding her with one hand, and the other was moving over her body... and she really didn't like it. He moved his mouth down to kiss her neck, and that let Hermione have the chance to breathe. Just then, she saw Draco coming down the hall. He saw them, and stopped. Hermione got a pleading look on her face, and mouthed 'help me.' He didn't look angry anymore... well, for a minute, but then he was glaring daggers at Montgomery. He rushed forwards and threw him off of Hermione, then stood between them, facing Montgomery. "What in bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" he yelled.

"You were right... Granger is sweet," Montgomery said, in a sickening voice.

"You stay away from her! You hear me? If I ever hear about you doing something to her again, or see you near her, you are really going to get a beating!"

"Awww, come on! You didn't even give me the chance to f-" But he didn't finish was he was saying. Before he could, Draco punched him in the stomach, causing him to stagger backwards. Montgomery swung a blow at Draco, and although he tried to dodge it, he wasn't fast enough. It hit him in the eye. Draco faintly touched his eye, made a face, and then began to take a swing at Montgomery...

"Draco, stop!" Hermione said. He turned around and looked at her. "I don't want you getting anymore hurt than you already are. So just please, stop, okay?"

He sighed, and turned back to Montgomery. "Remember what I said..." And he and Hermione left.

(TFG: Well??? REVIEW, please!)