Well, FINALLY someone understands me!! Lol. As Shibohsongbreeze said,  " I am glad you didn't rush it or made them kiss yet, they hardly recognize the feelings they have for each other." And that's just my point. It wouldn't be very nice if they kissed without a real reason. But don't worry, it'll be here SOON! Lol.

Yay!! Finally, finally FINALLY this chapter is out!!!! Lol. I apologice a thousand times! I would've gladly wrote it sooner, but I had no time! We have tests almost every day, so I have to study every single afternoon!! It was SO HARD to find time to write this! Hopefully, the next chapter will be out sooner. But you can be sure of one thing: sooner of later, it WILL be out. I love writing more than anything, and I wouldn't give it up for anything! And I'll be loyal to this fanfic, and won't stop until I finish it. Just please understand that lately I don't have time to myself… let alone time to write! But tests can't stop me from writing… it's a longing I have. When I haven't done so for a while, I crave to write! So just be patient with me, please. Or with my teachers, lol. And please review, too. Your reviews encourage me a lot :D

Oh, and lots of people said that the link didn't show up… and I'm afraid I can't do anything about it. I DID put the web adress so you could all go and check Hermione's dress, but it seems the server doesn't let me put links. Sorry to everyone!!

Talking about reviews… thanks to Vikkitoria, Draco's gurl, Suzanne, JenCarpeDiem, Lilia, Chocolat Elf, Silver Fawkes, Starry, DRGirl59, Waterdemon900, MisS_Thang, Slave2Draco, Jessica, BlueBird, Nikki, The Blue Flying Lunch Box, sakura angel90, hyper_shark, TriGemini, Belle, Hermie4sev, tiny dancer, tom felton's babe, Ely-Baby, Crystalline Lily, Jen, malale, DolceExpressivo, Silver Masamune, Starry Skies, eviltwin2634, SVZ, Gliniel de Silva Malfoy + Wood, Ezmeralda, angelfly and Calani, ex-jlo, Vikkitoria, Unicorn777, Marzipan, Kerbi, Yingrui, StarJade, Shivohsongbreeze, Kawaiilunakitty, ReinaEntreLeones, SophieBabe, Me123, joynspirit, Crazee Coaky, Dark Vampire, sb1, jen, femme fatale, Kiki, affisia, Slytherin-cool, zarsky, some1, silverdragon for reviewing!! (sorry if I missed anyone!!)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

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Draco and Hermione stood still as everyone around them started screaming.

Some people ran away from them, as if afraid they would do something to them.

But they certainly weren't going to do anything. Hermione was in a state of shock, looking at everyone through blank eyes.

Draco clenched his fists and looked down at Ron, who was tangled with the cloak, and looking up at them with his mouth hanging open.

Then he looked up, and saw something which made him feel as if his stomach was empty.

In all the chaos, Pansy was trying to fight her way towards them, pushing people aside, her eyes never leaving Draco's.

He looked at the cloak, and then at Hermione, who was still looking pale.

Quickly, he told himself.

Draco bent down and snatched the cloak, making Ron roll down on the floor. He got Hermione's hand and started dragging her towards the door at the same time he put the invisibility cloak over them.

Hermione finally recovered, and her pace quickened.

"We have to get out of here…" Draco muttered without even bothering to dodge people.

Everyone knew they had the cloak, so they woudn't be too surprised if suddenly something invisible bumped into them.

He looked back and saw, through a sea of hysterical people, that Pansy was standing still, looking around. Her face was screwed up in anger.

They kept on running, their eyes fixed on the big, wooden door.

They finally reached it.

Draco opened it a little, and they slipped through it.

Now they were standing still in a corridor, holding hands. Everything was silent.

"Let's get out of here," Draco suggested.

Hermione nodded, and let Draco take her out into the beautiful night. The sky was clear, spreading over them like a big blanket, the moon was full, and thousands of stars twinckled at them.

"I can't believe this…" Draco muttered, walking towards the gardens. The path that led to them was lighted with small, round circles of lights floating all around them.

Hermione shivered, and edged closer. "This silly dress…" she said. "I shouldn't have put it on."

They were in a small path covered by trees, and surrounded by other plants and bushes that seemed to glow with the moonlight. There were rose bushes, dragonsnaps, lilies, bluebonnets, and all other kinds of flowers glistening under a pale light. Trees covered everything, letting their branches spread across the garden, demanding respect.

"Let's sit down," Hermione suggested.

There were a a few benches here and there, and all of them were empty.

"That one," Draco said, pointing.

"Where?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"There, behind all those branches," Draco answered.

Hermione looked, and, with some difficulty, saw the bench Draco meant. If he hadn't said anything, she would have never spotted it. It had a strange kind of tree towering over it, spreading its long, thin branches full of leaves all around it. It was a perfect hiding place.

"You have a sharp sight," she said, impressed.

Draco went first, and drew back the curtain made out of leaves and branches so that Hermione could enter. Then he closed the curtain behind him, took the cloak off, as it wasn't necessary here, and they both sat down.

For a minute, there was only silence as they listened to the soft breeze gently moving the leaves.

Hermione put her head on Draco's shoulder.

Draco stood very still, both because he had Hermione's head resting on his shoulder, and because he didn't want to break the silence.

It wasn't a disturbing silence between two people who don't know what to say. It was a pleasant silence between two people who were comfortably sitting by each other, thinking about what just hapenned.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"I'm sorry," she said in a whisper no louder than a thought.

Draco remained silent for a moment. "Why?"

"Because… because of coming to the ball! I should've never come! Now look what's hapenned… everyone saw us, and- Draco? Did you know you're holding my hand?"

"Oh," Draco quickly withdrew his hand from hers. "Sorry,"

"It's alright," she answered, and meant it. In fact, his hand was very comforting. She had just noticed they were holding hands. The shock of what had previously hapenned had left her numb. Now she was coming back to herself.

She took a deep breath. "Everyone saw us, and now all the Slytherins will talk behind your back! They'll whisper and mutter about you, they'll have no respect for you! Maybe even the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors will-"

"You are not," Draco said. "Cheering me up,"

"Sorry," she said again. "I just-"

"And stop apologicing,"

"I just don't want everyone to…" despite her efforts to keep it still, her voice broke. She sniffed. "I don't want them to be mean. Slytherins are very cruel some times…" she couldn't keep going, and sobbed.

Draco didn't know what to do, so he just stood still.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," she sobbed. "I guess I just don't want  everyone to be so mean to you. You don't deserve that kind of treatment!" she shivered again. "And sorry for acting like such a crybaby,"

That touched him.

She cared about him.

She really did!

Again that warm feeling.

Draco, without feeling embarrased, put his arm around her shoulders. He did so both because Hermione was shivering, and she needed some warmth, and because he wanted to make her feel better. He had seen Harry put his arm around her shoulders hundred of times, and it always seemed to cheer her up.

Now it was Hermione's turn to sit as still as possible. For some strange reason, she felt wonderful. Draco's arm was very comforting, and he smelled very good, too.

She wasn't cold anymore.

In fact, she felt butterflies in her stomach,  and a warm feeling at her chest. She could've stayed like this forever.

After a moment of silence, though, she looked up, right into his gray eyes that seemed as deep as ever in the moonlight.

"I feel better now," she said, smiling. "Thanks,"

They stood there, looking at each other straight in the eyes, with Draco's arm around her.

Then suddenly it felt as if an electric charge had hit them both. He looked at her intently, and her heart started beating faster.

It seemed as if both were thinking of only one thing. As if both were feeling something strong, and wanted to share it with each other.

Draco started to lean towards her, getting closer and closer, and never leaving her eyes, when they heard, to their horror, a meaow. Mrs. Norris was standing right next to them, looking at them with cold eyes.

They looked to their right and saw a light, probably coming from a torch.

Filch was looking for them.

Draco sat up straight again, and stood up with a jerk. He grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her so that she would stand.

"Hurry," he whispered, putting the cloak over them.

The light was getting brighter.

"Let's get out of here," Draco suggested, taking her hand again and dragging her out of their hiding place.

They silently set off deeper into the gardens, away from Filch.

"Did you see something, my sweet?" they heard Filch ask.

Hermione looked behind her, and saw Filch drawing the curtain of branches back, and talking to Mrs. Norris.

Filch turned, and looked right through them, into the darkness of the garden. "I know you're here somewhere!" he called.

Hermione shivered.

Draco gave her hand a tight squeeze.

Filch started walking down the path, so they started moving faster.

"Oh no…" Hermione moaned as Mrs. Norris started running right towards them.

"Run," Draco told her.

And that's just what they did. The good thing was that they were getting away from Filch a lot faster. The bad thing was that they made noise as their feet stepped on the dirt path.

Suddenly, Draco stopped short.

A tabby cat was standing right in front of them, looking around, and blocking the path.

Oh, no, Hermione thought.

McGonagall was searching too?

Hermione looked at Draco with a desperate expression. She didn't dare open her mouth to speak.

"I've got you now!" Filch's voice boomed around the garden. "Go get them, my sweet!"

"Damn," Draco whispered, looking as Mrs. Norris got closer and closer.

Hermione took a step back, and almost stepped on McGonagall's tail. She looked at Mrs. Norris, who was coming right at them. She saw the light from the torch getting brighter and brighter.

And, without thinking, she just got Draco and pushed him out of the path, making him fall behind a bush. She fell along with him so that the cloak wouldn't fall off.

"What did you do that for?" Draco demanded, searching himself for injuries.

She put a finger to her lips.

Two cats were meaowing hysterically.

She stood on her knees to see what was going on.

A real cat fight had formed. Mrs. Norris and MrcGonagall scratched and bit each other.

Hermione sighed and collapsed on the ground. She put her hands to her face.

"What?" Draco asked, watching the fight intently.

"This is horrible," came the muffled reply.

"Really?" Draco said, still watching the two cats, amused.

Hermione only nodded.

"Why doesn't McGonagall just transform herself into a human again?" Draco muttered.

"Why does everything have to go so wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Mrs. Norris!" came Filch's cry as he saw his dear cat being attacked. He ran over to McGonagall, and started kicking her. "Get out of here, you!"

McGonagall scooted away, and transformed into her human self again. She looked at Filch crossly.

"Pro- professor McGonagall!" Filch stuttered.

"The same," she said sternly.

"I-I didn't know it was you!" maybe it was Draco's imagination, but he was sure there was fear in Filch's eyes. "I swear I had no idea it was! I thought it was just a cat who was messing with my poor dear Mrs. Norris!"

"Poor dear?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Filch stood quiet, and took a good look at her. "You're full of scratches!" he exclaimed. "And you're bleeding,"

"I've noticed,"

"You'd better go to the Hospital Wing," Filch said, being, in Draco's opinion, too kind. "I'll get these two kids by myself. I don't need help,"

McGonagall sniffed angrily, but decided to do as Filch had said. "When you find them, Mr. Filch," she said, as she walked away. "Bring them to the headmaster immediately,"

"Without a doubt, Professor," Filch called after her. Then he turned to Mrs. Norris again. "Let's keep on going,"

Draco watched as Filch and that dreadful cat of his walked away slowly, disappearing behind some trees.

"Hermione," he said.

"What?" she asked, still holding her hands to her face.

"This is our chance," he said, standing up. "We can get away now,"

Hermione sighed, and stood up slowly.

"Come on!" Draco urged her.

They set off towards the castle, going back on the path they came from. There was light coming from the great castle doors.

"First problem," Hermione said as the got nearer.

Snape was patrolling the entrance, looking, if possible, crosser than usual. He walked right, and then turned, and walked towards the left.

"We have to get past him," Hermione said seriously. She looked at Draco. "Let's go,"

Careful not to make any noise, they walked towards the entrance, until they were so close to Snape they could see the anger in his black, beady eyes.

"When he turns and walks away again," Hermione whispered. "We walk inside. Simple, ins't it?"

"Too simple," Draco replied. "There could be other traps waiting for us when we get past, lurking in the dark…"

"We'll think about that later," Hermione said.

Snape turned around again, and they walked into the lighted hall. It was full of ghosts floating around, looking suspiciously around.

"Geez, it's not like we burned something down!" Draco muttered.

"Well, we scared everyone," Hermione said, pointing towards the Great Hall.

There was no music coming from it, and it was completely dark.

A ghost started floating their way.

"Careful not to be in the way when they're around," Draco warned her. "It's really cold and… unpleasant to have them walking through you,"

"Really?" Hermione asked, scooting away just in time. "How do you know?"

"I've had… disagreeable experiences, sneaking around Hogwarts at night,"

Hermione looked at him, shocked.

"What?"

"Well, I always thought you were always following rules so as not to get in trouble with the teachers… specially Snape. I never thought you'd go wandering around after dark!"

Draco grinned mischiveously. "In front of a teacher, you've got to act respectfully. But when their back's turned…"

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "Well, we better go somewhere else, because it's not safe here. Let's climb the stairs,"

They went up the marble staircases, and turned a corner to find even more problems: a preffect.

"If we got past Snape, this is no problem," Draco assured Hermione.

It wasn't a problem.

The preffect was busily studying a spot on the wall, so they had no problem getting past him.

"Let's go to the Gryffindor common room," Hermione suggested. "There we'll-"

Draco stopped walking. "No,"

"Why?"

"Just in case you still haven't noticed, I'm a Slytherin, and Slytherins belong anywhere but on Gryffindor tower,"

"So you'd rather go into the dungeons, where the Slytherins will be waiting for your return hungrily? You know that as soon as you walk into your common room you'll get a welcoming full of hisses and insults. Gryffindors won't do that to us-"

"Maybe to you they won't, but if they see me, then-"

"They won't see you because you'll be under the cloak," Hermione insisted, tugging at his sleeve. "Now come on,"

Draco and Hermione walked through many corridors full of preffects, head boys and girls, and ghosts, until they finally reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Follow me," Hermione told Draco before taking the cloak off herself.

She said the password, and the portrait swung open.

There were Gryffindors everywhere, talking loudly, and complaining about the Ball being cancelled.

"There she is!" called out a Gryffindor, pointing at Hermione.

Before she could do anything, a dozen hands reached for her, ad she was pulled inside.

Now she was surrounded by a crowd of yelling Gryffindors.

"Where were you?"

"Why'd you do that for?"

"Were you out of your mind?"

"Did Dumbledore catch you?"

"What happened to you?"

Between a swirl of questions and confusion, she saw Harry and Ron breaking through the crowd.

"Hermione, come here," Harry said, getting her arm and pulling her through the mob of people.

Once they had fought through the crowd, Harry leaded Hermione towards the boys' dormitories while Ron and Ginny tried to hold the mob back.

The room was empty, and Harry closed the door behind him after allowing Hermione to enter.

Hermione sat on Harry's bed, and he sat on Ron's, facing her.

"Alright, Hermione," he started as he lit a candle so they could see. He seemed shocked. "What happened?"

Hermione sighed, and started to tell her story, beginning from when she had asked Draco to come to the Ball with her, until that night.

"…and now I'm here, miserable," she finished, lying down on the bed.

Harry seemed as shocked as ever. "So… let me get this straight. You asked Malfoy to go the the ball with you," he blinked. "Got my invisibility cloak, danced under it, so on, so on…" he took a deep breath. "So where's Malfoy?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but found it wasn't necessary.

"I'm here, Potter," Draco said, taking the cloak off him.

All this time, he had been sitting on Neville's bed, listening quietly.

Now Harry looked as if he could have been knocked over by a feather.

Hermione sat up straight.

Draco waited, examining the room.

"Right," Harry said, shaking his head. He turned to Hermione. "So now Malfoy knows I have the cloak,"

Herminoe shrugged helplessly.

"Nice cloak, Potter," Draco said, throwing it over to him.

Harry glared as Draco smirked.

His old personality came back whenever he wasn't alone with Hermione.

Hermione didn't understand why Harry was glaring at Draco. After all, Draco hadn't said anything harmful… right? Or maybe it was just the mere presence of him in Harry's common room which bothered him.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Ron came in, looking flushed.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Ron said. "And- Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

"Just having a night stroll around the Gryffindor common room," Draco answered sarcastically.

Ron stared, blinked, and then frowned. "Well, you should get out of here! This isn't your common room! And don't sit on Neville's bed… his bedspread just got washed this morning!"

Draco didn't say anything, but his eyes glinted maliciously in the dark room. "Watch your mouth, Weasley," he hissed.

"What do you have to tell us?" Hermione asked quickly.

Ron shot Draco another glare before turning to his friend. "Well… the good news is that I managed to calm everyone down,"

Hermione and Harry smiled.

"The bad news is that Proffesor McGonagal is in the common room. She got back from the Hospital Wing and saw you just as you took the cloak off, Hermione," Ron explained, relating what he had heard McGonagal say. "She's waiting for you,"

Hermione went pale.

Draco stared fixedly at a spot on the wall, as if trying to ignore what Ron had just said.

Hermione tok a deep breath. "Ok," she said, and looked at Draco. "She knows I'm here, so I better go…" she stood up, and took the cloak from Harry. "Hide under this, and you might be able to slip out the door without being noticed… if you don't bump into anyone,"

Draco took the cloak, and put it over himself.

Hermione closed her eyes. When se opened them again, her look was full of determination. "Let's go,"

She walked bravely towards the door and walked out of the room.

"Miss Granger!" Proffesor McGonagall said shrilly the second she got a glimpse of her. Hermione took a good look around her. She had every pair of eyes on her, every single head was turned her way.

"Come with me inmediately!" called McGonagall. She stood silent, and then looked at Hermione suspiciously. "Where's Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco took the cloak off him and looked at everyone maliciously, as if daring them to say anything about his sudden appearance.  Then he turned to McGonagall, just as determined as Hermione. "I'm here,"

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Ok, sorry if the scene in the garden was cheesy. I tried to add some fluff, and I hope it didn't come out TOO cheesy. Again, I apologice for not getting this chapter out soon. I was so busy studying and doing projects I barely had time to write it at all! Lol. Please review ^_^