Ok, I've decided to start a mailing list because lots of people have asked me to send them an e-mail when I update. If you want me to e-mail you, then just tell me so in your review (don't forget to leave your e-mail adress, too!) Ok?  And since I'm starting it from this chapter, then, could everyone who already asked me please ask me again? I tend to forget lots of stuff… sorrie ^_^

Someone said that they wanted Draco to be more eeeevil, that they didn't like fluff all that much. Well, I like an evil Draco too, and I'm not exactly crazy about fluff either, but if Draco's evil, then how am I supposed to get him and Hermione together?? Sorry, but he'll have to keep on improving his manners! (if he doesn't, Hermione won't go with him).

And thanks to Starry, Luna, Girl-named-Belle, ex-jlo, Crystalline Lily, Sparkled-Eyed Dreamer, Sakura angel90, LittleShyGirl, FiliaTheRyuuzoku, Tom*Feltons*Babe, Vixie Pixie, Ely-Baby, SVZ, Scarlett, Hermie4sev, Teresa, DMLvrMudbldHtr, Me123, Silver Fawkes, tiny dancer, TriGemini, Bluebird, Shivohsongbreeze, Starry Skies, draco's gurl, firegurdian, fb90, slytherin-cool, Crazee Coaky, and iceangel for reviewing!!! You guys are the best ^_^ I love you! Lol.

******

Chirstmas went by very quickly, at least for Hermione.

To her surprise, the Gryffindors weren't mad at her. At least, not really. Sometimes they mad small comments, like, "Whoa, Hermione, are you sure you felt well that night?" but nothing else. And when someone in Slytherin came up to her and said something nasty, or bumped into her on purpose, the Gryffindors would be there for her to make sure it didn't happen again. They knew Hermione wasn't a bad person, and they didn't really care if she suddenly wanted to hang out with a Slytherin. And all of this made Hermione even prouder to be in Gryffindor.

Draco's case was much different.

Sure, the Slytherins still respected him, because, like they said, he was a Malfoy. But they wouldn't talk to him. Sometimes they didn't even look at him. Some of the most daring ones even glared at him.

Draco, though, didn't care.

He wasn't ashamed of himself. He had done what he had wanted to do, and he wasn't regretting it.

In the Great Hall, Hermione would look over at the Slytherin table and see him eating at the edge of the table, not talking to anybody. It made her sad to see him like this, because, no matter what Lavender had said that night, she still felt as if it had been her fault. At least, partly.

So when he looked over at her, she would offer him a smile. She wanted him to know that she was there for him, and that he could talk to her at any time.

They didn't talk until classes started again, though.

Somehow Draco disapeared, and Hermione, no matter where she looked, couldn't find him.

So she was glad when lessons started again, because she would be able to see him and finally talk to him.

Their first lesson was Care of Magical Creatures.

"Welcome!" Hagrid said once everyone had gathered around his hut. "Glad ter see you all again!" he smiled at everyone, and then continued. "Before we start today's lesson, how's everyone's Joggart doing?"

No one answered.

A guilty silence hung all around them.

Hermione looked at Ron, who was next to her. He was looking at Harry with his mouth dropping open.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"I…" he gulped, and looked at her. "I forgot all about the Joggart!"

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "You mean you didn't feed it?"

"Don't worry," Harry told her. "I fed it," he shot Ron a murderous look. "We're both supposed to take care of the Joggart, Ron! Luckily, I'm more responsible than you are,"

Instead of getting angry, Ron just sighed in relief. "Phew!" he breathed. "Imagine Hagrid's face if we had starved him!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help smiling.

Neville raised a trembling hand into the air.

"Yes, Neville?" Hagrid said.

"I…, I…"

"What?"

"I forgot to feed mine," he turned red.

"WHAT?" Hagrid roared. "You forgot ter feed him? Since when?"

"Since… since Christmas holidays started," Neville squeaked.

"Oh," Hagrid sighed with relief. "Joggarts," he explained. "Can go up to one month without eating. Sure, they'll get hungry, but they can stand up ter one month without eating. Strong creatures, they are," then he glared at Neville. "But that doesn't give you an excuse to starve 'em! You better fed him quick!"

"Yes… yes, Hagrid," Neville said. "Today,"

Hagrid smiled. "Good. Now, er… I want you all ter bring yer Joggarts ter our next lesson. I want ter see how they're doing. They must be about ready to tickle, I'm sure,"

Hermione glanced at Draco.

He was separated from the Slytherins, with his hands in his pocket, looking at nowhere in particular.

Then she got a flashback of what had happened in the garden the night of the ball.

Draco had looked at her intently with those deep gray eyes. It had been as if he could look into her soul, as if he could turn her inside out… as if her eyes were a window to her inner self. His eyes seemed to hold an attracting power.

Then he had leaned closer, and…

Just at that moment, Draco turned his head and looked straight at her.

Hermione blushed and quickly looked away.

Her heart was beating wildly against her chest.

But why?

She guessed it was because Draco had looked just then, when she had been thinking about… that.

She hoped she hadn't been too rude.

***

Hermione opened her drawer and looked at Bluey.

She hadn't really paid much attention to him all throught Christmas Holidays, although she had remembered to feed him.

"Wow," she gasped, taking the soft, blued creature into her arms. "You've grown,"

It was true. Bluey was now bigger than her own hand. He was about the size of a quaffle. And, in the center of his tummy, there was a big, black spot.

"I better find Draco," she said, getting a quill and some parchments. "We should start again with the old 'Joggart meetings'"

She closed the door behind her, and went down to the common room.

"I'm going to find Draco," she informed Harry and Ron, who were discussing about quidditch.

"Whoa," Ron said, his mouth dropping open. "Is that… is that Bluey?"

"Glad you finally addressed him by his name, Ron," Hermione said. "Yes, it is. Well, I better go,"

She climbed out of the portrait hole and hurried downstairs, to the Entrance Hall. This time she'd look first in the library, where she had found him when the Joggart had hatched.

She was pleased to see that, indeed, Draco was there, reading silently.

She was just about to go inside when she remembered that Madam Pince allowed no creatures within her library.

Hermione looked down at Bluey, and he blinked at her innocently.

She dared not leave him outside, for fear someone may take him.

Then how was she to attract Draco's attention?

"Let's see…" she muttered, setting Bluey on the floor. She got out her wand and, after some hesitation, pointed it at the book Draco held in his hands. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Draco's book rose up into the air a few inches, and then dropped back into his hands.

He looked around the library, trying to see who had hit him with the levitation curse.  He wondered if it was yet another Slythering who was just trying to make a fool out of him, when he  spotted Hermione at the door, beckoning him to come towards her.

He closed the book, and walked out of the library.

Ok, Hermione thought as he came closer, don't think about the night of the Ball. Act as you've always done… stay calm!

"Hi," she smiled up at him once he was next to her. Then she bent down and got Bluey in her arms. "He's grown, isn't he?"

Draco stared at Bluey's tummie. "It already has the black spot,"

"Soon we'll be able to tickle it!" Hermione exclaimed. She was so excited, she even jumped up and down, making Bluey gaze up at her in an annoyed sort of way.

"Why not now?" Draco asked. "Maybe we could tickle it today,"

Hermione bit her bottom lip. "I think it's best to wait until our next Care of Magical Creatures lesson," she said. "Hagrid told us all to bring our Joggarts, so he'll know if it's the right time to do it,"

"So where do we work on the report?"

Hermione looked around her, still holding Bluey. "Well…"

"Outside?" Draco suggested.

Hermione stared at him. "Draco, we're in January, it's cold, and the grounds are covered by snow,"

Draco shrugged and looked the other way.

Hermione felt a sudden sadness take over her. Draco seemed very distant today. It was the first time she got a chance to talk to him since the Ball, and he didn't seem to be in a good mood at all.

"I suggest we sit at the bottom step of the staircases," she said, trying to remain cheerful.

As Draco had no objections, they did what Hermione said.

Hermione heaved Bluey onto Draco's lap. "Here," she said. "Hold him while I write,"

Draco looked at Bluey curiously.

When Hermione looked up again from her work, she saw that Draco was staring at the joggart while it blinked back. It was an interesting sight.

However, it wasn't an interesting meeting. Draco wasn't talking.

She kept on writing, but, just as she was finishing the sentence 'also, the Joggart has thicker feet', she just couldn't take it anymore.

"Draco," she said quietly. She looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Draco felt it was useless to keep it from Hermione, because she wouldn't give up until she knew what was bothering him. That was the way Hermione was. And he appreciated it.

"You really don't know?" he asked sarcastically, and looked right at her. "I thought the whole school knew by now,"

Hermione set the parchments and the quill on the staircases, and bit her bottom lip. There was a lump in her throat. She put her arms around her knees, and buried her face there. "It's because of me, isn't it?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "Everyone's treating you like this because of me," her voice broke. She was ashamed of herself for sounding so stupid. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Draco stood silent for a minute.

Great. Now he had a sobbing Gryffindor next to him. What was he supposed to do?

He moved closer. "Hermione…"

She kept her head down and gave a few sobs. "I knew I should've never gone to that Ball. Now everyone's mad at you, and you're mad at me,"

Much to his own surprise, Draco started stroking her haid gently. "I'm not mad at you," he said softly. "I'd never be,"

Hermione's sobs started to cease, and she stood there, feeling his hands running through her hair.

It was the best feeling in the world. Draco was trying to calm her down. It was very soothing.

She finally looked up and smiled at him. "Thanks," she whispered. 

"How could you ever think I'd be mad at you?" he asked. "I'm not ashamed for doing what I did. Don't you ever blame this on yourself again, Hermione,"

That moment was very precious to Hermione. Draco's words sounded beautiful.

They stood staring at each other, just like they had done back in the garden. It was as if Draco's eyes held every secret on earth. It was an adventure looking at them. An adventure that sent a jolt down her spine.

She looked away, a bit embarrased, and opened her mouth again to protest. "But-"

"Hermione, I don't want to hear you say anything else on the matter," he said shortly.

Hermione, after some silence, nodded, and smiled.

"Ok then," she said brightly, as if she hadn't been crying minutes ago. "Let's get on with our project, shall we?"

***

Hagrid walked along the rows of students.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins were standing in front of his hut, holding their Joggarts.

Draco stood next to Hermione, much to Pansy's annoyance.

Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable, since every once in a while some Slytherins would crane their heads back and glare at both Draco and Hermione.

Draco didn't seem to care, though. He looked bravely ahead, and raised his eyebrows whenever someone stared.

"Well done!" Hagrid said. He was now standing in front of Harry and Ron, and he had Navy in his hand. "Yer Joggart is all ready to tickle!"

"Yes!" Ron said, and looked at Hermione with a triumphant grin. "We did it better than you!"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Hagrid did it for her.

"Actually, the longer they take, the more magic they'll have," he winked at Harry. "But yours is good enough,"

Then he passed on to Hermione. "How about yours?" he asked, getting Bluey in the palm of his hand.

Hermione waited expectantly as Hagrid looked at Bluey curiously.

"Very good," he said, handing it back to her. "Wait a week, and it'll be ready."

"So then, in only a week we can tickle it?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Yep," Hagrid answered, and moved on to the next Joggart.

Hermione turned to Draco. "What do you think it's going to turn to when you tickle it?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't think there's anything I truly like at the moment,"

He didn't know how wrong he was.

***

"Tickle it, Harry!" Hermione urged him.

They were in the common room, standing in a little corner that was isolated from the rest of the room.

"Do you think this is actually going to work?" Ron asked doubtfully, staring at Navy, who was on the floor, between them.

"Of course it is," Hermione answered, as if waving that thought aside, and then looked at Harry. "Come on!"

"I don't know…" Harry said. "This seems like a very private thing, don't you think?"

"Private? We're your friends! Go on and tickle the thing already!" Ron said.

Harry hesitated. "No. I think I'll tickle Navy alone, in our dormitories," he got Navy in his arms, and walked away.

Ron shrugged and sat in the nearest couch. "Might as well sit down…"

After a few mintues, Harry came down, holding the Joggart.

Ron jumped up. "What did you get?"

"Some secret…" Harry muttered. "My firebolt,"

Ron and Hermione stared at him.

"What? It's true!" he insisted.

"That's the thing you want most?" Hermione couldn't believe it.

Harry shrugged. "Maybe it has a secret meaning, or something,"

"Maybe it does," Hermione agreed, before turning to Ron. "Tickle it,"

Ron got the Joggart from Harry. "Well, as you did it privately, I'll do so, too,"

He marched off into his room, and came out about ten minutes later.

He was very red.

"What did it turn to?" Hermione wanted to know.

Ron, however, didn't seem to be able to speak. He just opened and closed his mouth, like a fish.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Ron turned redder than his hair.

"Why won't you say? Was it your underwear or something?" Hermione asked.

Ron shook his head furiously, and then looked at his friends. "Ca- candy," he muttered.

Now Harry and Hermione stared.

"You're lying," Harry said.

"I'm not! I got candy!" Ron exclaimed, and turned redder than ever. He put Navy on the floor. "I'm going to take a walk!"

Before they could stop him, Ron ran out of the common room.

Harry shook his head. "Whatever it was," he said. "It was not candy,"

***

That week seemed endless to Hermione. She couldn't wait until it passed, so she could finally tickle Bluey and see what she liked most.

She did have a good time throughout it, though.

The reason was Bluey.

He kept on growing very fast, and soon it was an excuse for Draco and Hermione to meet.

It was weird to Hermione, but she found that, when there were Joggart Meetings (which went on every afternoon that week), she didn't care much about Bluey… in fact, she looked forward to seeing Draco.

They talked all throughout the meetings, and long after them. They both decided that they should meet every day, because Bluey was growing very fast, and Hermione said she wanted to capture every single detail of its last changes before tickling it. Of course, it was just an excuse to be together, and they both knew it.

Draco, apart from wanting to be out of the Slytherin common room, knew that the real reason he went out was to be with Hermione. Even if, sometimes, he didn't admit this to himself.

In the meantime, things had cooled down a bit, and the Slytherins weren't quite so harsh on Draco. When they saw him and Hermione together, working on their Joggart or, rather, talking and spending time with each other, they simply walked past. Occasionally they'd stare or hiss something, but it was getting old.

So Draco and Hermione talked freely, and spent hours sitting on those staircases, making each other laugh, relating stories, or telling each other something important.

They never got tired.

It seemed to them that time flew.

Sometimes they didn't notice they had spent hours talking.

But they never noticed that Pansy was watching closely.

***

Finally, the day came when Bluey was ready.

When their lessons were over, Hermione and Draco met at the Entrance Hall.

"Oh, I can't wait!" Hermione squealed.

Draco gave her the Joggart. "Ladies first,"

Hermione smiled. "Thanks. I'll meet you here in half an hour, ok?"

Draco nodded. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" she said over her shoulder as she raced upstairs.

She opened the portrait hole and climbed inside. Then she raced towards her room.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked, running after her.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong, Harry," Hermione assured him. "Actually, I'm going to see what Bluey will show me when I tickle him!"

"Oh," Harry said.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione wanted to know.

Harry pointed to the couches. "There,"

Hermione looked, and she saw Lavender and Ron sitting together and talking.

She smiled inwardly, said good-bye to Harry, and closed the dormitory door behind her.

She set Bluey on the floor, and he blinked up at her. "Ok, Bluey," she said. "Let's see what you can do,"

She bent down, and tickled the black spot in its tummy.

She had barely touched him with her fingertips when the Joggart started spinning madly, until it was just a blue blur.

Hermione stood back, waiting.

Then the blur started to disappear, and before her she had a pale, blond boy with a pointed face in Slytherin robes, and wearing an arrogant expression.

She couldn't believe it. "Dr- Draco?" she whispered.

The replica of Draco blinked at her, and she couldn't help laughing a little.

"What does this mean?" Hermione asked the empty room. "Joggarts are supposed to tell you what you most like. Does it mean I like Draco as a friend?"

No.

Hermione knew it wasn't true.

When she was with Draco, she didn't feel friendship. She felt something stronger.

Much stronger. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it wasn't just friendship.

She came closer to Bluey, who was standing in the same place, blinkin at her.

Bluey watched her with his now gray eyes, and they stood there, looking at each other.

Even if Bluey now looked exactly like Draco, it didn't… feel like him. There was something missing. But what was it?

Bluey wasn't cold or distant, like Draco sometimes was.

This image of Draco looked too innocent to be the real him.

"Draco…" Hermione whispered, and reached out her hand to touch his arm, as if to make sure this was really real.

As soon as her fingertips touched his robes, though, Bluey changed back to his Joggart form.

The door opened, and Lavender came in. "Hermione?"

"Y-yes?" Hermione asked, shaking her head as if she had just been caught daydreaming.

"Oh, nothing…" Lavender said. "I just saw you run up to our room, and I wanted to know what was going on," she suddenly spotted Bluey standing on the floor. "What did it turn to?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, uh…" Hermione thought quickly. "It turned into my… my last perfectly done exam!"

Lavender eyed her curiously. "Are you sure? I thought it would've maybe turned into… you know,"

Hermione blushed, and she admitted it. "It turned into Draco,"

Lavender smiled. "I knew it,"

"And, um, now…" Hermione said quickly, trying to avoid any more questions, and getting Bluey in her arms. "I have to go and meet Draco,"

And she raced outside.

***

Draco closed his dormitory door behind him, and set Bluey on the floor.

Hermione had just given it to him.

She had been looking… strange. When she had seen him, she had blushed deeply, and she barely met his eyes.

He wondered what was the reason for this sudden change.

"Maybe you'll stay the same," Draco told the blinking Joggart. "Who knows? There's nothing I like anyway,"

He reached out his hand and tickled the creature.

Bluey started spinning madly until it was just a blue blur, and, when the spinning started to cease, out came a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a Gryffindor cloak.

Draco stood still, watching Hermione's double blinking at him.

He was paralyzed.

What did this mean? Why had it turned into Hermione? It was supposed to show him something he liked. He certainly liked Hermione, even if it was hard to admit it. But wasn't it supposed to turn into turn into something that wasn't alive? Something he owned?

He was so busy trying to answer all these questions, he didn't notice the door to his dormitory was partly opened.

And he didn't notice someone was looking inside to see what was going on.

It was a shame that someone was Pansy.

"You will be sorry for this," she whispered. "Draco Malfoy,"

***

Half an hour later both he and Hermione were at the Entrance Hall again. He was going to return the Joggart to her.

Hermione was acting very odd. She didn't really pay attention to what he said. It seemed as if she were in another world.

When they finished talking, Hermione started going up the staircases, with Bluey in her arms. She suddenly stopped.

"Draco?" she said.

He waited.

"After I leave Bluey in the common room, I'm going to go to the library to… to look up if there is a hidden meaning behind the things Joggarts turn into. Do you want to come?"

"Alright," Draco answered almost without thinking.

Anywhere was better than his common room.

"Ok, then wait here, I'll be right back!" Hermione said.

She ran up to Gryffindor tower, put Bluey on her bed, and raced back downstairs.

"Let's go," she said, huffing and puffing.

In the library, Draco and Hermione looked for any book dealing with Joggarts. It was a hard task, considering that the library had thousands of books.

Finally, after half an hour of search, Hermione found a book titled Joggarts: Meanings Behind the Objects. It had moving picture of a Joggart turning into a kettle.

They sat down on the nearest table, and Hermione opened the book. It was like a dictionary, but, instead of having the definition of the word, it had the meaning of it.

Hermione looked in the B section for Broomstick.

"Broomstick," she read outloud. "It means you are passionate about quidditch,"

They both stood quiet, because this information meant nothing to them. They both wanted to look up only one word.

"Let's look up… person," Hermione said cautiously, and started turning pages, until she was in the P section.

"Person," Hermione read outloud. "Whichever person your Joggart turns to is the person you…" she stopped, and stared at the page as if she couldn't believe what she was reading.

"Love," Draco finished for her.

******

Ok, I hope that wasn't too rushed!! But YAY!! I finally got this chapter out! Since I started this story, I had been dying to write it!!! Lol. Now I just hope things didn't seem TOO rushed… but, as this IS the first chapter of the, um… "Second part" I had to start it like this! WoOt! Please review! ^_^