Chapter 2.

Hermione woke the next morning and it took her a few minutes to recall the previous night's events.  When her brain de-fogged a little, she groaned and rolled over under her duvet and pulled her pillow over her head.  Minutes later it was yanked off.

"Morning!" Harry chirped at her, grinning widely.  Hermione gaped at him then overcoming her shock at his cheerful mood she grinned back.

"Morning," she yawned, "Now go away..." she said pushing at him with her feet, trying to dislodge him from the edge of her bed.  He chuckled and shook his head.

"Breakfast in a few minutes, c'mon." he said grabbing her, wrapped up in a bundle of sheets and quilts and carrying her bodily to the bathroom that adjoined their bedrooms.  He plonked her unceremoniously onto the floor.

"Have a shower, and meet me in the common room."  He said shutting the door as he left the bathroom.  Hermione wrinkled her nose at him as the door snapped close then hopped up and shed her pyjamas before jumping into the shower.  She emerged minutes later, feeling refreshed and oddly perky.  Last nights argument with Draco seemed like a distant memory and the numerous nightly meetings before that even more distant.  She towel dried her hair and headed back into the bedroom where she scrambled into her uniform, carrying her robes under her arm she sprinted down the staircase to Harry.

She cocked her head at him.

"So – last night," she said tentatively. 

"I don't want to think about it. Or talk about it," he said simply.  Hermione shrugged.

"That's okay with me," she said with a grin.  Harry beamed at her.

"Good," he said, suddenly leaping towards her and scooping her up in a fireman's lift.

"HARRY!" Hermione yelled, wriggling and kicking her legs wildly.  Harry guffawed loudly and pushed open the door before setting off at a fast, galloping pace towards the entrance hall where they met Ron each morning.  Hermione screamed the whole way down, trying desperately to maintain her modesty, by using one of her hands to hold down her skirt, while the other whacked at Harry's head.

"LET ME DOWN!" She shouted, feeling him come to a halt.

"Alright Ron?" Harry greeted his friend with a grin,

"Morning Harry," Ron replied before poking his head behind him and looking at the flustered and very much upside down Hermione.

"Morning 'Mione," he added sniggering.  Hermione flailed a fist in his direction.

"Ron! RON! Let me down; don't let him take me in there like this! RON!" she howled, as Harry started up again, ambling towards the doors.  Ron shot Hermione an apologetic grin,

"Sorry," he said before throwing them open.  Harry bounded down the gap between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, Hermione bouncing on his back as he went.  There was a loud chorus of cheers, whoops and applause and Harry waved and bowed, making Hermione wobble precariously.  Grinning he set her down on the bench then slid into a seat next to her.  Bright red, she smoothed her hair, and slid, mortified down until her nose was level with her cereal bowl.

"Harry!" She hissed.  He grinned at her.

"Mmm?"

"Payback for last night?" she muttered grumpily.  Harry chuckled.

"Not initially, but I suppose it could be," he agreed with a shrug.  Ron frowned, and swallowed a huge mouthful of bacon.

"What happened last night?" he asked wriggling his eyebrows at the pair of them, "I knew you two got up to stuff in that Headquarters place!" he said gleefully.  Hermione rolled her eyes but didn't bother to correct him, it was better Ron thought that than knew she'd been meeting Draco Malfoy.

"Well who can resist a girl as tempting as 'Mione?" Harry joked tweaking her cheek.  Hermione pushed him away laughing.  She took a gulp of orange juice and stood up.

"I've got to pick up my potions book from the library.  I'll meet you two in the dungeon," she said, swinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing her robes.  "It's boiling isn't it!" she commented as she rolled them into a ball and stuffed them in her satchel.  Ron nodded.

"Well it is nearly summer," he pointed out, glancing up at the ceiling which was a bright turquoise blue, mimicking the outside weather of strong sunshine.

"Haha." Hermione said sarcastically, whacking him around the head with her hand.  "So you two decided who you're taking to the Leaving Ball tomorrow?" she asked.  Harry grinned.

"Yep," He replied confidently.

"Oh yes?" Hermione asked.

"You," said Harry promptly.  Hermione wrinkled her nose at him.

"I don't remember you asking," she said indignantly.  Harry laughed,

"Will you come with me Hermione?" he asked a mock solemn look on his face as his eyes twinkled.

"I'll think about it," she told him coolly, she looked at Ron.

"Ron?"

"Mmm?" He muttered, going bright red.

"Who are you taking?" She asked again.

"Uh... well – that is – uh – Hermione! Don't you have a book to get or something?" he said finally.  Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, and then glanced at her watch.  She yelped and dashed towards the doors.

Hermione sidled into the dungeon at the end of a line of Slytherins and sank into her seat next to Ron.  The morning had been sufficiently eventful to bar the fact that she had a lesson with Draco first thing from her mind, and now she was seated a mere two desks along from him.  She could practically feel the tension crackling in the air, and to add to that it wasn't just from herself and Draco but Harry as well.  Sighing she tuned her attention to the blackboard on which a long method had just appeared. 

1/2oz lacewings

Hermione pushed back her seat and got up to head towards the tray where the lacewings were set out.  Her hand dipped to take a pinchful when someone grasped her wrist, she swallowed the squeak that rose up her throat at the grip, and looked defiantly at Draco.  She could hear Snape bullying Neville a few inches behind her and she didn't dare catching his attention, so she raised her eyebrows questioningly at Draco.  In response he widened his slate grey eyes a fraction and slid a roll of parchment into her palm.  Hermione closed her fist around it, just as Pansy Parkinson drawled,

"Move it Granger, your holding up the line."

Draco dropped her hand, and Hermione used her free hand to scoop a small sample of lacewings and tearing her eyes away from his unflinching stare she headed back to her bench.  As she sat down she noticed Harry watching her closely, his green eyes flashing dangerously.  She slid the note onto her laps and deposited the lacewings onto the desk. 

"Right," Ron said bracingly, "Lets see if we can get this one right shall we?" He and Harry began measuring the other ingredients meticulously.  Hermione dropped her gaze downwards and unrolled the tiny scrap of parchment.

Tonight, your room.

She frowned at it, and subconsciously turned it over.  That couldn't be all.  But it was. 

"Oi! Mione!" Ron said prodding her with his elbow,

"Uh – what?" she said distractedly.

"Is this right, for a figure of eight stir?" he asked splashing around in the cauldron with his wand.  Harry had looked up sharply at her reply was now craning to see into her lap, she moved the note out of sight and pressed her wand tip to it, feeling it curl into ashes between her fingertips.

"No that's not quite –!" she said glancing at his efforts, but her words were cut off by their cauldron emitting a loud explosion and soaking them, and the bench in their potion.

After an exhausting day, Hermione plodded along the hallway towards the door, with the beginnings of a headache. 

"Fluffy," she muttered tiredly, sloping into the room and shutting the door behind her.  Thankfully Harry wasn't in their sitting room, oh, Quidditch practice she remembered vaguely.  Pressing a hand to her head she set of up the stairs to her bedroom.  Rubbing absently at her temple, she dropped her bags, shed her robes and flopped onto her bed.  She closed her eyes and immediately dropped off to sleep. 

A loud creak broke through her slumber and Hermione sat bolt upright in the gloom.  A shadowy figure was creeping towards her across the room.  She opened her mouth to yell, then as it passed through a beam of moonlight, she remember.  Draco.  Rubbing her eyes, she flicked her wand at her bedside lamp which flickered into life, illuminating the room with a soft golden glow.  She felt the end of her mattress depress with Draco's wait and instinctively drew her knees up to her chest.  She turned and looked at him expectantly.  He stared back at her in silence until Hermione huffed irritably,

"Well?" she said exasperatedly.

"Well what?" he retorted,

"Well – I assumed you came here for a reason Malfoy," Hermione snapped angrily. 

"I did." He answered.  Hermione glared at him,

"Care to enlighten me?" she said briskly, before answering in a flash of movement Draco had moved up the bed and kissed her.  Hard.  Hermione fell back against the pillows by the sheer force of the kiss, then angrily splayed her palms across his chest and pushed.  Draco rolled off her and landed with a thump on the floor.  He sat up pushing his hair out of his face,

"Bloody hell Hermione," he growled.  She glared furiously at him.

"What? You think that coming up here and springing me is going to make everything go back to how it was?" she said heatedly, "Not going to happen.  Now if you'll excuse me – I want some sleep." She added jumping off her bed and striding across the room to open the door.  He scrambled up and strode over to meet her.

"Hermione –," he began.

"Leave it Draco," she said tiredly, he shot her a look from beneath his eyelashes, then turned to go.

"WHAT THE – !" A loud voice yelled from right outside her door.  Hermione wrenched it fully open and stared at Harry who was stood, nose to nose with Draco.  Breathing hard, Harry tore his eyes away from Malfoy and looked at Hermione.

"I can't believe you." He hissed furiously.

"No – Harry.  It's not like that.  We were talking," she said desperately.  Draco hadn't moved he was stood stock still, his fists curled at his sides.  Harry took a few deep breaths through his nose and regarded her intently.  Then he turned slowly back to Draco.

"Get – out – of – here." He whispered menacingly.  Draco rolled his eyes at him, shot a lingering look at Hermione then pushed roughly past.  Hermione and Harry listened to his footsteps clattered down the stairs, through the common room and then heard the heavy door click shut.