Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter and all its peoples do not belong to me, i will be sure to let you know if this ever changes...

A/N: A tribute to my readers...

Katie Weasley-Saidee Erickson~ I'm so glad you like it! im honered to have it as one of your favorites!

xangelcrisx~ thank you, i like it too, though i had a bit of a brain freeze im back to writing! and i wont stop so long this time!

KrispyKremes~ great, im glad you like it! and im glad kelsey sent you to me (ill have to remember to thank her) im also happy you approve of the speed of the realtionship, i was somewhat worried about that part...

RussellGrl15 ~ i kinda like the Ron/Hermione's but i love draco hermiones better, (kinda might explain why i write them) if you want check out my other fic, it promises to be filled with lots of laughs!

ddz008~ WOW, im glad you came all the way over from fictionalley to read this! its faster to put them over here bcuz they check the gramatical stuffs here.. so keep reading here and ill keep postin!

Draconis Aeternus ~ hehe, yes i love Dr/Hr and im happy you have faith in my ability to make in interesting to try and pull it off!

laurie~ yea, sometimes i wonder if J.K. has this plot brewing in the back of her mind.. u knw with the slap and all that.. and them both being really smart.. it could happen...

polar-zephyr~ once again, i love your review, even quoting, hehe, update urs soon so i can read them! and thanks for telling people to come read my stories!

Astra~ thanks for helping with that line! now i know i wont get in trouble for using it, hehe, though i think i would have used that line anyway. And im glad we share a love a "wickedly"!

dark samurai vegeta~ im sorry it took me so long to update! but here, i've finally got it! thanks for your support!

rebecca~ thanks for reading, happy you enjoyed it! id love to read your Hr/Dr story, but ur review wasnt with a logged in name so ur stories are lost to me! ill try looking for ur name anyway! promise!

Ok, i think i got you all, if i dont ill try and get ya next time.. so heres to the long waited update....

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Ch 4: Flying High

Draco woke up the next morning in his king sized bed with his feet on his pillow and his head about halfway down, freezing because his blankets were on the floor. Needless to say, he'd had an extremely uneasy night.

He should have slept well, he'd got ready for bed puzzling over the days events with a smile, but as soon as he'd gotten in bed and his head had hit the pillow he remembered something he'd overheard his father saying to one of his Death Eater chums. He hadn't caught most of what they'd said, but enough to know that Harry Potter wasn't going to be the only main target this year.

He jerked upright as this thought came back to him and rushed over to his closet, changing hastily. Once finished he rushed out of his room and just barely stopped long enough to leave a note for Hermione before running down the hall applying a charm to his hair as he went (hey, just because he was in a hurry didn't mean he had to look like it).

He reached his destination just as the professor was arriving from an early morning stroll.

"Hello Mr. Malfoy. I haven't seen that look on your face since Mr. Potter received his Firebolt. Lemon Bears. DO come in and tell me what the trouble is," Dumbledore said as he gestured for Draco to follow him up the stairs. Once in his office he sat down and asked Draco to do the same.

"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy, how is Miss Granger?"

"Fine, for the moment, that's part of the reason I'm here."

"I see, no problems I hope, the living conditions aren't too... stressed?" asked the headmaster, that old twinkle in his eye.

"No sir, they're fine, but I think Hermione might be in danger."

"Now that is disturbing, what made you come to this conclusion?"

"Something my father said, 'The dark lord is frustrated by the lack of success with killing Harry Potter' then something about his friends being a nuisance always helping him and finally 'Harry Potter will not be the only target this year."

"Oh my," mumbled Dumbledore the twinkle in his eyes replaced by a worn worried look. "Thank you for this information Draco and I pray you come forward with any other information you might remember."

"Yes sir."

"I will also ask you not to tell Miss Granger at the present time, as it might upset her, perhaps later will be more appropriate."

"Yes sir, of course, and I'll keep my eyes open in the meantime."

"Very good Mr. Malfoy," said Dumbledore smiling again. "Now, please go find something to eat, I'm certain you're famished."

At this Draco simply nodded and left without another word or a backwards glance.

(…)(=^.^=)(…)

Hermione woke up with the sun hitting her face, her pillow where it should be, her blankets wrapped comfortably under her chin, and her feet appropriately covered. Unlike Draco her only worry had been how Harry and Ron would react to her sharing quarters with Draco, and she had slept quite peacefully.

Sighing Hermione climbed out of bed and scuffed over to their shared bathroom. She took a moment to marvel and the simple beauty of the marble bathroom with mirrors linning the walls and huge tub in the center. It certainly beat the prefects bathroom from the two years before. After locking both doors she proceeded to fill the tub with steaming hot water and then climbed in, sighing heavily as the warm water covered her body.

After making sure she was clean she went back into her room and got dressed. She rummaged through her stuff and picked out a pair of highwater, ivory caprees and a red shirt with a fun design on the front about a Gypsy Town. She than applied a charm to tame her hair, making it wavy and pulled half of it back into a pony tail. After applying some basic makeup she finished off the look with a pair of classy black sandals.

Feeling adequately made up Hermione went out into the common room to see if Draco was awake yet, but instead of finding him she found a peice of parchment.

Hermione,

I went to talk to Dumbledore about something, I'll meet you in the great hall when you come down for breakfast.

-Draco

She read over the note and shrugged, tucking it into her pocket she left the common room and made her way down to the great hall.

She entered it to find Draco sitting at one of the tables with a cup of coffee and some food. She smiled as she came up and sat down across from him, "it's quiet in here isnt it?" she commented as she rang for a house elf.

He looked up and smiled, "Morning, yea, its weird not having many people here."

Hermione soon had a plate full of food and some mint tea so her and draco went to work on the plans theyd been making the night before.

"Alright," started Hermione, finishing her toast and pulling out a peice of parchment, "the first thing we need to do for the talent show is decide where and when we want it."

Draco thought for a minute, "we need to have it a while into the year, so people have to time to get acts together, so maybe we should do it like a week before halloween?"

"That'll work" muttered Hermione making a note on the parchment, "we could use the great hall for the room, just have a stage set up with chairs instead of the tables"

"That would be easiest, unless we held it outside, but it might be kinda cold by then" added Draco.

Hermione made a few more notes and looked up with a smile, "alright, that'll do for now" she glanced outside at one of the last pretty days of summer, than back to Draco, "Whould you like to go for a walk?"

Draco had followed her gaze and liked the suggestion, "Yea," he said grinning, "But only if I get to decide where we go."

"Deal," she said as she stood and using a banishing spell sent her bag back upstairs. Than her and Draco made there way out onto the grounds. They made ideal conversation, Draco with a set destination, and Hermione not paying much attention. After awhile they made their way over to the quidditch field and Hermione looked up at Draco questioningly. Draco just smiled and Accio'd his broom. Climbing on he looked at her expectantly, "well come on"

Hermione was confused for a moment and when she realized what he was suggesting she stepped back, "no thank you, i like my feet planted firmly on the ground."

Draco just smiled and reached a hand out to her, "how would you know if you've never tried," seeing her continue to hesitate he added, "I promise I wont let you fall"

Hermione smiled shakily and stepped forward and than moved to sit on the broom in front of Draco while he tossed his hair out his face and wrapped one arm around her. He waited till he had a good hold than kicked off the ground, imediately feeling the thrill of the wind hitting his face as he climbed.

Hermione's heart had jumped to her throat and was pounding hard as they climbed higher and she kept her eyes firmly away from the ground, until of course she looked down, than she squealed and leaned back into Draco.

"Careful," he whispered in her ear as she squirmed against him, "you'll make me lose my concentration if you squirm like that."

Something in his voice sent a strangely pleasurable shiver up Hermione's spine and she leaned back into him comfortably, though not squirming.

"look," he said again in her ear as they flew up above the line of the smaller towers, "cool huh?"

Hermione looked around her and was struck by the beauty of seeing the world from up here, with no boundaries, no restrictions. They flew around at that height for what seemed like an eternity, Draco occaisionally pointing out things that looked different from an ariel view, and Hermione being delighted each time.

After a while she saw the astronomy tower and pointed it out to Draco, "let's go over there."

"are you sure? we'd have to climb higher."

"yea, i like it up there"

Draco didn't say anything else and flew over to the tower, landing easily at the top he let her down. "now see, that wasnt so bad."

Her heart was still pounding slightly, but from adrenline more than fear, "thank you Draco, maybe one of these days you'll have to teach me how to fly on my own."

Draco smiled that "i know im gorgeous and youd have to be for me to smile at you like this" smile and Hermione's heart turned. ~what is wrong with me?~ she wondered ~have i really pushed my hormones aside for that long??~ she said nothing of the sort for two reasons, one, because it would have been very odd, and two, because Draco had responded to her comment.

"Huh?" she said half heartedly.

He grinned again ~wonder what's got her mind jumble?~ "i said 'any time'"

"oh," Hermione said sheepishly before looking to check the position of the sun, "wow, we've been out all day, the sun's setting already."

Draco nodded and motioned for her to come inside, "come on, we've missed lunch, we can go to the common room and ring for some food."

"alright," she said, yawning slightly. they walked together and neither seemed to notice how or when they ened up walking with her arm draped over her shoulders.

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A/N: alright, i know its not that long, but its been SOO long since i updated that i wanted to get something up tonight. i've finally gotten out of my fanfiction writing block and will be writing a lot more.. so enjoy, and please be kind with your reviews!

Once again, if you review for me, i review for you, happy reading!