Author's Note: Thank you to all of you who have reviewed! I know that all of you were pretty much shocked when, you know, happened. =) Some were pretty confused, I know, when Ron did that shocking act… and I'm not pushing him out of the scene. That event just started everything… hehe… Ron's still as important as the rest are.

Oh yeah, to one of my reviewers: Draco doesn't love Hermione just because he's physically attracted to her. He loves her for a much deeper reason. I hope I cleared up your confusion.

Anyway, here is chapter nine! I hope you enjoy!

Summary: He never expected that there would be a time when he would envy the poorest wizard of all time. He had everything, everything he wanted… except her.

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Chapter Nine

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She couldn't understand why. Why did the man she loved betray her when she gave everything to him? When she swore that she would never love anyone else but him? When she gazed at no one else's eyes except for his?

Hermione wrapped her arms around her knees. Her heart was still hurting, beating endlessly with pain. Her face streaked with tears, she looked up at the dark sky up above her. She was in her secret balcony once again, where she unsuccessfully tried to clear up her mind.

She could not forget what had happened just hours ago. Ron, who vowed to love her without end, stabbed her in the back.

Betrayed her.

Made her wrench with indescribable pain.

She could remember him trying to explain what had happened… he tried convincing her that it was Lavender's fault, not his own… but she wouldn't listen. She had stopped being aware of what was happening ages ago… when she had seen another girl in his arms.

All she heard from him were just four words. Four words that she now knew made one single lie.

"I love you, Hermione…!"

And she had slapped him. She had slapped him on the cheek with all the strength and anger she could muster and find in herself.

Hermione bit her lip as a single teardrop ran down her face. She looked down at the ground where the white rose she had received earlier that day lay silently. She picked it up, wondering why she unconsciously brought it with her.

She twirled it around with her fingers, and gazed at it for minutes. And she suddenly remembered that it was given by someone who liked her.

Who probably even loved her.

Hermione stared at it intently. And a thought came racing in her head.

What if, she thought, the person who gave her the rose truly loved her?

What if he loved her more than Ron ever had?

Hermione sighed, and looked away from the rose.

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The weekend of the Hogsmeade fair came. Though the air seemed a bit chillier than usual, it hardly stopped the students from eagerly walking down to the small town. Once lunchtime had finished, everyone raced down to the front of the castle to get one of the first carriages going into Hogsmeade.

Hermione, adjusting her scarf and cloak, leisurely climbed into one of them. She preferred to visit the town alone this time, making an excuse to Harry that she needed to think. She hadn't bothered telling Ron the same thing, for in her mind, the awful memory of him and Lavender was still fresh. Besides, she thought bitterly, He'll be going with Lavender to the fair. She clenched her fists with anger at the mention of Lavender's name.

Within that moment, someone else had entered her carriage, sat down on the seat opposite hers, and closed the door. Hermione looked up, forgetting immediately what she was previously thinking, and tried to figure out who the person was. It was a boy, with pale blond hair and pale skin, with dark gray eyes. Hermione's eyes moved down to the patch on his black cloak—it had a silver snake coiling around a green crest.

Without any hesitation, Hermione threw a glare at him. "Why, of all carriages, do you have to pick mine, Malfoy?"

Malfoy smirked and crossed his arms. The carriage had begun to move, and with its clicking wheels made its way down the dusty road. "Fate, I guess," he replied smartly. "Why are you alone? Where's your boyfriend?"

Hermione looked away. "None of your business." She was yet again forced to recall the horrible event. Anger was building up once again inside her, and though she tried to hide it, she knew that the boy in front of her noticed her change in mood.

"Relationship problems, I presume," he muttered. "You used to be inseparable."

Silence was heard inside the carriage for a few minutes. Hermione looked out of the window, watching the scenery pass by her in a split second. She felt Malfoy boring his eyes through her. It bothered her so, but she didn't dare look at him.

"What happened?" he suddenly broke the quiet with his question.

"Why do you ask?"

"For no apparent reason. Probably small talk?"

"I refuse to answer that question for the reason that I'd rather not talk about my personal problems with some person I despise." Hermione looked straight into his gray eyes, and she was instantly pulled into them for the second time in her life.

Hermione, they're just eyes

But they weren't any other person's eyes. They were mesmerizing… they were of a steely, mysterious gray that made you desire to find out whatever they held in them… They hypnotized her so much, wanting her to gaze into them forever… Hermione knew that Ron's chocolate brown eyes had no effect on her that was similar to the way Malfoy's had on her.

Malfoy's calmed her, though she didn't know why.

"You hate me that much, don't you, Granger?" Malfoy said.

Hermione snapped out of her reverie and realized that they were nearing Hogsmeade. She tore her eyes away from Malfoy and nodded. "You should've known that by now. You should know that you're still that stuck-up Slytherin prat."

"People change."

"Except for you." Hermione stared at him, waiting for his reaction, which, she knew would be violent.

But he stayed unusually calm. "I'm still any other person, Hermione."

The carriage pulled to a stop as they reached the Hogsmeade station. Malfoy tightened his cloak and wrapped his silver scarf around his neck. Finally, with one last glance at Hermione, he opened the door, hopped out, and disappeared in the masses of students and magical folk gathered in the station.

Hermione blinked in shock. Not only did he surprise her with his words of wisdom and sense, but, for the very first time since she had met him, Draco Malfoy had called her by her first name. Hermione.

Hermione. Not Granger, but Hermione. And oddly, she felt flattered by the use of it.

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Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed that. I worked pretty hard to choose the right words to use… lol. I do hope you review!

Thanks a bunch!