Chapter 8...

When Hermione was released from the hospital ward that day, she was on cloud nine. She had gotten the Draco back that she loved. Her Draco. The boy who'd surprised her on her birthday by sprinkling her bedroom with yellow rose petals. The boy who'd made her believe that she was more than just a brain; that she was beautiful. The boy whose father threatened death upon him for even associating with her. The boy who made sure that their first date was perfect. And also her made sure her first time was perfect.

She sat in Charms with a grin on her face and her hand under her chin, staring off into space. Hermione was not one to not pay attention in class, especially after being gone for so long, but she let her mind drift back to their first date...their first public appearance together as a couple...

Draco had asked her to meet him in front of the painting with the fruit by the entrance to the kitchen on Saturday morning. She had woken up hours earlier to get herself ready, even if it was just going to Hogsmeade for the day. It was with Draco, and for Draco, she wanted to look beautiful. This would be the first time they would be seen together, in public, after seeing each other privately for nearly 2 months. She looked out of her Head Girl room to watch for Harry or Ron, just like always when she was going to meet Draco. Though the common room was filled to the brim with other students, some sitting and studying, others also getting ready to go to Hogsmeade, no sign of either of her two friends. Hermione walked briskly past her fellow Gryffindors and tried not to draw attention to herself. She was almost to the door now. Almost...almost.

"Hermione! Wait up!" a girl yelled from behind her.

Oh no Ginny, not now.

"Hey. So, all ready for Hogsmeade today?" Ginny continued. "I am really in need of some butterbeer personally. Want to come with me? Dean's coming too, I think it's kind of a date, but I really don't know. After we broke up last year, I don't really understand him." Ginny went on like this for about a minute before Hermione stopped her.

"Gin, um, I really need to get up to the Owlry. My mum's got the flu, I was just about to send her a get well card." Hermione looked down at the floor. She was a terrible liar.

"Oh...the flu, huh? Well, um, it's going around...I guess." Hermione smiled. Ginny was so much like Ron. "Well, feel free to join us at the Hog's Head later if you want. I'll be the one standing up shouting at Dean trying to convince him not to drink fire whiskey." Ginny looked suspicious, but walked back toward one of her other friends in the middle of the common room.

"Okay Hermione, don't panic. It's only a boy. He probably doesn't even really like me. I bet you he's just doing this to make fun of me or something." At this, Hermione had realized that she had been talking out loud. But a new thought struck her. Was Draco just trying to embarrass her or use her, like he does every other girl he's ever been with? She stopped in her tracks. Should I go?

She thought about what Ron would tell her to do. Just go for it. What's the worst that could happen? But then she laughed at herself for even thinking that Ron would encourage her to go out in public with Malfoy. Ron didn't even know that she had been seeing Draco for the past two months, and she wanted to keep it that way...until now.

"Awe, what the heck." Hermione said out loud and began to walk briskly again to the painting where they would meet.

As she walked, she decided that if Draco was there, if he was alone, then she would go with him and not think twice about it. If he had either stood her up or had his stupid cronies with him, she would turn and walk away (and spend all day in her room crying.)

She stopped before she rounded the corner to the painting. If this was a real date, then it would be her first real date...ever. All the other times she was with him didn't count, snogging in closets and sneaking around in each other's rooms trying not to get caught. Of course, she couldn't tell him that, even Ginny would make fun of her if she had known that Hermione had never been on a real date. She smoothed her hair, took a deep breath, and peeked around the corner.

Draco was there. He was alone. He was pacing like mad. Hermione grinned. He's nervous...why would he get nervous over me? His nose and cheeks were red and he looked like he'd already been outside walking in the cold. She walked around the corner and toward Malfoy. He heard the click of her shoes and looked up. He smiled...not smirked, but genuinely smiled.

"Hi." He said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. How strange, she thought, to see Draco Malfoy so...not put together. "I, um...I got this for you." He pulled out a single yellow rose from behind his back. Hermione's eyes lit up and she beamed. When Draco saw this, he relaxed a bit and smiled. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? Roses are my favorite!" Hermione took the flower from his hand and sniffed it lightly. Well, it's definitely a date. Time to go in for the kill.

"Yeah, I know...I asked around." He looked very excited that if a flower could make Hermione this happy...she would be ecstatic later.

"That's really sweet of you. Could you put it in my hair for me?" She asked as she walked and rubbed up against him. She smiled at his reaction to this; he closed his eyes and bit his lip. He slowly opened them again and took the flower into his hand.

"Of course. It'll look beautiful." Draco stood closely behind her. He ripped off the long part of the stem and attached it to one of her hairpins. He inhaled the scent of her hair and felt a little weak in the knees. Why was this happening to him...over Granger?

"Did you try to leave without me?" Hermione joked. "You look like you've already been to and from Hogsmeade." After he fixed the rose steadily in her hair, his arms encircled her from behind.

"Rosebud..." this nickname had new significance now, "I want today to be really special. This might sound weird coming from me...but I sincerely have feelings for you. And not just as someone to go and snog every so often. I want today to be just you and me. I've got everything already planned. You'll love it." Draco breathed softly in her ear. Hermione felt her stomach flip, but felt an awkward feeling of worry...like a feeling that she couldn't find someone she was searching desperately for, but it was almost like the feeling shouldn't be there, like it wasn't her own. She brushed it aside and closed her eyes.

She turned to face Draco, still wrapped in his arms. He raised a hand to her cheek and caressed her skin. Hermione grabbed his hand and began to kiss his fingers, one by one. She lifted her eyes to look at him and she saw a look of absolute adoration on his face. She smiled and lowered his hand and led him out toward the Hogwarts exit.

As they entered Hogsmeade, Hermione linked her arms through Draco's and they walked in the bitter cold. Though only early November, a light frost was apparent on the grass and tiny snowflakes were occasionally fluttering down from the bright sky. Hermione kept stealing glances out of the corner of her eye at Draco, but every time she would look, he would be looking her way, and they would laugh at each other. Just then, in the middle of the road, Draco stopped and pulled her into and alley beside one of the buildings.

"Draco, what are you—"Hermione began, but was cut off by Draco's finger at her lips, silencing her. He looked at her for a second, grinned and kissed her lightly on her forehead.

"I'm so happy." He said, surprised at the words coming from his mouth. "See, there it goes again! It just seems like when I'm with you, I don't think about the things I say, I just say them...it's like I don't have to worry about sounding stupid or anything."

Hermione smiled at this and wrapped her arms around him. She let her fingernails slide on the back of his neck and he bent slightly to kiss her gently on the mouth. Draco began to tickle her ribs and pinned her harder to the brick wall behind her. She smiled into the kiss and tried not to give in to the laughter. She moved her hands to his stomach and began to tickle him there. He smiled and broke the kiss, "You'll find Hermione, that I am not ticklish. So, I am always the winner of this game." He winked at her.

"Well then, Draco dearest, I vow here and now, to find your ticklish spot. Everyone has at least one. I read it in—" Draco cut her off once again, but this time, with his lips against hers. He parted the kiss and whispered in her ear.

"Let's not talk about school at all today...it's just about me and you."

Hermione shivered at the sound of his voice and nodded into his neck. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes with a sigh. "Okay, ready to go into the lion's den?" Draco motioned with his eyes to the now crowded streets of Hogsmeade. Hermione saw Ginny and Dean walk past their tiny alleyway and found that she involuntarily tried to hide. She caught herself and looked up at Draco.

"I'm sorry..."

"Are you sure you're ready? I don't mind if you just want to go back to the school...we can just sit and talk in my room if you want."

"No, I...I want to. This day is about us, not about anyone else." Draco smiled widely and offered his arm to her. She linked around it and they walked with false confidence into the street. They walked right in front of the very person she hoped to avoid throughout the day.

"Hey Hermione! We tried to find you earlier, thought you were coming in with us...WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM!?" Ron roared and made Hermione jump.

"Hey Ron, Hi Harry. Um, obviously Ron, I'm with Draco."

Hermione said with an accent on the last word. Why was she trying to rub it in his face?

"With Draco? What's all this?" Ron said with a bewildered look.

"Well, Ron, it looks like to me, that they are here together, as in on a date. How long has this been going on?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow.

"Going on? Well, it's been going on for about—"Hermione began.

"For about 2 months. One month, three weeks and 2 days to be exact." Draco answered for her. He looked out of the corner of his eye a Hermione, whose mouth was wide open. So, I guess our relationship does mean something to him...I thought I was the only one counting...she thought to herself.
"Oh really?" said Ron, turning redder by the second. "Do you think that you can just go out with our best friend without us knowing and think it's all right? You really are thick Malfoy. You're father's a death eater! Your whole family is known for dabbling in dark arts! Why would we want Hermione around you?" Ron blew up.
Draco opened his mouth to retort, but glanced sideways at Hermione and drew back. He looked solemnly at Ron, who in turn gawked at him wildly.
"Oh! You think that just because you turn down one chance to argue with me that it means that you are a changed person? Yeah right, Malfoy! I know how you are. People like you never change." Ron spit in Draco's face. Hermione gasped a very quiet "Ron!"

She took a tissue from her pocket and began to wipe off Draco's face. Draco caught her hand while it was on his cheek and stopped her for a moment. He looked deeply into her worried eyes. Please don't start fighting...I don't want you to fight. Draco seemed to understand and kissed the palm of her hand. She relaxed and caressed his cheek again. Hermione began to move up closer to Draco's mouth. All that was in her view were his beautiful eyes. Those gray eyes that she would live and die for. She stopped so close that air could barely move in the space between their faces. She licked her lips slowly and then closed the gap between them. The cold around them seemed to heat up instantly as Draco deepened the kiss. He moved his hand to her neck, which caused her to shriek from the absence of warmth from his fingers. Draco smiled into the kiss and laughed throatily. Hermione slid her hands up his chest and grabbed onto his collar, drawing his down to her even further. Draco lifted her slightly and Hermione felt as though she were walking on air...

"Alright, that's enough!" Ron said, bringing both Draco and Hermione out of their own little world. They separated themselves, but their eyes stayed locked. Wow...that was different...Draco thought to himself. That's never happened to me with anyone else. Hermione could no longer stand the intensity of his gaze and pulled her eyes away from his to look at Ron, who was looking at Draco with pure loathing on his face. Harry had this hand on one of Ron's shoulders, so as to be ready to prevent him from jumping on Draco should he try. He moved his eyes quickly to Hermione. "I thought you had better sense than this..." He said, before shaking Harry's hand off his shoulder and stomping away. Harry remained.

"Um...well, congratulations you guys. Hope you'll be happy." Harry said, trying to sound cheerful. He was nearly as angry as Ron, but he knew that showing it the same way would result in nothing more than Hermione's silence toward them both. Harry waved and jogged toward Ron, who, as soon as Harry reached him broke out into a run. Harry turned back to Hermione and Draco and raised his shoulders up and down. He looked back toward Ron, shook his head, and entered the shop immediately to his right.

Draco's hand lashed out from under his robes to grab Hermione's. She looked at him with an appreciative smile. "Thank you so much. It means more than you know." She said.

"Just know, that I would only give up an opportunity to torture Weasley for you." Draco said and smiled. He raised his hand and slid some hair off her face. "Hermione...just now, when we kissed, did you feel something weird. Like a strange sort of lost feeling?" Draco asked seriously.

"Yes, I did. That why I was looking at you so awkwardly; to try to read you to see if you felt the same. Why do you suppose that happened?" Hermione said, beginning again to walk down the street.

"Hmm, I don't know. Must mean we're in love!" Draco joked. He took their linked hands and covered them both with his free one. He kissed her wrist and proceeded to walk.

All throughout the day, Hermione replayed that line in her head. Must mean we're in love. Must mean we're in love. Draco had taken her to a new shop in Hogsmeade, one that hadn't even opened yet. He told her that he "had connections" and led her inside "Monsieur Edward's Café." The entire place was empty except for one small round table in the center of the large room. The whole floor was covered in white candles, except for one aisle leading from the door to the table. Hermione's eyes were wide as she looked around in awe. Draco took her hand and led her down the aisle toward the table. The table was covered in white rose petals with two place settings and a bottle of Champaign in a bucket of ice. She lifted up the single rose on her place setting and fingered it gently. Draco moved behind and wrapped his arms around her. "This is all for you Hermione. No one else helped me with this...well, except for Monsieur Edward. He let me use this place when I told him about you. He's a friend of my mother's. But this is all from me, from my heart." Hermione felt her knees go weak.

"I can't believe you'd do this for me. You're so wonderful." Hermione turned to face him and kissed him lightly on the lips. She tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled away and snickered. He went over to one of the seats, pulled out the chair, and motioned for Hermione to sit. She walked over with a huge grin on her face and sat slowly.

"Be back in a second. Gotta go and get the food!" Draco said and wiggled his eyebrows up and down. Hermione giggled. When Draco returned, he had two bowls of steaming chicken noodle soup. He put one in front of her, and sat down with his. He looked up at her. "I hope you like it...it's my grandmother's recipe, but I'm not chef. If you don't like it, it won't hurt my feelings, I promise." He said shyly. Hermione looked at him in shock.

"You cooked for me? Is that why you looked like you'd already been out this morning when I met you? You'd been up making this?" Draco nodded modestly.

"Yeah...but I'd only gotten up at 6:30, so it's alright. Plus, you haven't tasted it yet. It could be awful. "6:30 IN THE MORNING? My goodness Draco!" Hermione was very surprised that he would go to all this trouble for her. "We'll just taste it and find out what a bad chef you really are." Hermione picked up her spoon and dipped it in the broth. She lifted it close to her and blew lightly before ladling it into her mouth. It was delicious. Better than her mother's own, and that was saying something. "Draco...you say you aren't a chef, but maybe you should be one! This is fantastic!" A smile crept on Draco's lips.

"Really? You're not just being nice?"

"No! It's wonderful!" Hermione quickly sipped more and more of the soup. Draco also took a quick taste.

"Wow...not bad. I could cook more often!" He laughed at himself.

They chatted while they ate their soup. When they had finished, Draco stood and excused himself to "get something he had forgotten." Hermione eyed him with a smile and watched him walk toward the back room. Draco stopped before he went through the door. "You know, I can tell that you're checking me out." He looked over his shoulder and laughed. "Oh...erm..." Hermione stammered and turned red. Draco laughed again before animatedly jumping as he walked through the door. When he returned, he brought back a cake. A small, round, chocolate cake with white icing and blue lettering and a yellow speck of something that he had, quite obviously, done himself. He held it up quickly for her to see while standing at the door coming from the back room. He held it out of her view until he sat back down across from her. He still managed to keep the cake hidden as he raised his eyes and said to her very seriously, "Hermione, I want you to know that anything I ever write, I truly mean." With that, he sat the cake down in front of them in the center of the table. It read:

I LOVE YOU ROSEBUD

You are my shooting star...

Hermione was, for the first time in her life, truly at a loss for words. After reading the cake, her head shot up to look at Draco. He was looking back at her very seriously. "I mean it Hermione." He said as he reached across the table to kiss her hand.

"Miss Granger...Miss Granger...MISS GRANGER!" Professor Flitwick yelled at her, breaking her daydream of her perfect Draco. She was brought back into her History of Magic lesson where she had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, Professor, what was the question again?" Hermione tried to cover.

"Miss Granger, I asked you if you were going to stay here all day, or leave with your fellow classmates? Class was dismissed over 5 minutes ago." Professor Flitwick looked at her worriedly.

"Oh, I um, I'm sorry Professor. I'm not really thinking straight today. I apologize." Hermione turned red.

"Oh, I see, Miss Granger." Professor Flitwick said with a knowing smile. "Well, I'm sure you'll be better next lesson. Perhaps by then, you will have rid your thoughts of Mr. Malfoy so you can listen to my lesson. You should really be paying closer attention, what with missing class for all of two weeks, and with your N.E.W.T.'s coming up, also."

Professor Flitwick smirked as Hermione looked quickly to the floor.