Love and Hate

By Tennisplaya278

"And from now on, I don't care if my tea leaves spell die, Ron, die — I'm just chucking them in the bin where they belong.

-Ron Weasley-
Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 31, Page 718

-Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Harry Potter and neither do you.-

Draco hurriedly tried to make himself presentable for his date with Hermione in just a few hours. This was his one chance to make her fall in love with him or at least consider him as a friend.

Finally, he was done. He looked at himself one last time before heading to the Great Hall. Along the way, he could see couples walking together. One particular pair was Ginny and Dean. He wanted to laugh. He couldn't wait to see Ron's face.

Suddenly, he found himself staring into Hermione's eyes. For the first time in his life, Draco was at a loss for words. She gave him a warm smile and Draco relaxed just a bit.

Then he heard himself saying, "Are you ready to go?"

Hermione nodded shyly and they both went to the carriages. They found one for themselves and sat inside. Draco looked out the window, avoiding her eyes. It was a beautiful day out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. He grinned. Hermione must've used the potion.

"Nice day, but you would know that already, wouldn't you?"

Hermione grinned. "Yeah, well, I thought everyone needed sometime off of those cloudy days we've been having."

By now, the horseless carriages had arrived at Hogsmede. The sight was amazing. Snowflakes were falling lightly on the village. What looked like pink doves were flying high above the shops. The town itself seemed to be emitting a soft gentle pink color. It was like nothing Draco had seen before.

They really went all out this year." Hermione pointed out. "Ugh. There's too much pink! C'mon, maybe the 3 broomsticks has some sense left!" She grabbed his hand rather forcefully, and dragged him to the very crowded 3 broomsticks.

Draco was dragged through a whole hoard of un-nameable faces. He was getting kicked, stepped on and sometimes whipped in the face by a girl's long hair. Hermione on the other hand, didn't seem to notice any of this. Like a mad woman, she frantically tried to find the bar. Within a couple of minutes, (they felt like years to him), she got there and ordered two butter beers.

"Stay here and wait for them while I go find us a table, ok?" Hermione shouted back as she abandoned him in the crowd. He stayed in line and waited for what seemed like an eternity before Tom the bartender handed him his drinks. He turned around to go back to the table but realized that he wouldn't be able to find it. Then, Hermione showed up with a wide grin on her face.

"You'll never believe who I just saw."

"Who?"

A girl and boy stepped out from behind Hermione. His jaw hit the floor. One was an old friend, somebody he had grown up with. The other was an old enemy, somebody he despised his entire life. So what were they doing together?

"Drakie! You did find a date for yourself after all!" Pansy threw her arms around his neck, only stopping when Ron cleared his throat. "Oh! And you know Ronnie over here."

"Ronnie?" Hermione spluttered.

"Um, yes. She heard Ginny call me that and it just stuck I guess." Ron said, his face burning red.

Draco laughed. "Alright Ronnie. Where are you two sitting?" His lips were forming into a smirk.

Ron's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to say something, (rude most likely) but was stopped by another voice.

"They are sitting in that corner over there. So are we." Hermione stated.

Draco wanted to goggle at her for a few minutes, hoping that he wouldn't have to spend his date with Hermione with his two least favorite people in the world. Instead, he simply said, "Oh goodie."

For the second time that day, he was dragged away by Hermione. They found their table which had four seats around it. They took their seats when Draco realized that he forgot the butter beers back at the bar. He told Hermione and she let him go get them only if he promised to come back.

&&&

Ron looked at Hermione strangely before asking if he could talk to her alone. Pansy stubbornly said yes but only after making sure they stayed in sight. He pulled her into a oddly empty space and began to speak, the tips of his ears red.

"What are you doing here with Malfoy?" He hissed.

"He asked me to come, so here I am." She replied.

Ron scowled. "Yes, but of all people you had to go with him? Why didn't you go with Harry or somebody that I can trust?"

"What about Pansy?"

His face turned crimson. "That was different."

She put her hands on her hips, glaring daggers into him. "

She looked around. "Speaking of Harry, do you know where he is?"

"He said that he was going with somebody already…I don't know who though. He did tell me and you to meet him at Zonko's later."

"Both of us? Why didn't he tell me?"

Ron looked down at his shoes. "Well, he figured that we were going to be going together…" His voice trailed off.

Hermione suddenly understood. "Oh, then I guess he's going to be surprised later, right?" Hermione grinned. "I think we should get back. Pansy's looking a little jealous!"

The pair made their way back to the table, where Draco had returned. With him were 4 butterbeers and a very soaked robe. Hermione snorted. "What happened to you?"

Draco glowered. "I was coming back when this idiot ran into me. Stop laughing."

So they sat there, talking and laughing like they had been good friends for years which, in a sense, was partly true. Butterbeer was being gulped down and jokes were being made. It was at that moment, that all four of them were put under a spell.

As the four of them stood up and left, a figure emerged from the shadows. The eyes were peering out from beneath a black scarf wrapped around their face. As soon as they left, the person began to mutter in an ancient and lost language, completing the spell. Then a laugh came from within the scarf and the person slowly walked out of the bar, with nobody paying any attention what so ever to them.

-Author's Notes-

Whew. Another chapter. It's chapter 12. Wow.

Thanks to:

Regina-Terrae: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad it made you laugh.

Adri: Thanks for the review!

Michelle: Thanks for the review. Some how, I don't think my grammar was as good in this chapter.

CassandraTheEvil: Thanks for ALL the compliements and feedback. Appreciate it A LOT. By the way people, review her story! It's Where will you go? It's really good! Thanks for the review!

KittyOfWonder: My other faithful reviewer! Haha. Whatever you say, but I still think Tom's hot. Anyways, that was a lot of compliments! I don't think I could've stopped smiling when I read it! It would be cool if J.K. read some of these! Thanks for reviewing!

Rea: Haha. Thanks for the whole threatening thing! But it's ok, I have enough reviewers as it is! Congrats! You are now officially on my mailing list! Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

Chelsea: I think I said that Ron would be OOC in an earlier chapter.

HPFreakout: Thanks for reviewing!

Stardrops: Thanks for the review!

CCBChunks: Yeah, I know the bathroom scene was cliché but I needed to make the chapter longer. You know. Yes, Tom's hair makes him absolutely gorgeous. And I loved that part as well. Thanks for reviewing!

Jbanana: Haha. Yes I agree with you on the whole eye thing. Thanks for reviewing!

Some12: Thanks for reviewing!

Horsemaster1: Haha. Thanks for the review!

Yeah, is that everyone? Sheesh that's a lot of people.

By the way, if anybody has or is going to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, can you please send me a review of it? I highly doubt I'm going to see it any time soon. (My friends have had tickets for 3 months for opening night…sheesh!) And I want to know if it's good or not. A couple of my friends saw it at midnight and they said it was pretty god but it doesn't follow the book.

So review! I really need ideas!