Chapter 26-

AN- Thanks to all my reviewers. I love you all. Happy reading…

Hermione's alarm clock blared at 7:00 the next morning. She grunted and threw her arm towards the snooze button. Hermione finally got it turned off and she was about to go back to sleep when she felt an odd weight on her stomach. She immediately thought it was her cat, Crookshanks, and went to bet it. Then she remembered that she had left Crookshanks at home. She opened her eyes and saw that it was an arm. She tensed slightly before she realized that it was Draco.

She hated to wake him, but they needed to get ready for breakfast. "Draco." she whispered into his ear. Then, she pulled back, but he didn't move a muscle. She wrinkled her eyebrows and bent back down. This time she blew into his ear. He still made no more and showed no signs of waking. 'Fine, you're going to get it now.' she thought as she wiggled out from under his arm and climbed off the bed.

A smirk spread across her face as she picked up her wand and pointed at the ceiling above Draco's head. "Facio Aqua Cado." she whispered. A bolt of lightning shot from the ceiling and a dark gray cloud appeared above Draco. Then, all at once a loud bang of thunder erupted, and water began pouring from the cloud.

Draco shot straight up, looking horrified. As his eyes adjusted, he tried to figure out why he was outside. Finally, he saw that he wasn't outside at all. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on Hermione's giggling form. Anger began boiling inside of him as he watched her laugh. "What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?!" he yelled.

His outburst stunned Hermione and she sopped laughing. She stared at him for a minute before relaxing again. She smiled and began giggling once more.

Draco on the other hand was shaking with anger. 'Why the hell would she do that to me?' he wondered as he sat under the still falling rain.

Hermione's giggles subsided and she sat her wand down. She walked slowly towards Draco and climbed onto the edge of the bed. She was immediately drenched, but she began crawling to him in a most seductive manner.

Draco sat under the rain and stared at Hermione. She had just crawled onto the bed and she was now heading towards him. 'She not afraid of me?' he wondered as she crawled ever so slowly towards him. 'Wow, that is actually really sexy.' he thought. But his thoughts were soon cut off when Hermione reached him. She stayed in front of him for a minute before pouncing. She tackled him and pressed her lips to his.

Draco was so stunned he couldn't more. For several seconds he just sat there and let her kiss him, but soon she was straddling his waist and he was kissing her back with equal passion and need.

Hermione pulled back after a few minutes and slid off him. "Now that we have had our shower, we need to get ready for breakfast." she said as she walked over to her dresser and picked up her wand once again. She smiled and pointed it at the cloud. "Finete Incatatum." With that she smiled and skipped towards her bathroom.

'That was the best wake-up call I have ever had.' Draco thought as he headed to his room.

~At Breakfast~

Hermione and Draco walked into the Great Hall hand in hand. They were no longer worried about showing affection in public because since the "Pansy/Brent incident" everyone seemed to accept them as a couple. When they walked in they realized that the tables had not been changed back into the four house tables. Both Hermione and Draco thought this was really weird, but neither commented on the subject.

"Where are we going to sit?" Hermione asked him.

"There," he replied pointing to a table occupied by Harry and Ron. "There, by Potter and Weasley. It looks like they saved us seats."

"Are you sure? We always sit with my friends; don't you want to sit with any of yours?"

"Hermione, you are my friend, besides I think Potter and Weasley are kind of growing on me."

"They are?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Whatever. Don't tell anyone. I will deny it!"

"Yeah I am so glad you guys are friends!" Hermione said as she pulled him towards Harry and Ron.

Draco stopped abruptly and Hermione turned to him. "What?" she asked.

"I never said we were friends. I said they are kind of growing on me. That doesn't mean friends; it means that I can tolerate them."

"Whatever." Hermione said, rolling her eyes at his obvious denial.

When they reached Harry and Ron's table Hermione said, "Hey guys."

"Hey 'Mione." They replied, smiling.

"Good morning Potter, Weasley." Draco said as formally as he could manage.

"Malfoy." They both replied, nodding their heads at him.

"So Hermione, did you have a good time last night?" Ron asked.

"Yes! Everything went perfectly! I thought the dance was great and I loved the costumes!" she exclaimed.

"Speaking of costumes, yours were amazing. You looked like an--angel." Harry said.

"That's not good. I was supposed to look like a fairy." Hermione said.

"Angel-Fairy, what's the difference?" Ron said.

"There is a difference. Anyways, did you guys have fun?" Hermione said.

"Definitely!" Harry exclaimed.

"Me too, it was blood brilliant. The floating heads were awesome!" Ron said excitedly.

Hermione giggled and was about to say something else when she saw Dumbledore standing. He took his fork and lightly tapped his glass.

When the hall was silent he smiled. "First, you are probably all wondering why the tables have not been turned back into the four house tables. Well, I wanted you to be able to sit with whom ever you wanted, so this way you will be able to." The students murmured their approval and he continued. "Now, the winners of the costume contest will be named after breakfast, so don't hurry off. That is all." When he finished, he waved his hands and food appeared on each table.

Harry, Ron and Draco began pilling food onto their plates as Hermione watched and smiled at the boys. 'My guys are pigs.' she thought as she picked up a piece of toast and began spreading butter on it.

Five minutes later Hermione heard the hooting of owls and looked up. She watched as the owls flew in and landed in front of people. Four owls were flying straight towards their table. A letter fell into each of their laps. "That's odd." Ron said, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Yeah." Hermione agreed as she studied the letter. All that the envelope said was, 'Hermione.' She didn't recognize the handwriting at all. She looked up from her letter and saw Harry and Ron skimming their own. Hermione then turned her attention to Draco. He had a weird look in his eyes, one she had never seen before… 'Fear??' she thought, but quickly pushed the thought away. She continued studying his face until a yelp from Ron drew her attention away.

"Wow!" he screeched.

"What?!" Harry and Hermione asked simultaneously.

"It's my dad! He got a raise!" Ron exclaimed

Draco was about to say something rude, but he thought better of it and didn't. He turned back to his letter and frowned.

"That's great, Ron." Harry said as he patted him on the back and skimmed his letter. He smiled and slipped it into his pocket.

"Who was yours from?" Ron asked when he saw Harry slip it into his pocket.

"Oh, it was from…Lupin. Yeah, it was from Lupin. He was just writing to say hi." Ron didn't look convinced so Harry changed the subject. "So Hermione, what does your letter say?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Hold on." she said as she gently opened the letter and pulled out a small slip of parchment. She then began reading the letter.

~Draco~

Draco watched as Hermione read her letter. Her smile soon vanished and she looked horrified. Hermione's face paled and she dropped the letter. "What is it, 'Mione?" he asked.

Hermione opened her mouth, but was apparently unable to speak. She looked like she was it total shock as she picked up the letter and handed it to him.

Draco took the letter and noticed that Harry and Ron were reading over his shoulder. He read the letter:

MY DAUGHTER,

I WILL HAVE YOU WITH ME SOON…

LOVE, YOUR REAL FATHER.

P.S. YOU ARE NOT A MUDBLOOD.

Draco was speechless for a moment. When he regained his voice, he began rattling off questions, "What? Who is this from? Who is your real father? You aren't a muggle-born?"

"I don't know." Hermione said.

"Hermione?"

"J-just forget about it. It's probably nothing." Hermione stuttered as she turned back to her food.

"We should tell Dumbledore." Draco suggested.

"No! Let's just eat." she exclaimed as she began buttering another piece of toast.

Draco was shocked at her outburst, but decided to let it go for now. He then looked down at his lap and saw his letter once again. Everyone had apparently forgotten about it, so he slipped it into his pocket and decided to read it later. He knew who it was from and he didn't want to read it in front of them.

After ten minutes of silence, the tables cleared and Dumbledore stood up once again. "Okay everyone, I will now announce the winners of the costume contest. There will be three sets of winners: the scariest costumes, the cutest costumes and the King and Queen of the Halloween Ball. The scariest and cutest winners will get 20 gallons a piece and the King and Queen will get 50 gallons a piece. Now if I call your name, come up here where you will get your prizes."

Everyone in the great hall began murmuring in excitement. They were all trying to guess who was going to win.

"Settle down. Now, the winners of the scariest costume contest are Blaise Zabini and Kiara Jenson as Dr. and Mrs. Frankenstein."

The students all erupted in applause and cat-calls as Blaise and Kiara walked to the teachers table. They bowed and Dumbledore continued.

"Next, the winners of the cutest costume contest are Jimmy Hammons and Tavia Henderson as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell."

The hall erupted in yet another fit of loud applause. Jimmy and Tavia joined hands and walked to the front. Tavia was blushing slightly as they reached the front and took a bow.

"Now, before I announce the King and Queen, I would like to say a few things. First, I would like to thank our Head Boy and Girl for their wonderful job of this dance." The hall applauded loudly and turned to the couple. Hermione, who was blushing furiously, waved. 'Oh my God.' she thought, and then Dumbledore drew the students attention away, which she was very thankful for. "Second, I would like to say that everyone costumes were excellent!" Once again everyone clapped and then Dumbledore continued. "Last, I would like to explain what being King and Queen means. The King and Queen are the two people that had the most creative costumes, gave a good show at the contest, and were all around the best couple at the ball.

"So, without further ado, this years King and Queen are the Head Boy and Girl themselves, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger!"

'NOOOO!' Hermione thought as a blush rose on her cheeks once again. Draco, confident as always, stood and took Hermione's hand. She was a little reluctant at first, but eventually stood and waked with Draco to the front of the hall.

As they were walking Dumbledore said, "These two students went as King Oberon and Queen Titania. They were spectacular and I hope you all agree with me when I say that they deserved this more than anyone!"

With that everyone, excluding some stubborn Slytherins, stood and gave them a huge standing ovation.

Hermione and Draco reached the front after what seemed like an eternity and they turned back to see everyone standing and clapping. Hermione blushed once again as she mumbled "Thank you." and took her bow. 'I can't believe this is happening…' she thought as she saw almost every student in the room clapping for her and she was holding hands with the boy she loved. It seemed like a dream to her. All thoughts of any letter were pushed far from her mind as she stood in front of her peers.

Latin Translations-

Facio Aqua Cado. - Make Water Fall.

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!

Love, Gotta Love Drakie.