Hermione left the common rooms in the direction of the Gryffindor common rooms.
She said the password to the Fat Lady and waltzed in. Harry and Ginny and a few other students were sitting around. Hermione walked up to Harry and Ginny nervously.
'Hey 'Mione.' Harry smiled.
'Hey.' Ginny also added.
'Hey you guys.' Hermione responded. 'Harry, can I steal you for a few minutes. I promise, Ginny, you can have him back in a bit.'
'I'll be right back, Gin.' Harry told her.
Ginny smiled and nodded.
Hermione took Harry's hand and guided him out to the Gryffindor corridors.
'What's up, 'Mione?' Harry asked curiously.
'Something happened I need to talk to you about.'
'Is it serious? Is it Ron?'
'Yes. No.'
'Yes it's serious?'
'Oh yeah...I don't really know how you're going to react, I'm kind of scared.'
'Just tell me.'
'Well, I don't know if I should...'
'Hermione...'
'See I don't want you to go mental and hurt someone and then—
'Hermione! Bloody hell, just tell me what you took me out here to say!'
'I think I like Draco.' She said suddenly.
'Draco?? As in Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy? As in the Slytherin who's called you 'mudblood' all these years???'
'The exact one.'
'What are you thinking?? You are going out with Seamus, aren't you??'
'Well...I told him we'd try it.'
'How can you just decide you like Malfoy out of nowhere?!'
'It isn't really out of nowhere...it's been brewing inside my for a few days now...'
'Why didn't you come to me earlier? I could have stopped those "feelings"!'
'I came to ask you what to do about Seamus.'
'What do you mean about Seamus? Don't you mean about Malfoy?'
'I-I-
'You want to break it off with Seamus...to go out with Malfoy?' Harry asked incredulously.
'Maybe.'
'Well...does Malfoy even know you like him? I'm assuming not, because he would have cursed you by now.'
'He knows...'
'And-?'
'And he returns the feelings.'
'I don't...I can't believe what you're telling me.'
'I barely believe it either, Harry.' She said laughing nervously.
Harry sighed and slid down the wall, sitting on the floor staring up at her.
'You are crazy, Hermione. Are you aware of that?'
Hermione nodded.
'I know. I don't really know what's going on.' Hermione sighed.
'Ok...tell me everything.'
Hermione did. She told him pretty much everything Draco told Blaise.
After a few long minutes she took a deep breath, finishing her tale.
Harry was wide-eyed.
'You are both insane! What's Malfoy playing at? Bloody hell, Malfoy must just want action, 'Mione!'
'I truly don't think that's what it is...' Hermione sighed.
'Hermione...Malfoy, out of the blue, decides he wants a true relationship with you?? One that does NOT involve name calling and hurt feelings??'
'Yes.'
'Think about that, Hermione. Please, I pray that you think about what you're planning on doing for a day or two, then decide.'
Hermione took a few seconds to think about this...
'Alright.' She agreed.
'Thanks, 'Mione. That makes me feel better. I'm kinda freakin' out about this.'
'I know. Me too.'
'Good. As long as I'm not the only one.'
'So, what should I do about Seamus?'
'Well, I think while you think about Malfoy...hang out with Seamus, but act as friends, don't go around snogging him. Don't lead him on.'
'I won't. Friends. All right.' She smiled.
Harry then stood up and Hermione gave him a friendly hug.
'Thanks, Harry. Thanks for not freaking out too much either!' She smiled. 'You go back to Gin, I have to go inform Draco of my plans.'
'Alright, be careful.'
'He won't do anything I promise.'
He nodded and gave her that signature smile.
They then separated ways.
Hermione made her way back to her common room. On her way there she saw that it was pretty late. Almost ten.
'This has been a long day.' She sighed as she walked down the dungeon corridors to 'the wall'.
'Black magic.' She muttered. Yup. Draco won in deciding the password.
The wall allowed her entrance. When she walked in, Draco was not present.
She immediately became afraid. Afraid that Draco played her and really had no feelings at all. He said he's wait and talk to her when she came back so he decided to abandon her and leave her feeling stupid and foolish.
She walked to her door, prepared to try and forget and fall asleep. When she reached for the handle, her eyes met a note pinned to the door.
Sorry, I had to run off for a Quidditch meeting that I supposedly called for tonight...oops. I really did want to talk to you more tonight, though. I'll be back later. You don't have to wait up, I might not be back until late. –Draco
Hermione smiled. She felt her face get warm for thinking Draco was lying to her. He must truly like her...doesn't he?
Hermione decided she wanted to talk to him that night. She conjured up a movie and was very happy that Draco had conjured up that television awhile ago. She popped in her DVD and lay down on the couch.
--
Draco was walking with Goyle after quidditch.
'You think we'll be strong this year?' Goyle asked.
'Yeah, with me as seeker, you as beater, and Blaise as Chaser, I think we're set.' Draco smirked.
'Yeah, especially since Gryffindor's lost it's Keeper. They are holding try-outs this week.'
'What? Weasel's off the team?' Draco asked in surprise.
'Yeah, Draco. You hadn't heard? Where have you been?' Goyle asked.
'With Hermione.' Draco thought.
'Why is he off?' Draco asked.
'They...dismissed him, because of what he did to the mudblood.'
'The rape thing?'
'The near rape thing, yeah.'
'Who kicked him off?'
'Potter obviously, he's the Captain.' Goyle shrugged, 'And you're ours...shouldn't you know these things?'
'I've been a little pre-occupied lately, Goyle, leave it alone. I don't care about the Weasel and what happens in his pathetic excuse for a life.'
Goyle nodded submissively.
'I've got to go get some rest. See you around.' Draco said quickly running off.
Draco walked up to 'the wall' and said 'Black Magic' proudly. He heard faint voices, he wondered if Hermione had people in their room. When the wall opened and let him in he saw the culprit. A movie was playing. Draco looked up at a clock, it read 12:32 AM.
'Hermione, what are you doing up so late?' He asked. There was no response.
Draco walked over to the couch where Hermione was lying and saw she was asleep.
Her curly hair was sprawled out over a pillow. Her eyes fluttered as she slept soundly.
Draco looked down at her and gazed at her beauty.
'Why didn't I notice it before?' He wondered.
He turned back to the television and looked down a DVD box. It read 'Armageddon'. He read the list of actors, hoping to recognize them but no such luck. He shrugged and set the box aside.
He smiled and walked to his room, grabbed a load of blankets and brought them out and folded them over Hermione gently.
He then went to his room and stripped off his quidditch robes. He wrapped a towel around his waist, grabbed some clean boxers and headed for the shower.
--
Fifteen minutes later he stepped out. Unfortunately for Draco, the shower woke him up.
He was no longer sleepy.
He sighed angrily and was about to go to his room when he saw the bright television nearly calling out to him. The screen showed a menu of some sort, it had astronauts boarding a rocket ship. Draco became interested, but as soon as the rocket took off, it would do it all over again. Why was it showing the same scene over and over? He became frustrated and walked over to it. He tried tapping the screen where it said 'play', but nothing happened.
'Why isn't it working? That pirate movie I watch just appeared! I didn't have to do anything!'
Draco was about to give up when he saw a small black object with buttons on the floor where Hermione's hand was draping.
'Mmm...' He mumbled.
He reached down and grabbed it. There were nearly 100 buttons!
'How am I supposed to do this fucking muggle thing?' He cried. 'I really should have paid attention in Muggle Studies.'
He then saw a button that said 'play' on the object. He pressed it and the picture on the screen began to move.
'Brilliant. I'm simply brilliant!' He said happily.
He sat on the chair next to the couch and watched quietly, grinning with pride.
