A Second Chance – fire-and-ice89

Another quick update. You guys are lucky this story is pre-written. It's just sitting there on my computer, and I get sick of waiting to post it, so I just put each chapter up after a matter of days. I have no self discipline!

I don't really have time to reply to reviews because I have a heap of homework, but thank you everyone so much for reviewing! There was eight…the most I've had for a chapter in this story is nine. Please guys, let's try to get to ten for this one! It's a good chapter! If we get past ten then I promise I'll reply to EVERYONE'S review, whether I have time to or not!

Last Time:

"I am honestly trying to find a girl who sees beyond the prejudices that people have built up. You and Pansy, you just assumed that Lavender was going to be another one of my one night stands. But what if I had been serious about her? What if she had been the one?"

Hermione raised a skeptical eyebrow. "But you weren't serious about her."

"Yeah, well she wasn't either." Malfoy snapped defensively. "But one day, someone will be, and I'll be serious about her." He lapsed into silence, leaving Hermione to wallow in confusion until they reached the hospital wing.

She had never seen this side of Malfoy. She doubted if any one ever had.

She didn't know what to think.

Chapter Six – Misery

The clock in the Great Hall struck midnight. Parvati was hanging from Harry's arm, giggling madly. One of her friends had just come up and whispered something in her ear, apparently something hilarious. Giving a yawn, Harry made his way over to where Ron was sitting glumly at a table.

"What's up, mate? Where's Hermione?" He asked his friend with concern. Ron shook his head miserably.

"Don't know. Don't care."

Harry may have been blissfully clueless when it came to girl's emotions, but he sensed when his best friend was feeling down.

"I'll see you later, alright?" He said, gently removing Parvati's arm from his. Parvati sighed in disappointment. She knew when she was being abandoned.

"Alright" she pouted, and ran over to catch up with some of her friends.

Harry turned back to Ron.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Ron nodded thankfully.

Once they were out of the busy hall, Ron heaved a sigh.

"Tell me what's up." Harry said, looking concerned for his friend.

"I was stupid." Ron muttered. Harry strained to hear.

"Pardon?"

"I said I was stupid!" Ron exclaimed, stopping short in the hallway. "Stupid to think she would return my feelings." Harry nodded, finally understanding.

"You're talking about Hermione, aren't you?" he asked. Ron nodded miserably.

"I can't believe I actually asked her out." He said.

"You asked her out? What did she say?" Harry asked gently.

"I don't know. I don't know if she even heard me. She was too busy staring at everyone else in the room, probably thinking how much more she'd rather dance with them. Then she said she had to go outside."

Harry winced. "That's never good."

"So you see what I mean."

They walked on in silence for a little bit longer. Harry was deep in thought, and Ron was wallowing in his misery.

"You know, maybe you should try again some other time. Balls aren't exactly her favourite thing, you know. Take her for…for, I don't know, a nature walk or something." Harry said, trying to be helpful. Ron laughed despite himself. It wasn't his idea of a romantic outing.

"I'm sure if it's just you and her, you'll have her full attention. How could she refuse you?"

Ron's spirits started to lift. Talking to Harry was really helping.

"You know, I think you're right. Maybe she does care for me, and just doesn't realize it or something. Maybe…wait a moment. Am I going crazy, or is that Hermione's voice?"

By this stage, the two were wandering past the hospital wing.

Harry listened as well. There were two voices floating down the corridor. They were too muffled by the door to make out any words, but one was definitely Hermione's. The other one belonged to…

"Malfoy," Harry breathed.

00000000000000000

Hermione and Malfoy sat in two chairs beside Lavender's bed. Turned out she wasn't just in a deep faint after all. Madame Pomfrey had inspected her, and said that she hit her head against the wall when she fainted. She had been given a pain killing potion and a sleep drought.

Feeling slightly guilty, Hermione decided to wait with her for a while. For some reason, Malfoy had stayed with her.

She was glad of his company though. They had been sitting and talking for about half an hour now and so far there had not been a single lapse in the conversation.

He was interesting when he decided to share his knowledge, funny when he wasn't scowling, passionate when he let his guard down, and most of all, he was absolutely, irresistibly hot.

Every time Hermione looked at his face, she marveled at his beautiful grey eyes, flecked with colour. They weren't so steely when he was smiling.

His hair, which she had so often criticized as being dishwater blond, was most definitely not. It literally glowed under the lights of the hospital wing.

But Hermione was not a material girl, and looks were not the only thing she noticed in Malfoy that night.

He suddenly turned to her, and she blushed as she realized that she was staring. Instead of making a rude comment, like he would have just days ago, he smiled. But it was such an infuriating smile!

"What are you smiling at?" Hermione asked.

"What were you looking at?" He asked, his smile widening.

"Well, I asked you first, so you have to answer first." She said childishly, though it was on purpose, and he knew that.

"Well, I'm smiling because you were looking at me strangely. Now tell me why you were looking."

"No!" cried Hermione, feeling cheated. "You didn't answer my question properly!"

"Well", said Malfoy with a shrug. "At least I answered. You, on the other hand, still haven't said anything in return to my question!"

Hermione giggled. No! Wait! You are Hermione Granger. You do not giggle! But she was loving this. This was flirting, something that she had watched Lavender do countless times, and rolled her eyes at how immature she looked.

Did she look immature?

No, she didn't care. Harry was too busy with other girls to pay any attention to her. Malfoy was the only boy who'd taken any interest in her, apart from Krum.

He was showing a side tonight that she had never seen before, and she was sure that he didn't let his guard down like this for just any girl he flirted with.

This was special. For him and for her. And she didn't care what other people thought.

"Well," she said coyly, shifting so that she was looking straight into his eyes. "You want to know why I was staring at you?" Malfoy smiled.

Hermione paused for a while and pretended to be considering whether to tell him or not. He slapped her shoulder playfully and she gasped in mock horror.

"You dare to slap me? Well, I don't think I'll tell you after all."

"Oh, spit it out, Granger," Malfoy said, grabbing both her hands in his when she tried to slap him back.

It was then that the door burst open.

A/N: How dare they be disturbed! We were just making progress!

I think you all have a fair idea of who bursts in, so I don't really need to tell you that the next chapter involves a big argument and a few raised wands!

Leave a review, please! Remember, we're aiming for ten!