A/N: I want to thank all my reviewers (I responded to the reviews at the end) and I want to dedicate this chapter to Orlilover16 for giving me the wonderful idea in this chapter.


Chapter 12...

Draco Malfoy headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. He sat down at his seat and glanced up at the Gryffindor table where Hermione was sitting. She, too, was staring back at him. Quickly, she looked down at her food.

He sighed and placed his fork down. Suddenly, he didn't feel very hungry. "Hey, man, you gonna eat that?" Blaise Zabini asked, gesturing towards Draco's pudding. Draco pushed to plate over to his best friend. Blaise paused. "Are you okay? You're actually not hungry?" Draco shook his head, and Blaise grinned. "You know, they say that not eating is one of the symptoms of love," he teased.

That was too much. Draco grabbed his shirt collar and lifted him a few feet above his chair. "Shut… up… or… else… Draco Malfoy does not fall in love," he growled dangerously. Blaise nodded, his eyes bulging out. Draco dropped him onto his chair. "But I don't know what this is. I'm actually blowing off every girl that wants to sleep with me…"

Draco looked back at the Gryffindor table, but Hermione was clearly avoiding his eyes. He sighed, got up, and left.


Draco looked up the when Hermione walked into the common room. He put his book down, about to talk to her, but she immediately turned left into her bedroom. Draco sighed. "Hermione…" he groaned.

Draco stood up and knocked on Hermione's door. There was no answer. "'Mione, please let me in," he begged. There was still no answer. Taking a deep breath, Draco pushed the door open. He gasped at what he saw.

Hermione was standing next to her bed, a knife in her hand that was hovering over her arm. "Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Accio knife!" The knife came zooming towards him, and Draco caught it. "Hermione, what the hell are you doing!"

Hermione burst into tears as Draco wrapped his arms around her. There was a clean cut in her arm. "You've never done this before, have you?" Draco asked in disbelief. Hermione shook her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. "You could have done it wrong! What were you thinking? You're supposed to be smart!" Draco screeched.

"I'm s-sorry…" she sobbed, burying her face in his chest. He put the knife down and hugged her. "I… I didn't know what I was doing… But I was so mad…" she cried.

Hermione sniffled, and then inhaled sharply. She clutched her cut skin. Draco ran his fingers over the cut, causing Hermione to yelp, "Oww! Draco! That stings!"

"If that hurts, then making it go away will be a thousand times worse. I probably shouldn't try to heal it…" Draco decided. Hermione nodded and forced a smile onto her face.


"Ginny… I need to talk to you. Privately," Hermione said nervously. Ginny immediately got up and followed Hermione into her room. "Ginny, I have a problem… You're my best friend, and I don't think I can tell Harry or Ron. I… think I like somebody…"

Ginny squealed with delight. She rubbed her hands together mischievously and pried, "Who? Who?" eagerly. Hermione bit her lower lip.

"Draco Malfoy…" she whispered tentatively. Ginny's face dropped, but she forced a grin on her face again even though her eyes were bulging. "I know this is weird, but he'll act so civilized around me, and I think he changed," Hermione admitted. Ginny took a deep breath.

"Well… What can I say? This was DEFINITELY not what I expected. But, even still, I'm happy for you. But Harry and Ron are gonna freak," Ginny said. Hermione nodded. "Does Draco know?"

"No… but I think he likes me. Today, he thought I was asleep, and he said that he loved me!" Hermione whispered excitedly. Ginny shrieked.

"Are we still talking about Malfoy here? The Draco Malfoy, the sex-prince of our school? Love! That is so unlike him! I mean, he shags every girl without any guilt!"

Hermione grinned awkwardly. "But, I don't know what I should do… Ron would totally hate me, and Harry would probably be jealous. After all, I did dump him…" she said. Ginny made a funny noise, halfway between a squeal and a snort. Hermione looked at her, puzzled.

"Okay, I swore that I wouldn't tell, but it'll make you feel better. Harry probably will be jealous, but he won't be mad at you, because… we're going out secretly," Ginny confessed. Hermione gasped.

"Seriously! That is so cool!You guys are perfect for each other! I take it Ron doesn't know yet?" she asked. Ginny shook her head sadly.

"He'll so freak, not to mention with your news too. God, why does Ron have to be so protective?" she wondered. Hermione sighed.

"You'll keep this a secret for now, right?" she clarified. Ginny nodded. "Thanks. A lot. I just don't know if I should tell him."

"Hmm… I dunno. Don't tell him yet. Wait a while to see how he acts around you before deciding," Ginny suggested. Hermione nodded and hugged her.

"Thanks…"


Hermione slowly walked into Herbology class. She slid into a seat next to Harry and heard him say to Ron, "Herbology with the Slytherins. I think Dumbledore wants us to have EVERY class with the Slytherins. Something about house unity. Makes me wanna puke…" She ignored the comment and watched Professor Sprout walk into the greenhouse instead.

"Today, we will be splitting into groups of twos. You and your partner will be raising a plant. This will count as 50 of your grade, so I expect you to do well. You will be raising pracuers. Can anybody tell me what a pracuer is?"

To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was the first and only one in the air. "Yes, Miss… err… Granger."

"A pracuer is a small plant that is often mistaken for a nut. It grows, if properly cared for, and soon evolves into a miniature troll that will give off a greenish glow if the one who raises it is in trouble or danger," she said. Pansy Parkinson snorted.

"The Walking Dictionary strikes again!" Draco called out loudly. Every Slytherin hooted. Hermione flushed and stared down at her book.

"That is enough. Twenty points from Slytherin, and if there are any more disruptions, there will be detentions. That is exactly correct, Miss Granger," Professor Sprout kindly complimented. Hermione blushed.

Pansy's hand shot into the air. "Professor Sprout, will we get to choose our partners? I choose Drakie!" she shrieked. Draco glared at her.

"No, Miss Parkinson. I organized you into groups right here. I tried to make the project easier by making sure your partner shares a dorm with you so you can work better," Professor Sprout informed her.

"Professor, is there any way to change our arrangements because of… ahem, unwanted partners?" Draco asked loudly. The Slytherins snickered; Draco's only dorm mate was Hermione.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, these arrangements are final," Professor Sprout answered firmly. Draco faked a groan. "If we could please move on, the partners are as followed:

Weasley and Potter

Thomas and Finnigan

Parvati and Brown

Malfoy and Granger

Zabini and Parkinson

Crabbe and Goyle

……….

"I pity you, Mione. Working with Malfoy, sharing a dorm with him, discussing Hogwarts business with him… Ouch," Ron said.

"You don't know how bad," Hermione sarcastically told him.


"Hi, Draco…" Hermione hesitantly said as Draco Malfoy walked into the common room. He glanced at her absent-mindedly.

"Oh… hi…" he said uncertainly. His eyes flickered from her book to her face. "Listen, can we talk?"

"Sure…" She set down her book and offered him a seat, which he gratefully took. "So…" she began.

"So. Umm… about our project. I was thinking that we could, you know, take turns taking care of it. I'm not exactly sure about, like, all the requirements for keeping it healthy," he admitted.

"Oh, that's easy. Three cups of water per day, change it's soil twice a week and once it's body sprouts, let it feed on grass," Hermione rapidly explained. Draco nodded distractedly, and Hermione got the feeling that everything was going through one ear and out the other.

"I'll take care of it this week, and you can watch, just so you can see what I do as an example," Hermione offered. Draco grinned weakly.

"Okay, sure… Th- thanks… I guess," he muttered. Hermione couldn't believe it. He's thanking me! How un-Malfoy like!


­Draco studied Hermione's face closely as she offered to take care of the plant first. He couldn't help noticing how pretty she was.

"Okay, sure… Th-thanks… I guess," he stammered. Am I actually thanking her? A mudblood?

But she's not a mudblood. Nobody would be able to tell the difference… Why am I arguing with myself?

As he continued to watch her expressions, he saw worry and confusion flicker across her face. "Are you okay? You're worried about something," Draco accused her.

"No I'm not," she responded quickly. Too quickly. Draco glared at her with the stop-lying-you-can't-fool-me glare. She broke down and nodded her head guiltily.

"It's just that…" Why am I telling him? It's not like he cares. "It's nothing… Forget it," she muttered. Draco licked his dry lips, unsure of what to say.

"… Umm, why don't I make us some hot chocolate. It's cold in here…" he lamely said. Hermione, surprised, nodded her head. "I'll be right back…"

He dashed into his room and magically made two cups of hot chocolate appear. Then, he opened his drawer and took out a bottle of Veratiserum. He carefully poured a few drops into one cup, grinning evily. He carried the tray of hot chocolate outside and handed Hermione the cup with Veratiserum in it.

"Here you go. I hope it's not too hot," Draco said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, causing Draco to scowl.

"Drake! It's Blaise! Can you come out for a minute? I have to talk to you," Blaise's voice shouted. Draco sighed.

"Hold on one second…" He stepped outside of the common room, leaving Hermione to deal with her thoughts.

I have to know how Draco really feels. But how do I get him to confess? Her mind zoomed back to a couple weeks ago, when Draco had put Veratiserum in her drink. She gasped and snapped her fingers.

"That's it! Veratiserum!" she whispered excitedly. "He must still have some in his room, after doing it to me two weeks ago." Pointing her wand at Draco's room, she murmured, "Accio Veratiserum!" Sure enough, the bottle of Veratiserum came zipping towards her. She carefully poured several drops into Draco's cup before saying, "Return!" The bottle flew back to Draco's room.

Just then, Draco came back into the room. "Stupid git. Took me out there just to tell me about all the girls he was able to shag this week," he mumbled. Hermione forced a smile on her face. She picked up her cup, as did Draco. They both watched the other as they took a sip, neither knowing what their cup held.


A/N: For those that don't know, the idea that Orlilover16 had was for Hermione to put Veratiserum in Draco's cup and vice versa. Thanks for the idea!

Jadecowan: I know, that song rocks!

Samantha Cameron: Ooh… I just realized that. It looked long, but you're right. The reviews took up a lot of space, and the song did too. I'll try to make it longer. Sorry.

xoxobriTtAnyxoxo13: Why? What's so bad about ending it with a song? If you can give me a good reason, I'll try to stop doing that, but I know that some people like having the songs at the end.

Curlyq2713: Yep, you're right.

Hannah-901: Hmm… Pansy dying… As much as I would LOVE for that to happen, it would be kinda weird.

Angelofmusic45: It seems kinda unrealistic if that happens that fast. But it will happen soon. Also, I've had complaints and compliments about the songs at the end. Some people say that they don't like it, and other people say that they songs rock and they totally fit the chapter. I'm not exactly sure what to do.

Anonymous: That's good to know. My other story isn't such a big hit.

Angel-dolphin1: I'm glad you like it.

Orlilover16: Thanks for all the compliments. I don't get them very often. Usually, it's just 'great job' or 'nice story' but they never point out what they like about it. Thank you so much for the suggestions! I think I might use the veratiserum idea! Thanks so much!