Double Potions the next day was Hermione's trial by acting. It was never her favorite class and she was so reluctant to enter that when she slipped in a minute before the bell she was met by a happy smirk on her Potions Masters face that made her heart fall even more than his harshest sarcastic scolding. Snape had used his uncanny abilities to make sure that on the one day when Hermione had not reread the assigned section of the textbook, there would be a pop quiz. Worse still, the quiz was in pairs and obviously trying to ensure that his favorite got a legitimately good quiz grade, Snape paired Hermione and Draco. Harry was paired with Neville, directly behind Hermione and Draco, although Hermione was unable to help them as, next to Harry, sat Ron and Seamus.

"What next?" Draco called Hermione's attention back to him, giving her a strange look, trying to gauge what had happened last night. He, himself, felt as though he had been living in a dream and a very happy one. He still couldn't believe his defiance, doing exactly what his father hated most and almost daring the older man to find out. Even more stunning was the way Hermione had responded to his (slightly exaggerated) noble sentiments, and the way he had instinctively reacted to her reactions.

It was only Hermione's answer that drew him back to reality, "Add the stewed Flobberworms while I measure out the marshgrass." The blond nodded and complied. Hermione's hands were a little shaky as she teased the grass apart and weighed it on the scale. Ron's eyes boring into her neck didn't help, nor did Draco's slightly more subtle stares. She plucked the grass off the scale absent mindedly and then cried out, "Oh no!" as they fell to the floor and began to wriggle away.

Lavender and Parvati jumped on their table immediately and began to shriek as the Slytherins laughed cruelly and Hermione blushed. Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Neville were already down on their knees picking up the grass and Draco followed suit impulsively, noticing the Slytherins shut up as they begin to wonder what they should be doing… laughing or helping a Mudblood? Draco noted this with some amusement. He might not be the Slytherin prince and be short on friends but he certainly wasn't without influence.

Hermione watched Draco, stunned as he crawled with the rest of the boys. Belatedly, she dropped to her knees and began to gather the nasty snakelike blades of grass. After a moment of despair she immobilized a patch with a clever little freezing charm.

It did not take long for all the grass to be gathered up and Hermione was left sitting on the floor alone. Draco looked down at her, worried, and extended a hand. Without thinking, she took it and let him pull her up until she was standing inches from his body. For a few seconds she was stuck like that. His face was turned towards her neck and she could feel his warm breath that brought her skin to the boil. She knew that she'd been standing there too long but she couldn't move.

"Miss Granger!" Snape's voice could cut through stone and it definitely cut through Hermione's stupor as she jumped away from Draco. "Are you planning to sleep all through this quiz? You're already five minutes behind thanks to you carelessness. Ten points from Gryffindor!"

Hermione's face burned as she returned to work. Draco noticed her mood and decided to refrain from any more sensual stares. Besides, Hermione had begun to work so fast that only his fierce determination not to fail her stopped him from falling behind. As it was, the two finished their Befuddling Draught a quarter hour before the class ended. Snape tested it and grimaced, but allowed them to leave class early. Draco packed his things briskly and leaves. Hermione looked back for a second, disappointed, but he winked and inclined his head towards the door. She responded with a grin and rushed to pack the rest of her ingredients.

As promised, Draco waited behind the door. He grabbed her arm as she passed and pulled her to him, kissing her warmly, holding her waist firmly against his own, his arms wrapped around her so tightly that he could almost touch his own hips again on either side. A giggle almost escaped her lips and he put one finger up to silence her as she bit her lip frantically, trying not to laugh and give them away. He pulled her along with him instead to find a slightly more secluded corridor. Draco noticed that he was clinging to her, and without any alterior motive, sarcasm, or affectedness. He didn't care.

That evening Hermione sat in her room, studying …or trying to. She diligently took notes on the legal process of capturing a rogue dragon, one of the most interesting sections of Magical Law, somehow made incredibly boring not only by the dry old author but also by the euphoric haze that still clouded her mind. Something caught her eye and she turned her head just in time to see a small white object sail in through the window. Hermione jumped up to look for it, spotting it lying evenly on her pillow, a hallmark of magical accuracy. Inside the paper airplane are two words.

Hermione.

Window.

For a second she just stared at it and giggled helplessly, thanking God that none of the other girls were in the dormitory yet. She rushed to the window and leaned out. There was a single pinprick of light, the Lumos charm. The second after Hermione appeared, silhouetted against the lamps in the room, the little light began to move and in the magical residue Hermione could read:

"Willow. Nine tonight."

She smiled and whipped out her own wand. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to read it against the window she wrote on the wall next to it, "OK." Hermione could almost feel his smile as she grinned out at him before dashing back to her desk to finish all her homework in the few hours she had left. Eight to ten was fortunately the typical time for doing homework, and so few people looked up as she passed quietly through the Common Room to "go for a little walk." The girls in her dormitory had waved her away absentmindedly and Hermione hoped to pass out of Gryffindor Tower the same way, but as she approached the portrait hole a familiar shape moved out in front of her.

"Hi, Hermione."

Read and Review please! More (and longer) very very soon.