Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I wish I did, but I don't. I just own the plot.

Warnings: It's a little mushy! Mushy-ish! Haha I will forever love that word! Mushy-ish!

Author's Note: I plan to put one more chapter up before I start devoting myself to my studies. It will only be like...two weeks at the most of no updates, I promise. Celtic Angelic Witch: Like I said in the review of your story, I agree with you about the drunken raging parties, Oh, I love you so much all in one night thing. I hope this chapter doesn't go too far for you. They aren't like OH I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU, or anything but...you'll see. Brooks: slap lightly with pillow Aw, it's ok that you can't update as much as me. I just don't have a life and you do :P SpazySange: you put the frosting on my cake every time you review! It makes me blush :) Ya, I don't really like stories where Pansy is such a bimbo and comes out as a slut. It's so not cool. Hm, the protecting thing...I don't know about that. In a way maybe. I will write more action. In fact in this chapter even. :D nothing too much though. Like I said to Celtic Angelic Witch it's nothing major and all. I hope you like it. Lindy: You've reviewed more than once and I never really thanked you for it. Seems like ya'll want them to get together lol. Well, I hope you like this chapter.
Celtic Angelic Witch: I will e-mail you about the parts and all that I like about them. I would add it up here but this is a really long Author's Note and all, so I'll be e-mailing ya!

Lavender Roses

The weeks passed like hours. Hermione was always seen with Pansy and Blaise on either side of her. None of them took Divination so they all had the same classes. They always did their homework together and every night they met in the Astronomy Tower. They never usually had to meet there. They were usually together anyway, but they would go there to get away from all the hustle and bustle in the Slytherin Common Room.

Hermione was accepted right away into the Slytherin family. By all except Malfoy that is. He was like the leader of Slytherin. Not a lot of people dared to talk to him. Hermione only talked to him to trade insults. Hermione became quickly popular with all the Slytherins and eventually with Snape too.

It surprised her when Snape started giving out points to Gryffindor every once in a while. He didn't dock points from her for being a know-it-all at least, and every once in a while he would give her two points for having a flawless potion. Although, her little points didn't matter much because he was always taking points away from other Gryffindors.

The Ravenclaws were the Slytherins closest allies and they seemed to accept Hermione too. They didn't go out of their way to talk to her or anything but they would laugh along with the Slytherins. Only a few Hufflepuffs would do anything to even acknowledge that she was there. Hufflepuffs were close to the Gryffindors and usually stayed to themselves if Gryffindor wasn't around.

Even though many people quickly accepted her, none of the Gryffindors did. Neville would look her way occasionally almost begging her to help him with a homework assignment like he use to, but then he would shake his head and turn back to his cauldron before it blew up. No one stopped hating her for being a 'traitor' though.

Sure they all accepted her for hanging out with the Slytherins but that's what they expected from her. They were all convinced still that she was a death eater, or at least a spy for Voldemort. They would just occasionally be nice to her because they were afraid that if they didn't she would hex them and that would be the end of their short lived life.

Hermione didn't care too much. She was just glad to have people that she can relate with.

A few weeks before Christmas during dinner Professor Dumbledore stood up. "I have a very important announcement to make," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "It's just a few weeks before the Christmas holidays and the last day of regular school we will be having a Christmas Ball."

Excited chatter started almost immediately. People searched the crowd looking to make eye contact with someone they wanted to go with. Hermione just continued eating like nothing had happened. She knew she didn't have anyone to go with. Across the hall Ron and Parvati smiled and snuggled closer. Harry winked at Padama across the way. Hermione scowled and stabbed her steak angrily with her fork.

Blaise reached over and took the fork away from her. "You're creepy sometimes," she said laying it a foot away from Hermione. Pansy squeaked next to Blaise. Her eyes bugged and she looked fearfully down the table where Goyle and Crabbe were. Hermione studied her for a moment and then ignored her.

"The ball will be open for all age groups," Dumbledore continued. "There will be a Hogsmeade weekend this weekend so that everyone can get a nice new dress robe. The first and second years are aloud to go only with a chaperone approved by one of the professors." With that he sat down and let everyone chat happily amongst themselves.

"I can't wait! I've wanted to buy a new dress robe for a long time now," Blaise said dreamily.

"Since when did you start caring about that kind of thing?" Hermione asked her casually stealing her fork away so she could eat.

"Since, awhile ago," she continued talking not noticing that Hermione had stolen her fork.

"What are you guys doing for holiday?" Pansy asked after a while of listening to Blaise's senseless gibbering about dresses and frills.

"Going home, what else would we do?" Malfoy replied.

"I'm staying here," Hermione said sadly.

"What? You can't stay here for the holidays! What about going home?" Blaise asked joining them on their conversation.

"My parents went to America to see my Aunt's new baby," Hermione replied. "I don't like flying. I'll just stay here."

"You can't stay here for the holidays! It's not possible! No one should ever! Go with Blaise or something," Pansy suggested looking at Blaise for approval.

Blaise shook her head as she spoke, "No, my parents said only one person. And since Pansy has no where else to go, I told her she could come."

Crabbe leaned over and suggested that Pansy could come over to his house. He winked huskily at her. Hermione wanted to chew her arm off and throw it at him. Pansy had the same thought too, by the look on her face.

"What about going over to Draco's?" Goyle asked taking a huge bite of potatoes.

Hermione stared at him like he was mental. "You need to go to St. Mungo's," Malfoy said.

Hermione nodded her approval. Pansy and Blaise just raised their eyebrows like they considered it. "That might not be a bad idea," Pansy said.

Hermione turned to look her in the face. She was sure that she had been joking, but by the look on her face she seemed to be perfectly serious. "How could that possibly be a good idea?"

Malfoy looked at her like he was very interested in the answer too. Pansy hesitated. "Well, it would be a good opportunity for you two to finally get to know each other. We've been friends for a while now, and you're constantly throwing insults at each other."

"Great idea Pansy! Once we get to know each other, my father learns who she is and rips her apart," Malfoy said sarcastically.

"Oh, that's comforting," said Hermione.

"It's the truth," Malfoy snorted.

"But, your father is... well he isn't home at the moment. He won't be back until the New Year will he?" Blaise asked.

"How do you know if his father is there or not?" Hermione asked her.

"Well, my father is kind of with him," she said looking away. Hermione nodded her head knowing that both of their fathers were death eaters and were probably on some secret mission. She didn't press the matter knowing that Blaise was not proud of what her father did.

"But what of his mother?" Hermione asked.

"What about her?" Malfoy defended her. "She isn't a death eater if that's what you're implying."

"I didn't say that," said Hermione taken aback by his iciness.

"You thought it," he said glaring at her.

"How do you know that? Can you read minds Mr. Oh So Cool?" Hermione asked getting mad at him again.

Blaise and Pansy rolled their eyes. "I can read you like a text book, Granger. You're so predictable."

Hermione's quick temper flared up in a heart-beat. She searched for a way to get out of a fight calmly and rationally. There seemed to be no way. And with the look on Malfoy's face he knew he had her caught like a deer in the headlights. "Predict this!" Hermione yelled at him splashing her water onto his face. No one around them reacted to it, deciding that it was best to stay out of their business if they wanted to live. Pansy and Blaise gasped and looked at Hermione with pride.

Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall needing time to cool off. She walked out into the gardens and sat down on a bench heavily.

Back in the Great Hall Blaise and Pansy turned on Draco. "Read her like a textbook?" Asked Pansy, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, sod off. She is rather predictable," he said gloomily.

"Whatever, Draco, I'm going after her before she does something," she put her hands in fake quotes. "Predictable."

"No, I'll go after her," Malfoy said standing up and leaving the hall before Pansy or Blaise could protest. Blaise looked after him.

"He's not telling us something."

Hermione paced endlessly now. She had tried sitting down and calming her spirits but she couldn't sit still. The prat had gone too far this time. He was always making fun of her and putting her down and she was sick of it! She hated having him tell her that she was less than him just because of who her parents were. She wanted to tell him that his parents didn't turn out too great for being wizards, but stopped herself. If she did that she would be sinking to his level.

For the past couple of days it had hurt Hermione especially whenever he insulted her and she didn't know why. It's not like she cared what the thought of her, right? Right?

But Hermione couldn't help but notice nowadays that he always seemed to be different to her. His usually cocky sayings only made her laugh; if not out loud then just in her head. His emotions started to become visible to Hermione. No one could tell but she could read his emotion through his eyes. Most people saw his eyes as emotionless pools of ice but Hermione swore that she saw things inside his eyes.

When he was angry they would flash with a warning. When he was feeling down they didn't sparkle as much as they did when he was happy. When he was happy you wouldn't be able to tell with just a look at a smile, because Malfoy didn't smile. When he did few people saw it. Hermione hadn't ever seen him truly smile. Only Blaise and Pansy say that they have.

He always seemed to be upset after they had a fight too. He didn't come out and say he was sorry. On the contrary, he would just explain his actions like it made it all better and Hermione wasn't still hurt that he had said that about her.

She sighed as she looked around the beautiful gardens that Hogwarts had. There were so many different kinds of flowers and plants there that it seemed to be a different world. There were pathways and bridges over the small stream that trickled down into the dark woods. Birds and animals of all kinds came to the gardens to relax or eat the nectar. But of all the flowers, Hermione's favorite was the rose.

She found herself in the rose garden now. There were roses of all kinds and shapes: rosebuds, full-grown roses, and even some roses that waved even with no wind. They were so many different colors: red, black, yellow, blue, green, pink, white, and countless more. Unlike most people Hermione wasn't drawn to the red roses, she was drawn to the beautiful simplicity of the lavender rose. She walked over to the lavender group and smelled the freshness of them almost forgetting her troubles with Malfoy.

She picked a rose from the garden and examined it like a scientist would. It reminded her of him. With its pretty outside that mesmerized you and dared you to get close to it. Then it seemed to laugh as you got close and pricked you with one of it thorns. When you tried again you would only be struck again by a thorn. She threw the rose on the ground and continued walking. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear footsteps behind her.

"What was the matter with the rose?" Malfoy's voice asked.

Hermione turned around to come a few inches away from Malfoy's face. She looked up into his eyes and saw herself reflecting back in them. After a moment she shook her head and continued walking, trying her best to ignore him.

"It doesn't seem to have a problem with it," he continued.

"Nothings the matter with it," she said not looking at him but focusing her gaze on the stars and full moon above her.

"Nothing," he repeated looking at Hermione and not the rose that was in his hand. Hermione looked at him for a moment and shivered slightly. Malfoy shook his head to clear his thoughts. To him there was something wrong. She wasn't who he was supposed to fall in love with. He was supposed to fall in love with a beautiful pureblood witch. Not a beautiful mudblood witch.

Beautiful? He asked himself. She certainly did look it that night. The moonlight was reflecting off the glassy roses and making her already perfect face look like that of a dolls. The wind would blow through her hair occasionally sending it back behind her in a beautiful wave.

"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked looking at him with wide eyes.

Malfoy shook his head again. "N-no," he replied mentally slapping himself. Malfoy's do not stammer, he told himself. "Listen, about what happened back there," he said trying to change the subject.

"It doesn't matter. I was being stupid and acting on an instinct. I shouldn't have thought that through. I don't even know your mother." she stated.

"No, I was over-reacting," he interrupted.

They both continued to explain they're actions to each other not noticing that the other person was already talking when they were.

"What I mean to say is," said Hermione.

"What I mean is," Malfoy said a moment after her.

"I'm sorry," they said together.

Hermione looked up at Malfoy and smiled. Malfoy, for once, smiled back too. It was a genuine smile that only a few people had ever seen before. His teeth showed and his face wrinkled reaching his eyes and making his eyes sparkle and dance in their own way. Hermione caught the smell of his cologne. It smelled of pine trees and berries mixed together. It gave him a rugged sense.

Hermione didn't protest as they slowly became closer, until they were inches apart. Malfoy reached out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. She shivered at his touch. "You're cold," he said running his hands down her bare arms feeling the goose bumps. "I would give you my jacket, but someone spilled water all over it." He said laughing slightly. His laugh wasn't the usual laugh but deep and full of joy. Hermione liked this laugh better.

She blushed slightly at the comment and looked at Malfoy's shirt. It was wet from the water she threw at him. She smiled a little as she took out her wand and dried his shirt. "Sorry about that," she apologized again.

"It's alright with me," he said looking at his now dry shirt and jacket.

"No, I should have really done something other than that. I just wanted to prove the point that I wasn't predictable. And maybe I am. I don't know," Hermione said plunging into a story about why she was and wasn't predictable. Malfoy laughed occasionally but she didn't notice; she was too caught up in her story.

"Granger," he said trying to get her attention. She kept talking.

"Granger," he said again a little louder. She didn't even blink.

"Hermione!" he said cupping her face. She shut up mid-sentence.

"What did you just call me?" She asked looking down at his hand that cupped her face perfectly.

"I called you, Hermione," he said almost not believing it himself.

She smiled. "I like that, Draco," she said putting her hand over his. He smiled a genuine smile for the second time that night. Hermione liked this side of Draco a lot better. Draco slowly came slowly forward stopping an inch from her face.

He studied her for a moment. Her eyes were closed; it seemed that her eyelashes were kissing her cheeks. Draco loved the look on her face. The only way to describe it was a face of an angel. He smiled a little and closed the gap between their lips.

Something zapped through their lips when they first touched. Neither Hermione nor Draco had ever felt it before, and they both liked it. It wasn't a passionate kiss but it seemed to be full of emotion and life. When they pulled apart they were both out of breath.

"Now, that wasn't predictable," Draco said kissing her again.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I really appreciate it! Wow! I spelled appreciate without having to do spell check! Whoosh! Happiness! Anyway, please review this chapter. I hope you guys like the fact that they are finally almost together. No they won't be doing anything too serious though.

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!