A/N - (Drum roll) here's the new chappie! Not much to say, haven't checked out the reviews yet. This chappie is called 'Mixed Emotions' because of poor Hermione's complicated situation. Read on to find out!

Chapter 8 – Mixed Emotions

Hermione went downstairs to find Kevin waiting for her at the door. He was dressed in a cute t-shirt and nice jeans. Casual, but not sloppy.

"You look great, as usual," he smiled.

"Thanks," she replied, also smiling. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He held out his hand for her to take and, with butterflies in her stomach, she called, "Miss Watson, I'm leaving right now. Tell Mom I'm out with Kevin. I'll be back at around six-thirty."

"All right, dear, have a good time," cried the housekeeper.

I will, thought Hermione, as she shut the front door behind them.

"Umm...I don't have a car, so I thought we could take a taxi or maybe the subway, if you don't mind?" he asked uncertainly.

She realised that he probably didn't have much money and replied, "No problem. We'll take the subway."

He smiled gratefully and they walked to the nearest station. They took the train to a multiplex cinema and Kevin asked, "What movie would you like to see? They have a special screening of 'The Wedding Planner' here and I thought you might want to see that."

"Sure, that would be nice," she replied.

He bought two tickets for the movie and they went into the hall. It was not a great movie and since Hermione had already seen it before, she got a little bored. It was almost six-thirty by the time it finished and Kevin said, "Let's go for an early dinner."

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I have to go somewhere else for dinner," she replied.

He looked disappointed. "Where do you have to go?"

"I, um, have to go somewhere with my parents. One of their friends is hosting a little party," she replied. She didn't know why she was lying. What was wrong with her going for dinner with Draco? He was just a friend, after all.

"Oh, um, all right, I guess I'll see you around then," he said, looking glum.

Hermione felt sad. She hated to disappoint him. "We can go for dinner tomorrow if you're free."

"Tomorrow? Yeah, that would be great," he said, brightening up.

"It'll be my treat," said Hermione. "I'll call and give you the details."

"All right, but you don't have to pay for it, you know," he said. "I like treating you."

She smiled. "But I'd like to treat you, for once."

"W-ell, if you insist," he said in an amused voice. "Tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow," she said. She was just turning to get a taxi when he said, "Hey, no goodnight kiss? After all, you are depriving me of company for dinner."

She laughed. "You are a wicked boy!" And she kissed him. It was a lovely kiss and she was, once again, walking on air. In that moment, it seemed as if she had everything she wanted in the world.

"Okay, you can go now," he teased.

"Thank you!" she laughed, opening the door of a taxi that had stopped.

"Bye!" he waved.

"Bye!" she said.

She reached home smiling. She just wanted to go to her room and think about Kevin and their wonderful kiss. Everything seemed to be working out just the way she wanted it to with him. But she wasn't left to dwell on these things, because five minutes after she reached home, Draco arrived to take her for dinner. He seemed a little uncertain when she opened the door, since he had probably never been to a muggle house before, and he looked relieved when he saw that it was she who had opened the door. She tried to look annoyed, but it was hard to when he was looking so good. She mentally hit herself for it, but she couldn't help noticing he was every bit as handsome as Kevin, in his well-fitting casual trousers and navy blue turtleneck. She couldn't deny that his clothes were always right for the occasion and suited him perfectly.

"Hi, you look nice," he said, eyeing her up and down for a moment in a manner that he never had before and that made her heart beat a hundred times faster.

"Thanks," she said, trying not too sound or look too thrilled. "Now what's this all about, you wanting to take me for dinner? I don't have nothing to do, you know."

"But you don't have anything to do right now," he replied, smiling. She got the awful feeling he knew that she wasn't really mad at him and was now dying to go to dinner with him.

"Well, you're just lucky I had nothing planned for tonight," she managed to say.

"I am, aren't I?" he said. She wanted to sink into the ground.

"Are you mocking me?" she asked.

"Of course not," he replied smiling. Oh God, what was it with him?

She could think of nothing and just gave him the dirtiest look she could muster.

"Shall we?" he asked, not at all disturbed. He offered her his arm.

She was a bit taken aback for a moment. Since when did he offer her his arm? Since when did he behave like such a gentleman? He was almost as bad (or as good) as he had been at Madame Plusha's Café that day.

She gave him her arm and closed the door behind her. She had already told Miss Watson that she was going out for dinner with a friend.

"I'm not sure whether muggles use brooms, so I thought that, to be on the safe side, we could take a...taxi," he said, stretching the last word, trying to pronounce it correctly.

Hermione laughed in spite of herself. "Muggles don't use brooms. You were very right to be 'on the safe side'!"

He laughed, too, and it was as if the invisible barrier that had been keeping them apart had disappeared. Draco hailed a taxi and asked the driver (with Hermione's help) to take them to the part of London where the entrance to Diagon Alley was. During the ride, they talked about everything that was happening in their lives and Hermione couldn't help thinking that it was much easier to talk to Draco than to Kevin, because she didn't have to hide anything from him. She even told him about Kevin and she thought that, just for a split second, his face hardened, but he was perfectly all right after that, so she supposed it had been her imagination. He even seemed encouraging about her going out with Kevin and she couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit disappointed. They reached the entrance to Diagon Alley and Draco paid off the taxi, again with Hermione's help.

"I thought we'd go to Mercury, since it's got pretty good food and a nice ambiance," he said.

Hermione was a bit surprise. Mercury was a very exclusive restaurant that was frequented only by rich Ministry officials, heirs and heiresses, and young people with a lot of money to spend. Still, she just said, "Okay," and he led her there.

He had been right about the nice ambiance; it was luxurious, but not gaudy. It was dimly lit and very tastefully done up. Hermione liked it at once and she told Draco so. He looked very pleased.

"I thought you'd like it," he said, with just a hint of shyness in his voice.

"I love it, but won't it be a little expensive?" she asked.

"Oh, that. No, don't worry about it," he replied.

They ordered their food, which was also really good. Hermione couldn't help thinking she was having a much better time with Draco than she had had with Kevin at the movie. She brushed the thought aside thinking that she had had a great time with Kevin the previous day at the café. And that was final.

She tried asking Draco about Marissa, but couldn't find out much.

"Oh, she's the daughter of a friend of my father's," he said impatiently.

"Which friend?" probed Hermione, getting exasperated and trying very hard not to show it.

"You wouldn't know him, he's French, he works in the Ministry of Magic there," he replied.

She decided to give up. He obviously didn't want to talk about Marissa. The whole time she was waiting for him to 'explain' whatever it was that he had said he would explain, but he didn't say anything about it. She asked him, but he just replied, "That was nothing. Forget it." She was getting even more exasperated, but dropped that subject, too.

Apart from these little glitches, the dinner went off very well. Draco apologised for taunting Harry, though Hermione had already forgotten about that. They talked freely, easily and cheerfully. She was a little sorry when it was time to leave and reached home with very mixed feelings.

She liked Draco, she was sure of it, but there was so much about him that was still a mystery. It was like he didn't want her to get too close. What was he hiding? Why couldn't he trust her? Then there was Kevin, handsome, dashing and very sweet. She liked him, too (he was the only guy who could make her go tingly all over just by the sight of him, but could that be a sign of infatuation?), but he didn't even know she was a witch and she had no idea how he would react to it when he found out. And then there was the little fact that she was Hermione Granger and she never got so frustrated over guys. What was it with her?

All in all, she was a very confused person by the time she fell asleep.