CHAPTER FIVE:

AT NOON

"Away, I could go any where right now. I could sprout wings and fly!" She said in an excited voice as he laughed.

"Only one problem with that." Draco smiled and Hermione gave him a confused look.

"What?" she wondered.

"Aren't you afraid of heights?" he asked and gave a slight chuckled.

"Yeah... forgot that part." She laughed and gave him a light smile as she sat up. Draco laid his head in her lap.

"You're so beautiful; I have no idea why I didn't say it earlier." He smiled and he looked down to him with a blush on her face. She raked her fingers through his long bleach white hair.

"No I'm not." She laughed, blushing a mere bit.

"Yes, yes you are." He smiled as his silver eyes gleamed at her and her honey eyes melted into his.

She slowly bent down to kiss him but she was distracted. Right before her lips hit his, they heard a familiar voice coming. Draco sat up and walked over to Hermione's wall. He set an ear against the wall and listened.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, in a silent voice.

"It's Pansy..." Draco whispered "She must have entered my room through those gem things." He sneered a little. "I hate when she does that." He snipped.

"Why does she want to be in your room?" Hermione asked, with a confused look upon her face.

"She uhh-" He paused and sighed. "She thinks we're dating." He said, mumbling a bit.

"Oh." Hermione said, laying down on her bed, facing the wall. She stared at the wall with sadness.

Draco watched her as he sighed in apology. He walked over, laying on the bed behind her. One of his arms reached over and wrapped around her waist as he whispered silently in her ear.

"Don't be like that, I don't like her." He tried to get her belief.

"I know." She sighed and her blinked. "I just, don't think she knows that." She snipped and sighed. Draco stood from the bed with a scared look upon his face. "What are you doing?" she wondered.

Draco looked around frantically as he slid under Hermione's bed. She had a great look of confusion on her face and the look merely died off when she heard a pound on the door. Hermione fussed with her braid and walked over to the door. She opened it a little and stared at the person out side.

"What are you doing her Pansy?" Hermione asked, giving a hiss into her name.

"Shut it mudblood, where the hell is Malfoy?" she snipped and leaned against the doorway.

"How would I know?" she snipped. "One, we are enemies and two, he hates me so why would he be here?" she snipped again.

"Good point." She stuck her nose in the air. "But I'll be watching you mudblood, I'll be the one witnessing your murder in your sleep." She sneered and walked out.

Hermione locked the door and slammed it shut. She panted with deep anger and turned around, slamming her back against the door. She slid down to the floor as she brought her knees to her face and began to cry.

Draco slithered out from under her bed and walked over. He set an arm around her shoulders and set his head on her shoulder. She looked at him as the tears trailed down her eyes. Draco looked at her.

"Please don't cry Hermione." He sighed, whipping a tear from under her eyes.

"She... she called me a... a..." she paused as she buried her head into Draco chest. Draco blinked and rested his chin on her head.

"Shh... don't listen to her." he started "Pansy is the worst kind of girl; don't even pay attention to her." He said, rubbing her back and along her waist a little.

"You're right." She smiled lightly as she sniffled a little. She sighed.

"Baby, don't worry about it." He spoke in a low tone.

Hermione was deep in thought by then. She sighed as she got lost in her thoughts. 'Will Pansy really kill me... will I ever get use to being called dirty blood?' She asked her self over and over but the real thought that hit her was: 'Did he just call me babe?' she blinked.

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Dumbledore entered the common room as everyone gather in shortly afterwards. He stood in front of the fire as everyone took a seat on the couch and such. Draco snuck into his room by using the gems connecting his and Hermione's room. He entered out, a little later to cover it up.

Dumbledore gave him a wink as he put an innocent smile on his face. Hermione sighed as she rested herself into the recliner and Draco sat on the arm of the sofa. Pansy was sitting right next to Draco with a happy face upon her.

"Where have you been Draco?" She asked, a little jumpy like.

"Out." He said in a dark tone as Pansy looked at Hermione with a glare.

"I was beginning to think you were hanging out with mudbloods." She snipped "Maybe we should kill Granger tonight, that'll make us all happy. Well, everyone except her boyfriend, Potter." She put a devilish face upon her.

"Attention…" Dumbledore started, not hearing Pansy. Draco was about to punch her but was distracted by Dumbledore's voice. "We need one activity from you all; it will have to do with competing. You are to make it some what difficult, and will have no sort of danger what so ever." His deep wisdom voice rang through out the room. Hermione raised her hand and Dumbledore gave her a nod.

"Professor, what is the point of doing this, this year?" She paused "Why such a change in plan?" she wondered and Dumbledore gave her a smile.

"Miss. Granger, the point my dear is to find friendship with the other houses. The activities I think will help a lot for communication and fun." He gave her a delicate smile.

"Oh." She spoke in a silent tone and smiled. "Thank you sir." She smiled and Dumbledore gave her another nod as he waved and soon left the room.

Harry was sitting on the arm of the chair that Hermione sat in. She slouched in the chair and sighed. When everyone proceeded to their rooms Hermione and Harry stayed in the common room. Harry looked at her with a light smile.

"Do you have any ideas?" He asked her, and she sighed.

"No… I have not a clue on what to do." She spoke in a low tone as she stared into the fire.

"I don't exactly know what he's looking for; I mean I can't think of one thing that hasn't been done already." He chuckled lightly and Hermione bent forward, staring deeper into the fire. "What are you thinking?" he asked with a low tone.

"I'm thinking of an idea." She sighed and stared harder. "We can compete for whoever casts the best spell." She thought. "Or maybe the best potion." She smiled.

"Maybe, we'd have to talk it over with the others though." He sighed as he heard a creak. A door from behind Harry opened, and Malfoy walked out. He gave Harry a light smile and an innocent look.

"Hey Draco." Hermione sighed again and he nodded.

"Something wrong?" He asked her, staring up at Harry as if he did something wrong.

"Nothing; just thinking about what we're going to decide on." She sighed, staring back at the fire.

"Oh." Draco said lightly as he gave Harry an innocent smile, Harry only smiled back. "So Potter, looking forward to this year?" He asked, knowing he had never been in a real conversation with Harry Potter before.

"Yeah, I guess so." He sighed getting up from his seat and lying on the couch as he watched Draco kneel in front of Hermione.

Hermione had a perky face on, he could tell she was in love. She turned all pink colored as the fire made her eyes glisten and she smiled constantly. Harry couldn't do anything but be happy for her. Harry fell asleep on the couch, just staring into the fire and fell asleep.

Hermione and Draco proceeded to Hermione's room as they shut, and locked the doors behind them. Draco stepped on the balcony again as Hermione changed inside. Draco only removed his shirt. Hermione slowly unbraided her hair. It was long and wavy because it had been braided in a French braid all day.

She slipped into her bed and turned the light off. She stared out to the moon as she felt the slithering arms of Draco wrap around her. She smiled as she felt his smooth lips hit her neck and she laced her fingers through his. In about fifteen minutes, she drifted off to sleep.

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In the morning Hermione walked out of her room to fine everyone discussing the activity. She rubbed her eyes with a yawn as she smiled a light smile at Draco and return to her room to change.

She walked back in, changing into long black pants and a hot pink tee shirt. She wore her black clogs and she wrapped her hair into a bun. She returned to the common room as everyone gave her a welcome smile, except Pansy was sneering.

"Hey Hermione." Harry gave her a welcoming smile as she looked around.

"Hey everyone, sorry I forgot to set my alarm clock." She laughed as everyone told her it was okay. She sighed, taking a seat in the recliner and slouching.

"Hermione," Susan, a Hufflepuff, started. "We were just discussing what we should do for a competition game." She smiled "Do you have any thoughts?" she asked.

"Well…" Hermione said with a yawn. "Me and Harry were thinking about one person from each house and compete to see who performs the best spell." She said still yawning.

"That's brilliant!" Padma Patil stated. She was a snotty Ravenclaw student who thought she was better than everyone else. "We should try that." She smiled.

"I guess…" Hermione blinked. "But it really isn't that good of a game." She yawned more as Harry smiled at her.

"Well we have nothing anyways." Justin sighed. Justin was also a Hufflepuff.

"I said we should see how many people we can slaughter in five minutes." Pansy snipped and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Figures, you blood thirsty snake." Hermione snipped and Draco began to laugh. Pansy glared at Draco.

"It's not funny, you are agreeing with a mudblood?" she snipped and Draco gave her a cold glare and Pansy began to sweat a little.

"I mean, of course you agree with a mudb…" she stopped "I mean, Granger." She gave an innocent smile as Draco's glare wore off.

Everyone ignored that little statement as they went on talking about what the competition was actually going to look like. Hermione felt flattered that they were using her idea, but it wasn't a very good idea.

"That settles it, Hermione you will present this to Dumbledore at breakfast." Draco started and everyone gave a nod. "Dismissed." He joked and everyone gave a laugh.

Hermione returned to her room as she stared at the open wall leading to Draco's room. She always kept the two entrance ways open incase he wanted to talk. She didn't go through the passage way to talk to him though.

She walked down the narrow hall that was made of mirrors. She watched her reflection as she moved a bit and messed with her hair. She sighed and turned her body, looking at the reflection of her side.

"How beautiful." A dark voice said as Hermione heard the footsteps; she knew it was obviously Draco. She smiled.

"You flatter me Draco." She giggled as she messed with her bun, tucking her loose bangs behind her ear.

"But it's true." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her again. She began to get a little nervous when she felt his hands reach her thighs. She turned around to break his touch, thinking it was too early to go that far.

"I doubt it Draco." She gave a hesitated smile and a nervous look as she returned to her room. "I need to close these walls so I can have some time alone, ok?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course." He laughed as he hit the gem on the one side and the door closed as soon as he stepped in his room.

Hermione hit the other one as she plopped down on the floor with a nervous look on her. She thought to herself as she looked to her thighs and could still feel his wandering touch caress her. She sighed.

"What did he think he was doing." She asked herself, quietly so only she could hear. "Getting that close, I mean it was a shock that he touched my waist so sudden… but I didn't expect lower." She sighed as she looked at her legs and she soon heard the gong of the clock.

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The gong sound meant an hour before breakfast. She walked over to the other side of the wall and knocked three times on the wall. If Harry knocked back that she would be ok to enter. She waited and soon she heard three knocks back. She touched the gem and the wall slid open.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, seeing Hermione sweat in fear.

"I'm a little afraid of what I'm going to say to Dumbledore. What should I say?" she asked him as she paced back and forth across the wall opening.

"Calm down, you seem to be very over reactive over simple things." Harry started "First because Dumbledore wanted you to by Gryffindor girl, and now that we want you to present your argument. I don't understand what is troubling you, the last time you were this scared you were being attacked by a werewolf." He laughed a little as she put her panicked face on.

"Is it here?" She asked looking around and sighed and Harry giggled a little. "Harry, everything is so different this year, it's like this year is up to me to save. I feel trapped and I should calm down, I actually don't know why I am so worried lately." She sighed as she looked at the wall that separated hers and Draco's room.

"Is something wrong between you and Draco?" He asked, a little worried him self. He knew Draco was bad news but he kept his silence.

"No… it's nothing." She sighed. She couldn't tell Harry what Draco had done; she couldn't risk Harry's trust of him.

"Look Hermione," she turned around as he spoke. "Just sit down and take a couple deep breathes, you can do this." He smiled as she sat down on her bed.

"Ok." She did so and Harry walked through the wall opening, and into her room. She took her deep breaths and became relaxed. "Ok, I know I can do this." She tired to smile.

"Good" Harry laughed and looked out her window and began walking for the door "Come on, breakfast starts in twenty minutes." He smiled and she gave him a nod.

"Harry…" she started as Harry turned around to face her. "Thank you, for being the chosen guy for Gryffindor, I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here." She smiled as she gave him a quick hug.

"No problem." He smiled as she gave her a quick hug (friendship hug) back. "Now let's get going, breakfast should be starting soon." He smiled as they exited Hermione's room and Draco stood in front of the fire in the empty common room.

"Hey Draco." Hermione greeted with a slight smile.

"Hey Hermione, going to breakfast?" He asked sweetly and she gave him a nod.

"Yeah, are you?" she asked as Harry watched their conversation carefully.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a bit I just wanted to wait and see you before you left." He smiled and she felt her heart jump into her throat.

"Well aren't you adorable." She giggled and Harry laughed in the background. "See you later then." She smiled.

Harry felt embarrassed as he stood there and watched his best friend, and his worst enemy kiss. He felt a little paranoid but he didn't give it much thought. She wanted him to be happy for her, and he was… just not in the way she expected.

She left the room with Harry as they talked about what she was going to say in front of Dumbledore. Hermione was tongue – tied and she felt like she ate a bunch of Fred and George's Ton Tongue Toffee. She took a deep breath as she felt a gust of wind hit her when the doors to the Great Hall opened.

She saw the people filling in as she walked to the table with her head low. She sighed as she took a seat across from Ginny and Harry walked around the table, sitting next to Ginny. Hermione sighed and explained to Ginny what was going on.

All Hermione heard that morning at breakfast was laughter. She felt people laughing at how dumb her idea was because the past few weeks she had been tied up in other things and loosing her concentration. No one was really laughing, it just seemed they were.

"Attention students…" Dumbledore started as he stood at the podium, like every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "I would like one person from the selected group to enter the trophy room right now; I shall be there in a minute." He smiled.

Hermione felt her blood pump harder as she stood and walked slowly to the front with her head held high. She heard silent whispers come from the tables she passed. She didn't look back, only straight in front of her. Dumbledore gave her a wink as she proceeded to the room that was located directly next to the Head table.

She walked in as the red cushiony leather couches made noises as she sat down. She watched the large wooden doors that were trimmed with gold close from behind her. She waited there, looking at all the polished trophies; she even saw her own trophy. She walked slowly over and looked through the case.

She stared as the golden slab with her moving picture upon it, shined. She smiled as she read the carving of letters saying "Congratulations, to Miss. Hermione Granger for the dedication to this school." She smiled as she looked at the other ones as well.

She saw that Harry had more trophies then she, but that was no surprise. She looked around to the other ones as she heard a creek and turned around to see the large door open and Dumbledore stepped in. She gave him a smile and he gave her a wink.

"I see you found your award." He laughed and she nodded.

"Yes, and so many memories I get from it." She smiled, staring upon the moving picture. She sighed.

"You really have proven yourself to be a fine good witch. You would definitely give the other muggle borns, and the pure bloods that fuss a run for their money." He gave her a smile and another wink as she blushed slightly and sat back down upon the red cushiony couch.

"Thank Professor." She smiled and he gave her a nod. He smiled.

"Now Miss. Granger, talk to me about this competition." He smiled and Hermione explained

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Hermione walked out of the room with a wide smile on her face. She sat across from Ginny and started eating her breakfast. Ginny gave her a smile and Harry smiled too. They laughed a little and Hermione looked up and watched them.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, with a smile on her face.

"Nothing, it's just you were so worried..." Ginny started

"And then you walk out with a smile." Harry finished Ginny's sentence, and Ginny laughed.

"Well he thought my idea was good, though I still don't agree." She laughed and they laughed with her.

"When does it start?" Ginny and Harry asked in unison.

"Tomorrow," she paused as she drew her attention to Dumbledore. He took a seat at the head table and she finished her words. "At Noon."

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoy this chapter, if you haven't noticed... my chapters are titled with the last word or words I write. I find it to be sort of fun to call them the last things. Well I hope you enjoy and I should be posting my next chapter in a couple days! Enjoy!

Airalynn