A/N: I am soo sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I have had MEAP tests and working on other stories. I have been so busy and I'm sorry. This is a really boring chapter, sorry, but I will get the next chapter up really soon, probably tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Chapter 23

Polyjuice and Preparations

Hermione and Draco sat in the woods, talking for hours. When they got back to the castle, Harry and Raymond were waiting for them. Raymond was a fourth year that was drop dead gorgeous, he had dark black hair that was short and spiked. Hermione thought he was the cutest guy in the world, next to Draco, at least for a fourth year.

"Hi, Hermione, your back finally. Its almost ten o'clock."

"I know Harry, we were just talking and we lost track of time."

"Yeah, sure, so that's what you kids call it these days, talking."

"Shut up Harry, seriously, we were. Raymond, why are you here?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, I don't know, I was just walking down here and I saw Harry, I was talking to him and then you two showed up. So why are you two together?"

"It's a long story," Hermione laughed, "I'll tell you some other time."

"Ok, well, I should probably go back up to bed now, I don't want to get in trouble by you prefects."

Harry had been made the boys prefect after Ron had been expelled, so that now he was also in the position to punish people accordingly.

"Oh, we wouldn't punish you for staying out too late, Raymond, but we should all go back to bed now, I have to get up early tomorrow to do my homework." Hermione said.

"Ok, goodnight love," Draco said, giving Hermione a kiss and heading off towards the dungeons.

Hermione, Harry and Raymond made their way back to Gryffindor tower, where Raymond went immediately up to his room. Harry told Hermione to stay down in the common room, because he wanted to talk to her.

"Hermione, what were you really doing with Malfoy for so long?" Harry asked.

"Harry, seriously, we were just talking. It was an amazing talk, I never knew that Draco could say things like that, he was so…insightful on my whole way of being. He could explain everything about me perfectly. It was wonderful."

"Hermione, you were with him for like eight hours. That is a really long talk."

"Yeah, it was, and I'm glad we had it, because now I know a lot more stuff about him and he knows a lot more stuff about me. We got a lot closer with just that talk."

"You are so completely in love with him," Harry said with a smile.

"I know, its horrible isn't it? Me, Hermione-Ms.-perfect-know-it-all-Granger, dating Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and resident sex god. I never thought it could happen, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I have wanted this to happen a lot longer than this year, I think what Parvati said about me was right, I have liked him for a lot longer than I thought, I just put it off in the back of my mind because I knew that it could never happen, because he is a pureblood and I'm a muggle born."

"Hermione, this has nothing to do with blood, if he loves you then he wont care about whether you are muggle born or not."

"I know, Harry, its not him that I'm worried about, its his father."

"Yeah, well, he wont really find out about it though, right?"

"Of course he will find out, the way this is getting around the school so fast, he's bound to know, but that is when Draco said that he is going to feed his father lies, telling him that he's using me for the sex, blah, blah, blah. I just hope it works."

"I do too, I just want you to be ok, I don't want anything bad to happen to you because you are dating him."

"I hope that nothing bad happens too, I just want to live a normal life."

"There is no such thing as a normal life nowadays," Harry said contemplating his own life.

"I know Harry, but anything is better than the life that we are living, constantly in fear of everything and anything around us, wondering if Voldemort is waiting around the corner for us, its just not a good life to live, we need something better to do than be in constant fear."

"Hermione, you are so deep, its scary."

"See Harry, this is what I'm talking about, I just spent eight hours talking to Draco about all of this, and he understood. You just call me deep, because you don't truly understand anything that I'm saying."

"I know I don't understand, Hermione, you talk about things in such a way that I don't get it, you make something simple to be something so confusing."

"I don't try to, its just the way that it comes out. For better clarification, we shouldn't be afraid of Voldemort, we should live for the moment."

"See, you could have just said that, instead of going into this big long confusing speech."

"I'm going to bed, I have to get up tomorrow to do homework, I'm sorry Harry, but I don't think that you are the right person to talk to about my problems."

"And Malfoy is?" Harry asked angrily.

"At least he understands me."

"I'm sorry if I'm not as intelligent as you Hermione, I'm trying the best I can, you don't have to get all mad at me, its not my fault that I don't understand."

"I know its not, you're just not the person to take my personal problems to."

"So now that you and Malfoy have been dating for what, a week, you can now tell him everything and anything about your life. Hermione, you need to see that I am your best friend, I am there for you if you ever need me, don't think that just because I may be a little lower on the intelligence list that you cant tell me about you. I do understand Hermione, things just need to be clarified for me a little more."

"Harry, is there anything that I have told Draco that I haven't told you?" Yes the little voice in her head said.

"I don't know Hermione, you obviously told him a lot today."

"Harry, I have known you for six years now, I have told you a lot about myself in that amount of time. In the eight hours I just spent talking to Draco, I haven't told him a fraction of the stuff I have told you in six years. Don't feel left out."

"I don't feel left out, I just don't want you to think that you cant talk to me, Hermione because you can."

"I know Harry, and if there is anything that I find out about me, you will be the first to know."

"Ok, as long as that is true."

"It is Harry, I love you more than anyone else in this school, you are my best friend."

"I know, you're mine too, I'm glad we had this talk though."

"Me too, Harry, but I have to go to bed now."

"Ok, see you in the morning."

"Night Harry."

"Night Hermione."

With that they both went up to their dormitories to go to sleep. Hermione felt so bad, she had just lied her heart out to Harry, she needed to stop doing that to people. It was getting her in more trouble than she wanted. That was, after all, how the whole thing with Ron started.

Draco made his way back to the dungeons, thinking about his conversation with Hermione, there was so much more to her than he ever knew was possible. There was so much to her, she was more complicated than all of the other girls in the school, and that is what made her so bloody tempting to him. She was more than they could ever be, she had more intellect than they had, she had more desires and passions, she hadn't been able to choose a career yet because she was so fascinated by so many different areas of expertise.

They had talked for hours to each other about each other, they had shared ever little detail about their lives, at least he had to her, and he thought that she had too. Draco wanted nothing more than to be with her right now. Why did they have to live on opposite sides of the castle, why did they have to have a relationship that the entire school could not know that it was for love and not for sex?

He wanted to have her with him at this moment, just so that he could be reassured that it was real, that she was his, that she was with him, of all people, her former worst enemy.

Draco was so lost, he wasn't even sure how his feeling had developed for her, he was just sure that after her, he could not spend his time with any other woman, he wanted only her, for the rest of his life. If she was willing, otherwise, he would have a hollow existence as an unloved man, much like his father.

He loved his father, even if, if it weren't for his father he would be able to shout on rooftops how much he was in love with her, but he couldn't, he was afraid of the ramifications from his father, or the death eaters for that matter. If his father were to catch wind of him feeling anything for the mudblood, his head would be served on a silver platter by the following morning, he was sure of it.

So why wasn't he that scared? Because it seemed to him that even if he were to die tomorrow, he would have spent the last week of his life on earth as best as it could have been spent, loving the most wonderful person in the world.

That was it, he was completely content on just having as much time as he did with her, that he didn't care if he died the next day, he had a great life at the moment, and he was in a stage of peace, where nothing in the world could bother him.

Life was wonderful.

If only he wasn't the son of the most notorious death eater under the rule of the most hypocritical, power hungry wizard in the world.

Weeks passed, and October was almost over, Halloween was in three days. Their polyjuice potions would be ready today.

In potions, Hermione and Draco were talking casually to each other; somehow, their relationship had spread through the school like wildfire, so they didn't care much to hide their emotions from each other for the time being.

"So, I finally get to see what it feels like to be the great Draco Malfoy," Hermione said with a smile.

"Yes, and I have to become know it all Granger, beware though, you may get stupider in the process of becoming me," he smiled.

"Stupider is not a word."

"Exactly my point," he laughed, a real laugh.

"Students, we will now be testing the potion, who would like to volunteer," Snape drawled.

Hermione raised her hand of course, so inevitably, Snape overlooked her and chose another pair.

"Parkinson, Potter, get up here."

Harry and Pansy both trudged up to the front of the room. They added the hair, and the potion bubbled.

Harry, from experience on knowing how bad it tasted, drank the vile as quickly as possible, draining it in seconds. Pansy sipped her slowly, but then choked.

"Don't be a baby, Parkinson, drink it," Seamus said with a laugh.

As Harry's transformation took place, Pansy was still drinking hers, so there were soon two Pansy's at the front of the class.

"Now that is a scary sight, two is definitely not better than one," Draco whispered to Hermione. Hermione giggled.

Pansy's formation finally took place and she became Harry. Harry looked down on his body with disgust, he let out a girly humph and stamped his foot on the ground. Pansy just looked at him with a smile, she had been through this before, and knew exactly how it worked.

"Why did it have to be you?" Harry asked whiningly.

"Its not my fault, Pansy," Pansy said keeping her cool.

Harry stormed off to his seat and Pansy sat down, quite relaxed.

"Next," Snape said.

Hermione's arm shot up again.

"Fine, Ms. Granger, you may go," Snape said.

"Thank you professor Snape," Hermione said as she dragged Draco with her to the front. She dropped the silvery blonde hair into the potion and drank it quickly.

Draco did the same with a curly brown lock and drank his a little slower, he had never tasted anything so horrible, but when he saw himself, he drank the rest of the contents quickly.

Soon, there were the same two students, exactly the opposite of where they were just standing, looking at each other.

"Good job, you two," Snape said

Draco was shocked at the nicer side of Snape. But Hermione just gave her a nudge and they made their way slowly back to their seat.

"I don't feel any different," Draco said.

"I do, oh my gods, I think I'm going to hurl," Hermione said.

"Why, I took my potion this morning," Draco said almost immediately.

"My stomach, it hurts," Hermione said, lying her head on the desk and grabbing her stomach.

"Don't do that," Draco scream-whispered, pulling Hermione's hands away from her stomach.

"Sorry, it just hurts, I think I'm going to vomit."

"Well, then go vomit, don't hold it in, it will just get worse."

"Professor, can I go to the bathroom," Hermione called, raising her hand slightly.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, hurry though," Snape said nicely.

"Thank you," Hermione said, before running from the room.

Ten minutes later, Hermione came back in the room, still holding her stomach, though not clutching it as before. Everyone in the class seemed to have switched seats.

"Are you better now?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, do you do that every day?"

"Pretty much, its horrible, no?" Draco said.

"Gods, I'm so sorry, I could never go through that."

"Its ok, its not your fault."

"I know, but I can still have sympathy right?"

"I guess so."

"So how long till this wears off?" Hermione asked.

"About another forty five minutes."

"Damn," she said curtly.

After potions was over, Draco and Hermione, in their own bodies, made their way towards Care of Magical Creatures, they were finishing the Phroupoeyz unit today. This made Draco very happy, for he would want to kill Puffy if he had to spend one more day with him. But working with the Phroupoeyz just made Hermione want one more. They were fascinating creatures.

Halloween was going to be great, the head boy and girl had made it great this year, they had told the prefects at a meeting that they were going to do the usual theme, but you could dress up as anything you wanted, even muggle things.

Draco took a particular liking to this, and suggested that him and Hermione should go as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, though Hermione really wanted him to be superman, with the tight spandex suit, which would look perfect on his perfect body. She agreed.

Only three more days until Halloween, it was going to be great.

A/N: As I said, boring chapter. I'll have the next one up soon, which is much better than this one. Also, me and Amber have another story up on ShiverBoo, its called 'Ron Dies Alone," R&R on this and that please.

Also I am sorry about my comment on England being a free country, it was just habit to say that, I know barely anything about England, seeing as I live in Michigan.

Love you all

Brittany