AN: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I have decided to continue it due to the positive feedback I've gotten from you all.

Airlady: I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!

greenandsilver22: Oh thanks! Hope you like this new chapter!

TheRealDramaQueen817:Thanks so much! Read on for some more!

The Future Mrs. Thomas Andrew Felton: I'm glad you like it! You'll just have to keep reading and find out!

MioneRox: Here is the requested update! Tell me what you think.

Witchisit: I kinda thought it should be longer too.

Life is 42: Oh thanks for telling me!

B.R. Wells: Yeah, I guess I kind of feel bad for Ron too, but there may also be love in his future! We shall see… I will not make any promises.

Chapter 2

Hermione, puzzled, put a hand to her lips as she neared the Fat Lady and wondered what that kiss had meant. "Oh just Draco Malfoy in a severely drunken state," she said aloud to herself, entering a quiet Gryffindor Tower. It was cozy in dark in the common room and Hermione sat wearily in a squashy armchair by the glowing embers of the dying fire. There were a great many things to contemplate but her slightly drunken mind just couldn't seem to make sense of it. What did it matter anyway? Malfoy wouldn't remember it tomorrow, judging by the amount of alcohol he consumed. She shouldn't care, he was her enemy after all.

That didn't stop him, a little voice in her mind said evenly, a little voice she was trying to ignore.

He was stupid drunk. He didn't mean anything by it, he won't even remember it happened, the rational side of her mind argued.

They say one's true feelings come out in drunkenness because alcohol breaks down your inhibitions, the other voice argued back.

"Oh just shut up, will you?" Hermione hissed at the voice angrily, making her way up to bed. At least she could get away from the complexity of it all in sleep.

Malfoy re-entered the Great Hall slowly, pouring himself another shot. His hands shook, not with drunkenness for he had developed a strong tolerance for the stuff, but with shock and leftover nervousness about what he had just done. He threw back the fire whiskey, savoring the way it burned his mouth and throat.

Blaise looked up at his blond friend, a bit silly from tipsiness. Malfoy's hands were shaking like leaves in a strong wind, and there on his lips—"Is that Granger's lip gloss?" Blaise asked with a raised eyebrow. "And you were worried about me shagging the mudblood…" he shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Zabini, I wasn't—we weren't—I'm not," Malfoy gave up denying it as he couldn't seem to find words to anyway and shook his head.

"Not that I blame you, mate," he chuckled inwardly at his friend's obvious distress and took a long draught of the red liquid from the bottle, putting his feet up on the table. "As I said earlier, she's positively shaggable—"

"Lay off, Zabini," Malfoy growled, picturing the beautiful brunette straddling him as she… He directed his thoughts away from such matters as he started to get very warm in the lower regions. Faking a large yawn, he attempted an even voice as he said, "Well I'm tired. I think I'll go to sleep now," and walked out of the hall, noticing an uncomfortable tightness in his pants. "Damn, Malfoy, hard over a mudblood?" he said, some bit of him disappointed in himself, but another part of him knew he had every reason to be.

Hermione woke up late the next morning, her temples throbbing painfully. She was still fully clothed, but her make-up was smeared and her hair frazzled.

What happened last night? She wondered before the recollections came joltingly to her. Dinner… Malfoy… kiss... Fire Whiskey. Her mind fixed accusingly on those words, groaning as the rest of her scattered memories began to make sense.

"Damn," she said to herself as she took a small dose of pepper-up potion which was a handy hangover cure. She kept a small bottle of it in her dresser for the rare occasions like these.

She proceeded to open the large pile of gifts at the foot of her bed. She got various candies from Harry and Ron and others. Her mum and dad sent a gold necklace with a lion pendant, a deep v-neck sweater in black, and a scoop neck red cashmere sweater. There were two other gifts, one clearly from her cousin Jills, as she could see the Victoria's Secret bag. She blushed, remembering full well the tradition she and Jills had of sending each other lingerie. Hermione had a drawer full of it, which she had never used. Ready to get the worst over with, she opened the bag and pulled out a black satin and lace v-string with a little metal ring in the back, a sheer black lace bra, and a sheer blue lace baby-doll night gown. She laughed a bit as she imagined Malfoy's eyes as he saw her in an outfit like that and then tucked it carefully into the drawer full of other flimsy things made of red and black and pink lace, satin, and other sheer or fluffy materials. The outfit from last year was still in there, a red satin bustier and lace thong and way too small red silk baby-doll with nothing but straps in the back. Nice things, she supposed, but not for a shapeless bookworm.

Now there was only one gift left, a small box, probably a ring from her parents. She opened the silver wrapping paper and black ribbon slowly, savoring the opening of her last gift. Inside was a black velvet box. She opened it and inside found a stunning ring. Hermione stared at it in awe. It was a sleek white gold band with an oval-shaped sapphire (her birthstone) in a traditional setting with two small round diamonds on either side. There was no note with it, so it couldn't be from her parents. They always wrote a note for with a large present like this. Who would get her something like this?

Still mentally berating herself for kissing Malfoy and wondering about who sent her the beautiful ring, she stepped into a refreshing shower as the potion took effect. Luckily, she had taken little enough of it that she didn't smoke at the ears, which would surely be noticeable in plain daylight. As she basked in the warmth of the shower, she reflected on the passionate kiss she and Malfoy had shared. He had made her feel so sexy and she wanted that feeling back. Well, there was one easy way to do that, she thought laughingly back on her Christmas present from Jills.

Once she got out of the shower, Hermione set her hair into soft, glossy curls with a wave of her wand and applied a thin line of black eyeliner, a lot of black mascara, and lip gloss with a touch of red in it. She traded her usual plain cotton underwear for the black v-string and bra, oddly feeling sexier almost immediately. It was an empowering feeling. She put on her new red cashmere sweater, which showed a little bit of cleavage, and a short jean mini-skirt. Feeling daring, she dug through her lingerie drawer for a pair of boots that had come with her outfit one year. They were black stilettos with four inch heels. She pulled them on and the black leather came just over her knees.

Stepping in front of the mirror, Hermione looked at the result of her work. A beautiful, exotic woman stared back at her, looking confident and ready to take on the world. She slipped on the sapphire ring and perched a Santa hat at a jaunty angle on her head as she left the bathroom. Walking easily into the common room (her mother had taught her how to walk in heels over the summer by making Hermione walk around in her mother's highest heels with a book balanced on her head), Hermione attracted the stares of Harry and Ron. Both gaped open-mouthed at this astonishing new Hermione.

"Am I going crazy, mate, or is that actually Hermione and not a figment of my imagination?" Ron whispered to Harry, never taking his eyes off of the vision in case it would disappear.

"Unless you and I are having the same delusions, that's Hermione," Harry whispered back, also still staring at his best friend.

"It is me, you idiots, snap out of it," Hermione laughed, but neither recovered like they had yesterday so she just continued out of the portrait hole, her two best friends, who were unfortunately male and apparently hormonal, following her and whispering.

"When did she become such a sex kitten?" Ron asked breathily, staring at Hermione's swaying hips.

"I dunno if I'd go that far, Ron," Harry said, as transfixed with the rhythm of her hips as Ron was.

Hermione made it all the way down to the Great Hall without running back to the dormitiories to change into her baggiest jeans and biggest, most shapeless sweatshirt, which she was immeasurably proud of. Steeling herself, she entered the Great Hall. She found it empty of teachers, which prompted a sigh of relief that attracted the attention of Blaise and Draco. Both glanced around at her and found their gazes locked on this vision. She took the seat beside Draco just as she did yesterday, deliberately not meeting his gaze as she took toast, sausage, pumpkin juice, and a candy cane from a pile on the table that looked out of place amongst the breakfast food.

As Hermione began to eat, she felt the blond Slytherin's stares sending chills down her spine until she saw Blaise nudge Draco sharply in the ribs who quickly looked away. This gave Hermione a chance to look at Draco. He didn't look too bad considering the amount of alcohol he'd drank the night before. He must know a hangover cure as well. He was dressed in a festive green silky button-down shirt that she longed to run her fingers over with a few buttons unbuttoned, hinting at his sculpted chest. His hair was messy as ever, gracing his icy blue eyes. She found herself staring and immediately looked to Blaise who was watching her. She bit her lip nervously, but Blaise just winked and gave her a friendly grin while looking over her pretty face and ample bust. He winked again and Hermione looked away, blushing, missing Malfoy's angry glare at his best friend.

Breakfast was an interesting affair, considering the way Hermione was dressed and the fact that she was sharing a table with five hormonal teen-aged guys. Draco caught himself looking at her more than he decided was necessary, but once he stopped looking at her, dirty thoughts and fantasies began to enter his mind and he excused himself early, Hermione leaving soon after. She looked around for Malfoy, but finding him nowhere to be seen, she went up the marble staircase. As she passed the library, a hand shot out and dragged her into a back row of books. Fighting against her captor, she turned and found his lips urgently pressing on hers. She gasped against his lips as she looked into blue eyes and ran her fingers through soft blond hair. He tasted of peppermint as he invaded her mouth slowly, caressing her tongue, her teeth. They broke apart slowly, savoring each other.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, a small smile on her face.

"Yes?" he smirked, looking down at her, his arms still encircling her waist.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, smirking a little bit herself as she pressed herself closer to him.

"Kissing you," he said simply, all too aware of how close she was to him. "May I ask you a question?" he asked and she nodded. "What's with the sudden change?"

"Oh, that," she laughed. "Well, yesterday I just felt like dressing up for once… Today started with a gift from my cousin Jills," she allowed herself a laugh, imagining Draco's face if he knew what she was wearing under her clothes right now… and other reactions. "And ended up with what you see before you."

"I see," he laughed, looking her up and down. "That must have been some gift," he smirked, kissing her again.

"Actually, its more of an inside joke between us," Hermione explained when they broke apart.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "May I ask what the joke is?"

"No," Hermione laughed, not meeting his eyes for fear of blushing furiously. Instead she drew circles on his chest with her fingernails. "But perhaps one day you'll know," she said, meeting his eyes at last. "May I ask a question?" He nodded. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, truly puzzled.

"I don't know… its this feeling, and something someone once told me," he replied.

"May I ask what it is?" she asked.

"No, but perhaps one day you'll know," he answered, smiling as his lips descended on hers once more.

"I should go," she said quietly. "They'll be wondering where I am and the library is the first place they'll look."

"Yeah, Zabini is probably looking for me," Draco said wearily, already gazing about the library. His eyes made their way back to hers. "He wants to shag you, you know… Zabini does. Don't let him."

Hermione nodded. She had figured as much out for herself. "Bye, Draco," she said, standing on tiptoe and kissing him softly on the mouth as she emerged from the shelves of books.