I must thank all of you for the fantastic reviews and how many of you have just even looked at my fanfic. My hits on this story is past 2000, which is the most I've ever had. Thank you all so very very much!

You guys get to find out what X-men characters Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Draco are going as! You'll have to wait another chapter for the rest, but don't worry!

Enjoy! And keep those fantastic reviews coming!

Chapter Eight: Talk to Me

If you don't think that you've got the pedigree
That you're not someone who can talk to me
Well I'll tell you straight from my heart

You are
You are

You are you are my reason
You are the air I'm breathing
Ask who's in my heart, you are, you are

-"You Are": Atomic Kitten

Groaning, Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table in the great hall, taking a deep breath. She hadn't slept well, so she had gotten up ridiculously early and made it out of the dormitory before she could run into Malfoy. She wouldn't openly admit her avoidance of him, but a part of her knew she was being childish. She should just talk to him. They could work out the problem together.

The posters for the dance had been hung the night before, so she would find out today what everyone thought of her idea. She had finally convinced Malfoy to just write her first name, though he stuck with both of his.

"Hermione!"

She turned to see Ron hurrying over, before he plopped himself next to her and smiled.

"Morning!" he said cheerfully, leaning over to kiss her. She turned slightly so he had to kiss her cheek, but he didn't seem to notice her as he pulled back, still beaming.

"Good morning Ron." She said, smiling forcefully, about to remind him that they weren't really together anymore when Harry and Ginny appeared, sitting down also, and her green-eyed friend caught the strange expression on her face, and gave her a concerned look. She looked away from him, and was met with Ginny eager face.

"Hermione! You are absolutely brilliant!"

"I'm sorry?" said Hermione in confusion.

"The theme for the dance! It's a fantastic idea! Everyone should do couples! Right Harry?" she said, looking at her boyfriend. Harry stared at her with some puzzlement, as he obviously didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh? I didn't know you knew anything about X-men…" said Hermione, finally realizing what Ginny was going on about.

"Of course I do. I went out with Dean, remember? He's obsessed with it. He sympathizes with that Magneto character a lot. It's weird." She huffed, and both Ron and Harry glowered. "I'm not sure who I should dress up as though…Who are you going as, Hermione?"

"I don't know…" said Hermione, as she hadn't really given it any thought.

"Oh, Harry! We should go as Jean and Scott!" squealed the redheaded girl, giving Harry a large smile. He smiled back slowly.

"Whatever you say Ginny." He replied.

"Oh Harry…you don't know who that is, do you?" asked Ginny

"No…I mean, I've heard of X-men but…I don't know very much about it."

"But you lived with muggles!" she exclaimed

"Yeah, but first of all, I doubt the Dursleys would really be interested, and secondly, I rather think it's more of an American thing." explained Harry, with some embarrassment. Hermione smiled slightly.

"Well, it's your lucky day, as I've collected some of the comic books, and you may borrow them for ideas."

"Oh, Hermione, you are most definitely the smartest witch Hogwarts has ever had!" cried Ginny, getting to her feet, "Come on, let's go get them now! Harry and I have to figure out what we'll wear as soon as possible." She dragged Harry up with her, and Hermione slowly got to her feet.

"Okay, okay, Ginny. But only because you aren't going to leave me alone about this until I give you the comics. Ron, are you coming?"

"Sure, 'Mione." said the other Weasley, also standing and following the group out of the Great Hall and to the Heads' Dormitory.

Hermione herded her group of friends into the dormitory, motioning to the pile of comic books by the couch.

"There you are. Help yourselves!" she said, as Ginny rushed over, dragging Harry with her. Ron hung back, near Hermione.

"Who are you going as? You know, so we can go as a couple or something…" he said, hopefully. Hermione looked at Ron thoughtfully, glancing at the comics a moment before looking back at him with a grin. She leaned over, picking up a volume and flipped through it. She found a picture of a young woman in a blue costume and showed it to the freckled boy.

"What do you think of her?"

"Well, she certainly has your hair…" he murmured, looking at the cartoon's curly brown locks, and smiling at Hermione. She nodded.

"Yes, and she's actually a lot like me."

"Um…who is she?"

"Her real name's Kitty Pryde, and her superhero name is Shadowcat. Her mutant power is to condense atoms by subtracting the space in between them, as even solid object have some space, so she is able to pass through." Ron gave her a dumb look, "Basically she can walk through things like a ghost. It's called 'phasing'." clarified Hermione, with some exasperation.

"Okay…who's her…uh…boyfriend, or whatever?"

Hermione giggled at the question.

"Well, she has a couple relationships, but one of the most famous is with this guy named Piotr Rasputin, a.k.a. Colossus."

"Strange name…"

"It's Russian." She flipped a couple pages and pointed out the bulky steel dark haired man.

"How…am I supposed to pull that off?"

"Well…you should just leave the hair alone, and just dress up like him. I'm sure not everyone will look a lot like the characters they go as anyway." said Hermione calmly, "Unless you want to try a charm to make your hair black…but you would probably look very strange…" she said, chuckling slightly. Ron scowled, but didn't say anything.

"Oh yes, Hermione! This will work out perfectly!" exclaimed Ginny, appearing next to the brunette with Harry in tow, clutching a couple comics. "Harry doesn't look exactly like Cyclops, but I'm sure we can work something out…" she said, smiling at her boyfriend who gave Hermione an unsure look. She shook her head at him.

Suddenly the bathroom door opened and Malfoy walked out, wearing casual clothes. He had obviously not put his robes on over them. He glared at the group in his common room.

"Granger…this room isn't for parties." He snapped and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh jeez, Malfoy, I was just giving them some comics so they can dress up properly for the Halloween Dance." She replied airily. Ginny grinned at the blonde, saying,

"So who are you going as? Magneto?" Harry tried to elbow her in the side, but she side stepped him, looking at Malfoy expectedly. He was amused enough to relax slightly.

"No. I don't think so. I'm still debating on whom to go as…what about you, Weaselette?" he asked coolly. Harry's eyes narrowed, but Ginny smiled in return.

"Harry and I are going to go as Scott and Jean."

"How appropriate…" he drawled, smirking at Harry, who just stared back. "What about you, Granger?"

"She's going as Kitty!" exclaimed Ginny. This time, both Harry and Ron tried to elbow her and kick her in the shin, respectively. She avoided both of them, watching Malfoy's pondering expression.

"Kitty huh?" he met Hermione's gaze and smiled, "I think I'll go as Pete Wisdom…" Hermione's eyes widened in recognition of the character, as the other three just gave him a bewildered look. Apparently, Malfoy had had some serious time to look through the comic books.

"Who's that?" asked Ginny, genuinely interested. Both Harry and Ron were quiet, also a bit curious. Hermione blushed slightly, afraid of his response.

Pete Wisdom was a character that got seriously involved with Kitty Pryde for awhile. He was also incredibly appropriate for Malfoy, as everyone thought he was a villain, except he changed for Kitty. Though he kept some of his…qualities of when he was on the villain's side. And Colossus hated him.

"He's a bad guy." said Malfoy dismissively, walking towards Hermione. He brushed past her and she flinched away, about to demand what was wrong with him when he reached for the robes that had been resting on the chair behind her. He turned back around, pulling them on. "Don't you idiots have class?" he asked sourly.

"Yes we do." sniffed Ron, grabbing Hermione's arm tightly. Malfoy frowned. "Come on, 'Mione. Harry, Ginny, you two coming?" he asked, steering Hermione towards the entrance. Ginny and Harry followed, and the younger girl caught Hermione's eye, motioning towards Malfoy with a small jerk of her head. Hermione glanced back to see Malfoy leaning against the chair casually, arms crossed, as he watched the foursome heading out of the room. His expression was one of serious annoyance and as he noticed Hermione looking at him, he lifted one of his arms and crooked his finger at her in a surreptitious invitation. Hermione sighed and looked back at Ron.

"I uh…have to grab something. Go on without me." She said, pulling away from the group. Ron blinked, but shrugged, going on. Ginny gave her a grin and Harry frowned slightly, looking at Malfoy, then back at Hermione. He seemed to shake his head to himself, before exiting with Ginny.

Outside, Ron and Ginny started heading back to the Great Hall, but Harry hesitated.

"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Ginny with concern, walking back to him. Harry smiled disarmingly.

"You two go on ahead, I'm gonna wait for Hermione."

"Hey, I'll do it." said Ron, stepping forward. Harry had already started shaking his head.

"No Ron, I want to talk to her about some stuff. Plus, you don't want to miss breakfast, do you?" He said, giving the freckled boy a significant look. Ah, he wanted to talk to Hermione about her and Ron's relationship.

"Oh. Okay. Come on, Gin." Ron replied hurreidly, giving an understanding glance to his friend.

Ginny hesitated, giving Harry a penetrating look, before she sighed.

"Fine. But you better show up before I have to go to class."

"Don't worry, I will." Harry said, smiling sincerely. The two Weasleys left and Harry sighed heavily. "I wonder…" He looked back at the dormitory. The Greek Gods were watching him silently. "What?" he asked agitatedly. Apollo smirked and Artemis giggled.

"Oh yes, Apollo, you were right. Just like him!" She said delightedly. Harry blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"You are the spitting image of James!" Artemis said happily. Harry stared at them.

"James? You mean-"

"James Potter. Your father, of course." said Apollo, "With those eyes, Lily Evans must be your mother, of course. I really liked her…" He said dreamily. Artemis smacked him.

"Hush Apollo! Those two…they barely needed the push by the charm." She said distantly, "Just like the current ones..."

"My…my parents were Head Boy and Girl?"

"Oh yes." Artemis said, "Fantastic Heads, too."

"What charm?"

"The same one that is affecting our current Heads…" Artemis replied mysteriously. Harry growled, but couldn't get anything more out of the gods. He sighed heavily, before going to wait for Hermione a few paces ahead of the painting.

Hermione rounded on Malfoy, crossing her arms.

"Alright, what do you want Malfoy?" she asked peevishly. He straightened up, moving closer to her.

"I thought we were on first name terms, Hermione…" he mumbled, and she felt a thrill go through her, but shoved it away hurriedly. She continued her glare, and Malfoy frowned, "Look, I have some…things we need to discuss."

"Like?"

"First of all, neither Pansy nor Blaise will be saying anything about us."

"How did you threaten Blaise off? You can't threaten him like you did with Pansy. Although...maybe you didn't really threaten her. You paid her with se-" Draco put his hand over her mouth, cutting her off, as he glowered at her angrily.

"Hermione, I don't do sexual favors to keep people quiet. And Blaise was actually quite agreeable. He also denied telling Pansy about us." He said, pulling his hand away. Hermione remained quiet, so Draco continued, "Anyway, I also owled my mother about this problem of ours."

Though Hermione would never admit it, she loved how Malfoy said "our" and not "your". She nodded slightly, giving him a softer look and he relaxed, letting a smile appear before Hermione thought about his statement.

"How is she going to help? What will she say about me?"

"Oh jeez, I didn't actually mention you, and it was just a side note. I was more inquiring as to what was going on with Father's estate and everything." He almost hit himself after saying that, seeing Hermione wince. "I didn't mean it like that. I don't want it to sound like a big deal to my mother. First of all, she's my mother. Second, she doesn't need more to deal with." He reached out, grasping her around the waist and pulling her to him. "I would love to tell her about you…soon."

"Draco…I can't be a Malfoy. You know that. Your family hates Muggle-borns. Your mother was a member of the Black family, pureblood."

"My father hated Muggle-borns. My mother…well, I can convince her…" He leaned down a bit, taking in the scent of Hermione's hair and whispering to her, "If I have the right incentive, I can convince anyone of anything."

"Can you convince yourself that you're a prat?" she asked with some annoyance. Draco changed tactics, capturing Hermione's lips in a soft kiss that gradually became passionate and she melted in his arms.

"Do you think I can convince you to stay in my bed when I'm not drunk?" he asked, pulling back slightly. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Goodness, now that isn't very mature, Miss Head Girl."

"Shut up." She murmured, sighing. There was silence for a little bit before Hermione gasped, "Draco!" The blonde smiled lazily, not replying for a moment as he absorbed Hermione saying his first name yet again.

"Yes darling?"

"I have to go catch up with Ron and everyone!" she said, stepping back quickly.

"And there's the water on the flames…" muttered Draco in irritation, watching her sigh and look at him sadly.

"Ron apologized. He's trying to make it up to me." She said to him, causing his grey eyes to widen.

"Oh hell no, Granger, you aren't not allowed to go back to him! Come on, you can't even write your own last name, much less his!"

"But that is not going to last." She said firmly, giving Malfoy a stern look before she melted a little. "But…let me think about it. I might not 'go back' to Ron."

"I can only hope."

"Goodbye Draco." She said airily, heading for the door.

"Until tonight, my dear." sang Malfoy dramatically. Hermione sighed, but left with a light smile.

She was halfway down the hall when a shadow stepped out and the taller figure crossed his arms. Hermione winced, thinking it was a Blaise for a moment, come to confront her again, when she realized who it really was. "Harry!" she exclaimed, smiling at her friend. He gave her a suspicious look.

"You were certainly taking your time, Hermione. And what did you forget?" he questioned, glancing at her noticeably empty arms. She blushed with some embarrassment.

"Um…ah, well, where are Ron and Ginny?"

"They went on ahead; I said I'd wait for you. It took some convincing with Ron, but he didn't want to miss the end of breakfast."

It was Hermione's turn to be suspicious, but fearfully so, saying,

"Why…did you want to wait for me?"

"Well, besides the fact that I knew Ron would be grumpy if he didn't eat, I had a feeling something was up. And I'm proven right. All right, 'Mione, spill it. What's going on? Why are you constantly sneaking back into your dormitory? You don't have a dragon egg do you?"

The fact that Harry would come to a dragon egg before adultery made Hermione smiled widely.

"No Harry, it isn't a dragon egg."

"Okay…well, I don't want to say my other suspicion because it's so ridiculous…you'll laugh, or smack me, or worse." said Harry, a slight smile on his face. Hermione resisted the urge to bit her lip, keeping the grin on her face.

"Oh? What's that?"

"That you're sneaking around with Malfoy." said Harry, jokingly, but there was some seriousness to his tone, and Hermione heard it. She laughed loudly, giving Harry a pitying look.

"Oh Harry, I believe you might need to see Madame Pomfrey. Sneaking around with Malfoy? Right, and then maybe I'll go have tea with Voldemort." He didn't see her wince at her phony statement, relief washing over his face.

"Oh good, I knew that of course, but I just needed to hear it from you. Well, and it was partially that weird painting of yours that gave me the idea…but…I'm not really in the mood to explain that." said Harry hurriedly, in an apologetic way, "I mean, with how things are going with you and Ron, and his accusations, and Malfoy not being particularly mean to you…"

"Harry, he and I have a sort of truce right now, at the request of Dumbledore. I mean, you can't possibly believe Ron's jealous claim about Draco and myself." Hermione said dismissively. She looked at Harry with a forgiving smile to find him staring at her in astonishment. "What?"

"Draco?" he hissed, his eyes darkening. Hermione flinched, realizing her mistake. "You did not just call the Slytherin King Draco." He growled, and Hermione took an involuntary step back, her mind racing for an explanation.

"Okay, Harry, you caught me." She said, knowing that showing some guilty defeat might be believable to her heroic friend. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue, "Draco and I are…sort of friends. But he wants to keep it a secret, and so do I, as neither of our own friends would like it…" she murmured, looking down at the ground. She wasn't really lying. She still considered them just friends. With some serious snogging benefits.

"Friends with Malfoy? The one who tormented us for years? Called you mudblood?" demanded Harry, skeptical.

"He hasn't called me that recently, and it was…because of his father that he was such a…"

"Dick?" asked Harry bluntly. Hermione rolled her eyes, but remained quiet. "If he was really being controlled by his father, why hasn't he really made friends with anyone but you?"

"Oh come on, Harry, he's been made to believe that Gryffindors are the enemy since birth. Like it'd take a month for him to love all of us." Hermione said with exasperation.

"Well, I still don't understand why he would start being 'secret friends' with you first…If he was taught to hate Gryffindors, he was taught to hate muggle-borns a whole hell of a lot more." Harry said, in a rush. He blinked after he finished and gave Hermione an apologetic look, "Sorry, 'Mione, you know what I mean…"

"Yeah. Well, we share a dorm, and we have to work together on a lot of things. The truce just sort of led to…a friendship."

Harry glowered slightly, his embarrassment at the muggle-born comment dissipating.

"Hermione, you should tell us when you make friends with our enemies…and he better not do anything stupid, 'cause I'll kill him." Hermione looked at him in bewilderment, but Harry looked back gravely, "I mean it, Hermione. He does anything bad, or to hurt you, I will kill him." He took a deep breath, "And I don't know if we should mention this to Ron just yet. After all, you two are going through a rough patch. Though his allegation wasn't that far off, he was still waaaay in the wrong, pointing a wand at you." He gave Hermione a slight smile and she returned it weakly.

"There's my Harry…" she replied meekly. His mouth spread into a grin.

"Come on, let's go to breakfast."

"I think I might go study in the library." She said, starting to turn away.

"Oh no, 'Mione." said Harry sternly, suddenly stepping forward and lifting Hermione into his arms, "You don't eat enough. You are not allowed to miss another breakfast. Plus, Ron and Ginny'll be wondering where we are, Miss Friends with the Enemy. And if you're good, I'll tell you what those crazy Greek gods said." She giggled as he carried her part-way down the hallway, to the Great Hall doors, where he set her down and they entered together. Neither of them saw the stormy eyes watching a couple yards behind, sharply glaring at young man with the lightning bolt shaped scar.

While the group of four ate breakfast, Hermione chatting pleasantly with Ginny and Ron about the Halloween Dance, Harry glanced at Malfoy a couple times, catching him looking at the brunette member of the Gryffindor table.

And it was definitely more than a friendly gaze.

Harry felt anger well up from deep in his gut. Who did that sleazy Slytherin think he was, thinking he could try and seduce Hermione?

When Ginny pulled gently on his arm, kissing his cheek, he gave her a blank look.

"Come on, Harry, darling, we're leaving. I have class, and I insist that you walk me to it. And we must give Ron and Hermione some time alone, considering this is the only day of the week you guys don't have class after breakfast." His redheaded girlfriend said in a rush, smiling brightly and standing, pulling Harry with her.

"Sure, Gin, no problem." He said, walking with her out of the Great Hall. He and Malfoy met eyes, both of them glaring angrily at the other.

Stopping in front of McGonagall's Transfiguration room, Harry and Ginny kissed, not without some passion, and he smiled softly at her as she entered, before turning and replacing his affectionate look with one of pure determination, heading back to the Great Hall.

Stopping outside, he took a quick peek to see that the Slytherin gang was just finishing up, and some were already leaving, as Malfoy lingered to get a last couple glimpses of Hermione.

Strangely, the King of the snake-like group of Hogwarts was rather distant from his subjects, and they were a little less fearful of him than usual. But Harry didn't pay any mind to this, waiting for the blonde male to leave the large meeting room.

He didn't have long to wait. Draco exited, by himself, and started towards the Heads' dorm. Harry followed with rapid hushed strides. Malfoy had almost arrived when he realized someone was behind him. He swung around, wand drawn and frowned at Harry.

"I thought it might be you. What do you want, Potter?"

"I want you to stay away from Hermione. You understand, Malfoy?" demanded Harry, his wand also drawn.

"Stay away from Granger? Kind of difficult, considering we share the same dormitory. How do you suggest this, Potter?"

"Don't talk to her. She seems to think you two are friends, but I know better. What are you using her for? Going to prove to the wizarding world that you don't hate muggle-borns?"

"Granger and I aren't friends." sneered Draco, and Harry blinked, but didn't say anything, "Did she tell you that? Wow…she must really want to be better than a mudblood." He muttered, almost to himself. Inside, he cursed himself for calling her the "m word" again. He'd sworn he wouldn't. Harry took a menacing step forward.

"Do not call her that. You say anything else about her, or call her anything else, and I'll hex you so bad…well, you already know I'm the best student in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Let's just say I consider you Dark Arts…" growled Harry. Malfoy rolled his eyes, feigning boredom.

"Jeez, Potter, how long have you been trying to defeat Voldemort?" asked Malfoy casually, and Harry was only mildly surprised to hear the son of a Death Eater say the hated wizard's name. "Have you succeeded yet?"

"Maybe not yet, Malfoy, but let's remember, you're a…ferret compared to him. I could fry you in two seconds if I really wanted to. Which I will if you try anything with Hermione."

"I thought you had the Weaselette?" said Malfoy with a smirk, hiding his annoyance at another ferret comment.

"Hermione is my best friend and-"

"Since your other best friend tried to curse her?"

"Shut up, Malfoy and don't test me."

"Does your girlfriend know how much of Granger's best interests you have in…'mind'?" Malfoy said, leaning back against the wall behind him and lowering his wand slightly, pretending like he didn't think Harry was worth paying attention to.

"Stop trying to suggest that I have an interest in Hermione." Harry snapped, rolling his eyes. Malfoy suddenly tilted his head and looked up sharply from the nails he'd been examining.

"So you don't like Granger?"

"No Malfoy, I don't like Hermione!" yelled Harry, a bit loudly. Not that it needed to be heard five classrooms down to be heard by the two people almost directly behind the green-eyed young man.

"What did you say, Harry?" asked a quiet feminine voice. Harry flipped around to see Ron staring at him flabbergasted, while Hermione looked at him, with tears forming in her eyes. He realized what it must have sounded like to her.

"Hermione, you don't understand the context-"

"There's a proper context for you to not like me?"

"Hermione, please listen to me." Harry almost begged, resisting the urge to pounce on Malfoy and beat him into a pulp.

"No Harry, you listen to me-"

"Granger…" drawled Malfoy's sickening voice and the girl turned her attention to the blonde still leaning carelessly against the wall by their dorm entrance. "Potter said that in reference to the fact of not having an infatuation with you, like Weasel over here. He didn't mean that he didn't want to be your friend. Surprisingly enough." He muttered, rolling his eyes. Harry blinked, Ron's mouth fell open, and a blush spread across Hermione's face.

"Oh. Harry…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to jump to conclusions…" she mumbled. Harry looked from Malfoy to Hermione and almost didn't respond before he said, hurriedly,

"It's okay Hermione; I understand how you could think I…had said something else…" He met Malfoy's gaze and the blonde gave him a victorious grin. Then it hit Harry.

Malfoy had completely manipulated the situation so he looked good, both to Hermione, and to Ron. And he defended Harry, so now Harry couldn't say anything nasty about the sneaky bastard without a completely good reason.

"Absolutely brilliant…" whispered Harry to himself. No one heard him, fortunately.

He was embarrassed that he was a bit impressed with Malfoy's genius. But he was still pissed. Especially since now the boy-who-lived was pretty sure that Malfoy was trying to impress Hermione. Which meant he did have an interest in her. Or was using her.

"Malfoy, get out of here. I'll hex you later…" he grumbled, turning to face Ron and Hermione. Ron gave Harry a questioning look, which Harry shook his head at, so that both of them missed the significant look that Draco gave Hermione. And him winking at her and mouthing,

"I'll have you screaming in my bed tonight."

"Hermione, why are you blushing?" asked Ron curiously. Hermione waved him off, and the three went to the library to work on a paper for Charms.

Hermione was amazed at what had happened. She had been scared at first, to see Harry confronting Draco. She thought it would only lead to one of their deaths. But after the misunderstanding, she realized that Malfoy was trying to show her that he would defend her friends if he had to. She smiled slightly.

He had almost won her over completely. There was only the matter of her guilt with Ron. And she still liked him, but she was realizing more and more that it was more of a cute little crush, and not the absolute passion she felt for Malfoy. And she didn't feel like she had to be with Ron.

She had to be with Draco.

The question was of course, would Draco still want to be with her after the thrill had worn off? And, would her friends kill him in the process?

I hope you liked that chapter, and everyone have an awesome New Year! See you in 2006!