Chapter 16. I'm liking the reviews that are coming now…. Keep doing that and I'll keep updating everyday after school.. :smirks evilly: Okay, I know its totally stupid to want so many reviews, but remember this is still my first fic so I have no idea how I'm doing so I rely on the reviews to let me know what you think…thanks…read on..

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 16: Yes or No?

Hermione was in shock. Her tears stopped and her mouth was open. She was staring at the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen. It had a green sapphire and a graffiti H in the middle. It had a thick band with the name Hermione horizontally across it. She quickly closed her mouth and gave him a passionate kiss, deepened by Draco, of course. She pulled away to give him the answer in words.

"I would love to marry Draco Malfoy." she said happily, but being careful not to move so much for her body still ached.

"That's just the answer I was looking for." he kissed her again and slipped the ring on her finger.

"You know just how lift my spirit on that I get…on a day like this." she finished uncomfortably.

"I'm glad you think so…" he said, "I'm sorry for-"

"Stop there. I'm tired of everyone saying they're sorry for me. Just tell me you love me and everything will be fine?" she asked, sounding a bit annoyed, but anxious.

"I love you and I'm glad that you're taking all of this fairly well, " he said truthfully, "and I wish bad things were happening to me instead of you, but they're not." he sighed. "I wish to God that I could tell you that everything will be fine, but I can't." he added sadly.

"Fair enough. As long as I'm with you, nothing will bring me down, even," she paused," being raped can't do that." she said.

"I'm glad you're taking this better than I am. You're the strongest person I know." he said honestly.

"I don't want to be unhappy anymore. I finally feel better for the first time in years and these past few days aren't going to ruin it. I'm not going to hold on to the past no matter what happens, even though I was raped, possessed, and nearly died a couple times." she finished proudly.

Draco was taken aback at how she just named everything that happened to her like they were nothing, especially being raped and almost dying. He showed this particular emotion on his face knowingly.

"Joseph told me to let go of my past and I did. I feel so much better, you don't even know." she said softly after seeing his expression.

"Well…" he said confused, "that was unexpected." he told her.

"Sorry, but I need you to understand why I seem like nothing has happened to me…It's because I'm happy and no longer brooding over everything that's going on in my life." she said.

"I understand." he said softly.

"Good," she paused for a yawn, "I'm tired so I'm going to go to sleep, g'night." she said and laid her head down on his chest.

"Good night." he said and lied himself down and closed his eyes.

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Draco was, as usual, the first one to awake the next morning. Draco knew that Hermione had forgotten about classes from the events of the night before. After all, she slept in the hospital for two days before. She probably didn't even know what day it was Draco thought to himself. He moved as slowly as he could to get Hermione off him. He successfully did so. It was still early in the morning and he decided to go get dressed, go down to breakfast, then talk to Dumbledore about Hermione.

He walked into his room with an uncomfortable feeling after what happened. He shrugged it off and hurriedly got dressed and rushed out of there. He went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth and spiked his hair. When he was finished, he walked back into Hermione's room and gave her a sweet kiss on the forehead and walked down to the common room. He grabbed his things and walked down to the Great Hall.

Draco took his usual seat next to Blaise as soon as he walked in. He sat down without a word until Blaise broke the awkward silence that Draco had brought with him.

"You alright, man? You don't look so good." Blaise was right. Draco wasn't feeling good, but he wasn't sick, he just had a lot going on.

"I'm fine, Blaise." he paused, "my father paid Hermione a visit last night." he said, feeling that his best friend should know.

Blaise's head snapped up at the mention of Draco's father. "Oh no, what's the damage?" he asked seriously. Draco told him and in an uncomfortable whisper, making sure no one overheard.

"Is she alright?" Blaise asked.

"I don't know. She seems to be taking it very well actually." he said as if she were off the walls.

"Really? That doesn't seem like her." said Blaise.

"I know. She said it's because she's happier and all, but I'm not sure whether to believe her." he questioned more to himself.

"You gotta admit it," Blaise said, "she does seem happier, but maybe she's snapped? There is no way that she could just get over everything like that, especially being raped and almost dying numerous times." he seemed confused too.

"Maybe, but I'm going to find out sooner or later." Draco said.

"That's a good idea."

"Look, I'm going to talk to Dumbledore, if I'm late for Potions, just tell Snape that I'm off with the headmaster, alright?" he asked.

"Alright."

"Thanks."

"No problem." and Draco left for the headmaster's office. He walked down the halls thinking to himself. Maybe Blaise is right, maybe she has snapped he thought to himself maybe she's telling the truth his conscience replied, but how could she just get over everything like that? It doesn't make any sense he told it just talk to her and see if you can get a more direct answer it told him. Before he knew it, he was at Dumbledore's office. He said the password and stepped onto the spiraling staircase. He knocked on the door and heard Dumbledore's reply.

"Come in." he heard him say. He entered.

"Ahh, Mr. Malfoy, what do I owe this pleasant visit?" he asked kindly.

"There's nothing pleasant at all about it." Draco said truthfully.

"No?"

"None whatsoever." Draco told him.

"Please sit down." Draco did so.

"Sir, something happened last night in our dorm…" he said uncomfortably and plunged into the events, just wanting to get it over with. When he finished, Dumbledore sat there, apparently lost in thought.

"Sir?" Draco asked, getting his attention.

"How is she doing, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked worriedly.

"She's doing okay, but she can barely move."

Dumbledore pondered for another moment.

"She will, once again, be excused from classes. As for you, I think it would be best if you went to all of your classes and got both of your assignments from the days you missed, while I pay a visit to Miss Granger." he said to Draco. The ending remind Draco of what else he wanted to tell Dumbledore.

"Uh...Professor…it's no longer Granger, we're engaged." he told him, letting his face light up a bit.

"How wonderful." he said, also on a happier note, "Now, look at the time, you need to get to your class and I will go see Miss- or shall I say the soon-to-be Mrs. Malfoy." he said, standing up. Draco stood up also.

"Yes, Sir." was all Draco said and he walked out the door. Dumbledore followed, but walked down a separate hallway than Draco.

Dumbledore knocked on the portrait and waited for Hermione to answer it, but instead she yelled for him to come in. He walked up to her door and knocked. She once again told him to come in.

"Professor Dumbledore." she said as he opened the door.

"Miss Gra- or Malfoy, shall I say." he said calmly. Hermione blushed.

"What can I help you with, sir?" she asked casually.

"Mr. Malfoy has informed me of last night's…events." he finished slowly.

"Oh." was all she said.

"Miss Granger," he slipped, "we will be needing to take precautions on account of everything that has happened." he was slightly uncomfortable.

"What kind of precautions?" she asked suspiciously.

"I am not quite sure yet, but looking at the past week, we need to do something to protect yourself and Mr. Malfoy."

"I agree." she said.

They talked for a while on what kind of precautions, but so far none of them have no ideas. Dumbledore changed the subject to the ball.

"How is it coming with the ball?" he asked.

"Fine, I think we're going to do the same stuff as last time, except for Christmas, not Halloween." she told him.

"Sounds good." he said as he stood up. "Well, I must be going. I believe your fiancé will be here shortly for lunch. Good day." he said and left with a smile.

Hermione groaned. She didn't want to have to go through all the precautions that needed to be set up. She'd only sat there for a minutes wondering what kind of precautions there would be when Draco walked through the door.

"Hey, babe." he said walking over to her.

"Hey." she said, moving slowly to let him onto the bed.

"How did you sleep?"

"Okay, I guess. I woke up cold."

"I'm sorry, but I went to talk to Dumbledore and he said that it would be best for me to go to our classes and get the work we missed." he explained.

"It's fine. What's up?" she asked wondering if anything new was going on in school.

"Nothing. We have a lot of homework to do."

"You mean you have a lot of homework to do. I usually do my homework ahead of time." she smirked.

Draco groaned, but smiled. He should've known this about her already.

"Dumbledore said that we need to take precautions…" she said, remembering their meeting.

"I figured he would. Any idea on what kind of precautions?"

"None at all." she said exasperatedly. They sat there for a while just thinking about everything that's going on until Draco broke the silence.

"What date should we set for the wedding?" he asked suddenly.

"I was thinking about that actually…Maybe we should get married by Dumbledore and then have a bigger wedding after Graduation…" she suggested.

"I suppose we could…It sounds good to me." he thought for a moment. "Blaise could be my Best Man and Ginny could be your Maid of Honor…"

"That sounds great. We'll talk to Dumbledore next time we get a chance."

"Okay." he said, "Hey, do you want to watch another movie? I don't have anymore classes today…"

"Sure…" she tried to get out of bed and managed to stand up. Draco followed right behind her downstairs to make sure she made it okay.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked her as they sat on the couch.

"I don't know, but I could use some comedy right now."

"Me too." he said.

"How about Without a Paddle?" she asked.

"I love that movie." he said with a smile.

"Great. Matthew Lillard and Seth Green are some of the funniest people I've ever seen."

"Me too, especially when they're together in a movie like this." he said. He conjured the movie and put it in the DVD Player and pressed play. They watched as the movie started and started laughing already. The movie continued for a couple hours. They practically couldn't stop laughing at Seth Green's character, they also thought it was funny because he was much shorter than the other two guys.

By the time the movie ended, it was evening outside. Draco asked Hermione if she was hungry and if she wanted to manage to go down to the Great Hall.

"Yeah, I want to find the gang and see what's going on, "she paused, "plus Dumbledore probably told them what happened and they will come running when they find out, so I figured why not just meet them half-way…" she said standing up slowly.

"Are you sure you can make it okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just let me go get dressed and I'll be down in a few, okay?"

"Yeah." and she slowly made her way to her room. She came down about ten minutes later with some sweats and a t-shirt. Draco grabbed her hand and they walked down to the Great Hall as fast as she could go. Before they entered, Draco asked if he wanted him to sit with her and she said no. He nodded and pulled open the doors. They separated their ways to their tables, Hermione walking slowly to her friends.

"Hermione!" Ginny squeaked again.

"Hi, Ginny." Hermione said as she very easily set herself down on the bench.

"Dumbledore told us…what happened." said Ginny uncomfortably. Harry and Ron nodded their heads in unison.

"How are you feeling?" asked Harry.

"Sore." she said truthfully.

"We're really sorry, Hermione." said Ron.

"Can we not talk about it, please?" she asked with a puppy-dog face.

"Sure." said Harry. All of the sudden Ginny squeaked happily, almost letting the whole Hall know.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Look at that rock!" Ginny said, low enough so that only a few heads around the group turned and looked.

"Did he purpose?" asked an excited Ginny, while pointing at Hermione's ring.

"Yup." she said with a wide grin. Ginny hugged her best friend. Harry and Ron's jaws hung open. Hermione looked at them, curious of what they were thinking.

"Well?" she asked nervously.

"Congratulations." said Harry.

"Yeah, congrats." said Ron, it was clear that neither of them were as excited as Ginny, but they weren't objecting.

"You guys are sure you're okay with this?" she asked the boys.

"Yeah, we're happy for you." said Harry with a smile. Ron smiled too.

"You guys aren't just saying that to make me feel better, are you?" she said.

"Trust us, if we thought that it was that bad, we would tell you." said Ron with another smile.

"For some reason, I believe that…" she smiled, "Thank you guys." she said as she looked over at Draco. He was looking back. She gave him a smile and a nod. He smiled back and turned to Blaise.

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Draco walked over to his seat next to Blaise. Draco was smiling at the news he was about to give Blaise that he hadn't given him this morning. Blaise took note of this and looked at him with a confused expression.

"Okay, you have been smiling all day…What's going on?" he asked.

"She said yes." was all Draco said and that was all he needed to say.

"You popped the question?" Blaise asked with a smile just as big.

"Yup."

"Alright Draco!" he gave him a hi-five. "Congratulations. When's the wedding?"

"We were going to have Dumbledore marry us and then have a bigger celebration after graduation." Blaise's smiled weakened. He thought he wasn't going to be able to go.

"You and Ginny are the Best Man and Maid of Honor." Draco said, knowing this would make him feel better.

"Really? Awesome." he said and his smiled lit up once more. Suddenly both their heads snapped up and at squeak made at the Gryffindor Table. Blaise saw that it was Ginny and he saw her pointing to Hermione's hand. Draco saw this too, but he kept looking at Hermione as she looked nervous then happy. She looked back at him and she nodded and he smiled.

"I guess her friends are okay with it." said Blaise, who also saw Hermione.

"Yup." he said and Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"Good evening to all." he said brightly. "I am glad to announce that the Christmas Holidays will be beginning in a few days and there will be a ball, of course. It will be the same as last time, but this time the seventh years will be put with the person they are most compatible with." the seventh years clapped loudly, which made Dumbledore laugh.

"Glad too hear you all like that idea…" he chuckled. "Well, I know most of you are starving so eat up!" he waved his hands up and the food appeared on tables before them.

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