Making the decision to ask Hermione out, and actually doing it were two very different things. Normally Draco wasn't nervous about anything, but there was something about Hermione that made asking her out harder than normal. He wasn't sure if it was the fact her father was The Dark Lord, or if it was just Hermione herself who he was slightly intimated by. Either way his intention to ask Hermione out festered for quite a while as he built up the nerve to ask her out.
Luckily, in the time it took him to work up the courage to ask her out, she didn't get involved with anyone else. She'd seemingly turned down Adrian's offer of a fly, although Draco wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't interested in Adrian, or if it was her distaste of flying that had led to her refusal. No matter what her reasons were, Draco was pleased she was still a free agent.
When he finally plucked up the courage to ask Hermione out, he decided they could head to Hogsmeade together. The dates for the first Hogsmeade weekend had just been announced, and Draco thought it was a perfect opportunity to ask Hermione out. Unfortunately, the day he planned on asking Hermione out he discovered plans had already been made for the group to head down to Hogsmeade together. It was how the Slytherins normally went about things on a Hogsmeade weekend, so he wasn't totally surprised that someone had already mentioned it to Hermione. He just wished he'd gotten in first and asked her out before she'd set her heart on heading down to the village as a group.
Hoping he would still have an opportunity to ask Hermione out, Draco settled for enjoying the first Hogsmeade trip of the year with all his friends around them. On a whole everyone seemed to be looking forward to the trip, it was only Pansy who was less than enthusiastic. But then again, Pansy had been in a foul mood since they returned to school and Draco suspected she would stay like that until she learnt to accept that Hermione was now a Slytherin and an important part of their lives.
On the Saturday in question, the Slytherins had a relatively early breakfast before getting ready and heading down to the village. The good thing about eating early and setting off to Hogsmeade well before lunch was the ability it gave them to avoid the Gryffindors for a while. The Gryffindors always rose later, and they probably wouldn't be many of them to be seen in the village until nearing lunchtime.
Hermione was especially pleased for a few hours with no prospect of running into her former friends, as she was finding it increasingly hard to ignore them. After their run-in on the train, Harry and Ron hadn't dared to try cursing her again, but that hadn't stopped them from making their mouths go. Every time she saw the duo, and Ginny, they always had some nasty remark to throw her way. Initially Hermione had just ignored them, but the more they'd hurled insults at her, the more she began to respond. It had gotten to the point where Hermione was hurling insults back at them, but her temper was starting to fray and she knew it was only a matter of time before she let the pair have it with everything she had. On a whole she hadn't minded her four years of friendship with the pair, but there was still plenty of animosity she felt towards them, and it was on the verge of spilling out. After all, Harry had been responsible for her father not being with her for the first part of her life, and Ron's family openly fought against him. That gave her plenty of reasons to dislike the pair of them, and with each passing encounter the spark of hatred within her was flickering to life and growing rapidly.
"You look deep in thought," Daphne remarked, linking arms with Hermione. The group had just left the grounds of Hogwarts as they began the twenty minute walk down to the village.
"I'm just thinking about how nice it'll be to get a bit of respite from Harry and Ron," Hermione replied. "We've got a whole morning, where we'll likely not set eyes on either one of them."
"That's a relief," Daphne said. "To tell you the truth, I've being getting a bit worried about them."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"I just get the feeling they're up to something," Daphne replied. "They're always watching you, and I'm just afraid they're planning on doing something untoward."
"They wouldn't dare," Blaise spat from behind the two girls.
When Hermione and Daphne turned round they found, Blaise, Draco and Theo walking closely behind them. From the looks on all of their faces, they'd heard the girl's conversation and Daphne's worries about the two Gryffindors.
"I know they won't try and hex Hermione, not after last time," Daphne said. "But that doesn't mean they're not planning anything else."
"They're not smart enough to come up with anything else," Theo snorted. "We all know Hermione was the brains behind all their earlier escapades. With her, they're useless."
"I still think we need to be careful," Daphne muttered.
"And we will be," Draco reassured her. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to Hermione."
"Are you going to protect me?" Hermione asked with a teasing smile.
Draco grinned back at Hermione as he advanced forward and fell into step beside her. "I'll be your knight in shining armour."
While Hermione laughed at Draco and the pair began chatting, Daphne fell back to walk with Blaise and Theo. By the time they'd reached the village, Daphne had been reassured by Blaise and Theo that nothing would happen to Hermione as they were watching out for her. Walking slightly in front of them, Hermione was totally caught up in talking to Draco and had no idea what was being discussed by the trio.
"Where to first?" Tracey asked as the group arrived in the village.
Instantly, four or five different shops were called out as everyone had different priorities. Before a full on argument broke out, Draco stepped in and announced they would just circle the village and visit the shops in the order they reached them. It really was the solution that made the most sense as a few people wanted to start by visiting shops that were right over the other side of the village.
With a decision reached, the group began to enjoy their day. Not everyone went into every shop, and the group did become slightly detached, but they were always within a few shops of one another. Hermione and Draco ended up on their own when their visit to the book shop dragged on and the others who'd been with them had wandered off.
"Do you really read muggle books?" Draco questioned with a frown as Hermione browsed through the shelves dedicated to muggle literature.
"Yeah," Hermione answered with a nod. "I'm not totally anti-muggle you know. I did live in the muggle world for a long time."
"But it was an act."
"It was, but I still had to play the part of a muggle girl," Hermione replied. "Besides, even my father doesn't have any real problems with muggles, providing he doesn't have to interact with them. What he opposes is the danger they present to the wizarding world as more of them become aware of the magical population."
"So he approves of you reading muggle books?" Draco checked.
"They're only books," Hermione replied with an unconcerned shrug. "You should try one. Muggles can tell some fairly good stories."
"I don't know," Draco said warily.
"Come on Draco, don't be such a wuss," Hermione laughed. Plucking a mystery book from the shelf, she held it out to her friend. "Take it. Live a little."
Draco rolled his eyes as he took the book from Hermione. "Fine, I'll try it. But if it sucks, I'm holding you personally responsible."
"If you don't like it, I'll make it up to you," Hermione said, as she grabbed a book of her own and led the way to the counter.
Emerging from the bookshop, Hermione and Draco met up with the others, who were discussing if it was time for lunch. Deciding to head to The Three Broomsticks, the Slytherins called in a few shops as they went. One of the shops they called into was Honeydukes, where Vince and Greg bought themselves a large bag of mixed sweets to share.
"Do you want one?" Vince asked, holding the bag out to Hermione.
"Thank you," Hermione replied, picking out a mint from the bag. As she popped the mint into her mouth she became aware of the other Slytherins watching them, clearly in shock. "What?" she asked.
"They gave you a sweet," Pansy said in awe.
"And?" Hermione frowned, not understanding the significance of Vince and Greg offering her a sweet.
"Vince and Greg never share their sweets," Draco explained.
"Does this mean, we get one?" Blaise asked, eyeing up the large bag of sweets in Vince's hand.
"No," Greg tutted as he grabbed the bag and tucked it away in his pocket. "If you want sweets, buy your own."
"Then how did Hermione get one?" Theo asked with a pout.
"Hermione's special," Greg replied with a slight blush.
"Special enough to give your sweets to?" Draco teased the embarrassed pair.
"Don't be mean," Hermione said, lightly hitting Draco on the arm. "You're just jealous because the boys like me enough to give me their sweets."
Hermione slipped in between Vince and Greg, and linking arms with the pair she led the way to The Three Broomsticks. The other Slytherins followed behind with a chuckle, all apart from Pansy who tagged along with a scowl on her face. Again, Hermione had wheedled herself into the group, and she was beginning to get sick of it.
Inside the pub, the group had to take over a couple of the larger tables and everyone noticed Pansy deliberately sitting as far away from Hermione as she could. However, Pansy's bad mood didn't affect anyone else and they settled down for a fun meal. While she brooded in the corner, the rest of the group laughed and joked their way through lunch.
Before they left, Hermione and Daphne headed to the bathroom. When they emerged, Hermione almost ran directly into Theo, who seemed to have been lurking outside of the girls bathroom.
"What's going on Theo?" Hermione asked. "The boys bathroom is through the other doors."
"I got lost," Theo replied, offering Hermione an innocent smile.
"Try again, Theo," Hermione said, not buying his excuse for one minute. "And this time, don't lie," she added, giving him a stern glare.
"I was just looking out for you," Theo admitted in a rush. "We promised never to leave you alone."
"We? And who exactly is we?" Hermione asked, although she could guess who else he was referring to. "And who exactly made you promise not to leave me alone?"
"We're just looking out for you," Theo insisted. "Your father was just worried about you."
"You're acting on Father's orders?"
Hermione waited until Theo had nodded his confirmation, before turning around and stalking back to the main body of the bar. Most of the group had left, but Blaise and Draco were still sitting in their seats laughing about something.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione demanded, focusing her attention on Draco.
"Tell you what?" Draco frowned.
"Why didn't you tell me about your little task?" Hermione asked. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out about it? After all, I've always got one of you three at my side."
"Theo," Blaise groaned, realising what had happened. Hermione had put a bit of pressure on him, and Theo had cracked and spilled everything.
"I had to tell," Theo protested.
"Don't blame, Theo," Hermione said. "At least he told me what was going on. Why didn't either of you?"
"Your father told us not to," Draco explained. "He said you wouldn't like it, and he didn't want to cause trouble between us."
"I don't like it, but I would have understood," Hermione argued. "I might be able to take care of myself, but I understand my father's need to protect me."
"Sorry," Draco offered with a small smile. "We just didn't want you getting mad at us."
"Next time, just tell me the truth," Hermione said. "I prefer it if you just told me what was going on instead of sneaking around behind my back."
Theo and Blaise quickly apologised and promised to keep Hermione informed of anything else they agreed to do in regards to her safety. However, Draco was mulling on Hermione's words and was deciding it was time to be honest with her about a few other things.
"Do I not get a promise from you to tell me everything?" Hermione asked, very aware that the blond boy had been silent for the last minute.
"I'm more than happy to tell you everything," Draco replied. "In fact, there's something else I need to tell you." Ignoring the smirks, Blaise, Theo and Daphne exchanged, Draco took a couple of moments to brace himself. "I really like you, Hermione."
"I like you too," Hermione replied with a smile.
"Not just as a friend," Draco clarified. As surprise registered on Hermione's face, he leant forward and connected their lips for a brief kiss.
The second Draco pulled away, Hermione pulled him right back and gave him a proper kiss. As the pair wrapped their arms around each other and really got into the kiss the door to the pub opened and Pansy poked her head back inside. Spotting the pair in a heated embrace, she quickly retreated and went storming back up to the castle. Inside the pub, Hermione and Draco finally parted, totally oblivious to the fact Pansy had just been watching them.
"Does this mean you'll go out with me sometime?" Draco asked with a grin.
"I'll think about it," Hermione replied, grinning back at the blond.
Taking hold of Hermione's hand, Draco led the way out of the pub. Of course the rest of the group noticed their entwined hands, and for the rest of the afternoon Draco and Hermione were the centre of attention. Although what they didn't realise as they strolled around Hogsmeade was that Hermione's former friends had spotted them and were less than impressed with the new development. The fact Hermione was getting cosy with Draco just give them another reason to hate her, and made them all the more determined to get rid of her for good.