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Chapter 2: The Start

Hermione cleared her throat to gain attention from this mysterious stranger. The stranger turned his head revealing his identity. Hermione's eyes grew wide due to shock.

"Is this a trick or a trap? I don't know you well but I know you well enough that you'd never have feelings for me. A mudblood. Stop it Malfoy. We're not even friends. The more we can't be more than that."

"It isn't. I really do love you. People change. I changed."

"How do I know? How will I know for sure that you're not lying? You hate me. This could be a a plot that you made to make me fall in love with you then you'd humiliate me. How do I know you won't do that?"

"Here." He stretched out his closed hand then he opened it. There was a necklace there with a round pendant and there was a circle in the middle that was glass. "I don't know if you have heard about this necklace but it tells you how the person that is touching you his/her true feelings for you." He handed her a piece of paper that said:

red - love

blue – uncertain

black – enemy

white – friend

The darker the color turns, the more that person feels that way for you.

"Try it. Then you'll see how much I really love you."

Hermione took the necklace from his hands and she wore it.

Draco held her hand and it turned into red.

"See. I really do love you."

"Are you sure this isn't a trick?"

"Yes. I promise. It isn't"

"Okay then."

"I love you, Hermione."

"I….I…I….I love you too."

Draco hugged her and he lifted her and turned her around then he placed her back on the ground. They hugged until Hermione spoke, "We better go. It's already late and the professors might catch us here."

"Yeah. Okay. You go out first then I'll follow. Bye my love."

"Bye!"

Hermione ran down quietly then she went to her dorm. She was lying down trying to sleep but she couldn't. She kept thinking about her and Draco. She kept thinking about the things that happened in the Astronomy Tower. A few minutes later she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The next day, she woke up early as usual then she started her morning routine. She waited for Ron and Harry to come down. In the mean time, she just read a muggle book that he parents had told her to read in Hogwarts. She was so concentrated into reading that she didn't know that Harry and Ron were sitting in front of her. Ron suddenly said, "Hi Mione!" It was too unexpected for Hermione so she jumped in fright. Ron and Harry just kept laughing until she gave them an angry stare so they stopped from laughing.

They were walking down the stairs then they entered the Great Hall. They had their breakfast and went to their first class which was Potions.

Snape entered the room and all the students could tell that he was in a foul mood. They just kept quiet the whole time. Snape told them to mix up a potion.

"Your partners won't be your usual. You will have partners from the other house. Dumbledore had requested this to promote friendliness. Now, I will tell you who are your partners and you will sit beside them. They'll be your partners for the rest of the year."

These were the partners he called out:

Potter and Goyle

Wealey and Crabbe

Granger and Malfoy

After that, the trio had stopped listening to the rest of the partnerings. Hermione gathered her things and sat beside Malfoy. She got the ingredients for the recipe that Snape wrote on the board. Malfoy did the measuring and cutting and Hermione did the mixing and the stirring.

It was silent until Malfoy spoke, "Did you tell Potter and Weasley yet?"

"No. I'll tell them at the end of the day. You? Did you tell your friends?"

"Not yet. But I promise that I will when the right time comes."

"You better tell them soon."

"Okay."

Potions class ended and they placed there potion in a small tube.

They left and proceeded to their next class.

At the end of all their classes, there was still an hour before dinner would start.

"Hey guys, let's go to the lake for a little fresh air." Hermione suggested

"Okay." The two had said together

They reached the lake and they sat on the bench.

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Okay. Promise you won't get mad."

"We promise."

"I…. I am…."

"You're what Hermione?"

"I'm with Draco. You know, we're kinda together."

"What! You're together?" Ron screamed and his face was turning red so much like his hair.

"How? He's our enemy." Harry said with a voice of anger and disbelief

" You promised you wouldn't be mad! Well it just happened ok? I love him. Please don't take away my happiness."

"How do you know he's not lying?"

"Through this." She pulled out her necklace the one that Draco gave her the other night. "This can tell how the person who is touching me feels about me."

"But Hermione, that's Malfoy you're talking about."

"Yeah. We all know he's not a nice guy. He's our enemy."

"He's your enemy. He used to be mine but not anymore. I love him."

"But…"

"No buts! I love him and that's the bottom line!"

"Fine. But we won't treat him nicer or anything. We're only accepting it since we're your friend. But the minute he hurts you, tell us and we'll make him pay for hurting you."

"He won't hurt me. I can tell through his eyes. Thanks for understanding though."

They left the lake and they went to dinner. Hermione received a parchment which wrote:

I'm thinking you told them already.

Signed D. M.

She got a quill and wrote:

Yup. We'll talk later. People will notice that an owl reached me then you. It would be clear. See you in the library after dinner.

After dinner, they went to the library. Hermione was there first and she waited for Draco while sitting in her usual area.

"So how did they take the news?"

"Well, they got mad at first but then they calmed down eventually."

"So they're okay with it?"

"I guess so. When will you tell them?"

"Next time. Not now. Now isn't the right time."

"Okay. We should go. The library's about to close."

"Yeah. Seems that way."

Hermione went to her dormitory and slept.