Hermione was busy reading a book in her dormitory, when an owl tapped the window. It had her name on it. In Draco's handwriting. She quickly opened it. The handwriting was done sloppily, like he was in some sort of hurry.

" Meet me at the same junction, outside Hogsmeade. Signed, D. "

It was all he said. Hermione smiled. Perhaps he missed her this fast? Had decided to cheer her up again?

Harry had not spoken to her for almost two days, and she knew he avoided her, giving lame excuses to Ron, and much to Ron's annoyance. Ron had begun to complain that Harry was crumbling under the pressure of defeating Slytherin at Quidditch.

She quickly grabbed her coat and walked fast towards Hogsmeade, bringing along a tiny package she kept safely in her hands. She imagined the smile on his face once he saw it. True, she was still hurt by the events between her and Harry, but as long as there was someone who cheered her up (someone she happened to love), she had given it thought that she would live through it all. She had to thank him today, after all that he had done and given to her.

The snow was a little thick under her feet, and she treaded with a little bit of difficulty. She was almost breathless as she reached Hogsmeade. There weren't a lot of people, or rather students today.

She sighed and smiled again to herself, tending herself with dreams of being kissed and hugged by the one person she had never thought of loving.

Draco stood still, as the snow fell on his face. He shivered slightly. He wondered what Hermione had wanted to say, that it was so urgent to actually meet up on such a cold day.

He head footsteps and spun around.

Hermione reached the junction holding the little box in her bare and cold hands.

She froze in place.

Draco was there. With someone else. With…Pansy! Her knees suddenly shook terribly, and she felt that she would fall on the snow anytime soon. Pansy had his arms around his neck …

Hermione let out a small gasp that caught Pansy's attention. Draco spun around with his eyes wide.

" Hermione-! " he began with alarm. There was the look of shock in his eyes.

Hermione kept shaking her head as she began stepping back. " Stay- stay away from me-! " she said.

" Wait-! You have to- " he reached out for her, but Pansy held his collar.

" You have to see us kiss more often, dearie, " Pansy said icily as she smiled over Hermione's gaze.

She slowly shook her head.

" Draco's always been naughty. You didn't think you were the only one, did you? " Pansy asked.

Hermione felt tears sting her eyes. I won't cry here, not with him, not with her around, she told herself over and over again.

She turned her back and ran.

Draco glared at Pansy. " You-"

" That's right. I set you up, " she said with a laugh. " Shocked weren't you? I just had to surprise you, you know. "

He glared at her, not knowing whether to kill her or to kill her. Just those two seconds of carelessness on his part, cost him Hermione's trust! Pansy Parkinson was a true Slytherin, hurting not only Hermione, but him.

" You know what they say, luv, " she said demurely. Her voice dropped into a harsh one. " If I can't have you, nobody will. "

Draco didn't waste time to listen to her gloat over her triumph in sending Hermione to tears, in sending Hermione way from him.

He ran, his heart thudding painfully against his chest, still shocked at the sudden turn of events.

He saw her huddle figure ahead. " Hermione! "he called out.

She didn't look back. Instead she ran faster than ever. She tried to fight back the tears but they just kept coming. Some evil voice in her head said, " I told you so!" and she wanted it to stop. There was a forming headache, and another pain in her chest.

" Please! Stop, " he said.

She was rooted immediately on the spot. She slowly turned around. " Dray- " she began.

" Please- stay away from me? "

His eyes widened. " What? You just can't believe what Pansy did- "

" I saw it, " she replied, shivering. " I saw it well enough to believe it. "

" No! " his voice was louder now. " Listen to me! It was a set up, she had warned me ahead, that Weasley and Potter knew- I didn't believe her, I got an owl, supposedly from you, and when I came here, it was her standing in that junction and not you-!"

She shook her head. " Just stay away from me!" she cried.

" Hermione, please, " he said.

" Stay away! " she cried again. This time Hermione ran faster than ever, and Draco just stood there in disbelief.

She ran blindly, tears stung her eyes like acid. She was crying over him! Over Draco Malfoy! She didn't expect- who would've! But she just had to see the snake that he was-through that! Through Pansy kissing him, grabbing the air out of his lungs! And she was hurting terribly for him!

Hermione ran and ran, not feeling the snow fall on her, not feeling the scarf on her neck fall off, and not feeling the coldness, only the immeasurable pain that seared inside her heart.

And then she slipped all of a sudden. She landed on her knees, and a tear fell on her hand.

She felt a hand on her hand. And a soft voice.

" Hermione are you okay? " he asked.

She looked up and saw Harry Potter. He helped her stand up.

" What happened? " he asked gently.

" Nothing, " she replied quickly, weeping the tears away with her sleeve, like a child.

" When Hermione Granger is in tears, something is always wrong. "

She looked at Harry. " Are you-? Aren't you supposed to be angry at me? "

Harry sighed and looked at her straight in the eye. " Tell me what happened? "

She shook her head. " Nothing. "

" Come on Hermione, stop being so guarded. I'm still your best friend, no matter what. " Harry looked at her eyes again. " We have a long way back to the castle, you can tell me- " he said.

Hermione took a deep breath as Harry held her shoulder. " You're going to get angry at me, Harry. "

" No, I've already done that, " he said. " Take your time. "

" Draco and are have been together for more than two months now, " she looked at Harry's face. But he displayed nothing, but concern on his face. She took another deep breath.

" It started when we were making Veritaserum, and it had gone awry. So we ended using Moaning Myrtle's lavatory, and he made a bet with me, saying that if it didn't go right, he'd get to kiss me out of his swelled-up ego. I agreed, only in exchange that if my potion got right, he wouldn't bother us for a week. My potion worked perfectly, but in exchange for that he had slipped out a secret, that he liked me, and he kissed me. "

Harry's jaw dropped a little. " Err…continue. "

" I had to avoid him, it was very much uncomfortable. And all of a sudden, he grew considerably nicer to me, until one day, we talked in one of the rose gardens, and he danced with me during the ball- "

Harry's brow was raised. " I didn't see him…"

" He dyed his hair black- " she responded.

Harry's jaw dropped again. Damned Slytherin! How cunning could he get!

" So- after that- he asked me out, and I thought he saw being sincere- and he has been- until today- when I saw him sucking up to Pansy Parkinson- "

Harry frowned. Should he tell her what he knew? He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

A/N: well…how was that? I'm almost done with the story…but I'm stuck on a few things err… details….so…review? i'm so so so sorry for not being able to update! something went wrong with the friggin uploading part! >. i was so annoyed! anyway...review!