Sorry for the long wait, I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Chapter Twenty-One

A Little Bit of Fun

/Recap/

It simply stated... "He smiled at me... he actually smiled at me."

/End Recap/

"Well this is just great." Ginny said shutting the book. She heard Hermione moaning some more, and when she looked, saw her attempting to get up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy, you took a hard hit to the head missy. And since when does the 'always prepared,' Hermione Jane Granger, not have a reviving potion handy?"

"I'm sorry, I don't make it a bit to keep one in my back pocket."

"Well at least keep one in your medicine cabinet." Ginny argued, as she transfigured one of Hermione's throw pillows into an ice-pack and placed it onto the now visible bump on Hermione's head.

"Well usually a witch of your age, would just use a simple enervate spell."

"Ha! Very funny, I think that fall may have done a bit more damage than I expected."

"And why's that?" Hermione asked as she took control of the ice-pack on her head.

"Because you obviously don't remember what happened the last time I tried to use that on one of Harry's passing out sessions." Hermione giggled at the memory. "Shut up, he still won't let me near him when he's hurt." Ginny laughed.

"Quite right. In fact can you hand me that book." Hermione pointed at her book of memories lying on the floor next to her bed.

"Yeah sure." Ginny handed the book to her bushy haired friend, who put the ice-pack down as she reached for it. Afterwards realizing just what she had done, "wait, you aren't thinking about... no... you can't! Hermione it was so embarrassing!" Ginny pleaded.

But Hermione didn't listen. Instead she simply reached for her wand on her bedside, and pointed the tip of her temple. She closed her eyes, and Ginny could tell she was in deep thought. After about ten seconds a small silver string floated out of her head. She opened her eyes and let the strand float as she turned to an empty page in her memory book. When one was found, she merely tapped the string towards the book. It slowly floated down and transformed from a silver sliver, to a negative to finally the picture when it landed on the blank page.

"Perfect." Hermione smiled.

"For who?" Ginny grumbled.

"Oh come on Gin, cheer up. It was really funny!" Hermione giggled. Ginny looked at the picture and couldn't help but laugh, after all it was rather funny. They sat there looking a the picture for at least five minutes, The photo of Harry laying unconscious on the Quidditch field. Ron Hermione, Ginny, and the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team was surrounding him. Then the sound came.

"HOLD ON GUYS, LET ME HELP HIM!" Ginny yelled as the crowd moved back to give her space. She pointed her wand at Harry's chest and clearly spoke, "Enervate." All of a sudden Harry's body was covered in flowers, wildflowers to be exact. The picture had both of the girls cracking up, after all it was quite the sight, but what made the picture better than any other picture in the book, was the fact that the photo started out in black and white, however when Ginny's spoof occurred, bright, vibrant, colorful flowers replaced this dismal black, white, and grey.

"You had to put that in there didn't you?" Ginny laughed.

"Of course, I always put your embarrassing moments in here."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me that you have more pictures like that, of me, in there?" Ginny asked as she reached to snatch the book away from Hermione, however she was unsuccessful.

"Fine, but only because we have another picture to discuss, but don't think you are off the hook missy, you will show me those photos."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, yeah we'll see."

"Now, what is with this photo of you and Draco, when did it happen, and why, may I ask, did you not tell me about it?"

"For the exact same reason why I didn't want to talk to you in the loo earlier on. You would have flipped your top!" Hermione emphasized.

"Yeah, but I would have gotten over it. I got over it in the loo didn't I?"

"Yeah after calling him every name under the sodding sun, and claiming that he was only here to rape me!"

"Ok first of all I didn't call him every name under the bleeding sun. Second of all, this is Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince, hater of all muggleborns and halfbloods, what other reson would I think of when I see him over here, let alone coming into your bedroom!"

"Alright, fair enough. But, how did I know you would get over it. I mean like you just said this is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. He isn't the most loved person around, especially by people like us. At first when this photo actually happened I didn't really care about the boy smiling, but more for the fact that the boy who was smiling, was in fact the muggle-hating, Slytherin Prince Draco Malfoy, and that he was smiling at me... me! Muggleborn me! Don't you see Ginny, we all have it bad when it comes down to him, but I always had it one worse than all of you. The fact that he smiled at me, the supposed filth of the wizarding world, changed something, that doesn't mean that the things he said are completely erased from my mind, but it's a start. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I look at him differently." Hermione was now on the verge of tears.

Ginny, trying to cheer her friend up, made a wisecrack. "Of course it changed the way you look at him. Now you look at him and picture him naked, before you didn't." It worked Hermione was soon enough laughing again.

"You know me too well!" Hermione laughed. "But seriously, now do you understand why I didn't tell you or anybody else for that matter."

"Of course I do, I was just winding you up. You are so easy to take the mickey out of, it's becoming a bore to even attempt now."

Hermione shoved her shoulder, "I hate you."

"No you don't."

"That's true, I actually don't know what I would do if I didn't have a friend like you. It's good to have a girl around sometimes. I mean Harry and Ron are great, but I could never talk to them about this. Ooh, which reminds me! They can not know about this at all! They would never speak to me again, if they find out I've been speaking with Draco, let alone that I like him!" Hermione insisted.

"Relax, I live with Ron, I know what it's like to want and to have to keep a secret. He still thinks I'm biologically a 'little' girl for God's sake!" This made Hermione laugh. "So don't worry, your secret is safe with me." The two girls hugged, and that was that. "So what are we going to do about this little situation we have here?" Ginny asked as she pointed to the memory book on Hermione's lap.

"Well, well, well, the little bookworm has a little crush on me, does she?" Draco silently took his head out of Hermione's bedroom fireplace, so the two girls wouldn't notice he had been listening.

'Well I hate to break it to you, but you kind of liker her too.' Draco's conscience said.

"Fine it's a mutual love." He thought.

'Oh, so now it's love?'

"Look at me. I'm arguing with myself. Let's see her still like me, when she sees me like this." Draco said out loud.

'You're still talking to yourself.' His conscience pointed out.

"BUGGER OFF!" Draco yelled, as he made to leave his room. When he opened his door, he got a nasty surprise.

"Hello son."

"I'm no son of yours!" Draco spat. Even if Draco had forgotten most of his past, that hidden hate had somehow risen to the surface.

Lucius ignore his son's rude comeback, and barged past Draco and into his room. As he looked around his son's chambers he asked, "so... do tell me, who were you talking to?" he turned around and smirked. Draco knew this smirk, it was one of his father's many, and was the model to his own. This one meant he knew something was up, and it would only be a matter of time before he found out about it.

It was a game Draco had played many times before, and now was not any different than any other time. He smiled his own maniacal little smile, and answered back, "oh you know just myself."

"YOU LIE!" His father's smirk vanished and was replaced with a scowl, accompanied with the stone grey eyes staring at him with the epitome of evil. He soon enough grabbed his son's shoulders and was ragingly shaking him, threatening him and waited to hear the truth. In other words he knew he had been with the mudblood, ad he wanted to know why. He could care less about who he had been talking to in his room, for all he knew it could have been the damn house elf, Murky. All he wanted to know was why had his son, the heir to the dark lords power, been conversing with the enemy.

Draco took his father's hands off of him and shoved him away. "NO I DON'T!" He pushed past him, and headed for the door. On his way he said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I will go for a walk. See you later my daddy dearest."

Just as he slammed the door on his dad, Lucius yelled, "WE ARE NOT THROUGH TALKING ABOUT THIS!"

"WE'LL SEE!" Draco bellowed back as he skipped the steps on his grand staircase. He approached the oak, front door, as he did so, his father arrived at the top of the stairwell.

"Draco." Lucius strongly spoke.

"What?" Draco asked, not turning around.

His father raised a thing eyebrow, and smirked the second of his many. "Do make sure to take a light robe, I predict it to be a little... nippy out tonight. Goodnight son." And with that he turned away into the upstairs corridor.

Draco looked to his left where the outdoors robes were hung. He looked up to where his father had been standing just moments before, and then to the door. He scoffed, and reached for the doorknob saying, "up yours," and he left, leaving the summer robe behind.

It had yet to happen, but Draco was sure of it; that if he back talked his father like that again he was sure to receive an unforgivable. Although, he was, at one time, convinced that his father was saving his pain for the Dark Lord himself, he now had reason to think otherwise.

As Draco reached the end of the Malfoy Manor Road, he realized he had no planned destination, and therefore he decided upon letting his feet be the navigators. Far be it for him to argue with them if he just so happened to arrive at a certain bookworm's house.

Arriving at the Granger house he realized just how rich she actually was.

'But all these years she's looked so... so... poor.' He thought.

'Well your majesty, not everyone who is well off shows it as pigheadedly as you do. She obviously saw what money had done to your life, and she probably realized that she didn't want to end up like you.' His conscience replied.

'You're probably right.' Draco sulked as he looked at the one lit room in the front of the house, the kitchen.

'And you can bet your bottom galleon on it that that is how she got such great friends.'

'Ugh, can we please leave those two half-wits out of this please! It is already complicated enough without Pothead, and Weaslebee barging in thank you!" Draco thought as he started to pace outside the Granger front gate.

Hermione and Ginny walked into the kitchen. Ginny giggled as she flipped the light switch. "I still find that so interesting."

Hermione laughed, and replied, "I noticed."

Ginny sat herself upon one of the breakfast bar stools, and placed the goodies they had taken downstairs on the counter, as Hermione headed towards the freezer and fridge. Ginny had been introduced to all these gadgets and gizmos years ago, but they had yet to cease to amaze her. As Hermione rummaged through the kitchen appliance, Ginny saw something that made her react with just a simple (yet very complex), "oh."

Hermione looked up form the freezer, ice-cream in hand, and looked towards her best friend. Ginny's eyes were set through the window at a point dead straight ahead. Turning around, Hermione nearly dropped the ice-cream, at the sight of one Mr. Draco Malfoy.

He had yet to see them, but that was the least of Hermione's worries. What was making her stomach churn was the fact that he had returned.

"Why am I here?" Draco asked out loud, as if her were asking his best mate standing next to him.

'Need I remind you who lives here. And the fact that she is your future wife.' His conscience answered.

"Thanks for the reminder. Let's just point out every tiny little pin-pointing detail to make me go even more bonkers, kay?" Draco yelled. He turned away from Hermione's house and sat on the curb. There on the other side of the muggle street was a mother and her toddler. Draco looked at them to find them staring at him, "WHAT?" The small girl whimpered, and the mother pulled her along.

"Come on darling, don't look at the strange boy," he heard the mother say as she eagerly pulled along her daughter.

"Tossers." Draco scoffed as he stood back up. He straightened his robes and turned back around only to find Hermione and Ginny staring at him through the window.

"Great! Just bloody marvelous! Now the whole sodding street will think I'm some pathetic imbecile!"

'Well they will if you don't stop speaking to yourself." His conscience pointed out.

"Shut up!" Draco spat as he opened the Granger's front gate. He approached the front door, and as he knocked on the door he could her little snippets of conversations going on inside.

Hermione rushed to put the ice-cream, biscuits, and crisps away. Ginny on the other hand stayed seated, and watched Hermione make nothing into a huge thing.

"Gee Hermione, you better hurry, you don't want to let him know that you actually... eat. Heaven's forbid if he thought you to be... normal!"

"I am normal." Hermione said as Ginny scoffed, "besides it's not that I don't want him to see me eating, it's just I don't want him to see me eating all that, especially all at once."

Ginny giggled, "fair enough."

"Right now," Hermione straightened out her clothing, "how do I look?"

"You're in your pajamas." Ginny pointed out plainly.

"Oh my word! I can't open the door like this! He'll think I'm a complete loon!"

"Well I'm pretty sure the fact that you're a complete loon was established years ago." Hermione was about to retaliate when Ginny continued, "but you can do this. He came back didn't he? Remember that, and go answer the door for God's sake."

"Are you sure?"

"Have I ever lied to you? Now go and let him in before he decides to leave!"

Hermione ran "gracefully" to the front door, did one more straightening of her "clothes" and finally opened the door. "Hell Draco."

Right, so how'd you like it? Please Review! Dominique (hpobsessor)