AN: Thought this might interest you guys, I actually wrote this chapter before I wrote chapter six. Hope you like it! Lady Eclypse

Back to School

Early on September first, Draco awoke earlier than usual to find his bed robbed on his precious fiancée. He found her side of the bed to be neatly made, although he wasn't quite sure how she managed to relinquish her body from his seemingly vice-like grip he usually had on her.

It was now becoming the norm to see the two of them together holding hands or with his arms around her in a nearly protective manner. And it was quite clear that Draco and Hermione had become nearly inseparable. It also wasn't unusual to see Vulcan accompany them where ever they went.

Vulcan typically informed them of what was going on in the Death Eater ranks and talked about how much Lady Riddle and Voldemort missed Hermione since to engagement part that had taken place nearly six weeks ago.

"Hermione, where are you?" Draco called with a slight quiver of panic lacing his silken voice.

She walked out of the bathroom in a towel, followed by a trail of steam, "Oh, you're finally up, you better take a shower babe, before we are late," Hermione answered, not knowing that Draco was distressed from her sudden absence.

She bounded over to his side of the bed, and pounced on him, "Did you miss me?" she giggled, her damp curls falling into her eyes.

"How could I not miss someone as beautiful, and completely adoring as you?" he teased her in return, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, and brushing her hair out of her face.

"You know I never imagined that we would be like this," she sighed as she lay down next to him, snuggling as close to him as she could get. "I didn't even think we could find a way to stand each other, let alone find a way to fall in love with each other,"

"I know what you mean. There was a while there when I wondered what our parented were thinking when they put us together, but all we really needed was a chance to go to dinner alone together," Draco laughed in response as he remember the night that Hermione had shoved him in the pool after their dinner at The Stuffed Olive.

"And a swim…" Hermione remarked as she kicked him out of bed. "Go take a shower before we get too caught up in the moment."

"Fine," Draco half pouted as he trekked to the bathroom and shut the door.

Hermione dressed herself in a snug fitting teal scoop neck short sleeved shirt, with a hot pink racer back tank top underneath it. She threw on a slightly tight pair of faded and lightly ragged jeans with some brown platform flip flops.

She magiced her hair dry and styled in large curls that fell to the middle of her back, she kept the make-up she applied simple and natural looking, and as usual she was very satisfied with her nearly mysterious beauty. She was still admiring herself in the full length mirror when Draco emerged from the bathroom from his shower.

"How long have you been standing there?" Draco wondered with a chuckle as he walked past Hermione admiring herself in the mirror that hung on one of Draco's closet doors.

"Clearly not long enough," she answered as she examined the way her jeans accentuated her enticing curves.

"Hermione, you look fabulous, just as you always do. Stop staring at your ass, it looks great, your curls are perfect, your nails are perfect, your make-up is perfect, your out fit makes you the envy of every girl we've ever known. You are beautiful, now stop it!" Draco said as he came out of the other closet door in his own faded jeans and a black Egyptian cotton shirt, and black leather shoes.

She glared at him before sighing irritably and taking his hand as he took her down stairs to eat breakfast. She twirled her engagement ring around her left ring finger as she typically found herself doing when she was jittery and a little bit nervous.

Hermione found it hard to eat, or to conjure up an appetite, she had never been this nervous on the first day back to school, save her very first day at Hogwarts. Draco didn't notice immediately, but as they talked over their breakfast, she never once picked up her fork, but kept spinning her ring around her finger.

He took her hand in his, squeezed it, and smiled at her as he finished reading the daily Prophet. "Relax; you shouldn't be this nervous until our wedding day, not hat you'll have anything to worry over in the first place."

"And you think that you'll have something to worry over? Don't be ridiculous, I'm not letting anyone take you away from me. They will have to kill me first if they want to try to steal you,"

"Well, I love you too,"

"You had better."

Narcissa and Lucius joined them a few moments later, letting them know that they would be departing shortly for King's Cross Station to board the Hogwarts Express. As usual, the adults explained the dangers of returning to school, and how vital it was for Draco to keep a close eye on Hermione and keep her as safe from the Order of the Phoenix as was physically possible.

Two hours later Draco and Hermione were standing on platform 9 ¾ and Draco was watching as his mother embraced his fiancé in a death hug and even shed a tear at the departure of her only true female companion. Narcissa then moved on to her son, and she and Lucius apparated back to Malfoy Manor.

"Let's board before we meet unwanted visitors." Draco advised as he spotted the black bobbed hair of Pansy Parkinson.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco as he dragged her along the platform, "Ah, your adoring public. What will she say when she finds out about our engagement, or better yet who my father is?"

"Let's deal with Potter before we move on to Parkinson, you'll need a challenge before you obliterate what ever is left of Parkinson's mush for brains…" He decided as he guided Hermione into the Head's compartment.

Hermione and Draco were peacefully sitting in the head's train compartment, both oblivious to the other, reading their respective magazine's when Ron and Harry burst in the room breathlessly. "Well, if it isn't Wonder Boy Potter, and his fire cracker boyfriend," Draco smirked, not even bothering to look up from the article he was reading.

Hermione was finding it increasingly difficult to stifle her laughter at the pun her fiancé had just made at her two former friends and two newest enemies as far as she was concerned. "What do you two want, do we need to leave so you can have a moment alone?" she giggled taking her chance to question at least Ron's sexuality.

"Hermione, we've been looking for you…is that you underneath all that black hair?" Harry was dreadfully confused. He was hearing Hermione's voice, but she hadn't looked up from her reading material either so he hadn't been to sure that is was really her that released such vicious hostility toward them.

"We wanted to congratulate you on making Head Girl, and tell you that we are coming back to school for the time being…" Ron explained, half whispering in her ear, "We thought you were in trouble over the summer…"

"I was, some one raided my house and I was nearly killed no thanks to you two," she snapped throwing her magazine at them as she stood up. "Stay away from me!" She yelled backing them out of the compartment and slamming the door in their faces.

"That's not likely to keep them away you know?" Draco smiled at Hermione's frustration for the unusual situation. "Next time let me handle them Darling," he advised as he stood and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Hermione's lips curled into a devilish grin as she saw the horrified looks creeping over Ron and Harry's faces in reaction to what they had just witnessed. "I know, I'm like a bad habit I guess, I'm really hard to break…they'll keep coming back until they realize how bad I truly am," she turned to face Draco and kissed him deeply.

"What the fuck do they think they're doing?" Ron shouted banging on the door and trying to wrench it open, as Hermione and Draco just turned and waved at them with smiles on their faces.

"I think Hermione's declaring war with us and the order, but why?" Harry contemplated, looking over the events in him mind.

"Maybe she's under the imperious curse…"

"Come on Ron, it is Hermione we're talking about here, she's got enough charms and counter curses memorized and placed on her than Voldemort probably even knows about. No one would be able to touch her mind, let alone control it,"

"Then what's come over her?"

"I'm not sure, but we won't rest until we find out what exactly she's been up to this summer, and what's gotten in to her," Harry decided with Ron nodding eagerly in agreement as they practically ran down the corridor back to their compartment. "So much for congratulating her on becoming head girl…"

"Watch where you're going Potter," Pansy snarled as she stormed right through Ron and Harry on her way to see Draco, she had heard the whole conversation between Ron and Harry and all she could think of was the Mud blood being Head Girl.

"So it's true then, the Mud blood is the Head Girl," Pansy roared as she burst into the compartment.

"I can't even get a moments peace before getting harassed by someone else!" Hermione muttered, "Beat it," she simply growled, looking at Pansy with amusement as she entered the compartment.

"Go to hell Mud blood," Pansy snarled as she turned her attention to Draco.

"Remove yourself from my presence Pansy," Draco barked making Pansy jump in shock.

"But Drakie, I haven't seen you all summer; my father said that the Dark Lord's daughter was staying with you…" Pansy started with her annoyingly high pitched whine.

"Yes, in fact she did. My father and Voldemort came to an agreement; I'm to marry the Dark Lord's daughter next summer." Draco interrupted her, "Sorry Pansy, but you're just not Malfoy material, now beat it…"

"Who is she then? I at least have the right to meet her," Pansy suddenly demanded.

Hermione glanced at Draco, smiled and shock her head at the twisted look of disgust that deformed his perfectly form facial features.

"Do you honestly think that I'm going to tell you who she is with so much going on right now? There's too much at stake, and I'm not about to jeopardize her life or mine, just so you can try to make some comment that is lacking intelligence and is rude as well as uncalled for just because my father picked superiority over mediocrity," Draco really could care less if Pansy knew it was Hermione, because he was certain that if Pansy said something that she didn't like, Hermione wouldn't hesitated to threaten Parkinson's life if one word leaked out, at who she really was.

"Don't you have something better to be doing Parkinson?" Hermione asked casually with her infamous nail file skipping across her near perfectly manicured nails, in timed precision.

"Don't you have some gay ass book to stuff your ugly face in?" Pansy retorted sharply, not realizing what she was getting herself involved in.

"Do not mock me because I value my brain over my seductive qualities, which might I add is something that you quite obviously lack," Hermione sneered disgustedly as she looked down upon Pansy.

"Mind you own bloody business you filthy little Mud blood," Pansy shouted finally losing her temper with Hermione's persistent butting in.

"Don't speak to her like that!" Draco warned standing up and forcefully pushing Pansy out of the compartment. "You have no idea who she really is, so don't start shit with her if you want to keep up your breathing. She will have you killed if you don't watch it,"

"You don't really think that I wouldn't gibe you any time to warn her if I was planning to have her killed?" Hermione smirked as Draco locked the door to the compartment and drew the shades down.

"Well, you did threaten to have me infected with Lycanthropy for suggesting you can have anything you wanted." Draco teased as he sat next to her and put his arm around her waist.

"That was different,"

"Oh really, enlighten me, how was it different?" Draco wondered nibbling on Hermione's ear as she giggled.

"I was trying to get you to leave me alone, not pick a fight with you. That was when we wanted nothing to do with each other," she answered playfully pushing him away from her. "Besides, that was two months ago, before Vulcan helped you take me out on our first date."

"Fine, you win this round my Love, but I'm not entirely sure that you would tell me if you were planning on killing Pansy, I'm not sure if I would really be concerned over her death, but every one deserves fair warning. I mean, even your father gave me fair warning, threatening to kill me if I break your heart, which I don't plan on doing any time soon," Draco explained.

The train lurched slightly, indicating to the cozy couple that they were passing Hogsmeade, and they would be arriving at Hogwarts within the hour. They both stood and pulled down their school trunks and Hermione began to change into her school uniform. Draco quickly slipped out of the compartment before Hermione could pull off her clothes, for fear he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from ravaging her perfect body in lust and love.