Hermione looked out of the window to see that the scenery had dramatically changed, they were no longer near London, and it was clear they had crossed in to the wild Scottish countryside. Luna was still chatting away merrily, not noticing the distant look on Hermione's face; it was as if their roles had been reversed. Remembering that she would have to get her stuff from the heads compartment before getting off the train she audibly grunted, getting Luna's attention.
"Sorry Luna, I really am, but I have some head business to attend to. I will see you when we get to the castle." Luna looked up at her, probably sensing her apprehension to go anywhere near Malfoy again. He really knew how to push her buttons.

"You know I think I saw Malfoy walk past a while ago" she whispered in a sing song voice,

"How the hell did you know that it was Malfoy I was avoiding Luna?" Hermione's mouth formed a small 'o' surprise etched to her face.

"Well, you are quite easy to read Hermione, but he was stood outside the door a while back looking at you. I thought that he was going to come in at one point. He really is quite good-looking isn't he?"

Hermione had to stop herself from saying something rude about Malfoy, but just smiled quietly and backed out of the door.

"See you later Luna" Luna watched as Hermione walked off towards the front of the train, a vacant expression on her face, and smiled to herself. Whether they knew it or not they were perfect for each other and she was going to help them see it. For the rest of the journey to Hogwarts Luna began scheming ways to get the two of them together and thinking of people that she could get to help her achieve this.

Hermione marched back down the train, all the while thinking over what Luna had said about Draco Malfoy. He was no longer the scrawny, little boy with hair too pale plastered to his head. The white blonde strands that fell from his dark hoodie were at a wonderful length, just long enough to hang casually but not long enough to interrupt his vision. It was the kind of hair a girl could only dream of reaching out to remove from his face. He had a good body; there was no disputing that, his angular features had filled out and he now had a toned physique that was intimidating at the least. She knew deep down that maybe she was attracted to him, but she blamed that on being cooped up all summer without meeting anyone else her age. The thing that got her though, and probably many others who fell hopeless at his feet, were his eyes. The steely grey pools would stare with a great power, when you were under his gaze it would feel as if they could bore deep into your soul, almost as if he could see the real you. Then there was his whole attitude, he just about managed to equal his good looks with his arrogance and hatefulness, ruining any chances that he had with many a 'good' girl. Hermione knew better than to be blinded by his charm and good looks, if there was ever one to stay away from it would be him.

She reached the heads compartment and entered, still caught up in her own thought, and sat down where she had earlier. She immediately jumped back up again when she sat on something that wasn't the bench. Turning around she found Blaise smirking up at her from her seat one hand resting lightly on her bag and the other reaching out to steady her as she fell over sideways. Eventually she managed to find her way to the bench opposite and raised an eyebrow to Blaise who was still smirking.

"You can come back and sit here if you want Granger, I mean sure I wasn't expecting things to move that fast, but if you want to go there. I'm all for it" he winked at her as she scrunched her face up in disgust, "There's no need to look so put out Granger, what is wrong with a dashing and charming young fellow like myself? Huh? Or are you saving yourself all for lover boy?" Her face paled as Blaise continued to smile at her.

"Wha.. I mean… I don't… Malf… uhhhh." By this point her cheeks were practically glowing a dark crimson and Blaise smirked once again eyes wide and shocked at her mumblings, it took a lot to make Hermione Granger speechless, and he had done it twice in one train journey. His inner Slytherin was singing with joy as the black mail options swam around his brain. He would have to handle this carefully, though it might be fun.

"I was talking about Ron, but if you would much rather do the dirty with my good friend Mr Draco Malfoy then, maybe I can help set that up…" He trailed off watching her face become even more radiant, he could almost hear the thoughts swimming around in her brain. Hermione on the other hand mentally slapped herself; of course he was talking about Ron. For a moment their eyes connected, hers radiated sheer panic and his calming confusion, at that moment he decided that he would help his new friend get what she wanted even if she didn't quite know it yet. "Don't worry Granger, I won't tell anyone about your little slip of the tongue. Run back to Weasley and keep your secret a secret." He looked away tossing her bag at her then got up and walked towards the door just as the train stopped.

"But Blaise," He turned back towards her as she finally got her voice back, "It's not like that, me and Ron, we… Well we broke up. We weren't right for each other, we're just friends."

"Oh, so you do want Malfoy then?" His smirk returned as she once again stumbled over her words.

"No, not reall… No. It was just something Luna said that's all. A slip of the tongue, like you said. Nothing behind it, no hidden meaning, no secret crush. Now excuse me I have to go and meet Professor McGonagall." He grabbed her arm spinning her around as they exited the compartment, dragging her behind him off the train ignoring her sounds of struggle, and linked arms with her.

"I think that you mean we have to go and see Professor McGonagall, Miss Head Girl." He strode out towards where the thestral drawn carriages were waiting for them and they started the final leg of their journey home.