Hermione woke with her head spinning, what had she done. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she was thankful that the curtains were pulled tight, blocking out the morning sun that tried to stream in through the windows. She could not remember ever feeling so horrible in her entire life, and that was saying something.

Then she remembered that she had not come up here alone, she looked around but Malfoy was not there. She sat there for a moment, clearly conflicted with how waking up without him there made her feel. It was a strange feeling, one she did not expect to have.

Nope, this was not happening. She pushed him out of her head and went to grab her glass of water from last night. When she turned to the nightstand there was a small vial with a note.

"Drink this, you won't feel so shitty. – Draco"

An unintentional smile found its way across her lips and she picked up the tiny vial, uncorking it and placing the glass against her lips as she drank whatever hangover cure Draco had left for her. The potion had a peculiar taste that she could not quite place but it was not unpleasant.

She ran her hands through her hair, her daily dose of Sleekeasy's had clearly worn off, her hair was back to its regular frizzy mess. Joy. She rubbed her face trying to wake up, as the potion slowly start to ease the pounding in her head and the flipping in her stomach.

Just then there was a soft knock at the door.

"Granger, are you up yet?" came Draco's voice from the other side of the old wooden door.

"Yeah I'm up," she replied that unintentional smile back on her lips.

Draco cracked the door, peeking his head in before he opened the door all the way up, a tray in his hands.

"Brought you some breakfast," he said softly as he brought the tray over to the nightstand.

"Thanks," Hermione said sweetly as her smile grew. "And thanks for the potion. I felt bloody horrible when I woke up."

"No problem," Malfoy said as he sat at the foot of the bed, next to Hermione. "It's not much, but I'm sure you don't have much of an appetite anyway," he added about the toast, fruit and pumpkin juice he had brought.

"It's perfect," she said as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. "What time is it anyway?"

"Not too late, just after 10."

"Oh, not too late," Hermione laughed.

They spent a moment looking at each other, both smiling. She scooted over next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

"Seriously, thanks for taking care of me. I don't usually drink so much."

"Anytime. I had a really great time last night Granger." Draco said as he put his arm behind her back.

"I did too," she said indulging in how comfortable she was, not that she would ever admit that.

They sat together for a few moments before Hermione returned to her breakfast. The pair chatted casually as Hermione finished what she could of her breakfast. The potion certainly helped, but she would not go so far to say it was a cure.

"So, what now?" Hermione asked pulling her knit hat over her frizzy hair.

"Well, I have a mead supply to replenish if you are up for a little shopping."

"I'd love to," she smiled, swinging her legs over the bed.

Hermione and Draco headed out of the room and down the stairs into the bar of the Three Broomsticks.

"Madam Rosmerta, thanks again for letting us stay here last night!" Draco said as he fished the room key out of his pocket and handed it back to her.

"Anytime," Madam Rosmerta said with a smile taking her key before returning her attention back to her regulars.

Thankfully their cloaks and Malfoy's broom were still waiting on the rack by the door for them. They bundled back up before opening the door and being greeted by a blast of icy fall air. It sure was getting cold fast this year.

Hermione and Malfoy spent the morning strolling around Hogsmeade. Malfoy quickly replenished his mead supply that they went through so easily the night before. Hermione even bought a bottle of Firewhisky to save for next time. As they both had silently decided there would be a next time.

Hogsmeade was getting busier as the afternoon drew on and the streets were bustling with locals. It was nice to see that the tiny village had recovered so well after the war. The world was healing, it was undeniably apparent.

"Mione?!" The familiar voice came out of nowhere and stopped Hermione in her tracks. Standing in front of them was none other than Harry, Ron, and Neville.

"Ron," Hermione said coldly. This was the first time she had seen him since before term started, and it had been just as long since she had heard from him.

Awkward glance were exchanged between Malfoy, Harry, and Neville as Ron stared, a dumbfounded expression painted across his face.

"Harry, Neville, it's so good to see you two! It's been ages!" Hermione finally said to break the awkward silence that hung in the air. She was genuinely happy to see those two, Ron, on the other hand, was a different story.

"It's good to see you too," Harry said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Hermione, pulling her into a tight hug. "Malfoy," Harry nodded to Draco. They might not be friends, but at least Harry could be civil.

"Potter," Draco nodded to Harry. Even when he was trying to be nice, Harry's name always rolled off of his tongue a little sharply.

Neville was clearly anxious about the whole situation. He was much braver now but you could see his weariness to step on anyone's toes.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here with Malfoy," Ron finally managed to spit out.

"You are thick Ronald Weasley. It is none of your business what I am doing or who I am choosing to spend my time with," Hermione fired back.

"But he's a bloody death eater, 'Mione!" Ron shouted back. Draco's eyes quickly darted to the ground.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you!? How dare you Ronald!" she shouted furiously. "I don't hear from you for months and now you have the audacity to say something so… so… asinine! Like it or not things are changing, the world is changing; Malfoy is my friend, and honestly, he's a better friend than you are right now!" Hermione's cheeks were pink, and it was not just the cold making her so flushed. She was so angry she could hardly see straight. "You spoil everything Ron!" she added harshly as her eyes welled up.

Everyone was quiet, no one dared say a word.

"Let's go Draco," she said softly, her words still harsh from how angry she was at Ron. "Harry, Neville, it was really great to see you; hopefully next time will be more pleasant."

They all exchanged parting glances before Hermione and Draco walked off, back towards Hogwarts.

The pair walked in silence for a long time before Hermione finally was calm enough to talk again.

"Draco, I am really sorry about all of that," she said softly.

"It's fine, leave it to Weasley to make an ass out of himself," Draco said nonchalantly.

"No, it's not fine!" she said harshly as she came to a stop in front of Malfoy. Her eyes were still welled up, on the verge of tears.

"You're right, Granger, it's not fine," Draco replied matter-of-factly, "But, I can handle it."

"I know you can," Hermione sighed, "It's just so…"

"Asinine?" Malfoy interjected with a sly smile.

"Exactly," she grinned back at him.

Draco grinned back at her, those damn silver eyes smiling back at her.

"C'mon Granger, we should be getting back. Besides our 'Walk of Shame' is almost over," Malfoy jested. "I think I might be a bad influence on you," he whispered to her. Hermione could swear she saw a little pride behind that sly smile of his.

"Sod off Malfoy," she said giving him a playful push.

"Fine, maybe I will," he mocked playfully. "I do have my broom, I could just fly back. Let you enjoy the walk back alone."

"If you didn't want to walk back with me you wouldn't have," she smiled.

"Eh, maybe I do like hanging out with you," he shrugged, "Even if you are a know it all Gryffindor."

Draco casually put his arm around her shoulders as they kept walking to the castle. He was so warm. It was only because it was so chilly out that he seemed so warm, she tried convincing herself.

"You cold?" he asked genuinely concerned. "Why don't we just take my broom back?" He asked as he jumped on, holding his hand out for her.

She hesitated before she finally gave him her hand and swung on to the back of his broom. He took off back to campus as she wrapped her arms around him. She still was not the biggest fan of flying but it was cold and they would get back much faster this way, and maybe holding on to Draco was not so bad. She could definitely think of worse things.

It only took them a few minutes to get back to the castle grounds. They landed and Draco safely locked his broom up before racing inside. If this sudden drop in temperature was any indication, it was going to be a very cold winter. Before long they were walking into their common room, the roaring fire a welcome sight.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I need a shower and some clean clothes," Draco said as he headed up to the spiral staircase. "Meet up for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah of course, now go take a shower. You smell like a bar," Hermione laughed as she followed him up the stairs.

Hermione made it back up to her room taking off her winter cloak and hanging it up on the hook by her door. She flicked her wand turning the shower on, giving it time to warm up as she got undressed. The distinct smell of The Three Broomsticks lingered on her clothes and her hair. Ew. Her shower had never felt so amazing. It was exactly what she needed. She stood there letting the water run down her, her mind running over everything that had happened since yesterday. Ron, Malfoy, so much had happened.

It did not take her too long to get cleaned up and get her hair back into a manageable state. She slipped on a simple long sleeve dark green wool dress with her black tights and boots. A cleaning spell had been cast on her winter wear so it would not continue to make her room smell like a bar, she had enough of that smell for the weekend.

In a world that seemed to be in a constant state of flux, she knew one thing, her and Ron would never be a thing again. She would always love him, he was one of her oldest friends, but she would never be in love with him again. He had lost her for good, that was certain.

What was not certain were the strange feelings she was developing for Malfoy. She could not get him out of her head. Maybe it was because they were spending so much time together. Maybe it was because they were becoming such good friends. She could not put her finger on it, whatever it was.

A knock at the door finally broke her chain of thought. An unintentional smile played across her lips as she got up and headed over to the door.

"You know it's a little early for dinner, Malfoy," she said playfully as she opened the door to find Padma standing there with an awkward expression.

"Um, I was just wondering if I could borrow your notes from potions."

"Oh, Padma, yes of course," she said trying not to be awkward. She flourished her wand and her Potions notes gracefully flew off her desk into her hand that she held out for Padma.

"I'll make sure to get them back to you tomorrow," she said sweetly taking the notes from Hermione's outstretched hand. "Thanks," she added before heading back to her own room.

"No problem," Hermione said as she shut her door. Her mind raced, was she really disappointed that it was not Malfoy at her door? No way, nope, not happening.

It was not much longer before Malfoy actually came to get her to walk down to dinner. He still did not like to walk around the castle alone, and who could blame him. There were plenty of students whose family members had been apprehended because of his family. He was a traitor to the Death Eaters. How Ron could not wrap his head around that she could not understand.

They joined Ginny at dinner as per usual, sitting across from her and the majority of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Hermione had almost forgotten that she had not seen any of them since the match yesterday. She had also almost forgotten that all she had to eat was some toast and fruit since breakfast the day before. She quickly piled her plate up as they all chatted casually.

"So, I didn't see you two yesterday, where did you two disappear to?" Ginny finally asked bluntly with a sly smile.

"We were around," Hermione said nonchalantly.

"Around Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked as her sly smile turned into a playful grin.

"C'mon you know Harry told me all about earlier and how my brother is continuing to be a real arse. Sorry about him, I wonder if we are really related sometimes," she said directing that last part to Malfoy before taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Also, there are some rumors floating around about you two getting back today snuggled together on Malfoy's broom," Ginny laughed. "The rumors that make their way around here," she added with a wink at Hermione that no one else would have been able to see.

Oh, Ginny, you devil you she thought as she laughed and shook her head.

"This school at its rumors. Remember when it was going around that Harry had a tattoo on his chest," she laughed. It seemed like forever ago now, in reality, she guessed it was.

"Thank Merlin I corrected everyone and told them it was a Hungarian Horntail and not a Hippogriff," Ginny smiled.

"Thank Merlin that Ginny is the queen of the Hogwarts rumor mill," Hermione smirked. Really, Thank Merlin.