Hermione's Dormitory

Saturday, February 1st, 1999

9:00AM

Hermione beamed at the front page of The Daily Prophet where, in large lettering, the headlines screamed ROMANCING RONALD. There was only a brief snippet of the page long article on her former fiancé which continued in the social pages, but beneath the glaring headline was a photograph of Ron. As the image moved, he slung his arm around the shoulders of Fay Dunbar and his face broke into a lazy grin, oblivious of the cameras. Though she was pleased that the relationship had been revealed, thereby making it easier for her and Draco to go public, too, the happiness she wore was a result of seeing Ronald look so ecstatic at his new witch.

She decided not to read the full story, content with just seeing how happy Ron was. Draco had owled her the evening prior, a short note in his elaborate script, setting up a study session for them in the dungeons where they could work on their potion. Slughorn had complimented them on their efforts, promising he would report their findings to someone in charge at the Ministry to produce the potion as a more common elixir, stocking it at wizarding hospitals across the world. She knew Draco was overjoyed at the idea, though in response all he had done was shrug and offer the Potions Master a quiet smirk.

Hermione was quite pleased with the result, too, always happy to help others. Clad in jeans with her feet tugged snugly into boots and two sweaters encasing her body, she felt brave and warm enough to brace the hallways. A few of the students who had obviously already read the newspaper cast what she took to be encouraging smiles. Draco was already waiting, the initial stages of their assignment bubbling away with another set of ingredients lined up beside a board and knife.

"You saw the paper, I'm assuming," Draco said when she walked in. "Either that or they've just announced another edition of Hogwarts, A History."

Hermione rolled her eyes and joined him at the workbench. "The first," she said and picked up one of the sharp knives, beginning to finely slice some fluxweed. She focused all her attentions on not cutting away the tips of her fingers. Her body began to gratefully adjust to the heat of the cauldron that washed over her when she leaned to deposit the fluxweed inside, stirring it three times and returning to her seat. "You saw it, too?"

"Obviously," he said, leaning back in his own chair and looking at her from the corner of his eye though he faced the cauldron. She caught his eye and watched his face twist into his usual smirk as he slung an arm around the back of her chair. "So?"

"So what?" Hermione countered.

"Playing dumb really doesn't suit you, Granger. I don't think you could ever play anything other than the bookworm."

"You certainly do know how to woo a girl," Hermione muttered. "We can't just immediately come out as a full couple. I mean, we've already been seen publicly on a couple of occasions, photographed at your mother's event, but it'll look suspicious if we appear as a fully formed couple the day after Ron and Fay are seen going out. Everyone'll think we've been together for a while."

"Haven't we? Privately, of course. Or do you make it a habit to make out with all of your male friends?"

Hermione sighed. "I suppose," she conceded. "But no one needs to know that. Look, you mightn't be overly concerned with how you appeal to the public eye, but I suppose that's one of the few things I share with your mother. I don't want to come off...slaggy to the world. And after we do go public, I'm sure people are going to be under the impression that you've cursed me or I've completely lost my marbles, so we're going to have to convince plenty of people that you haven't magicked me into this state."

"Something tells me you're not the spontaneous sort," he drawled. "You should live in the moment some more."

"And if we were living in the moment at the present time then I'm certain we would be doing something wildly inappropriate for a Saturday morning study session," she chided.

"Never stopped you before."

"Draco," she urged. "I want us to work. I want to have a relationship with you and I want us to be able to go out in public without people thinking that you're some horrible monster who has Imperiused me into dating you. But to do that, we have to act logically and sensibly. It isn't as though we can just snog in the middle of the Great Hall and instantly convince everyone we have genuine feelings for each other."

"So, what you're saying is there'll be more waiting?" he clarified, letting out a vicious exhale when she nodded. "Damn you, Granger. If you were any other girl, I would have shagged you months ago and left it like that, rather than letting you string me along for months on end."

"I'm not stringing you along, Draco," Hermione said, turning her body so her knees pressed against the outside of his thigh and reaching for his hand to hold tightly in her own. "Look, I'll make a deal with you. Two weeks, and that's it. Two weeks to convince people that I'm not entirely barmy and you're not some psychopath and then we can appear romantically involved. It'll be Valentine's Day and there's a Hogsmeade trip that weekend."

"Valentine's Day?" Draco snorted. Despite his disdainful tone, Hermione realised he had linked their fingers and pressed their palms together, rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "Granger, I've never once in my life taken a girl on a legitimate date, let alone a first date on sodding Valentine's Day."

"You're such a romantic," she said dryly. "It's easier that or you can wait another week longer."

He gave a tremendously melodramatic sigh and pushed his free hand through his hair. "Fine," he grumbled after a few long moments. "Two weeks but I refuse to go anywhere near Puddifoot's."

"Too bad," she shrugged. "Already book our table. You know how dreadfully hard it is to get into Madame Puddifoot's on Valentine's Day, I'm sure."

"You're going to be the death of me, witch," Draco hissed through clenched teeth. He extracted his hand from her grasp to stand and stir their potion.

Hermione tucked her legs beneath her on the chair with knees tucked beneath her chin, arms wrapped tightly around herself to keep some of the warmth in. Inside, she was beaming, though a niggling part at the back of her mind screamed caution. She rubbed at her tired eyes and hid a yawn, trying to quash the siren in her head warning her of the possible dangers that might eventuate when the relationship became public. For the past week, vivid nightmares had haunted her whenever she rested her head on a pillow, torturous images of Draco standing idly by whilst she relived her assault at Bellatrix's hands, Voldemort's cruel laugh echoing in the background. She had managed a weak two and a half hours of sleep the night prior and had woken before dawn and instead spent the time waiting anxiously for The Daily Prophet.

"You look exhausted," Draco said when his seat was resumed. "I'm hoping it's because you had a solid night of partying."

"Not likely." Hermione stifled another yawn behind her hand. "Didn't sleep well." She hoped she wouldn't have to explain her nightmares to him, that something would distract him and change the course of their conversation. Her prayers were answered when two raised voices could be heard from the corridor.

"I don't care if she likes you, Theodore," Daphne said loudly, footfalls approaching loudly. "She's sixteen and I'm not going to let my little sister anywhere near you. You might be one of my best friends but that doesn't mean I trust you with her."

"It's a date, Daphne," Theo's voice countered, equally as loud. They rounded the corner into the classroom, neither of them noticing Draco and Hermione listening to their argument. "It's not like I'm asking her to marry me or jump into bed with me."

"You better bet your wand you're not asking her to jump into bed with you," Daphne said and Draco let out a snort of laughter, attracting the attention of his fellow housemates. "It isn't funny, Draco. My sister is only sixteen and on top of my seventh year, I don't need the extra concern that she's going to jump into bed with Casanova over here!"

Draco sobered up immediately at Daphne's fierce glare. "Daphne," Hermione said, "you should give Theo a bit of credit." Theo harrumphed triumphantly but Daphne retrained her icy stare to silence him. "Of course, there would have to be some level of concern from you, Daph, but your sister is old enough to start dating and it isn't like the age difference is huge."

Daphne pursed her lips, looking between Hermione and Theo a few times whilst she considered the Gryffindor's opinion. After a few moments, her face lit up. "Fine," Daphne said. "You can go on a date with my sister, but I'll be there too."

Hermione watched the colour immediately fade from Theo's face. Beside her, Draco's smirk was as wide as the Cheshire Cat's. She jabbed him with his elbow. "You're joking, right?" Theo demanded of Daphne who gave a curt shake of her head.

"Blaise and I'll go with you to Hogsmeade," she continued. "A double date, if you will. I believe you were intending on going for the Valentine's Day trip, correct? We'd intended on staying behind, but if you're going into the village, it'll be easy enough for us to tag along."

For one of the first times, Hermione saw Theo look flustered, spluttering and pale. "Your sister will never agree to this," he said.

"Good thing she's my little sister and I can make her do whatever I want," Daphne said flippantly. The Slytherin witch meandered over to Draco and Hermione, pulling up a stool on her way and settling it on the opposite side of the cauldron. Theo continued to gape from the doorway for a moment before copying her actions. "I saw the headlines this morning, Hermione. I take it you're not too distraught about the latest development."

"No," Hermione said and shook her head. "A bit relieved, to be honest. It means I'll have a lot more freedom, and Ron seems happy, too. That's what matters."

Daphne gave a soft smile, her eyes darting between Hermione and Draco with a small, knowing smile. "Of course it does," she said. "As long as you're happy, too."

"Ginny and Harry warned me that it was going to be happening on the last Hogsmeade visit," Hermione admitted. "Though I suppose I had already moved on so it wouldn't be right for me to judge." She felt a flush of colour rise to her cheeks when Draco sniggered beside her.

"Do you have any nice and private plans for the Hogsmeade weekend?" Theo asked, casting a sidelong glare at Daphne. She offered a sweet smile in return.

"Considering we'll be walking through Hogsmeade amongst throngs of students, I doubt privacy is on the list of things to expect," Hermione said.

"Maybe we'll see you on your date, Ted," Draco smirked. "Chaperones and all."

Theo scowled at his best mate who continued to grin, unaffected. "Ha, Drake," he said. "Hilarious."

Draco winked at him before returning his attentions to the potion. Hermione peered over his shoulder into the cauldron, noticing there had been no real changes in the elixir and acknowledging that there probably wouldn't be for at least another day or two. "Looks like our work is done here, Granger," Draco said. With a flourish, he waved his wand and vanished away the mess they had made. Another move and their cauldron disappeared into the classroom where the Potions Master kept all works in progress. "We'll leave you two to plan your double date."

Theo expelled a breath of air between his teeth, the sound coming out a hiss. "Cheers."

Hermione waved goodbye to her friends over her shoulder and felt the small pressure of Draco's hand on her lower back, guiding her out the door. It remained for a few minutes as they emerged from the throngs of the dungeons. She felt the cool absence when his limb dropped back to his side whilst other students milled around. They walked up to her room in silence. Halfway there she noticed their paces matched exactly, his stride shortened and hers lengthened slightly to meet midway. The thought brought a colour to her cheeks.

"See you later, Granger," he said when they had stopped outside her dormitory. There wasn't a student in sight, most in their common rooms or the library studying for exams or taking a walk in the brisk weather.

"Guess so," she said and, on a whim, tilted her chin and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

The interaction stunned him for a brief second, cheeks pinking. But it only took a moment for him to recover and his smirk spread across his face. He offered a roguish wink that made her laugh before turning on his heel and returning to the dungeons.

A/N: Brief, I know. A (hopefully much) longer chapter will be coming in the next couple of days.