Disclaimer: This isn't mine…maybe…totally kidding, btw.

Author's Note: Here is the next wonderful chapter. Hope you enjoy it! Also, magicrystalina, congrats on being the one hundredth review, but what does it matter what color Blaise's skin is? Not to be rude, or anything. Of course, I always imagined him as, like, Italian, or something, with, like, olive skin. Or, maybe, a Roman god, you know, really hot and with strong features and stuff. His hair was always really dark, practically black, though. At least in my opinion.

Chapter Twelve

Hermione and Ginny sat in silence, stunned. They couldn't believe what they had just realized. Hermione was most shocked. Yeah, Blaise flirted with her, but she knew he was like that with any female he met. She didn't think she was any different.

Ginny leaned in close to Hermione. "How do I get out of here?" she asked, whispering.

This caused a laugh out Hermione, that she was forced to muffle. "I'm not sure," Hermione replied. "Do we wait for Blaise to leave?"

"How about this." Ginny stood and pushed open the bedroom door. She strutted halfway across the common room, then looked back at the door. "Hermione, you coming?"

Hermione meekly followed after Ginny, keeping her head down. Ginny smiled at the two friends. "Hello, boys. How are you?"

Blaise and Draco exchanged glances. "Were you guys listening to us?" Blaise asked.

"Of course not," Ginny said, before Hermione could think of a reply. "Why do you care if we were listening to you? Were you talking about something important?"

"Of course not," Blaise said, standing. To Draco, he said, "I'm gonna head back. We can continue talking about…you know, later."

"Let's walk together." Ginny linked arms with Blaise, and led him to the portrait door. She looked over her shoulder at Hermione, and winked. "See you later."

Hermione and Draco stayed silent until Ginny and Blaise had left the room. Things were still really uncomfortable between them, and Hermione wasn't sure how they were going to act around each other.

"So what were you and Blaise talking about?"

Draco blanked for a moment. He obviously wasn't going to tell her that Blaise wanted to ask her out. That went against everything he had learned to do whenever he had a crush on a girl. "We were just talking about...guy stuff. You know. Cars. Sports. Breasts."

Hermione smiled and glanced down. Even though Draco was part of the reason that she had broken up with her boyfriend, she couldn't help admit that he was funny.

Hermione started to walk over to the bathroom, and said, "I'm going to go take a bath." Glancing over her shoulder at Draco, she added slyly, "No peeking."

Draco smirked and watched Hermione enter the bathroom. He sat back down, and stared at the fireplace, which hadn't been used since they had gotten to Hogwarts. Pulling out his wand, Draco muttered a simple spell, and soon a fire was brewing.

He sat in front of the fireplace, thinking, while Hermione took her bath. He was in the same position as she came out of the bathroom, wearing silk bottoms and a tank top, and a blue robe cut at the middle of her thighs. Her hair ways wet, and she was holding a brush and hair tie.

"Oh, thank god," Hermione said, plopping down next to Draco. "I was so worried my hair would have to dry while I was asleep. That is so not good for my tips. You know, split ends and what not."

Hermione began brushing out her hair, and Draco attempted to remain composed. This was the closest they had been since the kiss, and his body knew this. Really knew this.

Hermione finished her grooming, and pulled her only slightly damp hair into a high ponytail. She leaned back against the seat, and stared into the fire. After a few seconds, she spoke. "Harry and I broke up." Draco looked over in shock, but Hermione didn't look up. "It was about the kiss. I don't blame you, or anything, because you didn't, like, force me to do it. And Harry is going to keep it a secret. I mean, he already told Ron, so you may want to make sure you don't ever walk alone, or after dark. It may not be very safe." Draco smirked, but didn't interrupt the girl. "I enjoy being your friend, and I do not want what happened to ruin our friendship." Finally, Hermione looked at him. "So, are you willing to forget about the kiss, and remain my friend?"

Draco looked at Hermione for a few moments, then finally nodded his head. A smile broke out on Hermione's face, and she wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. He was still for a moment, then relaxed. Hermione pulled away suddenly.

"Wait, is this uncomfortable for you?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

Draco smirked. "Of course not. Why should it be a problem?" He turned back around and looked at the fireplace, casually swinging his arm around the back of the couch, not touching Hermione. She, however, had a feeling that the craziness of the year wasn't even close to being over.

While Hermione was bathing and making up with Draco, Ginny and Blaise were leisurely walking down the hallway. Blaise was worried that Ginny and Hermione had heard what he and Draco had been talking about, and he was worried that Draco was making a move on Hermione, even though he knew that Blaise had feelings for her.

"So Blaise, when are you going to ask Hermione out?"

Blaise groaned and dropped his head. "You guys heard?"

"Loud and clear." Ginny smirked. "Who knew the bad ass of Slytherin has the hots for the Gryffindor princess. Doesn't really sound right?"

"Did, uh, Hermione say, um, anything, about...you know?"

"Not really," Ginny said. "She wasn't really given an opportunity to say anything, since I forced her out of the room. I'm going to assume that you know she and Harry are broken up, right?"

"I'd heard some rumors, yes, but I wasn't sure if they were valid. Of course, now nothing is going to stop me from asking her out." Except maybe Draco, he said to himself.

"I'm not sure if that is the greatest idea. I mean, she's really hurt right know, and the breakup really hurt her. You could just be the rebound guy. Do you really want that?"

"It's better than nothing. Look, how do you know that she isn't over Potter already? She's never had a serious boyfriend before, right? Maybe she heals quickly."

Ginny sighed. "Obviously, I'm not going to be able to convince you that asking her out is a bad idea, so, I'll give you a little advice. Go easy on her. Make sure you give her some space, and be nice to her. You are definitely not the same as Harry, and that is all she is used to. Try to ease her into that change."

Blaise smirked. "So I have your blessings?"

"As much as I think I may regret this, yes."

The two stopped in front of the Gryffindor Tower. Ginny turned to Blaise, and smiled sincerely for the first time since going on their walk. "I'll talk to Hermione tomorrow, and tell her about this conversation. Have a good night." Ginny turned around and Blaise watched her walk to into the tower, then he walked down to the Slytherin dungeons.