Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. I got a really good idea from one of my reviewers, and I will definitely use it, and work off of it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This kind of spoils the chapter, but I have to tell you: I just couldn't break them up.

Chapter Seventeen

Hermione and Blaise spent the rest of the afternoon together. Carriages back to Hogwarts started arriving at three, and the last few to leave came at nine o'clock. Hermione and Blaise were on one of those carriages. They cuddled and made out in the darkness, and Hermione was sad to have to leave the carriage. They went back to the Head's dormitory, where they spent most of the night alone. For some reason, Draco wasn't back yet.

Draco entered the common room ten minutes before curfew. Hermione and Blaise looked up and smiled.

"Took you long enough, man," Blaise said, standing up. "I wanted to make sure you got back here safely. What were you doing?"

Draco didn't think it would be a good idea to tell them that he and Ginny had been discussing how he was going to tell Hermione that he liked her, so he just said, "Nothing."

"You should probably go, Blaise," Hermione said, walking over to the two boys. She wrapped her arms around Blaise's neck and gave him a slow but passionate kiss. She walked him to the door, and shut it behind him. She turned to Draco.

"So, how was your night?" she asked him, walking back over to the couch. "You and Ginny have fun?"

"Um, yeah," Draco said, sitting next to her. "I actually need to talk to you about something."

"What's up?" Hermione asked, looking at him quizzically.

Draco took a deep breath. "Last year, I hated you. I thought I was better than you, and didn't want anything to do with you. When I first saw you this year, though, and spent even...a minute with you, I realized how special you were and how stupid I was to think that you were below me, in anyway. I love spending time with you, I love talking to you, I love the way your hair smells. When I wake up in the morning, I think about you. Before I fall asleep in the morning, I think of you. When I walk in the corridors, at any time, I'm thinking of you. You have haunted my thoughts, and not in the bad way, ever since the beginning of the year. I know you have a boyfriend, and I know you may hate me, but I have to tell you. I like you. A lot. More than I have ever liked anyone. I just wanted you to know."

Draco waited for Hermione to say something, but she just sat there. Finally, he started to stand up. Hermione's hand stopped him.

"Wait." She inhaled deeply as he sat back down. "I...do like you. I haven't really admitted it to myself fully, but I do. A lot." They hadn't noticed that the portrait door was opened partially.

Blaise had made it about halfway back to the Slytherin dungeons when he realized that he had forgotten his jacket in Hermione's dormitory. He was just going to leave it, but then remembered that he had left a present for Hermione in the pocket. He didn't want to risk her finding it, so he turned around, and walked back to the room.

He walked leisurely, and it only took a little bit for him to convince Allegra to let him back in. He had the portrait door open somewhat when he heard Draco talking to Hermione. He caught the words, "I know you have a boyfriend, and I know you may hate me, but I have to tell you. I like you. A lot. More than I have ever liked anyone. I just wanted you to know." Blaise waited for Hermione's response. He had no idea what was going on, but he had a feeling that it wasn't good.

Hearing his girlfriend tell his best friend that she liked him was too much for Blaise. He shut the portrait door quietly, and hurried down the corridor. He made it back to the Slytherin dungeons and went straight to his room, without talking to anyone. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had always had a feeling that Draco liked Hermione, and knew how Hermione acted around Draco, but he didn't think that his friend would have the balls to tell Hermione about his feelings.

Blaise got into bed without getting out of his clothes, and turned onto his side. He wasn't sure where to go from this. He figured the right thing to do would be to break up with Hermione, but he just didn't want to. He liked her too much. He didn't really care that Draco liked her, and that Hermione returned his feelings, he just didn't want to do it. He could barely even remember life before her, and wasn't sure if he would be able to go on without her. Finally, Blaise just decided that he would talk to Hermione in the morning, and see what she had to say.

Back in the Head's dormitory, Hermione and Draco were sitting next to each other on the couch, a few inches apart, not talking. After Hermione had told Draco that she also liked him, he had sat back down, and they didn't start talking. Draco didn't think that this was a good thing, but he wasn't sure how to start this conversation. He was ecstatic that Hermione liked him, but then he started to think about Blaise. He knew that this would hurt Blaise greatly, and he began to regret telling Hermione.

"I'm sorry," Draco said finally. "I didn't even fully think about how this is going to effect Blaise. If you want, we can just forget this ever happened, and just move on."

"I don't want to lie to Blaise."

"Well, then I think you need to decide if you like Blaise more than me, or not. No matter what, someone is going to get hurt, but it will be better just to get it over with quickly."

Hermione thought for a moment. "I guess...I like Blaise more. I really do like you, Draco, but I just feel...closer to Blaise. If it doesn't work out between Blaise and me, then maybe we can get together. But, like I said before, maybe we are just better friends. I mean, we've been friends since the beginning of the year, even though there has obviously been some romantic tension between us. Maybe we can keep going on like this. Maybe it's for the best."

Draco wasn't sure if this was what he wanted, but he had to think about his friend. "That sounds like a good idea. Are you going to tell Blaise? About...us?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "He deserves to know. And if he doesn't ever want to see me again, well, then, so be it. I'll just have to move on. I'm the one who started liking someone else, not him. At least, I don't think he likes anyone else."

Draco shook his head. "He doesn't," he said. "I see the way he looks at you. He's totally in love with you. It's...hard to imagine any guy not being in love with you." Hermione blushed and looked away.

"I guess I should probably go to bed," Hermione said. She stood up, and subtly wiped her suddenly clammy hands on her jeans. Talking to Draco about this subject made her kind of uncomfortable.

Draco also stood up, and walked her to her bedroom door. He slipped in front of her and leaned against the door. He was feeling flirty all of a sudden, and decided to work it to is advantage.

"So, ah, what were you saying before, about getting together with me, if you weren't dating Blaise?" He crossed his arms across his chest, and smirked down at him.

Hermione smiled, and tried to get past him. "Move, idiot. You know exactly what I said, and you're just trying to get me to kiss you again. Obviously, kissing you leads to people getting hurt, so we are just not going to go there."

"You sure?" Draco asked, moving out of the way. Hermione shut the door in his face as a response. Draco went back to the couch, and lounged on it, his hands folded behind his head. He knew he shouldn't hope that Hermione and Blaise broke up, because they were clearly the perfect couple. However, he really wanted Hermione for himself, but wasn't sure if he would be able to betray the closest person he had to a best friend. A year ago, he would have done it without a second thought, but, hanging around Hermione had made him more compassionate and sympathetic of other people. It was an odd feeling, but he liked it, a lot.