The following days were the most incredibly awkward days of Hermione's Hogwarts years. And, honestly, that was saying something. It was worse than the Ron-Lavender confusion of sixth year. Hermione was just lucky she didn't like Ron anymore, otherwise she would be completely devastated at his refusal to talk to her. In fact, the only person she really talked to now was Draco. Ginny was one of the few people who seemed even remotely understanding – probably because Ginny had always had this insane (according to Hermione) theory that Draco would end up with Hermione anyways.

The only moments of calm that Hermione seemed to be allowed were the hours they spent working on their project. Only three weeks into school, Hermione was working on a huge assignment, plotting (but this time not with Ron and Harry), and somehow "dating" the most attractive (….according to some people...) guy at Hogwarts. Right now, Hermione and Draco were seated in the Head's Common Room and going over the data from the first two tests they'd done on their subjects. So far, the graph Hermione had made was seemingly random and complicated. Draco, however, had been telling her about a trend he'd discovered, before she drifted off to her own thoughts.

The Common Room was a nice mix between their two house colors – but it looked rather like Christmas, according to Draco.

"And that's a bad thing?" Hermione had laughed.

"No, I'm just pointing it out. Red and Green... A little cliché if you ask me." He'd shrugged, before heading up to his room, leaving her both confused and amused.

Now that she really thought about it, it was incredibly cliché. Slytherin and Gryffindor, pretending to be a couple. Yes, as Head Students they were supposed to support house unity. But it seemed like the old "curse" of Head Students getting together had worked on Hermione and Draco. At least to those students who didn't live in the Head Dormitories. Inside, they were their same, bickering selves. Outside their dorms, however, they played off the "romantically involved" roles quite well.

"Are you even listening?" Draco's question brought her back to the present and her eyes went back into focus, rather than the blurry nothingness she'd been seeing.

Rather than letting him realize how entirely off-track she was, she just nodded and gestured for him to continue. Raising an eyebrow, he began again, "As I was saying, so far the Purebloods really are doing better."

"But perhaps that's because you work with the Muggleborns and I work with the Purebloods."

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked, turning in his chair to look at her.

"Well while you're working with people who think you have deemed them inferior, surely that makes them do worse? And since the Slytherins consider themselves better than me, they'll work harder to be the best." She suggested.

He mused over the idea for a moment, before turning to her. "So next time we switch? Or have an un-related party help administer the test?"

"Absolutely. A half-blood perhaps?" Hermione agreed.

"That'd be fine, yes." He nodded, before turning back to the papers they had spread over the large desk next to the fireplace.

It was quiet for a few minutes as Draco stacked everything back as it had been before – they were both surprisingly meticulous about their possessions, which worked well when they were paired together. Finally, Hermione let out a sigh and he glanced at her, looking relatively concerned.

"What?" He asked, stopping his movements to watch her.

"Don't you get tired of acting?" She asked so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

"What do you mean?" He questioned slowly, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Pansy isn't bothering you anymore. So why do you not just tell me to act heartbroken and "break up" with me?" She asked, using her fingers to make quotation mark signs around her words.

"Who's to say that if we "break up"," He mimicked her actions, "she wouldn't come after me again?"

"I'm not saying she wouldn't." Hermione shook her head, confused, "But why would you want to be seen around school with me? Since the first day, we've done nothing of importance. Just walked around together, talked in the halls, looked friendly. Harry and Ron don't even believe us."

"What, you're saying you want to make a bigger scene about it? Act incredibly, nauseatingly attracted?" He sneered slightly at the idea.

"Ugh, no thank you." She said quickly, holding a hand up. "I'm just saying that I don't see the point of the game we've begun, if it's not gaining you any ground."

"You want to be done with it, is that it?" He asked, suddenly cold and short with his words.

"It's not like I'm not glad we're friends, Draco." She said softly, leaning towards him and placing a hand on the table. "I just don't see how I'm helping you. I promised, from the bet, that I would. But this is getting you nowhere!"

"And so maybe it isn't!" He snapped, running a hand through his hair. He had, as of this year, started leaving the hair gel out, which Hermione found she rather liked.

Shaking her head to get rid of the slightly awkward thoughts floating through her head. "Then what do you want to do about it?" She asked, watching him closely.

"I.." He struggled with his words, and she relaxed a bit, knowing she wasn't the only one confused and stressed because of the whole thing.

In an instant, however, her moment of relaxation was lost.

"I just think this was a waste of time, us becoming close friends like this." He said finally.

She stared at him, long enough to where he became that blurry mass of colors again.

"Granger." He nudged her gently, and she jumped out of her chair, as if burned. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" He barked, standing up as well.

"Nevermind. If it was a waste of time, let's just pretend it never happened. We can just go back to being partners who simply... tolerate each other." She replied primly, refusing to look him in the eye. After an awkward and tense pause, she turned on her heel and stomped her way up to her bedroom, leaving Draco to stare after her in surprise and confusion.

–

Hermione was nearly ready to apologize to Draco in mid October. They had been icy and distant for nearly a month. Now, as Head Students they were required to plan the Halloween ball which had been requested by a majority of the students. However, working together would be difficult.

For the past few weeks, Hermione had felt completely separate from the rest of the school. After she had started "dating" Draco, Ron and Harry had nearly abandoned her. Her only friends, really, were Ginny and Luna. But as Hermione grew sad about not having Draco as a friend anymore, she rarely spent time with the girls, either. She had come to realize, a few days ago, that Draco had become her best friend in just those first weeks of school. Their scheming and work on their project seemed to show them the sides of each other they hadn't been able to see before. Aside from that, living together made things so much harder for both of them. Hermione would obediently wake up earlier than she liked to finish with the bathroom by the time she heard Draco wake up. The minute he started moving around, she would dash into her room and finish whatever she needed, dressing wise. Then she would leave the dorm as she heard him exit the bathroom. Then she stayed in the library until the time they agreed to work on their project. They had brought in another student to help administer the tests, and right now were at a loss of what to do, as the students seemed annoyed with all of the seemingly unhelpful tests.

Hermione was sitting in the big armchair in the common room as she thought through all of this. The clipboard she had been using to keep track of the Masquerade Ball plans was in her lap, and she barely noticed as she let it drop to the carpet. A sudden wave of sadness swept over her. She had lost her two best friends, and hadn't even realized it. It was shocking. She thought she was to be around Harry and Ron forever. They had made promises to be in each others weddings, be around for their kids, and so on. But Hermione had this sinking feeling inside her that she wouldn't be included in their futures. At least not as much as they all expected. She didn't hear the common room door open as she sat, deeply involved in her thoughts.

–

Draco entered the Common Room ten minutes before the note Hermione had left for him requested. She had written, We need to finish plans for the Ball. Meet at 8?

Upon walking into the dorm, however, he suddenly wished he hadn't seen the note, or just decided not to show up. He saw her clipboard on the floor, and heard a heavy sigh, followed by a sniff.

"Hermione?" He asked quietly. She jumped and turned so she could look around the tall back of the armchair. Her eyes and cheeks were wet, which surprised him. She didn't even bother hiding the fact as she wiped her tears away. "What's wrong?"

"I was just realizing how much.. how much I'd lost this past month." She whispered, and he could barely hear her as he approached slowly. He felt like he might scare her off if he made any sudden movements or spoke too loudly.

"What do you mean?" He questioned, picking up the clipboard and sitting in the chair next to hers.

"My friends, some of my plans for my future, even some of my personality seems to have disappeared." She admitted weakly, staring into the un-used fireplace. Not even ashes were left in the stone fireplace, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him, he noticed.

"That's not entirely your fault." He sighed, looking down at his feet.

"I could have tried harder." She shook her head, denying his statement.

"It doesn't even matter. Your friends will be your friends again, even if it doesn't feel like it now." He frowned, realizing how fake it sounded. "I know it's weird to hear, coming from me especially, but of all the people who might apply to that statement, its you Gryffindors. The Golden Trio can't be broken up that easily." He smiled a bit as she tilted her head to the side, contemplating this.

"I'm not so sure about that." She said, making him want to grumble in frustration. Why was she being so difficult? "See, Harry and Ron were best friends. I was just that frizzy-haired girl that tagged along when she wasn't wanted. Then, when they finally accepted me, I was only included for homework help and to solve problems. They've never come to me with personal things, nor have I felt comfortable telling them anything. So I always kept it to myself."

"Not around me." He pointed out, poking her with the soft end of her quill, which he'd picked up with the clipboard.

Hermione looked at him oddly before agreeing, "That's true. I guess you actually listened."

"I don't suppose this means you and I are friends again, does it..?" He asked, trying to hide his hopeful expression with a mask of curiosity.

"I.. I suppose we could try that." She nodded after a moment.

He smiled at her, and he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her look so pleased in all of her years at Hogwarts. Not even when she got an answer right, or when she and the boys solved a puzzle. "Why does that make you so excited?" He asked, never looking away or dropping his smile.

"I've always been excited about being the best. Out of everyone. I didn't exactly do everything because I enjoyed it. I did it because it was expected and required. Now I can be part of something, even as seemingly small as our friendship... Does that even make sense?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"Absolutely." He nodded. She had somehow summed up exactly how he felt. Somehow, they were exactly the same.