Disclaimer: look chapter one

Chapter 7:

17. December – 18. December

"Damn!" Draco moaned as the hammer landed on his finger instead of the thin nail when it knocked on the door. Putting his throbbing thumb into his mouth he stood up and moved to the door. All the while inwardly cursing. Finally he yanked the door open and was confronted with a slightly exhausted looking Granger.

"What took you so long and why are you sucking on your thumb?"

He glared at her but before he could say anything she had stepped around him into the room and headed straight towards the couch where he had just been sitting.

"Uhh, Draco, what is this?"

Draco stiffened instantly and didn't need to turn around to know that she was staring at the items on the table. Fuck he should have hidden them. He knew it had been a stupid idea, especially now that he heard Hermione clearing her throat. Putting himself together he turned around.

"Why, Granger, I thought you are the muggleborn. You tell me!" he mocked her and saw her pressing her lips together in annoyance before her eyes fell onto something different on the table. Draco could practically see her eyes turning wide before an almost unbearable smile appeared on her lips that made him wince.

"You are making a present for Luna by handwork?" The tone of her voice was a mix of disbelief, approval and a snort and he couldn't really hold it against her. After all he still couldn't believe himself that he was actually doing it. He, a Malfoy!

But Draco remembered Luna talking about self-made things and how special and priceless such thoughtful presents were. He wanted his present to be special and in an attempt of total madness he started to work on it.

A little wooden box with a frame on the lid and two on the sides where he wanted to put pictures of her mother in. Easy as the man in the shop assured him. Easy his ass!

"Special situations demand special ways to handle them," Draco told the curly haired witch haughtily and hoped she would leave it with that. Of course she didn't. She was Granger after all.

"Sure, if you say so," she grinned and looked again at the items on the table. "What are you trying to do, some sort of box?"

Debating in his mind what would be the quickest way to change the subject he decided to go for the truth. "It's ought to be a photo box. Luna told me that she possesses only a few photos of her mother so I asked a little around and found those." He pointed at the pile of pictures which all showed a pretty blond witch that looked a lot like Luna.

"Oh, Draco, that's so sweet of you!" Hermione squealed suddenly and he couldn't help but look affronted.

"I'm a Malfoy! We don't do sweet!" She actually had the gall to laugh at him.

"She will absolutely love it!"

"Of course she will,"he answered with more assurance than he really felt. Maybe some fancy necklace or expensive perfume would've been better. On the other hand it was Luna, so Hermione was probably right, she would love it. That was if he managed to finish it without maiming himself in the process.

Hermione was sitting on the couch, flipping through the pictures he managed to find of Belana Lovegood. Most of them were from her time at Hogwarts and only a few from her live after.

"Oh Draco, is that Luna as a newborn?" Granger looked up from the picture that showed Belana with an only a few hours old Luna in her arms. Her mother was smiling down at her before she kissed her forehead and Baby Luna was watching her with big eyes. Draco was not sure if she possessed this photo herself but he intended to put it on the box-lid.

"Where did you find it?" she asked obviously fascinated with the loving mother and her child.

Shrugging he walked towards her and took his seat across from her. "The nurse who looked after me after the war was obviously the same as the one who helped with my birth. She told me that she still possessed all the photos from each child she helped to welcome to the world. So I simply asked around and found the nurse who helped with Luna's birth," he told her and felt a little odd to confess to what length he had gone to get the pictures. "Obviously all nurses are obsessed with this mother child pictures." The smile on Hermione's face was getting brighter and brighter with every second and he had a hard time not to squirm in his seat. His relationship with Luna was nothing he wished to discuss with Hermione. He wasn't even sure what kind of relationship the two of them had but Draco sure knew what he wished it to become. The blond witch had changed his life more than she probably knew.

One night when he was forced to bring Mr. Ollivander back into his cell, he didn't went back immediately. He needed some time to gather himself, hidden in the shadows before he could bring himself to go upstairs again. Malfoy manor was the only place where monsters didn't hide under beds and in dark corners but lived in the open.

That night was the first time he had heard her. Luna singing an old lullaby to the wandmaker who was whimpering in pain. Her voice was soft and barely more than a whisper but it was soothing him and eased the numbness he felt inside. Now and then he snuck down to the dungeons to hear it again and it was as if she knew he was there and what he wanted. Luna always sang for him and it always eased the pain a little. It still did when he relived the memory.

"Okay," he drawled and forced his thoughts back to the present again. It was time for a topic change. "Have you been able to convince Woody to agree with our request?"

"Don't call him that!" she snapped instantly and he rolled his eyes. "But to answer your question, yes,he agreed."

"So, what do we have?"

"Let's see," she started and fished for her notebook in her bag. "All the teachers agreed to the auction so you can bid for their special talent. We have four items from each of the Founders and a lot of various objects which we have to thank your mother for."

Draco had asked Narcissa for a little help to organise items which would bring a good price for their charity project and his mother had thrown herself into work with all her energy. After Lucius` death she had welcomed to chance to distract herself from mourning over her loss. The big cold manor held nothing but bad memories for her and Draco was thankful she had something to pass her time with when he wasn't by her side. This way he didn't need to worry too much about her.

But instead of telling Hermione this, he simply nodded and she continued to read from her list.

"Not bad, but it wouldn't hurt to have one or two highlights more." Although he knew there were a lot of people out there who would pay quite a price for an exclusive Quidditch match with Oliver Wood -he played for Puddlemere after all -the Slytherin inside him rebelled against the thought of a former Gryffindor being the star price.

"Maybe you could ask your plumy friend to sacrifice himself for a date to buy or something like that. I'm sure he would if you asked nicely." He smirked as she stiffened slightly and a dark expression crossed her face before she could stop herself. The new Draco shouldn't have so much fun railing her up about that man but sometimes he couldn't help himself.

Wrinkling her nose and muttering something about assholes and stupid blond hussies before she changed the topic as ineloquent as he did before.

"We still have the problem with the location."

His mother had suggested to hold this event in their manor but she understood why they declined. Draco didn't want Hermione there. Not because he didn't like her but because he did by now and to have her there would remind them both much too lividly of the last time she had been there. And there were a lot of others who wouldn't willingly put a foot in his home.

"We could still hold it here," he shrugged but was as unsatisfied with it as Hermione was.

Sighing she nodded. "We don´t have much time left. If we want anybody to appear to this event we have to mail people soon to inform them about it. I still think New Year's Eve isn't the best date. A lot of people will already have plans!"

"Don't worry. Mother made sure to tell everyone she knew about it and that it would be seen scandalous not to appear. We Malfoys may not hold the same position we once had in society but mother still knows how to handle them."

Every witch and wizard in Britain was still very anxious to prove that they had been supporting Potters side, especially those who forgot to show their support in the last last battle or on other occasions. So Draco was sure his mother used that little detail to her advantage. Who wouldn't want to help poor, helpless orphans who suffered from the war? Only cruel and heartless people and nobody wanted to be regarded as such.

"I don't doubt that," she agreed before she suddenly slapped her hand against her forehead. "Oh I almost forgot to tell you. I spoke to George and he wants to support us. He will take care of the firework for us."

"George? Which George?"

"Weasley."

"You want a Weasley to take part in a charity project?" he asked somewhat snorty and nearly added they are a charity project themselves. But he kept that part for himself, knowing that Hermione wouldn't take it well.

"I want George Weasley to take part in it," she emphasised forename. "He lost his twin in the war and he really does want to help. Besides there is no one who is better with fireworks than him."

She had a point there. Though Draco didn't personally know him and felt no need to change that, George Weasley and his twin had made an impression on him in fifth year when they bullied Umbridge nearly into madness with their show.

"I didn't know you still have contact with the Weasleys."

"Only because Ron is acting like a complete idiot at the moment doesn't mean that I don't speak with everyone else. Besides I had some business to clear with George."

Slowly his left eyebrow moved upwards. "Business?" Since when had Granger business to attend to? Least of all with a Weasley.

"Yes," she nodded. "Business. So what do you think? George promised to make the firework an unforgettable event. And I'm sure if we ask him he would also donate some things for the tombola."

"Alright! But don't expect me to be nice to a Weasley."

"How about you ignore him and let me handle everything that has to do with George?"

"Fine with me!"

With a groan Nathaniel opened his eyes and looked at the big grandfather clock on the other side of the room. He had to get up soon if he didn't want to be late. And he had no intentions to be.

He was just about to push the sheets to the side when a warm and definitely naked body snuggled closer to him. Soft, feminine hands started to travel playfully over his chest. Nathaniel allowed it for a few seconds before he pushed them from his body and got up completely ignoring the protesting sounds of his companion.

"It is late, you should leave," he told her coolly while he started to pull out fresh clothes from his wardrobe. The woman in his bed however ignored him and started to sprawl under the sheets in a way she surely thought was seductively.

"I have a better idea, why don't you come over here and we have a little repetition of last

night´s performance?" she asked him sweetly.

"If I would care for a repeat performance I would have let you know!" Nathaniel knew his tone was a little too harsh but he had learned that it would only give women the wrong idea if he treated them too nicely after a night of shared amusement. And today he had no time to bother himself with some brainless hussy who was more interested in his father´s vaults than anything else.

He choose his clothes extra carefully for his meeting with Bella. Nathaniel enjoyed it when she looked him up and down appraisingly when she thought he wouldn't notice. Of course he did but he knew of her shy nature and he truthfully had no wish to embarrass her.

"Who is she?"

After a short look in her direction he continued to button up his vest, without answering her question. It was none of her business after all. The sooner she realised that and got the hell out of here, the better.

"A new conquest, after you had your fun with me?" she asked and by now he could hear a slight bitterness in her voice. "Will she be the one lying in my place, tomorrow morning?"

Stopping abruptly he fixed her with a dark expression. "To make one thing completely clear, this is not your place and it most definitely will never be. And don't you dare to ever compare yourself to her!"

"Why? What does she have that I don't ?" the woman asked sullenly.

Nathaniel nearly snorted. Where should he start to answer that question?

"Beauty, class and intelligence to begin with," he told her and ignored the hurt expression that appeared on her face. "And lets not forget kindness, decency and dignity." He didn't want to think too much about the fact that he didn't possess any of the last attributes himself.

"Now if you don't mind, I have a date to appear to. So get dressed that I can see you to the door." And with that he finished dressing himself.

An hour later he had forgotten all about the nameless woman as he watched Bella's beaming face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes big from excitement. He had promised to show her the herd today and after seeing how much she enjoyed the Sleipnirs he asked her if she wanted to go on a ride with him.

Nox, his stallion was always eager for a ride and had started pawing his hoof over the ground as soon as he laid eyes on him. At the moment he was enjoying Anabelle's attention towards him and Nathaniel couldn't blame him. In fact he wouldn't mind changing positions with him right now.

Four months had passed since he had met her for the first time and nearly a month since he had decided to court her more thoughtfully. His father was nagging him about marriage ever since he had turned seventeen. He knew that it was his duty to marry someday and sire an heir. Now that he was only months away from his twenty-fifths birthday his father´s patience was getting rather thin.

That was until he noticed Nathaniel's interest in Anabelle Henderson and made it clear that he was pleased with his son´s choice.

Nathaniel couldn't say that he wanted to get married. But he couldn't change the fact that he had to so he had to make the best of it. And Anabelle was much more than he deserved. He knew that but wouldn't step back. The Slytherin in him wasn't willing to let go.

"Come on, little Belle, let me help up." He laughed as she squealed when he suddenly lifted her up to put her on Nox´s back.

"But he isn't saddled."

"Sleipnirs are proud and wild beings. They do allow some humans to ride them but they would never accept to be saddled," he explained to her but hesitated and looked up at her. "Is that okay for you? I promise I won't let you fall."

Her big blue eyes focused on him with such an intensity that his breath hitched for a second.

"I do trust you, Nathaniel. Completely."

With a yelp Fawkes sat up straight. He needed a moment to orientate himself but bit by bit he remembered where he was. In his father´s , no he corrected himself, in his library. Sighing he leant back in his seat and stared at one of the bookshelves. He didn't want to think about his past but unfortunately his memories had other ideas.

"Tilly?" His voice was hoarse and with a quick glance to the side the empty carafe explained why. He could probably be thankful that the stuff was old enough to just give him a slight throbbing against his forehead instead of a full developed hang over.

A Pop beside him announced his house elf who was flapping with her ears in eager anticipation.

"Master called for Tilly? What can Tilly do?"

"Is there something I could have for breakfast?"

"Yes, Master, Mipsy filled up the kitchen immediately after Master arrived. Mipsy brought all things Master Nathaniel loved when he lived here. Would Master want to eat breakfast in here?"

Nathaniel looked over to the little creature who was nearly jumping up and down in her joy to finally serve her Master again. "That was very thoughtful of her. And breakfast would be nice."

As soon as Tilly popped away he closed his eyes again. Only to be confronted with amazing blue eyes that held so much trust it hurt. But before he could open his eyes their colour changed into a warm honey colour and it were now Hermione's eyes that were looking at him. Though he couldn't see the same trust in there as he had in Anabelle`s. In reality she even tried to avoid looking at him as much as possible and when she did the look in her eyes was nothing he wished to see.

He would have to change that somehow and the sooner he started with it the better. Tomorrow Christmas vacations would begin so he better hurried to get back to Hogwarts.

It wasn't before two in the afternoon he finally managed to get to the castle. It had taken him sometime to get back to London and get the Ministry to unlock the floo network to his manor. But it was worth the trouble. Now he could floo home from Hogwarts till he was back at his old form with his wand. Mostly it was like flying a broom. Once learned you could never forget but you had to practise the finer moves time and again.

Nathaniel was walking towards Hermione's quarters all the while thinking about a way to get her to give him another chance. There were a lot of ideas in his head but he doubted that any of them would have the desired effect. Half of them would probably get him hexed while the rest was just too cheesy to convince a girl like her. Maybe he should go for something more honest and realistic. She was a Gryffindor after all they loved such things. The problem was that the honest thing would make sure that she would never let him come near her ever again.

He was still lost in his thoughts as he rounded the corner and nearly run into another wizard. Not just any wizard. Campell. Oh, he knew his name. He was the guy who had been dancing with Hermione at the Halloween ball and it had been quite clear that he was interested in the witch in more than a platonic way. But till now it had been always from afar or at least when he was watching. Now though it seemed there was a golden opportunity to clear some facts with the boy, best before he had the chance to knock on her door.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

The hand stopped in mid air while his head wiped around. The expression on Blake's face could be described as annoyed, at best.

"And why wouldn't I?" His voice was sharp and it was clear that he knew exactly what Fawkes was on about and wasn't about to accept that. Not without a fight. A dirty Slytherin fight.

"Maybe to spare you the disappointment."

"The only one who will find himself disappointed will be you. Rumour has it that you're already good in causing it!"

Fawkes would love nothing more than to wipe that stupid smile from the other man's face but he controlled himself and tried to appear unaffected. Shrugging his shoulders he walked over. "I wouldn't give too much about rumours."

"Listen bird she has no interest in you the sooner you get that the better," the dark haired boy spat and glared at him as if he wanted to burn a hole through his head.

Fawkes felt his yaw tighten and returned the glare with one of his own. Who did he think he was? He had more than enough problems as it was and he sure as hell wouldn't allow some stupid little boy to make it worse.

"No, now you listen to me, boy!" Nathaniel hissed through clenched teeth. "She will want me." He would make sure of that. "She is for me and the sooner you got that in to your head the better. Now leave!"

"I think not!"

Slowly but steadily Fawkes could feel his anger raising. He really tried to handle this situation civil, but obviously Mr. Campell wasn't clever enough to understand a warning when he heard one. For a long moment he just looked at him. The other wizard was tall, dark haired and unfortunately good looking. More disturbing than that was the fact that he was a fellow Slytherin. That would complicate things. Salazar's followers weren't exactly known to give up when they wanted something. Most of the times they just manipulated themselves to their goals.

"What could you probably offer her, green boy? Are you sure you're even old enough to know how to handle a woman?"

"Oh, I can handle a woman just fine. And other than you my last experience with a woman wasn't...what was it," Campell paused dramatically. "Tree-hundred years ago, old man."

Old? Old? In that moment he decided that now was as good as any other time to practise his skill with the wand. Within seconds he was pressing the end of the wood against Blake's chest but he had to give it to him that he wasn't slow either. Campell obviously was just hoping for a reaction like this and he - like a fool- fell for it.

"Oh, did I just hit a soft spot?" the boy mocked and didn't fail its propose to get him riled up. Merlin, he had definitely spent too much time with Gryffindors and their annoying ability of act first ask later. On the other hand it surely couldn't hurt to have a bit of fun and show the lad what an old man could do. He was just about to give into the urge to hex him, when he heard an unmistakeable voice behind him.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?"

Nathaniel would have laughed when he saw Campell wince, hadn't he done exactly the same. As if on silent command both hid their wands in their sleeves before they turned around to face Hermione.

"We were waiting for you, is that a problem?"

"Yes," she hissed in his direction. "It is a problem when you're hexing each other in front of my room!"

"Hexing?" Campell and he asked in unison. Apparently they both knew Hermione good enough to deny such a thing. It would only get them on her bad side and unfortunately there was no way to show the other up without getting into trouble either.

Of course she didn't believe them and glared at their direction. Well mostly in his, he noticed unhappy. Finally she crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised a brow.

"What do you want anyway?" It wasn't hard to notice that Hermione wasn't in her best mood and appeared rather stressed and impatient. But before he or Blake could say anything she raised her hand. "You know what? I don't want to know. I just spent two hours discussing and planning with Draco and we still have no location for our charity event. The last thing I need today is an overly high testosterone level."

She sure was in a bad mood. Nathaniel couldn't remember a situation where he had heard her snap at someone like that before. Hopefully it was just the stress and not his person that caused that reaction out of her.

"If you will excuse me."

With that she headed towards her door and just out of reflex both of them stepped aside to let her through. It took him nearly a minute to realise that she was about vanish, when her words sunk finally in.

No place? Charity? He remembered her telling him something about some event to collect money for war orphans.

"Hermione, I wanted to ask..." Campell started but he was quicker.

"How about a manor with an exceptional big ball room for your charity gala?"

The moment she faltered in her movement he knew he had her and it cost him a lot of discipline to prevent his lips from curling up. Especially when he saw Campell glaring daggers at him.

"There are also a lot of bedrooms where some of the guest could sleep, a kitchen which is big enough to handle just any event and it's absolutely safe," Nathaniel added and she finally turned around to look at him. The look in her eyes were suspicions but there was also something that told him she was excited about the prospect of finding a solution for her problem.

"Which manor are you talking about?"

"Fawkes manor, of course!"

"You have a manor?"He wasn't entirely sure if he should be insulted by her surprised tone. Didn't she have the slightest idea who he was? Or rather had been? Did the Fawkes name mean nothing these days? On the other hand she was muggleborn so he couldn't expect her to know all of the old families by name.

"Of course I do!"

"And you would be willing to host the event just like that?" Amused he raised an eyebrow. She had obviously spent more times with Slytherins than he gave her credit for.

"Of course not."

A weaker man than him would have faltered under Hermione's gaze but he held his smirk firmly in place. Nathaniel knew that she must be desperate to find a place otherwise she would have left by now without gracing him with another look. Thus there was no reason for him to give in. If she wanted his manor she would have to give in. Of course it wasn't very ethical and probably fuelled the anger she already felt for him but he was desperate, too.

"Okay," she sighed. "What do you want?"

"Oh, not much. Just a date."

"No!" Campell who had kept silent till now protested vehemently. "You don't have to do that, Hermione!" the boy told her urgently and Nathaniel didn't doubt that he regretted now that he didn't had the chance to hex him earlier.

"And let the poor orphans suffer?" Okay that was probably a bit too much and he was quick to soften the blow. "Is it really such a high price? Dinner, a dance and maybe a kiss?" The icy look he was regarded with didn't stop him. "Everybody needs something to look forward to," he shrugged.

"Hermione...," Blake tried again but was interrupted by the annoyed witch.

"Fine!" she snapped. "One date and no kissing." And with that she pushed them both aside stepped into her room and banged the door shut.

Both of them stared at the wooden door for a while before they looked at each other. It wasn't hard to read the look in Blake's eyes and that he probably wished him to hell.

But, well he had a date.

For a long moment Harry just stared at the red haired boy beside him. Ever since they had met in the train to Hogwarts they had been best mates. Ron was the first real friend he ever had and although his temper sometimes got the better of him, Harry knew that he was a loyal friend. Of course there was the time in sixth year and the one during the hunt where he had abandoned him but in the end he always came around.

Ron always came back, he reminded himself. That was all that counted.

But Hermione was also his friend and she had never left his side. Not once. Despite what everyone else thought about him Hermione stood proudly beside him and encouraged him, comforted him and never stopped trying to get him to do his best. So why couldn't he do the same for her?

First he ignored her and then he watched silently while Ron insulted her to get on Lavender´s good side and ease the jealously the witch felt for Hermione.

Why didn't he put a stop to that? The embarrassing truth was that he was afraid to loose his friendship with Ron.

In the beginning he even could understand why Ron acted like he did and it was obvious that Hermione did, too. They both knew that although he loved his family Ron sometimes suffered from the lack of attention towards his person. His sudden status as a war hero had changed that soundly. But other than him who had learned to live with the public attention till the time he entered the wizard world Ron seemed to have lost the ground beyond his feet. The constant interviews, the endless fan mail and not to forget the beautiful witches who wanted to be seen at the side of a war hero made it easy to forget who your real friends were.

Thus Harry couldn't blame him that he was swayed from his feet by all of it. Beside he had to admit that he hadn't noticed much apart from Ginny till they had gotten together again. With Voldemort gone he had no longer be afraid for her safety and for the first time he could enjoy a relationship just like any other teenage boy.

But since some time now he was more obvious to the things that happened around him. Especially when it came to Ron and Harry didn't like what he saw. He was permanently surrounded by Lavender and two of her friends from Ginny's year who were listening to everything he had to say with a look of awe on their faces.

The problem was just that Ron wasn't telling the truth in some cases. Just now he was telling the three witches about their adventure at Gringott's and how they broke into the Lestrange vault. Harry listened for a while silently and was astonished how flawlessly Ron was spinning some untruths with reality. Did he even notice how he belittled the other persons who helped in the war? It was not that he denied their bravery or presence but he made their deeds less than they were in reality.

"...and than I destroyed it."

"Oh, Ron, you were so brave!" Lavender sighed dreamily.

Harry blinked a few time before the information sunk finally in.

"Why are you saying that?" he asked his friend finally with a calm voice which betrayed nothing of the disappointment he felt. Ron, who looked at him, as if he hadn't noticed his presence before opened his mouth but before he could say anything he went on. "Why are you telling them that you destroyed the cup, when we both know it was Hermione who did it?"

Ron looked taken aback for a second before his ears suddenly started to get red and coloured more and more the further he went on.

"Hermione was so proud of you that you came up with the idea of the chamber and the way you opened it, " he told him ignoring his embarrassment. Ron had no one to blame for this but himself .

"It was even you who told me she did it, so why would you lie now?" And more importantly Harry asked himself what else did he tell them that wasn't true?

"I -I..." Ron stuttered. "Maybe I mixed some things up." He admitted sheepishly before the look in his eyes changed slightly and became defiant. "But it was me who opened the chamber- without me she would have never been able to do it!"

"And without her you would have never made it through school nor life. Maybe you should remember that, mate," Harry told him with a calm but bitter voice before he added nearly voicelessly, "maybe I should remember that as well," before he left.

It was just a few hours later that Harry found himself listening intensely to Dumbledore. It was supper time and their last night in the castle for this year. Tomorrow most of the students would drive home for the Christmas vacations.

But it wasn't Dumbledore's Christmas wishes that got his attention but the charity event he was talking about. The one Hermione and Draco had been organising. Had it been really so long since he had spoken to Hermione? Obviously it had to be.

The headmaster said that the proceeds would be for war orphans and Harry was slightly put out that he hadn't been asked for help. On the other side, he had probably been too distracted so he couldn't hold it against him.

But now he wanted to help. If anybody could understand what it was like to grew up as an orphan it was him. Maybe it wasn't too late to do something. Slowly his eyes wandered over the Gryffindor table but there was no sign of Hermione. Likewise he couldn't find her anywhere else in the great hall.

"What are you looking at?" Ginny's voice beside him startled him for a moment.

"Where is Hermione?"

The look his girlfriend sent his way reminded him of her mother which was never a good sign. But finally her features softened and she sighed softly much like she had earlier after she found out about his dispute with Ron.

"Harry, Hermione wasn't in the great hall for supper or dinner ever since Halloween," Ginny explained to him carefully. "She is only here for breakfast. Mostly early in the morning so she doesn't...well so that she can eat alone."

"You mean to avoid Ron and me," he said after a while and suddenly felt like scum. Hermione was one of the kindest and the most patient people he knew. She must be really hurt by their actions to avoid them like that. Now that he thought about it he couldn't even remember her being in class which could only mean that she didn't ask as many questions as she used to because there was no way in hell Hermione would miss classes.

"I really screwed up, didn't I?"

"Maybe," Ginny shrugged. "But I doubt it. If there is a person with a big heart it's Hermione."

"But that's it," he groaned. "She was always there for me even when anybody else left me she was there. And I abandoned her." Harry noticed the flicker of hurt in Ginny's eyes and wanted to ease his words but his girlfriend shook her head and put a finger over his lips.

"No, you are right. As much as it hurts to admit it's true."

He sighed. It was true and worst of all was that he never had let her know how much he loved her for that. She was like a sister to him in anything but blood but he had abandoned her when she needed him most.

The war hadn't been kind to Hermione and it struck Harry that she had probably been hurt more than she had let them know. He felt stupid that he never took the time to think about it and ask her.

"What should I do?" Harry knew he sounded miserable but he didn't care.

"Isn't that obviously, silly? Talk to her!" And with a kiss to his cheek she was gone.

It cost him all his Gryffindor courage but right at supper time, he was standing in front of Hermione's quarters with a tray in his hands. Harry hadn't felt this nervous since he had to face Voldemort in the final battle but after all he just wanted to kill him not ask him forgiveness.

Finally he knocked and closed his eyes to collect himself.

"Harry?" Hermione's astonished voice let his eyes snap open again.

"Um...hi Hermione," he greeted her hoarsely. "I...um I thought maybe you would have dinner with me?" For a long moment she just stared at him as if she didn't know what to make of him but slowly a smile hushed over her lips and she stepped back to let him in.

Sighing deeply he stepped in. Maybe he hadn't screwed up completely.

TBC

MistraRose, preciousteddybear,TimeRose and littlereid3.0 thank you for your review... a lot of people are reading this story but it really makes you feel good to hear someone tell you that he likes your story.

MistraRose: hmmmmm...no. No wedding at the end of the year...but I wouldn't say to you're totally cold with your guess. ^^

TimeRose: lol six times? But you're not alone with that problem. And it's good to know I'm not the only one who calls him birdie...^^

A/N: Happy Halloween! We don't really celebrate that day in Germany but I wish you all much fun!

This chapter is more a filler but I wanted to tell a bit more about Draco and Luna aswell as clear things with Harry.

There will be more about Fawkes in the following chapters. Dreams as well as "growing" relationship with Hermione^^. Okay now he has a date...he bribed her but hey he's still a

Slytherin deep down. Don't forget that. If something helps them to reach their goal they will use it to their advantage.*lol* The date should be interesting.

I hope you enjoyed it.

I will need a bit longer for my next update. I have exams in november.

Http:/ static. marktplaza. nl / images / 1 / 61 / 9066161. jpg (delet the free spaces ) (Dracos photo box...if he is successful)