Author's note: Hello, hello. Since the weather is going to be terrible here tomorrow, I have a day off. SO EXCITED, but I still have to study (boo). So, that gives me a bit of time to crank out some more chapters, possibly.

Oh, one more thing before you read the chapter: Yes, I've read the books and yes, I know Hermione isn't an idiot. But the plot isn't even what you think yet, so don't worry. That's all I'm going to say on the matter, on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: JKR better than, definitely not equal to me.

Chapter twelve

I haven't lost anything except my mind

Hermione came down the stairs wearing a mauve, strapless shirt and a pair of black dress pants. She wore white heels and had her in a fishtail braid. Draco stood up and marveled at the beautiful girl in front of him.

"You look nice," he said as she walked over to them.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly.

"Shall we?" He asked holding out his arm.

She grabbed it and they headed outside.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Let me worry about that," he said and Draco turned on the spot as Hermione clung to his arm.

Minutes later, they were in Hogsmeade. Hermione felt as if she hadn't seen the town in a long time. It was completely different than it was years ago. The shops all seemed brand new. Honeydukes, The Hog's Head, The Three Broomsticks, Zonko's were all revamped along with new shops. Hermione was amazed.

Draco watched her bewildered face as he led them to their destination. After walking for a few minutes, they ended up in front of a building with dim lights inside. Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco and he smiled down at her. They walked arm in arm into the restaurant.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," the hostess said smiling at him.

Draco nodded his head to the hostess.

"You're usual table?" She asked grabbing menus.

"No, I much rather sit at the higher tables today," he said coolly.

"All right, right this way," she said walking in front of them.

Draco let Hermione walk in front of him like a true gentleman. He then helped her climb onto the high chair and scooted her chair in. He then sat down in front of her.

"Well, your waiter will be right with you," the hostess said bowing and walking away.

"So, you come here often?" Hermione asked.

"I owe this restaurant, actually," Draco said looking at the menu.

"Interesting," Hermione said doing the same.

They were both quiet for some time while looking over the menu. The silence was broken by a wizard with dark brown hair and piercing hazel eyes.

"Good evening, my name is Zach. What can I get the two of you?" He asked.

"Well, we'll start with some Sangria and a glass of water," Draco said not meeting Zach's eye.

"All right, I'll be right back," he said walking briskly away.

"Are you going to order my dinner, too?" Hermione asked.

"No, you're old enough to do that," he said looking up at her. His eyes shimmered in the candle light. Hermione was taken aback by their depth, but her thoughts were interrupted because Zach had returned with their drinks.

"Have you two decided?" He asked professionally.

"Have you decided Hermione?" Draco asked.

She nodded her head and Draco motioned for her to order first. Hermione ordered and Draco did right after. He handed Zach the menus and Zach was off again.

"I'm glad you decided to have dinner with me," Draco said quietly.

"Well, like you said earlier, I can give this a go and see if I'm comfortable with it or not," she said shrugging.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked.

"It's not so bad so far," she said taking a sip of her drink.

He nodded and went to open his mouth again, but closed it.

"Whatever you want to say, you can tell me. We're 'friends' now," Hermione said with a small smile.

Draco couldn't help but smile back at her. He opened his mouth again and this time he spoke.

"Do you want to hear something funny and probably really awkward," he asked staring down into his sangria.

"Erm, I suppose," she said bracing herself for whatever he was about to tell her.

"All right, here it goes. I used to have a crush on you when we were in school," he said quietly.

She sat there stunned. She stopped stirring her drink and looked at him with wide brown eyes that looked reddish in the light. Draco smiled at her.

"What? Why? When?" She sputtered feeling like this was a huge joke.

"Well, for the when, it happened to be from 4th year. As to why, because I thought you were the total package. I know, I know. My whole family hated Muggle-borns and I was programmed that way, but I just secretly thought you were interesting. You were pretty and smart. No one knew about this, obviously, or I would have been skinned alive," he said trying to smile at her.

"That is a lot to take in," Hermione said looking at her hands.

"I warned you it was going to be funny slash awkward. Well, more awkward than funny," he said watching her.

"You're right. It's just strange to think you used to fancy me."

"I know. It was even weird for me. All right, you're turn. You tell me something funny or awkward or strange about you," Draco said studying her.

"There is nothing that can possibly top that, but as much as I love magic, I also like doing things like a Muggle. I mean, it's how I was raised for most of my life. I suppose that wasn't really good," she said shrugging her shoulders.

"No, it's fascinating," he said in awe.

"Not really. Well, maybe to you since you never really had to do much for yourself since you had house elves," she said.

"Yeah, it's different, I will admit," Draco said.

Just then Zach came in with their food levitating in front of them. Draco and Hermione stopped talking and were distracted with their food. As they ate, they secretly stole looks at each other.

Harry, Ginny and Ron were still together. It was a peaceful night besides the odd feeling they all shared.

"This is just weird," Ron said lazily stirring his tea.

"I admit, it is a bit odd," Ginny added.

"She knew you two would be back today," Ron said sitting up.

"Maybe she fell asleep. I mean, we were going to invite her to Ginny's match anyways," Harry said.

"Yeah, so if she doesn't head over tonight, we'll see her tomorrow. I'm starting to feel a bit tired anyways," Ginny said stifling a yawn.

"I'll just owl her now and ask if she'd like to come to the match tomorrow. And tell her not to worry about not coming over," Harry said getting up.

Ron nodded in agreement.

"You're coming too, right?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, course. I love to watch you kick arse," Ron said with a smile.

Ginny giggled, "good."

"Well, I'll leave you two so you can get some sleep. I'll see you in the afternoon," Ron said getting up stretching.

Ron started for the hallway, "bye Gin."

He called down the hallway to Harry and said his goodbye. He heard Harry yell goodbye back and he left.

Harry was in his studying writing Hermione a quick letter before he and Ginny went to bed. He heard Ginny walk in as he finished it.

"Ready to go to bed, dear?" Ginny asked running a hand down his back.

"Yeah, just let me send this letter to Hermione and I'll be right there," he said rubbing her cheek.

"Why do you think she didn't come over?" Ginny asked raising a red eyebrow.

"I don't know, love. I'll have to ask her tomorrow during the match."

"All right," she said heading out of the study and heading to their bedroom.

Harry turned towards his large eagle owl and beckoned him over to him. He tied the letter to its leg and it was off. Harry hoped Hermione would show and he, too, went to bed.

After they both were finished with their dinner, Hermione looked at the clock on the back wall. She gasped and didn't realize how late it had gotten.

"Oh, Draco, I've got to go, now," she said frantically.

"So soon?" He asked.

"It's nearly ten o'clock. I didn't realize we've been here for so long!" She said.

"I'm sorry, that's my fault," he said gentleman-like.

He stood up and held out his hand. She looked at his hand and gingerly grabbed it. Draco said goodbye to his employees and opened the door for Hermione.

Once they stepped out of the door, the cool night air made Hermione shudder. It had grown a little cooler than when they had arrived. Draco saw the little shudder and moved closer to her. Hermione looked up at him from the corner of her eye. She was a bit confused and kind of nervous. She moved away from him a bit and continued to walk.

They got to the end of the road and they both turned at the same time. Moments later, they were both in Hermione's front yard. Draco walked to her porch.

"Well, I had fun, I hope you did," he said smirking at her.

"Mmm, it was interesting," she said with a small smile.

"I'll see you at work then, Hermione," he said backing away and with one turn disappeared in thin air.

Hermione shuddered again, but not because of the cold. It had been an interesting night, but all-in-all, for her, it had been awkward. Hermione went to unlock the door when she noticed a note on the floor. She bent down and picked it up. It was Harry's handwriting. She quickly opened it and read:

Hermione~

Hey, I'm sad to not have seen you tonight. Don't worry about it, Ginny and I are terribly tired from travelling. I do want to ask you if you'd like to come to Gin's match tomorrow afternoon. Let me know.

-Harry

Hermione was slightly relieved that they weren't mad at her, but she was still peeved at herself for letting it get so late. She unlocked the door and walked inside. She headed straight for her bedroom. Hermione grabbed a small piece of parchment and a quill and wrote Harry back.

Harry

I'm so sorry for not coming over tonight. I would love to go to Ginny's match. Cannot wait to see you both!

-Hermione

She walked back downstairs and tied the letter to her own owl and told her to go to Harry. She then headed back upstairs and got ready for bed.

Ron got home, feeling strange. He didn't understand why Hermione didn't show. He was sure she was going to. He hoped she didn't feel weird around him. He didn't feel strange around her at all. He at least hoped that she'd come to Ginny's match tomorrow.

Ron walked into the Burrow and saw a letter on the kitchen table. He walked over to it and saw that it had his name on it. He didn't recognize the handwriting at all. He opened it gingerly and read:

Ron-

I have something to speak to you about. Meet me at The Three Broomsticks at 11 o'clock tonight.

The letter wasn't signed. Ron had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to go because he didn't know who this person was. It could be anyone. It could be Jordan and he didn't want to be ambushed by that mad woman.

Ron swallowed a few times and decided to go. He'd have his wand at the ready if anything got out of control. He could do this.

He looked at his watch and discovered it to be almost 10:30. He decided to go now and have a drink to settle his nerves. He walked out of the door and apparated as soon as he got to the gate.

A few minutes later, he appeared at the far end of Hogsmeade. He felt a pang of nostalgia as he stood there looking around, but he was also amazed by the way the old town looked anew. He put his hands in his pockets and walked slowly towards the pub.

He opened the door slowly to the pub and smiled. Nothing much had changed since the last time he had been there. There were still a handful of witches and wizards in the place, but none of them looked at him as he walked in. I guess the person I'm supposed to meet isn't here yet.

He went to the back of the pub and sat down. No one else was back there, so he decided it was the best place to not be overheard. A waitress bustled over and he ordered a fire whiskey. Moments later, the waitress came back with a large glass. She smiled at him and walked away.

Ron heard the bell tinkle as someone entered the pub. He looked up to see who it was. Ron blanched as he saw who it was coming towards him at the very moment. He couldn't quite understand why on earth this "meeting" was happening and why he asked him here. The other person shifted a little in his seat, also glaring back at Ron. Ron waited for him to speak first. He's the one that asked Ron there, so why wouldn't he speak?

"So?" Ron finally prompted after what seemed like forever.

"Very well then, I suppose I should clue you in on some things," he said as his long, pale fingers extended to show he meant business.

"Clue me in on what? And what possibly could you, of all people, clue me in on?" Ron asked letting the venom and sarcasm saturate his voice.

"Well, let me get to that before you judge me, Weasley," the person said also forgetting his civility.

"Fine, proceed."

"I just wanted to say, she doesn't love you anymore," he said in one breath.

"Who are you talking about?" Ron said feeling as if everything he feared was being voiced by a person who couldn't possibly know.

"You know who I mean, Ron," Ron was shocked by the use of his first name, "Don't play stupid. I'm talking about Hermione."

"Wh-what are you talking about? How could you possibly know anything about her?" Ron asked flustered.

"I cannot tell you at this time, I promised I wouldn't even speak to you," he said looking down at his long fingers.

"Why! What is going on?" Ron asked now angry more than confused.

"I just wanted to tell you to stay away from her. She doesn't love you anymore. It's really sad that a git like you could hold her attention for so long. And I'm really confused in how you could possibly turn her down. She would have given you anything and everything. You know that, don't you? I'm sure you do. She tried for SO long and you constantly let her down. I want to know why, but I haven't the time to know about your woes and inadequacies. Good day to you, Ronald," Draco said getting up from his chair and heading to the door.

Ron sat there lost in thought. He was confused, angry and hurt all at the same time. He didn't know what to think about this ridiculous conversation. He needed to speak to Hermione. He needed to speak to her, now. With that, he paid for his fire whiskey and left the pub as quietly as he had entered.

A/N: The prologue finally happened! Some crazy information has come out, but I assure you things are not what they seem. :3 Well, I'm going to go start on chapter 13!

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