A/N: Okay thanks for the reviews guys. Well, lets get on with it!

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Hermione added the finishing touches to her outfit. She had a black racer-back top on, with a dark denim jacket on over the top. On the bottom she had some black dance pants, which were quite tight but had a small flare at the bottom. She added a large white belt over her pants, just for decoration, and she was ready. She wanted to look nice; she guessed that it was kind of like a first date.

She knew that they weren't going anywhere special because she could smell the food that Draco was cooking downstairs in their personal kitchen. It smelled really good; like burgers or something. She was surprised that he could cook. She couldn't, her specialty was 2-minute noodles and she never even got them right anyway.

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Draco was nervous as he prepared their dinner. He decided on cooking his favourite meal... Hamburgers. It was simple enough and it smelled good. He knew that teenagers when they went on there first date that they usually had burgers and hot chips so that's exactly what he cooked. He also decided on a dessert of chocolate pudding and strawberry ice cream. He loved that stuff and he hoped Hermione did too.

Draco was never usually nervous when it came to girls, but Hermione was different. He had never actually really cared about the girls he dated, he did it just for fun. He never had a connection with any of them; Hermione was the first one that he had something different with. She was honest and pure. She was also intelligent, which was important to Draco. He always got bored when the girl he was with was totally dull.

He was also nervous because tonight, for the first time, he was going to talk about his family. He knew that Hermione meant what she said when she told him that he could talk to her about it. He didn't think that she would judge him based on his family after what she went through with Ron.

Draco had always envied the Weasleys. They were a family that, even though they had very little, they always had enough love and warmth to go around. Even to Potter and Hermione, who weren't in the family. His parents only had 1 child and his father never showed his love for Draco and his mother was always too scared to in fear of what Lucius would do. According to Lucius the more affection one is shown, the weaker they become.

He knew that Ron came from a good family, but after what he did to Hermione, he wasn't a good person, let alone a man.

'Maybe she could think like that about me, just the opposite.' Draco thought, 'he came from a good family but he's a lousy person. I come from a horrible family – mostly just my father – but I could prove to her that I'm not, and I don't want to be, like him.'

Draco soon stopped thinking and started putting the food onto the plates, which were beautifully decorated. They were white, with a shiny gold rim around the edge. When Draco looked closely around the edges, he could swear that engraved in the gold rim was; Gryffindor Hermione Granger Head Girl and on the direct opposite side of the plate Slytherin Draco Malfoy Head Boy

But he didn't have time to marvel at the plates, if he wasn't careful he was going to pour some of the contents of the hamburger down the front of himself and would that just be a lovely fashion statement on a first "date?"

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"Hermione!" Hermione heard Draco call out to her. 'Dinner must be ready,' she thought.

She made her way down the stairs and was surprised at what she saw. Who would've thought that Draco was a romantic at heart? Rose petals covered the floor and a light frangipani scent filled the room. The room, always magnificent in any light, looked absolutely delightful by the candlelight and the glow from the fire. Hermione loved it. She glanced over the table and saw that her dinner was already there.

'Burger and fries... I didn't think he was that type of guy...'

"Take a seat and enjoy your food." Draco had put on a posh accent to accentuate the romance of the room. He was proud of himself for the decoration, he never knew that he could be like that.

"Well, thank-you Draco," Hermione said as Draco slid the chair out for her to sit down on.

She took her seat, as did Draco. They began eating in silence until Hermione spoke.

"This is really lovely. You cooked the burger good too," Hermione said as she took a large bite out of the burger. Draco couldn't help but notice how cute Hermione look when she was chewing on her food.

'Especially in the light... She's beautiful.' He thought. The candlelight complimented her tanned complexion and flawless skin.

Hermione could not believe that she was being romanced by Draco Malfoy and he could not believe that he was romancing a muggleborn.

'It's funny how things work out,' he thought.

"Thanks. I tried my hardest. I remembered that this is what my dad used to do for my mum when I was little... before everything happened." Draco didn't want to ruin the dinner by talking about his family. He knew Hermione wanted answers about the article she had read, but she would get them later. Now wasn't the right time.

When Draco mentioned his parents, Hermione thought that he was ready to open up to her and she suddenly became more alert to every word he said. She knew better than to press him for answers when he stopped talking. He may have changed a lot, but he was still Draco Malfoy and she knew that he would tell her when he thought the time was right.

While they were eating, they asked each other several questions. Mainly about what they liked and didn't like. They discovered that they shared something in common; their favourite place in the whole world is France. They spent several minutes talking about what they do while they're in France and why they love it so much. They also talked about their favourite colours, food, music, movies and shops.

Hermione was enjoying herself, as was Draco, but she was still wondering when he was going to tell her about his family. She wanted to know why he was so secretive all the time about them and why he didn't tell anyone that his mother had died. She wouldn't have to wait long though. Draco planned on telling her straight after dessert which didn't take long considering it was Hermione's favourite – chocolate pudding with strawberry ice cream.

After clearing the table of their desserts, Draco started to walk over towards the couch in front of the fire. Hermione followed his lead and they both sat down. He begin to talk to her but the first words out of his mouth weren't what Hermione expected.

"Look, Hermione. I'm telling you all of this because if you're going to be a big part in my life like I hope you will be, you're going to know. It's hard for me to explain to you because I still don't fully understand everything but I will understand that if you don't want to be with me anymore after you've heard what I've said, that's okay. I won't be mad at you. But just please keep an open mind and remember that I am nothing like that prick that called himself my father."

She knew that he couldn't be mad at her if she chose not to be with him after hearing what he had to say, but at the same time, she knew him better than that. He would be angry. He would've told her everything for nothing and made himself vulnerable to someone he used to consider an enemy.

Hermione didn't ever realise that there could be something in Draco that could cause her to feel sorry for him. But this did. She knew that as he spoke, he was fighting back tears. His lips were trembling and his voice sounded cracked and weak during some points.

He told her everything. He poured his heart out to her and Hermione knew that after tonight there was no going back. He told her of how his father always used to beat him and his mother, but his mother always came off worse. Draco told her that his dad was a death eater and that he had murdered several people, magic people and muggles, in Draco's very own home. Draco admitted that he stood back and watched these people being murdered but never once did anything to stop it.

Hermione realised that he was not like his father. His father enjoyed abusing and embarrassing people. He liked abusing and embarrassing anyone and everyone. Draco only liked to embarrass Potter and Weasley. Lucius also enjoyed murdering people, including his wife. Draco didn't, Draco found it appalling but feared he would be abused if he ever did anything to stop the murder.

Hermione found out that the one person in Draco's life that he loved and would do anything for, was his mother. And she ended up to be the only person that he couldn't help or save. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

"Everyday I feel guilty about what happened. I can't help but thinking that I could've done something or read some more spell books so I could've known how to open that door and he would've died instead."

Hermione just sat there. Silent and speechless. She had no idea what to say or how to make him know that there was nothing he could've done to save his mothers life. Words were all she had had for her whole life, but for the first time, words had failed her. So she did something else.

Hermione leaned forward, so she was closer to Draco. She cupped his chin in her hands and bought his face towards hers. Hermione wiped away a few tears off of his face before pressing her lips against his, taking particular notice of how soft his lips were.

This was the first time that Hermione had ever initiated a kiss and she hoped that she would get a response, a good response, from Draco and she did. He bought his hand up towards her face and placed it on her cheek for support. He looked into her warm brown eyes, which were slightly puffy from the emotion she had shown while listening to him talk and he kissed her.

Hermione felt as though her body had been set ablaze. A kiss had never made her feel this way before, but then again, a guy had never made her feel this way.

She loved the way that Draco had spent so much time on the presentation of the room and that he had cooked the food.

'Maybe that is what makes the kiss feel so special,' she thought.

Meanwhile, Draco's body didn't feel on fire – his heart did. The minute Hermione had kissed him, he knew she was going to stay with him. This was a hard time for him and to have Hermione knowing what he was going through and that she would be there to support him, only made him feel happy and secure.

When they pulled away, Draco reached into his pocket and produced a green and silver box, which he handed to Hermione.

Hermione, who was momentarily stunned from the kiss and also from the little green and silver box, just sat there which alarmed Draco.

"You don't want it?" Draco got scared, none of his gifts for people had ever been turned away.

"Oh, no. I mean, yes I do want it. I'm just surprised, that's all." Hermione said as she accepted the box off of him. Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

She opened the box and her breath was taken away. Sitting atop of silver silk was a gorgeous emerald ring. She loved it.

"It was my mothers. I wanted you to have it. It's not an engagement ring or anything. I remember when my mum gave it to me. She told me to give it to a girl that was special to me. And not that I would give it to anyone else or anything, but you're the only special girl in my life now so I thought that you might like to have it.

"Oh Draco! Thank you! It's beautiful. I'll never take it off!" Hermione didn't know what to do first so she jumped onto Draco's lap and hugged me and then placed the ring on her right hands ring finger. If it had of been on her left hand it could've easily have passed for an engagement ring. Hermione felt as though the ring weighed her finger down because it was so big but she knew she'd get used to it.

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A/N: WOW! They've only been back at school for 2 days and look at what's happened! They're so close to each other already... but everyone's bound to face some obstacles in their relationship and this couple is no different!