Sorry it's been so long since I last updated! I've been really busy with school... and dancing... and work. Thanks to those who reviewed... I hope everyone likes the story!

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The plans for the futuristic New Years Ball were well underway with Hermione taking time out of her class schedule to make sure that this ball was one that the students of Hogwarts weren't going to forget in a long time.

Hermione did most of the planning whereas Draco just sat back and Okayed things. It really wasn't his thing to be out there planning events, he just liked to turn up and be noticed by everyone.

This year he was sure to be noticed by everyone but it was just Hermione's attention that he needed. He had a surprise for her and he knew that she was going to love it. It was killing him not to be able to tell anyone his surprise. Normally he'd tell Blaise but lately Blaise had been telling Ginny everything that Draco had said, then she would pass the information onto Hermione.

--

Draco leaned back against the couch in the Heads' common room as Hermione went over music details with several sixth year prefects.

"Okay, so you've managed to get the bands?" she asked one prefect, "great! This is gonna be so awesome, Drake, they've managed to get the hottest wizard bands around to come play at our ball!"

Draco was still off in la-la land as Hermione spoke to him but he came back down to Earth when Hermione tugged at his hand from where she was sitting on the floor.

"Drake, you there?" she asked him, smiling at his dazed face: "isn't that great?" she asked?

"Hmm, what? Oh yeah, it's awesome." Draco replied, but Hermione wasn't sure if he had heard her.

"What did I say, Draco?" she asked, looking at him as if to suss out what was on his mind.

"Um, you said... you said." He stuttered, failing to give Hermione the answer she wanted.

"Draco what's wrong with you? Why aren't you paying attention?" she asked, rubbing his hand comfortingly.

"Nothing, okay?" he said. He stood up and started to walk towards the dormitory door. "Nothing, Her-mi-o-ne." He said. "Nothing's wrong." With that, he had already opened and closed the door and he was standing in the long corridor on the second floor of Hogwarts.

'Can't she just leave me alone? Couldn't she tell I was thinking about something? Which was obviously important?' he thought to himself as he patrolled the corridors, randomly deducting points from students skipping class.

--

Hermione was left in her dormitory all alone after Draco had walked out and the prefects had left. She was so excited about the ball but Draco had kind of put a damper on it for her after his little outburst.

'I'm just over-reacting,' she thought. She couldn't see what she had done, or anyone else for that matter, to have made him upset.

She decided to write Ginny a letter to keep her updated on the progress of the futuristic New Years Ball and all of the happenings at Hogwarts. She left out the part where Draco walked out of the dormitory, and left her there, alone and confused.

She went through three pieces of parchment before she decided on the appropriate opening to her letter, and then another three, which entailed every little thing about the Ball, Hogwarts, and her life.

She would've been writing for a good hour or so, making sure her writing was beautiful and neat, and she failed to hear the Heads' dormitory dorm open.

--

'I suppose I should go back' Draco argued with his brain, 'I just left her there. She probably doesn't even know why I left. She probably thinks I'm an idiot. What if I've screwed it all?' he questioned himself.

"Shithead!" he screamed at himself, as he kicked a nearby gargoyle statue. "Shit!" he said once again, grabbing at his now sore toes.

He decided to go back to the dormitory and apoligise to Hermione for walking out on the meeting, and on her. He didn't mean to get so frustrated; he just wanted everything to be perfect.

He slowly walked back to his dormitory; his head hung in shame. He felt really bad for doing that to her. He knew that there was a possibility that she shrugged it off, but he didn't think she would have. Hermione cared about him, and she wouldn't let someone she cared about treat her like that.

He quietly opened the dormitory door in case the meeting was still going. He didn't want to disturb anyone and he knew Hermione would be sitting there with her lips pursed into a fierce frown if he did.

He saw her, sitting at the desk in their common room, with her head bent down over a piece of parchment. She had a quill in her hand. He watched her silently for a few moments before opening his mouth to speak.

"Not doing homework again, are we?" he asked her. He hoped that she could hear in his voice that he was trying to be nice to her, and to move on from what had happened earlier.

"I don't know what you're doing, or what you have been doing, but no, I am not doing homework." She replied.

'Oh, she is in a bad mood.' He thought to himself.

He walked over to where Hermione was sitting and he placed his hands on her shoulders and began to give her a massage.

"I'm sorry baby, I really am." He said, he meant it and he hoped Hermione knew him well enough to know this. "It's just been stressful with Blaise and studying for exams, doing my duties as head boy and our homework. You know what it's like, but you can handle it. I can't. Sometimes it all just gets on top of me." He wanted to throw in the part about his anxiety about proposing to her in front of the students and teachers of Hogwarts, but decided that he would much rather surprise her on the night.

Hermione put her quill down and just sat there while Draco continued to give her a massage. She didn't speak for a few moments, she just relaxed into the massage and Draco knew she understood what he had said. He could feel her body become more relaxed after he had apoligised.

"I understand Draco, but please don't take it out on me! I'm here for you, you know that. I'm always here for you, don't feel like you can't talk to me about things. You can talk to me about anything. I thought you knew that." There was a touch of sadness in her voice. She thought Draco would tell her everything, including his worries.

"I know that, but I just needed to clear my head. That's all. It's nothing major." He knelt down to kiss her on the cheek. "Babe, I gotta get to class. I'll see you later. I promise."

Draco picked up his books of the coffee table and made his way down to the dungeons for his last 2 periods of advanced potions.

Hermione said goodbye and watched him leave. She knew that she should be on her way to class, but she wasn't really in the mood for potions.

Hermione continued writing her letter and if she were questioned about skipping class, she would simply say that she got caught up with the ball preparations. It was a believable excuse; after all, they had held a meeting for it at lunchtime.