Thanks so much for all the reviews. I'm really starting to have fun with this story. A lot of people have told me that Draco should tell Hermione. All in good time, my patient readers. All in good time. (Evil laugh). Well, enjoy the next chapter.

Pansy laid down on the mattress before the roaring fire. She, Hermione, Draco, and Blaise had finally finished decorating the Room of Requirements and were taking a well deserved break. Hermione had refused to use magic, saying that hanging the decorations themselves made the room more homier. It didn't take away from the fact that Pansy's arms hurt. And she told Hermione so.

"Oh, come on," Hermione said, handing a mug of hot chocolate to Pansy. "We did a good job on the room." She looked around at the walls and smiled. It wasn't the best quality of decorations, but they'd been hand made and hung by hand, as well. That was something better than any decoration job done by professionals.

Pansy sat up and looked around. The room did look nice. "Hey, when are the boys coming back with our lunches?" she asked, noticing that Blaise and Draco weren't back from the errand.

"I don't know," Hermione said, sitting on the mattress next to Pansy. "They're probably trying to get out of helping with the party."

In the kitchens

Draco and Blaise were waiting for the house elves to finish making lunch for them and the girls. They'd come down a few minutes ago, but, since it was so close to lunch, the elves had been busy. Blaise was currently talking to the house elf fixing their lunches, about what to serve at the party a week from today.

Draco was going through a copy of the Daily Prophet when he paused at an article. "Blaise," he said. "Check this out."

Blaise sent the elf to continue making their lunches, but walked over to his friend. "What?" he asked, looking over Draco's shoulder. His eyes widened. "No way," he said.

"Way," Draco said, though he didn't sound happy.

Back at the Room of Requirements

Hermione blew on Pansy's toes to dry the paint as Pansy did the same with her foot. They had gotten bored, waiting for the boys to come back, so they'd decided to paint each other's toe nails. Pansy was painting Hermione's nails green, and Hermione was painting Pansy's red.

The door opened and they looked up. Draco was carrying a newspaper while Blaise was carrying a tray with four plates and drinks on it. "Took you two long enough," Pansy said, raising her dried toe nails up and wiggling them.

Hermione looked at her own toe nails and smiled. She turned to the boys and said, "I'll forgive your lateness if you give me my lunch."

Blaise set the tray down and said, "You've only hung out with us for a few days and are already acting like a Slytherin. I don't think you'll ever go Gryffindor again."

Draco picked up a plate and walked it over to Hermione. He sat down and handed it to her. "Before you eat, you might want to take a look at today's paper," he said.

Hermione watched as he unfolded the paper, and gasped. "What?" Pansy said, crawling over to look at the paper.

On the page was a large picture of Draco and Hermione holding hands in Diagon Alley as they came out of a shop where they'd gone to buy shoes for their outfits. The two were facing each other, smiling widely at the other. Hermione read the article out load.

" 'Four days ago, Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy estate and fortune, was seen in the presence of Hermione Granger, bright school mate of Malfoy and one third of the Golden Trio. These two seemed quite cozy as they strolled throughout Diagon Alley, shopping together as if they had done so before. The couple was accompanied by Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe, though, from how Malfoy and Granger acted, they hardly noticed their shopping mates. The cute couple held hands during their stay at the Alley, and left together by side-Floo.

Many people that were interviewed thought they looked cute together. Mistress Joy, who's shop had been one the couple had visited, said that they denied being together, but had continued holding hands even after leaving her shop.

Fred and George Weasley, of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, commented that Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy were turning over a new leaf and were becoming friends, after years of tormenting each other at school, being in rival houses, and on opposite Quidditch teams. Obviously, they were becoming more than friends. So, the next question is, what is next for this unexpected couple?' "

Hermione set the paper down and stared at it. "I don't believe this," she said.

"Yeah," Pansy said. "You take awesome pictures."

Hermione shook her head. "That's not what I meant, Pansy," she said. "Harry's going to see this. Oh, god. Ron's going to see this. Oh, I can just imagine their reactions." She rested her forehead against her knees. "They are going to be so angry with me."

"Why?" Draco said. "Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?"

Hermione's head snapped up and she looked at him. "No," she said softly. "But my friends aren't as accepting as I am of people changing. Ron's letter to me when he heard we were just sitting together was harsh. I don't want to imagine what he's going to do when he sees this." Her eyes widened and she said, "What is your father going to say when he sees this?"

Draco put an arm around her shoulders and said, "Calm down, Mi. You'll go insane if you worry too much."

Hermione shook her head. "No, this is bad," she said. "My friends are going to be mad at me, your father is going to angry that you're friends with someone like me, and-"

"Whoa," Draco said, rubbing her shoulders. "What do you mean, 'someone like you'?"

Hermione looked at her toes and said, "The letter from Ron, his first one...he said that you'd never go out with someone like me. Given your past history with him, I guess he meant that, because I'm muggle born, you wouldn't normally spend time with unless you wanted something. And I guess he has a point. I mean, your family is very anti-muggle-borns and-"

Draco leaned forward and kissed her hard, cutting her off. She paused, then leaned in as the sensations of his kiss filled her. His soft lips parted hers as his tongue danced across hers. She gasped slightly, giving Draco the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His hand found the back of her neck and his fingers anchored themselves in her soft curls.

He pulled her close so she was kneeling between his legs. Her hands reached up and curled into his silky hair. Hermione couldn't think of anything. All her worries left her head. There was only the kiss and Draco's lips. And that tongue! Hermione moaned as it stroked the roof of her mouth. She was so focused on the kiss, she didn't hear someone clear their throat.

"Get a room," Pansy said.

Hermione pulled away and blushed as she looked away. Draco smirked over at Pansy. She was standing with Blaise, eating her own food. "You're just jealous that I'm not kissing you like that."

"You mean like you want to eat me?" Pansy said. "No thanks. I'll leave that to Blaise."

"What?" Blaise said, looking up. He had a carrot hanging from his mouth and he had a 'what just happened' look on his face.

Hermione slowly slid away from Draco and picked up her plate. Pansy and Blaise came over and sat on the mattress. They hung out for a while, talking about nothing and everything that popped into their heads. All the time they'd laughed, though, Draco had draped an arm around Hermione's shoulders and pulled her to his side. She didn't pull away, but leaned against him. She didn't know why, but she was becoming use to Draco's presence, his touch, his jokes, and the smell of his cologne. She just hoped she never got use to his kisses. She liked the feelings that raged in her.

Draco played with a strand of Hermione's hair as Blaise was animatedly retelling a story of a vacation he'd gone on. The taste of her vanilla chap stick was still on his lips and the smell of her shampoo filled his nose every time he took a breath. He might be trying to seduce her into his bed to take her down a notch, but, to tell the truth, that was slowly leaving his mind. Or, it had been on the shopping trip. Now, with the article out for his father to see, it had reared it's head again.

Hermione was right that his father would be angry. If he believed his son was dating a muggle-born, he'd be furious. Draco's mother, though, would be ecstatic. She didn't care so much about blood status as his father did; she just wanted Draco to get married so she could have another girl in the family to hang out with. Maybe, if he was lucky, his father wouldn't blow up at him.

Draco looked at Hermione as she laughed at something Blaise said. Every moment he spent with Hermione was one that he began to relax. Only a few had ever seen the relaxed Draco Malfoy, when he laughed at stupid jokes and didn't have to watch his back at every turn. Pansy and Blaise were the only ones that had ever seen him like that...now Hermione. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd thought of her as Granger. It was Hermione now.

She turned to him and smiled at him. He smiled back and wanted to kiss her. He even started to lean closer to her, lowering his head towards her. But he was interrupted as Crabbe and Goyle opened the door. "Dinner's on," Crabbe said.

Draco looked at the clock on the fireplace mantle and blinked. They'd been talking for six hour without noticing it. He heard a stomach grumble loudly and touched his. It wasn't him. He looked down and saw Hermione blushing. "Sorry," she said as everyone looked at her. "I guess all that laughing made me hungry."

Draco laughed and stood up. He offered her his hand and she took it. He pulled her up and they all left for the Great Hall. When they entered, the students looked up from their tables. Draco felt Hermione tense next to him as they someone flashed the paper.

A second year Gryffindor girl stood up from the table and walked over to them. She topped in front of Hermione and smiled. "Finally," she said. "I, for one, am glad that you've found a guy that you can snog. Maybe you'll be less uptight."

Draco laughed and put an arm around Hermione, leading her to the Slytherin table.

Kellie returned to her seat at the Gryffindor table and saw Rowan look at her as if she'd lost her mind. "What?" she asked.

"You just said that it was alright for Hermione to date that Slytherin," Rowan hissed. "Do you know how dangerous that could be for the Gryffindor team?"

"Do you know how good it is for Hermione to find someone to have a relationship with?" Kellie asked. "Did you notice how Malfoy's changed when she's around? They use to fight like cats and dogs, but now, look at them." They turned and saw Malfoy laughing at something Hermione had said. The smile and laugh weren't fake or stiff. It was loose and free flowing, as if there weren't a care in the world. "He's actually happy." Kellie turned to Rowan and smiled. "Let them have their fun, Rowan? I'm sure she'll be getting yelled at by others. We'll support her."

Rowan grumbled something about loyalties, but he nodded. "All right," he said. "I'll support them. But under protest."

"Duly noted," Kellie said, sneaking one last look at the couple before returning to her meal.

AN: So, what did you think? I put Kellie in there because I felt Hermione needed at least one person to support her. Rowan just got dragged into it because I said so. Lol. Well, tell me what you think. Thanks everyone.