Disclaimer: I do not own any characters associated with the Harry Potter books, which are written by JK Rowling.

Author's Note: You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for continuously reviewing. I like knowing that people are actually reading this stuff!

Chapter 6

Hermione felt a rush of wind rustle her hair as a Chaser from the Falmouth Falcons flew by on his broom, inches above their heads. A thrill of excitement shot up her spine and she squealed.

She could barely understand the announcer's voice as it rapidly spewed off the details of the fast-paced game.

"Carlisle passes the quaffle to Rogers. Rogers to Kilpatrick and back again to Carlisle. Rogers, Kilpatrick and Carlisle all to the west end of the field. Carlisle passes it to Rogers and Rogers shoots for a goal. And the Arrow's keeper Greenfield saves it. Throws it to Arrow Chaser McGoldrick. McGoldrick to Walker to Cleaver and back to McGoldrick…" The voice continued to rattle off each play as it happened. Hermione couldn't even keep track of who had the quaffle at the current moment.

She tore her eyes from the quaffle and glanced upwards at the two Seekers hovering in the middle of the field. Each was alert, and awake, ready for action at the first sign of the snitch.

They had arrived in plenty of time for the start of the match. Instead of climbing the dozens of flights of stairs to one of the top boxes, they had apparated. It saved time and energy.

Hermione, despite her lack of continuous enthusiasm for the sport, was excited to attend. She hadn't been to a live professional quidditch match since the World Cup five years ago. The atmosphere was intense. She could feel the excitement everywhere. She watched the action standing up, leaning against a railing that was chest-high. It was a little scary, yet thrilling, to look down at the field below them. All of the people and players looked like tiny ants crawling around amongst a patch of grass. She giggled.

Draco had tentatively slid his arms around her waist. When she hadn't protested, he pressed his body against hers. She snuggled into his warmth. Despite the three layers she had worn, it was still cold outside.

After a time, they apparated down to the sixth level, where restrooms and food stands littered the hallway surrounding the pitch. Draco stood in line for butterbeers while Hermione ran to the restroom.

She had finished taking care of her needs and was washing her hands at the sink when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hermione?" the girl said, curiously.

Drying her hands, Hermione looked up and into the familiar freckled face of Ginny Weasley. Her bright red hair swung down her back and her green eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Gin!" cried Hermione, excitedly. She embraced her friend in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Harry got tickets at the last minute, and we decided to go!" Ginny explained, grinning. They pulled away from each other. "What about you? Who are you here with? I mean, with all your schoolwork, I would have expected you to be studying every minute of the day that you weren't in class."

They walked out of the loo together, chatting animatedly. "Well, um…" Hermione answered nervously, looking around for her date. "It's kind of a strange situation. You see…"

"Hermione!" Harry Potter, her best friend, flung himself on her in a huge bear hug.

"Harry!" squealed Hermione, her voice muffled. She squeezed him back. Ginny stood there, grinning, delighted to see Harry smiling.

Harry pulled away from her, but didn't release her. His eyes traveled up and down her form, scrutinizing her. "It is you, isn't it? I mean, I've been trying to get you out of that university for two months, and I haven't been able to. Who convinced you to spend a Saturday afternoon having fun?" His expression suddenly changed as he caught sight of something, or someone, who displeased him.

Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around. Draco stood there, two butterbeers in his hands.

"Let's go," commanded Draco, ignoring Hermione's new companions.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry ground out, reaching for his wand which was tucked into his back pocket. Ginny stood silently, scrutinizing Draco closely.

Hermione reached out for a butterbeer. Draco released it and glared at Harry. Hermione explained patiently, "No, I'm talking to my friends. We haven't seen each other in a while. I'll be ready in a second." She turned away from him and took a sip of her butterbeer.

"Granger," he muttered threateningly.

Annoyed, Hermione faced him again, one hand on her hip. "You knew I was friends with Harry. You knew that we would see him eventually. Stop being an arsehole." She glared at him, daring him to challenge her.

Harry and Ginny watched the whole exchange carefully. Ginny began to grin; Harry wasn't so amused. He had finally caught on to what was happening.

"You came with him?" Harry asked, pointing his wand at Draco but talking directly to Hermione.

Hermione sighed, exasperated. "Harry, be civil. It's not that hard to do. Yes, I came here with Draco." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Draco had moved to stand next to her. He reached out to hold her hand, and she let him, enjoying the feeling of his fingers curling around her own.

"Draco? You're calling him Draco now? Does he call you Hermione?" asked Harry incredulously. He had lowered his wand slightly and his head was now bouncing back and forth between the two of them.

Ginny finally decided to take control of the situation. She reached out to push Harry's wand away from Draco's chest. "Harry, get a grip. We haven't seen Hermione in two months. Enjoy her company; ignore Malfoy."

Draco shot Ginny a glare. She returned it with an innocent grin.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my wayward son." A sarcastic drawl suddenly interrupted their argument. The group turned to find Lucius Malfoy strolling nonchalantly by them. Hermione heard Draco groan. The situation needed only his presence to make it worse.

Lucius continued, "I was wondering who had taken the private box this afternoon. I was informed upon my arrival that someone had already used those tickets." He raked his gaze over Harry, Ginny and Hermione, a sneer on his face the entire time. He glanced down to see Draco and Hermione's hands intertwined, and a surprised look crossed his face for a moment.

Lucius, ignoring the others, stared at his son, who had grown so much that he was now eye level with his father. "Really, Draco. First you insist on attending that trashy school, then you run off and buy your own flat. But, I never thought you'd stoop so low as to hang around these people." He sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. He was clearly displeased with his son's companions. "I mean, at least Potter and Weasley are from magic families. But, to be hanging around mudbloods… you are tarnishing the Malfoy name as we speak."

"Don't call her that!" Draco had whipped out his wand and was pointing it at his father's throat before anyone else had a chance to grab their wands. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione stood still, shocked at his behavior.

Lucius let out a low, sinister chuckle and folded his hands in front of him. "Drop that wand, boy, or I'll show you things you've never seen before," he threatened quietly.

"I highly doubt that," said Malfoy. "You have taught me all you know, remember?"

That comment wiped the snide expression off of the older man's face. "You better watch your back. Son or no son." With one last derogatory glare at the group, he swiveled on his heel and walked away.

Draco sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said to Hermione. Harry and Ginny stood there with slackened jaws.

Dazed, Hermione licked her lips and asked, "For what?"

Draco dropped his wand hand to his side and raked a hand through his hair. Looking away from her, he replied, "For how he treated you."

"Why should you be sorry? You didn't call me anything impolite," said Hermione.

Draco dropped his gaze to the ground. He ran a hand through his blond hair, nervously, and held both of her hands tightly. "I have before," he said in a low voice. Hermione barely heard him. Having admitted his wrong-doings, he stared at her. It was as close to an apology as he had ever said to her.

They held each other's eyes for a long moment, completely unaware of their surroundings. Someone cleared her throat, and they jumped apart, remembering that they were not alone.

Harry was looking at them with the strangest expression on his face, but Ginny was grinning from ear to ear. Ginny said, "We're going to get back to the game." She leaned over and kissed Hermione on the cheek in farewell. She nodded at Malfoy while Harry whispered something in Hermione's ear.

Ginny dragged her boyfriend away from them, harping on Harry. "Don't worry. Did you see the way he was looking at her?"

"That's what's making me worry!" cried Harry. They walked away, blending in with the crowd.

Draco spoke up. "What did he say to you? Trying to warn you off of me, was he?"

Hermione giggled and turned a slight shade of pink. "No. He gave me a hex to use, in case you got naughty." She took a swig from her butterbeer. "I think we should get a case of this and go back to your place. What do you think?"

The sounds of the crowd and of the match reached their ears. Draco nodded. "I'm not really in the mood to stick around either. Let's go."

They went back to Draco's flat, a case of butterbeer acquired along the way. Together, they made dinner and watched a movie on Draco's flat screen TV. Hermione's thoughts whirled around her head the entire evening.

Draco Malfoy had defended her, her. Against his father. He hadn't even hesitated. He had been quieter than normal that night, lost in his own thoughts, since they had returned. He was moody, similar to how he had acted when they had fought earlier that week. He seemed to act like this whenever events didn't go as he planned them.

They sat on the couch, cuddled up with each other, in the dark. The credits to the movie were rolling, and Hermione felt relaxed and safe. Her brain had quieted down a bit. She was slowly coming to accept that she liked Draco Malfoy. She really liked him. As more than an acquaintance, more than a friend. Kind of like a boyfriend.

"I should probably go," she announced reluctantly. She didn't move from her position.

"Okay," he said. But his response was to tighten his hold on her. They were laying on the couch together, Hermione in between his legs, halfway in his lap. He reached over and turned her head up to his. Their lips met. It felt like an electrical current shot through them.

Hermione's breathing hitched and she pulled herself up to get closer to him. She slid her hands under his shirt, enjoying the ripple of muscle across his lean stomach. He returned the favor, gently tugging up her blouse. All the while, they continued to kiss and stroke each other, learning each other's bodies. She was lost in the sensation as his fingers quickly undid the long line of buttons on her shirt.

Suddenly she became aware that his fingers were creeping towards the clasp of her bra. They were fumbling with the hook. She came to her senses and sat up abruptly. He fell away from her in surprise.

"I… I … I have to go," she stuttered, pulling her blouse back into place and frantically redoing the buttons. She hastily pushed her hair out of her eyes as she struggled with the last two. She pushed herself off the couch and strode into the dining room without even a glance at Draco.

She heard him follow her, his long legs catching up to hers quickly.

"Hermione," he said quietly.

"What?" she muttered, aware that she was very close to tears and not even sure why. She had sat down on one of the chairs and was shoving her tennis shoe on to her foot.

"Hermione," he said more forcefully. He had sat down next to her on another chair. He grasped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. She paused, afraid to meet his eyes. Gently he wrapped his hands around her head, framing her face, pulling her gaze up to his.

"We don't have to do anything that you don't want to do," Draco said quietly, his eyes searching her own.

Hermione swallowed and she wet her lips with her tongue. She didn't say anything.

"I'm not going to make you do anything that will make you uncomfortable, okay?" said Draco.

Hermione nodded slowly. "Okay," she whispered. He smiled slightly, leaned down, and gave her a chaste kiss on her lips. It was such a contrast to the hot and heavy contact of just a few minutes before that she almost burst into tears. He seemed to sense the emotional turmoil surging through her because he released her and stood up.

Hermione finished putting on her shoes. When she looked up, she was surprised to find that Draco was wearing his coat and shoes.

"You don't have to see me home," she said, pushing her arm through the sleeve of her coat.

He ignored her, and opened up the door for her to walk through. The walk back to the girls' dorms was filled with an uncomfortable silence.

Feeling that she had to say something before she left, Hermione stopped on the sidewalk outside her dorm. "I'm sorry," she blurted out.

"For what?" asked Draco, surprised.

"For starting, and then stopping," she explained, embarrassed to go into any further detail about their earlier exchange of bodily fluids.

Draco let out a bark of laughter. He walked over to her and crushed her to him in an enormous bear hug. "You, Hermione Granger, are a tease," he said, still chuckling. He lowered his voice. "And I love it."

Hermione felt the tips of her ears burn and knew that her entire face was as red as a tomato. He released her, and she whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow." She walked as quickly to the dorm as she could without being completely undignified. She could feel Draco's eyes on her the whole way up to the door.

Once she got inside, she slowed down and walked to her dorm room in a daze. She was surprised to find Selena in the room, laying on the bed, reading a magazine and listening to the radio.

"How was the match?" asked Selena, glancing over at her roommate. When Hermione didn't move, Selena sat up and eyed her shrewdly. "What happened to you?"

For the umpteenth time that evening, Hermione felt her face flare. "I think I'm dating Draco Malfoy."

Selena screamed in excitement. She grinned. "Oh, I want details," she demanded and patted the bed beside her.

With a grin, Hermione shrugged off her coat and sat. "I figured that you would." And she sat down and told Selena about her day. Or, most of it.