Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters. If I did, I would be anticipating the proceeds from the theme park in Orlando. Yeah, not happening.

A/N: I am so excited! I have over 12,000 hits for this story and 158 reviews! Much thanks to those of you who continue to review. I really appreciate it.

Chapter 9

"I've been thinking about it, and I want to hold a party," declared Draco. They were sitting at a table during lunch with their friends. Selena and Lily squealed with glee, and Jack and Will began to converse about how many kegs would be needed.

Draco caught Hermione's eye and grinned. He had been in a great mood since the outcome of their exams. She was very happy for him, despite the fact that he had beaten her. He had been in such a state of euphoria that he had not even rubbed it in. Much.

Hermione hadn't minded. As much of a git as he was sometimes, he had earned the top grade fair and square. She could not fault him.

Draco continued, "I figured, as head of the class, it's my responsibility to hold the biggest bash of the semester. That, and I'm the only person in our class with a place of his own."

Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. She sipped her cola and bit into her sandwich. Draco kept making comments about being "Head of the Class" because he was trying to rile her up. It wasn't working. She couldn't feel jealous or upset. She cared too deeply for him.

"Who's invited?" asked Lily.

Draco shrugged. "I figured I'll throw out invites to the entire class."

Hermione had to speak up. "Draco, that's one hundred people! How are we going to fit them into your flat?"

"Granger, it's called 'magic'." He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes again. "Look, Malfoy, your flat is not that big."

"I'll make it bigger. With magic," Draco explained, as if he were simplifying a problem for a small child.

Hermione picked up a grape and threw it at him. He flinched as it hit him square in the forehead. "Don't be a jerk."

Nora interrupted their small spat. "Hermione, will you invite Harry Potter? I would love to meet him." She bit her bottom lip, slightly nervous.

Hermione glanced warily at Draco. "I don't know. That's up to Draco. It is his place."

Nora's eyes gleamed with excitement as she turned her attention to Draco. "Draco? Come on. Please?"

Draco stared at Hermoine. She gave him a look. One that said, It's up to you.

"I'll think about it," he said, looking away.

Nora squealed, stood up and ran to Draco. She flung her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. "It would make my week, my month, my year!" She released him. "Please!"

Lily spoke up. "Nora, girl, you need to relax. If the prospect of meeting Harry Potter makes you like this, I'm afraid of what will happen when you actually see him. You'll make him run in the opposite direction."

Nora returned to her seat. "I don't care," she said flippantly. She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Draco caught Hermione's eye, and she had a feeling that their Hogwarts friends were about to learn about their relationship.

They had a row about who to invite. Hermione told Draco that if he invited Harry, he would also have to include Ginny, Neville, and Luna.

"Longbottom?" Draco cried. "Are you kidding me? I want my house intact at the end of the night!"

"Well, you shouldn't have invited one hundred people over then!" screamed Hermione. She glared at him.

"Why are you upset?" he asked heatedly. "It's not your house!"

"I know," she said. "I'm just… ugh, I don't know!" She threw up her hands in the air and turned away from him.

They were standing in the middle of Draco's flat. The cat was meowing softly, weaving his way between both of their feet, as if sensing that trouble was brewing.

"Look," he said. "If you want me to invite Lumbering Longbottom and Loony Lovegood…"

"Don't call them that," demanded Hermoine, turning back to him, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Fine," he said. "If you would like me to invite Longbottom and Lovegood, I will. But, I'm inviting Zabini, Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle."

"Oh, no," Hermione protested.

Draco nodded his head fervently. "Oh, yes."

Hermione's face scrunched up with indecision. Finally, she accepted the situation. "Fine. I'll go owl my friends. You can owl yours."

"Fine," replied Draco shortly.

"Fine," said Hermione.

Hermione walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water, and Draco plopped down on the couch, picked up the remote and flicked through the channels. They didn't speak for the rest of the night.

Draco decided to hold his bash on the last Friday of classes. Hermione had helped him to resize and redecorate his place to accommodate the amount of people that he expected. They locked the bedroom doors with a spell, and magically created another bathroom. Hermione was pleased with her handiwork.

Draco had "hired" Patrick O'Leary, another first year who had passed his first semester because Draco had been tutoring him twice a week, to man the door. Patrick had a list of every first year, and his job was to not let anyone else enter, including some of the second years who had been annoyed that the party was exclusive.

The evening was cold and windy, and the forecast called for heavy rain. Hermione hoped that it would deter some people from showing up. She still had her doubts about inviting 100 people to the party.

At nine o'clock, their healer friends arrived. By ten o'clock, fifty people had already showed up. They had already kicked one keg, and were tapping another. Jack, Will, Sam and Draco were playing quarters on the dining room table, people were dancing to the rock music blaring from the stereo, and Nora was bugging Hermione, asking her where Harry Potter was.

The furniture had been pushed away from the center of the room and lined the walls. Draco had dimmed the lights, and created a disco-ball effect with a couple of charms. A silencing spell had also been performed so that the neighbors would not be disturbed.

"He'll be here soon," Hermione shouted to her friend over the techno beat. "I promise. Remember, his girlfriend is going to be here, too!"

But, Nora was too starry-eyed to listen.

Hermione glanced at the doorway, and realized that Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna had just walked into the room. Smiling, she weaved her way through the throng of people to greet her friends.

Ginny spotted her first. She ran up to her friend and hugged her fiercely. Hermione turned to each of the others and hugged them as well. Neville looked around nervously, but Luna merely stared curiously at the assembled crowd. Harry was trying to keep a sullen expression on his face.

Hermione led them into the kitchen, where the second keg had just been tapped. A guy from her Common Emergencies class was doling out beers to people.

"Thanks, Craig," she said, grabbing two. "By the way, these are my friends from Hogwarts." She introduced them to him, and she noticed Craig didn't even flinch when he heard Harry's name.

It was quieter in the kitchen, so a conversation was viable.

"So, where is the pureblooded prick this evening?" Harry scowled, taking a deep gulp from his plastic cup.

Hermione glared at him. "You're drinking that prick's beer. You better play nice tonight."

"Oh, don't worry, he will," stated Ginny, glaring at her boyfriend. "If he doesn't, he's deprived of certain privileges for the next…"

"All right, all right." Harry placed his beer on the counter and threw his hands in the air. "I'll behave, if he does."

They were standing in the kitchen when the subject of their conversation strode up to them. Draco stopped short when he saw the Gryffindor group in his kitchen. He was already feeling a little buzzed from his game of quarters earlier. In short, he was feeling accommodating.

"I see your friends are here, Hermione." He swaggered up to her, put his arm around her waist, and pulled her tightly to his side. He laid a passionate kiss on his girlfriend before turning to the rest of the group.

He extended his hand out and Neville shook it warily. Draco repeated the gesture to Potter, who shook his hand reluctantly. Luna smiled at him innocently and sipped her beer. Ginny winked at him. No one spoke.

A squeal interrupted the lack of conversation a moment later. Hermione turned to see Nora and Lily approaching them boldly. She groaned inwardly.

Hermione leaned into Harry and Ginny. "These are my friends, Nora and Lily. They really wanted to meet you guys."

Nora leaned into them and stuck out her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you both!" She shook hands with them and continued, "Hermione's told us all about you, and we are so excited that you could come."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," replied Harry dryly. Ginny unobtrusively kicked him in the shin. He winced.

"We thought it was a brilliant idea for Draco to finish out the semester with this party. Especially since he has something to celebrate," explained Lily.

Neville, Luna, Harry and Ginny looked confused. "What do you mean?" asked Neville cautiously. "What's the celebration?"

"Oh, you know, his acquisition of valedictorian of the class," stated Nora. She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Harry spit out the beer he was drinking. "What? Who's valedictorian?"

Luna answered vaguely, "I think she said that Draco was first in the class, but I find that hard to believe. Everyone knows that Hermione was the smartest student at Hogwarts."

Hermione blushed as Draco turned to face her. "You didn't tell them!" He shouted accusingly.

"Is it true?" Harry demanded to know, grabbing Hermione's elbow to get her attention.

Hermione squirmed for a moment while all of her friends stared at her. She sighed and admitted, "Fine. Yes, Draco is head of our class. He beat me." She crossed her arms and glared at Harry, daring him to say anything.

Harry stared at her for a moment before letting out a loud shout of laughter. He clutched his side as he doubled over, clearly amused by this new piece of information. "This is great. This is great!"

The whole group stared at him oddly as he continued to chortle with great amusement. Ginny started to giggle, catching onto Harry's inside joke. She punched her boyfriend lightly in the arm to get him to calm down.

When Harry finally composed himself enough to speak, he held out his hand to a bemused Draco. "Congratulations! You beat the know-it-all. I didn't think it would ever happen. I didn't think it was possible. I have to owl Ron!" He went off into a fit of laughter again. "We've been trying to knock her down a notch for years, and the fact that you finally did… well, let's just say that for the first time ever, I like you, Malfoy."

Draco shook Potter's hand, grinning broadly. He had just been accepted as a suitable companion to their friend.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's not that funny."

"Yes, it is." Harry reached over and hugged his friend tightly. "You finally met your match."

Lily and Nora watched this whole scene with some amusement. They knew that Draco and Hermione were fiercely competitive, but they hadn't realized how much so until this evening. Apparently, there had been more to Draco's gloating than his own egotistical self.

To distract Harry from his teasing, Nora offered to get him another drink. Ginny and Harry wandered over to the keg with Nora and Lily. Luna tugged Neville onto the dance floor. Draco and Hermione had a moment to themselves, the first all night.

Draco slung his arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Blaise Zabini is wandering around here somewhere. You may want to say hello. I won't make you talk to Pansy."

"All right," agreed Hermione. "I'll go get a beer as a peace offering." She gave him a peck him on the cheek and headed for the keg again. She emerged from the crowd with two beers and began her search.

Heading into the living room, Hermione saw Blaise Zabini leaning against the window by himself, sipping a beer and casually surveying the room. She sighed. She would have to approach him. It would be rude not to.

As she approached, her mouth tilted upwards into a wry smile. A sense of arrogance and aloofness surrounded him. It had been there at Hogwarts; it remained there even after he had grown up.

"Zabini, how are you?" Hermione asked, offering him a new beer. His reserved façade shifted for a moment, revealing slight surprise at her peace offering. He accepted the beer and she settled back against the window, sipping from her own cup.

"Granger." He nodded in greeting. "Not bad. How about yourself?"

"I'm good," she responded, not letting her own guard down. Two could play at his game.

"I heard you and Malfoy have been … seeing each other," he stated, matter-of-factly.

Hermione nodded. "Yes," she replied shortly.

He seemed to be making a decision on his own. "I'm not surprised."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

He shrugged nonchalantly and threw back his beer. "I'm not surprised at all. If you think about, you and he would have gotten together a long time ago if his father were out of the picture."

"What do you mean?" Hermione turned to look at him directly, cocking her head to the side.

He paused for a moment. "Your personalities… they fit together. You're both smart and determined. You both are very competitive. But, where he is cunning and shrewd, you like to go after something blindly and with all your heart. You balance each other in that respect."

Neither spoke for a moment.

Hermione broke the silence. "Was that a compliment?"

Blaise chuckled. "Yeah."

Hermione grinned. "Have another beer. It's on me."

Zabini laughed again, and scoped the room. "Any hot single women here?"

"Of course," said Hermione, as if there were no doubt. "Draco invited the entire class! We have a few friends who would fit that description." She flicked her eyes towards Nora, who was fawning all over an embarrassed Harry. Hermione could tell that Ginny, who was standing next to Harry, was almost at the end of her tether. Ginny was used to the female attention that Harry received, but after a while, she found it rather annoying.

Blaise scrutinized the chattering female. "Not bad. Can she put an intelligent sentence together?" He flung his head back to Hermione.

"I'll have you know that Nora is tenth in the class right now. She's a smart cookie, despite her little act." Hermione finished the remainder of her beer before continuing. "And I know for a fact that she's looking for some action tonight."

Blaise smiled wickedly. "Let's go get a few more beers and join Wonder Boy and his fan club."

Hermione giggled and followed Blaise to the keg. She grabbed a beer and scanned the area for her boyfriend. Her eyes found him by the hallway, in a deep conversation with Pansy Parkinson. She was about to walk over to them when she stopped short at the scene in front of her.

Hermione stood there, stunned, as she watched Pansy Parkinson lean into Draco. The girl grinned, whispering in his ear. Something seductive, she was sure. She watched as the other witch pressed her breasts against his arm, invitingly. Pansy pressed her lips to his cheek; the affection between them was palpable. She watched as Malfoy turned to her, smiling brilliantly. He took another sip from his brew, clearly enjoying the attention. Then, he looked up and his eyes connected with Hermione's.

The intimate glance seemed to wake her from her reverie. Her caramel eyes narrowed and her face flushed red. Without thinking about what she was doing, only knowing that she needed fresh air, she stormed past the living room, down the hallway, and flung the door open to the second bedroom. Opening the door that led to a balcony, she stepped outside into the pouring rain. Leaning against the railing, she breathed in the cold London air deeply. She closed her eyes, trying to erase the hurt that she felt surge through her when she saw Draco with another girl. She didn't care that it was raining, that the rain was cold; she just wanted out.

She heard a noise from inside. Irrationally, she searched for some way to escape. Silly girl, she thought, you trapped yourself into a corner. Suddenly, a ladder appeared on the side of the building, reaching towards the roof. Without thinking, Hermione began to climb, ignoring the slippery rungs.

She reached the top and scurried onto the roof. She heard a door slam open and then Malfoy called her name. She glanced down to see the top of his platinum head. He looked up and caught her staring at him.

"Hermione, get down here!" he demanded. "You're going to freeze up there. It's too cold, and it's pouring rain!"

"I'd rather be up here than down there with you!" she yelled back, leaning over the edge. "You and that little blonde vixen!"

"You don't know what you saw. Stop being an idiot. I thought you were more intelligent than that!" His clothes were becoming soaking wet in the rain.

"Fuck off, Malfoy!" She turned away from him and walked deliberately across the patio, away from him.

She heard a muttered oath and whirled around to see Malfoy's head emerging above the ladder. He wore a thunderous expression. He was clearly not happy to be there.

He caught sight of her and charged over to where she stood. She scooted away from him, out of his reaching hand. They played a game of cat-and-mouse, with Hermione hurling insults at him and Malfoy refusing to participate in her name-calling. He seemed determined to catch her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Hermione realized that he had never seemed so intent and focused on her ever before.

With a growl, he pounced on her, finally making contact. Hermione felt his long fingers wrap themselves around her upper arm, holding her still. She struggled futilely. They were both breathing harshly, perhaps from the chase, perhaps from the emotions that poured through both of them.

"Don't touch me!" she cried, wrenching her arm away from him and wrapping her arms around herself, protectively. She had backed herself against the four foot wall that surrounded the rooftop patio. Her hair hung in soaking wet curls around her face, down her back. Her blouse was completely soaked through, and her teeth were chattering. She was freezing.

"Fine!" There was hurt in his eyes as he released her. "But, you need to hear me out. I don't want Pansy. I want you."

She stood there, her expression unreadable, watching him.

"Why don't you believe me?" he asked.

She refused to answer. She just shook her head, an expression of hurt crossing her features. His hands reached towards her, as if he wanted to touch her, to hold her. He didn't seem to realize it.

"Look, you have to understand. For the first time ever in my life, there's someone more important to me than me! And, it scares the hell out of me. I have no idea what I'm doing! I sit at home, in class, in the Student Center, and no matter what I do, I start thinking about you." He pointed at her, almost accusingly. "About when I'm going to see you next. About the last time we spent together. About the way you bite your bottom lip when you're thinking and the way you laugh at my stupid jokes." He threw his hands up in the air and spun around.

"I think I'm in love with you," he blurted out.

He began to pace the walkway in front of her, running his hand through his soaked hair. "You're driving me crazy! I can't get you out of my head." He paused, staring at her, waiting for her reaction. Waiting for her rejection.

For the second time in his life, Draco Malfoy had put his emotions out on a limb and they were balanced there precariously. He was perhaps even more fragile and vulnerable now than he had ever been. A thick silence fell between them. Hermione felt the love that had been born weeks ago, when he had told her of his past, burgeoning inside of her. She knew this moment was important, probably the most important moment in her entire life.

She opened her mouth to speak, and tasted salt. She hadn't realized that she was crying. She choked a little as she said just loud enough for him to hear, "I think I'm in love with you, too."

Neither moved. Neither said a word. And then Draco took the two steps necessary to reach her and caught her lips in a bruising kiss, a kiss to mark her as his. What he could not say with words, he said with his actions, with the way he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him. Hermione had relaxed into him, giving herself to him freely. She was no longer cold.

He broke the kiss, but not the contact. He kept his arms around her and leaned his forehead on hers, closing his eyes. A slow grin blossomed on Hermione's lips.

"Do you really love me?" she asked, shyly, quietly.

"Yes, Hermione Granger, I love you," he whispered into her ear. And then he captured her mouth again in a possessive kiss.

Finally, he pulled away from her. "We need to get downstairs. I don't want them all over my house. I would prefer to take the normal way down, if you don't mind. Not that your ladder was anything to balk at."

Hermione allowed herself to be led to the little staircase in the corner of the building. Water dripped down their bodies in rivulets, making puddles along the way. At the bottom of the staircase, Draco stopped her.

"I'm sorry about Pansy," he apologized, running a hand through his sopping wet hair. "Yes, she and I dated when we were at Hogwarts, but we don't have any feelings for each other. She was actually telling me about her fiancé. They just got engaged. She kissed me because… well… like I said, she's like my sister. We're affectionate, but there's nothing sexual about our relationship."

Hermione nodded. She was overwhelmed with so many emotions that she didn't know what to think or feel at that moment. Draco pulled her close again, kissing her temple.

"I do love you," he said quietly.

"I love you, too," she said.

They stood there for a moment before a crash alerted them both.