A/N: Hello readers, sorry I kept you waiting but here it is. I won't take long so that you can go on and read but I want to say thanks again for reviews. I hope I'm not letting you down and I'll try not to but I'm going to write this story the way I want to and I'm sorry if you might (or might not) be disappointed by any of the outcome. (But I swear it'll be good (I hope)) lol.

Disclaimer: Own nothing but plot.

It was Saturday night and Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table eating her dinner. She was about to start on her treacle tart when Hannah came over to say hi.

"How are you, Hermione?" Hannah asked as she seated herself across the table.

"Thank Merlin I still have someone who cares." Hermione answered, sounding distant. "I'm ok, Hannie."

"What does that mean?"

Hermione sighed, "Nothing."

Nothing, Hannah repeated in her mind. Whenever Hermione pretended nothing was wrong, Hannah always knew how to get it out of her without prodding.

"Ok." Hannah said carelessly, not caring.

After a while, with 'casual' looks over at Hannah, 'casually' waiting for her to ask, Hermione gave in.

"Ok." She said at last, "Today felt really strange."

Hannah smiled triumphantly before speaking, "What do you mean?"

"I haven't seen neither Ron or Harry. They were gone all morning. Someone told me they went to visit Hagrid but when I got there, Hagrid told me they'd just left. And then I didn't see them at all during lunch. I doubt they were in the library. I asked whether they might have gone flying or something, but Dean told me that they're brooms were upstairs. I just feel..." Hermione trailed off.

"You just feel..."

"I just have this feeling like they were purposely avoiding me today." Hermione finally confessed.

"Nonsense." Hannah assured Hermione, "Why would they do that? Did you guys have a fight?"

"No - " Hermione thought about it. She remembered the way Harry simply nodded at them and they way he talked – or didn't talk, on their way back from the kitchen. "Well...there might be something, but I don't know what it is. I don't reckon they're angry with me. I don't think I've done anything. I don't remember any fight."

"Maybe you should go talk to them." Hannah suggested.

"How can I? I don't know where they are and it doesn't look like they want to have a heart to heart with me."

"You guys have to get it over and done with at some point."

"I know but why do I always have to do it? I'm always the one who's worried whether they're upset or not."

"They're guys. You know they're hopeless."

Hermione paused momentarily before asking, "Do you think..."

"No." Hannah answered her unfinished question. She already knew what Hermione was talking about.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked quickly.

"You didn't tell them did you? They can't exactly get mad at you for simply thinking about certain things." Clearly Hannah had no idea about Hermione's recent encounters with the young Slytherin. At Hannah's words, Hermione looked at her guiltily. It took a while for Hannah to figure it out (Hermione made her swear not to speak of it to another soul, which Hannah agreed to sincerely), when she did, she was surprised, then excited, then giggly (Hermione had to tell Hannah to hush up) and then concerned.

"Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"But Hannah, just a minute ago you were 'happy' for me."

"Yes and I am. Malfoy is a great catch. I mean just look at him. But a relationship is more than looking good together."

"I know that."

"And I'm just saying that you should be careful. You and him have a past. And your best friends wouldn't exactly welcome the idea of you and him being together. I mean just imagine going up to them saying you've been snogging the slime ball."

"Hannah!" Hermione slapped her on the arm.

"What! I'm sure you've kissed." She said and then added, "in fact, you've probably done more than that already - "

"Hannah!" Hermione exclaimed, "We haven't done anything! You know I'm not like that."

"But you've kissed right? I mean what's the point of having him all to yourself when half the population of this castle wants to get in his pants if you can't even snog him."

As Hannah said this, Hermione had to fight the blush that was threatening to expose itself to the rest of the room.

"What I want to know is..." Hannah continued when Hermione cut her off.

"...is whether Harry or Ron know about it."

Hannah thought for a good minute – the longest minute Hermione ever endured. "No, I don't think they know."

Even though Hermione knew that Hannah could never truly know whether the boys knew, her answer still comforted her.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course not, but just think about it. If they knew, especially Ron, do you think Malfoy would still be alive?"

"Good point."

Both girls laughed, the first for Hermione of the day. "I didn't get to finish my question. What I really want to know is... how good a kisser is he?" Hannah asked with a wink.

And so for the rest of the meal, Hermione spent it telling Hannah details but not too much. Just enough to satisfy her friend.

The day for Hermione was certainly going down the wrong tube until Hannah brightened her day. She couldn't quite remember just what she told her friend about her new 'beau', they talked for over an hour. Hermione confessed feelings and recalled enough about that fateful night. Hermione had no problem revealing that much information to Hannah. First, she trusted her. And second, she had to tell someone or she would've gone insane.

So her day when slightly up from there but it didn't erase all the uneasiness Hermione had been feeling until early that evening.

It was nearly eight thirty and Hermione had been waiting at the Astronomy Tower for over five minutes. If this had been their first date, she would have been terrified, getting the idea that Draco had ditched her. However, Hermione gave herself credit for knowing Draco enough to know he wouldn't. She was rubbing her arms for the faint chill she felt. Hermione performed a warming charm around the Tower when she came in, enabling her to wear clothes other than a thick jacket, a thick sweater with matching gloves and a hat. Tonight, she picked her attire carefully, making sure she looked good. Even though her outfit was not over done, she admitted that she looked fairly pretty.

She was wearing a past the knee, plain pink skirt that had a white, shawl, see-though type of fabric over it, giving the edges a wavy look. Her halter-top was simply white but the fabric was such soft cotton that it made you warm and want to cuddle. She was not accessorizing any jewelry either, save for a silver bracelet. Her hair was wavy and was put up in a lose bun, a few tresses framing her face and caressing the back of her neck.

She was mumbling to herself about how late Draco was and how 'damned' freezing it was when she slowly turned around and gave out a sharp gasp.

"Draco!" she shrieked, "don't scare me like that."

But Draco didn't answer. Instead, he simply stood there by the door, staring at her with a look of tender and wonder in his eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Hermione asked innocently, looking behind her to check what it was that captivated his attention. It took a few more head turns and confused looks before she finally realized that it was her.

She blushed as he slowly smiled, walking toward her. "You look beautiful," he said, cupping her face gently and bringing his face closer to hers. "Sorry, I'm late." He said before kissing her on the lips.

Their lip-lock lasted a good several minutes before Draco pulled away, just as breathless as her. Draco sighed out loud, saying jokingly, "Well, now that that's done. Let's move on shall we?"

Hermione slapped him on the arm, getting an 'Ow' from Draco.

"Ok. Here." Draco said, handing Hermione a handkerchief, "Put this on."

She eyed it suspiciously, "Why?"

"Because it wouldn't be a surprise if you see me do it."

"This was supposed to be a surprise?" she asked, "It's your fault you were late."

"Yes. I'm sorry about that." He explained, "Professor Binns stopped me on my way here. He wanted to discuss my essay report."

"What about it?"

He smirked, "He told me it was the best essay he'd ever read."

"Has he ever read any of mine?" she asked indignantly.

"Look, we aren't here to discuss school. Now put that on, good woman, and let me do my job." He said, ending their chitchat.

"Ok, Ok." Hermione said, putting her hands up. As the material covered her vision of the room, she heard distant mumbles and the swishing of the wand.

She was about to remark on his 'slowness' when Draco called, "Ok, it's done." He moved behind her, "Let me help you with that."

When Draco uncovered her eyes, it was the most romantic scenery Hermione had ever seen. All of the Astronomy Tower was decorated. He'd hung thin, snow-white curtains along the rim of the ceiling as they cascaded down, touching the floor lightly. The floor was blanketed by pink, red and white rose petals, leading to a beautiful table on the other side. It, too, was decorated with pink and white materials, with two dinner sets already ready.

Hermione took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Draco, it's...beautiful."

She turned to him to find he was watching her every move, every reaction. "Yeah, it is." And she noticed he was looking directly at her as he spoke.

Hermione smiled lightly. Even though the scene was something that would make all girls swoon and probably even cry, but she found the moment to be quite serious. Draco did something very significant, for their relationship and for anyone else's. He had done this for her when he likely has never done it for anyone. He's showing that he cares and is quite committed to the relationship, and this understanding made Hermione almost teary because of the fact that she was truly developing deep feelings for the boy standing in front of her.

Hermione gazed up at him then leaned forward; catching his gentle lips and kissing him with the passion he fluently ignited in her. She was trying to infuse all the emotions she was feeling into their embrace. The appreciation and the sweetness of what he'd done.

When she pulled back, he said, "I take it that you like it."

"Yes, I love it." she laughed, "Thank you."

"My pleasure." Draco said, bending down to kiss the tip of her nose. He took her hand, intertwining their fingers together. He then led her to the table and just as a gentleman would, moved her chair so she could sit properly.

For almost two hours, Draco and Hermione talked easily about their day, Hermione confessing about her worries about Harry, and Draco telling her about his father's disappointment in his last letter.

"What was he disappointed about?" Hermione asked, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"I lost the last Quidditch Game," he explained, "He's probably right, I should've trained more."

"You lost the game?" she repeated, "You didn't lose the game. It's your bloody chasers who weren't doing their job. They were too busy bullying that poor Hufflepuff Seeker. Why should you get blamed for something you couldn't help?"

Draco looked at her from across the table, the soft flame of the candles and the moonlight made her skin glow like a pearl and in an instant, his breath got caught in his throat. He smiled slowly.

"Thanks for your concern, but what's done is done. I explained it to him and I think in the end he understood."

Hermione simply nodded as though she didn't believe him. After a while though, when she kept quite, Draco asked, "Is something the matter?"

"There's just something I want to say," Hermione started hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"I don't think I should. You might get angry."

"I promise I won't. But I think it's a bit too late to back off now."

Hermione finally lifted her head and gazed into his eyes, "I think your father is rotten." She blurted.

Instead of being angry though, Draco lifted his eyebrows. "Rotten?"

"Yes. I think he's foul and completely wrong. He doesn't treat you well. He's always expecting too much. He puts this ridiculous amount of pressure on you, always sending you letters telling you how disappointed he'd be if you fail. And then when you do accomplish it, it's never good enough." Hermione took a deep breath; she'd already started, why stop now. "He absolutely doesn't see the potential and talent in you because he's too busy criticizing and putting you down to just stop and see just how proud he should be, because you deserve to be praised. It's really incredible how much you've achieved."

Hermione didn't mean to lay all that on top of Draco so soon but she had strong feelings towards his father and she just couldn't suppress it any longer. During their time together, Hermione has come to admire Draco. He was determined, easily intrigued, intelligent and so ambitious. Qualities that she believes are slowly getting lost in their generation. Teenagers are now more focused in other things, like partying, looking good and being 'cool'. This is one of the many ways that shows just how similar the wizarding world is to the muggle world. The people are the same in a lot of ways.

When she looked back at him to see his reaction, she found that he was no longer sitting down but instead, kneeling beside her with one arm on the back of the chair and the other on the table.

"Draco-" she started, but he put a finger to her lips, took her hand, lifted her off the seat and pressed her against him warmly. "Draco," she said again.

"Ssh...I want to dance." He answered quietly.

"There isn't any music," she protested in a whisper.

"There is. Listen."

Hermione closed her eyes, straining to hear the muted music he was talking about but there was nothing. And then she realized that maybe it was just Draco's way of being romantic and having no problem with that, she let him turn her in slow circles, his hand occasionally running up and down her back in a comforting rhythm.

After a few 'songs', Draco said, "I have an idea. Let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously, "Is there another surprise?"

"I guess you could call it that. I only thought of it now, though." He said, and then he said aloud, "Accio, broom." Immediately, Draco's broom came zooming in, stopping in mid air right in front of him. "Ok, now I have clear this up." He took his wand out and raised it above his shoulders. With one final glance to Hermione, who nodded, he cleaned up the tower with one stroke.

"Come here, get on." He said, offering his hand to Hermione.

They flew out of the tower, the cold, harsh winter wind hitting their faces. They were in the air for a few minutes before Draco landed gracefully beside the lake.

"What are we doing here?" Hermione asked with stuttering teeth, "Its too cold to be out here."

"I know. That's why we're going to get warmed up." Draco responded easily.

"Warmed up? How are we going to warm up? In the snow?" she cried incredulously, "Draco, I'm freezing!"

"You have got some mouth on you, you know that."

"Draco, this is no time to tease me. I hate the cold."

"I know. Just be patient. I just have to get it ready."

Hermione huffed. "Patience is not one of my virtues." She said warningly, as she watched Draco take out his wand once more, wave it on the lake's surface, mumbling something she couldn't hear. When he was done, he turned to her with a smile, "Done. Now, get your swimsuit on." He instructed.

Her jaw dropped. "Swimming? We're going to swim? Do you think practically drowning ourselves in ice-cold water and freezing to death is romantic? Because it isn't!"

"Correction. It's a warm lake. I used a warming charm for liquids. Its not cold anymore."

She eyed him suspiciously, "But still-"

"C'mon Hermione. Have you ever gone swimming at night? Its great fun, really." He smiled cheekily, so naturally, Hermione couldn't help but smile, too.

"Fine. I still don't know about this but...it doesn't hurt to try, I suppose." Giving in, she conjured up a two-piece bathing suit (when she magicked it, she was already wearing it inside, so all she had to do was take her outside clothes, much to Draco's bad luck).

It was plain and simply black but it looked incredibly alluring on Hermione, and she didn't seem to realize just how gorgeous she was, making her even more beautiful to Draco. Just seeing her taking her skirt off in front if him confirmed Draco just how good an idea this was.

Taking his own clothes off, Draco was sporting green boxer shorts. Typical, Hermione thought, laughing to herself before raising her eyes to his body. And almost instantly, she found her pulse quickening and her breath hitching. This was the first time she'd seen him shirtless and he had one damn good-looking body. It was definitely built, just how she imagined. It was muscular with strong arms, great abs and narrow waist. He had the same body tone as Harry, since they both play Quidditch, but Hermione doesn't remember ever feeling what she was feeling now when she saw Harry shirtless. Draco was different.

"Like what you see?" he asked with an obvious smirk, noticing the way her eyes literally glued to him.

She blushed; she realized she did that a lot with him. "So what if I do? I mean it's good that I do, right? Its better than hating." She answered, trying to compose herself.

He moved to her, encircling her body with his warmth, "I like what I see, too. I like it a lot." He whispered, his low, husky voice making her tremble despite the cold.

"Maybe we should get in already," she suggested.

"Good idea." And so they stepped in and to Hermione's slight shock and pleasure, it was warm. It was almost like getting in a hot tub. It was relaxing and soothing.

When Hermione got into the deeper end, she felt Draco behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist from the back, nuzzling the skin that her up do exposed. She turned around, resting her arms lightly on his shoulders, letting him kiss her full on the lips.

It was one of the coldest days of the year, yet Hermione had never felt so hot. The moon and the lake and, of course, Draco, just made Hermione think of things she'd never done before. Sure, she's sixteen and yes, she has had the occasional dreams and forbidden thoughts, but it never occurred to her that she would actually want to do them anytime soon.

That was before Draco. And it wasn't only Hermione who lately had been thinking of certain, particular things. Seeing Hermione dressed in barely anything really made it difficult for Draco to control himself. This is the time when he really cursed hormones. The only things keeping him from taking Hermione were: he respected her and knew she wasn't ready. Also, he didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize what they already had. And sometimes, he just couldn't help but be content and satisfied with how far they'd already gone. By no means, it wasn't as far as Draco had gotten with other girls, but he knew he was happy with simply kissing and cuddling with her. Although, at times like these, he sure wished he could do more.

When they pulled apart, they were both breathless and with grins on their faces.

"This was a good idea," Hermione admitted.

"Why are you whispering?" he whispered back teasingly.

She giggled, "I don't know. Talking out loud doesn't seem necessary."

For a long time, they simply talked, laughed, splashed water and bathed together, enjoying the warmth of the lake and the pleasant scene of the tress, night birds and the shining moon.

At some time before midnight, they decided to head back to the castle, and so after gathering their things, giving back the lake its natural coldness, they started off.

"Hermione?" Draco called suddenly.

She turned to see that he'd stopped walking. They were right by the Great Hall, they were confident nobody would be around so they decided to walk together. Besides, Draco wouldn't let her wander around all by herself at this time of night.

"Yes?" she asked. Sensing his hesitancy, she moved to him and reached for his hand. "What's the matter?"

He shrugged, "I was just wondering if you wanted to go somewhere else."

"Tonight?" she asked, "It's a bit late, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah, of course. I was just thinking."

"No," she answered quickly. "It's isn't that late. Everybody would be sleeping anyway. No one would know I was gone right?"

He smiled, "Ok. Lets go." He said, heading off another direction.

"Where are we going?"

He turned his handsome face to her and said with a wink, "You're favorite place." Then he continued on walking ahead of her.

She paused momentarily, "The library?" she asked to no one in particular. "Why are we going to the library?"

"Ron, we can't keep avoiding Hermione like this."

"Sure we can. It's easy. We just don't have to be in the Great Hall at the same time as her. We won't go into the library anymore but that's ok because we never used to go there anyway. And just be up in the morning before her."

Harry sighed. It was nearly midnight and he and Ron had been up for quite a while discussing the terrible news that Harry didn't fancy breaking to him. When Harry finally revealed the scene he'd walked in on, exactly what he saw, to his red haired friend, Ron's initial reaction was that Malfoy had put a spell on Hermione.

"That's why she's so damn happy all the time. He probably brainwashed her or used the Imperius curse on her." But Harry assured Ron that even Malfoy couldn't or wouldn't do that. He also doubted that Malfoy ever cursed Hermione. "Why would he do that just to get to us but then keep it a secret. What's the point if we don't even know about it?" Harry said to Ron. And so, in the end, with much resistance, they concluded that Hermione, their better half, was in fact doing all this in her own will.

And so all day they've ignored Hermione. Hannah even went up to them to ask if there was a reason why they weren't talking. Harry didn't get to say anything because Ron rudely dismissed the girl telling her to mind her own bloody business.

"And what about during classes? We have almost every class with her."

"We'll sit away from her."

"Ron, I know you don't mean that."

"Yes I do, Harry. She brought this on herself." He replied angrily. "Just imagine! Her and that slimy, revolting, cold, fucking prick of an ass."

"Ron!"

"What, Harry! Are you defending him now?" Ron cried furiously, "Am I the only one who is still sane?"

"I am not defending Malfoy!" Harry said through gritted teeth, "He's exactly what you called him. But I'm not going to abandon one of my best friends, either."

"Harry, she's with him. She's god damned chosen his side. She's probably never liked us anyway..."

Harry walked straight up to Ron, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him harshly. "Hermione is our best friend." Harry said in a quite, vigorous voice.

This was the reason why Harry blamed himself for ever telling Ron. He knew exactly how he would react but in the end, he knew Ron had a right to know. He looked into Ron's eyes intently but he, apparently, was determined to avoid Harry's.

Staring down at the floor, Ron sighed. "I know...it's just difficult, Harry. After all he's done to us, all three of us, including her. How could she..." he trailed off, not being able to continue.

Harry nodded in understanding. "I know exactly what you mean."

"What do we do now?" Ron asked in despair.

"I honestly don't know."

"I'm not sure I can speak to her yet."

"That's reasonable. But she's still our friend. We have to talk to her. If we let this wreck our friendship then Malfoy will definitely get his satisfaction."

"I don't know how you can do it, Harry. You seem so controlled about all this."

"I'm not Ron, believe me." Harry said, letting his arms drop to his side. "But even after all this, I still..."

"Even after all this what?"

"I don't know what Hermione is thinking or why she's doing it in the first place. And it hurts like hell, knowing she's doing it behind our backs. But even after all this, I still care about her."

Ron looked up, "Blimey Harry, you almost sound like you actually -"

"I know," Harry said, cutting Ron off before he could continue. "But don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I do but like a sister."

"Yes, and that's how I think of her, too."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm sure. I know what I feel for Hermione."

"I don't think you do, mate. I see the way you look at her." Ron said softly.

"I look at her the way I've always looked at her."

"Exactly."

This time Harry straightened, "What are you talking about?"

Ron paused for a moment before saying, "You look at her with...I don't know, I don't want to get all sweet, but you look at her with such...adoration. You watch her so intently, as if there isn't anybody else in the room. You listen to her as if the things she has to say are the secrets of the world." Ron shook his head. "I can't explain it, you know me, I'm not good with words. But if you're ever on the sidelines watching the two of you, you'll see exactly what I mean."

"So what are you implying?" Harry asked, his heart beating fast.

"Maybe, Harry, just maybe you've fallen for our friend."
Aww...Harry has fallen for Hermione. I tried to keep them in character as best as I could and I hope I did. Harry was hardest because I think everyone knows how Ron would have taken it: badly (Of course, I tried to give Ron a little credit when he says that last thing b/c i think he's smarter than most of us assume). Well there ya go, c'mon you know it was bound to happen. I know it's very typical of a fic to have a love triangle but I'll try to be as original as I can. Well, now, what do you think is going to happen...will Harry tell Hermione? Will Hermione choose between her best friend and boyfriend? What will happen! Lol got carried away there...Pls review!! I always want to know how you guys are liking it. Alrighty, I'm gonna go now because my basement smells like stinky feet and I can't hold my breath any longer. See you next time!!