Chapter beta:Dark Akuma Hunter

Hermione's sleep was disturbed when there was a shift that resulted in a slight drop in the temperature. She groped about in her sleep, trying to find the source of warmth that disappeared. Her hands found a pillow, which was only slightly as warm, but had the same spicy smell to it. She clutched it to herself, determined to stay asleep. Through her closed eyelids she heard a soft chuckle, followed by a rustle and a click. She felt the breeze flow into the room and she hugged the blankets closer to herself, clenching her eyes tighter. There was a small thunk followed by a harsh screech.

"Give me minute Bubble, I didn't have anything ready, I was beginning to think you might not come until tomorrow." She heard Draco say, followed by footsteps. She heard the squeal of an old hinge and a clack that sounded like a cabinet opening and closing. All these sounds began to entice her interest. Opening an eye she watched as Draco gave an owl something that it gobbled up greedily. The owl was rather large with bright orange eyes, and was perched on the chair next to the study desk. After it finished its snack it stayed there, waiting to see if Draco would need its service before it left.

At the same time Draco was tearing through the package that the owl had dropped onto the desk. He discarded the accompanying letter onto the desk without reading it, focusing instead on the other contents of the package. He pulled out a mint colored cloth, shaking it out in front of him. The view of it was blocked by his body, but it was definitely a dress. He tossed it on the desk next to the letter then he pulled out a small item that she couldn't see at all, she just caught a glint of light before he stashed it into his pocket. He crumbled up the packaging paper and tossed it into the waste bin, giving attention to the letter at last. He read the paper quickly before folding it up and placing it into his back pocket. When he turned and noticed she had been watching he grabbed the mint dress off the desk and tossed it to her.

"Here, go get changed into a proper dress, you probably don't want to stay in that terrible towel thing any longer." He said with a slight blush at his creation. She caught the dress; the fabric was light chiffon with silver metallic thread. Even without putting it on she could tell it was lovely.

"I don't know," Hermione said with a playful hesitation, "Dobby seemed to really like the dress you made me, I even told him you would make him one for the holidays." He scoffed a bit as she said this, but she wasn't there to hear it as she had ducked into the bedroom to change.

It was a decent sized room with the same magnificent view of the lake. She hastily changed into her new dress. Other than being a bit tight in the chest area it fit her nicely. Looking into the mirror she saw that it was a dress that could easily be the dress of many girls' dreams. Along with the mint green chiffon material and the metallic silver threading, the dress had a defined waist, pretty little cap sleeves, flower embellishments-the whole lot. Normally Hermione wasn't one for all these things, especially together, but somehow on this dress it seemed to work. Hermione gave a quick twirl in front of the mirror before heading back to the main room.

"This dress is perfect, thank you!" She said, announcing her entrance into the room. Draco turned away from the desk where he had been sitting, reading the letter over again and writing a response. He looked at her over the top of his glasses, their eyes meeting for an instant and they both blushed. Hermione looked away first as he continued to stare at her. She heard him clear his throat before speaking.

"Here, put these on as well, they match and your feet won't be cold this way," He said while offering her a pair of mint green flats. She didn't remember seeing him pull them out of the package, but then again she still didn't know what he had in his pocket either. She walked across the room and took the shoes from him. The material was similar to that of the dress, but seemed a bit sturdier, however it was what covered the front of the shoe that attracted her immediate attention. What must be more than a hundred small diamonds covered the toe of each shoe, and knowing Draco Malfoy, they could indeed be very real.

"Don't you think these are a bit much?" she asked, hesitant to put them on. She sat on the couch, holding the shoes in her hands.

"No, not at all, they seem perfectly fine to me." He said casually, returning to his letter.

"Seriously?!" Hermione's screech caused the owl to turn and hiss at her, scolding her for being so loud.

"Yes, seriously, there is no need to be so shrill." Draco said, agreeing with the owl on the chair. He must have been finished writing the letter as he signed it with a flair then sealed it and handed it to the owl. "Take this letter to mother," He instructed the owl. When the owl cocked its head to the side in a gesture of confusion Draco sighed. "Mum, take this letter to mum. Can't you understand for just this once that when I instruct you to take something to mother that it is the same as when I say mum?" The owl clucked at Draco, as if laughing at him. "Bubble, just take the letter and you can rest!" Draco sighed once again as he shooed his owl out the window, closing just as the bird's tail feathers cleared the sill.

"Bubble?" Hermione asked with a small giggle. Draco groaned.

"The stupid bird you just met is my eagle owl Bubble. I named him that when I was young and it stuck. He is usually an intelligent creature, but sometimes I swear he is messing with me. Just put the shoes on," he said, taking the shoes from her and kneeling on the floor. Holding her feet one by one at her ankles he slipped the shoes on for her. I feel like Cinderella, she thought, only her prince charming wasn't wearing such endearing glasses. Once on, she stuck her feet out to admire her new shoes. Yes, just like Cinderella, they fit perfectly.

"Well, I think if we leave now we will make it just in time." Draco commented while standing.

"Leave? To where?" She looked to him in shock, she felt safe here and wasn't quite ready to leave just yet.

"To dinner in the Great Hall," He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He stopped midstride on his way to the stairs, "Oh, I almost forgot," He said nervously, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the small item from the package, but kept his fist closed about it so she still couldn't see what it was. Curiosity always got the best of her.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, her eyes straying back and forth from his hand to eyes.

"Remember my Muggle Studies homework you helped me with that first night? The one that you told me about the friendship bracelets muggles wear?" He spoke tentatively, waiting for her to respond before continuing. When she nodded he went on, "Well in the wizard world we do have something similar called a connectens circuli." She saw something flash quickly through his eyes, and it was gone before she could figure out what it was. "If we were to wear a set, I would be able to tell if you needed me; if we were to be in completely separate parts of the castle and you were hurt or being threatened, I would be notified and be able to find you right away." Always eager to learn new things about the wizard world, Hermione listened intently.

"How does this work?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Magic," He said with a grin, when she frowned he went on with a small explanation. "There are a few things that have to happen in order for this to work properly. You see, this is not a one way charm; it goes both ways, so both parties have to admit to a few requirements and be willing to put it on." He looked at her straight in the eye, unblinking as he took her hands in his. She could feel the warm press of metal in their hands as he asked her the first question, "Hermione Granger, would you be willing to wear this amulet of the Malfoy family?"

"Yes, I would," she replied breathlessly, her mind racing about all the possibilities in which it would be helpful, one of the main ones being that she wouldn't be trapped in this safe room as nice as it was.

"Good," He replied, "Do you concur that I, Draco Malfoy, have been able to provide all of the essential needs of life for you, and trust that I will continue to do so?" Hermione thought about this one for a moment, making a mental checklist of things he has done for her. He did provide food and water for her earlier when he asked Dobby to stock the kitchen and bring them lunch. He had provided her with clothing, first with the towel dress, and now with her new one. Shelter he provided in the form of the room they were currently in. On top of the basics he had also provided her with sanitation by the prefects' washroom, education with the Lower Library, and healthcare by tending to her wounds.

"Yes," she decided, "You have met them if not exceeded them." He let out a breath and went on with the next question.

"Now that we agree that I meet the requirements I must ask if you feel that you do and will continue to meet the other half. Hermione, do you feel like you nurture, support, and teach myself, along with those in need?" It was an odd question that had her furrowing her brows. What does he mean by all this? "Just answer the question Granger!" he said impatiently.

"I suppose I do that, I'm not entirely sure if that is a completely me thing or a Gryffindor thing…"she began when he interrupted.

"There is no 'I suppose' in this, only a 'yes, I do' or a 'no, I don't' will work here." His eyes captured hers as he spoke and she knew there was only one answer.

"Yes, I do."

With those words said a strong pulse of magic shot through her, followed by smaller waves that vibrated within her. She watched as he opened their hands, revealing the talisman that was made out of two snakes intertwined with one another. The snakes then did something she did not expect, with a sharp exclamation she yelped as one bit her only to slither up his wrist, wrapping itself around him. At the same time the other snake did the opposite, biting him and retreating to her, wrapping itself where until recently she had worn her watch. The snakes' eyes flashed before they went to rest about their wrists, accompanied by one final discharge of that magic tore through them. After a moment of shock she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You didn't warn me that it was going to bite me!" She grumbled while inspecting two small lesions on her fourth finger.

"Would you have gone through with this if I had told you?" He questioned, and begrudgingly she realized she would have.

"Still, a little warning would have been nice," She pouted.

"I'm sorry," He said, a slight touch of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke in an over exaggerated manner, "How is this? Oh, by the way, if this is successful it might bite, but just a little bit!" Dropping the voice he looked to her, "Better?"

"What do you mean if this worked? Why wouldn't it work? What would have happened if it didn't work?" She began to get more worked up over these what if's than the actual bite.

"There was a chance that it wouldn't work if you didn't trust me or had any leftover negative feelings towards me. If it didn't work nothing would have happened, it would have stayed dormant and I would have sent it home. But it did work and now we really must go into the Great Hall for dinner." He began to pull on her hand, leading her to the stairwell.

"Why would we have to go? We have food here," she said adamantly, pointing to the small kitchen.

"Hermione, please trust me," Draco said with a small trace of hurt in his voice, "you will be safe. I will enter the Great Hall with you, and we will leave together. No one can hurt you now. Now please, let's go eat." Hermione was still a bit doubtful, but allowed him to escort her to the Great Hall.

o0o

They entered the large room together a little late; everyone else had already been seated. When they walked in together they got many strange looks as he was still holding her hand, towing her into the room. He walked with her to her table, depositing her on the far side of Longbottom and next to Finnigan. Draco glared at Weasley, who quickly looked away. He looked about, intent on giving Potter the same treatment, only to find he was not there. He gave Hermione a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before heading off to his own table.

Sitting next to Blaise he began to pile food onto his plate. He wanted to remember a great meal to go along with what he considered a great day. Next to him Blaise angrily stabbed at the contents on his plate, shoving them into his mouth without grace. Around him the other Slytherins looked about, tittering to each other as they pointed from him to Hermione. Across the way from him Graham finally asked the question that many were whispering.

"What's gives Malfoy? Walking in here with her? Is there something we should all know about?" The Slytherin table became quite as they waited for an answer. Deciding it was for the best to let them know, Draco stood and pulled his sleeve back, exposing the silver snake that was about his wrist. There were several gasps from the table upon its sight. Pansy even shrieked before fleeing the room.

"She is under my protection from hence forth, and anyone who dares to harm her will feel my wrath. I will not explain myself to any of you more than I already have." This quieted half the table, but the other half doubled in their excited whispers. He sat back down and turned to Blaise, "Where is Potter?" he asked.

"Does your mother know?" Blaise ignored him, sending out his own query.

"Yes and no, now answer my question, where is Potter!" Draco watched as Blaise mutilated his meal between bites. "Blaise, this is important!" he urged.

"Whoever Potter was seeing recently dumped him." Blaise said, as if that answered everything.

"I don't see the relevance between that and his current location!" Draco snapped at him.

"Just because you were able to slap your Contegam Uxorem, the Res Hareditaria de Malfoy on your Gryffindor pet doesn't mean we all have had the same opportunity." Draco looked at Blaise, very confused at what Blaise was trying to say. Glancing to Hermione at the Gryffindor table he realized that Potter wasn't the only one missing.

"The Weasley girl? What does she have to do with Potter's location?" Draco seemed to answer his own question as he spoke it. "Oh, Blaise, I um, I'm sorry, I mean I kind of knew you fancied her." Blaise threw down his fork in anger.

"I was so stupid! I should have said something while I had the chance! I thought I would have more time than this! When Potter turned her down the other day I thought I would gradually do things my own way! But now that Potter's secret girlfriend has dumped him he decided to take her up on her offer! She should have said no! He made it clear she was not his first choice, and yet the moment things change for him she happily takes him!" Blaise pulled on his hair as he ranted.

"Did you try and stop her?" Draco questioned when he probably shouldn't have said anything more on the subject.

"Why? What would that do? She wanted him! She has no idea that I want her! She would probably laugh in my face had I tried! Forse ho perso il mio vero amore per sempre al laghetto feccia, tutto perché sto merda di pollo! " Blaise said though his misery, his language slipping into his childhood tongue. Draco couldn't help but to laugh at that last bit. "So now that I have admitted this to you, Draco, you must tell me how this," he said pointing to Draco's wrist, "happened. And tell me the truth."

"The truth?" Draco asked, "The truth is, long story short, she helped me with a Muggle Studies project on friendship bracelets, and later I gave her this, telling her it was the wizard equivalent." Blaise laughed at this and shook his head.

"Solo il mio amico poteva tirare fuori un matrimonio procedura guidata, senza la sposa, anche sapendo che è accaduto! Please tell me you didn't feed your mother that same story! I am surprised she would even send it to you if she had gotten that version!" Blaise was torn between his own grief at his loss and his mirth at his friend's conundrum.

"Of course not. I told her only what she needed to know, and as you know my mother dotes upon me so, and that my father does as she says. One may call me spoiled, but I'd rather say I turn situations to my advantage." Draco said, eating his meal with as much dignity as a person could have whilst saying he got what he wanted once again because he was a rotten brat.

"As I said before, solo il mio amico." Blaise had calmed down enough to eat like a normal person. "If only I had your luck, if only..." He sighed wistfully.

"And as you have known me to say before, I don't like to attribute to luck what I find lies only in ambition." They continued the rest of the meal in silence, Draco's eyes not leaving the Gryffindor table.

o0o

Hermione felt nervous the moment Draco left her. She almost felt she would feel better sitting with the Slytherins! Imagine that, a lion feeling more at home in the house of serpents than in its own den! But never the less she stayed at her table, safely between Neville and Seamus. She had noted Harry's absence almost immediately, and that gave her more courage to stay.

"Hermione," Neville said cautiously, "Why did you walk in holding hands with Malfoy?" Hermione really didn't feel ready for this, so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I fell!" Stupidstupidstupid! She mentally berated herself.

"Oh." He said at first, as if that should have been the obvious answer. After letting it sink in and seeing that it still didn't make much sense he tried again. "But that doesn't explain anything at all!"

"Like I said, I fell at the stairs and Malfoy was there, he caught me and made a comment about muggle feet not working like proper feet should. He then grabbed me saying he ought to make sure I make it to the Great Hall, least he be blamed for pushing me down the stairs!" She noticed she was talking really fast and made a conscious reminder to herself to enunciate more clearly the next time.

"That still doesn't add up quite right Hermione," Seamus butted in with his Irish brogue, "since when would Malfoy even be anywhere near nice to any of us Gryffindors?"

"You know he isn't all bad! You know as well as I do if it weren't for politics he and I would have been Heads together!" Hermione decided to pad her lies with a bit of truth. The school board felt it was best to pick Heads from neutral parties. "And they wouldn't even have suggested him if he hadn't grown up, now would they?"

"But that still doesn't explain your new dress and matching bracelets," Neville said, motioning to Draco who was proudly showing off his own. Hermione suddenly wished her perfect dress had long sleeves instead of the short cap sleeves that it did.

"Oh, this dress," She said, trying to sound innocent, "My mom sent to me as a birthday present, you know my birthday was not too long ago, and I just haven't had the chance to wear it until now." She said smiling, hoping he didn't ask about her extremely fancy footwear. "And as for these," She said in regard to the snake bracelet, "They are simply friendship bracelets; we have decided to try to help inter-house relations."

"Sure, Hermione, that's a friendship bracelet, to promote inter-house relationships," Neville said, emphasizing a few words. "Never mind, you would have told us if you had wanted us to know, it's none of our business." Neville and Seamus both went back to their meals, the tone in the air felt like she had somehow insulted them. And what was Neville trying to get at? While she was trying to puzzle that out she caught Ron working on getting her attention. At first she was going to just ignore him, but he persisted, even going as far as to toss a dinner roll at her head.

"What Ron!" She snapped at him as it bounced off.

"Sorry," He said sheepishly, "Not just for the roll hitting you, but for, well, for everything. In fact don't worry about doing my assignments, I'll either figure them out myself or fail."

"You can't just say sorry and think I will forgive you, I may never forgive you Ronald Weasley!" Her eyes began to sting with beginning of tears. "I would be happy if you were to never speak to me again!" she turned away, sincerely not wanting to speak to him again.

"Hermione," His voice came out all shaky, "I accept that what I have done is truly unforgivable, but I want you to hear what I have to say first." He waited for a response of any kind, but continued anyway when he received none. "After we, well, after you left and we came to Harry and I had an awful row. I hated myself for what we almost did to you, and what we did do. I just got so caught up in it all, so caught up in him. Something has been different about him since our first kiss." He lowered his voice at this part so no one would hear him, "He seemed to have everything all planned out, and it seemed great…well, not all of it, but I still went along with it.

"But after last night, I couldn't keep going with him; I didn't want to do it anymore. So I broke it off. We aren't whatever anymore. I'm just," He took in a deep breath to steady himself, "I'm just so confused. And sorry. So sorry, and I would take it all back if I could, but since I can't all I can do is make things right again." He looked down at the table for a moment before speaking again.

"You know it makes sense now, our failed grades! I thought it was odd that you might list the ill effects greasy hair would have on a potion. That's what tipped Snape off that we cheated. Apparently he has a spell that will return a parchment to blank so he can watch our thought process as we write. So even though it had been erased on the visible draft he still saw the comments. He gave us immediate T's, saying he should have been suspicious from the start when he thought that we weren't nearly smart enough to write papers like that. We didn't understand why you would write those comments, and Harry had been so mad….but you didn't write them, he did, didn't he?" Ron said, nodding towards Draco.

"Yes," She admitted, letting him know she had listened to his apologies and confessions. "He has been helping me. He still is." She looked across the room at him fondly, and the snake on her wrist gave a light and reassuring squeeze, just as he had when he left her earlier. "Thank you Ron, it takes a lot of courage for someone to apologize after they have done something wrong, and the greater the wrong the harder the apology. But I don't feel as though I am ready to forgive you. I'm not sure I ever will."

"Like I said, that's fair. I just wanted you to know …." He trailed off, not wanting to say it again, but also not sure what to say next. They sat in silence for a moment, not sure where to go from there.

"Hey," Hermione said to no one in particular, "Where is Ginny?"

"Not sure," Ron replied timidly, "I think she might either be in her dorm or the infirmary, said something about feeling sick to her stomach and left."

"Oh, well, I hope she is feeling better. In fact, I'm full, so I think I might go check on her," Hermione stood, taking her excuse to leave. The table was all types of awkward for her, and she'd had her fill of that for the night. Across the Hall Draco stood, following her across the hall and meeting her at the door on their way out.

oOo

Authors note: Pictures that inspired the dress, shoes and bracelet are posted on photobucket. Search for sneaky-teaky.