A/N: Okay, I'm trying to update regularly but problem is, there's so much going on, I've only written until Chapter 20 and I always like to keep few chapters for backup in case I got this major writer's block or something. Now that the exam is over, I COULD type the next few chapters but there's like 2 more weeks for my mid-term exam and I'm in charge of a play in my school, and the fact of keeping you all waiting really doesn't comfort me much. Again, I'm really sorry if you think I'm slacking off in updating my sotries!

NOTICE: THIS STORY WILL NO LONGER BE CALLED 'IT'S ALL ABOUT THE LOVE'. I'M CHANGING IT TO 'THIS THING CALLED LOVE' AND PLEASE BE INFORMED. THE CHANGE WILL TAKE PLACE IN ONE WEEK STARTING FROM THE 11TH APRIL (PACIFIC TIME).

Unsuspected Threat

1st March 2005

Hermione Granger

"Honey, you're sure you're okay?" I asked Draco for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day.

We were on our way to our motel in Lake Tahoe. Kelly said that we were going to play snow sports later. So, as I sat here, asking the same question for the hundredth time, Draco gave me the same answer for the hundredth time, "I'm fine."

I placed a hand on my forehead and sighed. It was still a long way to Lake Tahoe from San Francisco. Kelly said it was estimated that we'd reach there in four hours time. I sighed again. We arrived in San Francisco at 8am. Kelly and Chester decided to make this whole vacation fun by driving all the way to Lake Tahoe. I rubbed my eyes, wanting to get some sleep. It was a good thing we were driving a caravan so that there's a bed for us to sleep on.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to get some rest, alright?" I told my parents.

"Draco, coming?" I asked Draco then.

He immediately stood up and followed me to a bedroom nearby. He shut the door and looked at me. He came towards me and placed his hands on my waist. He was so close I could hear his heart beating. His lips drew nearer and my heart pounded in excitement! He drew me closer and our lips met. He asked for entry and I gave in, feeling the warmth of his tongue. I didn't know he was such a good kisser! I thought. The thought gave me a giggle. And just as Draco pushed me onto the bed, the door sprang open and we both stopped in our actions.

"Can I help you?" I heard Draco say coolly.

Draco was on top of me so he could see the person clearly, whereas me, being under him, it wasn't a good spot, really. All I could see was Draco, so I pushed Draco slightly and he got off me. Then I could see the person who had opened the door. It was Derek.

"Derek? What are you doing here?" I asked before he could say anything.

"Um, sorry. Bad time? I just wanted to tell you that…um… your - um - Mom was looking for you," Derek stuttered.

"What?" Draco and I asked in union.

"Your Mom's looking for you," Derek said, more confident this time.

"Draco, if you need me, I'll be outside," I whispered as he planted a kiss on my lips.

"Yeah," Draco mumbled.

I couldn't help seeing the glare he shot Derek. I exited the room. I could hear Adrienne and Michelle giggling in the next room. I spotted Mom and Dad in the living room. I smiled seeing the sight in front of me.

"Mom, you're looking for me?" I asked.

"No, why would I? I saw you with Draco, and I didn't want to disturb you," Mom said with a smile.

"But Derek said…"

"What is it, dear?" Dad asked in a stern tone.

"It's alright," I sighed, the idea coming to me now.

I went back to the room and found Draco was already asleep. I smiled as I took a step forward. I found it not hard to believe that it was him that I prayed for every night. He was my knight in shining amour. It was because of him I felt so alive. Myriad feelings played through my heart. I climbed onto the bed with him and fell asleep almost immediately. There was a small knock on the door around 11am. It was Kelly, who was giggling uncontrollably for no reason.

"I just wanted to wake you up as we're arriving in an hour's time. Sorry to disturb," Kelly blurted out and closed the door before her giggles were heard outside.

"Weird case of giggling disease," Draco muttered and it was our turn to giggle.

"Get up," I ordered.

"I am; I want to take a shower. Coming?" Draco asked with a twisted grin.

"No…not now. Besides, even if I were to have a shower, it wouldn't be with you," I replied laughing as I threw him a towel.

He poked his tongue out and left. I sat on the bed smiling to myself. Draco entered a few moments later, with just a towel around his waist. His body was glistering with droplets of water. His hair looking a bit darker and the whole effect made him look hot! He picked out his clothes and made to change into them.

"Can I have some privacy, please?" Draco asked in a fake sweet tone.

"All of a sudden you're a prude?" I joked back.

"Means you want me to dress in front of you?" he asked in a sly tone as he playfully tried to pull his towel off.

"No!" I said as I ran for the door.

I slammed the door with a laugh. Kelly was walking past me and whispered, "Had a fun time, Haley?"

"Not really, it includes a lot of giggling," I said, catching my breath as I joined Kelly at the small living room.

With Mom and Dad on the sofa, Adrienne and Michelle on the floor and Chester at the small table, the whole room seemed smaller. Adrienne and Michelle were having a slight argument while Mom was knitting a sweater. Dad was reading magazines and Chester is using his laptop. I followed behind Kelly into the driver's compartment. Two chairs were there facing a large windscreen. Lots of small buttons were on the table in front of them. Kelly sat on the chair and motioned me to do so too.

"So, Haley, Draco's studying business?" Kelly asked.

"Taking over family business is more like it," I corrected.

"So, he's inheriting everything?"

"I never mentioned that he has a sister. But yes, he inherited money, although he insisted that he and his sister split half of the fortune," I explained.

"Well, I guess you're ready to go down now?" Kelly said, rising up from her seat.

"I'll just call Draco, you guys go ahead," I said, smiling.

I walked towards the room but there was no need to walk very far. Draco was already outside facing Derek, both glaring at each other.

"Draco… what's going on here?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just having a little chat with Derek," Draco replied through gritted teeth.

He walked past me without a word. I shrugged and followed suit. Maybe I'm just thinking immaturely, but there's something going on with Draco and Derek! I walked towards the door and opened it. I inhaled a large breath of cool breezy air. It was a bit cold and I shivered. It was around noon so it wasn't really supposed to be cold. Kelly told us that we would be having lunch. I looked around to find myself facing Lakeside Inn & Casino.

"Is this where we're staying?" I asked out loud.

"Yeah, listen, we're going to Heavenly -" Chester started.

"Where?" I asked cutting his words.

"Heavenly, it's a ski resort. So anyway, we're going there about 2pm and I'm going to rent our ski equipment. You should come along," Chester told me.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Hey man, Draco! You're skiing or boarding?" Chester asked Draco who was talking to a giggling Kelly.

"Uh -"

"Boarding," I answered for him.

Without a word, I followed Mom and Dad into the place, hoping to find a restaurant. Draco was hugging me as I was shivering due to the cold. It wasn't as if it was really cold but I was wearing a knee length skirt and if the wind blew by, it really gave me the shivers. I felt eyes on me; I turned around to find no one looking at me. But I could've sworn I saw Derek's eye flick before chatting with Chester.

"Something the matter?" Draco asked.

"Nothing… hey, have you figured out how you're going to board later?" I asked him.

"Board?"

"Snowboarding. I'm pretty sure it's your first time," I told him.

"Yeah, is it the one where you stand on two thin sticks and go down the mountain?" Draco asked.

"No, that's skiing," I informed. "Snowboarding is the one where both your legs are on a board, and you go down the mountain. Your body needs to be balanced."

"Potter stood on his broom during our first year didn't he? Or was it the second year?" Draco asked again.

"I think it was second year…the one he was up against you?" I told him, screwing up my forehead, trying to remember when it was that the broom incident happened.

"Anyway, he had good balancing skills," Draco said.

"Why are we talking about him anyway? You figure out a way to balance on a board before 2pm today. It's not easy for a first timer to learn in just an hour," I told him.

"You don't suppose there's a Balancing Charm do you, Miss Know-It-All?" Draco teased.

"There are some things magic can't help you with! This happens to be one of it!" I exclaimed to Draco.

We reached the restaurant and were seated at a table. Draco pulled the chair for me and I smiled. As we ordered our food, I could hear tapping noises.

"Draco, stop tapping," I shushed him.

"I'm not doing anything," he said snappishly.

"Draco!"

"I'm not doing anything," he replied before I could finish my sentence.

"Isn't that an owl tapping that window?" I said, annoyed.

Draco turned around to see a rather handsome owl, tapping the window.

"Merlin, its Storm!" Draco whispered.

"What are you waiting for?" I rushed him.

"I know what I'm doing, Hermione. You're having mood swings," he said, rather knowingly.

"I'm not having mood swings, and are you just going to let that owl stay outside in the cold?" I snapped.

"And what am I supposed to say? 'Sorry everyone, but an owl is here with a letter addressed to me,' is that what you want me to say?" he shot back.

I let out a groan and shot him a dirty look. I said loudly, "Rather stuffy here, isn't it? I'm going to get some air. Draco, come along!" I said, pulling his hands with such force that he jerked forwards.

We walked onto a balcony and Draco whistled. Immediately, the owl soared to him. Draco and I both offered our hands for the owl to rest but the owl chose to rest on Draco's arm. I threw the owl a very dirty look. Am I having mood swings? Maybe a little…I thought. As Draco untied the letter with a smirk, I got a strange feeling he knew what I was thinking.

"Told you, you were having mood swings," he said, smirking.

"Hey, a little privacy please!" I snapped, referring to my thoughts.

"The owl won't rest on your arm, Hermione. He's my owl and he's trained not to rest on anyone's arm but mine," Draco informed.

"Whatever, what does the letter say?" I asked, changing the subject.

Draco took a brief look and stuffed it into his pocket. He mumbled to me, "Just a little family matter."

Still not convinced, we went back to the table to see our food already served. Picking up a fork, I took a bite out of my lasagne, savouring its taste in my mouth. Draco was already started on his risotto. I stared at the risotto in disgust. Why anyone would fancy wet rice with flavouring? Ew…

"Ok, and that's the last one, right?" Chester said, heaving snowboards off the back of our van.

"Yeah, one for each. Let's go snowboarding!" Kelly said happily.

I glanced over to Draco. Bless him; he must have butterflies in his stomach by now.

"Draco, its okay if you don't know how to board. Everyone falls their first time," I said, trying whatever way to bring down his anxiety a bit.

"Not me," he snapped.

I sighed and trouped behind Kelly and the rest. We reached Heavenly Ski Resort with the van. Everyone pulled their boards and went for the slopes. Draco lingered behind. I practically had to drag him along. Looking at the slopes, I decided not to take Draco up the lifts first.

"Okay, straighten up, balance your body," I said to Draco for the hundredth time that day.

As I watched, Draco attempted to stand up and fell again. I sighed.

"Maybe I should just place a spell on me so that I weigh an ounce; that way, I can balance better," Draco suggested grumpily as I helped him up.

"No magic, remember?" I reminded him.

Draco merely shrugged.

"Haley!" a voice called behind me.

"Hey, Derek," I replied, smiling at him.

"Draco, my man, how's your snowboarding lessons going?" Derek called over, smirking.

Draco narrowed his eyes and growled. He watched as Derek placed his board on the snow, stepped on it and slid down the snow easily. I tried to calm Draco down and mentally reminded myself not to ruffle Draco's ego.

"Okay, come on. I think you've got the basics. I'm taking you to the lifts," I said, pulling Draco up.

Draco followed bitterly.

"No!" I partially screamed as Draco fell flat on the snow with a loud thud.

"Ouch! That'll leave a mark," I exclaimed with a sigh, closing my eyes, not bearing to look.

"Please…. Please… please…" Draco begged.

"Draco, it will look suspicious if you can snowboard all of the sudden. So no magic; bear with me."

Draco gave me one of those puppy dog eyes. I sighed.

"You got to stand up when you're going down, you don't want to worry about falling," I told him and I helped him up and pushed him down.

"Haley!" Kelly called, stopping perfectly next to me. "How's it going?"

"Trust me, I feel like killing myself when I push him down the slopes," I said sadly.

"He seems pretty fine to me," Kelly said, though I could see right through her eyes she was lying.

"That man is taken, but if you're applying to be his snowboarding coach, be my guest," I joked to Kelly.

She shared a sigh and boarded all the way down, calling to Draco and making him lose his focus. Another loud thud and I had to close my eyes again.

"Merlin, save me," I pleaded loudly.

After a few runs, Draco finally learned the basics. He was finally smiling. I grinned looking at his face.

"Hermione, I've done it! I managed the whole way down without falling!" Draco said happily to me.

"Yeah, in what, two hours? And it's not even the peak yet," Derek teased.

"Oh give it a break. Draco's just learning," I laughed.

I stepped onto my board and slid down. Turning behind, I saw Draco, talking to Derek. By the look on Draco's face, he wasn't being really friendly with Derek. I sighed.

"I'm glad that's over," I sighed as I throw myself onto the hotel's bed.

"Me too," Draco said, joining me.

"What did you say to Derek?" I asked him, remembering the incident on the slopes.

"A lot," Draco answered.

"He really wasn't happy about it. He hasn't uttered a single word since," I told Draco.

"He should've shut up from the beginning, right?"

"Boys," I muttered.

Checking the clock on the table, it was almost six. I stood up.

"Draco, you might want to soak in hot water. It helps with the aching," I advised and started to fill up the tub.

I heard a groan coming from the room which clearly stated all Draco wanted to do now was sleep.

"The tub's ready!" I called about five minutes later.

Draco came in the bathroom grumbling. He stripped naked and entered the tub.

"Care to join?" he asked like a little kid wanting candy.

I laughed and stripped my clothes off. I entered the tub slowly; it wasn't made for two people. Throughout the whole time, many giggles were heard. The occasional splashing of water's no surprise; so was the sound of moans and more giggling.

Chester came pounding on our door when we weren't at dinner as promised. I checked the clock and was surprised to find it was already seven. Dressing at top speed, we made our way down for dinner. The only thing anyone could talk about that day was snowboarding. Chester kept debating with Kelly about correct ways of stopping and Chester also had an annoying habit of giving Draco advice. Derek was silent all along. Draco kept glancing toward Derek and smirking. Kelly also had an irritating tendency of staring at Draco and me, then retreated back to her food, sniggering. Michelle and Adrienne were also giggling. The worse thing was when Michelle asked me all of a sudden, "Where do babies come from?" It didn't take long for the whole table to burst out laughing. Mom and Dad who didn't snowboard with us talked about their day going snowmobiling. Mom kept describing various sceneries to us and once, I even had to tell her that she had already told us about the same scenery three times. Otherwise, dinner went pretty well, with the exception of Derek. He was sulking for some reason which didn't take long to solve.

"Draco, what did you tell Derek earlier today?" I asked once we were back in our room.

"You really want to know what I said to him?" Draco asked, pushing me onto the bed, looking smug.

"Yes, I do."

"I told him to stay the hell away from my fiancé," Draco answered as he lowered his lips to mine.

NOTICE: THE TITLE WILL CHANGE TO 'THIS THING CALLED LOVE' ONE WEEK FROM THE 11TH APRIL (PACIFIC TIME). PLEASE BE INFORMED.

A/N: I like a lot of things, including getting reviews hint hint. Well, to tired to really say anything. Made some last minute modification, all I want and need is sleep. Thanks for those who reviewed! Thanks a million! Updating so early is is a token of appreciation from me to those who reviewed! Night (Well, at least for me!). And I just cut four inches of my hair...it's really short now...slightly below the shoulder, so you could imagine how long it used to be... Bye...

L.O.L (Lot's of Love)
Ashley