"What a rush!" Hermione said. Draco could tell from her voice that she was smiling. He couldn't find his own voice until they had reached the ground floor. Hermione stopped a few feet from the Great Hall entrance, still holding onto Draco's cloak sleeve.

"Hermione, that was…" Draco's vocabulary seemed to have dwindled away while he was in shock. "Wow…"

She let go of his sleeve, turned around and looked him straight on. Draco saw that some of the new fierce look in her eyes had toned down a little and some of the usual warmth had replaced it. She seemed very pleased with the way that the whole situation had gone.

"Well, it's what they deserved." she stated it like it was an absolute fact, (It kind of was.) "And I don't regret it in the least." She glanced down at her hand; which was still red from hitting Ron and Harry.

"How's your hand?" Draco asked. He wanted to take her hand and check it out for himself, but instead, he held back and put his hands in his pockets.

"Its still stinging, but nothing serious." she replied as she turned and flexed her hand, examining it.

"Well…" Draco took a small step closer to her, "I'm…proud that you stood your ground and put the two of them in their proper place." Hermione bashfully smiled at him. "Also, you have given everyone something to talk about."

"What are we talking about?" Luna asked as she walked out of the Great Hall. "Oh, Hermione, I was getting worried about you." she said as she walked over to where Draco and Hermione were standing. "I trust by your expressions that it went well?"

"Luna, you won't believe it! I actually slapped the both of them!" Hermione sounded as giddy as a young child that found their favorite wizard card in a pack of chocolate frogs.

As Draco, Hermione and Luna walked into the Great Hall together; Hermione excitedly recounted the story to Luna. Draco had to part ways with the girls and go to the Slytherin table. Hermione and Luna were in luck that the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables were next to each other.

While he walked to his House table, Draco watched Hermione, still very animatedly, tell Luna about what had happened as they sat at their respective tables, still close enough to talk. Draco also noticed some of the students pointing to Hermione and whispering to one another. He tried to not pay them any mind as he ate his lunch quickly.

After Draco and Hermione had finished their lunches in a rush, Luna joined them as they walked out to the courtyard. The bell was ringing, signaling the end of lunch and the beginning of the second break of the day. Luna was discussing a recent article that was in the Quibbler about ancient runes with Hermione. After all, she was studying and taking a class on the subject. As for Draco, he really didn't understand what the girls were talking about, so he just smiled and listened while they found a bench to sit on. Letting the girls sit on the bench, Draco sat down on the ground in front of where Hermione and Luna sat.

After a few moments though, Luna suddenly remembered that she needed to write a letter to her father. She waved good-bye and ran back into the castle, leaving Draco and Hermione alone. Draco moved up onto the seat with Hermione.

Draco turned to look at her. The little bit of sunlight that broke through the clouds seemed to beam down on Hermione. The sunshine made her brown hair glisten. Her eyes were shimmering, they had gone completely back to the soft and warm ones that Draco felt himself get lost in. She smiled very sweetly and kindly. He was mesmerized by her.

"Hermione, you're beautiful…"

Draco didn't realize that he had said the thought out loud until it was too late. A gust of wind rushed by them, rustling the trees and whipping Hermione's hair around.

"Sorry, did you say something, Draco?" she asked, combing her hair with her fingers to straighten it back down.

"No," Draco let out a sigh, "Didn't say anything."

He stood up, running his fingers through his hair as well, only to fix it back right away. He was thankful that she didn't hear his slip up. He decided that he should go see how his friends were recovering from earlier.

"I-I'm going to check on Ron and Harry," he turned and smiled at Hermione, "See you in Potions."

"Ok, see you there." she responded.

He needed an excuse to get away before she could trick him into out right confessing his feelings for her. Also, as a good friend, he should go check on the two boys. He waved back at Hermione as he walked away. She returned that wave.

Once he was out of sight and walking back into the castle, Hermione let out a sigh. Her shoulders slumped down.

"I hate lying to Draco," she said to herself, "But it would have been nice to hear him say it again."

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