I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year. They may or may not be an update before New Years, but either way. Have a wonderful New Year!

Chapter 19

Easter

March 13, 1999

Draco's flat

Draco was pacing around his flat talking to himself again.

"You can do this Draco. It's for Hermione. Mrs. Weasley invited you. They don't hate you. They've shown you they aren't beneath you. You can do this. Think of Hermione. Hermione. Oh, I want her. I'll ask her on a date soon. Our date Friday was fun. Hopefully, she'll take me on other muggle dates. I'm going to have to be nice to all the Weaselys. Maybe my aunt and cousin will be there. Am I dressed okay? The Weasley's aren't one for dressing up. If I don't leave I'll be late. I don't want to be late. I'm never late. I need to go. AHHHH." Draco stopped pacing gave himself one more look over in the mirror and apparated to the outskirts of The Burrow.

The Burrow

Hermione was watching for Draco out of the kitchen window. She was fighting the urge to go and meet him. She saw him apparate. She decided she'd let Mrs. Weasley greet him.

He stood there for a moment and collected his breath. He wished Hermione would come out to greet him. She wasn't coming. He guessed he was going to have to put on his big boy pants and do this by himself.

He walked up to the door and knocked. Mrs. Weasley opened the door and welcomed him in. He hesitantly took a step inside. The house was warm and filled with life. He looked around. It wasn't much to look at but he could see the happiness that radiated from within. That was all that mattered. He'd come to realize that over the past few years. It doesn't matter how many things you have or how much your clothes cost, it matters if you're loved and love.

"Welcome, Draco. We are so glad to have you. I'm so glad you could join us!" Mrs. Weasley greeted him warmly.

"Thank you very much for inviting me. It was very kind of you." Draco replied.

"Well, come on in. Everyone is out back. Dinner will be served in about twenty minutes. We are still waiting on George, Bill, Fleur, your aunt, and cousin. They all should be here soon." She ushered Draco through the house. Mrs. Weasley opened the back door and everyone was outside talking and setting tables up. Hermione was waiting for him. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back. That made him feel so much better. Harry walked over to him and shook his hand so did Charlie. Ron greeted him with a nod. Draco would take what he could get. Draco helped the guys set up the rest of the tables and bring food to the tables. Soon George, Bill, and Fleur had arrived. George walked over and greeted Draco very cheerily. Bill and Fleur greeted him warmly. Mrs. Weasley had filled them in on Draco's and Hermione's situation. Draco was very surprised by the warm greetings from all of the Weasley's.

Dromeda and Teddy came out the back door. Draco was honestly glad to see them. A big smile came across his face. Harry walked over and took Teddy from Dromeda's arms. He was a good godfather. He went and saw Teddy at least once a week. Draco walked over and greeted Dromeda. She hugged him and told him she was so glad he was able to join them and that she was happy that he was happy.

"Everyone gather round!" boomed Mr. Weasley's voice. Everyone gathered around the table. Hermione slipped her hand in Draco's. "I'm so glad that everyone could join us today for our Easter dinner. We are glad to have Draco, Crina, Dromeda, Teddy, and Ashira here with us this year. Everyone, please dig in!"

There was cacaos. Draco had never witnessed such craziness over food. Harry and Hermione just laughed at Draco's facial expression. "I'm pretty sure that's what we looked like the first time we had a big family meal with the Weasely's too. Don't be too scared, though it's rather scary." Harry laughed.

"This is something. That's for damn sure. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. I don't even know where to begin." Draco laughed with an amused expression on his face.

"Just grab a dish and get how much you want." Hermione whispered in his ear.

Soon everyone was eating and chatting. Draco was surprised how well he was getting along with everyone. All of the Weasley's and their extended family were very kind and welcoming to him. They asked questions about his life and his job. They seemed genuinely interested in his life and him. This was so new to him. No one ever cared about what he did or what he thought. He really wished he hadn't listened to his father growing up. He would have known what real friendship really was if that was the case. He had Roddy but Roddy hadn't been around often until recently and he wasn't around now for good reasons. He guessed his facial expression changed or his body language because Hermione asked him what was wrong.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking. I'll tell you later. Everything is fine. I was just thinking." He put a smile on his face and went back to talking to everyone. They had a wonderful meal. After the meal the boys all pulled out brooms and headed to the pitch with Ginny and Ashira. Harry convinced Draco to play. He said he'd like to go against a real seeker again. Bill shot him a look but laughed. Crina, Fleur, and Hermione walked down there and watched the boys play. Hermione had never payed attention to the way Draco played quidditch until now. He was very good. He was fast and accurate. She loved seeing him fly. He really did look like he loved it up there. Hermione didn't like flying but she did enjoy watching everyone play She chatted with Fleur and Crina. Crina loved to fly but wasn't a fan of quidditch. She would prefer to watch. Fleur was due next month and was in now way shape or form getting on a broom. Soon they saw the snitch. Harry and Draco took off after it. They were pretty evenly matched. Draco looked sexy as hell up there flying. The warming air blowing in his air. Eventually the two boys were in a dead even race with one another. They both inched their way to the front of their brooms Draco's arms were just a hair longer than Harry's and he grabbed the snitch. The game ended.

Harry shook Draco's hand and said next time. Ron hated to loose and was red in the face but congratulated Draco on the grab.

"I demand a rematch one day soon, Malfoy." Harry said playfully. Everyone else agreed. Draco smiled and agreed

Draco loved to fly. He had an amazing time playing quidditch again. He needed to do that more often. He and Roddy should find a place to play a pick up game sometime soon. He should ask Potter. He missed quidditch more than he realized. They walked towards the girls and Hermione gave Draco a hug and gently kissed her.

Ron just so happen to see it happen. He shook with anger or jealousy or a little of both before Ashira laced her fingers through his and told him to chill out. It was just a kiss. He sighed. She was right. He was going to have to deal with the fact that they liked one another and they were dating or something now. Even if he did hate the idea. Ashira smiled and gently kissed him. He kissed her back. Everyone headed back to The Burrow where Mrs. Weasley had tea prepared for everyone.

Later that evening Hermione and Draco were walking around the meadow near the Weasleys' talking when Hermione asked what Draco had been thinking about at dinner.

"You don't forget stuff like that do you?" He asked her.

"No, I'm too nosey for my own good. It's part of the reason I love research so much. I have to know. It's a compulsion." She giggled at his facial expression.

"You are one odd witch, you know that? Who enjoys research?" He laughed. She laughed and gently rubbed her thumb against his.

"It's okay, Draco. You don't have to tell me yet. If you want to talk about it, I'm hear to listen. I really do care what you have to say. I'll always listen to you."

"No, I'll tell you. I just think you might find it rather silly." He gently spoke.

"I won't find it silly. Not at all."

"Alright, so remember how I told you I judged people based off of their financial standings?" Hermione nodded to indicate that she had. "Well, lately I've been thinking about how I really wish I had never listened to Lucius. I missed out on so many things and people because of my prejudices. Today, I walked into the Weasleys' house and there was love flowing through it. It doesn't have the nicest stuff and it isn't the best maintained house, but there is love in that house. You can't find any love in the Manor. Sure, my mother loves me and she actually loves Lucius, but there is no love in that house." She nodded that she understood what he was saying, he continued, "Then at the table when everyone was talking to me, they actually gave a shit about what I was saying. My family never asked anything about me and if I ever spoke they didn't care or didn't listen to what I had to say. Those people cared about what came out of my mouth. I wasn't use to it. I was just thinking about what my life could have been like if I hadn't listened to Lucius about anything. I wondered about the friends I would have and even what house I would be placed in. I think I would have been a completely different person if I had never listened to my father. It made me sad to think about how he basically ruined my childhood and adolescents. He and his bigot ways."

Draco took a deep breath. His voice was shaking. He was angry. Hermione could see it in him. He was so angry. She just squeezed his hand and pulled him in closer.

"I'm sorry, I guess I never realized how angry I was at him till just now. I guess I never really said out loud any of that. I never really allowed myself to think those things much less speak them." He couldn't contain himself anymore. Hot tears of anger, bitterness, malice, abandonment, and hurt spilled over his cheeks. He tried to stop them and to wipe them away but Hermione stopped him. She gently used her own hand to wipe them away. She didn't say anything, just wrapped her arms around him and held him while he cried. He held on to her tightly, as if his life depended on keeping her with him. He spoke again through his tears.

"I am so angry at that man. It hurts so much to think about all the wrong he did to me. He had to know that it wasn't right or true. He had to know. The man is far from stupid, he has done some evil things but he isn't a complete moron. I don't want this for myself. I don't want this hate. Bitterness. Anger. Malice. I have no idea if that man ever even loved me. I don't know if he knows how to love. I feel like he basically abandoned me. Hermione. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to feel. I don't know how to get rid of all of this anger and bitterness. I want it gone. I want to be able to love like you can, like the Weasley's can. Part of the reason I was so mean to Ron was his ability to love and be loved. I have never known that feeling until very very recently. Roddy cared, even loved me, but he was a whole world away." Draco stopped talking and took some deep even breaths and calmed down. Hermione wiped the remaining tears off of his face and pressed her lips to each of his tear stained cheeks and then gently kissed his lips.

"You're a good man. You're a kind man. You aren't Lucius. You are such a better man than he could ever be, Draco. You don't want to hurt people, you don't want people to be afraid of you. You hate the way people look at you when they realize who you are. I know you grew up not seeing love, but you do know how to love. I've seen it. You treat me like a queen. You've learned from somewhere or from someone how to be good and kind and loving. Sure, there are areas where you're a little gruff but I can see those changing. I can see the difference in you now compared to the time we saw each other in Diagon Alley back at Christmas. You need to work on forgiving Lucius of all the wrong and all the harm he did to you. I don't know if that man knew what he was doing to you or not. He was raised that way. He was raised with all of those beliefs. He probably truly believed them. You mother was a Black. Somewhere within them they have good, look at your aunt, Sirius, and even Regulus. Your mother has that in her too, she just was too afraid to express it or show it. I don't know if your father has that in him based on how he was raised. He isn't stupid but he might have truly believed that he was right and that what he was doing was the right thing to do. I don't know. Once you really forgive him from the bottom of your heart you'll feel so much better, you'll get rid of all the anger and bitterness and hurt. It will sting sometimes but you'll feel better. I promise. I wish I could forgive him for you, but I can't that's something you'll have to do on your own. If you want to go and visit him once you're ready, I'll go with you." Hermione calmly spoke, staring into his eyes.

"You really are the most amazing woman I've ever met. I don't know how you do it. I am trying to be a good man. Sometimes I want to go back to my old ways and be that person, but I don't want to actually be that person. I see love and I want that. I don't know how you're able to deal with someone like me. I am trying to forgive him, I guess I need more time. I know how much better I felt once I talked to Potter. We both had forgiveness to give and once I did it I know how much better I felt. I'm sure he felt the same way. I sort of wonder if I should start small with the forgiveness, you know, like with Ron. I know I've been foul and evil to him." She smiled up at him.

"I think that's a good place to start. I know it won't be easy and he might be a real arse but I think it'll help you. I'm so proud of the man you're becoming." She placed her lips on his and kissed him deeply and passionately. He opened his mouth and she slid her tongue into his mouth and kissed him even more deeply. He kissed her back and they stood there for a long while kissing. He ran his hands up and down the sides of her body and over her butt. He lifted her up just a tad and kissed her harder. He was wondering what he had done to deserve her. She was too good for him.

Finally, he stopped kissing her and he took a deep breath, "You think I can talk to Ron tonight? I need to get what I have to say off my chest."

"I think we can arrange that. Let's head back to the house." She said sweetly. He laced his fingers through hers and headed back to the house.

Once they were back at the house Hermione set out to look for Ron. He wasn't in the house so she took ahold of the charm around her neck and thought, "Ron!"

"Hermione." came the answer on the charm

"Come to the house, please"

"On my way."

Once Ron and Ashira arrived he rushed to her. She was in the kitchen fixing herself a mug of tea. "Are you okay? Everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine. Draco needs to talk to you. Ron, I need you to listen to him and take heed to everything he says. Please. Don't scoff at him and don't make light of what he has to say. Please, Ron." Hermione asked.

"I promise, Hermione. I won't. Where is he?" Came Ron's reply. He had been worried, she was okay, he could breathe normally again.

"He's talking to George. I think they're in the back somewhere. Thank you, Ron."

Ron headed to the back to find Draco.

Hermione took her tea and went into the sitting room. Ashira was in there.

"Everything okay, Hermione?" Ashira asked.

"Yes, everything is fine. Draco really needed to talk to Ron and I didn't know when he was going to be back. I'm sorry. I hope I didn't interrupt anything super important." Hermione replied.

"No, we were just walking. Is Draco okay? He seems like he is a nice guy. I know that he wasn't the nicest guy while you were in school, but he seems to really have changed."

"He's okay. He really has changed since the war. He is a good person. I care about him. Are things going well with you and Ron? We really like having you around. I think you are great for Ron. I really do like you, Ashira."

"Thanks Hermione. I was really worried about fitting in. I come from a completely different background and we do things differently. Everyone's been really great though. I was worried about how you'd feel about me. I see now I was worried for no reason." Ashria smiled. The girls continued to talk while the boys were also talking.

Ron walked out back to see George and Draco goofing off with some of the products from George's store. He headed over to them.

"Hermione said you needed to talk to me." Ron spoke trying to keep his voice even.

"Yeah, excuse us, George. I'll see you later." Draco said while heading toward the field with Ron.

"What's going on?" Ron asked slightly weary of what Draco was going to have to say. Ron had to admit that he hadn't been near as bad as he thought he was going to be. He treated Hermione like gold and he worked hard. He wasn't the same bastard from school. Ron actually liked Draco, but he wasn't ready to have that as common knowledge.

"I need to talk to you. I need you to listen to me. I'm not good as this but I need to do it, so just listen. Got it?" Ron nodded, he had it. "I need to ask you for forgiveness for the way I treated you in school. It was very wrong of me. I was cruel and vile and you didn't do anything to deserve it originally. I started the feud between us and it was wrong of me. I judged you based off of your financial status and not on who you are as a person. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Draco said, he was blushing.

Ron just stared at him. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what to think at first. He gathered his wits surprisingly fast for Ron and said, "Thank you." Ron paused for a moment more thinking, watching Draco. He was nervous. Draco was fidgeting with his hands and his wand. Ron finally spoke again, "I forgive you, Malfoy. I hope you can do the same to me. I treated you poorly. I shouldn't have. You've treated Hermione better than I thought you would or could. You've become a respectable man, Malfoy. You've changed. You're willing to help out your friend catch a murderer. You're working to support yourself, you've cleaned up your family's business. I shouldn't have been judging you so harshly. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me, Malfoy?"

"Yeah, Weasel. I do. Again, I'm real sorry for the way I treated you. It was very wrong of me. Your family is amazing. I'm more than jealous of all the love in your home. I would trade all the money in the world for that kind of love."

"Wow. Malfoy. Wow." Came Ron's dumbfounded response. "That means a lot coming from you." Ron was more than surprised at his words. He was still digesting them when Draco spoke again.

"Yeah; well. I mean it. I'm jealous of that life. Thanks."

Neither of them said anything else and they walked back to the house with comfortable silence. When they entered the house Hermione just looked at them. They both smiled back at her and she felt better. She knew both of them had to feel better.

Everyone had hot chocolate and they played a few games before Draco, Bill, Fleur, and Ashira headed home. Draco kissed Hermione goodnight and said he'd see her for dinner the next evening. He was going to plan the date and he'd owl her in the morning about time and what she should wear.

"He really is quite a nice young man, Hermione. He has changed since you all were in school. He isn't the same boy you all used to tell stories about." Mrs. Weasley said with an approving smile.

"Yes, ma'am. He has changed. He is wonderful." Hermione said and headed up to the room she and Ginny shared.

March 14, 1999

Hermione,

I'll come and get you from The Burrow at 5:30. We're going to go to a quidditch match between the Chudley Cannons and the Wigtown Wanderers. Wear orange and black. I'm a Cannons fan. Dress warmly. We have a box but for the beginning of the match I like to have the glass down. Dinner will be provided. I can't wait to see you.

Draco

Hermione was excited about going to a professional quidditch match. She enjoyed watching it but would never play. Besides the matches at Hogwarts she'd only ever been the the Quidditch World Cup. She spent the rest of the day studying for her N.E.W.T.s. Around 4:30 she started to get ready and realized she didn't own anything orange. Orange wasn't her color.

"Ginny! Come here." Hermione hollered through the house.

Ginny came upstairs to find Hermione sitting on the bed looking very flustered.

"What's wrong with you?" Ginny asked.

"I don't own anything orange. Draco said I needed to wear orange and black. What am I going to do now?"

Ginny just laughed. "Well what were you going to wear?"

Hermione grabbed a navy sweater and tossed it to Ginny. Ginny went into her own closet and came out with a black tank top and tossed it to Hermione. "Put that on and I'm going to change the color of this sweater to orange. I don't know why you didn't think of it yourself." Ginny laughed again.

"Oh, I'm acting so ridiculous. I have no idea why I didn't think of that myself. I knew how to do that. Why am I nervous? This is silly!" Hermione whined.

Again, Ginny laughed and handed the now orange sweater to Hermione. She grabbed her wand and cast a spell on Hermione's hair that calmed the frizz down and then styled it. Hermione looked nice. Orange wasn't the most flattering color on her but she didn't look bad.

"I look horrid in orange, Ginny. Why must their colors be orange? Don't they know orange doesn't look good on anyone?" Hermione yammered. She was nervous.

"You look lovely, Hermione. You'll be the best looking person in orange there." Ginny smiled.

"Thanks, Gin." Hermione said as they headed down stairs. Hermione grabbed her bag and her book as she left the room. She sat on the couch and read waiting on Draco.

Chudley, England

Chudley Quidditch Pitch

Draco and Hermione walked hand in hand into the stadium. There were lots of people there. Apparently, the Cannons were terrible. Ron was a Cannon fan too and filled Hermione in so she wouldn't be completely ignorant walking into the stadium today. The Cannons were the worst team in the league. Hermione thought it was funny that both Ron and Draco were Chudley fans. She also found it funny that they were the worst team in the league. They made their way to the box Draco's company owned. They were the only one's there today. Hermione was glad of that. Draco told everyone that they couldn't use the box for this game, but gave anyone who wanted to go tickets for other good seats. He was a good man, Hermione thought. Draco magically made the glass disappear for the start of the game. Soon a waiter came in and took their order. It was a sporting event so Hermione and Draco ordered things like hotdogs and nachos. Hermione had gone out and bought Coke today and put it in her bag. She removed it and enlarged it. Draco's eyes got big.

"You brought Coke! You're amazing! I bet that's going to taste great with our dinner." Draco said laughing.

"Coke and hotdogs go great together. You'll see." She smiled back. He leaned over and kissed her. He wanted to be with her all the time. He was head over heels for that girl. He laced his fingers through hers and gently rubbed his thumb around the palm of her hand.

They watched the match and ate there dinner. It was exciting. Th Cannons were playing really well. Draco was impressed.

"Hermione, what are you going to do after graduation?" Draco asked. He felt her entire body tense. Shit. He said something wrong. She tried to keep a pleasant expression on her face but failed at it. She lost some of her color too.

"I don't know, Draco. I don't know." She said, then whispered, "and I'm really scared."

Draco didn't know whether he was suppose to hear the last part or not. He pulled her into a hug. "Why are you scared, love?"

She blushed. "I'm afraid I'll make the wrong choice. I have many interest and I figure I'll be good at whatever I do, but I'm afraid I won't be happy and I would have invested so much time and energy into my career and I won't want to start over and I'll be miserable. I'm so scared I'll choose the wrong thing. I like so many things. I don't know, Draco. I don't know." She was getting upset. She tried to calm herself down because she knew that Draco hated seeing her that worked up.

"You're the smartest witch I've ever met. You will be fantastic at whatever you do. You're right about that. What makes you happy, Hermione?"

"Well, I love to research and I love to tutor and teach. I actually really like dueling and I think that healing would be fascinating. I want to travel and see the world. I feel like I want to do it all." She was trying not to get frantic. Draco started to rub her shoulders.

"Shhh. Love. It's okay. You've got alot of interests. That's awesome. So what don't you like?"

"I hate flying." She said flatly.

He laughed a deep laugh. This made her giggle. She felt slightly better. "I really hate to fly. Something about flying just scares the shit out of me." She giggled. "Harry and Ron have tried to get me to love flying because they love to fly, but I can't. I flew a little over Christmas just because I needed a thrill. I didn't go very high, but I was still scared rather close to shitless."

"Well that narrows down any job that requires brooms." Draco said. "We can mark those off your list." She giggled. "Have you thought about doing apprenticeships at St. Mungo's, Hogwarts, the Auror department, or a research facility, or even all of them? You could narrow down things down that way. I know your friends could get you an apprenticeship at the Ministry, and McGonagall I'm sure would love to have you there, even if it's just for a short while. I can see what I can do to get you a place at a research facility, and I know St. Mungo's would allow you to do work there."

"I have thought about that, but I'm also afraid I'll fall in love with something and not be able to experience everything else. I know I'm a mess. I'm a huge confused mess."

"You are, love, yes you are. You are so brilliant and you want to do so much." Draco stopped for a while watching the game. The snitch was out and the seekers were flying around like crazy. Draco stood up and walked over to the edge of the box shouting and getting excited. "Love, come join me!" Draco turned and held out his hand. She stood up and took his hand. He wrapped his arm around her. She placed her head on his shoulder until he started to jump up and down. She decided she wanted to keep her teeth so she settled for wrapping her arms around his waist as well. She loved seeing him get so excited. It made her feel better to see him so happy. She never thought seeing someone else so happy would bring her such great joy. She had fallen very hard for Draco. The snitch wasn't moving. It was just hovering in space. Both of the seekers took off after the snitch. They were coming in from different directions and different heights. Suddenly the snitched jolted upwards and the Chudley seeker raised his broom heading for it. He reached out his arm and grabbed the snitch!

The Chudley Cannons won the game!

Draco was jumping up and down and cheering and acting like he had just beat Gryffindor. He was thrilled. Hermione was excited for him. He was so cute jumping up and down and hugging Hermione. She couldn't help but feel a thousand times betters.

After the celebrating ended Draco and Hermione headed out of the stadium.

"Want to go back to my flat for a while?" Draco asked. "I have an idea."

"Uhh, sure." Hermione replied sheepishly. She was nervous. What did Draco have in mind? She really liked him but she wasn't sure she was ready to take the next step in their relationship.

"Don't be nervous. I just want to talk. Nothing else, love." Draco said sensing her nerves. How did he know? He apparated them back to his flat.

He had a smaller flat. He had a nice kitchen and sitting room. There were two small bedrooms and a master bedroom. One bedroom he used as an office and the other was a spare bedroom. There were two full bathrooms in the house. The furniture was very nice. The decor said bachelor but it was still very nice. He welcomed Hermione in and fixed her some tea.

"So what is this idea you wanted to talk to me about? I'm kind of nervous." Hermione said to Draco before he could hand her her tea.

"Well, Hermione, love. I was thinking that after graduation and hopefully after that bastard in America is caught we can go and travel together for 6 or so months. We can go to Australia and you can do that stuff with your parents you need too and then we can travel wherever your heart desires. Then once we return to England you can apply for some internships and do each of those for a while so that you can better figure out what you want to do." Hermione had tears in her eyes.

"Really, Draco? You'd want to travel with me? You'd go with me to Australia? What about your work? I won't be able to afford to not work. I would love too, but I don't think I can."

"Don't you worry about money, Hermione. Not one knut. I will cover everything you need. You won't owe me anything. I know that once you start to work you'll be making good money and I know you'll pay me back, even if I beg you not too, so I won't ask, but for now consider it a loan. As for me, I have alot of branches in many different countries and I can always do surprise visits. I can work from where ever we are if I need too, but like I've said before my board and executives can do most anything I need them to do. It will allow you to travel and have some much needed fun and you'll have more time to work through what you want to do for a career and you'll get to spend time with your parents. If things don't go as planned with your parents I'll be there for you."

"You really want to do this with me?" Hermione asked shyly.

"I do. I really do. You've brought me more joy in the past three months than I could ever have asked for or even imagined. I'd love to travel and I want to be there for you with your parents and well... I... I want to be with you. So..." he paused for a few seconds before he continued with, "what do you think?"

"I think that sounds like an excellent plan. At least I'll have somewhere to start. I think I'll probably start applying for internships and apprenticeships before we leave, but yeah I'd love to travel with you. Thanks, Draco. I really needed that. I'm so glad to have you in my life."

She put her tea down and leaned over. He kissed her gently at first but then with more fire and passion. He laid her down on the couch and propped himself up and kissed her. He let his hands roam where they hadn't been before. He ran them over her firm but tender breasts. He ran them over her legs and underneath her back and over her arse. He kissed down her neck and began to gently suckle on her soft skin along her collar bone while his hands caressed her breasts through her sweater. She moaned. She wanted him. Damn, she wanted him. She kept telling herself not yet. It was too soon. She liked him and she might be falling in love with him but not yet. She wasn't ready to have sex with him yet. But damn, she wanted him.

He knew that she could feel his hardened length pressing into her but he didn't care. He wanted her. He knew it was too soon to be even thinking about sex. He didn't even know if she was a virgin. They hadn't talked about it before. But damn, he wanted her. He slowly began to easy up. His mouth was back at her mouth now and she slowly began to decrease the passion. As much as he wanted her he needed to do right by her and sleeping with her on the second date was far from doing right by her. Finally, he sat up and helped her sit up, she leaned her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. They didn't speak for a long time.

"Hermione, are you a virgin?" He asked softly.

"Yes, Draco, I am. I've only ever kissed three other men besides you. I never even thought about having sex with two of them and with Ron, well we thought about, but I wasn't ready." She stopped talking for a moment then asked shyly, afraid of his answer, "How many girls have you slept with?"

"Honestly, I'm sure you aren't going to believe me when I tell you, but none. I've never slept with anyone, either. I know there were loads of rumors in school and I know Pansy liked to run her mouth but I never slept with her. I never even kissed Pansy. I figured people were going to think what they wanted to about me and whatever I said wasn't going to change it so I let them go on believing I slept with loads of women."

Hermione was shocked. She really thought he'd slept with Pansy and probably a few others. She never dreamed he'd be a virgin too. She was pleased with this news. It made her happy, knowing that he hadn't given himself up so freely to anyone. She leaned up and kissed him and then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 1 in the morning. She needed to get back to The Burrow.

"Draco, I've got to get back. Will I see you soon?"

"Yes, love you better get back. Wednesday? Roddy will be back Thursday and we'll meet again on Friday before you head back to Hogwarts. Is that okay?"

"Yes, till Wednesday then." She said and kissed him goodnight and apparated back to The Burrow.