Disclaimer: I write fanfics as fun. I don't profit from it, nor do I claim them as my own. I am not Stephen Moffat.

AN. Hey, sorry about taking so long. I just needed time off to study for midterms, which ended with an idiot posted a picture of himself carrying assault weapons on my college's Facebook page. (Perks of living in LA).

Special thanks to dutch potterfan, Blackcat8539, Cat130, and annaea3077

Chapter 7

At four o'clock sharp, Hermione left Harry's office to meet Anthony for their study date.

She knew that chances are he was still mad at her, so she bought Anthony's favorite sandwich from the small café across St. Mungo's. She bought the same lunch that he ordered every time they decided to skip the boring hospital food St. Mungo's served to their students.

She knocked on the door and hoped that he would not slam the door on her face. She held her breath when he finally opened the door. He was dressed in a simple sweater and pajama bottoms, the standard uniform for all medi-wizard students. His eyes were heavy with tired though Hermione suspected it was because of studying.

"Hey." She started. "I bought your favorite sandwich to eat before we start studying."

Anthony did not skip a beat. He thanked Hermione, grabbed her offering, and welcomed her to his room.

Their test was cumulative, but thankfully Professor Oliver gave them a study guide that helped them streamline their studying. They tried to answer every question on the study guide. Hermione tried to write an essay for each item, which made Anthony chuckle.

After they finished with their Restorative Medi-potion class, they tested each other for their Common Magical Maladies Diagnosis class, Hermione's favorite class.

"A missing limb." Hermione tested him.

"Is it physically still there, or is it completely gone?" Anthony asked.

"Physically still there."

"Vanishing sickness, very early stages. Caused by a bite of the Vanishing bug." Anthony answered correctly. "Irregular boils pattern, hard breathing, and vomiting."

"Ugh, hard breathing, and vomiting? That sounds unpleasant." Hermione said.

"I know," Anthony smirked.

"Sounds like potion contamination caused by an improperly cleaned cauldron," Hermione said.

"Arrgh, you just know that it's going to be on the test with how much they drill that slogan on our head."

"A clean cauldron keeps potions from becoming poisons." They chorused, which made the two of them smirk.

Hermione looked through her notes to search for an excellent question to ask Anthony, but she was stopped by Anthony's tsk.

"It's getting pretty late," Anthony said nervously.

Hermione glanced at the clock and saw that it was barely past eight. Hermione had stayed in Anthony's place past twelve before and thought it was odd that he was worried about it.

"No. It's still pretty early, and we still need to review a couple of maladies."

"Are you sure?"

Hermione gave him a confident nod. Hesitantly, she and Anthony went back to cramming as much information into their heads as possible.

By nine-thirty, Hermione already felt the headache coming in from too much studying. She stopped reading and stared onto blank space, hoping that it would help. Anthony saw her, and he started packing up.

"I guess it's time to call it a night, huh?" Anthony asked.

Hermione gave him a tired smile. "Yeah, we hit a wall today. Do you want to have a coffee break?"

Anthony shook his head. "It's really getting late. You know what muggle neurologist said. We need that REM sleep to make sure that those neurons connect." Anthony said.

"Somebody's been reading my muggle psychology books." Hermione teased.

"Hey, it's fascinating. There are a few things I want to try out with some of the patients. Particularly, I want to try Operant Conditioning with those little kids who run around when the nurses need to check on their vital signs."

"Well, I guess I need to go to bed and make sure my neurons connect," Hermione said.

"Now get out of my dorm," Anthony said jokingly. "Get out before your boyfriend starts to ask why you're in another man's room so late."

The last statement surprised Hermione. Where could he possibly get that idea from?

"I don't have a boyfriend," Hermione stated.

Anthony's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh? Is it a secret relationship or something?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, it's not. I don't have a secret boyfriend. I just don't have a boyfriend period."

"Oh," Anthony said.

Only, it sounded like he understood something other than what Hermione said.

Hermione gathered her things and headed towards the door, but she was stopped by Anthony.

"Hermione, can I take you out to dinner sometime?" Anthony said, which surprised Hermione.

"Not anytime soon with the finals hanging over our heads," Anthony said immediately after he noticed the surprised look on Hermione's face. "How about after the finals? We could celebrate at the same time."

"Dinner sounds really nice, Anthony," Hermione said. "Eating out with a friend after a week of finals sounds really lovely."

Anthony cringed.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't be a dinner between two friends," Anthony said with a nervous tone on his voice. "I was hoping that I could take you out on a date."

Hermione felt frozen in place. She had hoped that Anthony got the hint that she was not interested in seeing him as other than a friend.

"I'm really flattered, Anthony," Hermione said. "But I am not really looking for a relationship right now."

Anthony's face was the picture of disappointment, and it pained Hermione to disappoint him.

"It's not that you're a really great guy Anthony," Hermione said. "You're ambitious, funny, and handsome, but I am only not looking for a relationship right now. "

Anthony frowned, though he hid it from her when he shook his head. "So, in the meantime, you're sticking with friends with benefits? It's just a bit surprising to me since you don't seem the type to settle anything less than relationship."

Instead of reprimanding him as Anthony expected, Hermione gave him a sad smile.

"I never thought that you would be the type of woman who settles for friends-with-benefits relationship either. But life has a funny way of changing things."

Hermione turned around and was about to reach the door until Anthony stopped him yet again.

"Hermione, did something happen?" Anthony asked. "Is there a reason why you're settling with meaningless relationships? Was it something that happened between you and Ron?"

Anthony walked toward her and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. His beautiful blue eyes looked straight at her.

"You know that I'm your friend and that you could tell me anything, right?"

Hermione looked at Anthony's pleading eyes. She felt guilty. Is that how he saw it? That she was just using him?

"No. Ron has nothing to do with it," Hermione said. "We broke up because we were going nowhere, and I knew that he wanted to start a family as soon as possible."

Anthony did not reply. Instead, he looked at her inquisitively with his beautiful blue eyes.

"I just found out something about me and my family history that made me realize that getting into a deep relationship right now is not the best choice."

That was a lie. She knew it. He knew it. He knew she knew that he knew it.

"What did you found out?"

"I found out… that I'm a veela."

That came out easier than Hermione expected. Perhaps it was because he already saw her naked. Or maybe her earlier encounter with Harry made it easier for her to tell somebody else.

Like Harry, Anthony looked surprised about the news.

"A what?" Anthony asked bewildered.

"A veela. Semi-human, semi-magical humanoids that are closely related to Sirens." Hermione repeated the textbook description with disdain.

"Blimey Hermione. I didn't expect this." Anthony covered his face in disbelief. "I expected a bad breakup or wanting to focus on school, but not this."

Now it was Hermione's turn to wait for his reply. She knew that he would have a lot of questions that she still didn't know if she felt comfortable talking about.

"Are you a Greek Veela?" Anthony asked. "Because you have the hair."

Hermione shook her head.

"I'm a mix. My paternal grandmother was half-French-Veela while my maternal grandmother is half Greek-Veela."

"And you're past twenty-one, right?" Anthony asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Did you have your mate dream yet?"

Hermione shook her head. Even though she told Harry who her mate was, she still didn't want Anthony to know. At least not yet.

"So that means that you would probably have to find your mate the Greek-Veela way." Anthony mused. "Was I a candidate?"

Hermione shook her head, and Anthony sighed sadly.

"I know that you're probably looking for your mate out there," Anthony said. "But why don't we date anyway just to see how it turns out?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony you know we can't-"

"I know. I know." Anthony interrupted. "I know you're would have to look for your mate out there. I'm not asking for an exclusive relationship here. I don't expect us to get married and live in a nice cottage in the countryside. I'm just asking for dinner."

"But you said earlier that I was scared of relationships."

"I know what I said earlier. But I never asked for a relationship. I just asked you for dinner." Anthony said. "A perfectly nice dinner from a guy who wants to date you. If you want, we could walk hand in hand later. Maybe we'll end up in your dorm room instead of mine."

Hermione shook her head in amused disbelief.

"We can't have a romantic relationship, Anthony," Hermione said plainly.

"And again, this is just dinner. Most men don't expect to marry every woman they go on a date with. Most men just want to spend time with a beautiful woman. Then again, most men don't know if they were going to marry the woman they are dating until much later on." Anthony said.

"We don't know if we're going to be fed up with each other two weeks from now. Heck, maybe one of our patients would vomit acid all over me, and I would melt into pudding."

This made Hermione chuckle.

"Why not just give this a chance?"

Despite his jovial tone, Anthony's eyes were pleading. She would hate to disappoint him, especially when he was just asking for one little date. But she just wanted to know one small thing before she agreed.

"Why are you taking such a huge risk with me?"

"Because I like you, Hermione," Anthony said. "You're smart, beautiful, and fun to be with. I really want to date you. And when a man really wants to pursue a woman, he lets nothing get in his way."

June 12, 2002

Confirmed: Mystery Blonde at the Victory Ball Is Actually Anthony Goldstein

Here at Witch Weekly, we heard multiple reports that war heroine and future healer Hermione Granger is very close with the brilliant and handsome Anthony Goldstein. Readers who visited St. Mungo's in the past week spotted the cute couple around St. Mungo's.

At first, Witch Weekly brushed off the reports as two friends working together. Still, we recently had reports that the cute couple was spotted in Valentino's Italian restaurant at Diagon Alley.

The two Healers-in-Training were seen laughing and flirting together in the mid-range restaurant. As a Healer-in-Training, Mr. Goldstein must have dug deep in his pockets to treat the exceptional lady.

Here at Witch Weekly, we wish the couple good luck!

(Psst, Hermione. He's a keeper.)

November 27, 2002

Former Death-Eater Dates Five Women in the Past Month

Former Death Eater Draco Malfoy was spotted dating five different witches in the past month. The man credited as a key figure at the invasion of Hogwarts quickly gained a reputation for his appetite for pureblood witches after the war.

However, England seems to have run out of pureblood witches to fill the young Mr. Malfoy's appetite. Earlier last month, the Malfoy heir was spotted with a hot Spanish Senorita by the South of France. A week later, he was spotted partying in the Greek Islands with a Greek princess. Five days after that, he was seen taking out a beautiful German beauty to London's Wizarding night scene. A week later he was shopping on the streets of Paris with a beautiful French heiress. Finally, last Sunday, he was spotted at a Farmer's Market in Italy with a dark-haired beauty. Were they making homemade pasta together?

By the rate the young Malfoy is going, he is on his way to date every Pureblood family in Europe.

We hope that the Malfoy heir finds his perfect princess fast.

In the meantime, here at Witch Weekly would be crossing off every eligible bachelorette in Europe before Malfoy starts dating pureblood princesses in the Americas and Asia.

April 30, 2003

Harry Potter and Ginerva Weasley are Officially Engaged?!

Beautiful and intelligent Rita Skeeter was at Twilfitt and Tatting's to shop at their latest collection of shoes (might I recommend the cute black and white oxford shoes with pink bows) I spotted an old friend of mine. Long-time readers know that I had a close personal relationship with Harry Potter and his friends after the Triwizard Tournament almost a decade ago.

Ginny Weasley told me exclusively that her long-time boyfriend, the one and only Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter, finally proposed to her.

The little Weasley explained to me that the proposal came as a complete surprise.

"It was beautiful." Ginny Weasley gushed. "It was so sudden. He came by my workplace, and he asked if we could get some hot cocoa. We bought our cocoa, and he suggested that we walk around a muggle park, so we did.

I thought nothing of it because we do this from time to time, but he just proposed to me right by the muggle swings."

The happy couple would officially announce their betrothal to the public in an engagement party where I would be attending.

Please look forward to my exclusive coverage, dear readers.

May 3, 2003

The Golden Girl is Missing: Is the Golden Trio Broken up?

During the Annual Victory Ball last night, the Golden Trio surprised the Wizarding World when they arrived with Hermione Granger, reportedly the brains of the three.

When asked where was the Brainy Beauty, best friend Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley replied that she was focusing on University. However, some suspect that it was because she was drifting away from her friends while others say that it meant she was distancing herself from the Wizarding World.

However, the Daily Prophet doubts that story because Ms. Granger graduated from St. Mungo's Healer program a semester early.

Ms. Granger's professors and classmates expected Ms. Granger to work as a Healer with several famous patients. However, Ms. Granger practically disappeared from the Wizarding World after receiving her degree.

Nobody in the Wizarding public had seen Ms. Granger. Workers at the Ministry commented that Ms. Granger stopped attending her weekly tea with best friend, Harry Potter.

We here at the Daily Prophet theorize that Ms. Granger was simply taking a few months off before committing the rest of her life to save other people's lives.

Wherever you are, Ms. Granger, we wish you good luck.

May 20, 2003

Former Death-Eater turned Playboy is in A Relationship with a Half-Blood

Over the past few years, Draco Malfoy, former Death Eater, and heir to the Malfoy fortune gained a reputation as a serial playboy with a taste for pureblood princesses. As anyone who keeps track of Witch Weekly knows that Mr. Malfoy dated multiple women from upstanding wizarding families over the years.

Last weekend, Mr. Malfoy surprised even the biggest gossipmongers in town when he went out last night with Ms. Kasparian, a half-blood American.

Is it possible that Mr. Malfoy was bored with pureblood princesses? Is he reaching out across the pond to find the perfect wife? Or could Mr. Malfoy be, as the Americans call it, "slumming it"?

We here at Witch Weekly are eager to see what is coming next for Mr. Malfoy.

November 27, 2003

War Heroine Spotted with Boyfriend

Almost a year after Ms. Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin First class, disappeared from the Wizarding World, Ms. Granger was spotted at a Diagon Alley restaurant along with her Healer boyfriend, Anthony Goldstein.

A little birdie told us that even though this is the first time couple was seen out and about for a long time, the date was more about business than pleasure-

Draco Malfoy flipped through the front page to make sure that his name showed up in this week's Witch Weekly gossip roundup. He wanted to make sure that his latest conquest made it in.

Hopefully, the half-blood he dated this time helped with his and his family's reputation. She was pretty, but he knew a few half-bloods and purebloods who are more beautiful than her. That should give the impression that he actually cared about her even if she was a bit dull.

Last week he spent time with Janice….or was, is Jessica? Anyway, he tried to have a nice cuppa with her at the newest Tea Shop in Diagon Alley; only he ended up feeling drowsy after the first fifteen minutes.

He just hoped that not all of his work was for naught, and it all depended on how Witch Weekly spun his date. Draco smiled upon reading the headline.

Playboy Draco Malfoy out on a Date with Pretty Librarian

Now it was for him to decide his next move. Would he take out the same girl again, or would he go out with her one more time just to confuse the press?

It did not take long for Draco to summon his owl and pen a note inviting the boring librarian for another date this weekend. He made a note to bring a flask of espresso to bring along with him to keep him awake.

Finally, Draco could tell that public perception of him was changing. If dating a boring half-blood librarian was what it takes, then he would drink a hundred shots of espresso if he had to if not for one reason only. A reputation as a playboy was much better than a reputation as a Death Eater.