"I'll be in my room. If you need anything, anything, Hermione, just come right in." Ron whispered into her ear. "And I swear, if that slimy git Malfoy tries anything funny, I'll beat his-"

"Yes, Ron. It's alright." Hermione sighed and pulled Ron into a hug. She could feel his heart beating in his chest. "I'm really sorry about Fred. He would've been so proud of you...you were so brave today."

Ron kissed Hermione's forehead as Draco watched from the corner of the room in disgust.

What does she see in that redhead idiot? He thought to himself.

"Goodnight, 'Mione. Love you." Ron said softly.

"I love you too, Ron." Hermione responded. But did she really mean it? Of course she loved Ron, and Harry, as friends. But did she really love Ron. Hermione knew she was getting ahead of herself, but she wondered if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ron.

Hermione sighed as Ron walked downstairs to his room. She would be staying with Harry, Neville, Luna, Dean, and Draco on the guest floor of the Weasley house. She looked around with a smirk on her face. She loved magic. Moments after arriving, 6 beds popped up, with a room divider to separate the boys from the girls as they got themselves ready for bed. It was as if the room knew exactly what they needed. It reminded Hermione of the Room of Requirements. With her mind back on Hogwarts, she wondered if it would be repaired in time for school to resume next year. Next year would be her seventh and final year at Hogwarts.

"Well, I, for one, am anxious to go to sleep. I love to dream." Luna said softly.

"Well, I suppose we should get ready for bed. It's quite late." Hermione responded.

"I'm exhausted." Neville mumbled.

"So am I. I'll be out like a lightswitch." Harry said to him as Hermione lifted her wand, stretching the room divider to the other end of the room, so the boys wouldn't be able see them change for bed. Hermione brought the most comfortable pajamas she could get her hands on. She wasn't in the mood for a proper nightgown and simply opted for a grey cotton shirt and some black shorts. Luna, however, brought a long blue garment that resembled a sweaterdress. Paired with it were some fuzzy pink socks with ducks printed all over them.

"Can I move the room divider yet?" Hermione called over to the boys.

"Uh, yeah. What took you girls so long to change?" Draco said. Hermione chose to ignore him and moved the room divider. With a flick of her wand, the lights were out.

"Goodnight everyone." Harry said quietly. "I want to thank you all for fighting with me today. Or, uh, almost everyone." Harry had forgotten that Draco was here.

"Well, this is awkward." Draco mumbled.

Everyone decided to lightly, but still awkwardly, laugh it off.

"Yes, goodnight." Hermione said.

...

Hermione sighed and adjusted herself in the bed. Of course she was exhausted, but she just couldn't sleep. She quietly got up from the bed and tiptoed over to the bookshelf. "Lumos Maxima." She whispered in the dark. She didn't want to wake anyone up, and it looked as though everyone were asleep but her. Looking at the bookshelf, she frowned. Most of the books she had either read before, or just looked too small and not appealing. Nonetheless, she grabbed a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and started to reread the Tale of the Three Brothers, reminding her of today's events.

"You can't sleep either?" The voice shocked Hermione. She nearly jumped. She held up her wand to see who was talking to her, even though she recognized the voice.

"Oh, Draco." Hermione whispered. "No, I can't."

"Me either." He got up from his spot on the ground and sat down next to her. They both leaned against the bookshelf. "I'm still feeling pretty low. And...and I'm scared. I feel like at any ungiven moment, someone is going to jump in and take me away, back to my family. But I don't want to go back."

Hermione was surprised about how honest and open he was being with her. It probably had to do with the fact that she was so kind to him earlier. "I actually don't know why I can't sleep. I guess I'm still pretty stressed out from today. I mean, who isn't? But I feel like there's something else on my mind...but I don't know what."

Draco started to laugh.

What on earth could he possibly be laughing about?

"That's a first, isn't it?" Draco said. "You not knowing something."

Hermione gave him a smirk. "You're a weird one, Draco." She whispered. "For the longest time, I thought you'd end up just like your Father. But now I see...no matter how similar, you two are so different." She took a pause and looked into his eyes. "For example, if you were your Father, you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me right now. You'd be disgusted with me. He really believes that...muggle-borns, or, er, mudbloods, should die."

Draco didn't really know what to say to her. She was right. As usual. "I don't really know why we fought so much."

Hermione had an answer for this, too. "It's because of our blood, and how you were raised. If I were a Pure Blood, our relationship might've been different, don't you think?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well...well if it really doesn't matter to you...if you're past all that...maybe we could start over." Hermione mumbled. She didn't know why she was saying all of these things, to Draco. But things kept pouring out of her mouth.

"I think that's...possible." Draco replied. He stared into her chocolate brown eyes.

"Do you think we could be friends?"

"What?" Draco asked.

"Can we forget about everything that happened?"

"No." Draco's answer surprised Hermione. It even surprised Draco himself. "You can't just forget about eleven years of hatred and namecalling and...just...it's unrealistic. If we tried to do that, we'd probably become enemies again."

She closed her eyes as she leaned against the cold bookshelf, and then opened them again. She watched Draco, admiring his pale complexion that was illuminating thanks to Hermione's wand. Her knee accidently bumped against Draco's and she became a bit flustered. He was warm, something Hermione didn't expect from him.

"What's this all about anyways?" Draco asked.

Hermione was quick to respond. "I don't know. Nothing really." She took a long pause. "I think we should try, that's all."

"Try what?"

"Friends. We should try to be friends. Not just us, but Ron and Harry too. With everyone." Hermione tried to explain.

"So you're suggesting I should just drop everything that's ever happened and everything will be rainbows and butterflies?" Draco asked sarcastically.

"No." Hermione said. "I want you to try."

Draco didn't say anything for a good couple of minutes. They both sat in silence. Hermione put her book back in the bookshelf. Every once in a while, they would steal secret glances at eachother. They intrigued one another. There was something so mysterious about sitting next to someone you barely know anything about.

But the truth was, they wanted to know things about eachother.

"So," Draco finally said. "what do you want to talk about, friend?"

"I don't know. What do you usually do when you're sitting next to a girl in the middle of the night?" The moment she asked the question, she wanted to take it back. She burst into quiet laughter and covered her face in her hands. "Nevermind, nevermind, nevermind...let's play truth or dare. You ask first."

Draco chuckled at Hermione. He was also curious...he had never played truth or dare with anyone but Crabbe and Goyle in their first year on the Hogwarts Express on the first ride to Hogwarts. "Truth or dare?"

"Hmm...truth."

"Why are you being so nice to me?

"...I don't know. Truth or dare?"

Draco wanted to say dare, but he was honestly scared of what Granger might tell him to do. "Truth."

"Why are you being so nice to me? It's not your usual self."

"Oh, I don't know." He said, mocking her. "Truth or dare?"

"Fine, I choose dare." Hermione said proudly.

Draco smirked mischievously. "I dare you to go kiss Harry on the cheek."

Hermione frowned. Harry was her best friend, and she'd never had any type of romantic feelings for him. This dare would be just plain awkward. Imagine what Harry would say and think if she accidently woke him up! "I don't think so..."

"You asked for the dare, woman!"

"Yes, well, give me a different one!"

"Fine...kiss me on the cheek instead." Draco said.

Hermione turned a brilliant shade of pink, even visible in the dark.

This is a dare. Calm yourself. It doesn't mean anything. Hermione thought to herself.

"I don't bite." Draco said arrogantly. He turned his head to the side and pointed to his cheek.

Hermione bit her lip and leaned forward, ready to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Suddenly, at the last minute, Draco turned to face her. Her lips smacked right into his.