Ok, sorry it took so long. Though it wasn't 6 months so I'm doing better. I just wanted to say that the scenes with the Weasley family and Harry, they are at the "Safe House" which is basically just a house. Oh and I apologize for parts of the last scene of the chapter. It gets a little "Mushy" and it might suck, I didn't mean for it to be so, but it turned out that way, unfortunately mushy just isn't my bag baby. (Ha I love Austin Powers) and the quotes from the book, you'll understand, those are quotes that I actually found in a book from the library, pretty cool, I just love the Voltaire one. Anywho...umm.... more at the bottom, I just know I'll think of something else I want to say to you all my readers.

"Hermione has been acting really strange lately." Ron commented

"I know, Ginny, do you have any idea what's going on with her?" Harry asked

"No clue, I haven't really noticed anything strange."

"Are you kidding me, she's been all wonky lately." Harry said

Ginny giggled "Wonky?"

"Oh, shut up, you know what I mean, one minute she'll be looking all......dreamy, and the next looking all nervous and guilty. And she's constantly searching her bag for someth....." Harry trailed off

"What?" asked Ron

Harry just sat there for a few seconds looking confused, then a look of realization came over his face "And then today she took one step into the hall and ran out again." Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table and it was like his worst fears had been realized. "No, she wouldn't do that."

"What? What are you on about?" Ron was very confused, he obviously hadn't caught Harry's glance, but Ginny had and now she was looking nervous.

"I think she's" Harry began but he was interrupted by Ginny "Lost something, very important, in fact Harry I wanted to talk to you about that, ALONE!" Ginny pulled Harry to his feet, and dragged him out of the Great Hall, leaving Ron staring after them.

"What are you doing?.. You know something!! Has Hermione been seeing Malfoy?"

Ginny looked exasperated "No! At least she wasn't this afternoon, and even if that had changed, it is none of your business. She's a big girl."

"And he's DRACO MALFOY!!! LUCIUS MALFOY'S SON!!!!!!! you know Lucius Malfoy, Death Eater Extraordinaire, tried to kill me, tried to kill Sirius, best fiend of Voldemort, all around BASTARD!! And Draco is no better, look at what he's done this year alone!!"

"Yeah, alright, I know all of that, but what if he's different?"

"How different could he be?!" Harry was speaking so loudly now that Ginny had to shoo him into a corner.

"Calm down, we can't always help who we have crushes on." She gave Harry a meaningfully stare. "And besides, sometimes it doesn't matter who the person is, or who their parents are, sometimes other people can't understand it, but all that matters is that they understand it. Hermione obviously sees something in Malfoy that we can't see, you should trust her judgment. She knows what she's doing." They were very close together, Harry seemed to realize this and stepped back.

"I know, but why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it have been someone who wouldn't hurt her in the end?"

"How do you know that, how do you know he's going to hurt her? Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, he would be her match, and that they might end up together for the long run?"

"It's Malfoy, he'll never be that way. He's going to break her heart, I just know it."

"Well.. sometimes we can't choose who our hearts get broken by." Stood there for a moment looking at Harry, then she turned around and walked back into the Great Hall.

Harry didn't go back to the Great Hall, he went to the common room instead and sat in one of the chairs in front of the fire to think. When Hermione walked in she didn't see him, so she started walking up to her dormitory but his voice stopped her.

"I don't understand it, why, why him??"

"What?" Hermione asked as she crossed the room to sit across from him.

"You know what, Malfoy! Why him? After everything he's done over the years, why.... do whatever you're doing?"

"Well, I'm not doing anything; it's just that I've seen him a couple of times since I've been back and.... I don't know, he's been....... nice."

"Well, I know all about liking someone you shouldn't, Cho, but, that turned out bad and I just want to make sure that you aren't just setting yourself up for a fall."

"I'm not, trust me Harry, I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, that seems to be the resounding opinion around here. I just.... you know I love you Hermione, I mean a totally platonic love, you're like a sister to me, and I just don't want you hurt."

She walked over and gave him a hug "I know, and I love you too, you and Ron."

"Oh, hey, are you going to tell him about Malfoy?"

"I don't even know if there is a Malfoy to tell about, but I guess so."

"Don't! At least not yet, not until you're sure about this thing with Malfoy. I don't know if you'd noticed but I think Ron likes you. In more than just a platonic way."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks Harry" she hugged him again and headed for her dormitory.

"Oh and Hermione, if he hurts you, I'll kick his ass."

She laughed "Thanks Harry" and with that she went up to bed.
"Aren't you coming on the train Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Oh, no."

"But, I thought you were going with your parents over break." Ron said

"I am, but I'm leaving in a couple days, I wanted to talk to some of the teachers about what I missed."

"Only you would want to do school work over Christmas break Hermione." Said Ron

"Bye, see you after break." Hermione waved goodbye to the Weasley's and Harry as they left the castle.

She went back up to Gryffindor tower where Luna, the only other Gryffindor to stay, was sitting reading a book. Hermione went up to her Dormitory to look for something to do. In the end she decided to go to the library and find something to read. But on her way there she got a little side tracked.

As she was walking down a hallway she saw Draco coming towards her. He walked right past her without even looking her way. "Malfoy, wait, we need to talk."

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do. What was the other day about?"

"Nothing, ok, just leave it alone, leave me alone" he yelled and then turned around and walked away.

What was that all about? Had it really been nothing to him? She was such an idiot! That's why he ran off, he was probably going to tell all hi friends what he'd gotten prissy little Granger to do.

"Of course, that slimy little bastard!" she whispered to herself. And with that she walked straight back to the Gryffindor common room, completely forgetting about the library.
A few days passed and Hermione was still angry at Malfoy for doing that to her, but she was more angry with herself for not being able to stop thinking about him or that night.

Christmas morning dawned bright and early. Hermione found a stack of gifts at the end of her bed, many with notes from her parents saying they were from relatives.

She found one from Harry and one from Ron, a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a bag of goodies from Fred and George (they were well on their way to opening up their own shop), the usual tin of treacle fudge from Hagrid, and one package that had no note. She opened it to find a small book of memorable quotes, two pages were marked. The first quote was made by Voltaire on his deathbed in response to a priest asking him to renounce the devil. "Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies." The second was by Arthur Schopenhauer "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as being self evident." What in the world? Who sent this to her.
"Wow, thanks Mrs. Weasley." Said Harry

"Oh, you're welcome dear. Where has Ginny gotten to?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"I'll go look for her" Harry volunteered

"Thank you Harry"

They were sitting in the Weasley's house opening presents. Harry got up and walked upstairs to find Ginny, he found her in her room.

"Ginny, can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, come on in." she was sitting on her bed staring at the wall opposite her.

"What are you doing? We're all downstairs having fun."

"Just sitting up here thinking."

"What about?"

"Just strange things. If, and this is purely hypothetical, but if Hermione started to really like Malfoy and he started to really like her, would you be ok with that?"

Harry crossed the room and sat down next to her on the bed. "I don't know, I mean I would be happy for Hermione, but it's Malfoy, and we can't really just forget everything he's done."

"I think that it's a good thing."

"What?!"

"Well, people need to get into stupid relationships sometimes, like Michael Corner, to realize other things, like how much you like some one else, or how much you don't like a person."

"What did you realize?" he was looking right at her.

"Me, I realized that I had been foolish in who I had crushes on."

"Oh, so you've had a lot of crushes in your life?" this bothered him for some reason.

"No, just one."
Hermione and Luna had a lot of fun Christmas day, they raced cushions and played cards and then they went down to dinner.

Very few people had stayed for Christmas, Hermione and Luna, three Hufflepuff first years, and Draco Malfoy was the only Slytherin, and he was looking very uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as the Hufflepuff boy sitting next to him however, who kept casting suspicious glances at him, like he was expecting him to pull out his wand and curse him at any moment. He did look rather menacing, but also incredibly cute. NO! He didn't want to have anything to do with her, she couldn't go around thinking he was cute.

The food was delicious. Hermione was having a small discussion with Luna when a first year girl spoke up.

"Um, excuse me, I was just wondering, you're friends with Harry Potter aren't you?"

"Yes, I am"

"Ah yes, potter bravest boy alive don't you know!" said a sarcastic voice, it was Malfoy.

"Well......um..." she cast a hesitant glance at Malfoy who was now listening intently to every word they were saying. "Well, I was wondering if.... Umm........is he umm..."

"Oh out with it, come on, is he what?" Said Malfoy in exasperation.

"Get out of this conversation Malfoy. Go ahead." Hermione said with a glance at Malfoy.

"Um... is he.... Dating anyone?" she went bright red.

"Ah, the truly important question, Potter romantic status."

The girl jumped up and ran out of the hall.

"Malfoy! You are such a bastard."

"Whatever." He got up and walked out of the hall.

"God I hate him!"

"But what a dream boat!" Luna said

"What!?!"

"Well, that is what you were thinking isn't it??"

"I... I'm going to go to bed." She got up and walk out of the Great Hall, but when she got to the Entrance Hall she stopped dead. She saw Malfoy, with his back to her, talking to the Hufflepuff girl.

"Do you even know who you were talking to? That was Hermione Granger; she's like the smartest student in this whole school! Potter may be good at some things, but he is certainly not better than everyone at everything! Got it?"

"Well... he's still better than you at everything!" she hurried off before he could say anything else to her.

"Do you really think that?" Hermione asked

"What! Hermione! How long have you been standing there?"

"Just long enough to hear you say you think I'm smarter than you."

"Oh, well....." they heard more people coming out of the Great Hall. "Come here." he grabbed her hand and pulled her down toward the dungeon passage ways. "Snakeblood" he said and the wall opened and he pulled her inside. They were standing in the middle of the Slytherin Common room.

"Come over here, sit down, I need to talk to you."

"Wait a minute, I say we need to talk and you tell me to piss off, but you say you need to talk to me and I'm supposed to listen. Why should I?"

"What did you think of the book?"

"That was from you?"

"Yeah, it's the only way I could think of to explain. That quote about the three stages, that's what happened."

"What are you talking about?!"

"The other day, that was the second stage, it is violently opposed, now, I'm at stage three, and I've accepted it as self evident."

"Accepted what as self evident?"

"This, us."

"What us?"

"I don't know!' he sounded defeated. "Look Hermione I'm not some lovesick puppy, ok? I never say the right thing, and I'm not all sweet and cute and cuddly, God knows I'm not lovable, hell, I'm not even really likable. To tell you the truth I'm a stubborn bastard that no one wants to be around. Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't even hang out with me if their Fathers weren't making them. And I'm definitely not smart, like you, and we would never have anything to talk about, but I don't want to let this go. I've kissed plenty of girls, maids, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, even a Gryffindor, well two including you. But I always felt..... bored. But when we kissed........ I ........ I didn't feel bored, let's just leave it at that. I just wanted to know if there was the slightest chance that you felt something too. And now that I have proven my earlier point that I never say the right thing I'm going to shut up and let you talk now."

Hermione couldn't do anything but sit there and stare at him. She could see his vulnerability, and knew he had said what was in his heart. She had the feeling he had never done that before, with anybody. His words cut to her heart. He didn't think he was loveable. This boy that she had always thought was arrogant, and selfish, and completely sure of himself had the lowest self esteem she had ever seen. She walked forward until she was right in front of him; she put her hand on his cheek and stared into his eyes." I want to be around you."

He hugged her to him, her head was resting on his shoulder when she heard his next comment, "I'm not going to be chasing you around with flowers or anything."

Hermione pulled back and laughed, "I wouldn't want you to."

He leaned down and kissed her. "You'd better go; I am only human after all."
EIGHT CHAPTERS BABY WOOHOO!! Ok, so finally I have finished the next chapter. And you see Malfoy got a little weird, but had to be done. Sorry I have another whole chapter almost, just gotta top it off with a fun Harry- Ginny scene, or maybe fun Hermione-Malfoy scene, either way they will both get written in somewhere. And I'm sorry, I might, repeat might, not be able to update rapidly, I actually have a job now so I can afford my car and a personally life, YAY!! So, anything else, ooohhh... ok so I must recommend something to you all, and if you have looked up FinalFantasyGoddess then you might already have done this, but I suggest you read Alice 19th. It's a manga, it's awesome # 6 comes out next month!! Juvenile Orion, Eerie Queerie, Mars, and Inuyasha are awesome too, got to love sexy sesshy!! Anyway, ok well I'm sorry if there are some grammar mistakes or misspellings, I was speed typing, like 30 words per second to finish this chapter and my computer does weird spell check crud, so yeah I am going to take a leaf out of Malfoy's book and shut up now.