Thanks to reviewers! You will be rewarded next chapter!

With a Hogsmeade trip the day before the first match of the season, students were all a buzz as they made their way down into town. Hermione walked with the others including Luna and Neville, but none of their conversation registered. She was more concerned with how to get away from them to go meet Draco.

Over the week, Easter had gotten larger, standing about an inch above her knee now. With this growth, he had refused to eat and had taken to scratching at the walls. This would have been okay had he remained in the lavatory, but after a third year had noticed some odd marks on a fourth floor wall, Hermione and Draco had to take action. They scoured the books Hermione had procured and discovered some caretaking methods for magical felines. Also, because Easter no longer ate the bloody sludge, Draco had no choice but to enlist Hermione's help in looking for something different to make. He had sent her an owl that morning telling her to meet him around the corner of Dervish's.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron said, taking her hand. "Let's get some butterbeer."

She inwardly groaned. She knew she did not have time for this, but she had also spent little time with Ron and she knew he wanted to do something with her this trip. He was already dragging her towards the pub.

"Um, Ron."

"Yeah, Hermione?"

"I…I can't." She pulled Ron to the stop, forcing the others to stop as well. "I can't. I have to be somewhere."

Instead of being disappointed or even upset, Ron instantly became suspicious and she could tell the others were just as wary.

"You have to be somewhere other than with your friends?"

"I have some responsibilities-"

"You're not Head Girl, so what responsibilities do you bloody have, Hermione?"

She couldn't believe how mad Ron was getting. He had released her hand and was now glaring at her.

"I have other responsibilities Ron-"

"Like what?"

"I can't…I don't want to leave, Ron, but I just have something I need to do. But I'll be back later and we can-"

"You can't stop doing anything serious to have fun, can you?"

"That's not fair! I have done plenty of things-"

"When?" he roared, attracting attention. "When, Hermione? Because, for the last few weeks, you've been disappearing on us and then you just want me to accept it?"

"I want you to trust me!"

"Well, guess what? I don't."

The air was knocked out of her faster than if he had simply hit her in the stomach. Her heart sunk in her chest and, no longer willing to stand around with them, Hermione took off down the road. Draco was standing outside an alleyway when she came his way. His eyebrows rose at her teary eyes and flushed face. But, to her surprise and thankfulness, he kept whatever comments he had to himself and ducked into the alley. She glanced around before following him down the length of the alley to a nondescript side shop that looked like it belonged on Knockturn Alley.

Inside, the air was warm from a brilliant fire burning to the side of the sizable shop. There were aisles and aisles of magical ingredients, most of them for potions but others for food. A dwarf was busy sweeping when the two entered. He nodded to Draco and gestured to some large, plush chairs near the fire.

"Would you like something to drink, Mister Malfoy?" he inquired. Draco shook his head.

"We're shopping."

"I'll bring some tea and biscuits then."

Draco turned back to Hermione, who was busy wiping her face. At his look, she rolled her eyes.

"What?"

He actually smiled. "Told you Weasley was thick." He pulled out some pieces of parchment and handed a couple to her. "Let's get started, Granger."

She moved off down one aisle and he took another. Draco had found a recipe for a variation of sludge suitable for magical felines that contained deathcaps. They also found some recipes for potions the caretaking section of the tome suggested would help keep the feline docile, promote good health, and add sheen to the coat.

The dwarf returned from a backroom with a tea tray. He set it down by the fire and then came over to Hermione.

"Need help, Miss?"

"I can't find the wolfsbane," she muttered, running a finger over a shelf.

"It will be on the other side, miss. Anything else?"

She could see Malfoy moving around a few aisles down and turned to the dwarf. "Does he come in here often?"

"When the students come into town, yes. Sits and reads mostly, but occasionally he makes a purchase. Nothing like wolfsbane or deathcaps, though. Must be a pretty potion you two are concocting, hm?"

Hermione just smiled and the dwarf walked off. Draco came around the corner with a bag full of ingredients.

"Are you done?"

"I just need the wolfsbane."

"I have it already. Come on, let's go."

"What about paying?"

Draco rolled his eyes and turned to the dwarf. "Put it on my tab."

Hermione's eyes widened. She had seen some of the prices on the items and they had purchased several kilos worth of products.

"I can pay-"

"Don't get prideful, Granger," he said as he made for the door. "Well, come on, will you?"

She muttered a goodbye to the dwarf and followed Draco out. Everything was so cool compared to inside and she shivered as her eyes became teary. But instead of blinking them away, she just let them spill over onto her cheeks. Draco turned around upon realizing nobody was behind him to see Hermione standing there by the door, face in hands.

"What is it now, Granger?"

"Go away, Draco," came her muffled voice and he smiled.

"That was convincing."

"This is ruining everything!" She pulled her hands away so that he could see her anxious expression. "I just…Ron doesn't trust me! None of them do. And I keep lying to them about Easter, and about you! Then Easter might be this murderous catastrophe that's growing every single day and it's all my fault!"

He returned to her side as she started crying into her hands again. "Granger, this isn't the time."

"Well, then when am I supposed to have a nervous breakdown, Malfoy? When it's convenient for you?"

Setting his bag down, he took a deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulders. This action immediately stopped all crying as she looked up at him in shock.

"We are going to make sure nothing happens, understood?" he said slowly, face set as he peered down at her. "We are the only ones who know that thing is there and as long as we're careful, nothing's going to happen."

"But if he-"

"Nothing is going to happen."

He said it so definitively that Hermione believed him. She wiped her face before nodding. She kept thinking of this whole predicament as if she were completely alone. Draco was there and, though she did not like thinking about it, they had each other to rely on. He had not betrayed her secret to anyone so far, not even Blaise. His presence had actually been helpful and she would never admit that she had started enjoying his disagreeable company. Talking to Easter had made her feel like one of those old spinsters. At least with Draco there was conversation to be had, even if it was just them arguing.

She realized that he was still holding her and looked up at him. Cheeks warming, he released her quickly and snatched up his bag.

"Let's go," he muttered gruffly, moving past her. "There's a bookstore I want to check out." Her stomach felt strange and she turned to watch his retreating back. Why did her stomach feel so strange?

They visited another shop that was off the main road, this one also tended to by a dwarf. Hermione waited at the front while Draco picked out a few books on foreign magical creatures. After leaving, they took a back way through Hogsmeade to avoid being seen together. It was longer, but she enjoyed the walk. Though their conversation was restricted to the potions they were going to make, it was pleasant enough. Neither of them made any cynical remarks of the other. Hermione did notice that Draco was making a rather pointed effort not to look at her and she wondered if it had to do with what happened back in town.

When they reached the castle, they split up so that students lingering around in the castle would not suspect anything. Easter was waiting for them, chest humming as he rubbed against them in greeting. Hermione started laying out the ingredients while Draco retrieved their supplies from Myrtle's stall. The distressed ghost appeared in front of Hermione, more upset then usual.

"You went to Hogsmeade together?" she inquired when Draco returned. "I thought you'd come see me today, Draco. See me alone."

Hermione frowned up at Myrtle. "We had things to do. I can't see why it should matter if he sees you now or alone some other time."

"I'd rather see Draco when you're not around. He's much more pleasant when you're not around."

Draco smirked. "There's a reason for that."

"I doubt he's any different now then when he's alone with you, Myrtle," Hermione snapped. "Why don't you talk to him if you're so intent on seeing him?"

"He's not paying attention to me!" Myrtle wailed. "He only pays attention to you!"

"Does not. Stop being silly Myrtle. If you're going to be a pain, then I'm going to ask you to leave us alone."

"You see how she treats me, Draco! Make her treat me better."

"He will do no such thing!" Hermione glared at Myrtle. "Stop this, Myrtle. Malfoy pays more attention to you then he does to anyone, so stop being so silly."

With a wail, Myrtle flew into her stall. Hermione turned to Draco, who had an amused look on his face.

"What?"

He shook his head and started a fire under the first cauldron. "Nothing, Granger. Absolutely nothing."

She frowned. "Yeah, well…let's do this one first. I'm not sure if I want to feed him just yet."

"You think he'll appreciate that?"

They looked up at Easter and then at the walls of the lavatory. The grooves where Easter had put his claws were getting progressively deeper. Draco's gaze dropped to Hermione's bandaged hand. He took her by the wrist, unwrapping the bandages.

"It's still bleeding," he muttered. A couple of the scratches had healed, but the others were still bright red. Long shiny scars remained of the healed ones. But Hermione was not too concerned with that. She was more concerned with Draco's hand on her wrist. She knew she should have pulled away immediately, but her heart was pounding to loudly and his hand was surprisingly warm.

"I think we should wait," came out of her mouth.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Their eyes met and Hermione wished she had something else to say. Something she could do to get her out of his gaze. It was so pensive that she hoped she did not appear silly staring back at him. Why was he looking at her like that?

He dropped her hand and his gaze, picking up some ingredients. "So, let's get started."

It took her a minute to recover before she joined him. The rest of the afternoon was quiet, with only Myrtle's crying and Easter's activities to keep them company.