A surprise update from moi :D I have exams right now, but wanted to thank you all for the support for this story :)

I was so happy from the response the last chapter received (1000 hits in less than 24 hours, which may not be alot to some of the epic writers out there, but is huge for me)

Next update at 100 reviews folks :D

If anyone has any prompts for a Dramione one-shot, please leave a review or send me a pm, and I'll try my best to make it good for you

Chapter Twelve

'Hannah Thompson?'

Blaise was standing across from the brunette witch, his arm crossed, an incredulous look upon his face.

She eyed him carefully and chose to just shrug as casually as she possibly could.

'Since when did you become Hannah Thompson? Wasn't your name Hermione Granger the last time I checked?' he questioned, still poised in the same position as before, his eyebrows raised slightly higher in proportion to his previous expression.

'Would I still be standing in this building if Malfoy had recognised me as his little mudblood enemy from Hogwarts?' she had retorted, crossing her arms also, mimicking his position, as if trying to mock him.

'Granger, Granger, Granger. How many times do I have to tell you that Draco has changed before you'll believe me?' the Italian asked, shaking his head ruefully. Blaise didn't think he would ever understand the long standing rivalry between the Slytherin Prince and Gryffindor Princess.

'Oh, I don't know. Maybe once for every sickle you have stored in your vault at Gringotts.' she said in a playful tone, smirking up at her taller friend.

He glared at her, attempting to pull a pout, but only inflating his face, now resembling a pufferfish.

'I can't believe Draco fell for it. How daft can he be?' Blaise wondered, looking his friend up and down. She looked pretty much like good ol' Hermione Granger to him.

'Well, considering that I've not spoken a word to the man nor seen him in the past ten years, it's quite understandable.' She reasoned.

That was the first civil thing the woman had said about Malfoy the who-

'Either that or he's really stupid. I honestly vote for the latter.'

Blaise rolled his eyes at her before taking a more serious stance, towering over the young witch.

'Honestly Hermione, what are you doing here?'

The muggleborn witch bit her lip and racked her brain for a reasonable explanation. 'Oh come on Hermione, you graduated at the top of your class at Hogwarts, surely you can come up with an explanation that will fool Blaise... It won't be lying persay, more like, being devious. And Slytherins are devious themselves, they won't mind...

'Err, I really don't know how to say this Blaise, but I...' she took a deep breath, not knowing how to let the next phrase escape from her mouth while keeping a neutral facial expression.

'I what, Hermione?' Blaise's head was now cocked to one side, looking pointedly towards the pretty young witch before him.

'ImayfancyDracoMalfoy.' The words rushed from her lips before she had a chance to process the thought. What on earth had she just said? Was she insane?

'You.. what?'

'I may fancy Draco Malfoy.'

Oh boy, she was in real deep trouble now.

'WHAT?'

Blaise had nearly screamed the word out, his eyes close to bulging out from their sockets, all colour seeming to rapidly leave his tan skin.

Unsure of what to say, Hermione merely nodded and looked down towards the ground, pretending to find something interesting about the carpet beneath her feet.

'You mean to tell me.. From the time I last saw you, in Dublin, which was only a year ago, that you just suddenly happened to start fancying your worst enemy who just so happens to be my sloth of a best friend Draco Malfoy?'

It was quite cruel of her to lie to him like this, that much she knew. She hadn't thought the Italian had the ability to take in all this information without either dropping into a dead faint or beginning to freak out. So far, he was doing a pretty good job of controlling his emotions.

'Yes...'

He looked at her skeptically.

'The same guy who tortured you during school; and whom you don't think has changed at all according to our earlier conversation.'

She did her best to hide the look of disgust that was threatening to show upon her face.

'Yes.'

The one and only Blaise Zabini was now at a complete loss for words, a rare moment for a chatty lawyer such as he.

When had this happened?

The last time he had seen Hermione Granger before bumping into her today was just over a year ago, at the Biennial MagiLawyers Conference, which had been held in Dublin, Leinster, Ireland that year. They had struck up a friendship, and owled one another on a regular basis, and not once had she mentioned an attraction for his old school buddy Malfoy. As far as he was concerned, she still appeared to dislike Draco to quite an extent, so where did the sudden declaration of love appear from?

'You're not pulling my wand?'

Clenching her teeth, Hermione removed her gaze from the floor to Blaise, forcing a small smile.

'No.'

Hermione never lied. Well, atleast she had never lied to Blaise before, so as far as he was concerned, she was telling the truth.

'Then why the sudden change of name?'

He was questioning her, curious about her actions. As carefree as the Italian was, he cared deeply for his friends, and would stop at nothing to protect them.

'I don't want to get to know Draco as Hermione. I want a fresh start, so changing my name and identity are the only ways I can acheive this. You understand don't you Blaise? You'll keep this a secret for me?'

Hermione couldn't believe how smoothly she was lying. A few years earlier and she would be flushed pink, fingers twitching, nose wrinkling when attempting deceive another individual. The goody goody in her was telling her over and over how wrong this was, but the side that suffered the emotional pain from her years at Hogwarts, her general dislike towards Malfoy and her support for Astoria overshadowed this.

She began to let out a sigh of relief when he nodded, but her breath caught in her throat as she noticed the mischevious sparkle in his eyes.

'No, no Blaise, don't you even dare think what you're beginning to think!'

The man smirked.

'7:00pm tomorrow. Bring a lady frined. It's time for a double date baby!'

Thanks again for the support everyone! Rainbow cookies for my reviewers? ;)