A/N: Well, first actual multi-page anything I've written in over a year! I've made a few changes to previous chapters but nothing big, just a few things that bugged me because I have changed as a person hah. Anyway, hope you like it and I hope to be writing lots more, because I need a non-baby related hobby (no offence sweet child of mine) Review please, love your feedback xxxxx

Opening Up

I had made it until the end of September. I had made it without any more awkwardness or arguing with Ron, we weren't talking at all. I'd made it with all my work up to date and at top standard. I'd made it a month, falling for Draco Malfoy, and still didn't know where I stood with him.
We're together a lot. We hold hands. We cuddle. We kiss. We argue about silly things. We study together. We break the rules together. We work together.
We weren't in a relationship – we're a blurred line. We aren't affectionate in company; no hand holding on the way to class or kissing over dinner, he just flirts heavily and acts as inappropriately as possible as often as he can. He's also completely charming with Harry and Ginny who are no longer sceptical and accept his presence casually – Ron on the other hand had taken to spending far more time with Dean and Seamus.

I woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of a bird scratching and screeching at the window. I rolled out of bed and slid across to the window hazily and let in Egbert, Draco's eagle owl. I gave him a stroke as I took the letter and gave him a couple of bird treats before he flew back out of the window gracefully.
I unrolled the parchment and it read simply:

Come join me for breakfast beautiful.

I smiled and put the paper on my bedside table before deciding to wear a flattering floral dress that loosely hugged my waist and flowed down to my knees because the weather was lovely and mild.
I quickly fastened a thin black belt around my waist, slipped into some shoes and hastily brushed my teeth before taming my hair and putting it in a diagonal fishtail braid. I splashed my face with cold water in the hopes it would wake me up a little and put on mascara then skipped out of the common room.

When I got to the Great Hall it had only just turned 9am so it was fairly empty and I found Draco sat on the end of the Slytherin table by himself easily. I hopped over to him and sat down, making sure I wouldn't crease my dress. I smiled at him and he smiled back. He has such a beautiful smile, sort of lopsided and cheeky but cute.

"Good morning." I say as I pour tea into a mug then add sugar and milk, while deciding what to eat.

"Hey Miss Granger. You're looking lovely." He said as he picked up a blueberry muffin.

I poured milk into my bowl of cereal and said "Thank you". After a mouthful I added casually "You don't look too bad yourself." Total understatement. He. Was. Smouldering. His white gold hair was damp and rumpled from the shower and his Black V-neck clung to his chest accentuating the muscle tone, he seemed more buff every week...
I glanced at him as I went in to my bowl for another spoon full and he bit his lower lip and wiggled his eyebrows at me so I wiggled my eyebrows back and put the spoon in my mouth.

He smiled broadly with his eyebrows raised. "You shouldn't do such things at the breakfast table I'm vulnerable right now; I've just woken up I don't have to strength to resist you." He got closer to me as he spoke and put his hand on my knee.

My heart stuttered excitedly and he grinned at me and squeezed my thigh. "You're far too irresistible for it to be legal."
He pulled back then and ate some of his muffin. I smiled and finished my breakfast.

"Are we going straight to the potions classroom?" I asked as I took a sip of tea.

"Yeah, and as much as it kills me to say, I'll have to get off pretty soon after because I've got a heap of owls to write and homework to finish." He smiled sadly.

I nodded and said "that's why I always do homework on the same day; I get to enjoy my weekends." I stuck my tongue out at him.

He jutted his bottom lip out then said "Stop being an insufferable know-it-all Granger."

I scowled at him and stood up having finished my tea "Come on then Malfoy." I span around and started walking slowly towards the door. When I reached the entrance I looked around to see why he wasn't walking with me and saw that he was dawdling a few paces behind.

He winked at me and grinned "Don't stop on my account, I'm just enjoying the view back here."

I shook my head at him and pulled him to walk next to me. "Spoil sport." He said, playfully tickling my ribs.

When we got to the dungeon classroom, our potion was sat brewing in the back of the store room. I grabbed the rest of our ingredients we needed and a pestle and mortar.
"Will you bring the cauldron out please?" I asked as I walked back into the classroom.

"Of course dear."

I took the measures of Bicorn Horn out and began crushing it "throw the boomslang skin in." I instructed him.

"I know dear." He said in the same tone as last.

I looked over at him and smiled "Sorry. I'm used to taking charge in these situations. You know, I was able to make this potion in the second year." I told him.

He looked at me with his eyebrows raised as he put the boomslang skin in the cauldron careful not to splash. "Really? I mean, I knew you were good, but… To come from no magic knowledge to perfecting a Polyjuice potion in just over a year… Impressive Granger. It took me a few horrific failures before getting it right. I still have too much hair on my big toes from my first try…" He said frowning.

I laughed loudly "Oh my god, really? That's not good! What did you look like after drinking it?"

"Don't laugh it was horrible. I ended up looking like a Minotaur on meth." He said in faux sadness and embarrassment.

I laughed a little again and gave him an apologetic smile. "Well if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't careful with the hair I put in mine, and it turned out to be cat hair… You can only imagine the result."

He laughed loudly "oh my god, I thought it was a rumour that you were coughing up hairballs! Ha!"

I frowned and blushed "Sadly not. But I did get the potion right." I shrugged and stuck my tongue out at him

I walked over to him and poured the powdered horn into the cauldron then put the heat on high and timed 20 seconds.

"Oh, ouch! Retract the claws." He winked at me, grinning so I shook my head at him. "I can't help myself." He said as he came to stand behind me and he hugged my waist, leaning down to rest his head on my shoulder. I turned the heat off then and waved my wand over it, so it was ready to brew for the next 24 hours.
I turned so I was facing Draco, my hand on his chest. He crushed his hips into mine against the table and held my face "Hey." He said wagging his eyebrows.

I smiled at him "Hello Mr Malfoy." He grinned widely and kissed me, before picking me up swiftly and sitting me on the table with my legs around his waist.

"You're being naughty." He said looking at me sternly. "3 points from Gryffindor."

I laughed and blushed deep red. "Hmm…" He pondered "Why is it you blush harder whenever I say something naughty?" He asked with his eyebrow raised and a crooked grim forming.

I blushed more and shrugged. "I'm a sweet innocent girl Draco, such vulgar things shock my untainted mind." I said sticking my tongue out at him, and before I could retract it he bit it gently and wrestling butterflies tried to break free from my stomach.

He groaned sexually "You're fucking hot. Dancing round in your pretty little dress making me want you more." He bit his lip hard and sighed. "It's cruel." He was a picture of sadness requesting my sympathies.

"My apologies." I broke away from him then and walked around to the front of the room and put the radio on. When I found a channel playing decent music I danced back to him smiling cheekily.
He made a big sigh looking up to the ceiling, then span around and dropped to the floor theatrically.

"No, no, no!" I said swooping over to him grinning. "You have to come and dance with me!" I pulled him up and made him twist around with me. We both laughed and danced and forgot about the world for a moment.
We kissed and span slowly for a million long seconds before he pulled away and I felt slightly faint.

"What next?" He whispered.

I looked at him, perplexed and he grinned.

"With the potion."

"Oh, it needs to brew for 24 hours and then tomorrow morning we add the… uh – Lacewings and hair if Slughorn says we have to add hair..." I said walking back over to the work top where our potion was. I silently cast a levitation charm on it and cast it back to its place in the store cupboard and quickly cleaned the side.

Draco sighed quietly next to me "I don't want to go." He said quietly.

I smiled at him and mussed his hair up "There there grasshopper; where work is to be done, it shall be done. Besides you want good grades don't you?"

He rolled his eyes and said matter-of-factly "I'll get good grades Granger, don't worry." He smiled arrogantly and I snickered then started walking past him and pulled him to the door with me.

Before I reached the door handle however, he put his free against the wall behind me and pressed against me gently. "Why the hurry?" He whispered seductively, eyes smouldering me. He let go of my hand and ran his fingers lightly down my arm from my shoulder to my wrist making me shudder and my hairs stand on end.

"I thought you had things to do." I said in an almost inaudible whisper. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards and he touched his nose to mine.

"But I don't want to do those things." He put his hand on my hip and pulled me into him even more than I was already and my head spun as I reminded myself to breathe.
He kissed me softly once, and then remained a centimetre away so his hot breath was mixing with mine. I kissed him back then, and he let go of the wall, instead cupping his hand around my cheek as we moulded together and our tongues gently explored one-and-other.

When we eventually stopped and finally came back down to the ground I was breathing heavily and unevenly – and noticeably not the only one – with my head resting on his gently.
"Nobody wants to do homework." I whispered, having remembered what we were talking about.

He nodded slightly and chuckled "'Sept you, you nerd."

I flicked his ribs playfully and he pulled us away from the wall and stood at arm's length, then he groaned a sigh "Damn you Granger."

I frowned slightly "What?"

"I'm just a poor defenceless sailor who got too close to the rocky coast of your island and now I'm trapped by your song – completely hopeless as you lead me to my untimely demise." He spun around slowly and I was still frowning slightly when he looked back at me wondering whether that was a good thing or a bad thing… It sounded bad. He grinned at me and reached his hand out to stroke my cheek with his thumb. "I'll see you later Hermione."
And with that he stepped past me and whipped out of the room, leaving a warm trace on my face and a cool air around my legs. A moment later I left the classroom and made my way up to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hermione, what do you think?" Ginny asked me as I gazed out of the window from the squishy armchair by the fire.

"Hmm…?" I asked having not listened to the entire conversation between her, Harry and Neville.

Neville spoke up first, looking up from the Daily Prophet that was laid on the table "The ministry's decided to reinstate the dementors as guards at Azkaban."

I frowned "I thought Kingsley didn't support it!"

This time Ginny spoke "He doesn't. But he basically had to agree with them; according to the article the entire Law Enforcement department wanted them back and lots of officials. People are just too scared of what all the death eaters would do if they got out."

I shrugged and glanced back outside at the dull sky "Well, at least with the dementors back there they get what they deserve." I shuddered slightly thinking about all the innocent people who were raped, murdered and tortured at the hands of the current inmates of Azkaban prison.

"I agree." Harry said simply.

I thought for a moment about Lucius Malfoy, rotting in Azkaban prison, now accompanied by dementors and wondered idly how Draco felt about it.

Ginny sighed "What are you two doing today then?" She asked towards Neville and I.

"I'm going down to the greenhouses; need to check on the Snargaluff for the 6th years tomorrow." Neville answered happily. "I've been helping Professor Sprout whenever I can, you know, I wouldn't mind that job one day…"

I shuffled in my seat slightly "I don't really have anything to do… Probably just go to the library, or visit Hagrid." I added as I realised I had barely seen him since coming back to school.

"We're going to visit Hagrid if you want to come." Harry said happily.

I thought for a moment "No Ron?" They both shook their heads in reply and I nodded "Yeah, cool, I'll come with you guys then."

"Is everything alright?" Ginny asked tilting her head at me.

I nodded. "Yes I'm just a bit tired. Shall we go now?" I said and stood up wanting to get out and keep my mind busy.

Harry, Ginny and I spent a good few hours down at Hagrid's hut, drinking tea and avoiding rock cake. Hagrid told us about Buckbeak and all the other animals and how they had coped after the war. He told us that a lot of the Acromantula had made it back into the forest after the battle however there were a lot of dead ones scattered from the death eaters and everyone else as they fought to not be eaten alive, but the spiders were growing in numbers again with "lots of new babies" as Hagrid had adoringly described them.
At about 2PM we headed back to the castle for a bit of late lunch and I said goodbye to them in the great hall to go to the library to try and find something new to read. I found a little dusty book about Acromantula and sat myself down in my little reading nest and wondered idly if Hagrid had read this book; the thought of his large hands flipping the pages of this tiny book made me chuckle.

"Something funny?" I jumped slightly and looked up to see Draco grinning at me "hey." He added

I smiled "Not really. Hey."

"I'll leave you to read if you want, but I've finished my work and wondered if you would like to go for a walk by the lake." His smile was lovely and made my heart stutter.

I threw the book back on a shelf and jumped up "let's go."

He chuckled happily at my enthusiasm and took my hand in his. I tried to not react to the fact we'd not held hands in view of other people before. He swung our arms and whistled as we walked
"I thought it was only me who was this happy after hours of writing essays…"

He shrugged and spoke quietly "eh, essays aren't so bad. I'm mostly happy I'm walking with you."

I smiled looking round at him "Aw, such a sweetie aren't you."

That's me, Mr Sweet. What have you been doing anyway?" He asked casually as we started down the staircase.

"Uh, caught Harry and Ginny and we went down to see Hagrid for a while then we had lunch together…"

"Ah, Hagrid doesn't like me much either does he…" It wasn't a question.

I tried to dodge it anyway "Well, he's never really mentioned you to be honest…" I lied as I thought of Hagrid's pain when he almost lost Buckbeak in our 5th year.

He sighed as we slid outside "you don't need to spare my feelings; I'm a big boy." I looked round at him and he was frowning sadly. I stepped in front of him and wrapped my arms round his neck, standing on my tip toes. He hugged me back and kissed my hair. "Apple." He noted.

We carried on walking quietly until we got to the lake, where he let go of my hand and picked up a few stones and tossed them, one by one, far into the lake. I sat down on the grass bank just behind him and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them; the wind was picking up down here.

"Why'd I have to screw everything up huh?" Draco said loudly, angry at himself. "I could have rejected my family like Sirius Black did. I could have stood up for myself…" He picked up a few more stones and started throwing them. "I could have made friends with people who had non-death eater parents. I could have listened to Dumbledore or Snape when they offered me a way out earlier. I'm just a coward. Slytherin through and through."

I stood up, feeling a lump in my throat for him, and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind. "You're no coward Draco. And no one would expect an 11 year old boy to turn his back on his family, especially with a loving mother to think of. You did your best with the cards you were dealt."

"Did I…" He murmured, almost to himself, still looking out to the lake throwing rocks.

I reached up and grabbed his hand before he threw the rock in it and I twisted round him so I was in front, staring up into his face. His eyes were burning. "Yes." I said strongly. "Please, don't do this to yourself. This is just school Draco, who cares what school kids think? You will get out of here in a few months' time with great grades, and probably be offered a job at the ministry! God knows they already appreciate you."

He closed his eyes sadly. "I know it's just school… for now. You didn't see how people reacted when I first walked through the ministry plaza, 2 days after the battle. My wrists and ankles shackled, being escorted by dementors and Kingsley." He shook his head in disgust "And then, even worse was when I Wasn't shackled, people looking at me like scum, like they might just shoot spells at me on the spot. They blamed me because I was a free man. Yeah, people will get over it eventually, but I don't think I can deal with it till then."

He bit his lower lip and I pulled him into a tight hug "I'll be here to help." I half whispered, all his emotion having stolen my voice.

"Really?" he asked incredulously. "You want to stand by Draco Malfoy, the twatish twat?"

I pulled my head back to look him in the eye "I do." He smiled a little, but not reaching his eyes, and kissed my nose.

"Thank you. Have I mentioned you are amazing?"

"Once or twice. Come on, it's cold, let find a fire to sit by." And with that we headed back inside, one of us feeling a few stones lighter.