It had been two days and Hermione still felt so bad about what she had done. She worried about what her relationship with be like with Draco now. She wasn't even sure how to talk to him at this point. He's been pretty much ignoring her since the whole incident. They were lying in the same bed room but he wouldn't even look in her direction. She wanted to make amends with him but she was also scared to even talk to him, to admit that she was wrong, though a small part of her felt justified in smacking him.

It wasn't so much that he insulted Harry; it was more or less that he insulted what Harry stands for. He is a beacon of hope for many people and a symbol that good can defeat evil. But she knew no matter what her opinion on it was she would have to apologize at some point. She just hoped that he would actually be able to forgive her. Even though she was still around him she missed the way they were before the fight. She missed his smile. She missed the way he used to look at her, the one that made tingles go down her spine.

"Malfoy." Hermione said building up courage. He didn't respond. "Malfoy?" She repeated. Still no response.

"Draco." She said in plea for him to respond. This caused him to turn and look at her. He wasn't use to her calling him Draco. She had done it once before while they were at the cabin, but so much had changed since then.

"I am so sorry about what happened. I never should have slapped you. It was in the heat of the moment. And you were right, I should be mad at Harry. I hadn't really taken into consideration what he did wrong and I focused it all on Sarah. And no, I don't like her but if you can just forgive me I promise I won't talk about her like that to you ever again." Hermione blurted. A few moments of silence passed as Draco processed her explanation.

"I accept your apology." He responded plainly while changing from laying to a sitting position on the edge of his bed.

"So can we go back to being best friends?" Hermione asked with a playful but also hopeful look. Draco smiled and began to laugh.

"Uh, I'm not sure we were ever best friends, but yeah sure."

"Ohh, thank you!" Hermione squealed excitedly, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. "I've missed talking to you!"

"I've missed talking to you too Granger." He responded still smiling. "So catch me up, what's happened with the Potter situation?" Though he didn't necessarily want to hear her talk about her boyfriend, he realized that maybe this thing between him and Hermione could only be just a friendship.

"Well actually things have been pretty good. Harry has been pretty attentive towards me and seems to have a lot more time. I don't know if he ended his little affair with Sarah or not because I never confronted him about it, but it sure seems like he did."

"Hm, interesting. But that's what you wanted, so I'm happy it's all working out." Draco responded dryly. He did know something about the situation between Harry and Sarah. Sarah told him that Harry has been ignoring her for the most part. She couldn't even get him alone to talk about why he all the sudden distanced himself from her.

"That's a lot coming from you, even if you don't really mean it." Hermione smiled as she sat down on his bed, crossing her legs. "But the goal now is to keep things this way."

"You still need my help with that?"

"I don't know if you have time." She responded with a laugh. "I heard you've been quite the ladies' man around the castle lately."

"For you Granger, I have time." They both smiled at each other. "But, seriously, don't ever slap me again." He said in a serious tone. Hermione nodded, agreeing that she wouldn't. Suddenly there was a soft tapping at the window. Draco stood up, realizing it was his father's owl, and opened the window. His eyes glanced over the note that the owl delivered.

Draco come home tonight at 12.

-LM

He instantly got nervous. What if his father had found out what he did? Lucius wouldn't react kindly to him saving Hermione and ruining his plans.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked noticing a change his demeanor.

"Nothing, I just have to go see my father tonight." Draco responded as he slipped the note into his pocket.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." He answered, walking over to his wardrobe and pulling out his robes. "Come on Granger, we are going to be late for Potions."

lllll

After class Draco, who was walking back to his room, was stopped by Harry.

"Potter, what do you want?" He asked in an extremely irritated voice.

"We need to talk." Harry said, moving a little closer to Draco. "I need you to stay away from her."

"Who Granger? I can't stay away from her. We live together." He responded with a smirk.

"Not Hermione."

"Are you talking about Sarah? Seriously man, fuck off." Draco said turning to walk away. Harry grabbed his arm to stop him from doing so.

"Man, don't touch me." He said yanking his arm back. "You seriously came over here to tell me to stay away from Sarah. Who the hell are you with exactly, her or Granger? Because I am a little confused here."

"It isn't your job to understand my relationships, but it is my job to protect the people I care about. That includes Hermione and Sarah." Harry said trying to defend himself.

"Well then that means my job is to protect the people I care about. That also includes Granger and Sarah. So please, let's not get into this. And what the hell are you even concerned about with me and Sarah? You haven't even been talking to her."

"I haven't been talking to her because I know you are still sleeping with her. And I want you to back off." He spat out. Draco looked at him with confusion all over his face. "Don't play dumb. I overheard the end of a conversation in which you hugged her and said 'thank you for last night'."

Draco was trying to rack his brain on what Harry was talking about. Then he remember the conversation between him and Sarah where they discussed him being done trying to get with Hermione, and then he thanked her for helping him save Hermione's life.

"Potter, you are just like Granger, always reading too much into stuff. Sarah helped me with an issue with my father. That's what I thanked her for. And honestly that shouldn't even matter. You've got an amazing girlfriend who is supposedly your best friend, but you are completely taking her for granted." Draco responded and then leaned in close to Harry. "So I suggest you step your game up, before someone steps in your place."

lllll

"Argh Granger, I can't stand your boyfriend." Draco said walking into their common room.

"Why, what happened?" Hermione asked. She was positioned lazily on the couch with her hair in a big bun.

"He's just annoying." He responded not wanting to tell her exactly what happened. He walked over and planted himself next to her on the couch.

"You know Malfoy, I think if there wasn't this whole battle going on that you and Harry could be really good friends."

"If there wasn't this whole battle going on you'd be mine." Draco responded. A few moments passed, neither of them saying anything. Draco let out a laugh, trying to ease the awkward moment. "I have no idea what everyone sees in him."

"Well, you know what, come with me later. A few of us are gathering up, to chat and such. Harry will be there."

"You know that makes me not want to come right?" But Draco did decide to go after a few pleading attempts made by Hermione.

lllll

As Hermione and Draco walked into the Gryffindor common room together, they instantly got stares. Hermione casually smiled and waved at some of her friends but continued her way towards Harry.

He was sitting on a couch with three other people on it. Everyone was laughing, holding red cups, and enjoying each other's presence. A girl with a short blonde pixie cut walked over to Draco and handed him a red cup as well. She winked at him before turning around and rejoining her friends. Draco sniffed the drink, confirming what he already assumed, and downed a gulp of alcohol. He continued into the common room until he caught back up with Hermione.

"You brought Malfoy?" Harry asked surprised. "I thought you two weren't talking to each other anymore, since the fight."

"Yeah I brought him." Hermione responded as she sat down on Harry's lap. "We decided to put the silly stupid stuff behind us and move along with our new found friendship." Draco felt a twinge in his heart as Hermione referred their feelings for each other as 'silly stupid stuff'. He took another swig of his drink, enjoying the burning feeling as it slid down his throat. He made a head nod towards Harry, acknowledging his presence, then walked off to find Sarah.

It didn't take him long to find her. He just went to where the most people were gathered. Sarah was always the life of whatever environment she was in. Most people genuinely enjoyed being around her.

"Drake!" Sarah exclaimed as she got up and embraced him in a warm hug. It was obvious that she had already had too much to drink. "This is my best friend, everybody." She shouted, making sure everyone near them heard.

Draco smiled and began to join the festivities. He thought to himself how nice it was to have Sarah. Though Hermione made a joke about being best friends, they weren't and the both knew it. It was the closest term they could be labeled with falling into the lovers category. But Sarah on the other hand, she was his best friend. It had been a long time since he'd had one of those. It felt good.

Meanwhile Harry and Hermione had moved from the couch to a quieter corner of the common room.

"I can't believe you brought him. After everything that went on between you two." Harry said a bit frustrated.

"Babe, I understand why you feel threatened by him now that you know we both had a crush on each other, but we have moved passed that. We are friends, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry, I know." He responded. He didn't want to have to explain to Hermione that he also felt that Draco threatened his relationship with Sarah. "Maybe we can have some fun later tonight." Harry stated after a few moments of silence. Hermione smiled nervously but nodded her head.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed as he stumbled over. "Harry, mate, everyone wants to hear from you." He continued, grabbing Harry's hand, pulling him to the center of the room. Everyone clapped, excluding Draco, as stood on top of a short table. Draco stood leaned against the wall, with Sarah at his side, observing.

"You guys know I hate doing this." Harry said with a laugh, then continued. "But I hope everyone is having a great time. It was a serious task getting this alcohol in here so enjoy it." He raised up the glass in his hand and the room cheered.

"But partying and drinking isn't the main reason we planned this get together. It was to help ease your minds. A lot of you have concerns. I've heard whispers around the common room. And I want everyone to know that I understand! I have concerns myself." Draco had never seen a room of people so still and silent. It was as if they all needed so badly to soak in every word Harry spoke.

"These are trying times and the threat is real. We can pretend all we want that nothing's happening, but we all know the truth. The time is coming where I will have to face Voldemort. And yes I encourage you all to leave behind his title of He Who Should Not Be Named. Don't give him the power of fear over your lives. But nonetheless, the time is coming, and I know there are a lot of you that plan to stand beside me in this battle. You all will never know how grateful I am for that." He said placing his hand to his heart as an emotional gesture.

"This war is going to be tough, and I myself don't know what the outcome will be. But what I know in my heart is that love is the most powerful force in the world. It's why I am here today. And the love I have for for each and every person in this room is what will be the the driving force behind my strength and hopefully defeat of Voldemort." The entire room erupted in to loud cheers. Harry stepped off the table he was standing on and walked back to Hermione. She hugged him tightly and gave him a heartfelt kiss.

"He can really move a crowd." Draco said to Sarah who was still standing next to him. Sarah smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "God I need another drink." He sighed out.

"You didn't think he could make such an impact, did you?" Sarah asked.

"Honestly I didn't. I never got why people would put their lives at risk for him. I get it a little better now. But never mind that, let's drink." Draco didn't like how that speech made him feel. He felt a twinge of goodness in himself, but he decided to drink it away. Him and Sarah drank drink after drink as they socialized around the common room.

"It's really loud in here Drake." Sarah said in a voice much louder than she actually needed to. "Come stand with me in the hall for a bit." Draco nodded and stumbled out of the common room with her.

"I'm so drunk." Sarah laughed.

"So am I." Draco responded with slurred words. "You're really sexy."

"So are you." She said becoming more serious, looking Draco in the eyes. After a moment of heavy breathing, Draco slammed her against the wall, pressing his lips roughly to hers. After a brief delay Sarah began to passionately return the kiss.

Please review and let me know what you think! Xoxo!