A/N: Sooo...a decent dose of Draco and Hermione in this chapter because I'm in a really good mood! Hope you enjoy it. :)

After several attempts, Draco finally managed to transform the couch into a decent one. It was now big enough to accommodate his tall frame. Still, sleeping in the living room where anybody could pass by was irritating him. A good night's sleep wasn't to be expected that night. When everybody was settled in their rooms, he turned off the lights and closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to relax and sleep.

Draco was vaguely aware of his surroundings, he wasn't fully asleep, but he wasn't awake as well. He heard footsteps going down the stairs, careful ones. He reached under the pillow and clutched his wand. A shadow towered over him and Draco jumped off the couch and pointed his wand at the shadow. "Expelliarmus" he said, and nothing happened. The figure in front him didn't even have a wand; it was Hermione, staring at him blankly.

"How skeptic could you be?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

Draco relaxed again, putting his wand away, he sat on the couch and looked up at Hermione.

"What is it Granger? You thought of some new traits about me and couldn't wait till the morning to recite them?" he smirked at her "According to you, I'm juvenile. I'm a coward. I'm also a spoilt brat who happens to be the most infuriating person you've ever known. Oh and of course, skeptic. What else? And please be creative; you're starting to lose your touch."

Hermione frowned at Malfoy, she wasn't planning on picking up a new fight with him. Actually she wasn't planning on talking to him at all; he was supposed to be asleep. She couldn't sleep and she didn't want to wake Ginny up. She wanted to tell him to add 'unreasonably defensive' to the list of traits but she decided against it. She opened her mouth to defend herself but he stood up abruptly.

"You know what? You said that I always manage to come up with insults out of thin air. While actually, you're the one who keeps insulting me at every chance. And this doesn't really surprise me, what actually surprises me is why when you find me so loathsome, that you still asked me to stay?" he narrowed his eyes on her, sounding as furious as he looked.

"I don't find you...loathsome." Hermione contradicted, grimacing at the term he used.

"Why did you ask me to stay?" he repeated his question, ignoring what she just said.

Hermione blinked at him, she deliberately avoided asking herself that question because she didn't have a ready answer and she didn't want to dwell on it.

"If you want to leave_"

"Don't dodge the question, Granger. Answer me." he ordered impatiently.

"Well...I thought that if you stayed, you could get to know the members of the order better. We're supposed to be fighting on the same side and it would be pointless if you can't get along. Plus Tonks is your cousin, I thought you should attend her wedding...you've been mixing with the wrong Blacks." she explained

"And you've taken it upon yourself to mend my familiar relationships? This is very kind of you Ms. Granger, but I find it hard to believe. Try another lie." his twisted his mouth sardonically.

"I'm not.." Hermione shook her head. Alright maybe that wasn't the only reason but it was a strong one.

"Why am I here?" Draco muttered as he yanked Hermione's arm, nearly slamming her into him.

"I don't know, why are you here?" Hermione challenged, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Because you'd really like it if I stayed." his mouth curved.

"Alright, stay then."

"I didn't say I was leaving. I asked why I'm staying." he pursued

"You're not letting that slip, are you?" Hermione's brows furrowed.

"No such luck." the corner of his mouth tilted and he shook his head.

"I let a couple of questions slip before, so you owe me." she said.

He closed his eyes for a minute before looking directly at her "I don't think I really ever hated you." he said.

"What?" a confused frown creased Hermione's forehead.

"That last question you asked me when I had drunk Veritaserum. That's the answer." he explained "Now you owe me one. So...why am I here."

She paused for a second to gather her wits before replying, her mind was too busy analyzing what he just said.

"You're here because you want to be." she said eventually.

"Alright_" Draco chuckled "_why do you think I want to be here?" he asked

Hermione looked away, she seemed to be really thinking of an answer. Draco's hand reached for her waist, pulling her closer gently.

"Need a hint?" he cocked his head slightly to one side. Hermione stared at Malfoy, not daring to blink. She could feel his hand tensing against her waist. Did she really need a hint?

"Yes.." Hermione whispered.

Heavy footsteps stomped down the stairs and Hermione stepped away immediately. Ginny came down, her hair tousled and her eyes nearly closed, a frown creasing her forehead. She was oblivious to the fact that other people were in the room. She entered the kitchen and they heard some noise and the sound of glass clanking then Ginny emerged from the kitchen again and went back to her room without glancing in their direction.

"We should sleep." Draco announced.

He didn't know whether he should strangle the people who seemed so hell bent on interrupting him, or thank them. It's probably the second, he brooded. Every time his restraint slipped, somebody appeared out of the blue and snapped him back to his right sense, but did they have to be so accurate! Hermione stared at him in disbelief before turning around and climbing the stairs as noisily as her friend just did.

When the sun started rising Draco woke up after no more than a couple of hours of sleep. The lack of sleep he had been subjected to lately was going to be the death of him, he thought grimly. Sneaking into Potter and Weasly's room, he grabbed some clothes from his bag then sneaked out again. He showered and went back to the living room.

Just as he started to sit down he heard some noise, the door opened and somebody started descending the stairs. Draco realized why every time he walked through that door there were people holding their wands at him, because he himself was now instinctively holding his wand defensively in front of him.

Bill took Fleur's hand as she walked down the stairs. His eyes traveled between Draco's face and the hand that was holding his wand.

"Is everybody still sleeping?" Bill asked.

"Probably." Draco replied
"I'll go wake them up." he said as he climbed the stairs, not making it clear who he was talking to.

Fleur was looking tentatively at Draco. He could tell she was as uncomfortable as he was. The only encounter he had with the couple wasn't exactly friendly. The awkwardness meter keeps hitting the roof in this house!

The following hours were hectic, the house was buzzing and everybody seemed to be doing something. Draco was trying to fade into the background and avoid attention as much as possible. However, eventually he was needed to help with the extension and transformation charms that were needed to redecorate the house to be more suitable for a celebration.

"Aren't you getting dressed?" Hermione asked after hours of doing her best to avoid any direct contact with Malfoy.

"Weasly and Potter are getting dressed in the room. Why they're getting dressed in the same room is beyond me but I obviously value my privacy more than they do, so I'll wait." Malfoy explained. Hermione nodded at him silently and left.

About an hour later he disappeared into the room. She saw him go in there but it took him too long to get out and she was starting to think he wasn't going to come out at all.

She knocked at the door hesitantly "It's me." she said when he asked who was it then she slid through the door.

Hermione studied Malfoy who wasn't looking at her, instead, he was fiddling with something in his sleeve.

"You usually keep a suit with you when you're on a mission?" she asked. She had expected him to change but she didn't expect seeing him a suit!

"This bag is actually connected to my wardrobe back at home. So I don't really carry any clothes with me; I just summon them." he explained, still looking down at his sleeves. She stepped closer to see what he was so distracted with.

He was trying to attach a pair of cufflinks to his sleeves. The silver cufflinks had a dragon engraved in them, Hermione watched them intently for a minute, it was very impressive how something engraved in such a tiny object as a cufflink, could be so detailed.

"You're struggling with your cufflinks" Hermione remarked.

"Yes?" he asked impatiently.

"I can help with them" she offered hesitantly.

"Of course you can, they're nothing but bloody cuff links!" he exhaled sharply

"Well if that's the case, why can't you attach them?" Hermione challenged.

He finally raised his head to look at her "Because I'm not used to doing it myself." he replied impassively. And then it dawned on Hermione that his mother must have attached them for him before.

Once again, her hands moved as if they had a mind of their own, she reached for the cuff links and Draco's hand withdrew instantly as if it came in contact with an electric current, she could hear him suck in a deep breath. She deftly attached one cufflink and started attaching the other when Draco's hand covered hers. She looked up at him and instantly regretted it; his eyes were darker than usual and they almost blazed. For a minute he just held her hand before pushing it away.

"I can attach the other one." He said hoarsely before stepping back and walking out of the room.

The expansion charms were definitely needed, Draco realized as he scanned the guest filled space. He hadn't expected a lot of people to come and when Bill Weasly and his wife came this morning he thought that was as far as the guest list went. But he was so very wrong. He recognized most of the people in the room, Elphias Doge, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher and Rubeus Hagrid. There were three other wizards he couldn't identify and an old couple who seemed like Fleur's parents.

It seemed like everywhere he looked his eyes bumped into Hermione; she wasn't staying in one place! And the way she looked wasn't helping either. She was wearing an off white dress that stopped right before her knees, embroidered with gold. One shoulder was covered with a strap while the other was bare, covered by some locks of her hair that cascaded smoothly over her shoulders.

Draco frowned, irritated at the tug at the pit of his stomach. He couldn't remember noticing so much details about anybody before. His irritated frown changed into a confused one as he saw Hermione make her way to him.

"I thought you were enjoying your solitude too much so I decided to ruin it for you." Hermione said as she stood in front of Malfoy.

"And I thought you were enjoying your party too much so I decided not to ruin it for you." he retorted.

"How thoughtful of you!" she smirked at him. "Do you really need to scowl at people so often? You're scaring off the guests." she added.

"It's become a habit by now. Plus, the guests look too happy for scared people." he looked over her shoulder at the people who seemed so indulged in dancing.

"Yeah, people are usually happy when they're dancing." she remarked. He nodded silently in response.

Hermione hesitated for a second, looking over her shoulder at the people behind her then back at the boy in front of her.

"Do you know how to dance?" she finally asked.

Malfoy stared at her for a minute as if her question surprised him. "Yes." he replied briefly.

"Alright...do you want to dance?" she asked tentatively.

He swallowed hard and his gaze traveled between her and the people behind them. "I don't think so." he shook his head.

"Okay." Hermione mumbled as she turned around to leave.

She tried to suppress the wave of disappointment that hit her. This was perfectly normal and extremely casual, no need to over think the matter. This evening was a special one and it was going great so far so she won't let anything prevent her from enjoying it. She wanted to dance and so she will. She spotted Ron across the room and called his name, he didn't hear her so she walked over to him.

"Why are you standing by yourself?" she asked.

"I was chatting with Fleur but then Bill came and sort of carried her away. Smitten that bloke, I'm telling you." he curved his mouth in bewilderment.

"Well, do you wan..." Hermione started to ask but she stopped abruptly as she felt a hand rest on the small of her back.

"I changed my mind." Malfoy whispered into her ear as he moved away, pulling her with him.