A/N: Beta'd by the lovely dtfbensolo! Seriously the best! Any mistakes after are my own.

Draco Malfoy was the perfect fake boyfriend. The weeks passed quickly in a comfortable new routine, Draco walking her back to the dorms at night, and picking her up in the morning. He would give her little notes at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and she would just put them in her trunk and forget about them. She figured they were little tokens meant for show, to give credence to their new relationship to anyone watching. They spent a few classes together sitting by each other, garnering stares from their peers. Hermione still needed to get used to that, the feeling of being in the spotlight.

The funniest moment was when Harry and Hermione were sitting in their first Transfiguration class after her relationship with Draco became official; Draco walked in and plopped down in the empty seat next to Hermione without saying anything. Harry's jaw dropped and he gave Hermione a very curious look. It was clear Harry didn't imagine that Malfoy would actually sit with them. Hermione had to remind him later that they were in fact dating, and that would probably happen more often.

Harry was still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Hermione and Draco were dating. It didn't help that Hermione avoided him every time he brought up the letter. She would tell him she wasn't ready to talk about it and go up to her dorm or go find Luna. Luna was starting to fill the void Hermione felt for not having Ginny around.

Speaking of Ginny, she had sent an owl about a week after Hermione went public with Draco and all Hermione could think was she was happy it wasn't a howler. She could only imagine the embarrassment she would have gotten if Ginny had gone along with her original idea.

Hermione,

I KNOW I TOLD YOU TO HAVE SOME FUN THIS YEAR, BUT I DIDN'T IMAGINE YOU WOULD GO AFTER DRACO FREAKING MALFOY! Why did I have to find out from Harry and Luna? WHY didn't you TELL ME!? You're lucky I didn't decide to send you a Howler like I wanted to. Give me all the details!

Yours, Ginny

Hermione had yet to respond to that letter and it had been about a week since she received it. She had never been able to lie to Ginny and she didn't want to start now. Curiously, it seemed that Ginny had not found out about the letter she had written to Harry, and how could Hermione tell about that in a letter? Hermione hoped she could keep things this way until the holidays, where she could tell Ginny about it all. She made a mental note to talk to Harry and ask him not to say anything.

That weekend there was another party at the Slytherin common room, Hermione was doing anything she could to avoid it, even if it was in the rules she was supposed to go. "You're not skipping out on me, Granger," were the final words from Draco as he left her at the portrait hole that Friday night.

Saturday morning, she found herself sitting in the library with Luna who was talking about a boy and the many things that she wanted to do with him that Hermione would rather not remember hearing. "Luna, honestly, sometimes you're worse than Ginny, and that's hard to do!" Luna only laughed and shrugged. "Live your life Hermione," she replied with a dreamy smile. "Are you going to the party tonight?" she added, a little quieter as it was against the rules to have parties in Hogwarts, even if the people attending were all of age. "Unfortunately," Hermione replied.

Luna chuckled and looked down at her watch. "I suppose we ought to go get ready then!" Hermione turned to her with a raised eyebrow and reminded her, "Luna, it's hours away."

Luna shook her head. "I was told to help you get ready, and I've got a lot of work to do." Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Rude," she said to a serenely smiling Luna.

Hours later, Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. Luna really had worked some magic. She was in a simple black dress, with an off the shoulder detail. The skirt went down to just above her knees and had a tiny flair out. The dress was also on loan from Luna, Hermione was shocked Luna owned something so simple in her closet. Her hair was down, but was not the wild curls that people knew her for. They were still wild, but much more tame. Luna had applied a light dusting of makeup and gave her some heels to wear.

"Hermione, you're a stunner. You're going to knock Draco's socks off. Maybe even more," Luna said, giving her friend a wolf whistle. Hermione blushed. "Oh please," she muttered as she heard Harry call her from downstairs. Luna walked with her down to see Harry smiling at the bottom of the stairs. "Hermione, Malfoy is here. I just came in to get ready, and he's waiting out of the portrait hole," he said flippantly as he turned to speak to Luna. "I'll be ready in just a second then we can walk down together."

Hermione waved to Luna and Harry as she went out of the portrait hole. There was Draco, arms crossed leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed again. She was met with the same vision every time she emerged from her Common Room. She hadn't asked him, but she wondered if he didn't get enough sleep.

"Ah, there you are Granger," he said, opening his eyes. Hermione also wondered how he always knew she was there before she said anything. "You look nice," he added before she said anything else. For some reason Hermione was waiting to hear another remark, something like 'it's nice to see you can at least tame that hair,' or 'never knew you had it in you to wear something so nice.' But, no comment came.

"Thank you, so do you," she replied, taking the moment to look at him. He was dressed in clothes that were surprisingly muggle. He had on a grey tailored dress shirt and navy slacks. His hair was stylistically messy. He honestly looked really good. Hermione couldn't help but feel a little heat in her cheeks at that thought. Had she really just thought Draco Malfoy was attractive? "Shall we?" he asked, offering his arm to her and Hermione took it nodding.

They hadn't done many Public Displays of Affection since they started 'dating', mostly just his arm around her waist, once in a while she would put her hand in the crook of his arm as he escorted her to class. However, every time Hermione felt a little flutter in the pit of her stomach. She was inexperienced with 'dating', so she chalked her nerves up to that.

When they arrived just outside the Slytherin Common Room, Draco stopped and turned to her. "I should warn you, Astoria will be there, and so will Pansy. I don't think you have to worry too much about Astoria. She won't really make a scene….but you know Pansy." Hermione tried not to let it show on her face, but she knew that if anyone was going to make any nasty comments it would be Pansy Parkinson. "Thanks for the warnings Malfoy, but I can handle it." Draco nodded and said the password to let them into the Common Room.

Hermione had been inside once before, in 6th year when Theodore Nott had invited Harry to a Slytherin party and Hermione and Ron had tagged along. Despite her protests about attending the party at the time, it had been a memorable evening and she smiled at the memory now.

"Draco!" Both Draco and Hermione turned to who called out to them. Sitting right in front of the makeshift bar, Theodore Nott had called out to the two. Draco pulled Hermione over and Theo smiled. "Welcome Granger! Draco said you would be here today. Which is perfect, I can get to know my best mate's girl a little better," he said with a wink and Hermione smiled a little. She had little interaction with the infamous Nott heir before this, but it was nice to be welcomed. "Thank you," she replied. "Call me Theo by the way. Everyone does, and I don't like being called by my bigoted father's name," he added as he could clearly see her hesitation. "Thank you, Theo," she added with a smile. "What are you waiting for? Draco get your girl a drink!"

Hermione enjoyed speaking with Theo. He was welcoming, witty and very naughty. "Granger, do you see that boy over there?" Hermione turned toward the younger Slytherin whose name she wasn't sure of, and she nodded. "He's a fantastic shag," he said with a wink. Hermione's eyes widened when she realized what he meant. Theo must have noticed her reaction, because he barked out a laugh. "I would have thought Draco would have told you of my preference." Hermione nodded, "Oh, he did, but he also didn't have to. Harry actually mentioned it a few years ago," she said quietly.

"Hmm, Potter talks about me?"

Hermione rubbed the back of her neck. "Well he said something about it after the party in 6th year that you invited him to."

"Ah, yes. That party. Good one, I was really drunk that night. I really don't remember much from it. Did Potter say anything else?" Hermione narrowed her eyes, curious about his line of questioning. "No, not that I can remember. Just that you liked blokes and that he thought you were a funny guy for a Slytherin," she said as she watched for any reaction. She might have missed it if she wasn't paying so close attention, but there was a slight perk up to Theo's expression.

"Of course I'm funny, regardless of whether I'm a Slytherin," he replied with a wink. "Will Potter be here by chance?" Hermione nodded, "Yes, he should be here anytime, he and Luna were coming together," she said, seeing the slight dip in the Slytherin's shoulders.

"Now, let's play my favorite game. How many blokes has Theodore kissed in this room?" Hermione chuckled and shook her head. She genuinely was having a good time with him. She had not noticed that Draco had slipped away from them after giving her a drink.

"Anything he said about me is a lie," Draco whispered conspiratorially to her as he returned at that moment with two cups in his hand. Theo grinned, "I'm pretty sure if I chose to say anything about you, it would be the truth," he said as he threw his arm around Draco's shoulders. Hermione watched the two with amusement. She had not seen Draco act this way with anyone before, so it was a little funny to her.

"We were just about to play Theo's favorite game," she said and Draco unlatched himself from Theo's arm. "Oh, yeah. It's more than you think. I'll give you a hint, he's even kissed me." Hermione's eyebrows went up with surprise, coughing slightly on her drink she asked, "What?" Draco chuckled and nodded, "Yep, he planted one on me when he got sloshed at a party during summer. I was taking him home, and he thought I was the guy he was talking to all night."

"Oh, just be thankful you got a kiss from me. I'm a very good kisser," Theo added with a wink to Draco. Draco shrugged, "It was adequate. I've had better kisses," he said in a teasing manner. "Okay, that hurts a bit." Hermione couldn't help but laugh at them and both boys turned to her. "Sorry, you must really be good friends," she said, turning away with a blush to her cheeks. Thankfully Theo saved her. "Of course we are, this guy is my best mate, although he still won't admit it."

Theo, Draco, and Hermione continued to talk for quite a while until she saw Harry and Luna finally walk in. "Oh look, Harry's here," she said, turning to see Theo perk up in such a subtle way. Draco's face soured for a fraction and nodded. "So, he is," he said and Hermione sighed. "If you'll excuse me, I just saw someone I should say hi to." Theo said as hurriedly made an exit and Hermione shook her head. "He's not very subtle, is he?" Draco scoffed and shook his head, "Not at all."

After a little bit of small talk while others flitted around them, Draco said he would be back and went to the bathroom. That's when Hermione's night really took a turn. Hermione was happily sitting and people watching, mainly watching Theo, Luna, and Harry interact when two people sat down on the couch next to her own. "Hello Granger." Hermione turned to the sickeningly sweet smile of Pansy Parkinson and Astoria Greengrass. "Hello," she replied in a neutral voice.

"You know Astoria right? She's a year younger than us," Pansy taunted and Hermione nodded. "Yes, hello Astoria, it's nice to meet you officially," Hermione said, meaning it. Astoria looked her up and down before giving her a nod in acknowledgement.

"Tori here was just telling me how she couldn't believe you're dating Draco." Hermione nodded. "You know you stole him from her, right?" Pansy continued.

"From what Draco told me, you broke up with him and are dating someone else now." Astoria nodded, "Yes, but Draco and I are never really over. Don't be surprised when he comes crawling back to me," she said with a self-assured grin that Hermione never wanted to see again.

Hermione stood and replied, as calmly as she could manage,"Okay. Well, this was fun. If you'll excuse me." Hermione never liked dealing with mean girls, and Draco had warned her. However, she wasn't going to cause drama by rising to their taunts. She preferred to walk away from the situation before it got worse.

"Hermione!" She turned to see Cormac calling her over. She smiled and walked over to him. "I'm shocked to see you at one of these parties." Hermione shrugged, "I was dragged here by Draco."

"Ah, right the boyfriend. How did that happen by the way?"

"He got one of my letters and felt the same way about me as I did for him."

"Wait…one of?" Hermione sighed and nodded. "Yeah, one of the five letters I sent out." Cormac laughed quietly, "Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel special," he teased. "So, who are the other three?"

Hermione didn't know why, but she found herself telling Cormac about the whole ordeal. Later, she would blame it on the alcohol she had consumed, but it was nice to come clean and tell someone she trusted about her and Draco. He asked questions at the right time, but overall he just let her talk. "I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to have told anyone that," she said, feeling her cheeks turn red.

Cormac shook his head. "Sounds like you had a lot going on in that brain of yours. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, and I'm here to listen if you ever need it," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We all need someone to listen to once in a while."

"I'll always listen to you as well Cormac, it goes both ways."

"Oh yeah, well then why don't you introduce me to your new friend Theo?" He said with a wink and Hermione smiled. The pair made their way over to Theo, Harry and Luna. The latter was talking Theo and Harry's ear off about Wrackspurts. Theo looked at Hermione like he was begging her to save him. She waited until a dull moment in Luna's story before she introduced Cormac to Theo. She stood by as Cormac, Harry, and Theo all seemed to be hitting it off. She couldn't tell if it was her drink or the good company, but she felt happy standing in the little group.

At one point Luna had meandered off to Merlin knows where and Hermione was left alone with the three boys who were talking about Quidditch. She was really thankful when she felt a hand at her waist and she knew instinctively it was Draco who came up beside her.

"Want to get out of here?" he whispered in her ear and she nodded, smiling.