"Don't waste your breath on him, Ron," Harry said.

"Shut up, Harry!" he bellowed. And with that he stomped out of the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room, hunched over Standard Book of Spells Year 7. She was muttering something about a sleeping spell when Harry and Ron stepped through the portrait hole. Hermione looked up.

"Oh, it's you!" She declared heatedly, before a much more cheerful "Hullo, Harry!" emerged from her lips. She was apparently still angry with Ron about what had happened at lunch. Ron just ignored her and stomped up to the boys dormitory labeled 7th Years. He was obviously angry too. Harry sighed and sat down.

"Maybe you should talk to him Hermione, really, he -"

"If he fancies me that much, why doesn't he tell me so? I mean, honestly! Does he have to be like that?" She shut her book and looked at Harry. He didn't answer.

"Are you implying that you fancy him too?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled weakly. "I'm just saying that he doesn't need to act like such a stupid prat all the time."

Harry gave her a suspicious look. "Wow, Hermione, I never thought you'd choose him over me, I mean, I'm - Ouch!" He yelped as Hermione slapped him hard on the arm.

"Harry, I'm not choosing anyone. I know he fancies me and I want to give him a chance. If it doesn't work out then, well, it doesn't…"

"He really does talk about you a lot."

"I know that - you know I know that!" She smiled again.

"You really should talk to him, tell him what you told me…"

Hermione flushed with annoyance. "Oh yeah right, so I can listen to him being all like -" She mimicked Ron's voice with amusing accuracy - "'I saw you in the common room romancing Harry! You're jeopardizing our friendship!' And on and on! If not for me he wouldn't even know what 'jeopardize' meant!"

Harry laughed at her impression of Ron. "I'll take it then that you don't want to talk to him?"

"Not at the moment."

"Would you like me to talk to him?"

"That would be lovely!" She smiled warmly.

"I'll tell him what you said."

"Oh, and kindly don't mention that whole jeopardizing thing."

"I won't."

"Thanks!" Hermione kissed him on the cheek and returned to reading and repeating the word Slumberosa while waving her hand.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ron was sitting on his bed cursing at himself for being "such a dumbass!" when Harry walked in.

"Are you okay?"

"If you call totally humiliating yourself in front of the Slytherins and picking a fight with the girl you fancy okay, then I'm just peachy!"

Harry sat down next to Ron and began reiterating what Hermione had said.

"If you like her so much, why don't you just tell her?"

There was an awkward silence.

"I dunno, I just can't…"

"Why?"

"What if she says 'no'?"

"What if she says 'yes'?"

"I don't want to be rejected…" Ron frowned and looked at his feet.

"She's sitting in the common room waiting for you to ask her to, I dunno, go to the astronomy tower with you…"

There was another awkward silence, so Harry stood up and left Ron to his thoughts. Ron just sat there trying to let the words Harry had just repeated to him sink in. It was the obvious thing to do. So why hadn't he done it yet? He knew why, it was because he was afraid, afraid she'd just laugh at him. He had known he loved her since 4th year when she was dancing with Victor Krum at the Yule Ball. He was reluctant to ask her but Harry had implied…

Ron got up and after a good half hour of deciding exactly what to say. He emerged from his dorm and sat down next to Hermione on a couch. She looked up at him.

"Yes, Ron?"

"Well…umm… I've sort of been thinking and I… umm… really really l-like you so… umm… and…" What he had planned on saying evaporated, leaving him sputtering at her.

"Sure, Ron! I'd love to, perhaps… be your girlfriend… I thought you'd never ask!" Hermione smiled warmly; she had known exactly what he was going to say. She quickly hugged him and he smiled.

"Blimey, that was easier than I thought!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry reentered the Gryffindor tower smiling happily.

"You wouldn't believe it! One chaser and the keeper positions are open on the team and almost 30 people, if you count first years, have asked Professor McGonagall about it!" Harry looked over to see Hermione reading a book and Ron with his arm wrapped around her smiling dumbly and staring out into space. Ron looked up suddenly.

"Oh, hullo Harry! What was that you were saying?"

"Never mind that. Have you seen your sister?"

This time Hermione answered. "Oh, she's in her dormitory."

"Okay, thanks Hermione!" Harry headed up the stairs towards the door labeled 6th Years. Ginny was alone in the dorm, lying on her bed staring at the curtains above her.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Who is it?" Ginny felt a bit stupid talking to a door.

"It's Harry, can I come in?"

Ginny sat bolt upright. Harry never came looking for her. The only time he'd ever come up here was to find out if she knew where Hermione was.

"Y-yes, sure Harry." She stuttered bit. She had never gotten over her crush on him.

The door opened, admitting a very energetic Harry. He talked as he approached Ginny's bed, "Ginny, you know, I think you're the best chaser on the team, so I want to ask you if you know of anyone who could fill the keeper position."

"Huh?" Ginny suddenly looked confused and started tugging on her red tresses.

"Quidditch… keeper…"

"Oh… umm, I dunno… maybe Lizzie, she's a 5th year. Yeah, Lizzie, ask her. She's -"

Harry cut her off. "Okay, thanks Ginny. Oh, and did you do something with your hair? It looks great!" Harry left Ginny standing there, blushing.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione finished reading her book and turned to Ron. He smiled. He looked like a contented puppy that just found a bone. He's sooo adorable.

"I'm done reading, now it's your turn to decide what to do, we have exactly one hour until Herbology."

Ron smiled, thanking every heavenly spirit he could think of that it was Friday. Fridays were superb because there were only 2 classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. That made for a few extra hours of free time in between classes.

"Well, if we have a whole hour, there's something I want to show you." Ron grabbed her hand and they swept through the portrait of the Fat Lady, leaving the Gryffindor common room.

They ran down the corridors on their way outside. Descending the stairs quickly left them both momentarily out of breath, so Hermione and Ron stopped. They were panting when Hermione noticed a stray hair fall over Ron's eyes. She straightened up and brushed it out of his face with her hand.

To hell with it! Ron thought, and he leaned in and gently kissed her. Hermione instantly filled with warmth as if a tankard of butterbeer had just been poured down her throat. She melted into him.

"God, I love you Hermione."

"I love you too, Ron." They stayed there locked in each other's arms. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil walked past them and began giggling excitedly. They ran over to a group of Ravenclaw girls and started talking avidly. But Ron and Hermione didn't care. They were lost in each other.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco sat in his room at the large oak desk that faced an empty wall. His room was rather dark. He was fingering a piece of parchment that had been delivered by one of his family's many owls. It was obviously from his father. His mother had sent him a letter earlier that same day. He sighed, strange.

Draco opened the letter from his father. It read:

Draco,

I have gotten word from the ministry that there will be a course starting after Christmas that is a special study for 7th Years hoping to be Aurors. Your mother and I have decided that you will be taking that course. Don't worry about the entrance exam, I've taken care of that for you. The answers to the questions are on the following page. Don't let me down, or else.

Sincerely,

Father

Draco stared at the parchment and it burst into flames, leaving only another parchment with a load of random letters and numbers on it and a little note.

This parchment is charmed so only you can read it. You are to bring scratch parchment and this will be yours. Little will they know you have the answers!

-Father

Wonderful! Draco thought, At least my father does the work of cheating for me.

He sat back and thought of the task his mother had explained to him in her letter. Why had his mother and father sent him two different letters? He thought about the task it had explained again… Draco had not gotten a second chance to read it as, like the one from his father, it had burst into flames upon his eyes darting across the last lines. A mudblood, seduce a mudblood. But why in hell would he want to do that?

His mother never told him why to do things, but when he did what she instructed it usually ended with him being happy. He determined that his father wouldn't approve of the instructions or she would have written them in the letter explaining this new class he was to take.

But it makes no sense, he thought wearily, Aren't I to marry some pureblood French witch that father chose? I have no choice but to obey mother, at least she's looking out for me.

He tucked the answer sheet into a hidden compartment in his top left desk drawer. In the drawer there was a locket that his mother had secretly given him on his tenth birthday. He looked at it. Inside were inscribed the words Love Prevails Over All. Draco sighed, his mother was up to something. Draco knew that if his father found out all hell would break loose.

He got up and walked out the door of the Slytherin common room. He may as well start his duties now...

~*~*~*~*~*~

The afternoon proceeded with an uneventful Herbology lesson with the Hufflepuffs and lots of kisses between Ron and Hermione. Harry was beginning to wonder whether he should have ever advised Ron to ask Hermione out.

But it was bound to happen sooner or later anyway, Harry thought. He cleared his mind of all of that. He had more important things to do than think about Ron and Hermione's little land of love. He had to find Lizzie; they needed a good keeper.

Gryffindor had not won the Quidditch Cup since Oliver Wood, the last captain of the Gryfinndor team, had left. It was Harry's last year and he was determined to win the Cup, or, as Wood would have said, "die trying!" Harry sat alone in the common room thinking, Ginny better be right, we can't afford to lose.

---Later that night---

Two hours. Three hours. Four hours. Harry sat alone in the common room. It was almost 11:00 and everyone had gone to bed.

Where is she? Where the hell would she be at 11:00 at night? Maybe she went to bed and I didn't see her come in. The 4th and 5th Years are always up late, I'll go knock on the door and find out if she's there, Harry thought. He climbed the stairs in the girls tower until he got to the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

BAM!!!

"What the hell was that?" Harry backed away from the door a little, startled. It sounded like a shoe hitting the door. Maybe I shouldn't have come up here.

"I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEP! DO YOU WANT ME TO LOOK LIKE AN UGLY OLD CROW?!? LEAVE ME ALONE! I WANNA SLEEP!"

"SHUT UP, PARVATI!" Harry heard an unfamiliar voice.

"We all wanna sleep, just as much as you do!" Hermione could be heard trying to calm Parvati down.

Crack! It sounded like a mirror had broken.

"LAVENDER! DAMMIT! YOU BROKE MY FAVORITE MIRROR! I GOT IT FROM MY GRANDMA!" Parvati screeched.

"WELL MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T SCREAM BLOODY MURDER EVERY TIME SOMEONE KNOCKED AT THE BLOODY DOOR, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS BLOODY PROBLEM!" Lavender yelled back.

"SHUT UP YOU DIRTY WHORE!" Parvati screamed.

"GOOD GAWD PARVATI! YOU'RE GOING TO WAKE THE WHOLE TOWER!" someone else yelled.

"I'll fix the mirror," Harry heard Hermione's smooth tone. "Repairo!"

"YOU SHUT UP, BITCH!" Lavender shot back.

"I'll go see who it is…" Ginny's calm voice could be heard loudly even though she wasn't yelling.

Harry panicked. Oh crap! I've gotta get out of here before Ginny finds me… too late! Ginny opened the door.

"Harry? Why are you here?" She looked at him quizzically and her soft voice rung in his ears.

"Umm… I was umm… j-just looking for…"

"Hermione? I'll go get her!"

"NO! … I mean, no, not her."

"Then who?"

Harry's mind was racing. Why would a guy be waking a dorm full of 16 and 17 year old girls at 11:00 at night? How could he cover this up so he didn't look like a pervert?

"You! Yes, I was looking for you… because I want to talk to you…"

"About??"

"Umm… Quidditch"

Ginny gave him an I-don't-believe-you-but-I'll-come-with-you-anyway look. She stepped out of the room, neatly closing the door before another one of Parvati's shoes came flying from inside the quarrelling dormitory. They went down the stairs and sat down together on a couch near the fireplace.

Ginny looked over at Harry, who seemed to be terribly uncomfortable about something. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, I just feel kinda stupid waking you all up so late when I didn't even mean to wake your dorm and… I dunno." Harry sighed.

"Oh really, it's nothing. Parvati and Lavender are always throwing fits like that, it happens all the time. Really, you shouldn't feel bad." Ginny's soft gentle voice comforted him; he gazed into her soft, brown eyes.

"Why were you in there, anyways? I know I went to the wrong dorm, but I thought I went to Hermione's by mistake, not yours?"

"Yeah, that was Hermione's, we were just talking…" Ginny stopped as if she had said too much.

Harry decided to change the subject. "You know what I said about your hair? It really does look different. It's very pretty, not all ugly and messy like mine." Harry sighed again.

Ginny turned bright red before quickly replying, "I like your hair Harry, it's not terrible and all red and horrible and icky." She frowned.

Harry smiled, and leaned over, brushing a strand of the pretty red hair out of her face and looked deep into her eyes. She moved closer to Harry and he wrapped his arm around her and they just sat there. She fit perfectly against him and it made them both feel better.

---Later---

"Harry." Ginny's soft voice was in his ear. His eyes fluttered open.

"Um hum, yes?"

"I think we fell asleep." Ginny's head motioned towards the clock above the fireplace that read 3:45.

"We don't have classes today, it's Saturday, and it's so nice down here with you." Harry murmured hazily.

"I think I'm dreaming. I thought you just said…"

"I love you Ginny, you're pretty, and perfect, and let's just go to sleep together." Harry pulled her closer to him and gently kissed her on the cheek.

"I think you're too tired to understand what you're saying, Harry. You need to get some rest."

After much prodding, they both climbed back up to their respective dormitories, but Ginny didn't fall asleep. Had Harry really meant what he had said?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry laid in bed thinking about a dream he had had. He had been in the common room with Ginny and he had said he loved her. Harry stirred thinking about it. After much pondering he concluded that she was pretty, smart, and funny, and about a hundred other things. Did he really love her? And Harry drifted off to sleep forgetting about the night and his "dream".

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny got up at about 8:00 that morning and went off in search of Lizzie. Lizzie Wood was 5'6'' and looked like the female version of her brother. Ginny found her in the library searching through the shelves. Ginny approached her.

"Lizzie!"

Lizzie spun a little and grinned. "Oh, hi, Ginny! Do you know where I could find a book with a Freezing charm in it?" She gestured at the book in her hands.

"You don't need a book, just ask Hermione Granger. She tutors people at 3:00 this afternoon in the Great Hall. Harry Potter is looking for you, by the way."

"Why would he ever be looking for me?"

"Because I told him you were excellent at Quidditch and that you'd make a great keeper! Plus, with Oliver as your brother how can you go wrong?"

"Just because I train with him doesn't mean I'm as good as him!"

"Oh, just talk to Harry. We need a keeper. How can we win if the other teams score twice as many goals as we do? And Slytherin is practically paying the snitch to fly into their seeker's hand!"

"Okay, Ginny, I'll talk to him, but I'm not making any promises!"

"Thanks, you're the best, Liz."

"I know!"

"Though you are the most arrogant person I know, except Draco Malfoy!" Ginny smirked at her.

"Arrogant, good? Or arrogant, bad?"

"Arrogant, good. Well, good most of the time."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should!" Ginny smiled. "I'll see you later?"

"Sure… wait, Ginny!"

Ginny turned around. "What?"

"Didn't you have a thing for Harry Potter?"

"Well, maybe a little."

"Ginny, you are the queen of understatements!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco Malfoy sat in the Slytherin common room watching Crabbe and Goyle trying to do their homework. They were having trouble with it, but he was in too foul of a mood to bother helping them. He had failed to find the girl he was to manipulate, unless you counted seeing her snogging a Weasley. He shuddered at the thought. Cypris Moon, a girl with long hair and a malevolent look to her approached him.

"What's wrong with my little Draco?" she said sarcastically.

He didn't bother to look at her, "Go away, Cypris, I'm really not in the mood," He seemed not to have picked up her sarcasm. She eyed him suspiciously. Her currently blond hair shined oddly in the candlelight.

"I know you in and out, Draco Malfoy, and I know when there's something wrong."

She ran her finger down the side of his face, not seductively but in a threatening way, showing the tattoo of a dagger on her arm. It had a detailed and very evil-looking beauty to it.

"So either you are going to tell me this second or I'll curse you, torturing you painfully until you release the information."

"It's nothing Cypris, go away." Draco had a cutting edge to his voice.

"No!" she said, glaring.

"Fine, I'll just have to…" Draco reached for his wand but noticed it was gone. He looked up and saw Cypris smiling triumphantly and toying with it. He knew she wouldn't give it back until he explained.

Draco reluctantly told her of the letters he had received, knowing she wouldn't tell anyone. He trusted her; she was one of the very few people he trusted. He had known her since early childhood.

After Draco was finally done, Cypris smiled at his explanation. "Now this is interesting!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Excuse me, but I believe you were looking for me?"

Harry nodded at the girl and shook her hand. She had a firm grasp, and she reminded him of someone, but he just couldn't put his finger on whom.

"I'm Harry Potter, captain of the Quidditch team."

"Oh, yeah." She grinned. "I've heard of you. That whole 'Boy Who Lived' thing gets around. I'm Elizabeth Wood." She had a light sarcastic tone.

"Wood? Any relation to Oliver Wood?"

"He's my brother if you must know."

"Ok, Elizabeth." He looked suspiciously at her.

"Oh, and please call me Lizzie, everyone else does."

"Is keeper your preferred position? That's what your brother plays."

"Yes, but I don't know what my brother would have to do with anything. If this Quidditch team is all about whom you're related to, I'd rather be on the Slytherin team."

"No, sorry, it's just that I didn't know he had a sister."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Anyway, are we going out to the pitch so you can see me fly or are we just going to stand here like idiots?" She had sheer determination. Ginny was right, she was perfect, a spitting image of her older brother. They walked out to the Quidditch pitch with their brooms and a Quaffle.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione and Ron stood together, holding hands and looking out the narrow window in a deserted room, late that night. Hermione had found the spot earlier that day and had decided to show it to Ron that evening. It had four musty armchairs and a faded blue tapestry on the wall. It had obviously not been used for a few years, at least. Hermione was smiling, happiness radiating off of her. Ron looked anxious.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Nothing, everything is perfect. Everything is perfect as long as we're together. I love you, Hermione, more than anything else in the world." Hermione smiled at his little speech of affection.

"Oh, Ron!" She went up on tiptoe to kiss him. He was tall and skinny and almost intimidating so. Hermione kissed him and felt warm. She felt like she was going to melt. They sat down and embraced each other.

"This is the best moment of my life!" Ron told her. She smiled. This was perfect. Everything was perfect. She wished that this moment could go on forever. She was in love. She was sure of it.

"I wish we could stay like this forever, I love you!"

"I love you more!" Ron teased.

"No I love you more!" Hermione laughed. Ron loved her laugh.

"I love you more times 100!"

"I love you more times infinite!"

"I love you more than the stars and the moon and the oceans and the mountains. The whole world could come crashing down and I'd be okay as long as I was with you!"

"Oh, Ron, you're so sweet!" Hermione chortled.

They kissed each other. They sat in each other's arms all night long watching the stars. The sky began to turn pink and they finally left to get some sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been 3 weeks since Hermione and Ron had started dating and Harry was starting to get a little sick of it. He was finally beginning to feel how Ron felt every time he looked at Viktor Krum. Every time he looked over, Ron was giving her magical flowers or chocolates or hugging her or kissing her. It seemed to Harry like a love movie from the fifties that he had seen with Hermione last summer.

Quidditch distracted him, though, thankfully. They finally had a full team. Lizzie turned out to be an excellent keeper. "Blimey," Ron had said "she's almost as good as Wood!" and he had had four people turn to him and say, "She is Wood!" Ginny, and her fellow 6th year sidekicks April and Megan were chasers. Colin Creevy and another 6th year Leo Mokerie finished off the team as beaters.

So now, with the Quidditch team all managed and a practice schedule set up, Harry sat in the common room with nothing to do except schoolwork. He had just dug out some Potions papers when Ron and Hermione walked in and began snuggling on the couch.

"You guys really need to get a room!" Harry looked at them crossly. Ron got up as if he suddenly noticed Hermione had cooties or something.

"Umm, sorry we didn't notice you, wanna work on Charms together, guys?"

Hermione waved it off. "Oh, I finished that ages ago! I'll just go to the library and do some reading. You two have fun!" Hermione smiled and winked at Ron and walked out.

"God, I love that woman!" Ron said to Harry, watching her leave.

"Don't we have some homework to do??"

"Yeah, I was just saying…"

"How much you love Hermione and how she means everything in the world to you!" Harry's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"You're just jealous that I have a girlfriend!"

"Yeah, so?" Harry stated simply. Ron looked aghast.

"You don't fancy her, do you?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't envy you because you have her." Harry frowned. "I envy you because you have a relationship. Someone to care about you, like, companionship of some sort."

Ron shifted, uncomfortable with where this was going. "Shall we?" he asked holding out his blank parchment and a quill.

"I'll get the book."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione walked happily down the corridor towards the library. She finally had a boyfriend, someone who really cared about her! Not to say that Viktor Krum didn't, it was just she don't feel as loved when someone is constantly calling her "Her-mo-ninny" or "Herm-on-in-yee."

How nice it was to be loved, her life was perfect. She stopped and set down her bag so she could tie her shoe, adjusting her prefect badge out of habit. She picked up her bag and it knocked into the wall shattering her inkbottle and soaking her books. She swore loudly but no one heard her. As she was cleaning up her mess a tall blond figure walked up behind her.

"Hello, Miss Granger, fancy seeing you here."

Hermione spun on her heel to face none other than Draco Malfoy. He was wearing a black cloak and black pants underneath it, she couldn't see his shirt but a silver prefects badge identical to her own caught her eye. She flushed with anger and thoughts swiftly raced through her mind. He bought that himself. He doesn't deserve it, piece of scum.

"Apparently you don't feel the need to answer me." Draco feigned hurt. "I guess I'm not worthy of your presence. I should be ashamed to be in the presence of a Mudblood like you without offering some tidings of gratitude."

"If you're trying to be funny, Malfoy, then ha, ha! There, I laughed. Now kindly get out of my way."

"And what if I don't, Hermione? What if I don't feel like moving?" A great smile of pleasure moved across his face. Hermione grabbed her wand and pointed it at him.

"I'll send you somewhere where you can't bother me!"

"Tisk, tisk, Hermione you should know that one can't cast spells in the corridors!"

"Malfoy, shut up and move!"

He stepped out of the way. "I'll see you later, 'Mione." He smiled evilly, leaving Hermione standing there.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Later that afternoon, in Potions, Professor Snape had moved the class on to working with Veritaserum. Hermione was in her usual seat next to Harry and Ron, and they were chatting pleasantly. Draco sat there in a desk looking at her. Snape paired off people at random.

"Weasley and Goyle! … Potter and.... and Crabbe!" The professor sneered at Harry before continuing. "Malfoy and, oh Granger."

Malfoy got up and crossed the room to Hermione and sat down next to her. He smirked at her. She scowled. What was his problem? And why the sudden interest in her?

"Now each of you will go into one of the rooms over here, and as you have noticed you are all paired by house. The Gryffindors are to take the Veritaserum and the Slytherins will ask them anything they want. Now go!" Half of the room groaned at his words.

Draco led Hermione to one of the cubical sized rooms. Hermione reluctantly swallowed the Veritaserum and waited for him to ask her something.

"For being such a willing partner I will offer you something: once I'm done questioning you, I will give you whatever you want."

Hermione was puzzled. "What's the catch?"

"You expect just because I supposedly hate you there are strings attached?" Hermione didn't reply. Draco smiled and told her, "No, it's nothing of the sort. Whatever you want."

Snape's voice could be heard telling them to begin. Draco pointed his wand at her and said "Alphellervate!"

"So you and Weasel are going out, but do you really love him?"

"I don't really know, I've never been 'in love'. I like him, it's more of a friendly relationship."

The words just kind of flowed out of her mouth. Why was Malfoy asking her this? And what was she saying? She was in love with Ron. She knew she was in love with him, but why wasn't the potion making her say so? It couldn't lie. Could she have been wrong? Maybe she didn't really love him. Maybe she just wanted him for security. All she knew was that she had to fight the spell; she didn't trust Malfoy.

"Do you feel anything for Potter?"

"Nothing more than I feel for Ron. Harry is just a friend and so is Ron. There was this one time that I had a faint…" Hermione clasped her hand over her mouth. Malfoy pretended not to notice.

"Who do you think is the most attractive person in school?"

"Why are you so interested in my love life, Malfoy? Planning on writing a novel about me or something?" She could finally somewhat control what she was saying.

"Just answer the question, Hermione. A deal is a deal."

"You. Everyone thinks that. Evil, oh so sexy. But you've only earned yourself one thing, but that's it. The rest you've bought with your father's money."

"Interesting you think that… what do you really think about Mr. Potter the Boy Who Got Lucky and Turned Out Famous?"

"I don't really think you should be jealous of him, Malfoy, you've got everything going for you. And he's my friend, I don't care if he was the turning point of the downfall of the Dark Lord. To me he's just Harry, my friend."

"So how far has your little artificial relationship with Weasel gone?"

"Ahh, back to my love life. If you're asking whether I've slept with him the answer is no, just a little kiss and hug here and there, but why would you care about the love life of a simple little mudblood like me?"

"I think we both know why, 'Mione."

"And what if we don't?" Hermione's voice slightly hinted scorn.

"Then something will have to been done about that. Now, what was that that you wanted?"

He leaned over to her and touched his finger to her lips. Hermione was surprised when she didn't startle. His skin was not cold, but actually quite warm. He leaned in and kissed her hard. She kissed him back and let her tongue mingle in his mouth for a second. It was like a bolt of lightning had run through her body, nothing like that ever happened with Ron.

"Hmm, I think I know exactly what you want…"

"You lying cheating piece of shit!" Before she could slap him straight across the face, he leaned in and kissed her again. This time she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and just let herself sink into a world of pleasure. Her insides felt like she was on a muggle roller coaster. She was internally exploding… and she liked it. Draco stopped.

"You know you want me, 'Mione. You know Weasel could never give you what I could. Just remember, a deal is a deal. Anything you want. I may appear to be…" Draco trailed off and smirked then started again. "Evil, but I always keep my promises." Draco walked out of the small room, muttering 'Finite Incantatem!' and leaving her standing there, stunned.