You are viewing a story from harrypotterfanfiction.com View Online Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling. I just had fun messing about with the characters and the plot. A/N: words contained within *************** means it is a dream. First fanfic, I hope you enjoy, if not, oh well I had fun writing it : ) “AHHHHHHH!!!!! MUM, DAD COME QUICK!!” “Hermione! Hermione what is it? Are you alright?” Mrs. Granger shouted upon running though the door to Hermione’s room. “W-whs gmng on?” Hermione’s dad sputtered as he also entered the room at a run, with a mouth full of toothpaste. Hermione slowly took a step onto her plush black carpet, coming out of her en suite. Upon seeing their daughter Mr. and Mrs. Granger stared wide eyed and then looked sheepish. “Um, good *cough* good morning sweetheart.” Mrs. Granger said in a high squeaky voice. Hermione turned around to face her full length mirror in the bathroom again. Staring back at her was a 5’ 6”, 115 pound, long straight black haired girl. She had starry violet eyes lined with thick black lashes and porcelain skin. Upon further inspection she found a flat stomach and curvaceous hips and chest. She blinked once at the reflection and promptly fainted. “Oh dear.” Mrs. Granger murmured as her husband caught their daughter whilst trying not to lose his mouth of toothpaste. Mr. and Mrs. Granger laid Hermione down on her bed, pulling the covers up they stole an apprehensive glance at each other. “I guess it’s about time we tell her dear, otherwise she is going to think she’s gone mad.” Mr. Granger whispered. He could see tears silently making their way down his wife’s face and moved around the bed to comfort her. Through sniffles and tears Mrs. Granger answered. “I… I don’t want to lose her; I don’t know what I’ll do.” “Shh, come on now, this is Hermione we’re talking about. There is no way we are going to lose her. Sure things are probably going to change, but who says that change has to be a bad thing. Let’s go down stairs and I’ll make you a cup of tea. When she wakes up we will fill her in.” Mr. Granger smiled at his wife and took her hand leading her out of their daughter’s room and into the kitchen. While they were busy devising a plan on how they would break the news to their daughter, Hermione’s subconscious was giving her a headache. ~~~~Hermione’s POV~~~~ ************************************************************************ Hmm, dreams are nice. Well, most dreams anyway, some are strange and make me want to stay awake forever. But this dream is nice. Clouds, a meadow, a sexy guy with blon… blonde hair?? Oh, no. No. NO. NOOOO! This can’t be happening. Run Hermione come on faster than that. Geez why does it always seem that no matter how hard you try to run in a dream you never get anywhere. Oh great, he’s catching up now. I stop and turn around to face my tormentor. “What do you want Ferret??!! You don’t torture me enough in reality; you now need to come infiltrate my subconscious?” I scream at the blonde Slytherin. “You know, you’re rather sexy when you’re angry Mia.” Malfoy purred reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. “Mia? Who the hell is Mia? And get your hands off me Malfoy or I’ll hex you all the way to the States!” I yelled back at him while throwing his hand off that had moved to cup my cheek. I tried to suppress the electric jolt that I felt throughout my body when his skin had come in contact with mine. I couldn’t let him know he had any effect on me, he’d never let me live it down. My words and actions didn’t seem to deter him. Malfoy took a step towards me so we were close enough I could feel his hot breath on my forehead. He was rather tall. Hmm, 6’ 1” or 6’ 2” I believe? Anyway, got off subject there… my feet felt like they weighed a ton. My entire body felt like I had been petrified, all I could move were my eyes. I looked up to his face while he bowed his head to look me in the eye. Have Malfoy’s eyes always been that color? It’s like a grey/ blue. It would be cool I guess, if it wasn’t Malfoy we were talking about. I could look into eyes that color all day long, which was basically what I was doing. Malfoy brought his hand up again to caress my cheek all the while still holding my gaze. His whispered words came out of his mouth sounding soft and sweet… “I love you Mia.” ************************************************************************ I sat up in my bed and let out a long scream. Oh Merlin, what the bloody hell was that!!! And, more importantly who is Mia and how did Draco sodding Malfoy become the star of one of my dreams!? I could hear my parents’ chairs scrape on the kitchen floor followed by footsteps stopping at the bottom of the stairs. “Hermione? Are you alright?” I heard my Mom call up the stairs. “Um, yeah. Just had a nightmare of sorts.” I replied a bit shaky. Well, it was the truth. Even though most girls in Hogwarts and perhaps the world would fall at the feet of Malfoy if he declared his love for them, I Hermione Jean Granger is definitely not one of them. Stupid girls. Stupid arrogant ass ferret face Malfoy. “Al- alright dear. Would you please join your father and me down here when you’re ready, we have something to discuss with you.” Was it my imagination or did my mum seem nervous about something? Hmm, wonder what’s up. “Okay, I’ll be right down, just need to use the loo.” I shouted on my way to my bathroom. “Shit. That’s right. No wonder she sounded nervous.” I mumbled under my breath as I stepped into my bathroom. The mirror straight ahead reflected that same black haired, pale skinned girl, or should I say woman, because she sure doesn’t look like a little girl. I have to say, she was rather pretty, the eyes were the killer. Who had purple eyes? Weird. When I was done I tried to avoid the mirror on my way out of the bathroom. I took the stairs very slowly afraid of what I might find down there. What if there were more surprises. Did Crookshanks turn into a tiger while I was asleep? Did my parents turn my house into a library? Did they get me the Batmobile? Hmm.. oh a library, maybe I should quicken my pace. I rounded the corner to find my parents not in the kitchen. “Mum, dad where are you?” “We’re in the living room pumpkin.” I heard my Dad call. Pumpkin, why do people use that as a term of endearment for kids? I mean what’s so cute about a pumpkin. It’s orange for starters, the insides look like stringy mush, and the outside is all bumpy. The seeds are tasty so “10 Points to the Pumpkin”. But other than that what’s it got. They’re famously known to be hacked into and carved out with scary witch and cat and ghost pictures on All Hallows Eve. So what does that mean? Great, my dad thinks I am an ugly, bumpy, orange thing that should be carved out with pictures of objects that actually exist in my world. Well done Dad, way to make me feel loved. Anyway, I’m just joking, I love my Dad, but I still wish I could be called something cute like ladybug or something along those lines. Just nothing candy related, I don’t want to be making correlations between a stripper and my new nickname. All of this is going through my head as I enter the living room to find my parents sitting on the sofa sipping their tea and looking at me with pained expressions on their faces. “Okay, so please tell me something went wrong with the shampoo I used last night, or someone flooed here and slipped some polyjuice potion into my tea, or I was bitten by a radioactive spider and or vampire, or ….” I could have gone on and on wracking my brain for excuses as to why I suddenly looked like a Goth model, but no such luck my mum had to ruin my fun. “Hermione, breath. Please Sweetheart; it is none of those things. Just take a seat and we will explain everything.” Mum was strangely calm, too calm if you ask me. I started to get even more freaked out than the first time I glanced in the mirror this morning. I moved over to the arm chair facing the sofa on the other side of the living room. I only perched on the edge in case I needed to quickly bolt from the room. “Tea darling?” My mother offered, always one for manners that woman. I shook my head slowly and murmured a “No thanks.” “Can we please just get on with whatever you have to tell me? I would like to figure out how to change back into myself.” I stated a little louder. I was getting a little annoyed with the silent atmosphere. You could feel the nervousness radiating out of everyone. I saw my parents stiffen a little and put their cups down simultaneously. Uh oh, this must be some pretty big news if they can’t even hold a cup of tea. I fixed my eyes on my father as he started to speak. “Well, Hermione. You see, um… you can’t change back. This is your new self.” He had sort of a tight lipped smile, pleading with his eyes for me to be ok. I think I lost all of my senses at that point. Sight, I saw nothing except a fuzzy blur in front of my eyes. Smell, there was no scent from the bowl of cinnamon potpourri wafting to my nose. Taste, well I had nothing in my mouth so that was a useless sense at the moment. Sound, I only heard a loud buzzing noise ringing through my head. And touch, I wasn’t aware at the time, but I would be later that I was digging my nails so hard into my palms that I actually drew blood. Slowly my hearing was returning after what was probably 10 minutes or so of acting like a vegetable. I could faintly hear my parents calling “Hermione!”, “Hermione can you hear me?” over and over again. Then my vision started to return when I caught sight of my Dad’s hand waving frantically in front of my face. It was quite annoying really and giving me a slight headache from the movement. I reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. Speech till evaded me at the moment so I just looked him in the eye and slowly moved my head back and forth. “Oh thank God, Hermione you had us worried there Pumpkin, you were basically catatonic.” Dad verbalized. Hmm, catatonic, maybe I should have stayed in that state so I could just stay in my room for the rest of my life and not explain to everyone why one-third of the Golden Trio now looks like a vampire! I leaned back into the chair and pulled my knees up under my chin and rested my head on top of them. My Dad stood up and started checking my vital signs. “Dad, dad what are you doing?” Ah ha there I found my voice! “Hermione I’m a doctor, I’m checking to see if you’re ok.” “Dad, you’re a dentist.” I explained calmly. Maybe I wasn’t the only one that needed their vitals checked here. Dad just harrumphed and sat back down on the couch with mum following suit. I took a few deep breaths while my parents just stared at me afraid to make the next move. Probably afraid that I would start having convulsions the next time. “Alright…. Would you care to explain why I am now stuck looking like this?” I said through gritted teeth. It’s not so much that I didn’t like the way this girl looked, but I would miss what was it, ME. I would miss me. I started whining in my head. I already got enough attention as is being a part of the GT, I didn’t need anymore and I was sure I was going to get it with the way I looked now. “Ok honey, here it goes. And please, let me say everything I need to say without interruption, it will be easier that way. Alright?” Mum stated. With a nod from me she continued. “Eighteen years ago we filled out paper work at an adoption agency. We were not able to conceive a child and wanted one more than anything. Within a few months we got a call stating they had a little girl that needed a good home. We were thrilled.” My eyes started tearing up at the words adoption agency. I was adopted. Oh boy. First the new look and now I’m adopted. “We brought you home as soon as we could and have loved you as if you were our own flesh and blood from the first moment we laid eyes on you. A couple of weeks after you came home with us we received a letter. Not by post, by owl. It was very strange to have an owl tapping on the window with a role of parchment attached to its leg I can assure you.” My mother giggled a little at the memory and I had to smile in response. “The letter stated that your name was Hermione and you needed protecting. We were very frightened at first, we called the police and had them try to trace the letter, but nothing came back. A few months went by and we got another letter, again by owl. It asked us to take very good care of you, that you were a special child and your real mother loved you very much but could not protect you at the given time. Throughout the years we received such letters telling us that your birth mother was extremely grateful for us taking such good care of you. One also stated that you were magical.” I think my mouth had formed an O shape by now. So, my biological family was still out there and they knew where to find me, and they knew I was magical. Which means THEY are magical. I must be a half blood or more. This was just too much. Seven years of being called a mudblood and in one day I find out I’m not a bushy haired, big toothed muggleborn. I needed to lie down again, but I needed to find out the rest of the story before I did anything else. “Of course we thought someone was playing a prank on us, until you got your letter to Hogwarts. All of a sudden all of the strange outbursts when you were younger and the letter stating you were magical made sense, and so we ventured to the Leaky Cauldron to see if it was in fact all true, and lo and behold it was.” Mum had finished her speech and let out a long breath. “Hermione, we want you to know that this doesn’t change the way we feel about you. You are our daughter first and foremost and we love you with everything we have. Please don’t let this hurt our relationship.” My Dad was pleading with me. Of course this wasn’t going to change our little family. It might add new people to it, but it would never change the fact that I love the people who have raised me all my life. I went over and hugged my parents, I heard my mum let out a whimper and pulled back to see tears had finally come down her cheeks. “Mum please don’t cry, of course this doesn’t change anything. You’ll always be my parents. I love you guys so much.” They both pulled me back into a hug. When we broke apart my Dad spoke up. “There’s something else. We received a letter on your 17th birthday. We hadn’t gotten one in years so it was quite the shock. It said that you had been put under a “glamour charm” or something, which we can obviously see now that you were. It also stated that scenario A. this so called glamour charm would wear off on your 18th birthday. That was last year. So we assumed it was scenario B. it would come off when there was no longer a major threat to the wizarding world. Well, Voldy- whatever you call him has been dead for what did you tell us, about 2 and ½ months now. We figured perhaps something went wrong with the charm and you were going to stay how you were, but this morning proved us wrong.” I cleared my throat, “Um, it might have waited until most of the influential Death Eaters were either killed or put into Azkaban. Harry told me they were doing a raid on some Death Eater camps yesterday.” I started to pace around the room. “Oh Merlin Harry! Ron! Ginny! What am I going to tell my friends!!!??” I belted out into the air. “Hermione, dear if they are the wonderful friends that they have been for the past 7 years of your life, then they will accept this new you. You are the same person on the inside; the outside is the only thing that has changed.” My mother tried to soothe my nerves but it wasn’t working as well as I’d hoped as I was still pacing and took to chewing on my bottom lip. “Hermione, I am going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer them as quickly as possible, okay?” Dad, what are you doing you want to play games at a time like this?? Well, ok, I nod and he focuses on me. “Who was the author of Gone with the Wind?” “Margaret Mitchell.” Too easy Dad, come on. “Which would you rather buy a Ferrari or a book?” “Book.” “Name 3 books by Charles Dickens.” “Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities.” “Where would you rather go, Disneyland or the Cairo Museum?” “Cairo Museum.” “See, you’re still the exact same Hermione.” My dad laughed and got up to give me a hug, mum joined in and we all chuckled a bit. “Let’s go have some breakfast and you can fill me in on anything else, I’m starving.” I said. We all made our way into the kitchen cooking up bacon, sausage, eggs and toast. I poured 3 glasses of orange juice and set the table. “So..” I said while coming to lean on the counter. “Is there anything else I should know?” My parents exchanged a quick glace and my mom took an envelope out of her pocket then handed it to me. My name was written on the front in elegant script, I’ve never seen my name look so fancy except perhaps when Professor McGonagall writes it. “What’s this?” I asked my parents. “It came this morning, while you were passed out upstairs. It had a note attached that said we were to give it to you. It also came with one for us. It stated that your family was notified when the glamour charm ended, and…. And that they would like to meet you and have you come live with them for the rest of the summer until you go back to school.” I could tell this was hard for my mum to tell me, she looked defeated. “Oh.” Was all I managed to get out. I was beyond curious to see who my biological family was, but they wanted me to live with them? I’m not sure I was ready for that. “I’m going to go sit down and read this while breakfast is cooking.” “Ok Pumpkin.” This time pumpkin didn’t even faze me, all I was focused on was the letter in my hands, and it seemed to weigh a ton. “Hey mum, you keep saying “My mother”, but you haven’t said my parents or father. Is there a reason why?” I asked tentatively. “Well, the letters never said anything about your father sweetheart. We assumed he must not be in the picture.” Mum explained. “Hmm.” I mumbled as I slowly sank into one of the chairs around the kitchen table and slid my finger under the tab. I lifted the letter out of the envelope and read: My Dearest Hermione, Hello darling. I hope you are taking the news as well as can be expected. I know it comes as quite a shock. Please try to understand we did what we had to do to keep you safe. You see, when the Dark Lord was in power it was dangerous to have children, but especially to have daughters. We were not part of his circle, but we needed to protect you regardless. It was very dark times. We were elated when we were notified that you found a good family that would treat you right. Please know that I love you very much and that I don’t want you to neglect the family that has raised you as their own for the past 18 years. I must tell you, your father is not in my life anymore, he hasn’t been for many years, but we are doing well all the same. You are probably wondering why I said “we” then, yes? Well, Hermione you have a brother, a twin actually. He is a wonderful young man and I am sure you are a wonderful young woman. I was hoping you would do me the great honor of meeting us at your earliest convenience. When I was notified the glamour charm was gone and the world was finally rid of the Dark Lord I jumped for joy. I would so love to meet you my darling. Much love from your mother, Violet Zabini My eyes went wide as I read the last name. It kept shouting itself in side my head “Zabini, Zabini, ZABINI!” “Uh, mum… I’m not hungry anymore.” Please review if you liked it or have any qualms or suggestions. Thank you! A/N I know Blaise Zabini is supposed to be dark skinned, but in my mind I always saw him as fair skinned and slightly punkish. Again, I do NOT own anything affiliated with Harry Potter. Also I have nothing to do with Nutella or Fluffernutter. Enjoy! “Honey?” I heard my mum call on my way to the bathroom. Thankfully I made the toilet in time; I didn’t feel like cleaning the floor or myself if I got sick everywhere. Zabini? The Zabini’s, seriously? Why me? Universe are you totally trying to make my life a living hell? Ok, let’s calm down Hermione and think of what you know about the Zabini family. Well… nothing. Except the tall sort of punk/ Goth looking guy that hangs around with Malfoy is a Zabini. Oh Merlin, my twin brother is best friends with Draco Malfoy. Can someone please strike me dead with a bolt of lightning? Right now, come on. Anyone? No one wants to help me? Lovely. I slumped down onto the floor after flushing the toilet. I curled my body around the base and laid my face against the cool porcelain. Ahh, that feels nice. Now if my head would stop spinning from this whirlwind horror show I might be able to will myself into a coma. That’s how my parents found me, on the floor, hugging a toilet. “Hermione?” Mum please just go away and leave me be, I’ve had enough talking for one day. I grunted in response. Then I felt a pair of arms lift me off the floor and away from my new porcelain friend. On the way up the stairs I felt like a fool. I’m 18 years old, do I really need my Dad to carry me up the stairs. “Dad put me down, I can walk you know.” Ouch, that came out a little harsher than I intended. He was only trying to help after all. “We’re almost to your room.” He said unaffected. After he set me down on my bed, my mum went to my bathroom and got me a cool wet washcloth. I lied down and placed it on my forehead. “Sweetheart, we will be right downstairs. You rest for a while. Today was a lot to take in.” I could hear my mum say before she and dad left my room, closing the door behind them. Yeah, no shit today was a lot to take in. How my mind hasn’t exploded yet I will never know. I sat up on my bed and placed the washcloth around the back of my neck. Then I reread the crumpled note I still held in my hand from my moth… Mrs. Zabini. What to do, what to do. Ok, Blaise Zabini. Has he ever personally tormented me? No, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that he is mates with Malfoy. The Zabini’s weren’t a part of Voldemort’s Death Eaters the letter said so that’s a plus. “Ugh!!” I knew that if I didn’t meet my “Mum” and my “brother” then I would go mad. Why do I have to be such a know-it-all? I need to know everything about everything. Of course I need to know about the real me. I wonder if anyone besides the Zabini’s know about me. Probably not right, I would have heard about it floating through Hogwarts. Ok, I guess I need to respond. No time like the present right? Wrong. I’ll do it after dinner. In the mean time, I think I will try to get used to this new body since it’s obviously not going anywhere. Ok, mirror time. I climbed off my bed, or tried to was the better word. My foot got caught in my comforter and I tumbled onto the floor with a loud THUMP. “Hermione? Hermione are you alright?” Dad called up from downstairs. I quickly stood up, a tad embarrassed and very glad no one was there to witness it. Unfortunately my clumsiness didn’t change as well as my appearance. “I’m all good!” I yelled back wincing as I touched my hip. “Ouch, well that’s going to bruise tomorrow.” Great, new body and new bruises to go along with it. I finally found my balance once again and walk over to my bathroom. Maybe I should move my floor length mirror to a different area of the bathroom since it is the first thing staring me in the face when I walk in here. I took in the figure staring back at me. Hmm, skin as white as Malfoy’s. Bloody hell, now I look like a ghost. It does look nice though with the shinny black hair that stops at my mid back. The contrast is striking, pretty almost. I still say I look like a vampire, but I would classify it as a beautiful vampire. I will not kill you and suck your blood, just be mesmerized by my beauty and all will be fine. Ok enough of that, so this is what it feels like to have curves. I always saw Lavender Brown and Pansy pug- face Parkinson have all the boys fawn over them because they have “curves.” Well, now I’ve got them too. I turned to the side to assess my stomach and backside. Hmm, nice butt, not too big, not small by any means. Stomach flat, boobs wow. I must have gone up at least a full cup size. Not that I was small, but now I could easily be a 34C. I turned back around to face front and stared at my new face. The eyes still kind of freaked me out so I tried to avoid them. Nose a tad smaller, but fits in with the new face. No more freckles, just smooth ivory skin. Lips, plump and pink. I smiled to check out my teeth. “Huh, they’re perfect. Good thing too or else my parents would have me in their office faster than I could say sectumsempra.” I let out a little laugh. Ok, come on Gryffindor bravery, they’re just eyes. Albeit creepy purple eyes, but eyes none the less and they belong to you. I slowly lifted my gaze to look straight at them in the mirror. Ok, not as bad I thought. Pretty in a way I suppose, they’re not so dark they blend in with the irises or so light it looks like I’m an ocular albino. Thick lashes surround them and I think ‘good, won’t have to buy so much mascara anymore.’ Lifting my eyes a little higher I saw perfectly shaped black eyebrows. After staring at my reflection for another 10 minutes my stomach growled. “Really stomach, I don’t know how you can eat at a time like this.” I mumbled as I headed out of my room to grab something to eat. Mum and dad looked up when I entered the kitchen. “Do we have any Nutella and Fluff mum?” I asked as I moved to the counter and opened the bread box. “Yes honey I’ll get them out of the pantry.” She told me as she opened the pantry door. Nutella and Fluffernutter. One of the most delicious combinations to ever grace the world of bread. If you haven’t tried it then you are seriously missing out! I took 2 slices of bread and plopped them in the toaster. No one spoke as I waited for my bread to heat up. When it was done I smothered one side with the gooey marsh mellowness and the other with the decadent chocolate hazelnut spread. Yum. I put my sandwich on a plate and cut it on a diagonal. Then I hopped up on the counter and began to eat. “So, I’m thinking about replying to the letter.” I said quickly, the silence was irritating. My mum stopped on her way to the table for a second, then started up again. “Oh?” She said. “Yeah… I think I want to meet them.” I didn’t want to see their faces when I said this so I hopped off the counter and went to get a glass of milk. “Oh, well alright dear. When were you thinking of meeting them?” Mum had waited to ask this until I was back on the counter and facing them. “Tomorrow.” I said and I tried to cover up the rest of my sandwich while dad sprayed his iced tea everywhere. Huh, never thought I’d see that, I thought stuff like that only happened on the telly. “Sorry.” Dad mumbled as he tried to clean up his mess. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation. “Um, well it’s a bit soon, but if that’s what you want Mione then that’s fine. If you want you can invite them to come here for brunch tomorrow.” I could tell mum was trying to be supportive but I knew deep down she was wondering if I would like my biological family better. I walked over to the table and hugged both of them. “Thanks you guys. I’ll go send them a message now.” I started to walk out of the room and turned back to look at them. “By the way, I love you Mum and Dad.” I said with as much love I could muster and a bright smile. Brunch tomorrow. Brunch tomorrow? How about you come for brunch tomorrow. Bloody hell, I really should have left this letter writing thing until after dinner like I had planned. Ok, crumple that paper up and start again. Dear Mrs. Zabini, I would be pleased if you and your son would join me and my family for brunch tomorrow morning at 11 am. If you accept then please use the floo network and say “Granger Household”. Yours sincerely, Hermione “Do I write Granger, or Zabini?” I wondered out loud. In the end I decided not to add a last name. I rolled up the letter and called over my new owl Billie Joe. I had gotten him to celebrate the downfall of Voldemort. He was a beautiful silky black color and was a tad plump. Crookshanks wasn’t too happy at first when I brought him home but I explained that I needed a way to communicate with the wizarding world. He was upset for about a week, but eventually came around. I tied the parchment to Billie’s leg and gave him a treat. “Please bring this to Mrs. Violet Zabini.” I stroked his feathers and with a small nip at my finger he was off. I watched until his black shape was out of sight. They must live in a manor right if they’re friends with the Malfoy’s? Oh well, it will get to her one way or another. I then found myself swishing my wand around cleaning my room up; I didn’t want to make a bad first impression in case they wanted to see my personal space. When I was done I brought my wand downstairs with me because I knew my mum would be cleaning as well. And I was right; she was vacuuming the rugs while she had dad dust the mantel. “Mum. Mum! MUM!” I tried to get her attention, but had to scream over the vacuum. She eventually looked over her shoulder to me in the doorway and turned the machine off. “Yes?” “Here, let me.” I swished my wand around the room at various things and muttered “Sourgify.” “Well, that was great. I’m going watch some Dr. Who. Anyone interested?” Dad said as he sat down in the arm chair. Mum and I both shook our heads. I spent the rest of the day before dinner in my room trying to piece together an acceptable outfit to fit my new body. I would definitely have to go shopping; most of my clothes were too small now. I finally decided on a dress and heels and put them aside for my “Meet the Parent” day tomorrow. After changing back into my pajamas, yes I wore pjs all day but you would too with the kind of nonsense that was thrown at me since I woke up, I went downstairs for dinner. After a dinner filled with hyperactivity on mum’s part, she was trying to make a list of what to feed our “guests” in the morning; I decided to call it a night. I washed my face, brushed my teeth and climbed into bed. I hoped I would have a dreamless sleep. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP “Bloody hell.” I rolled over and hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. About 2 seconds later I shot out off bed, ran into my bathroom and, “oh, yeah I definitely still have to move that mirror”, and started the hot water to take a shower. BEEP BEEP BEEP “Ahh! Stupid alarm!” I hopped out of the bathroom on one foot, why you ask, because I was in the middle of taking off my pajama pants when the stupid alarm went off again! I flipped the switch to OFF and hopped back into the bathroom. Ok, I have 1 hour until they get here, well that is if they come. Once I was done in the shower I used a drying spell on my hair and body, I love being a witch. I ran back into my room and got dressed. Last night I had decided on the light peach dress I wore when retrieving my parents from Australia about a month ago. If they liked it enough to let a “stranger” into their home, then hopefully my “bio” mom and brother will like it too. Dress, check. Heels, check. Hmm, bow necklace, check. Ok time for makeup, if need be. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Well, the dress fit before but now it fits like a glove. It fits my chest and lets a tad of cleavage peak out which I didn’t have before. It hugs my waist and then flairs out into a full skirt just below my knees. This is one of the only dresses I own now a days so I better get some use out of it right? Right. “Ok, breathe, 10 minutes to go. Maybe they won’t even show. No they probably would have sent an owl back if they couldn’t make it. Then again, Billie Joe isn’t even back yet.” Tap tap tap “Speak of the devil.” I went over to my window to let my owl in. He didn’t have a letter, which meant the Zabini’s received mine and probably accepted the offer. “You look beat buddy, how far away does this family live?” I gave him an owl treat and he hooted up at me before flying over to his perch to take a nap. “Ok, 5 minutes.” I began pacing around my room; luckily my heels were only 2 inches so my feet weren’t getting a work out. “4” “3” “2” “1” Ding ding ding. I heard the bell we attached to the fireplace chime. Oh boy, oh boy. I went back to the mirror in my bathroom to make sure I looked alright. I decided to put a bit of blush on and some lip-gloss before heading out of my room. “Hermione, sweetheart please come down.” Mum called up to me. “Ok breathe Hermione, everything will be alright.” I tried to calm myself as I walked down the stairs, two feet on each stair to bide me some time. “We’re in the kitchen Pumpkin.” Dad said above the chatter going on in there. The scent of breakfast foods and others filled my nostrils and would have hurried me along if not for the fact that my biological mum was in that room. As I rounded the corner the noise stopped. So I stopped, right inside the door frame. Sitting at the table were my mum and dad, what I assumed to be Blaise Zabini, and a woman who looked to be about 40. She was beautiful. She had long curly black hair that was half pinned up behind her head and ivory skin. She stared at me and I stared at her. I noticed she had the same violet eyes as I did, except a bit lighter. Maybe that’s why her parents named her Violet. I looked to Blaise and noticed he also had the same porcelain skin and purple eyes that I did. His eyes however had been outlined with black eyeliner which really made them pop. His hair was black and hung loose in front of his eyes. All in all my brother was very good looking. Maybe that’s why he was friends with Malfoy, gorgeous purebloods move in packs. “Hello Mia.” My “mother” said as she stood up and walked slowly towards me. Mia? There’s that name again. “What did you call me?” I asked which made her pause before she reached me. “Oh, um Mia. It’s a nickname we gave to you when you were born. If you don’t like it I understand.” Mother told me. Hmm, besides being freaked out because Malfoy used that name in my nightmare I wasn’t totally opposed to it. It did have a nice sound to it. “Uhh… No, it’s alright. Mia is pretty.” I said and she came the rest of the way to pull me into a hug. I tried to hug back, really I did but my arms felt like Jell-O at that moment and I had no control over them. She eventually pulled back and put her hands on my upper arms assessing my appearance. “Mia you are absolutely beautiful.” She said with a note of pride in her voice. I could see silent tears streaming down her face. I suppose I should also have been crying at a moment like this, ya know meeting my biological mother after 18 years. Even so, the name Zabini was still screaming in my head which made me nervous and a tad angry rather than emotional. “Um, thank you. You are as well.” I told her and she really was. She gave me a sweet smile. “Thank you my darling. I would like you to meet you brother. Blaise?” Blaise Zabini slowly stood up and walked over to his mother and me. Upon closer inspection I saw he had a lip ring and was wearing mostly black. His shirt has the band name ‘Cauldron on Fire’ across the front with a picture of a cauldron with flames shooting out of it. I didn’t really know this guy from Hogwarts much. Usually just saw him with the ferret so my mind told my body to get away. And so I involuntarily took a step backward as he approached. He stopped in his tracks and gave me a sad smile while putting his hands in his pockets. Everyone else just looked at me with a questioning gaze on their faces. “Hi Granger…” Blaise finally spoke up while looking down at the ground. “Zabini.” I gave him a nod and didn’t make any attempt to take a step closer. My mum looked back and forth between us, “You two know each other then?” “Yeah, sort of.” I replied looking at Blaise who was still focused on the floor. A/N The response to the first chapter was wonderful, thank you! Keep the love comin! After a few more tense minutes my mum and dad ushered everyone back to the table to eat. My stomach was not too accepting of food yet again so I just nibbled on some toast. ‘This silence is killing me!’ I thought I was going to die if no one spoke up. “So Violet, where do you and Blaise live?” Thank you Dad thank you!! Now the infernal buzzing and screaming in my head will quiet down. “We live in Wiltshire, England, not far from Malfoy Manor.” She responded. I gave a snort at the mention of Malfoy’s name and received some puzzled looks and one seemingly guilty? “Hermione is something wrong?” Mum asked me. “Nope.” I replied looking straight at Blaise with my face set in stone. He caught my eye and then quickly looked down at his plate. He seemed uncomfortable throughout the rest of brunch and only spoke when asked a direct question. I noticed that he wasn’t eating much either, just moving his food around with his fork. Blaise Zabini uncomfortable. Interesting. “So, Mia. Have you thought about our offer for you to stay with us the rest of the summer?” Mrs. Zabini excitedly asked. “Well, I haven’t really discussed it with my parents yet.” I said looking at mum and dad. I was definitely curious to see what Zabini Manor was like. I just hoped it was nothing like the Malfoy’s, I didn’t need any reminders of what happened to me this year. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry. You take as much time as you need.” She replied looking embarrassed. I smiled a little in response. She really was a nice woman; I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable. Blaise on the other hand could squirm in that seat as much as I could make him for all I cared. And I was about to do just that. “So, Blaisssseee,” I drew his name out to let him know things were going to go even more downhill for him now. He looked up from his plate shocked that I had addressed him personally and used his first name. I saw his eyes go wide at my next question. “Got any friends at Hogwarts I might know?” I asked in a sickly sweet voice. Merlin I loved to watch his squirm. I didn’t know if I was proud of myself because he was the enemy or because I was one upping my “brother.” Before he could open his mouth to speak his mother spoke for him. “Oh Blaise has a few delightful friends that come to the manor often. Draco Malfoy is such a wonderful young man, so polite and kind. He is always helping me whenever I need it. His family has always been close friends of ours so we dine with them often. Then there’s this pleasant girl Pansy Parkinson. Such a sweetheart. I am hoping one day my dear Blaise will finally ask her on a date.” Violet finished with a wink at her son. Blaise put his head in his hands and groaned. “Mother, I thought we have been over this, Pansy is just a friend and I am not attracted to her at all, she looks like a pug.” I had been taking a sip of my orange juice while I watched this spectacle and choked on it. I started laughing at the mention of Parkinson looking like a pug. It was too true. At least that’s one thing we agreed on. “Hermione are you ok?” My dad sounded worried as he patted my back. I nodded my head while coughing and then laughed again. “Mum, Dad may I speak to you in the other room please.” I addressed them. “Um, sure sweetheart. Violet, Blaise please help yourselves, there is lots more food. We will be right back.” Mum told them. When we were in the living room I cast a Muffliato charm around it. My parents took a seat on the couch and I stood in front of them. “What is it Pumpkin?” Dad questioned me. “Well, don’t freak out ok. I think I want to go to Zabini Manor for the rest of the summer.” I said in a rush. I could see their faces fall, then bounce back for fear of making me feel guilty. They didn’t need to worry, I already felt guilty enough as is. “If… if you’re sure that’s what you want to do Mione.” Mum eventually got out. “I am. I just want to see what it’s like. It kind of feels like an adventure you know. Like a vacation of sorts, something new to experience. And I can always come home if I don’t like it.” “Well, alright then. But you come back here the first sign of something you don’t like you hear?” Dad told me in an authoritative voice. I hugged them both when they stood up from the couch and murmured an “I promise” to Dad. We eventually broke apart and headed for the kitchen again while I took off the spell. I told “mother” that I would be delighted to take up her offer of staying with them for the summer. She was ecstatic. She basically squealed in delight, thank goodness I never inherited the squeal, and hugged me tight. Blaise on the other hand looked like he was going to be sick. Ha ha, in your face, I could totally make your life a living hell until we go back to Hogwarts like your friends made mine for the past 7 years. “When will you be coming to stay darling?” Mother asked me. “Well, I figured if it’s alright with everyone that I would go today. It wouldn’t take long for me to pack, but I would prefer to floo over after dinner so I can spend a little more time with my parents.” I told her looking sheepishly at my mum and dad hoping they weren’t too upset I was leaving them already. “That would be wonderful! Blaise sweetheart why don’t you go help your sister pack right now so the Granger’s and I can have a little adult chat and she will have more time tonight to spend with them instead of getting ready.” Violet addressed her son and turned to me to give a bright smile. Blaise and I tried to protest simultaneously, stating that I’m more than capable of packing my own trunk. “Oh you two, go on Blaise, shoo, I would like to talk with Mia’s parents for a bit.” She ushered us out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. I looked to Blaise and saw him give me an apologetic smile; I just pushed past him and made my way up the stairs with him trailing behind. As soon as we got into my room I close the door and cast a Muffliato. “Granger look I-“ He started but I was not about to let him apologize that easily. “No, Zabini don’t you dare say you’re “Sorry”. That doesn’t even cut it when it comes to what you and you friends did to me.” I rounded on him all guns ablaze. “I didn’t do anything! I never said one word to you!” He defended himself. I don’t know if I liked uncomfortable or pleading Blaise Zabini better at that moment, it was fun to watch both though. “No, but you watched. You stood there and egged them on with your laughter and praise. You and the rest of those cowardly Slytherins, too afraid to stand up for what was right. You didn’t do anything; you just stood there and let me take it just like…” I caught myself just in time, I didn’t want to relive that night in Malfoy Manor when I was being Cruicioed by Bellatrix Lestrange and the Malfoy’s just stood there doing nothing to help. Sure, they switched sides at the end of the war. Sure Mrs. Malfoy is the reason Harry was able to survive to kill Voldemort and sure Draco Malfoy helped us get out of the Manor by not turning us in, but they still did nothing while I was screaming in pain. I finally came out of my memories and looked Blaise in the eye. “What just like what?” He asked in a soft voice. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek and quickly brushed it away. I could not let him see me weak. I was a Gryffindor for Merlin’s sake, hold it in Hermione. Don’t let them break you. “Nothing.” I mumbled on my way over to my trunk. “Accio shampoo and conditioner.” I pointed my wand to the bathroom. “I’m sure we have shampoo and soap and that kind of stuff that you’d need at the manor.” Blaise said. “I want mine. It smells like coconut.” I told him while stuffing the rest of my toiletries into my trunk. “You can sit or wait outside; I don’t need help with this.” I motioned towards the chair at my desk in the corner of the room and then the door. He started to walk over to my desk but then stopped and took in my room. “You like Green Day? And the Weird Sisters?” He asked in amazement. “Yeah. Not many people know so keep your mouth shut. I have a bookworm reputation to uphold.” I walked around the room levitating everything and anything I thought I might need for a month as well as my Hogwarts books and uniforms. I even stuffed my pillow in there. Last but not least was my stuffed dragon I had gotten when I was little. Dad bought it for me when I was about 5. It was our father daughter day out and he ended up taking me to Harrods. Not really a good idea when you have a cranky 5 year old on your hands. I wouldn’t leave that store without this dragon I had spotted when we were walking through the toy department. A little kicking and screaming later and daddy bought me my favorite stuffed animal ever. I know it sounds lame but I never go anywhere with out him, well long trips I mean. I bring him to Hogwarts, when I go to the Burrow, vacations; I even put him in my purse when we were on the run all last year. Just knowing I had him gave me some level of comfort. “Do you’re friends know?” He asked me still gazing around my room at the many posters I had hanging on my walls. “No. I don’t think they would approve of my “other side.” I tried to explain, my face contorting into a frown. Why was I telling him all this? Before I could find the answer he interrupted my thoughts. “What do you mean by your “other side,” and why don’t you think they would approve, I mean its Potter and Weasel. Aren’t they like the most understanding people in the world?” Before I could answer him we heard “Blaise, darling it’s time for us to get going.” I walked over to my bedroom door, took down the Muffliato and headed for the stairs. Before I reached the top step I felt a hand on my arm and spun around. “Hermione… I…I know you don’t want to hear it, but I really am sorry. You were right, I was a coward. I don’t have many friends and I didn’t want to lose the ones that accepted me so I just played along. But I swear, that’s not who I am anymore. The war changed a lot, for everyone.” He pulled me into a hug and whispered “I’ll see you tonight Mia.” Then he walked past me and down the stairs. It took a minute for my shock to wear off. I slowly made my way downstairs and into the waiting arms of “mother.” “We’ll see you tonight darling. Just remember say “Zabini Manor” and that’s it. Easy enough, yes?” She said holding me at arms length now. I nodded and gave a slight smile. “Ok, well it was an absolute honor to meet you all. Jean we will definitely need to have a girls shopping day soon. The 3 of us could get a bite to eat at this lovely little café I know in Diagon Alley and then we can go wild picking out new clothes for Mia.” Hmm. Mrs. Zabini didn’t have such a bad idea there. Getting to spend the day with my 2 mothers, eating what I would assume to be delicious food, and getting a whole new wardrobe. The idea already had me smiling. “Yes, that would be splendid, I can’t wait. Just send me an owl whenever you have a free day. It was a pleasure meeting you and your son as well, thank you so much for coming.” Mum was also smiling; I think she liked the idea that she would be seeing me more often than she thought before I left for school. She then gave Mrs. Zabini ahug and told her any time she needed a friend to talk to she was there. “It was great meeting you Violet and you have a wonderful son.” Dad said reaching out to shake her hand. “It was great meeting you Blaise, I’m sure I’ll see you again, take care of yourself.” He now reached out and shook Blaise’s hand. “I will. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Thank you for brunch.” He shook mums hand after dad let go. The Zabini’s then took their leave through the floo. After cleaning up and putting the food away I went to my room to take a nap and think about today’s happenings. In less than 6 hours I would be leaving my room, my house and my parents until the holidays. “Look at it as an adventure Hermione; a chance to do something new, to find out who you really are. You’ve been fighting Voldemort and his cronies since first year, this cant be any worse than everything you’ve been though.” I voiced out loud trying to calm myself down. I went over to my trunk and took my dragon out, curled up on my bed and drifted off to sleep. “Hermione darling, dinner in 10 minutes.” I bolted upright out of bed once I heard my mum’s voice. I had sweat on my forehead and tears running down my face. Nightmares again. ‘When will that evil bitch leave me alone??!!’ I angrily thought to myself. Another dream about Malfoy Manor, I had been plagued with them since that night. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the pain from the Cruciatis curse, nor the look on Lucius Malfoy’s face. He looked at me like I was dirt, or worse. Hooray for Mrs. Weasley though. That stupid bitch Lestrange had it coming. Unfortunately I still have the memories, and the scar to remind me. “I’ll be down soon Mum, just going to shower first.” I yelled out my bedroom door. I took a quick shower and used spells to dry and dress myself. Then I bounded down the stairs to the kitchen. “Mmm, eggplant parm. You hardly ever make eggplant parm.” I said to my mum as my mouth was salivating. “Well, I had your father go get the ingredients while you were resting. I thought it might be a nice send off dinner for you.” Mum said as she moved the dish onto the table. “Thanks guys, but you know I will be seeing you whenever I, or you want. All you have to do is floo.” I told them while taking a big helping of eggplant. I love eggplant parm. Aside from my dragon, if I could have anything if I was stranded on a deserted island it would be this. There would already be coconuts so I could make my own shampoo. And now with my basically see through complexion I would need about a gallon of sunscreen. Ok, I would never be able to survive on an island, let’s just forget I tried. After dinner I helped mum clean up. We then spent the remaining time with dad out in the living room looking through photo albums, picking out some pictures for me to take to show “mother” and Blaise. Even though I looked different I assumed she would have liked to see how I grew up. At five minutes to 7 I took a good last look around my room. After all I wouldn’t be seeing it for the next 5 months. I then levitated my truck and Crookshankes cage downstairs and sent Billie Joe off to Zabini Manor with a note saying I would be arriving at 7. I shrunk his cage and placed it in my purse. “Bye mum, bye dad.” I said as I hugged them in front of the fireplace. “I love you guys and I’ll see you soon.” I smiled and got many kisses, “we love you”s and “you come back whenever you want to”s before I stepped into the fireplace with all of my luggage. With one last look and smile at my parents I shouted “ZABINI MANOR”, threw down the floo powder and was gone in a flash of green flames. A/N: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter, Beauty and the Beast, Green Day or 'Heavyweights.' Basically in this story I don't own anything except the plot and some extra characters. Hope you enjoy! I gracefully fell out of a fireplace and onto my face. “Mia!” I heard mother cry and then she was by my side helping me off the ground. I heard a chuckle and turned to see Blaise leaning against a doorframe smiling at my entrance. “I’m ok, I’m ok, no need to fuss.” I assured mother while wiping soot off my clothes. When I straightened up I looked around the room. Well, it wasn’t a room; it was more like a parlor. ‘Geez, these people seem to be as rich as the Malfoy’s, wait I’m one of these people so I’M AS RICH AS THE MALFOY’S!!!’ I started screaming in my head. Yeah ok so it’s nice to have money, so sue me. My parents are both dentists so it’s not like we didn’t have money, but this was like Buckingham Palace compared to my house! “Blaise” I nodded my head towards my brother. Wow, my brother. I always wanted siblings when I was little, now I know that my parents couldn’t have children to begin with. Anyways, when I met the Weasley’s it was like I had all the siblings I would ever need. Blaise’s smile grew at the sound of me saying his first name instead of uttering a disdainful “Zabini.” “Welcome to Zabini Manor Mia. Come on, I’ll show you around.” Blaise said. He then flicked his wand and my trunk and Crookshanks were floating behind him. “Yes, yes now you go get all settled in darling. I’ll be up in a little while to check on you and say goodnight.” Mother then pulled me into a tight embrace and whispered in a choked voice, “I’m so happy to have you back my Mia; I have missed you every day.” She then led me out of the parlor and I moved to where Blaise was waiting while she left. I was now standing in a grand entrance. There was a gigantic crystal chandelier hanging above and below my feet was an intricate mosaic in the shape of a Z. The double front door was to my left and a grand staircase was to my right. “Bloody hell.” My words came out in a hushed whisper. Unfortunately it wasn’t as hushed as I thought. “Wow! The bookworm swears! Who would have thought?” I heard Blaise laugh after his oh so funny response… yawn. I focused my attention on him and punched him lightly on the arm, “Yeah yeah. Bugger offt.” “Alright, come on. I have a lot to show you before dinner.” I followed Blaise and my luggage up the stairs to the middle landing and then the stairs to the left. “Huh, this staircase reminds me of Beauty and the Beast. Tell me, do you have a West Wing too?” I asked chuckling to myself. “Actually, yes we do. That is where our bedrooms are. Mother’s is on the east side. What’s Beauty and the Beast?” Blaise asked. I couldn’t help but laugh at his confused face when he turned around to look at me. “Nevermind, it’s a muggle movie.” I responded still laughing. “Oh.” Came his response and he started walking again. We passed many paintings and moving portraits as we moved down the long hallway. I assumed they were relatives or something. Some looked at me with confused expressions and I felt like sticking my tongue out at them. Blaise stopped and pointed to a tall dark wood double door with gold knobs. “This is your room. Go ahead, take a look.” I took a deep breath and turned the handles, opening both of the doors inward. “Everything is white.” I said as I stared at the room. Every detail from the carpet to the drapes hanging over the bed canopy was the same shade of white. It looked like a hospital room. If they thought I was staying in here then they were crazy. “That’s because the rooms in the manor change according to whomever they belong to. Once you set foot inside it will transform before your eyes.” Blaise told me with a smile. “Wow that’s brilliant!” I couldn’t help but yell. He laughed at my reaction and then I closed my eyes and took my first step onto the carpet. When I took my second step inside the room I noticed my foot came down on something hard. I finally opened my eyes and noticed there no longer was a white carpet beneath my feet. It had transformed into a dark hardwood floor. I shifted my gaze upwards and finally noticed how large the room really was. “This room is huge!” I exclaimed and heard Blaise laugh again from behind me. I took another few steps inside. “Everything else is still white.” I said with a pout in my voice. Was I really that boring and bland that my room thought I should live in an institution? “Oh yeah I forgot, that’s because you need to touch everything in order for it to change. You see, you stepped on the floor so that changed, but everything else needs contact or it will stay white.” Blaise explained to me. Well thanks bro that was a valuable piece of info you left out. I turned back to the entrance and put my palm on the wall. I was amazed as color seemingly seeped out of my hand and spread onto the wall. Every wall was now a dark purple, well the room was actually more of a circular shape so it didn’t have designated “walls.” This was awesome; I went around touching everything I could get my hands on. There were 2 dressers, a vanity, a sitting area with 2 chairs and a table by a fireplace, a four poster bed and a desk and chair that were now all a dark wood color to match the floor. The cushions on the chairs turned into a lighter purple than the walls and the pillows turned black. The canopy around my bed was now that lighter purple to match the chair cushions as was my comforter. The bed pillows also turned black and some light purple for contrast. By the time I was done having my fun I was exhausted so I flopped onto my bed looking up at the canopy.. ‘Wow, interior decorators must be wiped out when they get done with a job, that was nuts!’ I thought to myself. Oh shit, Blaise has been waiting for me this whole time! As if he heard my thoughts there was a body all of a sudden jumping onto my bed and lying next to me. I laughed at his playfulness. “Geez Mi, I thought I would be waiting all night for you to be finished.” He yawned out. Why was he yawning, he didn’t even do anything. “Yeah, sorry about that. I couldn’t help myself.” I said in apology. “Yeah I know what you mean. You can also change everything again if you’re in a different mood. Just think about what you want and touch something.” Blaise told me. “Ok.” I felt my eyes flutter closed. “So, what’s with all of the dark colors and listening to bands like Green Day? Isn’t Hermione Granger supposed to be the happy, cheerful, full of life 1/3rd of the Golden Trio? Shouldn’t you be listening to some girl crazy boy band or something? ” He asked. Ok, valid question, no need to get mad Hermione. I still reached back and grabbed a pillow to hit him in the face anyway. A muffled “oomph” came from him and I smiled in response. “Well, like you said back at my house. The war changed a lot. I’m still me, the Gryffindor bookworm. I’m just, I don’t know, different. And how do you know about Green Day anyway? They’re a muggle band.” I said. It’s true, a year of war and being on the run, getting tortured by sadistic witches and watching people die will take its toll on a person. “Yeah I can see how you would think that, but actually they’re a group of wizards.” He said and was quiet for a few minutes while we just lied there in silence staring up at the ceiling. Green Day was a group of wizards, wicked! “Oh crap! Billie Joe! Did you see my owl any time tonight before I came?” I totally forgot about my poor owl, he was probably flying around outside or looking for me back at my house. “Yeah don’t worry, we sent him to our owlery to get some food and rest. The grounds keeper will take care of him. His name is Simon. He’s good with animals.” Blaise reassured me. “So, you didn’t name your owl after Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day did you?” “Um, yeah I did.” I said a tad embarrassed. “That’s neat. I have a brown owl, his name is Achilles.” “Nice name.” I told him. “Kids? Oh, there you two are. Now who belongs to this big ball of orange fur?” Mother came into my room carrying Crookshanks and laughing a bit. I guess Blaise must have let him out to roam around the house while I was taking up my new profession of interior decorating. We both leaned up on our elbows so we could see better. “Oh, yeah he’s mine. His name is Crookshanks. Likes to explore, eat extendable ears and so forth.” “What’s an extendable ear?” Blaise questioned. “Oh um nothing, just a product from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.” I said to their puzzled faces. Mother put Crookshanks down and came to stand in front of us. “Well Blaise, I think it is time for you to retire to your room. Mia has had a very long and… interesting day I’m sure and would probably like to rest.” “I guess you’re right. Goodnight, see you in the morning. Goodnight Mother.” Blaise stood up and gave his mum a kiss on the cheek leaving us alone. “Goodnight my darling. I hope everything is to your liking. Your en suite I’m sure has everything you could ever need. There are also some pajamas and a robe in there in case you don’t feel like unpacking your trunk tonight. I will make sure Simon feeds and takes care of Crookshanks for you while you get settled in.” I got off the bed to give her a hug which she quickly returned. “Yes, um…thank you, everything has been wonderful so far.” I told her and got a smile in return. She then placed her hand on my cheek and said “I love you my Mia.” Then she left my room and quietly closed the door. Hmm, pjs. Do I want to fight with everything in my trunk tonight just to get a pair of shorts and t-shirt? Nope. I walked to one of the other 2 doors in my room. Yes score. Bathroom. “This room is all white also. I wonder…” I say as I step inside. “YES!” I exclaim. The floor suddenly turned to white and black checkerboard tiles. Wow, biggest bathroom I have ever seen, well except for Moaning Myrtle’s. Stand up shower that appears to fit 5. Tub also appears to fit that many. Sink with a long countertop for all my crap and a nice looking toilet. I went over to touch the top of the toilet and watched as it turned black. “Wicked.” Next I went for the walls and they turned the same purple as my bedroom. The counter also turned black when I touched it along with the tub. The knobs and hardware on everything turned silver. “I love magic.” I smiled to myself. After washing my face, brushing my teeth and getting changed into a rather skimpy nightgown I headed back into my bedroom after muttering “Lumos” and putting out the candles in the bathroom. Why can’t the wizarding world just install electricity? It would be so much easier. “What on earth was that woman thinking giving her daughter something like this to wear to bed? It barely coves my ass.” I angrily mumbled to myself. Honestly, why would she think I’d want to wear a silk nighty that hits right at the top of my thigh and shows more cleavage than I ever knew I had, even in this new body! It’s not like I’m trying to seduce someone, I’m sleeping alone! “Ugh, whatever.” I extinguished the candles around my bed and settled into the fluffy comforters and pillows of my new queen sized bed. “Nox” I whispered and my wand went out. Welcome to your new life as a Zabini. And I finally fell into a deep sleep. Three Weeks Later Knock knock knock. “mmmmm” Is someone trying to kill me. Knock knock knock. “What?” I mumbled into my pillow. I heard the door creek open a bit but didn’t hear any footsteps. “What the bloody hell!!??” I tried to cover my eyes from the sudden blast of sunlight pouring into my bedroom. Merlin, someone really is trying to kill me! Or at least blind me. “I’m so sorry Miss. I was told to come wake you up and help you get ready for your outing today.” Minnie said. Minnie was Mother’s and my ladies maid. Surprisingly for an old pureblood family they didn’t have house elves. I was extremely grateful I wouldn’t have to pound into their heads my ideas for S.P.E.W. We had Minnie to take care of Mother and me. She was in her late 20’s I assumed, sweet as can be and became my friend pretty quickly within a day or two after my arrival. Gracy was the butler. He pretty much answered the door, brought us tea when we were too lazy to get it ourselves and received and handed off the letters from owls. He was just like a grandpa. I’ll admit at first I didn’t like be told to keep my feet off the furniture, but after a while he had a spot in my heart. Mainly because he caught me in the kitchens around midnight my 3rd night here eating some chocolate chip cookies and milk. At first he was shocked until I made him try some, then he was hooked. Now we meet every so often at midnight to share our vice. Gracy also attends to Blaise when he needs help with something. He usually doesn’t though so that gives Gracy a lot of time to rest, which is good considering he is probably around 75- 80 years old. Simon the grounds keeper is a nice man. Pretty quiet so I don’t really know anything about him. He takes great care of my animals though so I’m thankful. Lars is our chef. He. Is. Awesome. Apart from the name he is like the coolest person ever. He has let me help him in the kitchens and has taught me how to make many different dishes, mainly desserts since I am a chocoholic and sweet freak. When I first met him we had a great conversation: “Hello Miss Mia, I am Lars.” I think my head must have been spinning. Did he just say Lars? All my mind could latch onto was the scene in the movie ‘Heavyweights’ when the new camp councilor introduces himself to the campers. And so of course I had to be a smart ass and ask the question. “Lars? What kind of name is that? Where are you from?” Ahh I love that movie. I was smiling inside and laughing so much. “Far Away.” Came his serious reply. Oh my holy hell. I could not believe that just happened. My mouth dropped open and he looked at me puzzled and tilted his head to the side. He was probably contemplating my sanity. Well, after that little introduction I can definitely say he became my favorite person. Not just because my favorite character in Heavyweights was Lars, but it did help. We also had a lot of maids and some assistant cooks that Mother told me came in when the manor needed cleaning or a big party needed preparation for. I had yet to meet any of them. Anyway back to present day. “Oh Merlin that’s right! I’m going to see Mum and get a whole new wardrobe today!” I was jumping for joy on my bed while Minnie just stood there laughing at me. “Yes and if you don’t get down from there and get ready you are going to be late.” She scolded me while trying to collect my bed sheets for the wash. I hopped onto the floor and looked at the clock. 8:30. Merlin it’s early! I know one thing that I can do that will lift my spirits even higher on this early morning. “Where are you going, you need to get ready!” Minnie yelled at me when I was almost out the door. I turned around and with a mischievous gleam in my eyes I said “It’s 8:30 am on a Thursday during school holiday. I’m going to go wake up Blaise!” I was now tiptoeing into the hallway and could hear Minnie’s giggle behind me. After that first night I spent in the manor when Blaise and I just laid on my bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling, I have really grown to love him. He's a pretty awesome brother. He was used to me treating him like the brother I never had by now. Examples… screaming at each other when one of us took the last pastry, tripping each other through out the day, he even turned my hair blue a couple days ago because I wouldn’t give him back a book he was reading. What? I wanted to read it too, so I did and survived with my blue hair until I returned his precious book. I finally got to Blaise’s bedroom door which was about 50 feet down the hall from mine across the way. I slowly turned the doorknob, hmm after this he is definitely going to need to lock his door at night. Silently making my way across his carpet I made it to his bed. I jumped up and started shouting “FIRE FIRE FIRE” over and over until he sat up grabbed his wand and I heard: “Aguamenti!” And then I was drenched. Serves me right I guess but the horrified look on his face while he shot water everywhere was totally worth it. I fell on the bed and broke into a fit of laughter. “Oh my Merlin, you should have seen your face!” “You are going to pay for that!” Blaise then proceeded to chase me out of the room and down the hall. Thank goodness I had a head start and was smart enough to lock my door when I got in. Bang Bang Bang “HERMIONE, YOU GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!” He yelled. Oh no, I’m only called by Hermione in this house when someone’s really pissed at me. Ehh… whatev. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry dear brother but I need to get ready to go on an outing with Mother.” Smiling widely I padded over to my en suite to get ready for the day. When I was done with my shower I dried myself with my wand and picked out a dark green dress with a boat neck and no sleeves. It hugged my waist and was a tad snug across my chest. Thankfully we were going shopping today to get clothes for my new body; I’ve had to stretch my wardrobe for the past 3 weeks. It had a full skirt that stopped mid thigh because of my “growth spurt”. And the best part? It had pockets! I love pockets on a dress for some reason. I paired it with a pair of emerald earrings my parents had given to me for my 16th birthday. A pair of green and white striped wedge sandals and I was good to go. Making sure no one was out in the hall waiting to ambush me I cautiously made my way to the dining room. “Good morning Mother.” I kissed her on the cheek and took a seat opposite Blaise. “Good morning sweetheart, you look nice. I owled your Mum last night, we are meeting outside of the Leaky Cauldron at 10, shopping for a bit, grabbing a bite to eat and shopping some more.” She said. “Wonderful. Oh Blaise, you’re up early. I wasn’t expecting to see you till we got back.” I smiled as I piled my plate with watermelon and other fruits. “Hmm, well if someone didn’t think it was necessary to tell me my room was engulfed in flames then I’m sure you wouldn’t have.” He said shooting a glare my way. I just smiled in response and ignored the questioning gaze my mother was giving the two of us. “So Blaise dear what are your plans for today?” Mother asked him after taking a sip of her tea. Blaise swallowed his mouthful of bacon before answering. Thank Merlin some men have manners. Ronald always talked with his mouth full spitting food everywhere, it was disgusting. “I’m going over to Draco’s this afternoon. He got a new broom so we figured we would play a round of quidditch.” Ugh, Malfoy. It still bothered me that my brother was best friends with the ferret. Luckily Blaise hadn’t subjected me to him yet, everyone was still in the dark about who I was. I was still adjusting to life at the manor and my new family and didn’t have the guts to tell people yet. “Oh, that sounds like fun dear. Why don’t you invite Draco for dinner tonight, it’s high time he and your sister met don’t you think?” Oh no Mother please nooooo! I shot a warning and pleading look to Blaise. “Um I don’t know Mum, maybe another night.” He said, thank you Blaise you saved the day! “Well alright sweetheart. Oh Mia, we need to run. Blaise you behave today, I don’t fancy a trip to St. Mungo’s. Alright?” “Yes Mum. Have fun you two.” There was something in his eye that didn’t look quite right. After a day of shopping with my 2 mums I was beat. We met outside the Leaky Cauldron at 10 and I ran to give my Mum a big hug while she shouted “Hermione!” I missed her and Dad so much. Mother hugged her as well and we all set off for our shopping spree. We stopped in numerous clothing, shoe and jewelry stores. I must have tried on a thousand different outfits while they just chattered away happily outside of the changing rooms. Around 1 we took a break and had lunch at a café Mother knew the owners of. It was a small French place called ‘Le Petit Paris’. The food was delicious as I had thought it would be. After that we continued to raid all the boutiques and I had to put a cushioning charm on my wedges because my feet were screaming at me. ‘What the hell was I thinking wearing these when going out with 2 obvious shopaholics?’ I pulled the women into Flourish and Blotts after we were done enhancing my wardrobe. They said I was taking too long so they took all our bags outside and told me to meet them at Florean Fortescue’s for an ice cream when I was done. I mumbled an “ok” as I perused the shelves of my old friends. Still a bookworm at heart, nothing will ever change that. After probably an hour or two I finally picked out 4 books and headed up to the register. After waiting behind 2 women it was my turn to pay. “Hello, did you find everything you were looking for miss?” The handsome, tall, dark haired, blue eyed sales clerk asked me. Ok, must not drool, must not drool. Damn he’s gorgeous! “Miss?” He asked again breaking me from my reverie. “Oh um yes. I obviously can’t take the whole store so I just picked these for now.” Ha ha yeah my attempt at a cute little joke didn’t turn out too well. Maybe I should owl Fleur and ask her for some flirting tips. Ugh, which reminds me, I still need to tell my friends about the new me. He laughed. He laughed? “Yeah, I know what you mean. Every time a new stock comes in I’m always the first to look through it to see if there’s something new I can read.” Wow, there are nice, cute, smart guys out there. Who knew? Well, except for Blaise of course, I caught him one night reading one of my books I brought from home. ‘Gone with the Wind’. To say the least, I was SHOCKED, but I was glad he was reading a classic so I let him be. I smiled at him and paid. “I hope to see you in here again soon, Miss…?” “Zabini. Mia Zabini.” I gave him another smile and turned to leave. “I’m Liam by the way.” He called out to me as I was halfway through the door. I turned around and chuckled before I left. I bounced over to the ice cream parlor and ordered for the 3 of us. While I was waiting for our orders I was thinking about a certain blued eyed, dark haired guy. Maybe I should go back in there and give him my number. ‘Uh hello stupid. Knock knock knock. Anyone home? You’re in the magical world; he probably doesn’t even know what a phone is.’ Oh yeah whoops. Oh well, he knows my name, if he wants to find me he can. I had a dazed look on my face while eating my strawberries and cream. Mum kept asking about the manor and my experiences the past 3 weeks, also why I looked like I was in lala land. “Enough with the third degree Mum, I’m just happy. I’m with 2 of the most important women in my life right now.” It wasn’t a lie, but my mind kept straying back to the bookstore. After we said our goodbyes outside of the leaky cauldron Mother and I decided to floo home instead of apparate because we had so many bags. I followed after her and actually managed to step out of the fireplace instead of tumble. “I’m going to bring all of this up to my room and put it away before they get even more wrinkled.” I told her, then kissed her on the cheek and thanked her for a wonderful day. I levitated all the bags behind me and headed up the stairs towards my room. Ok, green is over here, pink there, yellow back there, red here, black there. Yes, yes ok I color coordinated my closet. My massive walk in closet is amazing and now houses anything I will ever need. My Mums made me get 6 party dresses, 3 cocktail and 3 formal. A zillion different shirts of all kinds. Skirts, pants, I hate shorts so I only bought pajama shorts, jackets etc. You name it, we bought it. I was about to take my shoes off when I heard my mother call me. “Mia, would you please come down here.” She sounded excited. Hmm, maybe I get a cake for surviving a day of shopping with those women. I grabbed my wand off my bed and shoved it into my pocket. When I reached the last step I called out “Mum?” “In the sitting room darling.” Came her reply. I walked toward the sitting room doors and could hear Mother chatting away with someone. Then I heard Blaise laugh as well as a couple of other people. As I stepped into the room I froze. My eyes went wide and I couldn’t move a muscle. “Mia, I would like you to meet the Malfoy’s. This is Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa and their son Draco.” My eyes flickered to each member of the Malfoy family while she introduced them. Then my eyes fell on Blaise. He had a triumphant smirk on his face and stood up and walked towards me. As my feet were still stuck to the ground he stood behind me and pushed me a little into the room while whispering so only I could hear “What is that term muggles use Sis? Oh yeah. Paybacks a bitch.” I could feel my blood go cold and would not take another step. He moved around me to go sit back down and looked into my eyes; a look of worry crossed his features. “Mia, aren’t you going to say hello?” Mother asked me but I still couldn’t do a thing. I watched as Draco Malfoy moved over to stand in front of me. He lifted my left hand to his lips and said “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mia; you are even more beautiful than your mother let on.” He then kissed my hand and looked up into my eyes and smiled. Something inside me finally clicked and I wrenched my hand forcefully out of Malfoy’s grip and gave him a look of loathing. Then within a second I had my wand out and pointed back and forth between the two Malfoy men. I took a few steps backwards to distance myself from the arrogant Slytherin. “What in Merlin’s name do you think you are doing?!” Mother yelled at me, scared that I was going to hex one of her “guests” at any second. I can’t really blame her; no one ever explained to her what happened in the past between me and the Malfoy family. I then turned my wand on Blaise. “You! How could you?! You know and… and you thought this would be fun? A joke?!” I was screaming now. The elder Malfoy’s and my mother had put their glasses down and I could tell they were slowing stepping towards me while Draco was stepping back. “Mia, please I- I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. Just a little joke, like what you did this morning. I didn’t think you would react like this. Please just lower your wand; it will all be alright I promise.” Blaise was trying to play this off as no big deal? Hey “bro” you are sorely mistaken. Yes, you know my history with these people from Hogwarts, but you have no idea what went on during the war. Blaise got up and walked towards me calmly while I finally lowered my wand. “Blaise I want a word with you. Now.” I said as I stalked out of the room and into the dining room. I could hear his hurried footsteps behind me. When he was in the room I slammed the doors shut with a wave of my wand and cast a Muffliato so no one would hear our argument. Then I rounded on him. “What the HELL were you thinking? You know I hate Malfoy, and his father. Why on earth would you do this too me?!” “Mia calm down it was only to get you back for this morning. I’m sorry; I didn’t think it would make you this upset. Surely you can survive a night with them right? Where’s all that Gryffindor courage?” “Why haven’t you told him yet? They obviously don’t know who I am, or was.” I asked. “I- I didn’t know if you wanted anyone to know…yet. I mean it’s your choice to tell people I guess.” “Were you there Blaise?” I said as I turned around and ran my hand along the smooth wood of the dining room table. “What do you mean? Was I where?” He asked me. “At the battle. You weren’t there right? You left through the room of requirement didn’t you?” I knew he had, I saw him leave through the tunnel to the Hogs Head with the rest of the Slytherins. “No, I wasn’t there.” His voice sounded ashamed. “You have no idea what it was like Blaise. To watch the Death Eaters kill people I loved. You have no idea what I went through this past year along side Harry and Ron. You don’t know anything about me.” I whispered the last sentence to him while taking the charm off the room and walking towards the doors. He grabbed my arm as I passed him and spun me around so we were face to face. “Then tell me, make me understand.” He pleaded with me and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was truly sorry for upsetting me. I removed my arm from his grasp and placed my hand on his cheek. I looked into his eyes and said “No.” I then turned around and walked out the door leaving Blaise by himself. Mother was waiting for me in the entrance hall. “Mia, dear is everything ok? You had us worried back there.” I took a few deep breaths and finally answered her. “Yes, I’m sorry about that. Could you please make my apologies to the Malfoy’s? Tell Mrs. Malfoy it is lovely to see her again.” I asked her. Blaise was right, where was my Gryffindor courage. Please don’t let it fail me right tonight. “Madame dinner is ready.” Gracy appeared in the hall. Oh just lovely, I have to have dinner with the ex- Death Eater family. “Thank you Gracy.” Mum said turning to let her company know it was time to dine. “Mum, I’ll be in there in a few minutes; I’m just going to use the loo.” “Alright dear.” She disappeared into the sitting room while I turned to use the bathroom by the staircase. As soon as I was in I once again used a Muffliato, what a great spell. I let out a long scream and splashed my face with water. I stared at myself in the mirror trying to will myself to get through this night. “Come on Hermione, you can do this. They’re just 2 stupid blonde arrogant men. You can do this.” Fixing my hair and drying my face with my wand I walked out of the bathroom, straightened my back, held my head high and walked towards the dining room. You really do hate me universe don’t you!? I took my seat, the only seat left. Mother and Lucius had the heads of table; Narcissa was to mum’s left, Blaise to her right. Draco was to Narcissa’s left and straight across from me as I was sitting to Blaise’s right and next to the man I loathed second only to Voldemort. “Well everyone dig in.” We started to serve ourselves; I was surprised to see that the Malfoy’s didn’t mind that they didn’t have house elves running around at their feet serving them whatever they asked for. The food was delicious and I was maintaining my calm, but alas the silence had to be broken some time right? Blaise leaned over ad whispered in my ear, “I’m sorry, Mum made us sit in these exact positions. I tried to sit where you are but she almost had a fit.” “It’s ok.” I whispered back. Mrs. Malfoy saw our little conversation and decided now was a good time to break all the tension. “So, Mia, how do you like Zabini Manor my dear?” She asked in such a sweet welcoming voice I didn’t have the heart to be mean to this woman. I wouldn’t have anyway for she had a big hand in the downfall of Voldemort. I think she is the only reason her husband got out of an Azkaban sentence. “Oh, well I like it very much ma’am. It’s been 3 weeks and feels like I’ve been here all my life, it feels like a real home. I’m enjoying spending time getting to know my family.” I replied and received a few smiles from around the table. “What kind of music do you like?” This question came from Draco. I looked up from my plate and found he was staring hungrily at me. Eww, Malfoy get your eyes off me! I wish I could Imperio his ass and drop him in the pond out back, but I know I’d probably be sent to that hell hole. *cough* “Um, I like most anything, except country. The Beatles, The Weird Sisters, Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Sum 41, Blink- 182, Green Day, Sinatra, and Blaise just got me into Cauldron on Fire. So I like a mix of stuff, classics to what’s new today.” I said all of this while looking at his nose; I didn’t want to make direct eye contact again. I didn’t like the way he was leering at me. “Most of those sound like muggle bands.” This came from Lucius and he had a hint of disdain when he said muggle. I whipped my head around to glare at him. “Yeah. So?” I asked in a hard voice. He didn’t have a reply; he just picked his fork up and continued eating. I continued to glare at him. “Mi…” Blaise spoke under his breath. I turned my head back to look at my plate. “Blaise tells us you go to Hogwarts. What house are you in?” Mrs. Malfoy asked. Before I could get out a reply Lucius opened his big mouth again. “Well Slytherin of course. Everywhere else is full of blood traitors and mudbloods.” “Lucius!” My Mother and Mrs. Malfoy scolded him. Draco looked unsure of what to say or do and I saw Blaise stiffen beside me. “What the hell is your problem? Is there a war still going on that I don’t know about? Should I be out in the trenches fighting with Harry and Ron again?” I stood up from my chair and yelled at Lucius. My movement was so abrupt the chair clattered to the floor behind me. I felt Blaise’s hand on my arm and shook it off. I heard Malfoy across the table whisper “Granger?” I pulled out my wand and pointed it at him. “Shut up ferret!” As soon as I said this his face paled, if that’s even possible with his complexion. Ha, yeah now you know it was me you were torturing all those years. Stupid prick. I turned my gaze back to Lucius. He shifted in his seat clearly a little uncomfortable. “Mia, maybe you should go up to your room and cool down. Blaise please take your sister upstairs.” Mother said. “If you touch me Zabini I will use Ginny Weasley’s bat bogey hex on you.” I growled without taking my eyes off Lucius. Luckily Blaise did not try to subdue me. “Miss Zabini I meant no harm. I apologize if I offended you.” He was very calm while choosing his words. That made me even more pissed off. “Oh yeah, you apologize… ha. Do you apologize for this?” I asked as I tilted my head back and showed him the scar from when his sister-in-law cut my throat with a knife. I saw his eyes widen in realization at who I was. I heard Mrs. Malfoy gasp. “Hermione.” Mother tried talking to me in a stricter voice, but I wasn’t finished. “Do you apologize for standing there and watching as she tortured me? Huh? The 3 of you were there and watched as Bellatrix, that stupid bitch, Crucioed me over and over again. And yet, you did nothing! That night at Malfoy Manor haunts me every day. I relive it multiple times a week when I close my eyes at night. I can hear her cackling and asking me where I got that damned sword. Nothing will be able to take my nightmares away!” I was yelling at them all and felt hot tears pour down my cheeks. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Blaise was sitting back down in his chair with his head in his hands. Mother’s face was covered in streaks of mascara. The Malfoy’s sat there and took all I had to give. “Was I really that bad? I was smart wasn’t I? I could fight. But I wasn’t good enough for people like you. I had to prove myself every step of the way. I was even better at school than your son, but I still wasn’t good enough. According to you I was a mudblood. Someone that should be squashed beneath your shoes. But remember this, I won. The people that fought against that bastard and his followers won. The people that died, Dumbledore, Sirius, Fred, Remus, Tonks, they were my family and people like you took them from me. Look at me Lucius! Sure, you switched sides at the end, but what you and your family did to me and my friends, muggles, muggleborns and so called “blood traitors” in the years leading up to the final battle will never, I repeat never be forgotten.” Once I finished my speech I left the room. I heard footsteps behind me when reached the stairs. I stopped once I heard Malfoy’s voice. “Hermione…” It was soft, pleading. It was the first time he had ever said my name and it shocked me so much I felt myself crumble to the ground and burst into a new wave on hysterical tears. Before I hit the ground I was engulfed by a pair of arms and pulled into Draco Malfoy’s chest. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wrapped my arms around him and let everything drain out of me. I needed comfort, from anyone at this point and he was the first one on the scene. I felt him pick me up and pull me onto his lap while he sat down on the first stair. He held me tighter and rocked me back and forth while letting my tears soak into his shirt. Every now and then I would hear him whisper “I’m so sorry Hermione”, “Shh, it’s ok, it will all be ok.” I don’t know if I believed him. I just needed him to hold me in that moment. I continued my sobbing and heard footsteps enter the entrance hall. “Blaise would you please have Draco bring Mia up to her room?” I heard my mother ask Blaise. She sounded both angry and devastated. I felt myself being lifted into the air and clung onto Draco tighter than I already was. Hell, I’m holding onto Draco sodding Malfoy. Ya know I don’t even care right now. I feel like if I let go, one I might be dropped on the floor, and two I might lose all of the strength I have left which isn’t much. When I squeezed him tighter he whispered “Shh, it’s alright I’ve got you, I’m not going anywhere.” We eventually made it to my room and I felt Malfoy try to lay me down on the bed, I wouldn’t let go. “Mi, come on you need rest and Draco needs to leave.” Blaise tried prying my hands from the back of Malfoy’s shirt. I just gripped him tighter and buried my head in his chest while shaking my head No. My tears were basically at a standstill now. They tried a couple more times but to no avail. I’m Wonder Woman, why don’t they realize this. “Alright. I guess I’m staying then.” I heard Malfoy say and felt his short chuckle vibrate through his chest. “Fine. I want to talk to you anyway.” I have never heard Blaise so angry before. I felt Malfoy flinch at the tone of my brother’s voice. Oh boy, gotta stay awake for this one Hermione, you might get the chance to hear someone else scream at Malfoy tonight. Malfoy slid out of his shoes and slowly climbed onto my bed all the while with me hanging onto him like a koala bear. He situated some pillows behind himself and sat me on his lap again. I felt Blaise fumble while taking my shoes off. The buckles on women’s shoes are way too small for a man to maneuver; it was pretty funny watching him try to attempt this. Finally!! He then brought the covers up around me and Malfoy. “I’m guna to go tell them what’s going on. No funny business Malfoy or I’ll kill you.” I once again felt him flinch when his best friend addressed him by his last name. I heard Blaise leave the room and felt Malfoy relax against the pillows a bit and let out a sigh. He brought one hand up to my head and started to comb his fingers through my hair. It was a soothing gesture and felt really nice, but I did not want to fall asleep before he got his verbal assault from my brother. Oh man, the sun on my face, not comfortable, eyelids look orange... Damn forgot to close those curtains last night didn’t I? What is that around my waist? Hmm, squishy. My eyes flew open as the sudden realization that I slept wrapped around Draco Malfoy last night hit me. Oh shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!! What do I do?!! I’m cuddled up to an ex-Death Eater! Ok, calm down. All that’s around you right now is his arm. You must have shifted during the night and now he’s, eww spooning you. Where the hell is Blaise when I need him? Ok, try to gently move his arm so you don’t wake him up. Ok slowly, almost there... “Oomph!” Well, that didn’t work, now I can barely breathe because he’s squishing the air out of my lungs. His left leg was slung over my hip, his face was resting in the crook of my neck and his hot breath was giving me goose bumps. If this wasn’t the ferret then I would probably be enjoying be held like this, but unfortunately it is him and I need to find a way to escape. Trying to wiggle, trying to pry his arms apart, shifting every which way. Ugh, no use. Oh lovely, something new to worry about behind me, maybe I shouldn’t have tried wiggling out of this. Oh bloody hell, now he’s snuggling his face closer into my neck? I gota do something. “Malfoy?” I whispered hoping to Merlin he would hear me. There’s not much more I can take of his little problem he’s got pressed up against my backside. “Malfoy?” A little louder this time. I got an “Uhhg” in response. “Malfoy?” Loud enough to the point where he jerked his head up, but still held me in the same position. I turned my head to the side to look at him. “Morning” I said with a little laugh in my voice. If I didn’t know who this boy was then he would definitely be on my list of top 10 guys who look sexy when they wake up. But like I’ve said before, this is the stupid blonde Slytherin. He looked down at me in puzzlement and then his face registered a tad of shock, then humility. “Um, morning.” He said. “Um…. Can I get up now?” I still had to hide the laughter in my voice because he just stared at me and slowly relinquished his hold on my body. First he unhooked his leg from my hip then brought his left arm off of my waist. I stood up and looked back at him with my hands on my hips. He looked at me sheepishly and mumbled a “Sorry.” I’m guna have fun with this boy. I slowly let my eyes rake over his body and brought them back up to look into his questioning eyes. Amazed that I was checking you out? You’re fully clothed, what’s there to check out? “I know you liked sleeping with me Malfoy, but don’t you think you got a tad too excited?” I purred at him while I let my eyes drift back down towards the front of his pants. He followed my eyes and looked up, eyes as wide as saucers. I smirked and winked at him before turning toward my en suite. I turned my head back just in time to see him look defeated and fall face first into a pillow. Once I got into my bathroom I cast a Muffliato and let out a series of laughs. Oh my Merlin that was hilarious. Ok, brush the teeth, wash the face. Not really up for a shower yet. Just want some food since I didn’t really get to eat much last night. Ugh, last night! I totally missed the fight between my brother and Draco! Damn it I miss all the fun. Well, at least I got to embarrass the shit out of him this morning. I need to get out of this dress. I unzipped the back and slid it off. I pulled on a pair of football shorts and a tank top with a built in bra. Yes, I used to play football when I was younger, up until I got my Hogwarts letter. (A/N football in England means soccer in the US) Pull my hair into a ponytail and voila! I’m ready to get me some breakfast. I came bouncing out of the bathroom and noticed Draco was now asleep on his back. Hmm, could I possibly have fun with him twice within a matter of 20 minutes? I tiptoed back into the bathroom and grabbed the new black eyeliner Mother bought me when we went shopping. Quietly I made my way back to the bed and noticed Blaise lounged across one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. Ouch, that can’t be comfortable. Ok Draco, hold up, why am I all of a sudden calling him Draco? ‘Maybe because you embarrassed the poor guy when he did something really sweet for you last night?’ Nah, that’s not it. Oh well lets get on with this. Draco Malfoy lets turn you into Salvador Dali. He was crazy and so are you. Before I made the first mark I actually looked at the blonde boy in my bed. Perfectly chiseled features, full pink lips, soft blonde hair that is longer than I remember and falling across his eye and dark eyelashes which is strange cuz he’s basically an albino. Ok enough of the examining. Yes, he’s hot. I think we all already knew that. OK, one line like this and another like this and DA DA DA DAAAA! Hear ye hear ye, people of the court I present to you Salvador Dali!!!! I put a sealant charm on his new mustache so it wouldn’t wash off with just soap and water. What now. Aha. I tiptoed over to Blaise and covered his mouth with my hand before I shook his shoulder to wake him up. He opened his eyes and startled a bit when he realized someone was standing over him and cutting off his air supply. Isn’t that a band? ‘I’m all outa love, I’m so lost without you...’ ok enough singing stupid head. Finally he focused on my face and his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. I brought a finger to my lips and motioned for him to follow me. He got up and followed me to the edge of the bed. I whispered to him…” On three ok?” He nodded and smiled at his best friends sleeping form. “One… two… THREE!” We then jumped on the bed and kept jumping around Draco screaming his name and telling him to wake up. He sat up and screamed like a little girl before he realized what was going on. Blaise and I were laughing so hard we fell on the bed clutching our sides. “Zabinis!!” Draco yelled. He then decided to take both acts of injustice from this morning out on me. Little did he know he had a lovely mustache that I would probably pay terribly for later. “Ahh, ahh Blaise! Help! Stop him please; I’m guna pee in my pants!” Draco would not relent; he just tickled me until I had tears running down my face. “Ok ok, I think she’s suffered enough Malfoy.” Blaise told him. Hmm, interesting when did the name calling reverse? I now thought of him as Draco and Blaise called him Malfoy. I wonder what happened last night after I fell asleep. Draco finally released me and fell back against the headboard. I lied next to him and rolled onto my side, squishing my face into one of my black fluffy pillows. *GROWL* My eyes said sleep, but my stomach said FOOD. “Heh, someone’s hungry.” Draco said. “Oh how astute you are.” I countered with a laugh looking back towards him. He frowned at me. Guess he doesn’t like the new sarcastic bitchy side of Hermione Granger. Oh well. “Come on Malfoy, I’ll get you something more comfortable to wear.” Blaise ushered Draco out of my room and I tried to get some more shut eye before the boys were ready to go downstairs. When I was almost in the land of the unconscious I heard a loud growl. “GRANGER!” Uh oh, he found the mustache. I grabbed my wand off my bedside table and ran to my door. I poked my head out in time to see Blaise’s door open and took off running down the hallway at full speed. “You better run! What did you put this on with it? It won’t come off!” Draco was yelling as he was chasing after me. I looked behind me and figured I only had one option if I was going to get out of this. Pointing my wand behind me I murmured… “Petrificus totalus!” THUD “Yes!” I kept running and heard Blaise laugh and shout behind me. “Good work Sis!” I rounded the corner and ran down the stairs. Mother was already in the dining room when I took my seat. “Good morning Mia. How are you feeling?” She was looking at me with worried and sad eyes. “I’m better this morning. We can talk about it later though. I don’t feel like reliving it right now, I just want food.” I told her and smiled on the last word. She nodded and reached over to give my hand a little squeeze. Just as I was pouring some milk into my cereal Blaise and Draco entered the room. “Good morning boys.” Mother addressed the Slytherins. One happy and one pretty cranky. A mumbled “morning” was all she got out of them. Draco sat across from me again, this time on my mother’s left and Blaise next to him. I looked up from my cereal to Blaise who had a smirk on his face and was reaching for the plate of eggs. I let my eyes wander over to Draco who was looking straight at me, not with hate or malice in his eyes. He looked… intrigued? “Well, Draco that’s quite a new look you’re sporting today. Should I even bother to ask?” Mother questioned Draco. I let out a very unladylike snort of laughter and had to bring my hand up to my mouth to keep the rest in. “No, ma’am.” He replied. “So, Blaise what are you doing today?” I had to steer the conversation in a different direction or else I was going to lose it. “I don’t know. Maybe play some quidditch or go somewhere.” Blaise replied before taking a mouthful of eggs. “Mum, what about you?” I looked over to my mother who was eating a grapefruit and reading The Daily Prophet. “Well. I- I actually have a lunch date with Narcissa. There are some things I would like to speak with her about.” Mum looked scared? Maybe she was worried I would be upset for her still being friends with the Malfoy’s. I could feel the other 2 sets of eyes on me as well. I turned my head to look at them and yes they were both staring at me, forks halfway to their mouths. I guess I did kind of make a scene last night huh? I turned back to face mum. “Mum, look. I’m sorry about last night. It was out of line, I should have controlled my emotions better, but I wasn’t expecting them to just show up in my life again with no warning.” I said the last part looking at Blaise who just looked down at his plate. “And, I hadn’t talked to anyone about what happened that night at Malfoy Manor since. That is, until last night. I just couldn’t take that last mudblood comment that came out of that arrogant jerks mouth.” Oops, I’m mouthed a “sorry” to Draco who gave me a small smile. “It was rough for all of us. I never even talk about it with Harry or Ron. The memories cut too deep. I don’t hate Mrs. Malfoy. Hell, without her Harry never would have gotten the chance to defeat Voldemort.” All three of them winced at the mention of his name. Oh for Merlin’s sake people grow a pair, he’s DEAD! “And Draco…” His head shot up and looked at me in wonderment. I guess that was the first time I had ever said his name. “I guess I don’t hate you either. What you did for me last night… thank you. And what you did for us at the Manor, thank you for that as well.” He smiled in response and my brother and mother gave me questioning looks. “You could have told them it was us. You knew it was Harry, you knew it was me, and you knew it was Ron, but you told them you weren’t sure. That took a lot of courage Draco. Harry and Ron are grateful for that too. If not for you and your mother, we would be dead. It’s just hard to remember that some times.” The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence and then I was walking up the stairs and towards my room. “Hermione wait up!” I turned around to see Draco jogging down the hallway. I stopped in front of my door. I gave him a look that said “Well?” He stopped in front of me and stared down at the carpet. “You know you can call me Mia right?” I asked him. He looked up and into my eyes. “Alright, look… I- I know it doesn’t make the past any easier to forget or heal, but… I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. I was a complete ass and I was trying to be someone I’m truly not. I wanted to be my father when I was a boy. I don’t want to be the man he is.” I smiled a little and shook my head. “You’re not Draco. If you were, then you would have summoned Voldemort yourself at the first sight of us that night. It’s just taking an old foe a while to grasp onto the concept that you’re not all that bad.” I took out my wand and waved it at his face. “There, no more mustache.” Draco took a step closer to me and brought his left hand up to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear. My eyes followed the movement and caught sight of the faded dark mark etched into his skin. I froze in realization of who this really was standing in front of me. He followed my eyes and quickly dropped his hand. He started to back away from me, but I reached out to him. “Draco… I- oh Merlin. I’m sorry. It’s just… it was only about 3 months ago. I’m still recovering and learning that people are changing. Hell, I’m a totally different person, ya know?” He nodded in understanding, a small frown etched on his face. He took a couple steps back to me and looked into my eyes. I could see pain and anguish drifting across his features but something else. Longing? “They’re just like in my dream…” I breathlessly whispered to myself. I was completely captivated by his beautiful eyes. “What?” He whispered “Nothing.” He cupped my cheek and slowly caressed it with his thumb. I got that same electric jolt I felt in my dream, what’s going on… I could feel my breathing start to get shallow and saw his eyes flicker from mine to my lips. He hesitantly brought his face closer to mine and looked back into my eyes. I felt the lightest of touches on my lips, it was like a feather and my eyes involuntarily closed. He brought his mouth back to mine with more pressure; his lips were so soft and delicious. I could taste sweetness from the syrup at breakfast. He slowly pulled away after a few minutes and my eyes fluttered open. His hand traveled to the back of my head and tore the hair band from my hair, and then his fingers wove into the hair at the nape of my neck. His left hand found the small of my back and he pulled me closer to his body. A low growl emanated from the back of his throat as I ran my hands up his chest and into his hair. I smirked at this and claimed his mouth with mine, pulling his head closer. I ran my tongue along his bottom lip asking for entrance and heard his breathing falter then start again. As soon as his lips parted I plunged my tongue into his mouth. I moaned and pushed my body harder into his. I could feel our hearts beating quickly together as I tangled my tongue with his. Suddenly my back was flush against my bedroom door while our mouths were fighting for dominance. He eventually left my mouth, both of us gasping for air and moved to my neck. He nipped at my skin then ran his tongue along the areas where he bit me. I tilted my head to the side to give him better access. I heard a sharp intake of breath when I pressed my lower body into his. “Merlin woman you’re trying to kill me.” He breathed onto my neck. I smiled and brought his head back up to mine. I playfully bit his bottom lip and he hungrily stole my breath away. His tongue was the one to claim mine this time as he gripped the back of my thighs to lift me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around him and moved my mouth to his neck to bite down between his neck and shoulder. I heard him moan in response and push me even father into the door. Lightly I ran my tongue up to his ear and sucked on his earlobe. “Hermione…..” I heard him sigh. “Oi!” Draco dropped my legs and moved away from me as quickly as he could. I turned to look down the hallway and saw Blaise coming towards up fuming. “Blaise mate just calm down…” Draco tried to reason with him in a shaky voice. 30 Minutes Later Poor Draco, well I guess I shouldn’t have been snogging him in the first place, but damn he’s a good kisser. And now he is unconscious on my bed. Ok, cool compress on his forehead, fluff the pillows. Not much to do until he wakes up I guess. I guess I could use rennervate, but a sleeping Draco is sometimes nicer than a conscious one. I situated myself on the bed next to him and started to read Hogwarts: A History when he began to stir. Putting the book aside I took off the washcloth and ran my hand over his forehead and through his hair. He started to blink his eyes open. “Hermione?” He asked in a quiet voice. “Yes, it’s me Draco.” I whispered back, still running my hand through his pale blonde hair. “What happened?” I pulled my hand away before I answered. “Um, well… we were snogging see, and Blaise caught us. You tried to talk to him, but he punched you. And you’ve been out since.” I bit my lip and gave him a sad smile. “Ahh, that’s why half my face feels like it exploded.” Draco groaned in pain and closed his eyes again. “Yeah. I have some pain potions that will help with the swelling and “exploding feeling” going on. I’m so sorry Draco, I never should have acted that way and if I hadn’t then you wouldn’t have gotten knocked out.” My words came out in a rush. His eyes opened in a snap and he slowly sat up. “Are you saying you regret it?” He asked me in a disbelieving tone. “I- I don’t know. I guess so, I mean you’re Draco Malfoy, I’m Hermione Granger. We can’t just go around snogging you know? And besides you’re my brother best friend.” I tried to laugh a little, but stopped when I saw the confused and hurt look on his face. I tried to reach out for him but he pulled away and got off the bed. “So you’re saying you just go around kissing guys like that and feel nothing? I don’t believe you…” He glared at me. Oh boy… “Draco I” I tried but he didn’t let me finish. “Who cares about who I am or who you are? You said it yourself last night, the war is over! Wake up Granger; no one cares about who’s who or blood status anymore!” His voice was rising with even sentence and I flinched when he used my last name. I crawled to the edge of the bed and tried to reach for him again. “Draco...” he pulled away before I could reach him and started pacing and running his hand through his hair. “I mean, yes it was one kiss but...” he stopped pacing and turned to look at me. “Damn it Hermione, I’ve never felt the way I did when I was kissing you. I don’t know what it was but it was amazing and I don’t want to give that up because of who I used to be. Can you honestly tell me you didn’t feel anything when you kissed me?” He looked at me with pleading eyes. “I-I can’t. I felt it too….” I looked down at the bed. He came closer and lifted my chin up so he could look me in the eyes. “Then what’s stopping you? If we both felt that spark then what the bloody hell are you so scared of? It was right Hermione.” He looked so hopeful. But this is Draco Malfoy we’re talking about. Yes maybe I felt something for him, but it’s not like I love him or even really like him yet. Last night he was my enemy. What’s that quote from the Bible? Love thy enemy or something like that? Ugh, this is too difficult to figure out right now, I need Ginny. I looked back down at his scarred left forearm and shuddered. He pulled away when he noticed me staring again. “Draco, I need some time. I need to figure out how I feel and if I would be ok with this. I mean, for Merlin’s sake just last night we hated each other. And with you being who you are…were, and with your father and…” He began pacing again. Not a good sign. “Right, so that’s what it comes down to. My father. My past… this.” He held out his arm and pointed at the mark. “My family is always getting in the way. Always holding me back. I’m never going to get out from under the Malfoy name am I? I’m always going to be Draco Lucius Malfoy. Ex-Death Eater from a family of cowards. Prince of Slytherin, asshole extraordinaire, torturer of all beings not pureblood. Ahhh! Why can’t I for once just have my own life without all of the stereotypes and ties to my god damn past!!!???” “Draco please…” I had gotten off the bed and walked towards him. “No, I get it. The brains of the Golden Trio doesn’t want to be seen with an ex- Death Eater. It’s fine Granger. Don’t worry about me. I’m just a foul evil loathsome little cockroach anyway right?” He walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a hand of floo powder and yelled Malfoy Manor. I ran toward him begging him to stop. Before I could reach him he threw the powder down and was gone. I sunk to the floor and let the tears pour down. “What the bloody hell just happened…” A/N: 'I'm All Out of Love' is a song by the band Air Supply. “AHH! STUPID AROGANT SELF CENTERED PRICK!!!” How dare that stupid jerk pin this all on me! Who the hell does he think he is? I had wasted no more than 5 minutes crying to myself on the floor after Malfoy disappeared. Yes, he is back to Malfoy. Now I was throwing things around my room in a fit of rage. Vases, pictures, chairs, ya know the usual. “HOW DARE HE! DIDN’T EVEN GIVE ME A BLOODY CHANCE TO REALLY EXPLAIN! DIDN’T EVEN THINK FOR A SECOND WHAT A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US WOULD ENTAIL!! AHHHH!” I threw my desk chair at my door and watched as it splintered and broke up before it hit the floor. I fell to the floor trying to calm myself. “Does he not understand what I went through with him and his family for the past 7 years of my life? He was there when I blew up at them; he was there when I was tortured! Does he not get it?” I felt someone’s arms engulf me from behind and hold me tight against their chest. I leaned back into Blaise and felt tears sting the back of my eyes. “It’s always only going to be about him isn’t it? If Malfoy’s not happy than no one is, right? AHH!” I tried to struggle free to go break something else, but Blaise just held me tighter with my arms to my sides. “What did he do?” Blaise’s voice was hard. “Ginny, I need Ginny, now.” I voiced strongly. “Mi, maybe you should calm down a bit first and tell me what happened. Where’s Draco?” Blaise asked still not letting me go. “Oh, so it’s ‘Draco’ again now is it? What happened to Malfoy? You punched him for Merlin’s sake, less than an hour ago, and you’re already back to ‘Draco’?” Whose side is he on? He’s MY brother; he’s supposed to be on my side by default! He finally loosened his hold on me, probably getting ready to run if I turned on him and started chucking vases around the room again. “Well, he was snogging my sister! What was I supposed to do!? And yeah it’s ‘Draco’, he’s not a bad guy Mia. I just got a shock from seeing you kiss him when we both laid into him last night. He messed up in the past yes, but I guess everyone deserves a second chance right?” Blaise is trying to reason with me about this? Can’t blame him, he doesn’t even know what just happened between Draco and I. “I need to see Ginny.” I told him again, this time in a calm whisper. Blaise wouldn’t understand what happened; I needed someone who hated Malfoy as much as I did… do. And a girl to sympathize with me. He finally let me go and I headed out my door and to the owlery. What is wrong with that boy?? He’s a Malfoy, I’m Granger, does he not see how that might be a slight problem? Well, technically I’m a pureblood Zabini, but I’m still Hermione Granger, 1/3rd of the Golden Trio, major player in the downfall of Voldemort, know-it-all bookworm… mudblood. And he.. “UGH!” He is still that same bossy, spoiled, ‘I always get what I want’, annoying ferret! I finally made my way to the owlery and sat at the desk to start my letter to Ginny. How do I go about this? ‘Hey Gin, I know I’ve kind of been MIA for the past few weeks or so. Ha which is funny because my new name is Mia, get it MIA.. Mia.’ No. Crumple that paper and “Incendio”. Hmm… ‘Dear Ginny, I miss you and need girl time ASAP. I have a lot to tell you, mostly big news. Don’t tell your family or Harry yet please, I need to see you first. Please floo over to Zabini Manor as soon as you can. Yes, I said Zabini Manor. No, I am NOT in trouble and I don’t need a team of Aurors to come rescue me, I promise Gin. When you floo call out, “Hermione Zabini’s Room”. Hermione Granger P.S. I was adopted, I am a pureblood Zabini, I have a twin brother = Blaise, I have had a glamour charm placed on me my whole life until recently, oh and I kissed Draco Malfoy. Hope to see you soon!’ Yeah, that’s good. Short and straight to the point. I called my owl down and I tied the letter to his leg. I stroked his feathers while giving him my directions. “Please take this letter to Ginny Weasley, and only Ginny Weasley. If anyone tries to take it from you other than her I give you permission to bite them. You don’t have to wait for a reply. Off you go.” I watched as he left the grounds and turned to run back to my room. I knew as soon as Ginny read the letter she would be flooing over in an instant. While running to my room I almost smacked into Blaise in the hallway. “Mia what-“ “No time to explain… Talk to you later!” I yelled behind me. I stepped inside my room just in time to see Ginny arrive in a flash of green flames. “GINNY!” I ran to her and pulled her into a hug. “Can’t breathe.” I heard her gasp out. I let her go and suddenly had a wand pointed at my throat. “Alright, where’s Hermione?” She asked while moving forward with every step I took backwards. “Gin, it’s me. You read my letter; all of the stuff in it was true. I woke up in my house, went to the bathroom and looked like this. I then proceeded to scream and my parents explained everything to me.” She slowly lowered her wand, but still kept it pointed at me and took a step back. “Alright… prove it.” She said fixing me with a glare. Ok, how was I going to prove this… prove it, prove it, AHA! “You kissed Neville after the Yule Ball.” I smiled at her when her face flushed. “Yeah, but anyone could find that out. Not good enough.” Ginny still had her wand pointed at my chest. Ok… next, what to do next? Oh boy…the same way I showed the Malfoy’s last night. “You remember how I… err Hermione had a scar on her neck from the war?” She nodded so I continued. “Well, here it is.” I said tilting my head back to show her the puckered line of skin on my neck. She lowered her wand to her side but still kept a firm grip on it. “How did she… you get it?” She questioned me. Damn it Weasley, I don’t like to talk about this shit! I guess I have to explain now though if I’m going to get her to believe me. “Um.. Well, it was the night Harry, Ron and I were brought to Malfoy Manor.” I turned around and walked to my bed. I sat down and looked up at her. “The boys were brought to the dungeons while Bellatrix kept me for questioning. Only she didn’t really question me so much as Crucio me when I didn’t give her the answers she wanted.” Ginny had backed up to the seats around the fireplace and turned one around to face me, then sat in it. “The boys escaped the dungeons with help from Dobby and were fighting the Malfoy’s, but Bellatrix pulled me up off the ground and put a knife to my throat. The boys dropped their wands when she started to cut me. We eventually escaped.” I finished in a monotone. “What happened to Dobby? Harry won’t talk about it. Ron doesn’t say much about him either, he told me about everything else, but for Harry’s sake he left Dobby out.” Ginny looked defeated and had tears running down her cheeks. “Bellatrix threw the knife when Harry and Dobby were apparating out of there. It hit Dobby. Harry buried him at Shell Cottage.” I watched as she stood up and walked over to me. She sat next to me and suddenly her arms were gripped me tightly. “I’m sorry Mione.” She whispered to me. I returned her hug. After we broke apart she looked at me with appraising eyes. “Well, I can’t say you don’t look good, cuz you’re gorgeous, but then again you always were. It’s just, wow, purple eyes… seriously?” I laughed at her. “Um one question. What’s up with your room, it looks like a bomb went off in here.” She laughed as I grimaced and looked around. “Thanks… and yeah believe me I know. I couldn’t even look at them for probably a good 24 hours at first. Also, this is the destruction I caused after my “fight” with Malfoy.” I waved my wand around the room and everything was back to normal. She nodded in understanding and then started squishing up my face and stretching it out with her hands. “Gin… Gin… GIN!” “Whoops, sorry. It’s just so weird. No offense to the new you, but I’m going to miss the old Hermione a bit.” Ginny told me after she gave me my face back. “I know, I miss her every day, but I am not going to let that stop me from being me. I’m still the same person inside.” I told her brightening up a little. “Now wipe those tears and let’s get down to my other business.” She chuckled a bit and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “You know, Harry and Ron are guna freak when they find out.” “Ugh… I know. I was hoping you could sort of be a buffer.” I hid my face in my hands. “Well… I guess, but it’s still going to take a lot of time for them to get over the fact that your biological family is A. friends with the Malfoy’s and B. that your twin brother is a Slytherin and the ferrets best friend.” “Shit… I know. Why me? Why did this have to happen?” I fell back on the bed whining to myself. Bloody universe has got some vendetta against me! Ginny fell onto her back as well and we stared at the ceiling the same way Blaise and I did the first night I arrived here. “Well, a lot of shit happens that we don’t want to. This past year being a prime example, but we got through it. And I know that you’ll get through this. You’re Hermione Jean Granger for Merlin’s sake, you can do anything!” Thank goodness for Ginny Weasley, always knows the right thing to say. I smiled at her. “Ok, now tell me everything from the beginning. Details please, and don’t leave out one thing about what happened with Malfoy!” Ginny looked delighted when she was talking about Malfoy. What is wrong with the world! “Ginerva Molly Weasley! That is MALFOY you seem excited about. I kissed MALFOY. Shouldn’t you be scolding me or something?” I couldn’t believe she was so calm. “Yes, thank you Hermione I know who he is. But come on, the war is over and even you have to admit, he was one of the sexiest guys to grace the halls of Hogwarts. Just tell me what happened!” I huffed a little and delved into the story of my transformation and snogfest with Draco Malfoy. Ginny was taking it surprisingly well. What’s wrong with her? She always got all riled up when her brothers or Harry did something wrong. Hmm, maybe that energy is saved for the male population. By the time I finished telling her about my fight with Malfoy I was walking around the room pulling at my hair. “And then he just left Gin! Just like that. Just like the stupid jerk he always was. What was I thinking Ginny?! Malfoy’s don’t change, they will always be pompous ‘look at me I’m so much better than you’ jerks!” I flopped onto the bed and buried my head in my comforter waiting for her to say something. I felt her stroking my hair and let out a sigh. “Well, Mione, I kind of agree with Malfoy.” My head shot up knocking her hand away and I propped myself up on my elbows to gape at her. “What!?” I half screamed. Hmm…I think someone needs their head examined and her name is Ginny Weasley. “He has a point. The war is over. Yes ok his father may never going to change, but what Malfoy did for you last night, who knew he had a heart. What he said before he left, it sounds like you seriously wounded his pride, not to mention basically told him he would never be good enough to be with you. Maybe if you gave him a chance you could have seen if he had grown up from the boy you met first instead of throwing his offer back in his face.” Ginny went back to stroking my hair because I had buried my head in my hands when she said I told him he would never be good enough for me. “What did I do Gin….” I murmured in a pained voice. Did I really even like Malfoy? Maybe, I don’t know. He was the best kisser I have ever locked lips with. I know I felt the jolt of electricity when he held me and kissed me, but its Malfoy right? What good can come from being with a Malfoy? Past experiences… nothing. “You thought with your head instead of your heart like always Mione. You’re too logical. Sometimes you just need to say ‘to hell with the world I’m doing things my way’ and just go for it.” I lifted me head again and turned around to sit on the edge of the bed. “But it’s Malfoy… and what will Harry say? Oh Merlin what will Ron say!?” I was freaking out now. I haven’t even told them that I’m a Zabini and now I am contemplating telling them I might like Malfoy… uh welcome to my funeral everyone. “Who cares what Ron says? You guys broke up like 2 weeks after the war. Besides he’s got Lav-Lav now anyway. And Harry, he’ll come around. He hasn’t been by the Borrow lately, he’s still fixing up Grimauld Place and I think he’s seeing someone. They’re also starting their training to be Aurors soon so maybe they won’t even have time to worry about you and Malfoy. Hey, since when do you like purple and black, and what are those posters on your walls?” Ginny scrunched up her face. I laughed, “Oh well after the war I sort of got into a bit of different music and things. So the boys really aren’t going back to retake 7th year huh? I guess I always knew they would trade homework for a real job any day, but it’s going to suck being there without them.” “Yeah I know, but we’ll still have each other. Thankfully I don’t have to retake last year since classes continued until the battle.” Ginny said while still assessing my room. I heard footsteps and looked to my door. Blaise was walking towards the bed while looking at the snitch he was playing with in his hands. “Hey Mi, do you know where my black and silver Weird Sisters shirt is? I can’t find it anywh…” Blaise looked up and seeing I wasn’t alone cut him self off and stopped about halfway into my room. “Um, Blaise, I think you know Ginny Weasley. Ginny, Blaise. Blaise, Ginny.” I looked between the two as they stared at each other. Blaise looked uncomfortable; I love it when he squirms haha. Ginny looked uneasy, see Gin I told ya, it’s not easy to be nice to a Slytherin right off the bat! Blaise stepped the rest of the way to my bed and held out his hand for Ginny to shake. “Weasley.” Blaise nodded as Ginny reached out for his hand. “Zabini.” Ginny said as she stared him in the eye. What is up with these two? Alright, that’s enough shaking hands. Come on people not you too. Ok, 10, 9 , 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! “Ok then!” I shouted. They let their hands drop and Ginny looked over to the fireplace. Blaise took a few steps back and looked at me. “Blaise I have no idea where your shirt is. Anything else?” Actually I know exactly where you’re shirt is, it left on Malfoy. “Um, no.” He said and turned to walk out of my room. He popped his head back in for a second to let me know mum said dinner was ready. “Damn is it really that late already?” I looked at my clock, and sure enough 6:30. “Come on Gin, you can stay here for dinner and hang out. Uh… Ginny hello?” I waved my hand in front of her face. She finally turned back to look at me. “What?” She asked faking innocence. “You think my brother’s hot don’t you?” “Well, yeah. He was the second hottest Slytherin at school. Behind Malfoy of course. And there’s just something sexy about men in eyeliner.” She giggled. Ginny giggled, oh boy what has the world come too. “Yeah, I know what you mean. The music isn’t the only reason I like Green Day. Well, let’s go I’m starving!” I tried pulling Ginny from the room. “Um, are you sure it will be ok, I mean your “mother” doesn’t even know I’m here. I don’t want to intrude. And before you go out there shouldn’t you change?” Ginny questioned me looking at my shorts and tank top that was showing a little too much cleavage. I looked down at myself and laughed. “Ahh… yeah I guess this is a tad inappropriate for dinner. Wait here I’ll be back in a sec. And you’re my best friend; of course it’s ok if you’re here for dinner. I’m sure Mother would love to meet one of my friends.” I ran into my closet and changed into a summery dress. “Ok, come on let’s go!” I dragged Ginny out of my room and down the stairs. A lot of “wow”s and “Merlin”s came from her as I pulled her through the manor. We finally arrived to the dining room and entered to see Blaise sitting on mum’s left side. His eyebrows rose when he took in the sight of me and Ginny. “Um, mum. Would it be alright if my friend joined us for dinner?” I asked, already knowing the answer would be yes. Just gota be polite right? Mother turned in her seat to face the two of us at the door. “Of course sweetheart! Please, please have a seat my dear.” Mum ushered Ginny into the seat on her right and I sat next to my friend. “Thank you Mrs. Zabini. I must say your home is beautiful.” Oh Ginny, sucking up to your crushes mother already? Good girl. “Thank you dear. Please call me Violet. And what is your name?” “I’m Ginny Weasley.” “Oh! Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you dear. And I must say you are very beautiful. Isn’t she beautiful Blaise?” Mother was now gushing over Ginny and trying to set her up with my brother. It was hilarious to watch Blaise become horrified in an instant. He choked a bit on his food and washed it down with some pumpkin juice. “Um… yes. Yes, Mother. She is very beautiful.” Ata boy Blaise. I smiled and nudged Ginny. She shot me a glare then turned her attention back to mum. “Thank you Mrs… Violet. I appreciate that.” Ginny’s face was almost as red as her hair but she managed to recover from embarrassment. We continued to eat with the occasional questions about the past and our adventures. Blaise became uncomfortable when talking about the past, mum obviously didn’t know about our track record. After dinner Ginny and I excused ourselves and went back to my room for a little girl talk. I made fun of her for liking Blaise and she talked about Malfoy and how I should give him a chance. I shut up after she brought that up. “What is that?” Ginny asked after we heard some loud music from down the hall. “Oh, that’s just Blaise. He is usually playing guitar or drums in his spare time. Or like now, he blasts his music. I think he thinks it makes him look cool.” I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go see what he’s doing.” Ginny said as she headed for the door. I followed and said “you just wana check out my brother.” She turned to glare at me then uttered a “so?” under her breath. I just shook my head and smiled. We made it to Blaise’s door, music getting louder with each step we took. “Alohamora” I pointed my wand at the door. We slowly looked inside and saw Blaise standing in just a pair of black jeans with a studded belt over by the mirror near his dresser. “Wow, your brother is... wow!” Ginny whispered to me over the blaring music. She was basically drooling. “Eww, Gin that’s my brother!” That's so gross! It looked like he was rimming his eyes with eyeliner and his hair was wet and dripping down his back. My guess was he just got out of the shower and was planning on going somewhere. “Let’s go in and see how oblivious he is.” I said to her. She nodded and we slowly walked across the room hoping to get to the bed. No such luck. “Busted.” I said as Blaise noticed us in the mirror and spun around. He took out his wand and turned the music down. “Um, hi? What are you two doing in here?” Blaise asked us and I could see Ginny salivating at the sight of my brothers toned chest and abs. I nudged her a little and her eyes shot back up to Blaise’s. “Well, we heard a racket and decided to check it out.” Ginny smiled shyly at him. “Ahh.” Blaise breathed and turned back towards the mirror to finish his eyeliner. I went and jumped on his bed and Ginny sat down next to me still staring at Blaise’s back. I gave her a ‘stop it you’re creeping me out’ look but she just ignored me. “So bro, where you going?” Blaise paused at my question and then went back to smudging his liner. “Who says I’m going anywhere?” Ha, you really think I’m that thick? Go ahead and play your game but it won’t work on me. “Well, you just took a shower, got dressed in jeans and a belt and are applying a fresh coat of liner… and it’s a Friday night. That means you are getting ready to go somewhere.” I said with a smirk. “Alright fine. What’s it to you?” He asked grumpily as he walked over to his wardrobe and picked out a black short sleeve button up. “Take us with you.” I told him. “What? No way!” Blaise rounded on me and yelled as he finished buttoning up his shirt. “Fine, then I’ll tell mum that you’re sneaking out.” I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. Yup, I’m a bitch. Deal with it. He glared right back, but finally hung his head and said “Fine, go get ready. We leave in 30 minutes.” “Yes! Ginny come on!” I grabbed Ginny’s arm and started to run towards the door. I stopped short. Ginny ran into my back with an “Oomph!” I turned around to look at Blaise. “Blaise, what should we wear and where are we going anyway?” I questioned him. “It’s a club.” He replied. “What kind of club?” Ginny asked him with a roll of her eyes. Men. We have to know what style of clothes is acceptable hello. “Well, it’s sort of a punk/Goth club. Just wear black or dark colors.” He slowly told us and we cocked our heads to the side. “Do you want help picking something out?” “Yes!” I yelled and grabbed his arm. I pulled the two of them out of his room, down the hall and into my room. We walked into my closet and Blaise started riffling through all my clothes. “I’m guna contact my mum through the floo and just let her know I’m staying at the ‘Granger’s’ for the night, well that is if you don’t mind.” Ginny said walking out of my closet. “Yeah! Woo girl’s night! And Blaise, who you think is hot!” I yelled to her being a smart ass. Yes, score. Making two people uncomfortable now. Blaise looked over to me and smirked. “Yeah yeah go ahead feel good about yourself.” I told him and he just laughed and went back to pulling out clothes. “I hate you!” I heard Ginny yell back to me. “Nah, you love me and you know it!” I was having fun. When Ginny came back into the closet everything was quiet. The two of them wouldn’t even look at each other. Blaise handed us the outfits he picked out and left us to change. He picked out a pair of purple skinny jeans, a fitted black tank top with lace overlay and black low top Converse for Ginny. And for me a black dress I had gotten on my outing with my moms. It had a corset top that hooked in the front and tied up the back. It flared out a tad once it hit my waist and stopped mid thigh. There were thin silver stripes running vertically making the dress look pinstripe. He paired it with my pair of red Chucks. We walked out of the closet to see Blaise waiting on my bed. “Why does she get to wear pants and I’m stuck in a dress?” I glared at him with my hands on my hips. He didn’t pay me any mind as he stared at Ginny. “Ugh, whatever. So what now?” “Um... well I suggest eyeliner. And now that I’m looking at that dress, go change. What was mum thinking when she let you buy that?” He asked in a stern voice. “No way. Now you pay attention and tell me to change? Ha, yeah ok. And mum was the one to pick it out, so there.” I stuck my tongue out at him as I skipped over to my vanity. “Very mature.” Blaise smirked at me. I smiled widely. “Ginny come here, let’s get our eyeliner on.” Ginny and I lined our eyes in eyeliner and mascara and glossed our lips. “Ok bro, I think we are ready.” “Ok. Mi, you better behave. Looking like that I’m sure some guys will be a problem tonight, so girls stick close to me ok? I don’t need another repeat of this morning.” Blaise told us as we were getting ready to leave the bedroom. “Ok ok. And don’t worry; I’m sure Ginny will stay close to you no matter what.” I ran into the hallway. I knew I was in trouble with Gin. “Mia, be quiet, we’re sneaking out remember? Ok follow me and try not to make a sound.” We followed Blaise down the stairs and out the back door. “I feel like I’m in ‘Mission Impossible.’ Duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh, duna na, duna na, duna na, duna.” I was hiding behind the fountain and anything I could find pretending to be a secret agent. Ginny and Blaise looked at me like I needed help but just kept walking. “Blaise, where are we going?” Ginny asked him. We were walking past the pond in the back yard and towards the woods. “We need to get out of the apparition wards surrounding the grounds. Shit, you guys don’t know where we’re going. Ok, um well. I can side along apparate one of you and then come back to get the other. I don’t want to take any chances of splinching tonight. I’m meeting friends there so I can take Mi first and leave her with them then come back for you Ginny. That ok? It will only take like 5 minutes.” Blaise wracked his brain to come up with a solution. “Um yeah. You ok with that Mione?” Ginny asked as we reached the woods. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m sure I can handle a few of your friends Blaise. As long as they’re not more Slytherins. No offence.” I turned to give him an apologetic smile. “No, they’re actually all muggles. Except one.” Blaise said. My bro is friends with muggles? I guess he wasn’t as much of a prick in Hogwarts as I thought. 10 points to Blaise. “Muggles, wow I’m impressed Blaise. So, we ready or what?” I asked linking my arm with my brothers. He put his arms around me and turned to Ginny. “I’ll be back in a few. I promise.” He smiled and then I felt like my head was being squeezed through a straw followed by the rest of my body. Wow, I forgot how much apparition sucks! “Merlin, finally! I forgot how much I hate that feeling.” I told Blaise as he steadied me. Oh man, why couldn’t we have flooed, so much more comfortable. We walked out of a dark alley way and towards the entrance to a building. “Sorry. Ok, let’s see, where are they? Ahh. Chris, Pete, Mike!” Blaise shouted over to a group of guys waiting outside the club. They came walking up to us and each hugged Blaise before turning to glance at me. Hmm… huggy guy friends. Wonder if Blaise is gay… “So Blaise, who’s the hottie you brought tonight? New girlfriend?” The guy named Chris asked while his eyes ran up and down my body. Ugh, another jerk, just what the world needs. “No. This is my twin sister Mia. Long story. Chris I’m warning you, stay away from her. I gota go get another friend, I’ll be right back. Pete I’m counting on you to make sure Chris keeps his hands to himself.” Blaise received a nod from Pete and a pout from Chris then he returned to the alley and I heard a POP. “So… My name is Mike. I like pizza. Heavy metal. Motorcycles and yeah. Chris?” Mike was a tall thin guy. Dirty blonde hair which was grown out to about his ears and hung loose in his hazel eyes. Polite enough I guess. “I’m Chris. I like to read Shakespeare. I love to cook Italian food and watch romantic movies on the weekends.” He was a very good looking guy, almost too good looking you know. Like a “pretty” guy. Yeah, exactly, one of those. Totally full of himself because he knew he was easy on the eyes. Hmm, reminds me of a tall blonde haired Slytherin I used to know. He was shorter than Blaise and Mike who are about 6’1” or a little more, but still taller than my now 5’6” stature. He had a muscular frame, brown hair and brown eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms. “Yeah, ok and I’m the Queen of England.” The other 2 chuckled at my comment. Pete slung an arm around Chris’ shoulders while he addressed me. “He loves women, food, and partying. Oh come on Chris you know it’s true.” Pete received a glare and then a shrug from Chris. “I’m Pete obviously. I like old records, horror films and chocolate chip mint ice cream. But it has to be the green kind. If it’s white then what’s the point.” I smiled and laughed a little. I liked Pete. He seemed like a good guy. Ok so, relatively tall, I’d say about 5’ 11”. Light brown hair, green eyes, semi muscular. Cute. “Ok so my turn?” I received 3 nods. “Ok well since Blaise just went to get another friend, I assume you know about his secret?” Again 3 nods. “Well, I’m a witch. I just found out I was adopted and Blaise’s twin. I love eggplant parm…” “I LOVE eggplant parm! Hey guys how’s it goin?” Someone’s interrupting my awesome story? Really? I turned around to glare at the intruder and my face turned to shock upon seeing who it is. “Liam?” I choked out. He had stopped when I turned but continued again until he was a foot in front of me. Damn he looked good. Bright blue eyes lined with black eyeliner, dark hair a mess and falling into his eyes, black cargos with combat boots and a black t-shirt with some band logo on the front. “Mia. You look… wow.” He smiled down at me. Yeah yeah, praise will get you far. I heard someone whisper behind me, “Damn, I think she’s taken.” Chris possibly? Now what was that blonde guy’s name that I kissed today? Oh, yeah. Who the bloody hell cares?! “Thanks. You look great too.” I told him looking into his eyes. The sound of a POP broke my gaze and I looked over Liam’s shoulder to see Ginny and Blaise walking towards us. Hmm… took an awfully long time for them to get here. “Liam man how are you?” Blaise said as he pulled the gorgeous boy into a ‘man’ hug. “Good, doing well. And you?” Liam asked. “Doing great. Got myself a new sister.” Blaise chuckled and slung his arm around my shoulders. “How do you two know each other?” I asked while pulling Ginny next to me. “Oh, B and I go way back to when we were kids. That’s how he knows these guys.” Liam said gesturing to the other 3 guys with our group. Chris was now eyeing up Ginny making her blush. Blaise saw this and walked around me to put an arm around Ginny’s waist. When did that happen? Oh right probably in the 10 minutes it took him to apparate her back here. Guess he’s not gay then. I turned to look at Ginny and gave her a ‘we need to talk’ look and she smirked in response. “So, are you a muggleborn then?” I asked Liam looking intrigued. “Yeah. And I went to Durmstrang, just graduated last year.” “Oh, cool congratulations.” I said enthusiastically. He smiled and said ‘thanks’. “Ok, so everyone ready to have some fun tonight?” Pete shouted. “YEAH!!!” We all chorused. The people standing around outside the club looked at us like we were morons then continued smoking their cigarettes. Grossness. We all made our way over to the entrance, Blaise’s arm still around Ginny’s waist and Liam had his arm slung around my shoulders. Tonight was looking good so far. “Where are we by the way?” I asked Liam while we were all waiting in line to get into the club. I looked up at the sign and read “QXT’s”. “New Jersey.” He told me. “WHAT?! I mean what? We’re in the States? Blaise, the drinking age is 21 here, they won’t let us in!” I yelled then whispered to my stupid brother. “Mi don’t worry, we know the bouncers, owner and bartenders personally. We even get in for free and a round of free drinks.” Blaise tried to assure me. I relaxed a little but was still nervous until I saw the bouncer give each of the guys a hug, stamp their hands and usher them in. He greeted Ginny and me as we walked in with the boys. Damn, it sounds like Blaise’s bedroom in here; I can barely hear myself think. We moved farther into the room. People were dancing on the dance floor, everything was dark, but not so dark you couldn’t see people’s faces or where you were going. There was a DJ up in one corner and a huge screen playing music videos on the left hand wall. All in all, this place was pretty cool. Better than sitting home on a Friday night. “Mia, do you want a drink?” Liam leaned over and asked me. I nodded and he grabbed my hand to lead me through the crowd. We ended up at a bar with the rest of our group. “Hey, long time no see! What will it be guys?” A nice lady bar tender came up to our group. Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many piercing on one person before. “Hey Sandy, can we have 5 beers and… what would you ladies like?” Liam spoke up. “Um… vanilla vodka and ginger ale for me thanks.” I told Sandy. “And you hun?” She asked Ginny. “Um, I’ll have the same.” Ginny smiled. After we got our drinks we moved off to the side, it was getting crowded in there. ‘Is that a guy in a full latex body suit?’ Yup, yup it is. Interesting. Most of the people on the dance floor were either dressed in Goth or punkish clothes. Some of the women looked like they were wearing nothing more than lingerie and fishnets. Hmm, guess I will need to update my wardrobe if I’ll be coming here often. “Hey, let’s go down stairs, it’s getting really packed up here!” Chris yelled over the music. We all followed him down a set of stairs in the right hand corner behind the bar. We entered into a smaller room than upstairs and there were far less people. There was also a bar in the back left corner. Geez how many bars does this place need? Liam took my hand again and was leading us to a different room when I noticed a ladies room on my right. I stopped walking and he looked back at me. “I just need to use the loo. Ginny come with me yeah?” I grabbed Ginny’s hand and headed into the bathroom. Oh good, no one in here. “So, what happened between you and my brother?” I cornered her. She began to twirl a strand of her long red hair. “Um, well when he came back to get me I was looking up at the moon and he put his arms around me to apparate and looked me in the eyes and I don’t know we just kissed.” “What!? Gin, you have really only known him less than a day! I’ve known him for only 3 weeks and I’m his sister!” I yelled at her. What the hell is with us Gryffindors kissing Slytherins!? Is there some kind of love potion being dumped into our drinks at Zabini Manor? “Yeah I know, but he was just so cute and I was thinking about earlier when he had his shirt off and… hey what about you kissing Malfoy? It’s the same thing, why are you getting all huffy on me? I didn’t even yell at you for kissing the ferret. And now all of a sudden you’re best pals with this Liam guy? I’ll admit he’s hot, but come on Hermione cut me some slack; I’m not even saying anything about your 2 guys in one day!” Now she cornered me and if there’s anything I’m afraid of it’s a mad Weasley woman. I ran my fingers through my hair and looked at my friend. I let out a long breath. “Ok, look Gin, I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s my brother and I was afraid it would be weird for me. But if this is what you want then fine. Just take it slow ok; you guys don’t even know anything about each other. And as far as Liam goes, I just met him at Flourish and Blotts yesterday. So we’ll see. He seems nice enough.” I finished and she captured me in a hug. “Thank you Hermione. Now let’s get out there and have some fun.” She smiled and pulled me out the door. Ok Hermione, have fun and don’t think about that devilishly handsome blonde Slytherin. We all ended up having a really great night. I danced with all the guys besides Blaise, but mostly with Liam. Ginny only danced with Blaise all night. We spent most of our time in the last room of the building which believe it or not ALSO had a bar. It also had the best music of the 3 rooms. All 80’s the whole night. It was awesome. The boys knew all of the bar tenders and got everyone except me, Liam and Blaise another round of drinks. The 3 of us had to be able to apparate safely back to the Manor. Mike ended up leaving with some blonde girl and assured us he would be ok and that one of his buddies would pick him up in the morning. Pete and Chris decided to come back with us to England, since they hadn’t visited Blaise’s house in a while. We eventually got the 3 drunkies out of the bar and walked to an alley to apparate. Liam had Chris, Blaise had Ginny and I had Pete. Thank Merlin Liam offered to take Chris; he had been grabby all night. We had to stalk back into the house and up to our rooms as quietly as possible. Luckily mum’s room was on the other side of the manor. We settled everyone in Blaise’s room and hung out for a while. Blaise tried playing exploding snap with Ginny, but she just kept laughing hysterically whenever the deck blew up. I was a good friend and took her to my room. “Ok Gin, I’m putting a bucket next to the bed for you incase you need to puke.” I whispered to her as I tucked her in. “Uhhhhg don’t say gin. Drank too much Mione. Need sleep.” She mumbled with another groan. I chuckled and summoned a cup and filled it with water. I set it on the bedside table for her. I walked back into Blaise’s room to find Blaise asleep on his bed, Pete and Chris passed out on the floor wrapped in blankets and Liam sitting over by the fireplace. I tiptoed over to him and sat down on the couch. “Hey.” He whispered. “I thought you went to bed.” “Nah, just making sure Ginny was alright. That girl is definitely going to need a hangover potion in the morning.” I laughed at my friend’s misfortune. I’m such a good friend aren’t I? “I think Blaise has a cabinet full somewhere around here.” Liam said looking around the room. “So, when I told you my name yesterday, why didn’t you say that you knew my family?” I questioned. “Well, I didn’t get a chance. You were gone as soon as I told you my name. And I’ve known Blaise forever it seems and he’s never mentioned a sister. You could have been a distant relative or not related at all. Which would be hard to believe because you have the same eyes.” We stayed up into the early morning talking about anything and everything. What it was like growing up muggle. Classes we took at our different schools. Blaise as a kid. Books of course. As I was walking back to my room at around 2am, I couldn’t help but feel like Liam was nothing more than a good friend. A kindred spirit. Yes, I am quoting ‘Anne of Green Gables’ get over it. But that was it. He was amazingly gorgeous, but I had someone else on my mind. Someone I should hate. Someone with blonde hair and bluish grey eyes. A/N: I do NOT own anything related to Harry Potter; Converse low tops and Chuck Taylors; Mission Impossible theme music, Anne of Green Gables the book and movie or QXT’s, which is a real club in Newark, NJ- it’s awesome btw. P.S. Sorry if you're having Draco withdrawl, I promise he's in the next chapter :) “Mione. Mione come on wake up.” I could here Ginny’s voice and could feel her shaking me, but I did not want to leave dream land. “Hermione pleaseeeee. I need you to make me a hang over potion, my head is killing me.” She whined. “What time is it?” I mumbled; my head still buried in my pillow. “9 o’clock.” “I only got 6 hours of sleep. Go back to bed.” I growled angrily. Yup 6 stinkin hours. Couldn’t fall asleep for at least an hour when I climbed into my bed this morning. Stupid ferret haunting my thoughts! “Mione please, I’ll do anything...” “Fine. I’m up.” I still laid there until Ginny ripped my covers off. I growled and got up to go to the bathroom. My hair was a mess, I had eyeliner everywhere and I was still wearing my corseted dress. Do I care at the moment? No. I just want to go back to bed. When I came out Ginny was sitting on the edge of the bed drinking the water I left for her the night before. “Ok, Liam said something about Blaise having a ton of hang over potion in his room so I’ll go in there and get it for you. You owe me though.” I told Ginny. “Thank you. And can you not be so loud?” She whispered to me as I left the room. I opened Blaise’s bedroom door a tad so I could slide in and tiptoed around the sleeping boys on the floor. Blaise had his face buried in a pillow and Liam was asleep on the couch by the fireplace. Hmm, where does a person keep potions? Bathroom? I looked around the bathroom but didn’t find anything. I tiptoed back out into his room and looked around. “Where the bloody hell would he keep it?” I whispered to myself. Liam said it was in a cabinet I know that much. It wasn’t in the cabinet above or below his sink. I scanned the room looking for anything resembling a cabinet. Aha! There was a black cabinet on the fireplace mantel. I tiptoed around the couch to make sure I didn’t wake Liam. ‘Shit. Bloody things locked.’ I thought to myself. I was on tiptoe to see if there was a key anywhere on the mantel when I heard someone floo in and knock into me. With a scream I fell to the floor with a body on top of me. “Bloody hell!” Liam yelled. I guess everyone woke up at the sound of my scream. “Mione?!” Oh good, even Ginny heard me. I looked up to see who was still on top of me and my eyes met a set of oceany grey ones. Shit! I look like hell and this is how he sees me after he left yesterday? Universe why do you hate me so damn much!!!??? “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the know-it-all Gryffindor Princess.” He drawled while making no attempt to move. Ugh, that damn smirk is back. Hate you Malfoy… I started pushing him, but he just laid more of his weight on me. “Malfoy get the bloody hell off me.” I growled at him. “No, I don’t think I will Granger. I’m rather comfortable.” He said as he laid his head on my chest. This is kind of nice… but not really appropriate when I’m supposed to hate this guy. “Draco get off my sister please, I don’t think we need another episode like yesterday. Do we?” Blaise asked him tiredly. Malfoy slowly got off of me and stood up. “No I guess not.” He said lazily. Liam came to help me up. I looked towards Malfoy and saw him grimace when my hand connected with Liam’s. Malfoy then looked away. “Weaslette. Didn’t see you there. What are you doing in Zabini Manor?” Malfoy asked Ginny. Pointing to herself she said “Hermione’s best friend. Remember Malfoy, or did you obliviate yourself after your kind lost the war?” Ouch Ginny. That was a little harsh. I thought you told me to give him a chance. I saw Malfoy’s fists clench and his jaw tighten. “I’m sorry Malfoy that was uncalled for. I had no right to say that.” Ginny looked ashamed. Everyone looked like they just saw the start of WWIII. Blaise moved over to Ginny and put an arm around her shoulders. “So, what’s up Draco? I never expected you to be awake this early during summer holiday.” Malfoy gave Blaise and Ginny a confused look before relaxing a bit and answering. “It’s like 9:30 Blaise. What happened last night, you all look like shit. Oh, especially you Granger. What the hell is all over your face?” Malfoy turned back to look at me. “Eyeliner.” I mumbled while looking at the floor. Liam looked at my face and started to wipe off the eyeliner that had gotten down to my cheeks while I slept. I heard Malfoy growl and looked up to see him baring his teeth. What the hell, I wonder if he knows he’s acting like a complete ass. He looks like a stupid wolf. Ha. Stupid ferret wolf. You jealous Malfoy? Some one else is touching me, you have a problem with it? Too bad you jerk. You haven’t cared in the past 7 years, why now? How is it possible to hate and like someone at the same time? He’s so nice to look at, but then he opens his mouth. “So, Granger. Why is there eyeliner half way down your face? Shouldn’t it be on your eyes? And what’s with the dress?” Malfoy asked through clenched teeth while his eyes roamed over my body. I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. “Yes, Malfoy. But this is what I slept in since Liam and I didn’t go to bed till around 2 this morning.” Take that ferret. I felt a smirk crawl its way onto my face and stared at Malfoy. Shit, I know that look. He slowly made his way towards us with fire in his eyes. “Draco?” I heard Blaise call. “Malfoy...” I tried but it didn’t work. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him while pointing his wand at Liam’s heart. “DID YOU TOUCH HER?!” Malfoy screamed at Liam’s terrified face. “N-no! Draco calm down mate. Nothing happened.” Liam said while backing away with his hands up. What do I do what do I do? Poor Liam this is all my fault. Why did I have to be such a smart ass? “Malfoy!” I screamed at him and tried to yank my arm out of his hand but to no avail. He did however slowly lower his wand and then turned to face me. *SLAP* My hand collided with the side of his face. I heard a few gasps from around the room. Why is it that I am always slapping Draco Malfoy? Oh yeah, cuz he’s crazy! He let go of my wrist and brought his hand up to his cheek. “Hermione, I…” He started, but I was not going to let him defend the stunt he just pulled. “WHO THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! You do NOT own me Malfoy. And you will NOT treat my brother’s or my friends the way you just did.” I yelled at him and started to walk away. “Hermione…” I heard him call behind me. I turned around quickly and looked him in the eye. “Do not talk to me Malfoy. And it’s Granger to you.” I seethed and exited the bedroom. Stalking down the hall I yelled “GINNY!” And soon after heard hurried footsteps behind me. I heard Ginny shut my door and I lost it. “AHH! That boy makes me so mad! What the hell was he thinking?! He could have hurt someone! It’s like he thinks I’m his property or something!” I was screaming while stomping around my room. Finally I fell face first onto my bed. “Why does my life have to be so complicated Gin? Why did he do that?” I mumbled into my comforter. “Because he likes you.” My head snapped up. “What?! Ginny are you still drunk? He doesn’t like me, he barely knows me! All we did was kiss. Once!” “Fine, but what other reason was there for him to act like that? Did you see the way he looked at you guys when Liam was cleaning off your face? He wanted to murder him just for touching you.” She huffed and threw up her hands. “Yeah I saw it but all that means is he’s a possessive asshole that is lusting after me from one kiss and thinks he can just walk around hexing anyone he wants. Typical Slytherin.” “Fine have it your way Mione. But I’m telling you, there is something more than just lust going through his head.” Ginny said. Knock knock knock “Come in.” I called over my shoulder, still lying on my bed. Why do people have to be so bloody insane…? “Huh, blue carpet today, weird. Doesn’t go well with the purple and black scheme you’ve got going on sis. You ok?” Blaise came in and sat on the bed next to me. “I guess so… and I didn’t mean to change the carpet, it just happened when I stepped in before.” I said. “Hey, yeah I was wondering why it was different from when I arrived. So you can change it whenever you want?” Ginny asked in amazement. Yeah, it is pretty cool. “Yeah, mainly just when you set your mind to it or are feeling a big emotion. Everything else in the room does that too. I’ll show you later.” I told her. “So, what was that with Draco? I think he’s got it bad Mi.” Blaise said while rubbing my back. “That’s what I said!” I heard Ginny huff and then I felt the bed sink a little more from her weight. What do I say? Do I tell them I like him even though he’s a complete nutter? I lifted myself onto my elbows. “I don’t know Blaise. We had a fight yesterday morning after you punched him and he took off. I mean I think he wanted a relationship with me! Me, Hermione Granger! I tried to explain to him that with him being who he is it would probably never work.” “Ouch. So you just flat out told him that because his last name is Malfoy that you won’t be with him? No wonder he was pissed.” Blaise said looking sympathetic. “Why does everyone keep saying that!? You guys both know my past with the Malfoy’s, how am I just supposed to forget it all? I have the scars to prove I went through hell with them.” I told them as I now paced in front of my bed. “Yeah, but Mi the war changed a lot of things. Like I told you that first night I really met you at your house. It changed a lot of people. It made him grow up. He’s not the same self centered prick you used to know.” Blaise tried to reassure me. I heard Ginny huff and I turned to Blaise while pointing at my door. “Oh, no? Then what the bloody hell do you call that? What just happened?” “Ok, ok I admit that was a little intense, but that’s the first outburst I have seen from him all summer.” Blaise said while holding his hands up in surrender. “Just cool down a little and let’s go hang around the pool today ok? Liam is waiting to say goodbye to you girls before he leaves, needs to go to work in a couple hours. So, you guys change and then come to my room.” As he was about to leave he turned to let me know that Pete, Chris and Malfoy would also be joining us for the day. “Hmm. Well, 2 can play at this game. Gin, we are going to change, go say goodbye to Liam, then floo to your house to get some of our friends.” I told her with a smile on my face. “What? No, no way. Hermione if my brother sees me with Blaise he’s guna freak!” “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of Ron. I’ll tell him I’ll let his whole family know the real reason we broke up. He won’t mess with you.” I frowned a little at the memory. “Wait, what’s the real reason? I just thought you didn’t like him anymore.” Ginny gave me a puzzled look. “That my dear redhead is for Ronald and me to know, and you to possibly find out. Ok, now here’s the plan. You should go say bye to Liam while I get changed, then floo home and tell my whole story to everyone that’s there so it won’t be huge shock when a total stranger shows up in their living room. Then I guess I’ll deal with whatever they have to throw at me when I get there.” “I guess that works. So who are you planning on bringing back here? You know my brother and Harry will flip out when they see Malfoy.” “Yeah, well they might try to behave themselves. I don’t know it might be fun to see them scream at Malfoy.” I smiled at her. She just shook head and told me I’m crazy. “You’re guna be the death of that poor boy you know that right?” She told me from the doorway. If he wants to be a prick then let him. I can be a bitch right back. Ginny was back within a matter of minutes. “Ok, I said you would be there in a minute to say goodbye while I change. Here goes nothing.” She said as she stepped into the fireplace. With a shout and some powder she was gone. I walked over to my dresser to pull out my red and white polka dot bikini. The top was a bandeau and the bottom had ties on the sides. I went in my bathroom to change, wash my face of all traces of makeup and to brush my hair. Pulling on a jean skirt and tank top I was on my way to say goodbye to Liam. “Should I knock this time since they’re awake?” I guess so. I knocked 3 times and heard a ‘come in’ so I opened the door and walked into the bedroom. “Hey Mi.” Blaise greeted me, and then went back to his card game with Chris. Pete was no where to be seen, I guessed he was in the bathroom getting changed. Liam was sitting on the couch by the fire and Draco was sitting by the window staring at me. Geez, problem much? All the guys except Liam were in swim trunks and t-shirts. I tried to ignore Malfoy and walked over to Liam to say goodbye. He stood up once I got in front of him. “I had a great time last night Mia. I hope we can hang out again soon or just come into the bookshop for a visit.” “I had a lot of fun too; it was great learning about yours and Blaise’s childhoods. And basically everything else in your life.” I said with a smile and laugh. He laughed along with me and pulled me into a hug. I saw Malfoy stand up across the room. Oh boy, oh boy what’s he going to do now? Liam released me and stepped into the fireplace. He leaned out and kissed my cheek before shouting his address and throwing down the floo powder. I heard an angered huff and turned in time to see Malfoy’s blonde head leave the room and the door slam. “Jesus Mia, what did you do to that poor guy?” Pete had come out of the bathroom and witnessed Malfoy leaving in anger. “Nothing that he hasn’t done to me in the past. I’ll meet you guys down by the pool in a little while. I need to go have a chat with Ginny, ok?” I asked while heading for the door. “Ok.” I heard Blaise reply. What is wrong with him? He doesn’t even know me. This is ridiculous. He’s ridiculous. Ok breathe Hermione. You have a big task to accomplish in a few minutes. I stopped just outside Blaise’s door and turned to look down the hall. “I should probably ask mother if I can have some friends over.” I made my way across the hall, down the stairs and up the other side. Mother was usually in her office in the morning. I knocked on the big wooden doors and heard a “come in” from within. I opened the doors to see her sitting behind her big grand desk made from teak. She looked up and gave me a sweet smile. “Oh sweetheart, what brings you to this side of the manor so early in the day?” “I was just wondering if I could invite some friends over for the day? Blaise has 3 guy friends here and I would like to invite some so I don’t feel left out.” I told her in the sweetest voice I could muster. Play the good child, get what you want. “Of course Mia. You don’t have to ask me when you want to invite people over, your brother never does we know that.” She said with a laugh in her voice. “Thanks mum!” I ran out of her office closing the door behind me and headed for my room. Ok, brush the teeth and hair again. Make sure you look presentable. Calm down. You can get through this. After finishing my self assigned tasks I locked my bedroom door, grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. “Ok… now or never.” I told myself. “The Burrow!” I shouted then threw my powder down and was gone in a flash. I stepped cautiously out of the fireplace and into an empty living room. Everything looked the same as always. I wonder where everyone is, it’s usually an assault on the ears when I arrive here. “Hello? Ginny?” I called out. “Mione, we’re in the kitchen!” I heard Ginny yell to me. Ok Hermione, deep breaths. They’re your family; they have to accept this right? I walked over to the kitchen door and placed my hand upon it. Ok, you can do this. “Gin?” I needed to make sure they were ready for me. “Come in Mione. I’ve explained everything, it will be ok.” I heard her say through the door. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, swung the door open and stepped in. I heard a few gasps and a couple ‘bloody hell’s and ‘whoa’s. I opened my eyes slowly and heard another round of gasps. Oh, that’s right. I have purple eyes, I forgot. Again, who has purple eyes? Ginny pushed her chair back and came over to me. She linked her arm with mine and moved me further into the room. Ok good, contact with someone that trusts me… calm down Hermione. “Everyone, meet Mia Zabini, aka Hermione Granger.” Ginny introduced me to a silent crowd. Oh Merlin, how uncomfortable is this! Ok, looking around Mrs. Weasley had a slight smile on her face. Good sign. Mr. Weasley’s mouth was in a tight line and his hands were folded on the table. Ok, I can deal with that, I’m sure he’ll question me sooner or later. George, Ron and… Merlin Harry’s here! I cleared my throat and addressed the boys. “Mouths closed boys. And eyes up here.” I said while pointing to my face. All of their jaws shut with a snap and slowly their eyes found mine. Bloody hell, I guess I’m going to have to take the first step. I moved towards the table and took a seat. “Ok, let’s get this over with; we need to go back to the manor as soon as possible. So, who’s got the first question?” I asked the group. “By the way Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, it’s great to see you. It’s been too long. I went shopping with my mum and my mother the other day; I would like it if you would come with the 3 of us on our next outing, and Ginny of course.” Mrs. Weasley beamed at me and Ginny nodded her head enthusiastically. “Ok, come on I know you’re not convinced so let’s get on with it.” I addressed the boys. Tick tock, tick tock. “Ok. First year we had a little problem. The two of us had to walk through a set of flames. What color were they?” Harry posed this question. “Easy. Mine were purple and yours were black.” I told him confidently. He nodded but continued his questioning. “What did the polyjuice potion turn you into second year?” This question was followed by a chuckle from Ron and shocked expressions from the rest of the Weasley’s. “Oh Harry please don’t make me say it…” I begged but he just folded his arms across his chest and raised his eyebrow. Jerk. “Ugh alright… Millicent Bulstrode’s cat.” I admitted in a defeated tone. This got a round of laughter from everyone except me and the elder Weasley’s. “Well, that’s enough for me.” Harry said while leaning back in his chair. “Only me, Ron and Madame Pomfrey knew about Hermione being a cat. Oh and of course Moaning Myrtle.” He said with a laugh. “You 3 drank polyjuice potion in your second year? What on earth were you thinking!?” Mrs. Weasley stood up and placed her hands on the table while scolding us. “Mum, calm down, we were just trying to get some information out of Malfoy incase he knew who the Heir of Slytherin was.” Ron defended our actions. “Yeah. Harry and I used it when we went to Godric’s Hollow last Christmas. We also drank it to get into the Ministry this year. Oh and Gringotts. I had to go in as Bellatrix Lestrange. Blasted witch.” I growled at my misfortune. “Hmm.” Ron mumbled appraising my answers. Apparently they weren’t enough. “What did our group of friends use during fifth year to get in touch with each other?” What is he talking about? Oh my gosh the galleons! I dug my hand into my skirt pocket and pulled out the one thing, besides my wand that I always carried with me. “Our DA galleons.” I said while handing mine over. Ron looked it over and nodded in satisfaction. “Well, Mione. I have to say you look H-O-T. Hot!” This came from George as he rounded the table to hug me. “Not that you weren’t attractive before, but bloody hell you’re on fire.” I let out a small laugh. “Thanks George, I appreciate that.” Ok George, there’s a time for a hug to end and that time was a minute ago. He finally released me and I received hugs from everyone else. “Well, would anyone like some butterbeer?” Mr. Weasley clapped his hands together. “Actually I’m afraid I need to ask George, Harry and Ron something and then I must be going. Would you 3 like to come back to the manor with me and Ginny for a day of swimming, food and fun?” I asked sounding hopeful. “Damn, I can’t. I need to go back to the shop. Lee is at the one in Hogsmeade watching it for me right now.” “That’s alright George, maybe another time. How’s the new shop doing by the way?” I asked him; excited that he finally bought Zonko’s and turned it into another Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes in honor of Fred. Damn… I miss Fred. “It’s doing pretty well. I’m hoping to do more business once school starts up again.” George said. “Yeah, I’ll go. Just need to go change. Harry, you can borrow a pair of swim trunks if you need to.” Ron said while heading for the door. “Kreacher!” Harry shouted and in less than a second he was standing in front of Harry. “Yes Master. How may Kreacher serve you?” The small elf said as he bowed to Harry. “Kreacher please go home and fetch me a pair of flip flops and a pair of swim trunks.” Harry told the elf and with a snap he was gone again. “There, problem solved.” Harry said with a smile. I just shook my head at him. Ten minutes later everyone was changed and ready to head to the manor. I hugged Mr. and Mrs. Weasley goodbye and promised Mrs. Weasley we would soon have a mother daughter shopping day. One by one we stepped into the fireplace and shouted “Hermione Zabini’s Room.” I was the last to depart the Burrow and arrive in my room. I chuckled to myself as I stepped out of the fireplace and watched as the blue carpet became the dark hardwood floor it was on the day of my arrival. Ginny was lounging on my bed and Harry and Ron jumped when they witnessed the floor change beneath their feet. “So… what do you think?” I asked in an amused voice. “It’s bloody brilliant! Maybe I’ve had a glamour charm on me my whole life too and am really a Zabini. Do you have an extra room I can have?” Ronald asked as he looked around. No, I do NOT want to live with you Ron; I’d probably kill myself in the first 5 minutes. “Sure she does, the manor is huge, but why would she want to live with you?” Ginny’s snarky reply earned her a glare. Yes, right on target Gin. “Ok, tour later. Let’s go get some food and head to the pool.” I skipped excitedly to the door. “Oh, and Ginny has some things to tell you on the way.” I smiled at Ginny and received a glare. I did NOT want to be the one to inform the boys that they would be spending a day with Malfoy. Halfway to the kitchen I heard Ron shout. “Are you bloody insane Hermione?! There is no way I’m going to spend my summer holiday being nice to that ferret!” He fumed. “Ron, please? It’s just one day, and who said you had to be nice to him? You can still hate him; just don’t voice it unless provoked. Please… I need you guys here if I’m going to survive. Just try to ignore him the best you can, for mine and my brother’s sake.” I begged him. Harry looked back and forth between us. He looked a little green. “Harry, you ok?” I asked him. “Yeah… It’s just I don’t fancy being around Malfoy more then I have to, but for you Mione I’ll deal with it.” I threw my arms around Harry and thanked him. “You’re welcome. And by the way, you look good, but it’s still weird.” I gave him a smile. “Yeah, I know. It’s still weird for me every day I wake up till I go to bed.” We started moving toward the kitchen again. Food food food food, singin in my head. “Ron, let’s go.” Ginny commanded her brother. “Oh yeah, before I forget. I like Blaise and I think he likes me, so if you see us together, deal with it.” Oh geez Ginny, way to ease him into it slowly. “WHAT?” Ron bellowed through my house. “Ronald Weasley shut up!” I whisper yelled to him. “Ron, if you don’t control your temper and let me and Blaise be then Hermione told me she has a secret about that two of you that she will share with us and the family.” Ginny smiled at her brother. Ron looked at me in shock and I just folded my arms across my chest, set my face to stone and nodded my head. He eventually admitted defeat and let his head drop. “Fine… but if he does anything to hurt either of you, I’ll kill him.” He said looking back up. “Don’t worry; I’ll be there first to kill him if anything happens to Gin.” I told him with a pat on the back. Finally people, let’s get a move on. Ok, chips, nacho cheese, salsa. Check. Fruit platter. Check. Hot dogs and hamburgers to cook on the grill. Check. “Thanks Lars! Come join us around the pool if you get bored in here, yeah?” I smiled at my favorite chef. “Will do Mia. Now run along and have some fun!” He ushered us out of the kitchen. We reached the deck doors and could hear shouts and laughter coming from the back yard. Ok, we’re all adults. We can handle a day together right, how hard could this be? “Ok, pinky swear that you will all be on your best behavior?” I turned around to ask them before opening the doors to hell. Ron and Harry looked at me like I was mental. “What’s a pinky swear?” Ron asked with his head tilted to the side. Ginny and I demonstrated and the boys, while still looking at me like I was crazy, obliged. “Ok. Here. We. Go.” I mumbled to myself as I opened the double doors to the back yard. “Wow.” Came all three of their replies. It was a beautiful sight I must say. Gardens full of flowers on either side of the lawn with a pond in the background surrounded by woods. There was a fountain in the center of the stone pathway leading down to the enormous in ground swimming pool in the center of the yard. There was also a small pool house on the edge of the stone walkway and a large grill on the patio. “Ok, let’s go.” I led the way down the stone steps and onto the area surrounding the pool silently praying for no blood shed. “Hey Mi! It’s about time!” I heard Blaise shout from the pool. All eyes were then trained on me and my guests. When we got to the edge of the stone surrounding the pool we stopped and I conjured four lounge chairs for us. “Potty? Weasel?” I heard Malfoy question in distaste. I glared at him but then noticed his toned upper body. Shit, get Malfoy out of your head Hermione! He raised an eyebrow at my staring and I quickly looked away. I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks and hoped to Merlin no one noticed as to why. “Hello Malfoy.” I heard Harry say behind me in the most polite voice he could muster. “What the bloody hell are you two doing here?” Malfoy shouted. “Excuse me Malfoy. Like it or not this is my house along with Blaise. Not. Yours. If you have a problem with the friends I bring here then you can run along home.” I scolded him. Yeah, that better shut you up. You’re guna pout at me? Really? Fine, be a baby. Blaise, Pete and Chris got out of the pool and walked over to our group. Merlin I really do love my brother. He held out his hand to Harry. “Potter, how are you?” Harry hesitantly shook Blaise’s hand. “I’m doing well Zabini, thanks.” Next was Ron, oh gosh please don’t be a total ass Ron. Please! “Weasley, good to see you again.” Blaise said as Ron shook his hand. Ok Ron, no need to squeeze the life out of it. “Yeah.” Was all Ron had to say and then released Blaise’s now throbbing hand. I gave Blaise a thankful smile and he put his arm around my shoulders. Pete and Chris introduced themselves and started conversations with Harry and Ron rather easily. “Thank you. That meant a lot.” I looked up at Blaise and smiled again. “Of course. I love my family and I’ll do whatever I can to try and make them happy.” He told me. “Now, where’s that food I saw you bring. All that pool time made me hungry.” I chuckled and shook my head. Boys, all they think about is food. “It’s over by the chairs. By the way, is that Parkinson in the pool with Malfoy?” I whispered to him with a whine. He shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the chairs. “Yeah, you knew she was one of my ‘sorta’ friends. Give her a chance; she’s not as bad as you think.” “Fine. But only if you tell your buddy that’s glaring at my friends to behave himself.” I countered. He peered over his shoulder to look at Malfoy. Then he nodded his head at me while stuffing his face with chips. “You know these hotdogs and hamburgers are going to go bad if we don’t cook them right now.” Blaise said after swallowing. I flashed him a smile. “No they won’t. I placed a freezing charm on them until we’re ready. Brightest witch of our age remember.” I pointed to myself. He laughed and shook his head then continued cramming chips into his mouth until he looked like a chipmunk. The boys went over to join him in the ‘see how much food I can get in my mouth’ contest. I pulled my tank top over my head, stepped out of my flip flops and slid off my skirt. I threw it all on one of the lounge chairs and was pulling my hair into a ponytail when Ginny came to stand next to me. “You know, Malfoy’s starring at you like he’s ready to pounce. I mean all the guys except your brother stared at you at first, but with one look from Blaise they turned away. But Draco’s eyes are glued to your body. I doubt he’d care if Blaise punched him again right now.” Ginny whispered to me while taking off her sundress. After my ponytail was in place I looked toward Malfoy and sure enough his eyes were scanning my body. Ugh whatever. Look all you want, but if you’re guna be a complete ass then don’t even think about coming near me. “Parkinson 11 o’clock and headed this way.” Ginny mumbled out of the side of her mouth. Yup, Pansy was headed straight for us. She stopped about 2 feet away and looked really uncomfortable. I turned my head and saw Blaise give me a ‘please, for me’ look and I rolled my eyes. I turned back to Pansy and stuck my hand out. “Hey Pansy, how are you?” She looked shocked to say the least, but recovered quickly and shook my hand. “I’m good Hermione thanks. Hi, Ginny, right?” Pansy said and turned to shake a dumbfounded Ginny’s hand. “Um, yeah. Hi Pansy.” Ginny mumbled confusedly. “You can call me Mia by the way. Might be easier for Blaise’s friends to associate me with the Zabini family instead of the Granger’s. All of his friends call me that anyway, except Malfoy. I’m still either Granger or Hermione occasionally.” “Alright, Mia it is.” Pansy said with a smile. “The waters perfect, you should come in.” She then turned around to join Malfoy in the pool. “Malfoy is still looking at you, but now he has kind of a confused and pained expression on his face. Probably wondering how you can be so nice to Parkinson and not him.” Ginny snorted. “Well, the days not over. Maybe if he’s not a total jerk for once I can ease up a bit.” The boys all jumped in the water after they were done with their snack and a fun plan formed in my head. “Come on, I say cannonballs next to the guys.” Ginny nodded with a smile and we ran opposite ways around the pool. “Cannon ball!!” We both screamed out as we flew through the air towards the group of guys. I saw a huge wave of water from both of us collide with them. When I surfaced I was pulled into Chris’ arms. “You think that was funny?” He asked with a laugh in his voice. I tried to struggle and let out a few laughs and managed a “Yes!” before he dunked me under water a couple of times. I continued laughing, holding my breath, being dunked, laughing, holding my breath, being dunked but I was pulled away and held into someone’s chest. “That’s enough.” I heard a low growl and knew exactly who it was that tore me away from the fun. I wiped the water out of my eyes and looked up into Malfoy’s face. He had his arms around my back pinning me to him. What is his deal? I wasn’t hurt, we were just having fun. It is kind of nice being in his arms though… “Are you alright?” His voice was dripping with concern. I tore my eyes away from his. “Yeah, umm… I’m fine.” I mumbled and I unlatched his arms from around my back. I turned to see everyone with raised eyebrows. Harry and Ron had their mouths open in shock. Well, that certainly wasn’t what I had in mind when I jumped in the pool. Always have to make a scene it seems. I clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention. “Ok, who’s in the mood for some pool volleyball?” “What’s that?” I heard Ron wonder. “Seriously? It’s a fun game. You guys don’t have it here?” Pete asked and received a bunch of no’s. “Well, I guess it’s a mungle or whatever you call us thing.” He then proceeded to teach the rules to everyone magical. I transfigured one of the lounge chairs into a net and stretched it across the pool, another I made into a lifeguard chair so Pansy could be referee. I then transfigured one of Blaise’s quaffles that was lying near the pool into a volleyball. “Ok, we need to pick teams. Captains, Blaise and Malfoy.” I called out. “What, come on that’s not fair!” Ron whined. Oh geez Ron, stop being a baby. “Yes, it’s fair. This way they can’t be on the same team.” I smiled. “Ok volley to see who picks first.” Malfoy won. “Ok, let’s see... Granger. Get your cute arse over here.” He smirked at me and I scowled. Great, I don’t get to hit him with the ball. “Ginny.” Blaise called out. “Oh looks like the love sick puppies choose their lovers over their friends.” Chris laughed. Everyone shot him a glare. He held up his hands in defeat. “Potter.” Harry swam over to us and gave Malfoy a questioning look. “I hate to admit it Potter, really truly hate to, but you always beat me to the snitch. So I figure you’d be a good asset to my team.” Both Harry and I looked at him in shock. “Did I just receive a compliment from the great Draco Malfoy?” Harry asked with a smirk on his face. “Don’t get used to it Potter.” Malfoy sneered at him. “Ok… Chris.” Chris swam to Blaise’s side of the net. “Pete.” Malfoy called. “Last again. Doesn’t surprise me.” Ron swam to Blaise and his team. Poor Ron. He was never that great at sports. “Ok, everyone knows the rules, let’s volley to see who serves first and then let the games begin!” I shouted excitedly. Pansy was a surprisingly great referee. Fair in every sense. We played 3 games. My team won 2 out of those 3, of course. After our workout we decided to start up the grill to cook our food. Climbing out of the pool I started to gloat and Pete joined in. He put an arm around my waist and lifted me off the ground. I raised my fist in the air and the two of us started to sing. “We are the champions my friends… dun na na, and we’ll keep on fightin till the end. We are the champions, we are the champions.” Pete spun around to face Blaise and his team and we pointed at them then at ourselves. “No time for losers cuz we are the champions… of the WORLD!” We were in hysterics by the time we finished. He put me down and I walked off to grab a towel from the towel box by the pool house and wrapped it around my shoulders. Damn it’s cold! I felt myself shivering then felt a pair of hands rubbing my arms to warm me up. Oh Merlin not him, not him please… I turned around and sure enough, it was the stormy eyed Slytherin. He continued to run his hands up and down my arms creating friction and warmth. Merlin he’s gorgeous. He had a towel draped around his shoulders and I let my eyes travel to his chest and stomach. Oh god he’s bloody perfect. Stomach please stop doing summersaults, it’s not the most comfortable feeling. And heart be quiet, he can probably hear you, along with the people in Timbuktu. I wanted to reach my hand out and run it along his perfect abs still glistening from the water but I restrained myself. I lifted my eyes to take in his face. Perfect pink lips, slightly parted. Hair, disheveled and wet. Rosy cheeks. I focused on his eyes to see they were fixed on mine. They were dark and intense. He took a step towards me and cupped my cheeks in his warm hands. I closed my eyes knowing what was coming next. I could feel his hot breath on my face… “Hey! None of that you two, it’s food time!” Pete said running over to the towel box. I snapped my eyes open and looked into Draco’s. He looked annoyed, hopefully because Pete interrupted us and not at me. I finally broke away and turned back to join the group. Wow… that was really close. “So, everything ready to go?” I asked trying to ignore the stares I was receiving from Harry and Ron. Ron looked livid. Everyone else just had knowing looks on their faces. “Yeah, you just forgot condiments; you know cheese, ketchup, mustard etc. I can get Grady to get it though.” Blaise said while flipping a burger. “No, no leave that poor man alone. Harry, Ron would you like to help me?” I looked at them and inclined my head towards the house. They nodded and started walking to the doors while drying themselves off. I turned around quickly and took a step into a firm body. I started to fall backwards but was held up by someone grabbing onto my upper arms. I knew who it was so I just mumbled a ‘sorry’ and ran to catch up with the boys. I passed them on our way to the kitchen and heard a, “What the bloody hell was that?” from Ron. Oh boy… “Yeah Mione, you were about to kiss him. What’s going on? First he gets upset and tries to protect you when you were getting dunked in the pool, he picked you first for his team and held you up on his shoulders so you could spike the ball, and then he just tried to kiss you! Are we in some kind of parallel universe or something?” Harry asked confusedly. When we reached the kitchen I sat on one of the benches and put my head in my hands. I then went on to explain all that had happened between Malfoy and I over the past couple days starting with the surprise dinner. Ron paced around the room running his hand through his hair. Harry got everything we originally came in here for while silently listening to my story. When I finished everything was quiet except for Ron’s feet on the tile. It was Harry who first spoke up. “Well… I’m not going to say I’m happy about this. He still sounds like a git, but if you like him then I’ll deal with it. Hopefully he has changed or is on his way. Your story sounds like he has at least a little and I have to agree with Ginny and Blaise about wounding his pride. That’s why he got so upset with you. But I know, I know, it is Malfoy. Just don’t jump in blindly.” I got up to give Harry a hug. “What?! That’s it? You’re just going to let her be with that ferret? You can’t be serious Harry, after all he’s done. He has the Dark Mark for Merlin’s sake! Mione I forbid you to be with him.” Ron huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Uh oh...” Harry breathed. I got off my seat and stared at Ron. What the hell does he mean he forbids me! “What did you say Ronald? You forbid me to see Draco?” I asked in a low calm voice. “Hermione… I” he started to say but I was already on my way out of the kitchen. “You stupid arse!” I shouted over my shoulder as I ran into the entrance hall. “Who does he bloody think he is? That was so not the way to get me not to do something.” I grumbled to myself as I continued to run past the stairs and out the back doors letting my towel drop in the process. I ran all the way down the path and saw everyone standing around the grill laughing. Draco had his back to me and had shed his towel. Damn, nice back too. When I reached him I spun him around, pulled his head towards mine and crashed my lips onto his. It took him a minute to recover from shock but he eventually gave into the kiss and slid his hands around my back. Our lips moved together in perfect harmony and our eyes closed to enjoy the moment. I ran my free hand up his stomach and chest and felt his body shudder at my touch. My fingers eventually found their way into his hair. He brought my body into his as close as possible and I had to rise up on my toes to be level with him. He darted his tongue out and teased my lower lip with its juicy touch. I obliged and let him in. He tasted spicy and salty, probably from the chips and salsa. It tasted surprisingly good. This was perfect; I could live on this alone. He moaned into my mouth as our tongues danced together and brought his hand to the back of my head to deepen the kiss even further. I could feel his heart pounding in time with mine. I regretfully pulled away a bit when I couldn’t breathe anymore. He leaned back in and moved his lips softly over mine then planted sweet light kisses from my lips, down my jaw and to my neck. Shocking me, he buried his face between my neck and shoulder and held me tight. I tightened my hold on him and relished in the feeling of being in his arms. This was most definitely Heaven. Thank you universe for hating me so much because it brought me here. A/N: ‘We are the Champions’ is a song by Queen. Great group. ‘Heaven, I’m in Heaven. And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak…’ ahh Sinatra was a genius. Singing in your head instead of out loud is not as much fun as one would think. But this was how I was feeling at the moment. Being held close to Draco’s body, my former enemy… having his arms wrapped around me and occasionally feeling his lips press against the skin on my neck was absolute and utter bliss. Who ever said ‘there’s a fine line between love and hate’ was the equivalent to Merlin in my book. Bloody genius. We heard someone clear their throat and Draco slowly brought his head up to look me in the eyes. My heart was flying as he smiled a true smile at me. No, not a smirk. An actual smile. He was beautiful. I smiled back at him and held his shining gaze. He brought one of his hands up to cup my cheek and ran his thumb along it. I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand enjoying the touch. “Uh, Mione?” My eyes opened and I snapped my head to the side to see Ginny along with everyone except Ron smiling at me and Draco. Maybe everything will fall into place after all. I’m strong like bull; I can handle whatever the world has to throw at me. Draco turned me around in his arms so my back was against his chest and his hands were resting on my stomach. He leaned his head down onto mine. I smiled sheepishly at our friends. “Sorry guys…” I apologized and received a wink from Chris, gleaming smiles from Pansy and Ginny, hold up I thought Pansy was obsessed with Draco or something… Oh well, less for me to worry about. Blaise had his arm slung around Ginny and was giving us a small smile, Pete had his back turned and was flipping burgers and Harry shrugged and gave me a tight lipped smile. Ron’s face looked pained and was starting to turn red. He took a step towards us. “Mione… why him?” I leaned further into Draco and his arms tightened around my waist. “I don’t know… maybe because he makes me feel again. A lot changed during the war… A lot changed after it, and I was one of those things that changed. I was broken Ron. I’ve been spending every moment since trying to get back to who I was, but I never will. I’m a changed person.” I tried to explain to him. Draco brought his head down to kiss my cheek and whisper “I’m sorry…” in my ear. I nodded as best I could and squeezed his arm. Ron’s expression turned furious when Draco’s lips met my cheek. It all happened so fast, like in the blink of an eye. I was flying through the air and caught by my brother. I heard a splash from behind me and people screamed. When I turned I saw Draco and Ron going at it like maniacs in the pool. “HARRY BLAISE GET IN THERE AND DO SOMETHING!!! THEY’LL KILL EACHOTHER!” I screamed at the two of them and all of the guys suddenly jumped in. Harry and Chris tried to pull Ron off of Draco who was being held under water. I could feel my heart beating erratically. He really was trying to kill him. Once Pete and Blaise pulled a sputtering Draco from the pool I rushed to his side. He was coughing a lot but gave me a reassuring smile and asked for a kiss, which of course I happily gave him. Then I rounded on Ron who was being restrained by Harry and Chris. “WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING RONALD WEASLEY!? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!” I screamed, my face now turning ‘Weasley Red.’ “I KNOW! For Merlin’s sake Hermione, I know you were broken, we all were! And you just threw me away; you didn’t even want to try! I tried to help you but you shut me out! If it hadn’t been for you turning your back on me every time I tried to talk about what happened during the war then we’d still be together. I wouldn’t have…” Ron started a rant but I didn’t want to hear it. “What?! You wouldn’t have slept with Lavender? You wouldn’t have cheated on me with that stupid slut?” I heard gasps all around me and Harry let go of Ron like he had burned him. I felt my body shake. I was livid. How dare he be so stupid to try and make an excuse for hurting me like that. I continued yelling at him. “Why would I want to relive all of the memories if I didn’t have to? Why would I want to drag up all of the fear from those nights? I tried to bury it deep down but you just kept pushing and pushing. Harry never even talks about it. Why are you so different? Do you like being a hero Ronald? The 1/3rd of the Golden Trio that enjoyed it all? Well I’m sorry, but I will not let you blame me for the destruction of our relationship.” “You should be with me Hermione. Be with me, I love you. This is ridiculous; you’re really going to be with that ferret? Everyone expects us to be together. What can he give you that I can’t?” If looks could kill Draco would be dead. I laughed at Ron’s question. “No Ronald. You don’t love me and I don’t love you. You know what he can give me that you can’t? A fresh start. That’s what I need Ron. That’s what I want. He is what I want. I know you may not understand it, hell I’m not fully sure I understand it, but this is what I need. And you’re going to have to deal with it if you want to be in my life.” “Mione...” “Go home Ron. Go back to Lavender. I’m sure she’s wondering where you’ve been all day. Good luck with your Auror training. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you sometime in the future.” I finished with a forced smile. Ron said his goodbyes to Chris and Pete. No one else, including Harry and Ginny, wanted to talk to him. Blaise eventually escorted him to the floo in the parlor. I hoped he wouldn’t pound him into the ground. I let out a long sigh and relaxed against Draco when he stood behind me with his arms around my waist again. He was soaked but I didn’t care. “You ok love?” He whispered to me. I turned around in his arms and cupped his face in my hands. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.” I gave him a smile then moved my lips up to his to plant a soft tender kiss on his perfect pink lips. I leaned my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist, my arms sliding against the wetness of his skin. For some reason I knew this was the place I was supposed to be. I changed. He changed. The world had changed. My heart told me one thing and my head told me another, but this time I followed Ginny’s advice. I’m following my heart. I sighed and tightened my hold on him. “Well, the food has been ready for the past 10 minutes people; I just didn’t want to interrupt the little scene we were presented with so I kept the grill on low.” We all turned to look at Pete. “Well, come on come on don’t just stand there let’s eat!” He said and then proceeded to serve everyone before himself. Did I mention I like Pete? Great guy. Mmm… cheeseburger where have you been all my life? After the food was gone we all went in the house to change out of our wet suits and into more comfortable clothes. It was getting chilly outside so Ginny and I put on sweatpants and sweatshirts and took our hair out of our ponytails to let it air dry. Pete and Chris borrowed clothes from Blaise while Harry and Draco summoned their house elves to fetch them their own. Spoiled brats. Coming back to join the group Harry pulled Ginny and I aside to walk to the pond. The sun was starting to set so the guys were starting a bonfire while Pansy supervised and set up a s’mores station. “I’m so sorry Mione, I didn’t know.” Harry said as he slung his arm around my shoulders. “No one did. Just me, Ron and Lavender. I didn’t want it made into a big deal you know? Ginny, please don’t kill your brother. It all worked out for the best in the end.” “I can promise not to kill him, but that doesn’t mean I’ll promise not to hurt him.” She grumbled. I laughed, “Alright, I can agree to that. Do you guys mind if I just hang here by myself for a while? I need some time to think.” “You sure?” Harry asked and I nodded. They both gave me hugs and made there way back towards the group. I sat down by the edge of the pond and watched the sunlight dance upon the water. I smiled as I heard footsteps and felt someone sit down behind me. I leaned back into the warm body. “Chris, I’ve missed you, I’ve been waiting here for ages.” I whined and smiled to myself. “Ha. Ha.” Draco said as he brought his arms around to hug me. “Thank you.” He said as he kissed my now dry hair. “For what?” I asked, scrunching my face in puzzlement. “For giving me a chance. For giving ‘us’ a chance. I don’t know how to explain it… I never felt how I did when I kissed you yesterday. It was like my heart was exploding, my palms were sweating, and my body just longed to be touching yours.” I was playing with his fingers and smiled as he said this because that was exactly the feeling I had. “And then you told me you didn’t want me, you were taking that feeling away and I just went crazy. I’ve never been in love, and I’m not saying I am, but that was the best feeling I have ever had when I’ve kissed anyone. It killed me when you told me no.” I could hear the pain in his voice and felt a few tears slip out of my eyes. I’m a horrible person. This poor guy, I totally ripped his heart out yesterday. Draco Malfoy… how to cheer up a Malfoy. They should write a book on this subject. I sat up and kneeled to face him. He wiped away my tears with him thumb and smiled. “Draco… I was scared. I- I didn’t know how the world was going to handle the two of us together. The Gryffindor Princess and the Slytherin Prince.” He turned his head to the side and lowered his hand. Oh crap, I definitely need that book. “But...” He turned his head back to look at me and I took his hands in mine. “I’m willing to try. Ginny told me I don’t follow my heart enough. I want to follow my heart on this Draco. And it’s leading me to you.” He dropped my hands and engulfed me in a hug which I enthusiastically returned. “You’ll give us a chance? Even though I was a git to you in the past… and even today?” He asked in an unbelieving tone. I laughed and nodded. “Yes. This is us starting over. Now come on, let’s go eat some chocolatey and marshmallowy goodness.” Smiling I offered him a hand once I stood up. When he was standing he bent down, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Really? How old are we here people? “Draco! Draco Malfoy you put me down this instant.” I huffed at him, but couldn’t hide the laughter in my voice. “Not a chance Granger.” He laughed and playfully swatted my butt receiving a small yelp of surprise. The night was one of the best I had in a long time. Looking around the fire at friends new and old, cuddled up in the arms of my once upon a time enemy and eating gooey goodness was the perfect end to a semi perfect day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rest of the summer flew by in a flash. I spent most of my time with Ginny and Blaise who were now dating, or with Draco my gorgeous boyfriend. *sigh* Yes I know I’ve become one of ‘those’ types of girls. Deal with it. Ginny and I also spent many a days shopping in Muggle London, Diagon Alley and occasionally Hogsmeade with our mothers. We had new outfits to wear at the clubs, new shoes to make the Patil twins jealous and everything under the sun we could possibly need this year at Hogwarts. Blaise and I received our Hogwarts letters one morning about a week before school. Dear Miss Zabini, I am very pleased that you and your brother will both be joining us to retake your 7th year here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have established a new dorm for all returning 7th years as only a small amount have agreed to return and there is limited space in the house dormitories. However, you will not be sharing this dorm for you have been chosen as Head Girl and will be sharing a dorm with the Head Boy. Congratulations dear. I look forward to having you at our school once again. I have attached your badge to your supply list. I ask you to please join myself and the Head Boy in the Heads compartment on the train as soon as you board. I will see you September 1st. Sincerely, Headmistress Minerva McGonagall I was ecstatic! Basically hopping up and down and screaming my head off. Mother was laughing at me while Blaise held his hands to his ears and scrunched up his face in pain. “Seriously Blaise, you blare that music all day long in your room yet you can’t take a little screaming from me? Wimp.” I received a scowl from him and flashed a smile in return. As soon as breakfast was over I ran to the floo and told my parents the good news. They were very excited and proud of me. That night Draco joined us for dinner. I was totally bummed that he didn’t get Head Boy and he wasn’t too happy that I would have to share a dorm with some random guy. A couple nights after that Draco and I were sitting down by the pond. It had sort of become ‘our spot.’ We decided to talk about our past together at school, at home, the war. It was a hard night. By the end we both had tears pouring down our faces, but I had never felt more connected to anyone in my whole life. I think that was the night I fell in love with him. I learned about all the pain he had gone through while growing up as a Malfoy, all of the hurt and struggles he encountered trying to become the perfect son in his fathers eyes. We just held each other until the sun came up. I saw Ron once more before school. The Weasley’s invited Blaise, Mother, Draco, Mum, Dad and me over for dinner out in their back yard. Ron didn’t say much. He didn’t bother to approach Draco which I was grateful for. Besides, he had Lavender there with him. She didn’t talk to us either, just glared every now and then. George was apprehensive around Draco at first, but eventually came around when he saw how loving he was towards me. My parents adored him even though they knew about our past. He had pulled them aside and explained everything. Eventually mum took to him closely followed by my dad. All in all I had the most amazing summer of my life. And after fighting in a war, I really needed it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Knock knock knock “Mmgmgmrufm” I mumbled into my pillow. Not the sun again! “Ok ok, I’m up.” “Hogwarts today Miss Head Girl. You better go get ready.” Minnie told me. “Shit!” I yelped as I hopped off my bed and ran into my bathroom. Shower…. Ahh lovely hot water, hello my friend. Ok, dry the hair, brush the teeth. Makeup? Hmm, maybe a tad today. A little blush, pink lip gloss and a swipe of mascara. I opened the door to find Minnie making my bed. I ran to my closet in my bathrobe and picked out a simple outfit. Thank Merlin I packed last night. Why is it that I’m always up late on important days? Blue or green? Green. I think I have some new obsession with green. I wanted to make a good impression today right? Needed to more like it… Green, pleated dress with a baby yellow belt to go around my waist. Ok cleavage looks good, hemline hits right above the knee, belt defines waist. I slipped on the pair of baby yellow sandals Mother made me buy to match the belt, and spun around in front of my floor length mirror. “Minnie, do you think I should curl my hair?” I called out to her. “Let me see what you’re wearing.” I walked out to show her and twirled around a bit. “Well?” I asked as I walked to my vanity. I took out my gold and pearl tea drop necklace that hit just above my chest and fastened it around my neck. “Yes. I think it would look lovely. Just a little bounce.” I smiled to her and went into the bathroom to curl my hair. I ended up pinning the sides in a clip at the back of my head. “Funny, my hair used to be mega frizzy and curly and I always wanted it straight. Now it’s pin straight and I sometimes wish it was curly.” I mused to myself. “Mia! We gota go!” I heard Blaise call from the hallway. I went over and hugged Minnie. “Ok, trunk check, purse check, owl check, cat check, I guess that’s all I need. Locomotor trunk and cages.” I said as I pointed my wand at my luggage and made it follow me out of my room. “I’ll see you soon Minnie!” I called back after me. I followed Blaise and his luggage down to the entrance hall. “There you two are. We are meeting your parents at the station in 5 minutes.” Mother huffed with her hands on her hips. Calm down woman, we’ll make it. We’re magical for Merlin’s sake. “Sorry Mum.” I mumbled. We then walked out of the manor and out of the apparition wards. With 3 pops we were standing in an alley outside of Kings Cross Station. Blaise and I went to get two trolleys that had been left outside and loaded our trunks and pets onto each. “Ok, hurry kids.” Mum said moving quickly to the entrance. I spotted my mum and dad as soon as we reached platforms 9 and 10. I had them grab onto the trolley with me and we ran at the brick wall and appeared onto platform 9 ¾. Blaise and Mother followed behind us and we all said our goodbyes while our luggage was being loaded onto the train. “You take care of each other now you hear?” Dad instructed us while waving his finger. I smiled and hugged him once again. I was so grateful that my parents accepted Blaise and Mother into their lives with open arms. Dad had even had ‘man dates’ with Blaise while my mums and I had girly days. He took him fishing, watched football at my house and went shopping in Diagon Alley. They even invited Draco when they went shopping for school supplies. It’s like Dad got the son he never really knew he wanted until now. We have turned into one big happy family. Blaise told me one night how mother was always dating and marrying throughout his life and mysteriously all her husbands died. I did NOT want to find out any more about that, but he said that she seems happier than she had been in a long time. He figures she was lonely and now she has more people to call family. I’m happy the way things turned out. “You owe me Mia, big time. I was at school until the war. Technically I shouldn’t be taking this year again.” Blaise grumbled, snapping me out of my reverie. “I know bro, but you didn’t get to take your NEWTS. And you’d miss your dear, dear sister too much to be away from her for months at a time.” I told him while pinching his cheeks. “Yeah yeah. Ok well we gota go. See you all in about 4 months. Love you mum.” Blaise kissed mother on the cheek while I said goodbye to my parents. I then hugged Mother and he hugged my parents. Then we headed off to the train. “Goodbye parental units, love you all! I promise to write!” I shouted and received love you’s and waves. I looked around the platform for a familiar head of bleach blonde hair but couldn’t find it. “Guess he’s already on the train.” I sighed to myself. “Ok, I’m guna go find Ginny and you have to high tail it to the Heads compartment, the train has started to move.” Blaise moved out of the way as I ran to the front of the train uttering ‘excuse me’s and apologies when I bumped into people. Great way to start your reign as Head Girl Hermione, fabulous. I reached the Heads compartment and straightened out my dress and hair before heading it. I slid open the door and saw a tall boy in a sky blue polo and dark wash jeans standing up and looking out the window. He had blonde hair. I felt my whole face light up. “Draco?! What are you doing in here?” He turned towards me with a smile and pulled me into his arms. “Hello love.” He whispered and then leaned down to capture my lips in a loving tender kiss. “Hmm, I like your hair curly.” He said as he wound his fingers into it. “You look very beautiful Hermione.” He moved in for another kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer to me. I love this man. Yup, totally head over heels in love. We continued to kiss innocently until we heard a tap on the glass. Terrified it was McGonagall we separated quickly and looked to the door. “Ginny, Blaise! You scared the hell out of us. We thought you were McGonagall.” I let out a nervous laugh. Draco pulled my back against him and wrapped his arms around my stomach. “Nah sorry to disappoint, but we just wanted to see how you’d react when you found out Draco here is Head Boy.” Blaise smiled at his friend. “What? I thought you were just in here to see me for a sec.” I said as I tilted my head back and to the side to look at him. What just happened? I get to live with him!!?? He leaned his chin on my shoulder. “Nope. You are stuck with yours truly for a whole school year.” I could hear the excitement in his voice. I turned around in his arms and started jumping up and down in excitement. He chuckled at me. “I know; I feel the same way love.” “This is awesome! Why didn’t you tell me?” I playfully swatted his chest. “Because I wanted to surprise you and see you jump around like you’re still doing.” He said outright laughing at me now. I stopped and scowled at him. “Hey! Weaslette knew too and didn’t tell you.” “What? Ginny you knew and didn’t tell me? You just let me go on and on about how I have to share a dorm with some loser?” I rounded on her. “Well you got the loser part right.” I heard Blaise say and chuckle at Draco’s glare. “I was told to keep quiet. You know how Malfoy can be when he doesn’t get his way.” Ginny defended herself. “Yeah, yeah.” Draco mumbled. “Crap, gota go guys, McGonagall’s headed this way. See you at the feast.” Blaise said and pulled Ginny down the hall. Draco and I moved over to sit on the left side of the compartment, a few feet separating us. “Ahh, my apologies. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.” The Headmistress said while taking her seat. We both shook our heads no and she continued. “Good good. Now as you know Mr. Malfoy and Miss Zabini… Do you prefer Zabini or Granger still?” She asked while looking at me over her spectacles. “Zabini is fine Professor. I no longer look like a Granger anyway, but everyone is welcome to address me as either.” “Very well then. The two of you will be sharing a common room and bathroom. You will have separate bedrooms of course. There is a small kitchen as well. I expect you to behave like proper young adults and put your differences aside. It is your duty to show the student body we are all one. I have a list for you; it has each of the common room passwords and instructions on what your job entails. Prefect meetings will need to take place once a week, the day is your choice. You will need to organize Hogsmeade trips and school activities. Now, any questions?” “No Professor.” We chorused. “Good. There will be a prefect meeting in this compartment in 45 minutes. I will see you at the feast then.” She got up to leave and turned back to look at me. “Miss Zabini I almost forgot. Before the sorting of the first years we will be placing you under the Sorting Hat once again. Because of your new found identity we must let the hat decide whether or not you still belong in Gryffindor.” “Wha… what, Professor. I’m sure that’s highly unnecessary.” I sputtered. What the hell! What if it puts me in Slytherin because of my new attitude and family? I didn’t change that much after the war did it? “I’m afraid it is necessary my dear. But don’t fret, things won’t change much even if you do happen to change houses. You will still have your own living quarters, the only things that will really change are your wardrobe and timetable. Well, I better be off. I will see you soon.” And she left. I stood up and started pacing in the little space I had. “Oh, my god, what if I’m put in Hufflepuff? I don’t want to be characterized with those happy go lucky all the time people. Shit what if it puts me in Slytherin that’s even worse!” I threw my hands up in the air. “Hey!” Draco pouted at me. Haha, oops… “I’m sorry… it’s just… I like being a Gryffindor. I don’t want that to change. That’s who I am.” Draco nodded in understanding then got up and moved to the door. I watched as he closed and locked it. Then he pulled the blinds down. When he turned around he had a sultry look on his face. Hmm… I’ve seen that look before, and it only means trouble. “And just what do you think you’re doing Mr. Malfoy?” I asked with a smirk on my face. I took steps backwards until I hit the window. Draco was still stalking towards me. “Draco…” I whispered as he stood in front of me. He brought his hand to my face and ran his thumb across my bottom lip. My mouth parted and my eyes slid closed. He ran his other hand up my side and then down again to encircle my waist. He pushed himself against me and I let out a gasp. I felt him bite my lower lip and I moaned. Then he kissed his way down my jaw to my neck while the hand on my face moved into my curly hair and pulled my head sideways so he had better access to the flesh of my throat. I ran my hands up his arms to grip his strong shoulders. His lips made their way to the swell of my breasts, made even more prominent while pushed up against his body. Merlin that feels amazing... He licked and kissed his way down my cleavage and nipped at my tender skin. “Merlin Draco…” I breathed and felt his lips curl into smile against my breast. The hand that was in my hair caressed my throat and made its way slowly over my chest causing my breathing to become even heavier. His lips eventually found mine again. He didn’t waste any time teasing me, he plunged his tongue into my mouth and kissed me with a fevered passion I hadn’t experienced with him, or anyone before. It was like he was ravenous. I tangled my hands in his hair and let him devour my mouth while pressing farther into my body. I could feel just how aroused this was making him and smiled while he growled. One of his hands lifted the fabric of my dress and made its way under. His fingers skimmed the fabric of my lace panties and I felt my body tremble and heat flooded between my legs. I whimpered as he continued to bite and taste my mouth and tongue. “Draco, not here… not now.” I managed to breathe out when I could get a break from his lips. I wasn’t too keen on our first time being in a train compartment. He broke away from my mouth and gave me puppy dog eyes; silently begging me for more. I just shook my head ‘No.’ “Oh alright.” He whispered before claiming my lips once again. I let out a small moan. “I want to hear that again.” He said as he moved to nibbling on my ear then he licked and bit a tender spot on my neck and I didn’t have a choice but to moan again. “Draco…” I whimpered and brought his face back to mine. It was my turn to be forceful. I whipped him around and slammed him into the window. He let out a grunt and then a deep growl when I claimed his mouth and swirled my tongue with his. His hands gripped my backside and held me tightly against him. Eventually I broke our kiss to fill my lungs with air. I stared into his perfect eyes for the longest time. Draco leaned down to plant a sweet tender kiss on my lips before he said, “I love you Hermione.” My eyes widened. There was nothing but tenderness and love written across his features as he gazed deeply into my eyes. Have I slipped into dreamland again? Did I really just hear what I think I heard? “Wha- what?” I said as my heart sped up again. He smiled a little and brought his forehead down to mine. “I’m in love with you.” He whispered sweetly. A/N: I do NOT own anything Harry Potter. The song lyrics ‘Heaven, I’m in heaven’ are part of the song ‘CHEEK to CHEEK’ by Frank Sinatra. I don’t own S’mores. I closed my eyes and a smile spread across my face. After about a minute I opened them back up to look at the man I loved. I cupped his face with my hands and brushed my lips against his. He loves me, how the hell did this happen?? “I love you too Draco. So much.” I told him. He smiled and gave me a long tender kiss but eventually pulled away. “Come on, let’s go use the loo and then we need to get ready for the prefects meeting.” I slowly peeled myself away from his body and headed for the door. Walking hand in hand to the bathrooms I had a huge smile plastered on my face. “I’m going to go chase down the lunch trolley when I’m done in there.” He said jerking his head to the men’s room. “Is there anything you want?” “No thanks.” My stomach was still full of butterflies.” He smiled and kissed the palm of my hand. Oh, this man. “I’ll see you back in the compartment then.” I kissed his lips before he disappearing into the loo. After I was finished freshening up I went back to the compartment. Draco wasn’t there yet so I set out my parchment and pencils for the meeting. I couldn’t focus on anything except the fact that Draco Malfoy loves me. Me! Best day ever! After a few more minutes Draco walked through the door, arms full of everything you could possibly find on the lunch trolley. “Draco.” I laughed. “Did you buy the entire trolley?” “No, the old bat wouldn’t let me.” He pouted. That just made me laugh harder. “I didn’t know what I was in the mood for, and you said you didn’t want anything so I figured I’d get a bunch of everything. You can have your pick of anything if you get hungry, I’ll eventually figure out what I want and maybe I’ll even share the rest at the meeting.” I leaned over from my seat to kiss him. “That was sweet Draco, thank you.” “You’re welcome love. Ok, so what do we need to do before they arrive which should be in a few minutes.” He asked while dumping his stash of goodies on the seat across from me. I shuffled through the papers and handed him the set of blank schedules that needed to be filled in during the meeting. “When they arrive we will just go around introducing every one I guess and then set up a patrolling schedule, give them their passwords and see if they have any questions.” I smiled up at him. “Sounds like you’ve got everything under control.” He lounged back on the seat and started to eat a chocolate frog. Of course I have it under control, do you even know who I am? We heard knock on the window and looked to the door. Ginny and Blaise walked in and sat down next to me. Blaise leaned over and stole a cauldron cake from Draco’s pile of food. “Sorry guys, prefect meeting in a few, you need to leave for now.” I said looking back down at my papers. I heard more people come into the compartment and saw Draco sit up. I looked up to see Neville, Luna, Pansy, Hannah Abbott, Michael Corner and Ernie Macmillan enter the compartment and shut the door. They all proceeded to take a seat and all the guys except my brother stared at me. Everyone needs to stare, really? “What’s going on?” Draco asked looking around at everyone. That snapped all of the guys out of their trances. Thank you Draco… “Oh yeah, we didn’t tell you guys. McGonagall made us all prefects for the year. And don’t worry Mione; I explained you’re situation to everyone out in the hall.” Ginny said happily while eating a licorice wand. “Oh man really?!” I got up and hugged everyone. Draco stayed in his seat looking uncomfortable. “Hello Draco.” Luna’s airy voice floated over to him. He looked up in shock and stuttered before replying. So I’m not the only one that can make him stutter huh? “He- hello Luna.” He finally managed to get out. I smiled at Luna and went to give Draco’s shoulder a squeeze. Luna is such an amazing person. “So, while this is totally awesome I guess we should get the schedules over and done with and then we can just do whatever.” I had Draco hand out the blank schedules and pencils to everyone. After we finished the schedule for the first 2 weeks we all hung out and had a good time. Draco still looked tense so I sat on his lap and he wrapped his arms around me which led to a whole new wave of questions about the two of us. Every one also wanted to hear my transformation in my words so I had to delve into that story. We eventually went to change into our uniforms and then gathered back in the heads compartment to talk about everyone else’s summers. By the time we pulled into Hogsmeade Draco was laughing along with everyone. I love seeing his amazing smile. I just wish I had seen it at least once throughout the previous 7 years, but I’m seeing it now and that’s what counts. We all walked off the train together, me holding Draco’s hand, Luna holding Neville’s and Ginny holding Blaise’s. I heard many gasps as we walked over to the carriages. “The thestrals.” I realized. Draco held my hand tighter and led me to the Head’s carriage. We told everyone we would see them up at the feast. “Your chariot awaits m’lady.” He said while holding his hand out for me to climb in. “Why thank you good sir.” I played along and climbed into the carriage. We took a seat together facing forward and he pulled me into his arms. Mmm… warmth. Not just any warmth. Draco warmth, so much better. “That wasn’t so bad was it? I had a great time. I don’t know what McGonagall was thinking putting our lot as the responsible ones in the school. Does she even remember who we are? She’s lucky Harry and Ron aren’t here.” I finished with a laugh. “Yeah, I’m a little afraid of what mess we could all get into. It’s going to be an interesting year that’s for sure.” Draco told me in a serious tone. I turned to look at his face and it looked like he was thinking hard on something. I reached up my hand to turn his face towards mine. “Draco, what’s the matter?” His face softened a bit. “It’s just… I don’t know. How can you all forgive me so easily? I know I said I want to move on, try to make amends and believe me I am beyond grateful that you and I have put the past behind us, but in the compartment today when I saw Luna walk in I thought I was going to be sick. I was waiting for her to scream at me like you did that first night at dinner.” “Draco…” I saw a few tears trickle down his cheeks and I wiped them away with my thumb. Oh man… I hate it when he cries, makes me want to start. “We held her there for months. Months Hermione. In the dungeons of MY home. And yet, she doesn’t hate me. She even said ‘hi’ to me. How do you all do it? You look at me like I’m not a monster, like I didn’t treat you like shit and make your life hell for the past 7 years. How do I come back from that? How can I come back to this? For Merlin’s sake Hermione, I almost killed Dumbledore! I let Death Eaters into the school! Why would they let me come back?” His last words were a whisper as he looked out the window of the carriage. Tears were still falling from his eyes. God damn it boy! Your heart breaks my heart breaks remember? We were doing so well too. Should I try a little tough love? Let’s see if it will work shall we. “Malfoy! Snap out of it!” I yelled at him and his head snapped in my direction, eyes wide and glistening. “So you screwed up. There’s nothing you can do to change what happened in the past, not even a time turner will fix it. Why the sudden nervousness? We had a great time on the train today, no one brought up the war, and hell no one even had a fit because I’m dating you. I think everyone just wants to move on towards a better and brighter future. Between you and me love, I think everything’s going to be just fine.” I gave him a small smile and he held me tighter. Good, maybe I could personally write that book… ‘How to Cheer up a Malfoy’ by Hermione Zabini/ Granger whatever. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you.” He whispered into my hair and kissed the top of my head. “You’d be a crying whinny baby that’s for sure.” “Rictusempra.” I heard Draco mumble before I was being tickled all over. “Draco, Draco please….. hahahahaha….. I take it back!” I was rolling around on the carriage floor being tickled by invisible hands. Damn that spell. Whoever invented it is the devil. Draco was laughing at my obvious suffering. “Finite.” Draco said and the tickling stopped. I was breathing heavily and just laid on my back with my eyes closed. I felt Draco’s hand skim my outer thigh and looked up to realize he was leaning over me and my dress was up around my waist showing off my dark green lace panties. His eyes were wandering from my feet to my waist and he had a look of lust in his eyes. I sat up quickly feeling a little self conscious and pulled my dress down. Draco looked over to me and smiled. He held out a hand and stood up. “Come on m’ lady, we have arrived at your castle.” I laughed and took his hand to pull myself up. We stopped walking right outside the doors. Draco wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my hair once again. “It’s good to be home.” I sighed. The castle looked like it always had. You could barely see the damage left by the Death Eaters. I sure as hell am going to miss Harry and Ron… well maybe just Harry right now, but I have a feeling this is going to be the best year yet. No more dark forces trying to penetrate the walls, no taunts from mean blonde haired Slytherins, and a year of living with the man I love. Yes, definitely going to be an amazing year. We finally entered the castle and could hear the Great Hall alive with laughter once again. Ok Hermione, take a deep breath, don’t think about the war and everything will be alright. “You ok love?” Draco asked seeing my uneasy face. I took another deep breath and nodded my head. He brought my hand up to kiss my palm and led me through the doors. Everyone was happy. No one turned to look at our entrance except a few sitting at the end of their tables next to the doors. Some glared at Draco and I gave his hand a squeeze letting him know it would be ok. He pulled me into a hug and whispered in my ear. “Mmmm, I love you in green. It’s just so… Slytherin of you.” He smirked after he pulled away and went to take a seat at his house table next to Blaise. That lil jerk. Never wearing green again! Why didn’t I think about that? Ugh! I spotted my friends over at the Gryffindor table and made my way there. “Hey guys.” I said when I reached them. “Hey! How was your carriage ride?” Neville greeted me and slid over on the bench to let me in. I was getting some stares and questioning gazes from the people surrounding Ginny, Neville and me. “Not bad. Almost peed my pants cuz Draco tickle attacked me, but I made it through.” I heard Ginny laugh and Neville’s eyebrow rose. I guess I’m not as lady like and reserved as I once one. Gota work on that. “May I have your attention please? Good. Now I would like to welcome you all back to a new start for our wonderful school…” Professor McGonagall went on to tell us how she is very proud of each of us for returning and hopes that we will all have a wonderful year. I tuned most of it out, got pretty boring by the end. I refocused when Ginny nudged me in the side. “Will Miss Hermione Granger please join me?” “Ugh, this sucks.” I mumbled as I got out of my seat. That’s right everyone, start your gossiping already. “What’s going on?” Ginny whispered. “Apparently I need to be resorted.” I grumbled as I made my way away from my friends and up to the Headmistress. I looked to my left and caught Draco’s eye. He smiled and winked at me. Ok, nothing to it right? Once a Gryffindor always a Gryffindor. Every head turned to stare questioningly at me as I passed them. Yup, even more attention than I got as a member of the trio. I finally reached the front and picked up the hat. I took a seat on the stool and placed the hat on my head. Here we go again. I heard it start talking inside my head. ‘Well, well, Miss Granger, back again I see. Or should I say Miss Zabini now. Yes. A lot has changed since I sorted you 7 years ago. Your mind is still as sharp as ever, but there is a touch of darkness in your heart. No doubt from the tragedies you have faced. Yes, much has changed my dear, but you still have as much courage and loyalty as you always did. I see no point in changing you now. So it will still and always be…’ “GRYFFINDOR!” The hat called out and I breathed a sigh of relief. Yes! I’m still me, thank Merlin! The whole Gryffindor table clapped while still giving me confused glances. I took the hat off and placed it on the stool. Professor McGonagall came to my side before I could leave. “Congratulations, I am very pleased you have not lost yourself with all that has happened. I do wish you to explain to the student body about the ehem… new you, but after I introduce you and Mr. Malfoy as the head students this year. We will sort the first years, carry on with the feast and then make our little announcements at the end. For now enjoy yourself dear.” She said. I nodded then went back to my friends. I smirked at Draco and saw him smile and shake his head. Ha ha Malfoy take that! Still a Gryffindor at heart. I tried to ignore the questions poised at me when I got back to my table. I put my head down and let Ginny and Neville tell everyone all will be explained in due time. They didn’t stop asking though. All throughout the singing of the hat’s song, sorting of the first years and the feast, which was delicious as usual, I tried to ignore the glances thrown my way and the constant stares from the guys. After the uneaten desserts vanished from the tables the Headmistress once again stood up to address the hall. “I would like to make some announcements. As most of you know, the Forbidden Forest is still OFF limits. Mr. Filch has a notice outside of his office with all of the banned Weasley products and other contraband that will earn you a detention if found in your possession. We also have a couple new additions to the staff this year. Please meet Professor Wilkins; he will be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” This was followed by a lot of applause, mainly from the female population as a young guy stood up at the staff table and gave the crowd a smile. Merlin he’s hot. “That is one delicious looking man.” Ginny whispered to me. I nodded my head in agreement as we stared at the 6 foot, raven haired man that couldn’t have been more than 25. Like I said before, best year ever. “I would also like to introduce Professor Zabini; she will be your new Muggle Studies teacher.” McGonagall waved her hand over to me and I stood up. I smiled to all of the open mouths around me, but noticed out of the corner of my eye that Draco’s head was down and he looked solemn. I finally joined the Headmistress at the front of the Hall once more. My friends and boyfriend weren’t the only ones keeping secrets. I had received an owl from the Headmistress a week before we got our Hogwarts letters. She asked me if I would like to take over Muggle Studies, just 2 classes a week. They were in need of a teacher because of the tragedy of Professor Burbage. SHIT! That’s why he looks the way he does. Oh Merlin, I completely forgot he was there when Voldemort killed our teacher. I’ll have some explaining to do later that’s for sure… I stood to the side of the Professor’s table, waved to Hagrid and waited until McGonagall finished her speech. She went on to explain Firenze would be taking over every Divination class as Professor Trelawney retired. This received a wave of thunderous applause. Good, she was a flaky old woman anyway. Hagrid was resuming his post for Care of Magical Creatures. Every other teacher was also continuing with their classes, even McGonagall though she had the job of Headmistress on her shoulders. Strong woman that one. “Quiet please, quiet. I would like to ask Mr. Malfoy to please join me up here.” Draco slowly made his way up to the front and I moved over to stand with him and the Headmistress. I gave him a small smile but he wouldn’t look at me. Bloody hell, I was having a terrific day too. “Now, I would like to introduce your Head Boy and Head Girl for this year. Mr. Draco Malfoy and Miss Hermione Granger.” All of our friends clapped, everyone else was just confused. “Oh, I suppose this is confusing for all of you, so if you would Miss Granger please explain.” “Yes Professor. Blaise?” I called out over the room. My brother walked to the front of the room and stood next to me. We heard several gasps and whispers spread through out the hall as they noticed the striking resemblance between the two of us, that and the fact McGonagall had called me Professor Zabini. “Well, let’s get right down to it shall we? This summer I woke up looking like this. I found out I had a glamour charm placed on me until the fall of Voldemort so I wouldn’t be in danger. Apparently he liked families to have one child only and preferably a boy. Blaise is my twin obviously. I was adopted by the Granger family and grew up all my life as a muggleborn. You can all call me Mia, or still Hermione if you prefer. I am your new Head Girl this year as well as your Professor one day a week. My class is MANDITORY for all students, any complaints see the Headmistress. First through fourth years have class together and fifth through seventh the same. Times and days for the class will be listed on your timetables which will be handed out tomorrow. Now I will turn things over to your Head Boy. Draco?” Wow, that was a long speech. Ok Draco, any time now. I nudged him in the side. “Right. Good evening, for those that don’t know me I’m Draco Malfoy. There is to be no fighting anywhere within or outside the castle. Detentions will be handed out and points will be taken from your houses, even my own. The returning 7th year students will have their own dorm as there is not enough space to accommodate them in the house dormitories. Most of them are you prefects. They will not be living in your quarters, but they will be making random checks to their houses which will be a surprise so please do not do anything you wouldn’t want to be caught doing. Respect the castle, the grounds, the students, the Professors and creatures alike. This is our home for the next year, others of you for the years to come. We would now like to introduce your prefects.” Draco said and nodded his head towards me. “Ok. Gryffindor are Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Ravenclaw are Luna Lovegood and Michael Corner. Hufflepuff are Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan. And Slytherin are Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Please feel free to ask them or us any questions you have. We will all help you in any way we can. Professor?” I stepped back and let McGonagall address the crowd once again. Damn I was born to lead. “Thank you. I hope you all have a wonderful year here. Prefects you will lead the first years to the common rooms and explain what needs explanation. Please join me back here when you are finished. All returning 7th year students remain in the hall and I will show you to your quarters once the prefects have returned. That will be all, off you go. Goodnight.” Everyone except the non prefect “8th” years, as I like to think of ourselves, stood up and headed out of the hall in a wave of chatter. Draco started to walk back to the Slytherin table. What’s his deal? “Draco?” I asked but got no answer, he just kept walking. Blaise put his arm around my shoulders and watched his friend walk away. “What’s got his wand in a knot?” He asked. “I think I know. I’ll just have to deal with it later.” I said and sighed. “So Sis, Professor Zabini. That’s exciting. I can just snooze through a class and not get in trouble.” Blaise had a smile on his face. I laughed. “Yeah right. You are going to have to work extra hard Mr. Zabini BECAUSE you are my brother.” “Aww, come on that’s not fair.” He whined. “Too bad.” I said in a singsong voice. Blaise harrumphed and went to join Draco, Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode. I hope she didn’t bring her damn cat with her this year. “Miss Zabini, I would like you to meet your new teacher, Professor Wilkins. I’m sure he will be a great asset to our staff. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to talk with Poppy about the new muggle additions to the hospital wing we’re adding.” Professor McGonagall introduced me to the tall gorgeous man and then left us standing by the podium. He reached out to take my hand and brought it to his lips. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Zabini.” He kissed my hand and I couldn’t help but blush. Oh, so many gorgeous men in my life lately, what’s a girl to do…? “The pleasure is all mine Professor.” I said with a smile. “Please, call me Blake.” He returned my smile. He was still holding my hand. Ok, getting a little awkward, I’m your student remember. “Only if you call me Mia.” I replied trying to be kind but finding it a little difficult. “Mia it is.” He laughed a little. “So, Mia. How was your summer? Glad to be back?” He asked. I felt a pair of arms tangle around my waist and a firm stomach and chest press up against my back. I yanked my hand out of the Professor’s as quickly as I could. “Yes Mia. How was your summer?” I heard Draco repeat. Professor Wilkins’ brow furrowed at Draco’s arms around my waist and looked into my surprised eyes. “Well… it was pretty wonderful actually, thank you for asking.” I quickly blurted out and said goodbye to the Professor while slipping out of Draco’s arms and walking to Gryffindor table. I felt his hand on my upper arm and he spun me around to face him. Great. A livid boyfriend, just what I need to start the school year. “What was that?” He seethed. “Draco, you’re totally overreacting. He was just introducing himself.” “No Granger, THAT was not someone introducing themselves. Did you see the way he was looking at you? It was like you were fresh meat. And you were holding his hand!” “Draco, keep your voice down you’re making a scene!” I whispered to him. It was true, the rest of the “8th” year students in the hall were looking at us now, some of the teachers too. How embarrassing… “Fine. But we are not done here.” He told me then turned to stalk back to join the Slytherins. What the bloody hell!? It wasn’t even my fault that the new guy was holding my hand. He wouldn’t give it back! Ahh, guys are so infuriating! I sat down away from the rest of the Gryffindors and started banging my head on the table. I eventually felt a hand on my forehead and one on the back of my head, effectively stopping me from giving myself a concussion. “Ok, spill. What the hell happened while I was gone?” Ginny, yay, Ginny’s back! “Long story. But I think I’m in for a night of kicking and screaming.” I said with a grimace. “Everyone please follow me.” Professor McGonagall led us out of the hall and up numerous stair cases. We eventually arrived on the 6th floor in front of a portrait of Grecian ladies. “Password please.” The one holding an urn said. “Dobby.” The Headmistress gave the password and walked in followed by our smiling faces. The common room was just as big as Gryffindor’s, but it was made up of all the colors of the houses mixed together. Sofas, tables, desks, chairs, fireplaces, you name it, it was there. After exploring a little we were called back to the common room. Draco and I said our goodbyes and went to follow McGonagall out of the portrait. Draco didn’t say anything, just followed the Headmistress with me trailing behind. Down a flight of stairs to the 5th floor we stopped in front of a picture of fairies and nymphs in a wood. Everything was sparkling like there were thousands of fireflies everywhere and flowers were draped throughout the trees. “Here is your common room. The Queen of the Fairies name is Titania.” The Headmistress told us as a beautiful fairy came towards the front of the portrait. She was dressed in flowing robes, the fabric almost see through. A crown of golden flowers perched atop her head. Wait a second… “You mean like Tatania, in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream?’ The fairy queen?” I asked in astonishment. Why on earth would there be a picture of one of William Shakespeare’s works in this castle. “Yes, you are correct Miss Zabini. Mr. Shakespeare was a great asset to the magical world in his day. He recorded many accounts of our history while he attended Hogwarts.” McGonagall said and my eyes grew wide. “He… he went to school here? He was magical!?” I screeched. What the hell! I’ve been lied to all my life by everyone around me it seems, even people at my muggle schools! First Green Day, now this? Seriously!!!?? “Oh, yes of course. You didn’t think he just made up all of those stories of fairies, ‘death’ potions and witches just off the top of his head, did you? Now, I trust the two of you can come up with a password. I will be taking my leave now. See you bright and early tomorrow. Goodnight.” “Goodnight Professor.” Draco said while my mouth still hung open in shock. “What do you want as the password?” He asked in a monotone. I blinked a couple of times and finally closed my mouth. “Huh? Oh… um, I- I don’t know.” I didn’t care to be honest. My world was just turned upside down, shaken until its pockets were empty and then turned right side up again. “Fine. Our password will be Coconut.” He told the portrait. It opened and he strode in ahead of me. So much for being a gentleman. I huffed and followed him after a minute or two of trying to make my brain recover from shock. When I stepped into the common room I saw him pacing by the couch and running his hand through his pale hair. Uh oh. He turned around to face me with a fire in his eyes. Here we go again… A/N: William Shakespeare wrote ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ The movie with Christian Bale is fabulous. Tick tock, tick tock. Draco was just staring at me. I folded my arms across my chest and waited. Come on, let’s get on with it. I huffed and threw my hands in the air. That did it. “Why didn’t you tell me?! Why didn’t you tell me you would be taking over Muggle Studies?” He bellowed at me. Really, we’re really going to do this? “Because I wanted it to be a surprise! Like everyone else apparently saved their good news for, TO BE A SURPRISE. You didn’t tell me you got Head Boy! You went around for a week complaining how I was going to be living all alone with some other bloke!” I yelled right back. He was pacing again, lovely. “That’s because it’s not a big deal, well it is but this… this, you knew how I’d feel about this! We talked about that night Granger. Now I have to live with the fact that I HAVE to take the subject of the Professor I watched die right in my own home, but not only that, my girlfriend is teaching it! Did you even think for a minute how that would affect me?” Shit! Shit, shit shit! The truth was I didn’t think about how it would affect him. I started to walk over to him but stopped in my tracks when he continued. “And then, I watch all day long as every guy you pass gawks at you. Ya know what, I think you enjoyed it too! What am I not enough for you or something? You already throwing in the towel after I told you I loved you?” What the hell! “Every guy was NOT gawking at me Malfoy!” I screamed back at him, even though his words were probably true I wasn’t going to let him win. He stepped closer to me now causing me to take a step back. “Yes. They. Were. No man other than me has any right to look at you like that.” His voice was cold and demanding. The old Draco was shining brightly at the moment. “Merlin Draco you don’t know anything do you!? Yes alright, maybe some guys on the train and in the Great Hall were looking at me. But so were the girls! If you haven’t noticed Malfoy I’m not the girl I once was. And it’s not like anyone else has never looked at me like that. Do you remember Victor Krum? Cormac McLaggen? He was all over me 6th year!” I was rubbing my temples trying to get rid of the oncoming headache. “What do you mean all over you? When!? When the hell did that happen? I’ll kill him!” Draco was fuming from the information he never even knew existed. “He tried to get me under the mistletoe at Slughorn’s Christmas Party while you were trying to find a way to get Death Eaters into the castle!” Oh bollocks… “Well I’m sorry that I didn’t pay attention to the Mudblood’s make-out schedule!” I stopped and turned to face him. Oh holy hell you didn’t. His eyes were wide. He reached out a hand and stepped towards me. “Hermione…” I ran out the portrait hole, down the hallway and up the staircases. I needed Ginny and I needed her now. Let her still be awake, dear Merlin please let her be awake. I arrived in front of the Grecian lady. “Dobby.” I said through my tears and the portrait swung open. I ran inside while calling out. “Gin?” Ginny and Blaise were the only ones still in the common room. They were cuddled up on the couch in front of the fire and got up instantly when they saw me. Ginny ran to me. “Mione! What the hell happened? Where’s Draco?” Ginny asked while moving me to sit on the couch. “He… I… he….” I couldn’t get anything out through my sobs. “What the hell did he do Mia?! Tell me now! I’ll murder him!” I could see Blaise’s feet moving around on the floor in front of me while I held onto Ginny. “Please… don’t ki- kill him Blaise. We… he got mad and I got mad and…” I held Ginny tighter and cried into her shoulder. “Blaise, maybe you should go talk to Draco while Mione stays here for the night.” Ginny said to my brother. “The password is… is coconut.” I said then heard the portrait door shut. I looked up to Ginny, tears still pouring down my cheeks. “Ok, spill.” She comanded while conjuring a box of tissues. And so I told her everything from when Draco said he loved me, to his breakdown in the carriage to why I was in their common room. By the end of it I had to cast a Muffliato on the room because she was bound to wake up her dorm mates with the amount of screaming and profanities she was spewing. “What is his problem?! Hermione you didn’t even do anything wrong. And ok the whole letting Death Eaters into the castle thing hit below the belt, but I cant believe he called you a… a mudblood. He had no right to yell at you in the first place.” By the time she was done ranting she fell back against the couch I was now lounging on. “Does he really think I’m that type of girl Gin? That would just go through guy after guy because they have a pretty face; that I would cheat on him? Merlin, he told me he loved and I told him I loved him too! Did he just think I was going to take that back in less than 24 hours?” My head hurt, mainly from Ginny’s screaming but also from my fight with Draco. “I don’t know Mione. Maybe he doesn’t know you as well as he’d like to think… What are you guna do?” Ginny started playing with my hair. “What am I guna do? He gets pissed because I was offered a position to teach; shouldn’t he be proud of me? Then he thinks I wanted the attention of all the guys. And then of course the cherry on top, he calls me a mudblood… I don’t know Gin. Maybe he’s not the man I thought he was…” I felt a few more tears slip down my face and quickly wiped them away. Why did this have to happen? Oh that’s right… because I’m a Gryffindor and he’s a Slytherin. “Yeah… here, lie down and try to get some sleep. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” Ginny went to get me a blanket and pillow from her dorm and Blaise walked in as she was coming down the stairs. I looked over to him. He was running his hand over his face and eventually sat down in an arm chair next to the couch. “Well. He’s definitely beat up about this Mi. When I got there he was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands and looked up when he heard footsteps. I think he thought I was you. His face was soaked in tears. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry before.” Blaise said shaking his head. “Lucky you, now you’re part of the Draco Malfoy likes to cry club. Members, you and me.” I snorted, so very ladylike. “Come on Mia, he was a mess, just like you were. He knows what he did and said was wrong. I almost hit him when he told me he called you a… ya know. But just seeing him the way he was I knew he felt terrible about it and wished he could take it back.” “I don’t care right now Blaise. He had no right to say what he did, about any of it. I didn’t even do anything wrong. Maybe he hasn’t changed like I thought.” I pulled the blanket Ginny gave me over my head and curled up on the couch. “Just talk to him Mi, he told me to tell you that he loves you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Night Ginny.” A few tears fell from my eyes as I drifted off to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Mione. Time to wake up.” I heard Ginny whisper as she pulled the blanket off my head. Why do people always feel the need to wake me up? The world might be a better place if I could just stay under that blanket. “What time is it?” I mumbled groggily. “It’s 6:45. Classes start at 8 so if you want some breakfast and your timetable we need to get you ready. Do you want to get ready here or go back to your dorm?” “Here. I don’t want to see him yet.” Ginny directed me to the bathroom and I took a quick shower. Then I magically cleaned my clothes, dried my hair and was good to go. I walked back into the common room to see her and Blaise sitting on the couch with a few others around the room. “Mia, what are you doing here?” Pansy asked coming to give me a hug. “Oh, um needed some girl time with Ginny last night.” I explained and she nodded her head. “Shit! My books, I left them all in my trunk last night!” “Come on, we’ll go get our timetables and see what books you need for the day then we’ll go get them. Ok?” Blaise asked linking his arms with mine and Ginny’s. “Fine.” I huffed and we were off to the Great Hall. When we arrived I made a beeline to the Gryffindor table without looking to the left to see if Draco was there yet. As soon as I got to the middle of the table I noticed my book bag and my books stacked on the table along side the breakfast foods. I smiled a little to myself but couldn’t get over the debate I had in my head while in the shower this morning. It was a nice gesture, but it didn’t make up for the fact that he hurt me deeply. Do I love him, yes. But after accusing me of wanting the attentions of any man but him, being inconsiderate to his feelings and calling me the most hurtful name he’s ever used, I just wasn’t ready to face him and our relationship. Ginny gave me a half smile when she saw my books but didn’t say anything. We ate in silence until the morning post came. A black and white spotted owl flew down to me and dropped a letter and red rose on my plate. I didn’t want to open it, but with a little prodding from Ginny I gave in. There in elegant writing was an apology. Dearest Hermione, I am so terribly sorry for what happened last night. There is no excuse for my behavior. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Please my love, I need you. With all the love in my heart, Draco “Well, he has nice penmanship that’s for sure.” I heard Ginny say as I contemplated what to do. “Yeah. But that’s not a reason to forgive him. He cut me deep. I need time.” I then threw the letter in the air and pointed my wand at it. “Incendio!” I yelled and watched as the letter burst into flames and the ashes landed on my plate. “Ouch…” Ginny mumbled. McGonagall came around with our timetables towards the end of breakfast. Let’s see… ___ Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri___ 8-9 Potions HOM Potions HOM Potions HP S HP S HP 9:15- 10:15 FREE Transfig. FREE Transfig. FREE RC RC 10:30- 11:30 DADA DADA DADA DADA DADA S S S S S 11:45- 12:45 -------------------------------LUNCH---------------------------- 1-2 Herb. Muggle S. Herb. Muggle S. Herb. HP 5th – 7th HP 1st – 4th HP 2:15- 3:15 Arithmacy FREE Arithmacy FREE Arithmacy RC RC RC KEY: HOM- History of Magic: Professor Binns DADA- Defense Against the Dark Arts: Professor Wilkins Potions: Professor Slughorn Transfiguration: Professor McGonagall Herbology: Professor Sprout Arithmacy: Professor Vector Muggle Studies: Professor Zabini S: Slytherin HP: Hufflepuff RC: Ravenclaw NOTICE: All Muggle Studies classes will be held in the Great Hall unless otherwise dictated by Professor Zabini.) “Potions with Hufflepuff, FREE, DADA with Slytherin oh great… just what I need, class with my jerk boyfriend the day after our first big fight. That should be lovely. Lunch, Herbology with Hufflepuff again and Arithmacy with Ravenclaw. You’d think they’d ease up on the amount of Defense classes we need to take since the wars over. Overall not too bad though. Just glad to know you took all but Arithmacy.” “I know, I would have died if I didn’t have you in most classes. Not to say I don’t like the other Gryffindors, but it’s always more fun when you’re around. Come on let’s get a move on.” Ginny grabbed an apple off the table and slung her bag onto her back with me trailing behind leaving the rose and making sure to avoid the Slytherin table as best I could. Potions was as interesting as it could be after 6 years of the same thing. Slughorn was as eccentric as ever, but over all it was ok. Ginny and I sat together while we all reviewed past potions and their effects. After class we decided to visit Hagrid during our free. He was putting the finishing touches on his new hut. It was a little bigger than the last one and the new furniture was a nice surprise. He served us rock cakes, which we didn’t eat. Fang was as slobbery as ever and I swear I saw something pop its head out of the pot on his counter. I didn’t ask. Hagrid and his weird creatures, I didn’t want to be associated with them anymore. On the way back to the castle Ginny was trying to give me a pep talk to calm my nerves about our DADA class with Draco. It didn’t work. We weren’t the first to arrive thank Merlin. We took a couple seats towards the back of the class room away from all the stares and whispers. It’s only been 1 day Hermione; of course they’re still talking about you. Damn glamour charm… I felt an elbow in my side and looked up in time to see Blaise and Draco stroll into the room with a few minutes to spare. They spotted us and made there way over. Blaise kissed Ginny on the cheek while Draco stood there looking at the floor. No way am I saying anything to you right now Malfoy so go away. No such luck, they sat in the desks right in front of us. He slumped down in his seat and I just glared at the back of his head. “Mia. Would you please come join me up here?” I looked up at the same time I heard Draco growl to see Professor Wilkins smiling at me from the front of the class. “What the bloody hell does he want?” I whispered to Ginny. She just shrugged her shoulders. Why me? I walked up to the front of the class and could feel all eyes on me. “Yes Professor?” He turned me to face the class. “I would like you all to meet my new assistant, Miss Hermione Granger aka Miss Mia Zabini.” He called out to the class. I froze while staring wide eyed at Draco’s face. He had the same look of surprise and horror on his face that I could feel on mine. Everyone except Draco, Blaise, Pansy and Ginny clapped. Even Lavender and Pavarti had joined in for some reason. I cleared my throat before I chanced a refusal. “Uh Professor… I’m honored you would choose me for this task, but I really don’t think I would be right for it. Perhaps someone more experienced, some new Auror in training. I mean I have classes, I’m teaching Muggle Studies twice a week, I have Head Girl duties, I just I don’t think I have any time Professor.” I could feel my voice pleading with him to let me get out of this. Please leave me alone… please. “That’s the beauty of it. You only have to help while you’re in the classroom. You’ll just be a consultant when we go over different spells that the students have a problem with. They can come to you during class and ask questions and you help them and report back to me on their progress. It’s as simple as that.” He finished smiling like it was the best idea he’d ever had. Oh bloody hell. I know I’m going to regret this. I started to rub my temples and closed my eyes before I muttered an “Ok.” “Wonderful. Class please give another round of applause for Professor Zabini.” He said and joined in with the clapping of the class. “May I be excused for a moment?” I asked while still clenching my eyes shut. “Are you alright Mia?” The professor asked. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just… I need to use the loo.” I said quickly and I opened my eyes in time to see him nod. I basically ran out the door. Why me!? What the hell did I do to deserve this complex year? I only bloody helped save the world; don’t you think that would get me off the hook for crap like this? I didn’t go far, just down the hall a little ways from the classroom. I was leaning my head on the wall, my hair blocking my peripheral vision and my hands repeatedly pounding the stone. That’s when I heard him. “Hermione…” I stopped pounding my now throbbing fists into the cold stone wall. “Not now Draco… please.” I begged. I didn’t want to fight right now. He went back to the classroom and let me sort out my thoughts. I had to go back in there and I eventually did. “Mia, would you please come up here for a moment?” Professor Wilkins asked as soon as I step foot inside the classroom. Everyone once again watched me make my way up there and then looked back down at whatever papers they had in front of them. “Yes Professor?” I asked when I got to the edge of his desk. “You feeling any better?” He asked. “Yes sir.” I politely nodded and grabbed the paper he handed me then hightailed it back to my seat. Draco’s eyes were on me the entire way down the aisle. I tried to ignore it but I looked up once and caught his intense longing gaze. I quickly averted my eyes when I felt my heart beat faster. “What was that about?” Ginny whispered to me. “Just being a teacher.” I whispered back. The rest of the day was uneventful. Draco left me alone for the most part like I asked him to. I brought Ginny back with me to the Head’s dorm so I had a buffer between Draco and myself. I locked myself in my room right after Ginny left so I didn’t have to deal with him. I got ready for bed making sure to lock the bathroom door from my side as well as the bedroom door, grabbed my dragon and drifted off into a restless sleep. A/N: I do NOT own Harry Potter. The next day started out much the same as the last. I avoided Draco at all costs, which took its toll on my heart I must admit. History of Magic was a total bore as usual, I actually fell asleep a couple of times. Who knew Hermione Granger would dare fall asleep in class? Certainly not the old me. The new me wonders how it didn’t happen more often. Transfiguration was fun. McGonagall had us transform a crystal doorknob into a ring. She allowed us to keep them as they were rather nice for being an old doorknob. Defense was a nightmare. Wilkins had me go around to half of the students and ask them to produce a Patronus charm while he took the other half. We worked on that all class. Luckily he took the half of the room with Draco in it. Lunch was fun, sat around talking and eating. I set up my lesson preparations for the class I had the next hour, overall I was looking forward to it. The hour came around and all that were left were the 5th through 7th years. When I was sure everyone but my “students” were gone I stood up, closed the doors to the great hall and addressed the group. “OK. I would like everyone to stand up and move against the walls.” After everyone looked at me like I was crazy they eventually moved to the side and I transfigured the tables and benches into all sorts of comfy couches, chairs, and beanbags. Then I moved them to form a circle in the middle of the Great Hall, waved my wand at myself and transformed my uniform into a pair of black sweats and a pink hoodie. Everyone’s eyes seemed like they were going to pop out of their heads. I just smiled and jumped onto the beanbag I had placed in the dead center of the circle. “Everyone, please make yourself more comfortable. There are no teachers here to reprimand you for being out of uniform.” My friends did what I said and soon the rest followed. “Everyone take a seat please.” I called out. They all moved to the new furniture and took seats. Most were fighting for the beanbags. I laughed at this. Well, I guess most of them have never seen a beanbag before. “Would you all prefer to have a beanbag?” I received a chorus of yes’ and told them to stand against the walls again while I got up and worked my magic. When they were finally all situated I remained standing to address the group. “Hello Witches and Wizards of all ages!” I yelled into the air while waving my hands around. Yup, they think I’m crazy already. I don’t care. “So. First order of business, the rules.” I received a bunch of groans on the word rules. “I will not tolerate violence, name calling, pranks unless you run them by me first and I approve, nor are you allowed to make fun of anyone because of who they are, where they come from or what they say and do. Also, hopefully this is not a class you will fall asleep in like History of Magic, which I personally did today. Yes, I know, Hermione Granger fell asleep in a class? Believe me I was just as surprised as you are. Got it?” Everyone agreed. “Ok then! My name is Mia Zabini aka Hermione Granger aka Professor Zabini, but call me Mia. Professor makes me feel old. Most of you already know me, if you don’t you are free to introduce yourselves to me after class for we only have an hour which is not much time to get through everything. I also have a free period after this so if anyone else has a free and would like to stay to learn more or ask questions please be my guest. This class will not be on your OWLS or NEWTS; I will be administering a test of my own. Oh come on, it will be so easy you could do it in your sleep. Um let’s see… Any questions?” Almost the entire room full of people raised their hands. “Yes, what’s your name?” I pointed to a girl with dark brown curly hair sitting on a blue beanbag. “Hi, I’m Shelby. I’m a 5th year Ravenclaw. I was wondering why we had to take this course if it won’t be on our end of the year exams.” She asked. “Valid question.” I swished my wand around and all of the beanbags vanished making everyone fall on the floor with a grunt. “Now I want everyone to stand up. I want all the Muggleborns to stand on the left side of the room. And all the Halfbloods to the right. Quickly we only have an hour. Now I want all the purebloods to walk to the front of the hall while everyone else stays put.” I said this as I walked to the front of the hall. Technically I am a pureblood. “Now Halfbloods and Muggleborns come together in the middle of the room. You see Shelby, we are the minority. The people in the middle all have at least one Muggle parent. Most of them know all about the magical and muggle worlds. Why should we be left out of that? Why should we not know about everything every one else does? And besides, if there’s an uprising between them and us, we’re screwed! We have magic, but they have nuclear weapons.” I received few laughs as I conjured the beanbags again. As we walked back to the middle I felt a hand gently touch mine. I turned to see Draco walk past me and take a place next to Blaise and Ginny. I gave him a half smile. “Ok, any more questions? Not about why you have to take this class or my sudden transformation, I think I will be handing out flyers in a couple of days that explains everything and even has affidavits from my parents the Grangers and Harry and Ron. Oh, and no questions about the war please. I’ll talk about that on our free time, if I’m in the mood.” All the hands went down. “Ok well today I am going to introduce a thing I like to call the telly! How many of you have one of these in your home?” All of the muggleborns and some of the halfbloods hands went up. “Good. You will get to enjoy and relax then while everyone else looks on in wonderment. I need some man power for this. Blaise, Ernie could you please help me?” I led them to the room behind the teachers table and helped them roll out a big fat TV and VCR on a wooden pallet with casters. I didn’t feel like levitating the thing, took me to long to get it set up. Don’t want to break it on your first day Hermione. We set it up in front of the podium and the boys rejoined the class. “Engorgio!” I pointed my wand and the TV grew to an even greater size. Big enough that the students could see all the action. I turned around to see most of the purebloods and some halfbloods looking at the TV like it was going to attack them. See Shelby, this is why you need this class. “Now, I’m sure that you are wondering how I am going to get this to work without electricity. Well, it’s magic. No, but all joking aside I had the Headmistress give me special permission to try a few spells, more like a hundred on this TV when I found out I’d be teaching this class. I found a few that worked and had it sent here before my arrival. I would like everyone to come closer to the screen so you can see. “Today we are going to watch one of my absolute favorite movies… ‘The Breakfast Club!’ This movie is about a bunch of kids from different walks of life all stuck in detention together. I think you might learn something from this movie, so sit back and enjoy. Winky!” I shouted over all the rustling of beanbags and feet. With a POP the little house elf was standing in front of me. “Yes Misses, what can Winky do for you?” “Winky would you please bring up the buckets of popcorn I ordered as well as the cooler full of sodas I had Professor McGonagall send for?” I kneeled down to ask the little elf. Such a sweet elf, and well dressed too. With a bow of her head she was gone. I went over to my bag I had picked up from my dorm during my Free; it was full of all types of Muggle candies and a selection of VHS’s. “Ok, first lesson. This is a video tape. This black film here holds a story. We pop it into that which is called a VCR which is connected to this, a TV and the story shows up on the screen. Got it? It’s sort of like a play but the people in the box don’t get tired if you play it over and over again.” I received several laughs from the Muggleborns and nods from the rest. “Second lesson, these are Muggle candies. This is an Almond Joy. It is chewy coconut and almonds engulfed in a layer of dark chocolate. Who would like to try this?” “ME!” I turned to Draco who had his hand raised and I gave him a look that said ‘you’re crazy.’ I threw the candy bar to him anyway. “What is it with you and coconut?” I asked but didn’t get a response. “Ok, continuing on. Raisinettes. Raisins covered in milk chocolate. Reeses Pieces, peanut butter surrounded by chocolate…the candy made famous by E.T.” I said as I threw the candy into the crowd. “What’s an et?” Someone asked. “Any takers?” I looked around the room. “Ahh you, in the purple.” “It’s another movie. It’s about a boy who finds an extra terrestrial aka “ET” or alien, and takes care of him until his space ship comes to take him home. He first lures him into his house by leaving a trail of Reeses Pieces.” “Very good, here have a box of Junior Mints.” I praised her as I threw my favorite candy to her. I continued to throw different movie candies at the group while the film was starting. Winky and a few other elves then brought up the popcorn and sodas. “Thank you all!” I thanked the elves and they left with many POPs. “Ok, third lesson. Popcorn, it’s corn kernels heated up until they pop open into this delightfully air filled snack which is usually consumed while watching movies. Fourth lesson. This is a cooler. You fill it with ice too keep foods inside cold. Fifth lesson. Soda, it is bad for you and will rot your teeth my parents say, but hey what do dentists know anyway right? “Oh, dentists are people in the Muggle world that fix your teeth. Anyway, soda, tasty and refreshing when eating popcorn. I’ll pass around the refreshments while you watch the movie. I also have more candy in my bag if anyone wants to try it just let me know.” I waved my wand at the candles overhead and their flames dimmed. Then I walked back to where the elves placed the popcorn and cooler full of sodas. “Do you need some help?” I heard a whisper behind me. That voice made my heart leap for joy and ache at the same time. I turned around to see a melancholy Draco. “Yes, thank you.” He helped me pass out the buckets of popcorn and sodas along with the rest of the candy I had in my bag. It was hard to get most of the class’s attention because their eyes were glued to the screen. When I was done, I walked to the back of the room again and lied on my beanbag a couple feet behind the last row of students. Draco brought his green beanbag over and lied down next to me. “You’re doing a really great job I hope you know. I don’t think anyone has ever had so much fun in a class before.” Draco whispered to me. “I’m really proud of you Hermione. And I’m so sorry for what I did yesterday.” He reached out to take my hand. “Just watch the movie Draco and we can talk later.” I whispered still not looking at him, but I let him hold my hand. ‘I’m still so mad at you;’ I wanted to scream at him. But for now I just let him caress my hand with his thumb. We only got about 20 minutes into the movie when it was time to get ready to leave. I walked to the front and stopped the movie to a chorus of groans. “Ok guys, sixth lesson, dental floss. As most or all of you know right now, you have popcorn kernels stuck in your teeth. This will help get it out.” I handed out samples floss I had my parents send me. “I hope you enjoyed our first class. Remember I am available after this class if there are any questions. Please bring all of your trash to the sides of the room and put it in the trash bags I had the house elves place there; they should not always be responsible for cleaning up our messes. Then change back into your uniforms, I don’t need to be fired the first day because your professors were bombarded with students in sweats and shorts. And then, I guess that’s it everyone. I hope you enjoyed the movie, we’ll continue it next week.” I received a round of applause and took some bows. After most people filed out I gathered up the trash bags and vanished them with a simple “Evanesco.” Then I put the TV back to its normal size, took the tape out of the VCR and had Ginny and Blaise help me roll it into the back room. The candles were put on full blast and I told everyone that was still there to stand out of the way while I transformed the beanbags back into the tables and benches. “Well, that was great Sis! I think this class is guna be a hit.” Blaise said as he slung an arm around my shoulders. “Thanks. It was a lot of fun. Hey, I was thinking. Maybe McGonagall would allow me to move the class to a different location so halfway into lunch, or all of lunch we could have more time. That would give us 2 hours if everyone agreed to it. But there’s nowhere large enough to accommodate everyone.” “Well, it’s worth a try. I’m guna run; I’ll see you guys later.” He kissed me on the cheek then hugged and kissed Ginny before he left the hall. “Mione, I think there’s someone that wants to talk to you.” Ginny directed my attention to the big oak doors. Draco was standing against the wall looking down at his feet. “I guess it’s time.” I walked to the doors and motioned for Draco to follow me. We walked over to the staircase and sat on the top step. “Don’t you have class?” I asked him while looking down at my hands. Breathe Hermione, don’t let him get to you… “Yeah. Slughorn. I’ll just make up an excuse about Head Boy business or something.” He chuckled half heartedly. “Abusing your powers already huh Malfoy?” I laughed a little and saw him flinch at my use of his last name. “Hermione… I’m sorry. I just got so angry that other guys were gawking at you… I’m just terrified someone’s going to take you away from me.” “I know you’re sorry Draco. I’m sorry too for the things I said. But I thought you trusted me. You assumed I would throw you away. You don’t know me very well if you think that’s that kind of person I am. I was cheated on. I wouldn’t want anyone else to feel the way I did. And then, you called me a mudblood. I had to endure almost 7 years of you calling me that. Sure, after a while it didn’t bother me because it was just you. But then to hear it again, after how far we’ve come? It was like nothing had changed. We were back to square one. You were a short Slytherin with his blonde hair slicked back and I was a big toothed, frizzy haired book worm.” Draco put his hands on my cheeks to turn my face toward him and I could feel tears well up in my eyes by the tenderness in his. “Hermione, please… you know I’m different. You know I didn’t mean what I said last night. I am so terribly sorry. I do trust you, with all my heart. It’s just guys that I don’t trust. I know you can hold your own, believe me, I’ve been slapped by you. Please forgive me, I love you so much Hermione.” Draco leaned in and touched his lips to mine. I pulled away at the first touch and he let his hands drop. He looked at me with pleading eyes. I wanted to kiss him again… to let him hold me in his arms and never let go. But my head won over my heart. “I can’t right now. I need time Draco. You hurt me. I need to heal a little first.” He rested his arms on his knees and looked towards the ground. I got up off the step and leaned down next to him. I placed my hand on one cheek and he brought his hand up to hold it there. I kissed his other cheek and moved my lips to his ear. “I love you…” I whispered and started to walk away. “Coconut…I like coconut because it’s what your hair smelled like the first night I held you in my arms…” I heard him say. I stopped in my tracks. My heart started pounding. Walk away for now Hermione, yes you love him, but you need time. Just walk away. And I did. I spent my free period and the time until dinner at the library doing homework and research for the Transfiguration paper we were already assigned. Dinner was the usual, eat talk, eat talk. Draco had patrolling with Blaise so I had time to myself when I got back to our dorm. Boring homework. Who gives homework on the first day? Hogwarts Professors, that’s who. I went to my room before Draco got back and got ready for bed then climbed under the blankets in my gold and red room. The rest of the week went by pretty smoothly. Draco didn’t attempt to bother me except when we talked about Head duties. He still sent a rose to me every morning though. I decided to keep them now. Thursday my Muggle Studies class with the 1st through 4th years went pretty well. I had the muggleborns and halfbloods pair up with a pureblood and share their favorite Muggle piece of technology with them. We went around the room and had everyone ask and answer questions about computers, microwaves, lamps you name it. They were also curious about me, so I told them a little about my life while avoiding the war and such. Draco and I scheduled team tryouts for Quidditch for the first weekend back and posted notices in all the common rooms. Teams were being completely revamped. Each house voted on the position of Captain which would be revealed at the tryouts. Then the captains picked the rest of the team. On Friday during Arithmacy with the Ravenclaws I sat with Luna. She and I decided that we would all have a girl’s night with Ginny and Pansy. We planned on the club Ginny and I went to with Blaise and his friends during the summer. After dinner Pansy, Ginny and Luna followed me up to my dorm. We locked ourselves in my room and the bathroom to get ready. “Come on we need to hurry, Draco will probably be back soon, I want to get out of here ASAP! Hand me the eyeliner.” I took the eyeliner from Luna and went to the bathroom to line my eyes. Then put on 2 coats of mascara and red lipstick. “Crap! I really look like a vampire tonight! Oh well, at least I’ll fit in at that place.” Ginny stuck her head in to look at me. “Damn you do! It’s just because you’re so fair, but geez Mione you look hot!” It’s true I did look good. I was wearing black fishnet stockings, a black and red plaid pleated mini skirt and had attached a pair of suspenders that I let hang loose to the sides, a black tight v neck t-shirt that showed my stomach a little and a pair of black Doc Martens. I left my hair down and walked out into my room. “Wow, you guys look awesome!” I told everyone. Pansy was wearing a tight black dress that had a zipper running down the front and red peep toe pumps. She did still kind of looks like a pug unfortunately, but she did look great in that outfit. Ginny had on a pair of short red shorts over a pair of black fishnets with a baggy red and black zebra print shirt that hug loose over one shoulder and showed her bra strap. Her feet were back in my red high top Chucks. And Luna, oh Luna. She’s special. Love her. She was wearing one of my dresses. It was bright pink. She must have transfigured it to make the bottom poof out sort of like a tutu. Her hair was crimpy and she was wearing a pair of my pumps that she had turned bright yellow. “Ginny said you spent all your time in a room where they played Muggle 80’s music. I saw a picture from the 80’s once. Everyone was happy and wearing bright colors and tutus.” Luna smiled at me. I returned her smile and nodded my head. “So why are we going to this place again? Can’t we go somewhere like New York?” Pansy whined. “Two words Pansy. FREE DRINKS. And besides, we don’t know where to apparate or floo to if we wanted to go to New York.” Ginny said slowly. Thank you Ginny, I knew I always liked you. That shut Pansy up. “Ok girls, we ready to go?” I asked as I unlocked my door. “Yes!” They all chorused. We walked down the stairs to the common room and stopped in our tracks. Blaise and Draco were sitting on the couch by the fire. I motioned for the girls to follow me and be quiet. Maybe we could get past them. Maybe not… “Oi! Where you going?” Blaise always the articulate one. I turned towards them and crossed my arms over my chest. “Out.” I said. I really don’t want to fight right now please… “Not dressed like that you’re not.” This time it was Draco that spoke up. “Fine. Then come with us.” Pansy told them. “Pansy!” Ginny and I yelled at her. “Gin, you were just guna go out and not tell me?” Poor Blaise, I guess this was my fault. “Um… well… it was Luna and Hermione’s idea!” Thanks Ginny. Draco walked towards me. “Oh, it was, was it?” He stopped in front of me and looked over my outfit. “Yeah, definitely not happening. You’re not going anywhere in that without me by your side.” He then leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You look good enough to eat.” I felt myself shiver and he had a smirk plastered to his face when he pulled back. “Ugh! Fine. Go get ready. Blaise we’re going to QXT’s. Fix Draco up would ya? I’ll send a patronus to Neville and who are you dating Pansy? Ernie?” She gave me a nod and I told my patronus to go fetch them. About 15 minutes later the boys all emerged from Blaise’s room looking fantastic. I knew the others had black and what not on but I couldn’t take my eyes off Draco. He looks so sexy right now, I wonder if I forgive him enough to go make out with him… He was wearing a pair of black jeans accessorized with a studded belt, black Converse and a black band t-shirt that hugged his body just enough so you could see he was built well and had strong arms. After I was done assessing his body my eyes found his face. Oh Merlin kill me now… bluish grey eyes outlined in dark charcoal liner. All topped off with a head of gorgeous mussed up blonde hair which was falling into his eyes. I couldn’t help myself. I got off the couch, walked over to him and pushed him into the wall. His face didn’t register surprise, just longing. I combed my fingers through his hair and settled my hand at the back of his neck while looking deep into his eyes. His lips came crashing down onto mine before I had the chance to move. Thank goodness I placed a sealant charm on my lipstick tonight. His perfect lips moved over mine with hunger. He grabbed my waist and spun me around so I was against the wall and he forced his body against mine. “Hey! We gota go.” Blaise reprimanded us. Draco slowly pulled away, both of us breathing heavily and just looked into my eyes. “I miss you…” I whispered to him, still holding his gaze. He didn’t say anything, just moved in to sweetly kiss my lips. He pulled me into a tight embrace and I clung to him. “I’m right here love. I didn’t go anywhere. I’ll always be right here.” He told me. I nodded and moved to end the hug. We smiled at each other and held hands before joining our friends waiting at the portrait hole. “Ok, who’s ready to have some fun?!” I shouted before we stepped into the hall. Everyone just laughed at me. I pouted and Draco brought my hand up to his lips and kissed each of my fingers lovingly. Ahh…it’s good to have him back. A/N: These are some things I do NOT own or have any association with. I just used them in my story because I like them… Harry Potter, ‘The Breakfast Club’, beanbags, Almond Joys, Raisinettes, Reeses Pieces, Junior Mints, ‘E.T.’, Doc Martens, Converse and Chuck Taylors. Again… I do NOT own anything I just listed which I think you already knew. “Ouch! Watch where you’re going Ernie!” I yell/ whispered after being run into for the zillionth time. We stopped in a corridor on the 7th floor. “Sorry Mia…” “How exactly are we getting out of here? Weren’t all the passage ways sealed up during the war?” Draco asked me. “Ahh Obi-Wan, know about the Hogs Head tunnel you do not.” I quipped. “What the bloody hell did you just say?” He asked while looking at me like I was a three headed dog. Oh Fluffy… memories. I turned to notice everyone else with their brows furrowed in confusion. Damn, only “muggleborn” in the group here Hermione remember? “Never mind, Muggle thing. I’ll explain at one of our classes. Ok, is the coast clear Gin?” I looked over to her. Ginny had swiped the Marauder’s Map from Harry after the war. She is brilliant. Honestly, it’s not like he needs it anymore, he’s off doing his all important Auror training while we are here. This way it doesn’t feel bad from not getting used. If paper could feel I guess. “Yeah, Filch is still on the 4th floor. We’re in the clear.” She said in a normal voice and we walked around the corner toward a blank stretch of wall. “How exactly are we getting in there? It was destroyed remember?” Neville asked while placing his palm against the smooth stone. “Ahh, but that’s the beauty of the ROR. Everything in it was destroyed, but all we need is the tunnel. McGonagall said they had a hell of a time trying to control the fire, but eventually it just died down by itself. Just be careful where you step, a bunch of Ashwinders were found in there after the fire and they laid there eggs in some of the corners. If you step on them your feet might burn for a sec.” I grazed my hand over the wall as well. “How exactly do you know all this?” Pansy looked like I told her she had to recite the Hogwarts anthem in front of the whole school. “McGonagall. I went to her and asked if there was somewhere I could move our Muggle Studies class so we could extend it into lunch. She told me the fire burned for most of the summer after the war, but since it didn’t have anything else to feed on it just fizzled out. And then I went to…” “The library.” Everyone chorused and I gave them a bright smile. Ahh, they know me so well. I had to laugh. “Yeah. So anyway, Neville, if you would do the honors. After all, you’re the one that smuggled me, Harry and Ron into the castle through here.” “Wow, Longbottom, breakin the rules. Proud of you m’ boy.” Draco clapped Neville on the back and I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Dad. Now everyone stand against the opposite wall please.” Neville walked in front of the blank stretch of wall 3 times and before we knew it the large doors appeared before our eyes. “I love magic.” I mused and pulled Draco along with me to enter after everyone else. We stepped in and were greeted with a depressing sight. The room was completely empty, save for the mounds of ash everywhere. I felt Draco stop behind me and turned to face him. He looks like he’s seen a ghost… what’s wrong with him? Yes this room used to be amazing to look at but there’s nothing we can do about that now. “Draco… are you alright?” I asked as his eyes focused on my face. He pulled me into a hug and buried his face in my hair. “It’s just… this room holds so many memories. It’s where I betrayed the entire school. Where you and your friends saved my life and where… where Crabbe died.” He mumbled into my hair. I just held him tighter against me. He’s right. A part of him died in here. I pulled away to look in his eyes and gave him a quick kiss. Then I turned to my friends. “Everyone please come over here and join hands.” They did as I asked and I continued. “I would like to say a few words for a friend of ours who perished in the fire set ablaze in this room.” I felt Draco squeeze my hand in thanks. “Vincent Crabbe was not a man of many words, but he was a true and loyal friend to the people who stuck by him. Dear Merlin where ever you are, please take care of him and let him know his friends and family miss and love him.” I finished and Draco whispered a ‘thank you’ into my ear. I gave him a sad smile and we walked over to the portrait concealing the tunnel. It was still there only blank. “I wonder how that didn’t catch fire.” I mused. “You’re forgetting who Ab’s brother was.” Neville said as he helped us all into the tunnel. That’s right, duh Hermione. Aberforth was Albus’ brother. Smarts run in the family I guess. He must have charmed the portrait to protect it against damage. We walked along the tunnel and eventually came out the other end into The Hogs Head. “Neville! How are ya boy?” Aberforth greeted our group as soon as we stepped out from behind Ariana’s portrait. I was so excited to see him again that I bounded up and captured him in a hug. “Aberforth! It’s so good to see you!” He was a little hesitant but eventually gave me a small hug. When I pulled away he asked me who I was. Shit, forgot about that. “Ok, short story. I’m Hermione Granger. I found out I was adopted and had a glamour charm on me. I am twin sister to Blaise Zabini and yeah.” I said in one breath. “Wow. That’s a lot to adjust to, but you look great anyway and it’s really good to see you too then. What brings all of ya here? You do know it’s past curfew.” He said with a smile. Ahh, good ol' Ab. He would never turn us in; likes adventures just as much as we do. “Well, we were planning on having some fun tonight. Can you leave a key outside for when we get back?” Neville asked him. “Sure thing Neville. Just be careful, have fun you lot.” We left through the back door to a few stares from his customers. “Ok two of us will have to come back for the rest.” I stated but was interrupted by a cough from Draco. I raised my eyebrow at him. “Actually, I’ve been there once with Blaise, so no need for leaving anyone behind tonight.” He said. I nodded and the four of us who had been there grabbed onto a newbie and were in the alley by the club a second later. I held out my purse which had the Undetectable Extension charm on it. “Alright girls. Wands, maps, swords, magic mirrors, Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme, you name it, put it in here.” The girls all stuffed their belongings into my bag while the guys just put their wands in their pants pockets. When we were done I grabbed Draco’s hand and followed our friends towards the entrance. After introducing everyone to the bouncers and bartender upstairs Blaise led us down to the 80’s room. “Let’s go dance!” I yelled over the music and pulled the girls onto the dance floor. We danced like morons to Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ while the guys leaned against the bar and laughed at us. The song eventually changed and Draco came onto the floor and pulled me into his arms. We swayed to ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police. His left hand was on my back holding me to him while his right held my left hand to his chest. He rested his forehead on mine and closed his eyes. I did the same as I placed my right hand on the back of his neck, playing with the soft hairs there. This is where I want to be forever; just being loved by him. Draco started to sing along with the song and I felt my heart ache. He held me tighter and I let some tears run down my face. “Since you've gone I been lost without a trace I dream at night I can only see your face I look around but it's you I can't replace..." When the song changed neither of us moved. Oh hell, when did I become such a sap? This boy is guna be the death of me. Eventually I opened my eyes and saw that Draco was looking at my mouth. I tipped my head back and captured his lips in a tender loving kiss, pouring into it all the emotions running through my heart and soul at that moment. I could feel his love when he kissed me back. “Mione, Mione come on drinks! I told the boys they have to stay sober to apparate us back cuz this was originally supposed to be a Girl’s Night.” Ginny said tearing me away from my love. I looked back to see him smile at me before he rejoined the guys. “Mia what happened? You have streaks of black down your face.” Pansy looked at me worriedly. I wiped away the lines of eyeliner and mascara with the help of Ginny. “Nothing, just a really sweet moment back there. Draco was singing along to that song. That boy has turned me to pure mush.” The girls laughed and we ordered our drinks. After a few cocktails Pansy ended up on a couch in the room making out with Ernie. Luna was hanging on Neville and they were slow dancing to every song even when ‘Bust a Move’ by Young M.C. was playing. It was rather hilarious. Ginny, Blaise, Draco and I kept dancing around on the floor to all the 80’s classics even though two of us were pretty smashed after our 3rd drink. Light weights, don’t hate. It’s pretty nice being a light weight actually, costs less. Here it cost nothing though, 3 bars, a round of drinks from each bartender. I love this place. After getting everyone to rejoin our group in the middle, we all jumped around to R.E.M.’s ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It’, even though I was the only one that knew the lyrics. Yes, I love American and British 80’s music. I did say I liked anything but country, did I not? I remembered stumbling out of the bar, something about a tree and then being squeezed through a bendy straw, ya know one with those red, blue, green or yellow lines? Yeah. That’s all I remember. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Hermione…love wake up.” What is that sound, why is someone screaming at me? “Mmmmmmm.” I mumbled and buried my face deeper into whatever I was holding onto. “Hermione seriously love, I need to get ready for quidditch tryouts.” I heard Draco chuckle and felt my body shake a little. Then I felt light kisses being planted on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see what I was holding onto. Draco. Of course. I was curled around his body, my arms surrounding his waist and my head resting on his chest. Pressed between us was my stuffed dragon. I released my hold on him a bit and pulled back to look at his face. “What happened last night?” I asked. “Good morning love. Well… you got very drunk.” He said and I could tell he was trying with all his might not to laugh. “Shh… too loud. And?” “Let’s see… when we got out of the club you decided you wanted to climb a tree and kept jumping at a branch that was too high for you to reach. And then… you threw up, but so did all the other girls when we landed from apparating. You just chose to do it on my shoes, well technically your brother’s shoes.” He whispered but was still trying to hide his laughter. “Ok, what else happened? How did I get down to my knickers and bra?” I asked him after realizing I was pressed into Draco’s body and only clad in my black lace bra and panties. I hurriedly moved away from him and brought my blankets up to my chin, shielding my basically naked body from his eyes. Oh god, oh god, dear Merlin please tell me we did not have sex last night! I can’t remember a thing! Ok, he’s fully clothed, that should be a good sign right? “Um yeah about that… I carried you up to your room and when I laid you down on the bed you just started taking your clothes off. I was about to leave, but you asked me to stay… so I did. Nothing happened though I promise; you fell asleep before I even climbed in the bed.” He reassured me, chuckling a bit now. I let out a long breath and relaxed back against my headboard. “Good, I would at least like to remember the first time we have sex.” I saw him raise his eyebrows. “Yes, I think about that kind of stuff. Question. How did you know that Muggle song that you sang to me?” I asked smiling at the memory. “Well… Mother kind of had a thing for the 80’s. I found her one day when I was younger dancing around her room to Billy Idol’s ‘White Wedding’ when Father was out on business. It sort of became our little secret. Father never found out and Mother was never as anti-muggle as he was, so it just grew on me. Of course no one knows that, except you now.” “I love you.” I told him and leaned over for a kiss. “I love you too.” He said and proceeded to kiss me all over my face making me laugh. “I’ll see you in a bit; Slytherin has the pitch first this morning. It’s only 8:30, go back to sleep and I’ll wake you up for lunch.” He tucked me back in and headed for the door. “By the way, there’s water on your bedside table along with a hangover potion and a garbage can on the floor just in case. Blaise and Ginny are in my room, Pansy and Ernie ventured back to their common room last night, I hope they didn’t get caught, and Luna and Neville slept on the couch. When we got back I took everyone’s wands out of your bag along with the map and handed them out. If I didn’t Pansy would have a fit this morning trying to dry her hair the muggle way. Yours is next to the potion. Oh, and I like your dragon.” He said with a cheeky smile. He turned back once more before exiting my room. “Did you know that Draco means dragon in Latin?” He smiled and winked before disappearing. “Draco… finally my dragon has a name.” I squeezed my stuffed animal close to my chest and drifted off to sleep once more. Before Draco got back from tryouts I was already up, showered and sitting in the common room. I wasn’t able to fall back into a deep sleep and kept tossing and turning so I figured what the hell, just get up. Luna and Neville were gone by the time I got downstairs as were Ginny and Blaise. “I wonder if anything happened between them last night… On second thought, I don’t even want to go there.” I said out loud. “Don’t want to go where?” Draco asked as he appeared in the common room. He walked over, arms open to give me a hug but I hopped off the couch and ran around it to hide myself. “Eww, you’re covered in sweat and dirt. You look like Buckbeak when he used to roll around in Hagrid’s garden. Go shower, then I’ll hug you.” He shuddered at the memory of the hippogriff that almost “killed” him and pouted. “By the way how’d tryouts go?” I asked nervously. Please let him have gotten captain… please… “Well… I GOT CAPTAIN!” He yelled so excitedly. I was so happy for him, this proved that the student body, or at least the Slytherins didn’t turn their back on him. He must have been beaming inside just as much as he was on the outside. “Draco I’m so happy for you love!” I bounded over to him and pulled him into a long deep kiss while trying to keep his dirty quidditch robes away from my clean clothes. When I pulled away he was smiling like crazy. “Now go shower and get ready for lunch, Captain.” I told him with a wink and salute. He smiled and slapped my butt then headed upstairs to take a shower. Thank Merlin… I’m so proud of him, as well as the students. He deserves a second chance, he needs a second chance. While I was waiting for Draco I decided to write letters to my parents. Quill, check. Ink, check. Parchment, check. Dear Mum and Dad, I’m doing well. First week of classes went by quickly. My Muggle Studies classes were awesome. I think all the students enjoyed them as much as I did. Thanks for letting me steal all those dental floss samples, the students were going crazy trying to get the popcorn out of their teeth. I asked Professor McGonagall to let me extend the classes into lunch time if the students agree and she said yes. We have a new Professor, he’s a bit annoying. Draco got Head Boy! I was so excited when I found out. He is doing well, I’m sure he sends his love. Guess what! Ginny, Blaise, Luna, Neville and Pansy are some of the prefects this year and all “8th” year students, as well as Ginny and Luna, are sharing their own dorm. It’s like one big happy family. Well, I’ve got to go, lunch starts soon. I love you guys and will write again soon. Love, Hermione Good. Next. Dear Mother, Classes have treated me well so far. I got a big surprise on the train ride here. Why didn’t you or Blaise tell me he was a prefect? Well, for the same reason we didn’t tell him I would be teaching I suppose. Also Draco is Head Boy! I’m so proud of him. My Muggle Studies classes went well. I hope all of the students enjoy the upcoming ones just as much. I am being treated pretty normally, with the occasional stare, but that is to be expected. Being Head Girl is fantastic, I love having my own dorm. I hope all is well with you and the manor. Please say hello to Minnie, Grady and Lars. Let him know I’m expecting those cookies he promised me before I left. Write to you soon. Love, Mia Perfect. “Captain?” I called into the air. “Yeah?” I heard Draco call back with a laugh. “I’m guna run down to the owlery. I have some letters to send to my parents. I’ll meet you in the Great Hall alright?” “Ok. I’ll sit at the Gryffindor table with you today if you want.” “Yeah that would be great. I’ll see you in a bit. I’m so proud of you love!” I smiled to myself and made my way to the owlery. “Bloody hell; was it really necessary to make so many steps? Muggles are brilliant; escalators and elevators, why does all of Hogwarts have to be made up of thousands of stair cases!” I shouted the last word when I reached the top of the owlery. “Ugh, and someone needs to clean this place up. Maybe they should hire Simon; our owlery at the manor is always clean. Billie!” I called up to my raven colored owl. He flew down, perched on my arm and extended his leg. “Billie, please take this letter to the Grangers.” I told him while tying the letter to his leg. He nipped my finger and flew out of one of the windows. I did the same with Blaise’s owl Achilles and sent him on his way to Mother. He wouldn’t mind right? He hardly ever sends letters anyway. “Lovely owls you’ve got there.” I heard a voice from behind me and spun around to see, oh joy, Professor Wilkins leaning against the archway to the stairs. “Oh, uh thanks. The black one is mine and the other my brother’s. Excuse me, lunch is starting soon and I need to meet my boyfriend.” I put extra emphasis on boyfriend and made my way over to him hoping he would let me pass. “I’ll walk with you.” He said and fell into step with me down the stairs. “Don’t you have a letter to send?” I asked. What’s with this dude? He a stalker or something? “No, I just like to visit the owls everyone in a while. Along with the view from up there.” He told me in a nonchalant voice. Yup, definitely a stalker. He had become less attractive since my first meeting with him; right now he was down right ugly. “Ahh.” I muttered trying to walk as quickly as I could to the Great Hall and my safety net… Draco. He kept up with me stride for stride. We eventually made our way into the Hall and over to the Gryffindor table. Draco stood up when he saw me come close to him. His eyes were squinted and he was glaring at Professor Wilkins. I strode up to him and planted a kiss on his lips. He relaxed a little and his eyes softened when he looked at me. “Good day Mia, I’ll see you later.” Wilkins held out his hand for me to shake, I did and when he pulled away he trailed his finger along my hand, gave me a smile and went to join the rest of the teaching staff. “I’m going to kill that bastard.” Draco seethed; apparently he just witnessed my uncomfortable moment. “Wow, that guy really is a creeper. Mione, you better watch out for him.” Ginny warned me then took a bite of her sandwich. “I know.” I huffed as I pushed Draco back down into his seat and sat in the open spot next to him. “He really freaks me out. I was up in the owlery and turned around when I heard his voice. Then he walked all the way here with me. No letter, no package to send, nothing. Said he liked to ‘visit the owls.’ What a moron.” Draco put his arm around my back and pulled me closer to him on the bench. “Just be careful ok? Make sure you always have your wand at the ready. Constant vigilance as Moody said. Hex the hell out of him if he behaves inappropriately again. Or, like I said… I’ll kill him.” Draco ended on a hard note and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. “I know, I know. I’ll carry my lightsaber with me at all times.” I told him and pilled my plate with food. “What’s a light whatever?” Ginny scrunched her face at me. Damn Muggle movies, always stuck in my head! “Ahh, nothing.” I mumbled. About 10 minutes later Ginny got her things together and got up from the bench. “Okay, I’m off to Gryffindor tryouts. Wish me luck!” “Good luck.” Draco said. “Break a leg Gin!” I smiled at her and received stares of confusion from most of the people around us. “It’s a Muggle expression. It means ‘good luck’.” I told them and they just nodded still staring at me like I was nuts. Ginny left the Hall, leaving the rest of us to finish our lunch. A/N: These are the things I do NOT own or have any connections to. Harry Potter and anything to do with it. Star Wars and my references to ‘Obi-Wan’, lightsabers and the way I worded a sentence like Yoda. These are songs I do NOT own. ‘Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme’ belongs to Simon and Garfunkel. ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ belongs to Cyndi Lauper. ‘Every Breath You Take’ and the lyrics I typed belong to The Police. (Sting is awesome btw.) ‘Bust a Move’ belongs to Young M.C. ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know it’ belongs to R.E.M. And ‘White Wedding’ belongs to Billy Idol… who is also amazing… and hot. The rest of the weekend was interesting. Ginny had also made Captain so the 4 of us had a little celebration and reminisced about past quidditch games and school, steering away from the bad memories. On Sunday most of my friends helped me clean up the Room of Requirement to get it ready for our Muggle Studies class on Tuesday. We even froze most of the Ashwinder eggs to give to Professor Slughorn to use in Potions class. Some were destroyed before we got to them though and Blaise had to throw out a pair of his shoes. He stepped on a whole nest and the sole melted right off. He had to ice his foot for a couple of hours, it was pretty funny actually. Tuesday morning came along and Draco and I headed down to breakfast together while holding hands. “Ok people. It’s been a whole week, isn’t there anything more interesting to gossip about yet?” I sort of shouted in a happy voice as we were walking toward the Great Hall doors. People still weren’t used to see Draco and me together. I received many smiles and laughs. Life was good once again. We sat at our separate tables to hang with our friends we hadn’t seen in a while. Halfway through McGonagall called me up to the front along with Draco to make some announcements. “Good morning everyone. We have a few announcements for you today. I have asked Headmistress McGonagall to allow us to use the revamped Room of Requirement to extend our Muggle Studies classes into the lunch time hour. If you are all in agreement we can start this today. We can use the full hour and have the house elves send half the food from the Great Hall to the ROR instead of here. All 5th through “8th” years opposed to this idea say NAY.” The room was silent. I smiled, they liked my class! “Fabulous! All 1st through 4th years opposed, say NAY.” Again the room was silent. “Wonderful. During your scheduled days please meet me at 11:45 am in the 7th floor corridor housing the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Draco?” I turned the reigns over to him. “We have scheduled the first Hogsmeade visit for this Saturday the 14th for all 3rd years and above. Please have your permission slips signed and handed in no later than Friday. Also, the quidditch team lists have been posted in each common room. Congratulations to all who made the teams. Thank you and have a good day.” Draco ended our announcements and we walked back to our tables. Blaise was ecstatic all the way to class; Draco told him that he had been made one of Slytherin’s chasers. Again, thank Merlin. Now I had a happy boyfriend, brother and best friend. I sat with Draco during History of Magic and Ginny sat behind us with Blaise. This week it was my turn to try and keep Draco awake. Not that Binns would even notice, but it was fun to annoy him. DADA was another story. Professor Wilkins heard about the Dueling Club we had during second year and wanted to revive it. He chose Draco to help him show the class a few examples. I grabbed his arm before he took his stance in front of the Professor. “Draco, be careful and whatever you do, just don’t seriously injure or use any Unforgivables please. I don’t need my boyfriend to end up in Azkaban.” I gave him a kiss for good luck. He smirked and took his place in front of Wilkins. Wands up, down, steps away from each other, turn, take a duelers stance and let the games begin. “Incendio!” Wilkins shouted at Draco. I gasped, what was he doing? I could see the anger in Draco’s eyes. He almost died in a fire; I couldn’t imagine what was going through his head as the flames flew toward him. “Protego! Expelliarmus! Incarcerous! Silencio! ” Draco managed to block the flames, disarm Wilkins, tie him up and shut him up before the Professor had another chance to do anything. The class was staring wide eyed at what just happened. Draco slowly walked over to Professor Wilkins, who was now lying on the ground. With a wand in each hand Draco kneeled down next to his head and looked him in the eye. “What are you playing at? That’s not a spell you should be using against students. Something a little less dangerous next time… Professor.” Draco seethed and got up while throwing Wilkins’ wand to the floor a few feet away from him. He walked over to me, kissed me on the cheek, grabbed his books and strode out the door. Everyone was still in shock at what happened. Wilkins was struggling on the ground and I eventually walked over to him, pulled out my wand and uttered “Finite Incantatem.” Then I told everyone to grab there things. “Class is over for the day.” I followed everyone out of the room and didn’t look back. I’m his “assistant” right? If I say class is over, it’s over. Who cares what he wants. “Well that was interesting.” Pansy said while walking up next to me. “You can say that again.” I mumbled. When we arrived to the 7th floor everyone was already waiting for me. I ran to Draco and jumped in his arms. “Are you alright love?” I whispered. He held me tighter and murmured a yes then gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me to do my magic. I walked in front of the wall 3 times. On my third time past the wall the door appeared. Now this is what I’m talking about! The room was large as always but it was clean now. One side definitely resembled a movie theater. All the seats were plush and looked comfortable. They had swivel table tops to be used for eating or writing. The screen on the wall in front of the seats was large to say the least. It took up most of the wall. The other side looked like a miniature version of the Great Hall with 4 house tables lined up. I smiled at my work. ‘Thank you ROR! I’m so glad you’re up and running again!’ I screamed in my head. “Ok, WINKY!” I called into the air and a second later Winky was there. “Yes, Misses. Are you ready for the food now?” The little house elf asked. “Yes, thank you Winky.” I said and she was gone. A couple minutes later house elves had laid out a full lunch on the 4 tables and then they disappeared with a POP. “Ok everyone dig in!” I addressed the crowd and motioned to the tables. “I thought we were going to watch the movie while we ate? Can’t we fill our plates and go sit in those chairs?” A boy named Alex asked. Hmm, he has a good point. “If that’s what everyone wants then what are you waiting for, let’s get the show on the road!” I smiled as everyone rushed to the tables, piled their plates with food, grabbed their cups and took a seat in front of the big screen. “This was a great idea Mi.” Blaise said as he hugged me. “Thanks. I hope we finish the movie with time to spare today, I want to have a group discussion.” “Alright. I’m guna go get food then grab a seat next to Gin, want me to save you one?” “No thanks, I’m sitting at the top. I had the room reserve a seat for me so I could watch over the class.” I told him. “Ok, I’ll see you during the group thing.” “Ok.” I walked over to the VCR and popped the video in. It started and the class was captivated by the amazing 80’s clothing and music. I walked back over to the food and started to load up my plate with a salad and some eggplant parm. “So, did you ask the room to reserve me a seat too?” Draco’s voice came from behind me. I turned to look at him after grabbing my pumpkin juice. He already had his arms full of food. “Of course.” I told him with a smile and we headed for the stairs that would take us to the very top of the seats. We ended up having 20 minutes of class left when the movie was over. “Alright, unfortunately we don’t have a lot of time to discuss the movie and the project I am presenting you with today so we will save the movie discussion till next week.” There were a lot of groans and whines when I said this. “I’m going to ask the “8th” year student of each house that is sitting closest to the front and to the right; your right not mine, to come to me.” They did and I handed them each a digital camera. “These are called digital cameras. They take still Muggle photos. The photos are held on a small little card. It holds data. At the end of the year I am going to take all of the data and make a slide show. You will be taking pictures throughout the year of yourself, friends, Hogwarts, whatever memories you would like to keep. Each year, 4th through “8th”, will get the camera for one week. Everyone in that year must share it. You each will limit yourselves to 1 picture. You can delete your picture if you do not like how it came out or would rather trade it for another. “Next Tuesday at the beginning of class you will hand over the cameras to me. I will remove the data and hand the cameras over to the 7th years on Wednesday morning at breakfast. You will also have a week to share the camera and take 1 picture each. The cycle will go on down to the 6th years then 5th years. We will continue this one month out of every term. Make sure everyone in your year gets to take a picture. Make sure the pictures are appropriate. The teachers will be joining us for the slideshow so please nothing of a sexual or disturbing nature. Let them see your memories of Hogwarts. Have someone take a picture of you and your friends in front of the black lake while the Giant Squid’s tentacles are in the air or a picture of your quidditch team all in uniform. “I’m sure Professor Slughorn would be honored if you wanted to include him in a picture of him by a potions cauldron. Just have fun. Mind the rules and please don’t break the cameras, they were very expensive and the school was extremely generous for providing them for us and future generations. I ask that you do not start taking pictures until tomorrow morning at breakfast, this way every year will get exactly one week to do the project. Ok, that’s it for today everyone. Pick up a copy of camera directions on your way out by the door. Thank you and have fun!” Oh my Merlin I’m out of breath. The students filed out of the ROR ready to start their project. I can’t wait to see what they come up with! I’m a little nervous, but they’re all mature adults now right? Wrong Hermione… While cleaning up the trash I felt Draco’s arms around my waist. “You know, that movie had two characters that were similar to a couple of people I know.” He said. “That’s one of the reasons I picked that movie. You are devilishly more handsome than John Bender though love. And you’re not poor.” Draco laughed and hugged me closer to him. “You’re more beautiful than Claire. And just as rich as me.” I swatted him on the arm but tilted my head to give him a quick kiss. “Now go or you’ll be late for Potions again.” I reprimanded him and he gave me one last kiss and was out the door. With a wave of my wand and some help from my Gryffindor friends the room was clean once again. The next day Draco, Ginny, Blaise, Neville, Pansy and I walked in a group to our DADA class. We took our seats towards the back of the room and waited to see if Wilkins had anything up his sleeve. Thank Merlin he didn’t. Draco and I were basically ignored though, all class. He wouldn’t call on us when we had our hands raised, which I suppose isn’t the end of the world, but it was rather annoying. It reminded me first year when Snape was asking Harry a bunch of questions that I knew the answer to but he just ignored me. May that poor man rest in peace. “Did you guys know that McGonagall had Snape’s portrait hung in the Headmaster’s office this summer?” I whispered to my friends. They all murmured ‘no’ and Draco had a sparkle in his eye. “Do… do you think I could see him? Talk to him… thank him.” He looked anxious. I brushed his hair out of his face with my fingers and laid my palm against his cheek. “I’m sure he would love that.” I smiled sweetly at him and he leaned in to brush his lips against mine. All rest of the week was spent on homework… boring. As well as Head duties aka patrolling the halls and a prefect meeting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Oomph!” I had jumped onto Draco’s bed or more like Draco himself on Saturday morning. “Hogsmeade day! Come on get your ass outa bed Malfoy we have to be at the doors in 20 minutes!” I yelled as I tried pushing him off his bed. Geez… for someone as fit as him, he sure weighs a lot. “Ahh!” I screeched as Draco pulled me into him and threw the covers over our heads. I was struggling against him but he just held me tighter. “Five more minutes love.” He mumbled into my hair and curled his body around mine. This highly reminds me of that first night at the manor. Except this time, I actually want to be in his arms. 5…4…3…2…1 “Draco wake up!!!!!” That worked well. I smiled to myself when his head snapped up. He then started kissing me every where that my skin was bare. I was squirming and laughing while trying to get off the bed. “Ok, ok ok. Seriously you need to get ready. Don’t forget, we have a date today after we get everyone into Hogsmeade.” He finally released me and went to the bathroom to shower grumbling something about ‘bloody woman, get no sleep’. I laughed at him then curled up in his blankets and held his pillow tightly, breathing in his scent. I was already dressed and ready to go so I could afford to laze around a bit. Mmmmm… Maybe I should just stay here and he can take care of the students. Or I should steal his bed and make him sleep on the couch in the common room. My eyes opened when I felt the bed sink behind me. “Nooo way! Up, up get up!” I quickly realized he was just going to lie down and fall asleep so I hopped off the bed and pulled him up before he got settled in. He growled then reluctantly followed me out the room and down towards the entrance hall. “Alright. Everyone please be respectful to everyone in the village, don’t cause any trouble, and mind the teachers, prefects and us. Have fun, and be back to the carriages by 3.” After I addressed the students Draco and I along with Ginny and Blaise filed into the Head’s carriage. “Hey, can we squeeze in here?” Neville asked popping his end in the carriage. We all nodded. Neville ad Luan climbed in, followed by Pansy and Ernie. “Oh boy.” Draco laughed and lifted me off the seat, placing me on his lap. All the girls had to sit on their boyfriend’s laps the entire ride. Thankfully the trip to Hogsmeade was rather quick; Ernie’s legs were starting to get cramped up. I think Draco’s were too, he just didn’t want to admit it. We finally arrived and poured out of the carriage. “OK, WEASLEY’S WIZARD WHEEZES EVERYONE! LET’S GO!” Ginny shouted her directions into the air while everyone was getting out of the carriages. Damn she’s loud! And scary. Everyone followed her to George’s semi-new shop. I’m sure now that school’s in session he’ll be taking baths in a tub full of galleons every night of the week. “Bloody hell Gin, what did you do; Imperio everyone and have them come here first?” George asked his sister when we tore our way through the crowd to see him. “Well, she was a tad bossy. But hey, it worked didn’t it? How are ya Weasley? Who’s running the shop in Diagon Alley when you’re here? ” Draco reached out a hand to George. Over the summer all the Weasley’s, except Ron, gave Draco a chance. I couldn’t be more thankful. “Good Malfoy, thanks and you?” George asked while returning the hand shake. “I couldn’t be happier.” Draco smiled as he put an arm around my waist. Oh this boy, this boy. I love it when he smiles. George gave Ginny, Luna and me hugs while shaking the other guys’ hands. He still didn’t know what to think of Pansy so he just shook her hand as well. “Verity’s taking care of the shop in the Alley when I’m here, as well as Ron. He helps out when he can. Lee also steps in time to time when I’m desperate. Well, look around and if you see anything you like I’ll knock 50% off.” George said then went to help a customer looking at love potions. We looked around the shop for a bit. I found a new self-inking quill I wanted and Draco got some Edible Dark Marks for his father. I wonder how that one will go over… True to his word George gave us half off our items. Draco insisted on paying which I wasn’t keen on but I didn’t want to hurt his pride so I accepted his offer. After saying our goodbyes to everyone and leaving the shop, Draco and I decided to stop in Honeydukes before going on our ‘date’ at the Three Broomsticks. I clasped his hand in mine while walking towards the shop and he pulled me in front of him wrapping his arms around me and making us waddle down the street. “It’s going to be Christmas by the time we get there if we keep walking like this.” I said while laughing. “I don’t mind.” He said and gave me a kiss on the head. He’s such a mush. “Ya know if someone told me a year ago, hell even a few months ago, that you were this sweet I probably would have given them a one way ticket to St. Mungo’s.” I told him in a light hearted tone. He just laughed at me and kept walking like a penguin. Finally! We made it to the shop and I headed straight for the Liquorice Wands. Draco picked up some Chocolate Frogs, Pink Coconut Ice and Blood Flavored Lollypops. “Again with the coconut?” I laughed and he shrugged his shoulders. “And what’s with the lollies; you a vampire now or something?” Yuck! Who wants to eat something blood flavored? Announcement everyone, my boyfriend is kind of disgusting! “Wouldn’t you like to know. I am rather pale don’t you think? But then again… so are you. I would say you look more like a vampire than I do with your hair and complexion.” He winked at me and ran to the counter as I tried to punch his arm. Once again he insisted on paying for my items. Hand in hand, Draco carrying our bags, we headed into The Three Broomsticks and sat at a table towards the back. “Ok, my turn to pay for something. What do you want?” I asked him as I stood up. “Uh uh, no way. It’s not a date if I don’t pay.” Draco said while also standing up. “I have tons of money; let me spend it on my amazing girlfriend.” He gave me a puppy dog face. Ha, maybe if you didn’t basically say that you have more money than me, then I would have let you. “Sit down Mr. Bigshot. You forget. I’m a Zabini now. Mother gave me a key to our vault in Gringotts this summer. I’m sure I probably have as much money as you, or close to it.” I smiled in triumph as he huffed and sat back down. “Butterbeer and fish and chips please.” Draco grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. I leaned over to peck him on his pouty lips then went to order. I took a seat at the bar while I waited for Madame Rosmerta to return with my order. Service was always quick so I knew Draco wouldn’t miss me for long. “Well hello Hermione.” I heard a familiar voice say behind me and I groaned inside. I didn’t look back as I replied. “Hello Lavender.” She and Pavarti took the stools on either side of me. Lovely, the gossip queens of Hogwarts, here they come to wreck the day! “So, I see you’re here with Draco.” Lavender purred Draco’s name and I felt my jaw clench. “Yes, considering he is my boyfriend.” What’s with this bitch? “Ya know, Pavarti and I were just discussing that. Don’t you find it a bit strange that all of a sudden he declared his love for you? I mean, he has hated you for 7 years. But then all of a sudden you transform into a pretty pureblood. It just gets me thinking that all he really likes about you is the way you look, because let’s face it. Little Miss Bookworm never caught his eye in the past, especially not with your personality. And then there’s the fact that he was the Slytherin Sex God. He had any girl he wanted. A leopard never changes its spots you know. Just something to think about. Enjoy your meal.” Everything sunk in as Lavender and Pavarti left. I hadn’t even noticed my order had been placed in front of me. That’s not why he likes me is it? I mean, it’s not like I’ve never thought about the things she just said, I just never figured other people would think about it like that. And no he never spared me one glance back in the day, but… and he did get around according to rumors. But he was different now right? A leopard never changes its spots… I could feel tears stinging the back of my eyes as my mind ran over and over the insults and insinuations Lavender put in my head. I levitated our food over to the table and sat down. Staring at my shepherds pie I could feel Draco’s eyes on me. Oh Merlin, a few tears leaked out of my eyes. Draco was kneeling on the floor next to me in an instant and turned me in my seat to face him. “Hey, hey what’s wrong love?” He asked in a concerned voice. God pull yourself together Hermione. “I… it’s nothing. I’m sorry. Let’s just eat ok?” I turned back around in my seat and wiped away my tears. I could feel Draco gazing at me every few seconds while we ate. We didn’t talk much, he knew something was wrong but just let me be for now. When we were almost done with our meal Blaise and Ginny joined us at our table. I barely looked up to acknowledge them. “What’s all that?” I heard Draco ask. I looked over to see Blaise had a semi large box filled with all kinds of party supplies. Decorations, plates, cups and what not. “This is for our annual ‘It’s Blaise’s Birthday so Get Drunk Bitches!’ party which will be taking place next Saturday night. Oh, I guess this year it will be ‘It’s Blaise and Mia’s Birthday so Get Drunk Bitches’ party.” Blaise laughed along with the other three. I tried to smile as best I could so they wouldn’t notice something was wrong. Ginny didn’t buy it. That’s why she’s my best friend I guess. She mouthed to me “what’s wrong?”, I mouthed back “later.” She gave me a nod and asked Blaise about the party. “So if this is an annual thing how come we’ve never heard of it?” “Duh, you were in Gryffindor, we were in Slytherin. Didn’t mix too well back then. But this year basically anyone is invited. Well, I think it will mostly just be 7th years. I don’t need to deal with drunk underage witches and wizards on my 19th b-day.” He said. “Damn that’s right Hermione, you’re a year older than me. Forgot about that. Older woman, nice.” Draco smiled and Ginny and Blaise laughed. I just rolled my eyes trying to look like I was part of the conversation. I tuned out most of the rest until I heard “it’s time to go” from Ginny. We all gathered our belongings. I transferred mine and Draco’s purchases to separate bags and carried mine in the Weasley’s bag while Draco carried his in the Honeydukes. He looked confused. I didn’t mean to take this out on him but I couldn’t get that bitch’s words out of my head. ‘He hated you for 7 years. He had any girl he wanted. He didn’t like your personality. A leopard never changes its spots, a leopard never changes its spots, A LEOPARD NEVER CHANGES ITS SPOTS!’ I pulled my hand away when Draco reached for it as we exited the Inn. He looked extremely hurt. Oh dear… I hurried away from my friends and heard them calling from behind me. I rushed up to a carriage in the front of the line that had started moving and hopped in. “Um, hi… sorry, I- I just really need to get back to the castle ASAP.” I said as I looked at the questioning gazes from what I assumed were 4th years. They made room for me and I looked out the window to see a puzzled and devastated Draco watching me leave. How the bloody hell do I explain this… why did you run from him, he didn’t even do anything wrong. I need my dragon… When we arrived at the front of the castle I was the first one out of the carriage. Shit, we’re supposed to help Filch make sure everyone on the list came back from the village. I suppose Draco can take care of it… I rushed into the castle and up to the 5th floor. By the time I arrived at the portrait of the queen fairy I had tears streaming down my face. “Coconut.” Thinking about the reasoning for Draco’s choice of password made me cry even more. Stupid Hermione, why would he pick something like that if he didn’t love you…? “My dear, what is ailing thee?” The fairy asked. I didn’t want to talk to a portrait right now so I repeated the password through sniffles and she let me in. I rushed up to my bedroom and fell on my bed. Then I curled up in a tight ball while clutching my dragon to my chest. The tears were still coming when I heard my door open and felt the bed sink down a little behind me. “Hermione…” I heard Draco whisper. He sounded like he was in pain. Pain caused by me… No, it was caused by that stupid bitch… and me. Why does she feel the need to go around ruining my relationships? “Why do you love me Draco?” I whispered into the air. I felt him put more of his weight onto the bed and assumed he was fully sitting on it now. “Hermione you’re scaring me.” He said in a nervous voice. I got up and walked to the window, still holding my stuffed animal. I traced the window panes and looked out to the view of the black lake. “Why do you love me…? Is it because I’m pretty now… Because I’m a pureblood… Because I’m rich… It can’t be because of my personality right… you never liked it before…” I trailed off to a whisper. I could feel Draco’s hot breath on my shoulder and knew he had come to stand behind me. He took a few deep breaths before he spoke. “I love you because you’re smart, you’re kind and caring and you make me laugh. I love you because you stick by your friends, family and what you believe in. I love you because you fought long and hard to make this world a better place. I love you because you know how to slap someone when they’re being a complete ass. I love you because you smell like a tropical island. I love you because you love 80’s music. I love you because you beat me in every subject we have ever taken. I love you because you yelled at my father. I love you because you are beautiful, you always were. I was just blinded by my father’s beliefs to take the time to see you for who you truly were inside and out. I love you because you brought me new friends and included mine in your life. “I love you for many other things, but most of all because you gave me a second chance. That’s not an easy thing to do when it comes to me, especially with the kind of past we have. But you let me in; you helped me become the person I have always wanted to be. You forgave all the things I did to you; you let me get to know the real you and I am so grateful for that. I love you because you accepted me, the real me. I love you because you believed there was good in me. You made me a man Hermione.” I was sobbing by the time he finished. Draco spun me around to capture me in his arms. He kept repeating “I love you”, “I love you so much Hermione” while my tears soaked into his shirt. He eventually lifted me off the ground bridal style and carried me to the bed. He laid me down and climbed on the bed next to me and held me against his chest. I held him tightly, forgetting all about my stuffed dragon. I had my real dragon in my arms; the man who just proved that bitch wrong. The man who truly did love me, for me. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry Draco…I love you so much…” I kept whispering that I loved him over and over again and he told me that he knows. He pulled me tighter against him and kissed the top of my head. Eventually my tears ran out and I tilted my head back to see Draco’s brilliant eyes looking back at me. He brought his hand up to my face and tried to wipe away the salty tears. I smiled sadly at him. What must he think of me… ugh, I’m such an idiot for listening to that tramp. “Now would you like to tell me what this was all about?” He asked while grazing his thumb over my cheek. I bit my bottom lip and his eyes caught the movement and lingered on my mouth. “Well, I ran into Pavarti and Lavender in the Three Broomsticks today…” I proceeded to tell him word for word what Lavender said to me. By the end of my story his jaw was clenched and his eyes hard, but he spoke softly to me. “Don’t you know better than to listen to Bitch 1 and Bitch 2? Don’t you dare believe a word she says Hermione. I am irrevocably in love with you. That’s it, I’m done. It’s not going to change in a million life times. I can NOT be without you. You are without a doubt the best thing I have ever had in my entire life.” I kissed his soft lips and whispered “I love you” against them before I pulled back. “I’m so sorry Draco… lot’s of old insecurities came to the surface when she said those things to me.” “It’s alright love. We’re here now, it’s all been resolved. Just promise me you won’t go around listening to those twits anymore and we can rest a little before dinner.” I nodded in agreement. He gave me one last kiss before I curled up against him and shut my tired eyes. A/N: I do NOT own Harry Potter nor do I own or have anything to do with the movie 'The Breakfast Club'. It's awesome, if you haven't seen it then go get it. “That bitch!” Ginny was NOT too pleased when I told her on Sunday what happened with Lavender in The Three Broomsticks. “Who the bloody hell does she think she is?” We were in the Heads common room and Ginny was pacing in front of the fire while Luna, Pansy and I sat down sipping cups of tea. They both thought Lavender was a bit insane as well, but Ginny was livid. She reminded me of Ron when he got pissed off. Red hair, red face. Oh hell, RON! “I honestly don’t know what her deal is. She’s dating your brother for Merlin’s sake! She stole him from me and now it’s like she’s trying to ruin this relationship too. What the hell is her problem?” I was on my feet and pacing after I realized she was now trying to ruin the second real relationship I had ever had. “She’s jealous.” Luna mused in a whimsical voice. I turned to look at her, my brows furrowed in confusion. “Jealous? She has Ron. She took him from me; she got what she always wanted. Why would she be jealous?” “Of course! Think about it. She dated Ron during your sixth year right?” I nodded my head and grimaced when Ginny brought that up. “But then he sort of dumped her while he was unconscious because he said your name. She hasn’t liked you since so of course she’s going to try and ruin everything good in your life. You “took” Ron away from her so she took him from you. But that wasn’t enough for her. Now you have an even better guy that loves you more than Ron will ever love her, and she’s jealous. Ron even admitted to still loving you and wanting you back during the summer at your manor!” “Man that bitch is twisted.” Pansy said and we all chuckled a bit. “Draco loves you Hermione, more than anything. Just remember that and you two will be fine.” Luna told me with a smile. “Thanks Luna.” After the bitching about Lavender we started discussing what we were going to wear to my party on Saturday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tuesday morning at breakfast I thought I was going to die from laughter. Lavender walked in with a head full of green hair. The entire Great Hall was staring and pointing while she held her nose in the air and tried to ignore it. Hmm… green. I bet I know who did this. I looked over to the Slytherin table and caught Draco’s eye. He winked at me and I smiled at my devilish boyfriend. Yes! Hermione 1, Lavender 0. After I had a good laugh with Ginny about the swamp thing formerly known as Miss Brown, I collected the cameras from the “8th” years to retrieve the data during my free period that day. Luckily McGonagall had arranged to have a laptop set up for me in my dorm which I was again allowed to use the spells I had used on the TV to make it run without electricity. Unfortunately I couldn’t get internet service, but I didn’t need it for this project anyway. During my Muggle Studies class we discussed ‘The Breakfast Club’ and what it meant to everyone. A lot of people compared the bad boy and good girl characters to Draco and me as he had done last week. Others actually got the point of why I showed the movie. “It’s about diversity. How everyone is different with different families, but in the end we’re all the same. How we should treat each other with respect and get past all the stereotypes.” That answer came from a 6th year Hufflepuff. “Yes! 100 points to Emily! What do the points do? Nothing. But that’s irrelevant; the point is that like she said, everyone is the same. We are all people. I hope you will take the movie’s advice and befriend someone you never thought you would. Now, next topic. I can’t wait to see what you guys took pictures of for your first week. I’m a little nervous, but very excited. I would like to talk about Muggle authors and books today.” We sat around in a circle, once again in beanbags and comfy clothes. We talked about Shakespeare, which I had to explain was actually not a Muggle but a wizard. All the Muggleborns and some Halfbloods were as surprised and upset as I was when I found out. We discussed Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island,’ Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ along with many other favorites from the class. I asked then all to send home for one of their favorite books and swap them with each other throughout the week. One of my favorites, ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare,’ was passed on to Draco. I am a pureblood now, so I figured, the Muggleborns are bringing in Muggle authors, why not introduce them to Shakespeare’s works again now that they know he was magical. Wednesday was a chore… I was attacked by a Spiky Prickly Plant in Herbology that was being reserved for the second years. Damn thing shot its spikes out and they stuck in my arm. Brain, remind me never to get to close to one of those ugly things again, ok thanks. I ended up in the hospital wing for an hour while Madame Pomfrey tried to get every last sticker out. Stupid plant’s like a cactus, it has large thorns but then small ones that aren’t noticeable to the naked eye. I ended up missing Arithmacy because of it. Draco almost had a heart attack when I walked into the Great Hall for dinner with my arm bandaged. He’s such a worry wart. He wouldn’t leave my side even though I was just attacked by a stupid plant and the wound would be gone in an hour. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thursday morning I woke up to the scent of spring. Mmmm… something smells amazing and fresh. I stretched my arms above my head and slowly opened my eyes. I was greeted by the sight of dozens of sunny yellow daffodils in vases on every surface in my room. I smiled and shook my head in amazement. Draco… There was a note on my bedside table. ‘Happy 19th Birthday Love, The sun is always shining when I’m with you. I will see you at breakfast. To a New Beginning, xx Draco’ I fell back on my bed and closed my eyes. That man… so incredibly amazing. How did I get so lucky? All throughout my morning routine I had a huge smile plastered to my face. Singing in the shower, humming while I brushed my teeth, and skipping down to the Great Hall. I received a few ‘what’s up with her today’ looks while skipping but I didn’t care. Draco’s head turned in the direction of the doors as soon as I entered. He had a bright smile on his face that could have supplied an entire country with light for a whole week. I hurried over to him and he pulled me onto his lap. I gave him a passionate kiss that took him and everyone around us by surprise. No… don’t pull away, not yet… damn. “Wow.” Was all he managed to breathe out. “Yeah. Um… that was a thank you for the amazing sight I woke up to this morning. I loved it Draco, the flowers are beautiful.” I hugged him tightly. “Ehem… Happy Birthday Sis.” Blaise brought me out of my moment with Draco and I thought oh shit! My poor brother is sitting right next to us and it’s his birthday too! I’m such a bad sister… I got up off of Draco’s lap and hugged Blaise. “Happy Birthday Bro. Can’t wait till Saturday! We’re exchanging gifts then right?” Blaise nodded and then we heard the owls come in with the post and I sat back down on Draco’s lap. Blaise and I got presents from Mother and my parents. Mother sent me a beautiful pair of silver heels with ankle straps and rhinestones crisscrossing in the front along with a package of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from Lars. Merlin I love that man. I took a bite of one and then held it back for Draco to take a bite. “Mmmmmmm good.” “Yeah I know. Lars is an awesome guy.” I sighed as I took another bite. Draco moved the hair off my shoulder and kissed my neck. “I’m better though right?” He breathed against my skin making me shudder. “Mmmm well…” I said and then he started tickling me until I told him he was way better than the manor chef. I continued to open my presents. Mum and Dad got Blaise and me both a few new cds we had mentioned we were into. They also gave him a package of new Fender guitar picks. “Damn, I like this whole ‘having a sister with adoptive parents that treat me like their son too’ thing. Double the gifts!” I elbowed him and chuckled. Along with my cds there was a silver chain link charm bracelet. I had loved it since I was a little girl; it belonged to my Grandmother. There was a ‘G’ for Granger that she added when she got married, a small heart which the red enamel was wearing off, bagpipes that were tarnished and a silver and gold butterfly. There were also a few new charms. The first was a rose, its petals were light lavender and the stem was silver. It looked like my favorite flower, Sterling roses. They’re thorn less and incredibly beautiful. The second was a black witch’s hat. And the last was a silver ‘Z’ which was encrusted in diamonds according to the note that came with my presents. Mother added the ‘Z’ for Zabini. It was absolutely perfect. Blaise was showing off his new book ‘Magical Pranksters.’ It was awesome, it updated itself every year to add new generations of pranksters. I was amazed when I saw a whole 2 pages on Fred and George. After a few more minutes admiring my bracelet, I reluctantly got off Draco’s lap and walked over to the Gryffindor table. As soon as I sat down Ginny gave me a hug and wished me a happy birthday. As we were eating an owl with black and white spots carrying a large bundle flew down and landed in front of me. I gave him a bit of toast and he left. “What’s that? Is there a card?” Ginny asked excitedly and we looked for a card. She finally found it and handed it to me. We read it together. ‘Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman. ~~All my love, Draco’ We both “awed” and started to tear away the tissue paper. Wrapped in pink tissue paper were the most beautiful calla lilies I had ever seen. “Oh that man.” I smiled over my shoulder and mouthed an “I love you” to Draco who was looking at me through loving eyes. I had Winky bring my flowers, Blaise’s and my gifts up to my dorm after breakfast and walked to History of Magic with Draco’s arm wrapped around my waist. When we arrived there was a bouquet of forget-me-nots sitting on my desk. More gorgeous flowers… man he really is rich. He’s spoiling me so badly. I feel like a princess… Sleeping Beauty for sure. I’ve lived my entire life up until this point believing I was some one else, and then all of a sudden I’m transformed and pulled into a different reality. Then my prince comes and brings me out of the darkness from the war. He’s my savior. And he’s hotter than any prince I’ve ever seen. ‘Wink wink’ The card from this batch read: ‘My True Love, Let’s continue to make memories together. xx Draco’ Next class I had Transfiguration and was once again greeted by gorgeous flowers upon entering. This time it was vase of pink primroses. McGonagall raised an eyebrow and smiled when she entered the classroom. This card said: ‘My Hermione, I can’t live without you. XOXO Draco’ I could feel my eyes start to tear up. I looked to the other side of the room and saw Lavender sitting there with a pout on her face and her arms crossed. Ha! That’s right bitch, what I have with Draco is real! And knowing Ron, he is never going to buy you a single flower. Never. I sent the flowers off with Winky once again; she had sort of become my personal little helper since school started. I walked out the door of the classroom to find Draco lounging against the opposite wall. I ran over and jumped in his arms. He just laughed and spun me around. “Thank you… thank you….thank you…” I said between kisses I placed on his lips. “We’ll see you guys in class.” Ginny said behind me and she and Neville headed off to the dungeons. Draco put me down and I looked into his eyes. “I can’t live without you either Draco… I’d be a mess. Even more than I am now.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it then led me to our Defense class. We sat in our same seats in class as usual. I didn’t arrive to flowers, but halfway through class 2 dozen white roses were brought in by a couple of house elves and placed in front of me. I guess Draco has lil helpers of his own. The entire class was disrupted by his show of affection. Professor Wilkins had a sour look on his face and tried to call us all back to his attention. I didn’t care what he was saying. I was just in complete awe of the man next to me. ‘Draco… this is too much, this is all too much…” I couldn’t believe I had yet another batch of incredible flower in front of me. “Nothing is ever going to be too much for you Hermione.” He told me. I looked for the card and read: ‘My Heavenly Hermione, My eternal love for you shall never fade. I belong to you, ~~Draco’ I turned to look at him with tears in my eyes. He smiled and brought his lips down to mine. “I love you.” He whispered against my mouth. “I feel the same…” I whispered back. Lunch hour finally came around and I met my 1st through 4th years in the 7th floor hall. As I walked up to the blank wall I saw a vase full of deep red and white striped amaryllis. I picked up the flowers and smiled thinking about my love and how his ‘bad boy’ reputation was now completely shot. While the class was getting their lunch together I read the note. ‘Hermione, I am so unbelievably proud of you for taking on all you do. Have a fantastic class love. xx Draco’ Class did turn out well, mainly due to my thoughts of Draco. Throughout my free period and a little before dinner I spent my time in the library trying to finish all the work I had been assigned that week. Bloody Wilkins, can’t believe he gave us extra work because of the flowers. Stupid wanker. When I was finished I walked back to my dorm. Mmmm something smells delicious. I walked into the common room to drop off my books before dinner and the air was filled with an amazing scent, apart from all the flowers. My nose led me over to our little kitchenette. There tossing a salad together in his school uniform and a white apron was Draco. “Well well well, what’s all this chef?” I asked as I leaned against the door frame. He turned at the sound of my voice and walked over to give me a kiss. Aww he looks so cute. “This m’lady is your birthday dinner. Please take a seat.” Draco led me over to the small table. He had placed a dark green table cloth over it, figures, and there were 2 candle sticks in gold holders. Well, they aren’t silver; he gave me at least something from Gryffindor. “Something smells heavenly, what did you make?” I sniffed the air as he took something out of the oven. “Eggplant parmesan. Well, technically the house elves made it, but I made the salad.” He smiled bashfully and placed the dish of my favorite food and the salad on he table. “That is my absolute favorite food in the whole world, thank you. And thank you to the house elves.” “I know, you told me over the summer and that’s not something I would forget. You went on and on in detail as to why it was your favorite.” He chuckled and I threw him a scowl. “Now, does champagne sound alright?” I nodded my head in agreement. “Good, we have some celebrating to do. I’ll also get some water.” When Draco got back to the table he served me then himself and raised his glass in a toast. “To the love I have always dreamed of and will forever cherish. Happy birthday Hermione. I love you.” He said smiling to me. “And to my beloved Draco, whom without I would not have as much joy and happiness in my life as I have now.” We clinked glasses and took a sip of the delicious champagne. Throughout dinner we talked about the parties that the Slytherins had in the past and what I should expect on Saturday. I was apprehensive when he told me that one year landed a couple guys in the hospital wing, but he assured me everything was different now. Everyone was different now, and most of the people that caused problems didn’t even come back this year. “Well that was spectacular Draco, thank you.” I said at the end of the meal. “I’m glad you enjoyed it love. Now while I clean up why don’t you go ahead upstairs and get changed, then maybe we can have a nice quiet rest of the night by the fire.” “Alright sounds like a plan. I’ll see you in a few.” I kissed him and made my up the stairs to my room. “That’s strange; I thought I already got all my gifts at breakfast.” When I entered my room there was a large cream box with blue ribbon sitting atop my bed. I untied the ribbon and opened the lid to find a dozen sterling roses tied together with twine. “Bloody hell…” They were so beautiful and they smelled divine. I lifted the flowers out of the box to reveal a note lying on a bundle of ivory. “What in the world…” I put the flowers on the bed and opened the note. ‘My Beloved Titania, Please grace me with your presence in the Room of Requirement as soon as you have changed. Forever yours, Oberon’ I smiled and thought ‘What is that man up to now…’ “Oh my…” I was at a loss for words when I pulled the floor length, sheer ivory and gold flowing dress out of the box. It was beautiful. Ivory silk with an overlay of shimmering gold fabric, light as air. The dress was calling to me; I had to put it on. It fit perfectly. Thick straps led to a deep v in the back and covered a bit more in the front. Sparkly ivory ribbon lined under the bust and gave it an empire waist. It tied across the bare skin of my back. The fabric glided down my body like water. A golden crown of leaves inlaid with red gems sat on the bottom of the box. Hmm, Gryffindor colors, I smiled to myself. “What the hell can he have planned for me looking like this…?” My heart began to beat faster as I looked in the mirror. I couldn’t help but think I looked like I was in a very elaborate night gown, Halloween costume or lingerie. I wasn’t able to wear a bra with the dress and became slightly nervous. Oh lord… is that was he has planned for me? Is tonight the night… am I ready? Yes. No… yes. I love him right? Of course. He just better behave himself if I change my mind, that little creep… I can’t believe I’m actually going through with this. I decided to curl my hair before I sat the crown upon my head. Ok, curl the hair, pin half of it up, crown on head, light peach blush and I’m ready to find my Prince. “It didn’t come with shoes…” I tried on every pair of my shoes and none matched. “Maybe he didn’t want me to wear shoes?” “Ahh cold shit… cold! Oh man what a stupid idea not to wear shoes, at least I could have put on socks until I got there! Stupid Hermione!” I reprimanded myself as I was half running half hiding in the shadows throughout the castle. The cold stone floor was chilling me to the bone. Note to self… ALWAYS WEAR SHOES NO MATTER WHAT. I made it to the 7th floor corridor only coming into contact with Peeves. I promised to get him some products from George’s shop next Hogsmeade trip so he could wreak havoc around the castle if he wouldn’t tell anyone what I was up to. Ok Hermione breathe, just breathe. It will probably be amazing so don’t be nervous. It’s the man of your dreams waiting for you in there, you can do this. Besides… you’re 19 today, wouldn’t it be a great birthday gift to yourself? I don’t know… I was standing outside the door to the ROR wondering if I could go through with this. I was terrified to say the least, but anxious and excited at the same time. I wanted to be with him. “Ok, deep breath.” I tried to calm my hyperventilating. I walked towards the door and pushed it inward. As soon as I saw what was inside everything finally clicked in my head… A/N: I do NOT own Harry Potter, ‘The Breakfast Club’, Sleeping Beauty, or ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Nor the characters from it: Oberon and Titania. “Draco…” My voice came out in a whisper. I couldn’t believe the sight before me. So this is what he was doing after his last class, secretive lil devil. Taking a step inside the room my foot met with something springy. I looked down to see a carpet of moss. The whole room looked like an enchanted forest surrounding Athenian pillars. Fairy lights and candles hung from all the trees giving the room a faint glow. Boughs of ivy and flowers were also draped from the trees. And Draco stood in the center in a small clearing. The land beneath his feet was strewn with flower petals and a cream table cloth had been placed there. I took him in. He looked incredible and had the most beautiful of smiles upon his face. I felt myself starting to drool as my eyes grazed over his bare chest. He was wearing a green and silver toga that draped across one shoulder bringing my eyes to linger on his strong arms. He also had a crown atop his golden hair; his was silver and looked like the spikes of a sun. He was barefoot which I was pleased to see. “Oberon I presume?” I addressed him, his face lit up even more. Closing the door behind me I gazed at the room again. I can’t believe he would go through this much trouble for me. For ME. I deserve this right? One can only hope. Taking a step forward, Draco spoke. “Hermione, you look… you look exquisite.” He held out his hand for me and I accepted. We walked to the clearing and I noticed he had arranged a picnic for dessert. “Draco this is so beautiful…so romantic and-” “All for you, my Gryffindor Princess.” He caressed my cheek and brought my hand to his lips to place a gentle kiss upon it. “You… you’ve created ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ for me. From the names on the note, to the clothes and then this room. I…” “You like it?” I shook my head and his smile fell. “I love it Draco. I’ve never had a better birthday. Thank you.” We embraced each other then he pulled back to present me with a single purple flower that he said was called a viscaria. The note attached simply read: ‘Will you dance with me?’ I smiled and nodded. He held my hand in his and slid his other over my back, sending shivers up my spine. He pulled me closer into his body. I ran my fingers up his ivory skinned arm and watched his muscles contract beneath my touch. My eyes followed the movement as my fingers trailed lightly over his broad shoulders, down to his collarbone and up to his neck. I leaned in and brushed my lips against the soft skin there and heard Draco sigh. Looking up at his face I saw him watching me, his eyes dark and longing. I wasn’t afraid anymore. This was perfect. He was perfect. I continued my trail up his neck, across his jaw and to his pink lips. Perfection… I continued my examination of his face, moving my fingers over his cheeks, his nose and back to his lips as we swayed to the music that the room had provided us. “Kiss me…” Draco’s hot breathe and hushed words fanned across my fingertips. Gazing into his eyes I raised myself on tiptoes and left light kisses, slowly starting from the edge of his jaw line to his lips. With every kiss he brought me closer into his body. When I reached his lips I placed a gentle tender kiss there and pulled away. His eyes lingered on my lips and he leaned in. I lightly brushed mine over his and pulled away again. I heard him growl deep in his throat at the game I was playing and all of a sudden his lips crashed onto mine. I didn’t pull away this time. He was hungry and so was I. Desire pooled in the pit of my stomach as he deepened the kiss. I moaned as he ran his hand over the tender skin on my back from my neck down to where the V of fabric stopped right above my bum. Entwining my hands in his hair I brought him even closer. Starved of air I finally broke the kiss, my chest heaving against his. He took advantage of the break to trail his lips down my neck. Draco continued his assault on my body and trailed his fingers up to my shoulders. My mind was a jumble by what he was doing to my mouth; I only faintly noticed his fingers sliding the fabric off my shoulders. The first shoulder fell, but I didn’t care. I ran my hands over his exposed torso. His sculpted body trembled at my touch. Suddenly the second strap was off and the top half of my body was bare. In retaliation I pushed the top of his toga off his shoulder. Draco smiled then wrapped both arms around my lower back to lift me in the air up to him. I encircled his waist with my legs to help hold my weight. I ran my fingers through his hair and gazed into his beautiful eyes. “Draco…” I whimpered. “Make love to me Draco…” His lips were back on mine, sucking, teasing, biting, loving me. “I want you so bad Hermione… I don’t know how much more of this I can handle…” His chest was heaving. I put my feet on the ground and made him unwind his arms from my waist. He looked like he was in pain. He didn’t understand. I took a step backwards and when I was free from his grasp I let the fabric of my dress fall and pool around my feet. Draco let his toga fall off his hips. He took a step forward and I took a step back. He looked like a predator stalking his prey. Another step and I was met with something hard but soft. I turned around to see the most gorgeous bed. Four posters made from bare trees, vines and flowers strung between them. Soft lilac silk sheets and fluffy pillows adorned the bed. I was brought out my thoughts when I felt Draco’s arms wrap around me in a loving embrace. His mouth found my neck again and he bit down with a growl. I didn’t feel the pain. I didn’t even care if I had a mark there tomorrow. Tonight was the only thing that mattered. Draco was the only thing that mattered. He moved next to me to the edge of the bed and crawled on then turned around on his knees to face me. I crawled onto the bed as well and continued to move around him to lie back onto the pillows. Draco’s eyes followed my every movement. He came to join me and hovered over me looking apprehensive. “Are you sure about this?” I could hear the fear of rejection in his voice. I nodded. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life…” I whispered to him lovingly. His face broke out into a smile and I felt my heart soar. He lowered his head to kiss my lips gently then continued his kisses down my neck. I could feel my heart beating rapidly. His teeth skimmed my skin and he shed both of us of the rest of our clothes. I felt alive, free. Heat was building up in my body; I couldn’t take much more of this. I wanted him. “Draco please…” I begged and in response he just lightly kissed me again. “If I hurt you in anyway tell me and we’ll stop alright?” “Yes. I love you Draco.” He waved his wand over me and murmured a contraception charm. Thank Merlin he remembered, my brain didn’t register anything important at that moment. He brought his lips down to meet mine in a fiery passionate kiss. “I love you too Hermione.” Draco was amazing, loving, tender. He made sure I was comfortable and felt safe in his arms. It was the most intense experience being loved by him... I finally fell back onto the bed and my body hummed in pleasure. “Bloody hell Hermione…” Draco swore and breathed out my name. Panting heavily he fell against my heaving chest. We both lay there, trying to catch our breaths. A few minutes later Draco leaned on his elbows to look into my eyes. I sighed in happiness and brought his face down to mine to tenderly kiss and suck on his lips. “I love you…” I whispered against his mouth. I felt him smile and kiss me again. “I love you more than anything Hermione.” I kissed him again until he pulled away to look at me with nervous eyes. “Draco?” “Was… was it ok?” He looked to the side and furrowed his eyebrows. I cupped his cheeks and he worried his lip while bringing his eyes back to mine. “What do you mean? It was perfect. Absolutely amazing Draco.” I reasurred him. “What’s wrong?” “Well I- I’ve only done it once before. Right before the battle of Hogwarts. I didn’t want to die a virgin…” Draco admitted and I was astonished. “How? I mean… the rumors; you’re the Slytherin Sex God. Wha- I don’t understand.” He smiled a bit and shook his head. “Rumors, that’s all they were love.” He sat up on the bed next to me while I lay there confusedly in the silk sheets. He traced my curves with his hand. I closed my eyes while a smile lit my face. “Sure, I may have dated or kissed a bunch of girls, but… I felt like something was missing. What I felt the first time I kissed you… that was what was missing. You were what was missing.” Draco spoke his last words softly. I opened my eyes and looked up to him. His gaze was sweet and loving, passionate and true. I sat up and embraced him. “Draco… you were what was missing from my life too. I’m so glad you were my first.” “I wasted so many years without you… hating you. I wish things would have been different.” I laid my head on his shoulder and planted small kisses on his collarbone. “If things were different back then, we wouldn’t be here now. I’m exhausted. Let’s get some sleep.” We laid back down on the bed in a tangle of limbs and sheets and peacefully fell asleep in each others arms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Draco love… it’s time to get up.” It was 7 am the morning after my toe curling, absolutely wonderful, better than chocolate night with Draco. I feel like singing, jumping around, just making a total fool out of myself basically. “Draco we have class in an hour, please wake up my Slytherin Prince.” Ouch how corny was that. Oh well, at least that got him to smirk and open one of his eyes. “I don’t wana go.” He pouted and pulled me on top of him. “I could stay here forever. We have a bed, Winky and my house elf friends could bring us food, the room will provide us with a bathroom and clothes. And I have you right here with me. I don’t need anything else.” “I know love, but… mmmm…” I started to counter his offer, but when he started running his hands along my body and nibbling my ear I was done for. “Ok, ok… we can stay.” Draco skipped 2nd class as well. I had a free period so I didn’t mind. We spent about 2 ½ hours in bed just exploring each other. By the time we were done with the 2nd time since we woke up we were exhausted again. Draco wanted to sleep but I was not going to have us missing anymore classes. We hurried back to our dorm, showered… together… got dressed, grabbed our books and were out the door both smiling like fools. I stopped a few times along the semi empty halls and pulled Draco into the shadows for a quick snog session. “Damn, it’s like a switch was flipped. You’re attacking me every chance you get. I like it.” I laughed at Draco’s analysis and pulled him the rest of the way to the dungeons for DADA. “Do we have to? Seeing him is going to ruin my day.” He whined when we got to the classroom. I nuzzled my face in his neck and kissed my way to his ear. “If you’re a good boy then I’ll reward you tonight.” I whispered seductively. He made a growling sound and crashed his lips onto mine. This was how Blaise and Ginny found us, snogging outside our classroom. “Get a room.” Ginny sounded disgusted but when I pulled away I could see the corners of her lips twitch upward. “Sorry.” I smiled because I wasn’t sorry at all. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows at my obvious ecstatic mood then her face turned to pure shock. I gave her a ‘please not in front of Blaise’ look. With eyes wide she clamped her mouth shut and nodded. Thank Merlin Ginny; I don’t need a dead boyfriend and a brother in Azkaban. Throughout class Draco held my hand in his and kissed my palm every once in a while. Blaise kept making gagging sounds behind us. When the period was over Ginny pulled me out of Draco’s grasp claiming she needed help with something ‘girly’ and that we would meet them at lunch and sit at the Slytherin table today. When we got into the girl’s bathroom she checked under all the stalls, locked the door and cast a Muffliato before rounding on me. “YOU HAD SEX!” She was jumping up and down like the news somehow changed her life for the better. “Ginny! How did you know so quickly when you saw us? Are you an Occlumens? Oh Merlin, is Blaise??!! He’s guna kill Draco if he finds out.” I sunk to the floor and felt like I was having a panic attack. “Hermione breathe. No I am not an Occlumens and neither is Blaise. I just saw that you were glowing and there was just something different in your eyes, Draco’s as well. You just looked connected, I don’t know. I think it’s something only a girl notices.” My breathing was returning to normal and Ginny helped me to my feet. “So, how was it… how was he?” “Ginerva Weasley I am not sharing something that private with you!” I yelled into the air. “Really?” Ginny pouted at me and I had to laugh. “Of course I am!” She smiled and punched me on the arm. Hard. “Oww, Weasley’s are all so violent. Anyway. It was amazing. He set up the entire ROR like an enchanted forest from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which is my favorite Shakespearian play. He even bought us outfits to be the King and Queen fairies and used their names in a card he placed on top of my dress. It was magical, cliché I know, but there really aren’t any other words.” Ginny sighed and leaned against the wall. “You’ve got one romantic boyfriend there. Sure Blaise is romantic in his own way, but Draco just goes above and beyond normal standards. So was he good? I mean he had to be right, he’s had a lot of experience.” “That’s the thing Gin, I thought he did too, but when we finished he had this really weird look in his eye. When I asked what was wrong he told me it was only his second time; that all those stories girls told were just rumors. That’s exactly the face I had on. He said he didn’t want to die a virgin during the war and then he was waiting until he found a person that filled the void that was missing with every other girl he kissed. And as for how he was… think of your favorite chocolate, multiply it by infinity and it will still never be as good.” “Wow, even Toblerone?” I nodded. “You are one lucky girl Mione. Never let that boy go.” “I definitely won’t. And I’ll ask Draco to give Blaise some tips on how to be more romantic. Come on, I’m starving. Draco and I missed breakfast.” Ginny shook her head and laughed. “By the way, nice bite mark on your neck.” She slipped out the door laughing. “Shit!” I put a concealment charm on it and took down the spells on the room before joining her in the hall. When we got there we walked to the Slytherin table and sat with our boys. “Hey Mi, do you know what’s got Draco here all cheerful today?” Blaise questioned me. I froze in my seat and looked towards Ginny. She was trying to hide a smile as well as Draco. “Bloody hell you guys had sex!” Pansy who was on the opposite side of Blaise loudly whispered accusingly across the table. “Thanks Pansy I don’t think the guy at the end of the table heard you!” I whisper yelled back. “YOU WHAT!?” Blaise stood up and was gripping his wand tightly, ready to attack his best friend. “Blaise calm down please, we can go talk about this somewhere else.” I tried to calm him down but he wasn’t having any of that. “Malfoy, a word with you!” Draco looked terrified. “Blaise mate maybe we should deal with this later.” He slowly got up and walked backwards towards the exit as Blaise followed him out. As soon as they were out the Hall doors we heard Blaise shout. “YOU BETTER RUN MALFOY, I’M GUNA KILL YOU!” Ginny and I looked at each other and panicked. Everyone was hurrying out of the hall to see what was going on and Ginny and I had to push our way through them. We rushed out the front doors to see Draco running towards the Black Lake and Blaise not far behind. The two of us ran after them. “BLAISE ZABINI YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!” I screamed at the top of my lungs but didn’t get a response from my brother. “He’s really going to kill him.” Ginny looked at me with fearful eyes and we ran even faster. When we reached them Blaise had forced Draco into the lake. Why didn’t he just use his wand? “What’s with my brother and having to use his hands instead of his wand?” “I don’t know but we better get in there before Blaise drowns your boyfriend” “Right.” We trudged into the murky water and grabbed on to Blaise. “HOW COULD YOU MALFOY! SHE’S MY SISTER!” Blaise was still screaming and struggling against us. “Blaise don’t make us use our wands! Ginny knows some pretty harsh spells.” We finally got him out of the water and sitting on the bank. He was breathing heavily and had his head in his hands. Draco walked out of the lake in the same condition and took a seat next to Blaise. “Blaise listen, I’m sorry you’re reacting this way. But… I don’t regret it. Oh don’t give me that look man. You know I love her. You’ve know me since we were kids. Have I ever been this way with anyone, ever?” “No.” Blaise’s reply came out in a whisper. “Exactly. I’m head over heels in love with her and I’m going to marry her some day. You don’t have to worry; she’s completely safe with me.” Draco clapped Blaise on the back. “Sorry mate. I just… I don’t know what I expected, I mean hell. Ginny and I have been going at it since the summer.” Blaise laughed then looked up in horror at Ginny. “GINERVA MOLLY WEASLEY!” It was my turn to run after Ginny. How could she not tell me! Not that I really want to know, it is my brother, but still! I chased her past the students on the lawn and back into the castle. The two soaking wet boys ran after us and Draco finally caught me when I had Ginny cornered in the Great Hall. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” I half screamed at her. She flushed red from embarrassment. “It’s your brother; it’s weird. I didn’t know how you’d take it.” “One- good point and two- apparently not well. Ugh whatever, I gota get to class.” I pulled out of Draco’s grip and grabbed my books for class. During Arithmacy, I received a bouquet of ivory tea roses with the note: ‘I’ll remember… always.’ A/N: I do NOT own anything from Shakespeare including ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ Obviously. Nor anything associated with Harry Potter. The party was a hit amongst the 7th years and was talked about throughout the next week; as was the lingerie Ginny had bought the two of us, well that was just discussed amongst our friends thank Merlin. Draco was pleased to say the least when I emerged from the bathroom one night in the full get up. He didn’t want to take it off at first, but soon realized it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to be wearing when trying to make love, for either of us. And so the laces were undone as quickly as his hands could manage and the garter belt torn off. He did however request that I kept on the thigh highs and heels I was wearing with it. I obliged and we had an amazing night in bed. The next weekend after the party was the first quidditch match. Hufflepuff vs Slytherin. “He better appreciate this.” I grumbled to Ginny as she, Pansy, Luna and I painted half our faces green, the other half silver and wore the same colors in our clothing. “Don’t worry, he will.” Pansy reassured me as she wrote ‘MALFOY’ in silver letters with her wand on the back of my new green cloak from Harry. “That will come off right?” Apprehension shown in my eyes. What if it doesn’t, then I’ll be a blasted walking advertisement for the Malfoy family. I put it on when she was done and looked in the mirror. “I look like a superhero!” “Yes of course it will come off. I may play dumb, but I’m really not. And what’s a superhero?” Pansy shot me a glare then burst out laughing with the rest of us. I shook my head at her question. The four of us headed down to the quidditch pitch to find seats. I hung behind outside of the Slytherin change rooms to give Draco a good luck kiss. “Ok team, what are we guna do?” Draco’s voice seemed menacing but filled with excitement. “Kill them!” I heard a group of guys chorus, and then they were filing out of the room to head off to the pitch. Draco was last. He didn’t recognize me and did a double take. “Hermione?” He took in my painted face and green cloak then looked into my eyes and kissed me while trying not to smug my makeup. “You look awesome. Did you do this for me?” I nodded as his arms wrapped around my waist. “Thank you… I love you.” He leaned in for another kiss, deeper this time. I ran my hands in his hair and sucked on his tongue causing him to moan. “Oi! As touching as this moment is, we have a game to play.” Goyle said. I hate being interrupted; doesn’t everyone know this by now? “You fancy another bout of being a slug Goyle?” I asked him sweetly. His face turned green and I felt Draco shudder in my arms. “That’s right… you were turned into one too weren’t you? Aww, poor baby.” I smiled and kissed him again before sending him on his way. “Kick some Hufflepuff ass boys!” I shouted as they walked to the team entrance to the pitch and Draco turned around to wink at me. Finding my friends was an easy task. They were the only green people in the Gryffindor section. Many questioning stares were sent our way, but I smiled brightly at them. “FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!” I screamed before the game started and more stares were thrown at me, but a few, what I assumed to be Muggleborns, started chanting: “WALLACE WALLACE WALLACE” Eventually all students that had seen ‘Braveheart’ joined in until Madame Hooch quieted us down. After trying to explain to my friends what William Wallace did for Scotland we began to pay attention to the game. We were on our feet cheering for Draco and his team the whole time. Slytherin was down by 10 points when Draco caught the snitch. I was jumping up and down in the stands screaming and yelling “That’s my man!!!!” Ginny was trying to rein in my excitement, but I didn’t stop until Draco came flying over to the stands on his broom. “Excuse me… pardon me…” I tried to get to the edge of the stands as fast as I could. “Congratulations baby!” He pulled me into a loving kiss and the girls around us ‘awed’ while the guys of Gryffindor playfully called me a traitor. “Oh bugger off!” His eyes were shining with delight when he pulled away. “Slytherin party in our dorm. 30 minutes!” He said then took off. “Shit!” I ran through the stands pulling my friends with me. “Mione what’s wrong you’re acting like a mental patient!” Ginny tried to stop me but I just pulled them up to my dorm portrait, muttered ‘coconut’ and started cleaning up the common room when we got in. “Party… here… 20 minutes… Slytherins.” I could hardly breathe from all the running and panicked cleaning I was doing. The girls quickly understood and helped me straighten up and order food from Winky. Then we hurried to my room, washed off the face paint, did our makeup and hair and picked out outfits from my closet. “I’ll be right back!” I have the best idea, he’s guna love it! Exactly 5 minutes before the Slytherin team and most of the 6th and 7th year Slytherins showed up, Winky, with the help of the other house elves, brought up a spread fit for a king. Well, in this case a Slytherin Prince. When the 5 minutes were up there was a knock at the portrait hole. I opened it to see a very clean, thank Merlin, and happy Draco. I gave him a questioning look as to why he didn’t just open the portrait himself, and then realized he didn’t want everyone behind him to hear our password. He looked me up and down and smiled even wider. “You look so sexy in my old jersey. I can’t wait to take it off in victory later.” He said out loud and my face flushed in embarrassment. I had gone in his room to retrieve one of his old quidditch jerseys to wear half tucked into a pair of tight jeans and Converse. “Draco! Everyone heard you, you prat!” I hit him on the arm and walked into the common room with him and the rest of the Slytherins following. “I know. By the way, thank you for making sure the place was ready for a party. I appreciate it love.” He hugged me and started kissing the shoulder that the jersey had fallen off of from being a couple sizes to big for me. “You’re welcome, congrats again. You were brilliant. Now go have a good time with the team.” I tried to push him towards his teammates but he grabbed my hand and dragged me with him. Actually the boy wouldn’t let me go all night. I don’t know if it was because he didn’t trust his friends or he wanted to be near me. I stayed by his side whatever the reason was and played my part of the loving girlfriend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Ok, Draco and I want to propose the idea of a Halloween costume ball for 5th years and above. I’m going to see if McGonagall will give us Thursday and Friday off so we can have the ball on Halloween instead of November 1st. And have a long weekend to recover. After all, it’s supposedly a witches holiday. All in favor?” It was Monday October 14th and we were having a Prefect meeting aka ‘hanging with our friends’ in the Heads dorm. Hot chocolate was passed around by Draco; he makes a wicked cup of hot cocoa. I took a sip after everyone agreed on the plans for the ball. “Mmm… I’d marry you for your hot chocolate alone.” Everyone laughed before they agreed with me. “Ok, so if I need another wife, or husband, I will inform you all in due time. Oh and this Saturday is going to be a Hogsmeade visit so we can all get costumes.” Draco and I finished the meeting and everyone headed off to bed. “So what are you going to be for the ball?” I asked as I cuddled up to him in bed. He stroked my hair while thinking. “I’m thinking, vampire. Fits right?” “Certainly does Mister I’m too pale I can’t stay out in the sun long.” Teasing him about his complexion always got me in trouble, probably because I was just as fair or fairer than him. “Well then what are you going to go as, a bottle of sunblock? You know that yours and Blaise’s skin is even whiter than mine. That’s not an easy task to accomplish. Do you take baths in milk when I’m not here? Or maybe you’re a ghost that hasn’t passed on yet. You know that might be a feasible explanation because you were actually tan in your other body.” He was laughing now and rolling around on the bed with me tickling him. Eventually I gave up and rolled on my back. One kiss goodnight and I fell asleep in his arms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Tuesday Draco and I spoke to McGonagall about the Halloween ball and requested Thursday and Friday off so it could take place on All Hallows Eve. “Absolutely not Miss Zabini.” “Professor please. This is our last year here; we don’t want to have the ball on any day but Halloween, what would be the point? I’m sure I could get the teachers to agree and even attend the party.” I tried to persuade her and could see her faltering. Draco reached over to grab my hand, it felt clammy. I looked to him and noticed his face flashed a number of emotions. Fear, pain, helplessness, anguish, sadness and many others. He wasn’t focused on McGonagall so I followed his eye line. He was looking back and forth between the portraits of Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. They were both staring at him as well. Dumbledore had a kind smile upon his face while Snape seemed indifferent. Merlin, even in death that man has a stick up his ass. Maybe I should throw eggs at him, at least get him yelling or doing something. I can’t believe he’s stayed quiet this long. “Oh let them Minerva. It is their last year after all.” Professor Dumbledore was on our side yes! “On one condition. You move mine and Severus’ portraits to the Great Hall so we can join in the festivities.” I smiled up at Dumbledore. “Bloody hell I don’t want to be there! See all the students that hated me, and most that I wasn’t too fond of. No, I refuse.” Snape finally burst through his silence. I smiled and laughed at his apparent loathing of the student body and he shot me a curious glare. “Oh, very well. But I will have no nonsense on Friday. Everyone must be well behaved.” We both nodded and we all started to plan out the food for the ball. When we were done I took Professor McGonagall to the side while Draco was still glued to his seat. “Yes my dear?” She asked. “I… well I was wondering, I mean I don’t want to kick you out of your own office or anything, but can Draco and I maybe have a little time alone with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape? I know it would mean a lot to him, he’s been blaming himself for what happened ever since...” Understanding and compassion crossed her features as she nodded then left her office. I walked back to the Headmistress’ desk and took a seat behind it. Draco looked at me like I was crazy. “The Headmaster’s chair suits you… Miss Granger.” Dumbledore said with a knowing smile. “Granger?” Snape sneered at me and I smiled in response. “Thank you Professor.” I addressed Dumbledore. “Yes Severus, this young lady is Miss Hermione Granger, now known as Miss Mia Zabini. She is Mister Blaise Zabini’s twin. How are you my dear?” “I’m doing very well Professor. Thank you for helping us with the ball.” “Zabini…twins? I- I… I knew about you.” Snape looked at me in awe. I snapped my wide eyes over to him and stood up. “You knew about me? How? No one knew about me except Mother and my parents. Not even Blaise I don’t think.” I walked toward his portrait and gazed questioningly at him. “The Dark Lord knew your mother was pregnant. He knew she was having twins, but you disappeared. We all thought you died at birth. You’re…Hermione Granger?” He looked like he was going to be sick. “The one and only.” I scoffed. “I’m going to be sick.” He fell back into the chair in his portrait and started to turn green. “Severus, what’s the matter, are you alright?” Dumbledore questioned him worriedly. I looked at Draco to see his eyes wide in surprise. He came to stand behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “It’s just… I- I was an ass to her. To Granger. And now I find out she’s a Zabini, and one I thought to be dead. It’s too much to deal with.” “It’s alright Headmaster, I forgive you. I forgave you months ago.” I spoke quietly to him. I could see Dumbledore smiling at me out of the corner of my eye. Snape’s head snapped up to look at me again. “What did you just call me?” He asked in a disbelieving tone. “You were after all a Headmaster to this school, were you not? You tried to protect the students as well as you could… I know.” Snape’s face turned solemn as my words reached him. I suppose his memories weren’t meant for anyone but Harry. Too bad. “What?” Draco turned me around to look at him. “Um…I think you need to hear a little story, from both of our Headmasters here.” I stroked his cheek and gave him a kiss to which he flushed in embarrassment because of our audience. I then turned back to address the two men. “Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, I think it’s time Draco learned about what really happened that night on the astronomy tower.” Dumbledore nodded and Snape’s look turned melancholy. Draco tightened his arms around me and leaned his head on my shoulder. “I think you should all talk alone. I’ll see you in our dorm.” I tried to pull away but he held on tighter. “Please don’t go. I need you, I can’t do this alone.” I once again turned in his arms to look into his eyes. “Of course.” Draco pulled up one of the chairs in front of the desk and sat down with me on his lap. Dumbledore started the discussion. “Where to begin. First I would like to offer my congratulations to the two of you; I am glad things finally worked out. As for our “story” I think perhaps Professor Snape should start with a vital piece of information.” Snape sighed heavily but started to tell Draco about his childhood love Lily Evans and that he went to Dumbledore for help when he realized Voldemort was targeting the Potter family after he relayed the prophesy. Draco nearly had a heart attack when he was told Snape was a spy. He stood up, dumping me onto the floor then proceeded to pace around the office. “Draco… there’s more to be heard.” Dumbledore calmed Draco down enough to get him sitting again. With his head in his hands Draco told them to continue. “I was dying Draco, that night on the astronomy tower. Do you know what a horcrux is?” Dumbledore asked and Draco shook his head so he continued. “They are a common day object in which someone has hidden a piece of their soul, so they can not die. Voldemort made 7. Well, he didn’t mean to make a 7th, but that night in Godric's Hollow when his curse rebounded he stored a piece of himself within Harry.” Draco was at a loss for words. He continued to stare at the floor soaking in all of the new information. “I tried to destroy one of them, a ring. It cursed my hand; I had less than a year to live. I asked Severus to kill me that night Draco.” Draco’s head snapped up. “Yes… I knew about your task before that night. I asked him to fulfill it so you would not have my blood on your hands. You needed to be protected.” Draco had tears streaming down his face now. My heart broke for him. I walked over to his seat to comfort him but he pushed me away and stood up. “You knew.” He stated; his voice was just a whisper. Oh god… “Draco…” “You knew and you didn’t tell me! You let me go on for months wallowing in grief for what I did. Did you ever think that news like this would let me rest a little easier at night, knowing what I did, what I caused? How could you not tell me?” I winced when he screamed at me. Then he pointed at the Professors. “And you two! You lied to me as well. The three of you, my father, the Dark Lord, has everyone just been lying to me my entire life!?” He fell to the floor and broke into gut wrenching sobs. Try again Hermione, just hold him and don’t let him push you away. I kneeled down beside him and pushed his hair out of his face. He looked up from his hands and pulled me into his arms, holding me as tight as he could while sobbing into my shoulder. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… for everything…” He cried out his words which were directed at our Professors. “It’s going to be alright Draco… I’m here. It’s alright love…” I continued to stroke his hair and held him against me. That night I held Draco in my arms, caressing his cheek softly while he cried himself to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Yes Saturday! No school, Hogsmeade, butterbeer and chocolates!” I was bouncing on the bed trying to get Draco up. He had a problem when it came to Saturdays and waking up. “Lazy ass get up! Ginny and Ernie are helping Filch today but I don’t want to be late.” I know… pull the sheets and… “Oomph!” Gota remember, rolling him out of the bed works wonders. “You could have broken my arm, or worse my nose. I’ll see you in the common room.” “Fine Mister Cranky Pants.” I huffed and walked down to our common room. “Hmm, blueberry pancakes.” I set the pancakes on the table just when Draco came down the stairs. “FOOD!” I shouted at him. He smiled as he rounded the corner. “Why are you in such a good mood today?” “Today is costume pick out day. And I good sir have the perfect costume in mind.” I replied happily while slathering my pancakes in syrup. Yum, I love syrup. Actually I love anything sweet. It always makes everything taste better, except eggplant parm. That kicks ass any day. “It’s fun to see you like this again.” Draco told me between gulping down his pumpkin juice and destroying his mound of pancakes. I looked back at him puzzled. “What do you mean? Like what?” “All spunky. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s how you were over the summer and at the beginning of school. I guess our duties and the shit that’s been going on with some people has taken its toll on you. But, now you’re back.” He finished with a bright smile. My eyes narrowed and his smile fell. “So what are you saying Mister Malfoy that I’ve been cranky and boring the past few weeks?” I got up from my seat and walked towards him. His eyes widened and he slid his chair back getting ready to run. “N- no. I just meant that you were under a lot of stress and things just changed a bit… that’s all.” Draco’s voice quavered as he looked into my eyes. “Well… you might want to change some things too.” “Oh? Like what?” He stood up nervously because I had picked up my glass of pumpkin juice. “Like those clothes you’re wearing.” He looked down at his shirt in question. “Why?” I threw my juice on him while he was still looking down. “That’s why.” I tried to hold in my laughter but when he growled and pulled me against him soaking my shirt through with the juice. “Ahh! My pants too, really?” We slipped in the juice on the floor and fell. “Oh Merlin, now I need another shower. Join me?” He raised his eyebrows, trying to be seductive but it wasn’t working. It just made me laugh again. “Oh you silly, silly man. Race ya!” I yelled as I got up and sprinted to the bathroom, Draco hot on my heels. We made it to the carriages with 5 minutes to spare and Ginny, Blaise, Pansy and Ernie joined us for the ride. I was bouncing on Draco’s lap the whole way there from excitement. I was either making him aroused or very uncomfortable because he kept asking me to sit still. “I love Halloween don’t you? Costumes, free candy, candy apples and pumpkins. It’s probably my favorite holiday. Well, besides Thanksgiving.” I said to no one in particular. They all gave me questioning looks. “What’s Thanksgiving?” Pansy asked. “It’s an American holiday during November. It was when the Native Americans got together with the pilgrims and said ‘hey let’s be buddies and have a big feast.’ Well, that’s sort of how it happened, more or less. So now it’s a holiday where Americans all get together with their families and eat turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing until they feel fat. Oh and apple and pumpkin pie. My aunt makes a kick ass pumpkin pie.” I looked off into space dreaming about her pies. Damn they are delicious I could eat a dozen right now. “How do you know about it if it’s an American holiday?” Blaise questioned. “I have family in the states. My dad’s sister married an American and moved there. So we go there every year for Thanksgiving. Well, except last year… but hey that reminds me. Draco, my parents wanted to know if you would like to come with us this year.” I smiled at him and saw the shock written across his face. “What’s wrong?” “Um… well do they know you’re a witch, cuz they’ll get one hell of a surprise when you show up looking like you do now.” “Yeah they know, well my whole family doesn’t, just my aunt, uncle and cousins that we’ll be going to see. So it shouldn’t be too difficult to explain… hopefully. So what ya say? You guna grace us with your magnificent presence and eat till you pop?” I wound my arms around his neck and smiled widely at him. “Of course, I would love to.” He said then gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Oh Blaise, you and Mother are invited too. It might be easier to explain my appearance if I have my biological family there. Plus, I want all my family together.” Blaise gave me a huge smile and said he couldn’t wait to stuff his face with all sorts of traditional Thanksgiving foods I told him about. I shook my head… men and food. A/N: I do NOT own Harry Potter, the movie ‘Braveheart’ or the lines from it: FREEDOM and Wallace, Wallace, Wallace “We’re here!!!” I bounded out of the carriage before my friends even had a chance to stand up. I turned to find them all with amused smiles on their faces. Draco’s eyes were bright and a smirk was in place. I walked over to him and threw my arms around his neck. “And what may I ask are you smirking at good sir?” He kissed me in answer. I pulled away and smiled. “Ok, girls let’s go shopping! Boys we’ll meet you at The Three Broomsticks in 2 hours.” I kissed Draco once more and linked arms with my girls. I started to skip away singing to myself. People, including my friends, stared at me like I had lost my mind, but they played along and skipped with me. “No I don’t like this one. What about this?” Pansy was trying on the zillionth costume in the shop while the rest of us sat slumped down in chairs by the waiting room, already content with our costume choices. “Pansy if you don’t choose in the next 5 minutes I’m guna cover you in boils and dye your hair green, then you can go as Lavender.” Ginny laughed while Luna gazed out the window unaware of our conversation. “Alright, found it!” Pansy came out of the dressing room carrying a bundle of pink. “Good Merlin what on earth is that?” I asked with distaste in my voice. She pouted and answered. “It’s a princess costume. You don’t like it?” Pansy questioned as she went to pay. “No, no, it’s nice.” I looked to Ginny and Luna with my eyebrows raised. “So, does anyone know what the guys are going as?” I wondered. “Nope, they won’t tell us. Do you know what Draco’s going as?” Ginny asked as we followed Pansy to the register. “No. He did mention something about going as a vampire, but hasn’t said a word about it since. Who knows? We’ll all find out at the ball I guess.” We left the store headed into the other shops to find our accessories and what not. “Come on, I need to go in here.” I pulled the girls into a new make-up store called ‘Make-Up Your Own Spell’. It was more or less a makeup/ perfume store where you could try out different scents together and create different pallets for your skin tone. I looked around the shop until I found what I needed, paid and left with the girls following. “Ok where to now? We have about 15 minutes until we need to meet the guys.” Pansy pulled us into an accessory store down the way. She bought a crown while I bought some hair chopsticks. “What are you being anyway?” Ginny asked while fiddling around with my hair accessories. “Nope. It’s a secret.” I smiled and plucked the chopsticks out of her hand to go pay. “Well, let’s go ladies, can’t have our gentlemen waiting. They’ll kill us if they don’t get to eat soon.” We headed out the door and shrunk our costumes to fit in my purse so the boys wouldn’t be able to see. “There they are.” Luna pointed to a table by the window when we entered The Three Broomsticks. I skipped along the way and plopped myself down in Draco’s lap. He just laughed and shook his head. “Hello love. So did you ladies get all your shopping done?” “Yup.” I answered cheerfully while taking a sip of his butterbeer. “And? What are you all going as?” Neville looked to each of us, but we kept our mouths shut. “Nope, no way. You guys won’t tell us so we won’t be telling you. Hey Ernie, let’s go order some food yeah?” I got up to lead Ernie to the bar and ordered a shepherds pie, 2 plates of fish and chips, a cottage pie and an order of bangers and mash, along with another round of butterbeers of course. “So, how’s it going with you and Pans?” I asked with a sly smile as we were awaiting our order. He looked over to our table of friends and smiled. “It’s going really well. Before the war I just thought she was a stuck up princess who had no brain. But now, she’s one of the smartest, most caring people I know. Who would have thought we’d all be here together huh?” Ernie leaned his back against the bar and stared at the people we had all come to love. I joined him and looked lovingly at Draco. “Who indeed.” I mused. Draco looked in our direction and caught me eye. He winked then went back to his conversation with Blaise. I used Blaise’s and my coupons from George to treat our friends to lunch. After we got back to the castle and helped Filch make sure every student on the list was back I unpacked the costumes and placed them in my wardrobe with a locking charm so no one could peak. By no one I meant Draco. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The week and a half leading up to Halloween was chaos. The whole school was excited because they’d have a 4 day weekend. Draco wouldn’t let me in on the guest band he had planned to come or the ‘special’ drinks he ordered from Aberforth. AKA… firewhiskey. That one wasn’t a secret; I just hoped he used it discretely. Most of the teachers were going to be there after all. “Ok, prefects and volunteers we need this hall to be decked out by 6:30. Ball starts at 8 and we all need some time to get ready. Now let’s move our butts people and make this the best Halloween ever!” I was decorating the Great Hall in cobwebs, bats, candles anything Halloweeny along with the help of Draco and our friends. By the time we were done I was jumping for joy; it looked spectacular. Eerie but classy. Spiders drinking champagne basically. “Ok you lot listen up. Great job, now go run and get ready and we’ll see you at the ball!” Draco shooed everyone away except our circle of friends. They all followed us back to the Head’s dorm where everyone planned on getting ready for the night. The shower was a hot commodity and time was of the essence so each couple took a quick one together. Blaise wasn’t thrilled when it was my and Draco’s turn. “Save water, shower with a friend.” I said to him before I disappeared into the bathroom. When I emerged in my bedroom Pansy and Ginny were doing their makeup and hair while Luna sat on my bed already dressed in her costume of a house elf. The mouth was open and that’s where Luna’s head peaked out. It was quite a sight; I decided to take a few pictures before getting myself ready. I stood in front of my mirror and began to paint my face with white powder, down to my neck and in an upside down V on the back. I applied bright red lipstick to my lips and a few coats of black mascara to my lashes. For my hair I pulled in up into a loose bun towards the top of my head making sure my hair was completely smooth and stayed in place. Then I stuck the chop sticks in and pinned some fake flowers along one side of my bun. “Time to dress ladies.” Pansy announced and the three of us stepped into our outfits. Pansy’s dress was ridiculous. I had no idea how she would sit down or even get through my door frame. The pinkness just puffed out so far I thought she’d get lost in it. Ginny had decided on a mermaid costume. After dressing we stepped into our shoes and were off. Well they were off until they realized the shoes I stupidly agreed to for my outfit weren’t the most practical for going down stairs, or walking in general actually. The top had straps like a flip flop but the bottom was made of a block of wood that sloped up in the front so if I tipped my foot forward the slightest bit I would fall flat on my face. “Maybe this wasn’t the best costume choice…” I grumbled as my friends helped me down the stairs and out the portrait. Earlier in the day the boys said they’d be meeting us at the ball because they had a surprise for us. “Oh bloody hell!” I finally decided to take off the stupid shoes and walk normally with the rest of my friends, in socks, to the Hall. When we got to the doors I slipped the infernal things back on. Everything was perfect, the candle’s dull glow, the bats flying overhead that would occasionally dip down to scare people, the cobwebs, and Professor Dumbledore’s portrait on the right hand wall. Dozens of people were crowded around it trying to say hello. “Come on girls, let’s go get a drink and find a table. Do you see the boys anywhere?” I asked as I hobbled over to the refreshment table. As soon as we sat down at a one of the free circular tables that had replaced the house tables we heard people cheering. “What’s going on?” “I don’t know. Everyone’s focused on something on the stage. Let’s go take a look.” Ginny helped me out of my chair and I carefully made my way through the crowd, having to hold onto some people as I passed or else I would have fallen over. As soon as we got close enough to the stage we looked up. “What the bloody hell are they doing? And what are they dressed as?” Ginny looked at the four boys like they were idiots. I just smiled widely up at Draco. “They’re The Beatles.” I answered, voice filled with happiness. Draco, Blaise, Ernie and Neville were all dressed in matching black tailored suits with white dress shirts and skinny black ties. They also had black moptop wigs on. “The what?” Pansy asked staring at her boyfriend with her head cocked to the side. “They’re a famous, amazing Muggle British band from the 60’s. One of my favorites. This is brilliant!” I moved my way through the crowd further to the front. “John! Paul! George! Ringo! You guys look amazing!” I yelled to the boys once I was standing at the edge of the stage. Draco knelt down and gave me a kiss. “What are you supposed to be?” He asked looking at my kimono and makeup. “I’m a geisha. It was kind of like a high class performer/mistress in Japan before WWII.” He still gave me a puzzled look. “I’ll explain more later. What are you guys doing up there?” “We, my lovely Japanese mistress are just getting the party started.” He said standing back up. "Will you be joining me soon?" I asked, hope in my voice. "Of course." Draco smiled brightly at me and my heart swelled. I smiled back at him and brought my girls to the front of the stage just as Draco placed his wand to his throat. "HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I hope you all have a great time tonight. I want to thank Professor McGonagall for allowing us to have a 4 day weekend so we could make this celebration one to remember. On behalf of myself, your Head Girl Hermione Granger, and your prefects let the party begin!" As soon as Draco was finished orange fireworks lit up the ceiling, everyone oohed and ahhed and I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist as I stared at the ceiling. "Hello love. You like?" Draco whispered in my ear then kissed my neck. "They're beautiful Draco." I sighed. "Dance with me?" He twirled me around and into his arms as my favorite Beatles song began to play. ‘Hey Jude, don’t make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her into your heart…’ Draco held my hand close to his chest while his other was on my back, holding me close to him. “You look incredible you know. This look suits you.” He teased me. “Oh you mean the silk, shoes I can’t walk in, face powder that originally was made from rice, bright red lips and the fact that I look like a Japanese hooker suits me?” “Yup.” He said and popped on the ‘p’. Funny Draco, real funny. “Oh, ok then. So, Mr. Lennon. That was quite a stunt you pulled there. I’m rather impressed.” “It was mostly Blaise’s idea since he always found you dancing around your room to Beatles music apparently.” He said with a slight chuckle. “Merlin I’m guna kill that boy. But it was a nice gesture anyway. You look good in a Muggle suit.” I pulled at his tie to bring his face closer to mine. “Oh yeah? I bet it would look even better on the floor. Along with your kiniminom or whatever you called it, but there’s another surprise to come so we can’t leave yet. This one was my doing. I’ll be right back.” Draco kissed me on the lips once more and returned to the stage. He again put his wand to his throat and his voice came out loud and clear over the crowd. “Witches and Wizards, goblins and ghouls, mermaids and… hamburgers? Anyway… I would like to present to you… CAULDRON ON FIREEEEE!!!!!!!” What the hell! This is what he hid from me??? Oh Merlin, oh Merlin. Jumping up and down in these shoes is not a good idea! I could feel myself falling forward but was caught by Draco. “You ok?” He asked as he straightened me out. I took the blasted shoes off and threw them to the side of the stage. The band took the stage and greeted their screaming fans. “GOOD EVENING HOGWARTS!!!” “This night is amazing Draco! How on earth did you get them here?” I took his hands in mine and continued jumping with the rest of the screaming crowd around us. “A little money will get you a long way. I wanted to do this for you… and Blaise, I’ve known he’s liked them for years now. But it’s mostly for you.” He smiled and I kissed his sweet lips again leaving a hint of red lipstick, shit forgot the sealant charm tonight. My attention was brought back to the stage when the lead singer started talking. “This song is dedicated to a lovely lady named Hermione. Your man Draco wants you to know that you’re the love of his life.” “Walkin through fire just to get to you Strugglin with desire it’s so hard to do I can’t take it anymore I need you here with me I’m kneelin on the floor This world won’t let me be” Tears filled my eyes as I held Draco tightly to me. “You’re everything to me Draco… thank you.” He held me as tight as he could and we danced into the night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ November was slow. Still a happy camper with my life and love so far. It was the day before we were leaving for Thanksgiving in the US and Draco was freaking out. Blaise and I were lounging on my bed and watching Draco pace the room. “Draco… we’ve been over this a million times. They know I’m a witch. Mum called them and explained who I am now. Apparently they knew I was adopted already and they’ve known I did magic since I got my Hogwarts letter. Actually there was this one time when my cousin Alec and I were eating Oreos and milk when we were little and I got so mad that he took the last one that I made the jug of milk on the table explode. The whole kitchen was soaked. It was hilarious. I think the adults realized then that something was up.” Thinking back about my family always brought a smile to my face. “What’s an Oreo?” Blaise questioned. “Didn’t you eat some of those cream filled chocolate cookies in the basket from your friends?” “Nope. And why is that? Because YOU ate them all.” He said in a disgruntled tone. “Oh yeah.” “HELP! I’m still freaking out here! Your parents like me but what if the rest of your family doesn’t? Does your cousin know about me? Is he big, will he beat me up?” Draco fell face first on the bed between me and my brother. “Yes he’s big. He’s not my only cousin that will be here. He has two younger brothers that are 6 and 8. And I don’t think he’ll beat you up unless… oh no…” Shit Alec knows about Draco. About his being a complete and utter asshole to me all those years. He’s guna kill him for sure. “What?! Unless what!?” Draco sat up and panicked again. “Well… he knows about you.” His eyes went wide. “Yeah exactly… he knows about your past… our past. He’s never particularly been your biggest fan.” “Bloody hell…” Draco once again fell onto the bed. “But hey, look at the bright side mate, I’ll be there with you, and we have wands.” Blaise tried to comfort Draco but I could tell it didn’t work. He didn’t get much sleep that night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Time to get ready before we head to McGonagall’s office.” It was 3:15 pm on Saturday. We spent most of our time in bed knowing that when we got to the States it would only be 11 am and we needed energy if we were going to stay awake all day with my family. I threw the covers off Draco who was sleeping in my room, then Blaise who was sleeping in Draco’s room. “Blaise shower now, you take more time than Draco if that’s even possible. You two are such girls.” I ran out of the room as he threw a pillow at me. They boys both showered and took their sweet time. “Come on you girls! We have 10 minutes to get to the Headmistress’ office!” Bloody hell… I was waiting in the common room while they wasted precious time. “Ahh, finally decided to grace me with your presence I see. Let’s go.” “I don’t like mean Hermione, where’d the sweet one go?” Draco pouted as we were leaving the portrait hole, bags shrunken and put into my purse. “She took a vacation. You need to toughen up a bit before we get to my cousins house. It’s in Cambridge by the way. Massachusetts. So, I permit you for one day to dig up that bloody horrible side of yourself, and use it in case my cousin tries to kill you. Ok?” “But I don’t want to be an ass. You hated that about me remember?” Draco pouted again. “Yes yes I know but come on, where’s that Slytherin side? Both of you really. When I came back into your lives you became wimps.” I teased them but it was not well received. I ran for my life all the way to the gargoyles, uttered the password and ran up the stairs. When I reached the door they were right behind me, the door was locked and so they ran right into my back. “Oww…” “Ahh! Oomph!” McGonagall had opened the door when she heard a thud on the outside… aka Draco and Blaise running into me and the door. Then we all fell on the floor in a heap when she opened it. “Hmm. Well, now that you’re here, the floo has been activated and will only be open for 15 minutes so you better hurry. Have a good holiday, I expect you all back starting at exactly 3 pm our time tomorrow, 10 am your families time. The floo will close at 3:15 so make sure you come through quickly.” McGonagall ushered us off to the fireplace and I gave the boys their directions. “Ok, my Aunt and Uncle’s house has been connected for those specific times mentioned. Step in and shout ‘Murphy Household, Cambridge, Massachusetts.’ Throw your powder and voila. That’s it. Ok Blaise in you go, Mother and my parents are already there.” “Ok. Here goes nothing. Good luck mate.” Blaise nodded to Draco whose face was scrunched up in nervousness. “Murphy Household, Cambridge, Massachusetts!” Blaise was gone in a flash and I pushed Draco over to the floo. “Why don’t you go first, I mean that way incase any of your relatives want to kill me you can be a buffer.” “Draco Lucius Malfoy you get in that fireplace right now and stop being such a loser! Where the bloody hell is the boy I met 1st year? I told you to bring a bit of him back today, be brave. You’ve never been afraid of anything ever. Well, except maybe Buckbeak.” I smiled as he shuddered from the memory. “Now come on, get in there we don’t have much time left and I will not let you go after me because you might chicken out.” “Fine. Just remember I love you incase I die.” He gave me a kiss before stepping into the floo and being engulfed in green flames. I stepped in next and said goodbye to McGonagall, then about a minute later I stepped out into my cousins home in the States. A/N: The Beatles wrote and sang the song ‘Hey Jude’ which I used the lyrics to. Also I do NOT own or have anything to do with Oreos or Harry Potter. The Beatles rule all. “Pumpkin! How are you, we’ve missed you so much!” Dad pulled me into a hug as soon as I stepped out of the fire place. There we go again with the ugly orange vegetable. When he let go mum grabbed me, then Mother. “Ok, I need air people. And I love you all too, I’ve missed you guys.” I looked around the room to see Draco and Blaise in a corner looking nervous, my aunt and uncle standing next to my parents with smiles on their faces, my two younger cousins no where to be found and my cousin Alec leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. I took a step towards my Aunt Maggie and Uncle Leo and was engulfed in a big hug again. “So, I’m guessing mum and dad filled you in on everything?” I assumed because they didn’t immediately interrogate me like they were the FBI. “Yes they did. I have to admit it was a bit of a shock, but of course probably for you more than anyone. But we trust that they were telling us the truth. It’s good to see you Hermione.” Aunt Maggie pulled me into another one of her bear hugs. Yeah, no shit it was a ‘bit’ of a shock for me too. I woke up looking like a vampire for Merlin’s sake. “You too.” I gave her half a smile and took a tentative step towards Alec. I noticed him stiffen up when I got close. “Alec, you guna say hello to your favorite cousin?” “How do I know it’s really you?” He asked eying me up and down. Really… I have to play this game again? “Ask me anything I should know. Bring it on bitch.” I smirked at him confidently. He took to walking around me while thinking of a question only the ‘real’ Hermione would know. Ok, getting dizzy now damn it, stop circling me or I’m guna throw up. He eventually stopped in front of me and stared straight into my eyes. A smirk turned up the corners of his mouth… not good. “Ok. What professor did you have a crush on 4th year?” My eyes went wide at this question. He really had to say that out loud, it couldn’t have been whispered to me? Now the whole bloody room’s guna know possibly my biggest and most embarrassing secret. “Can’t you ask anything else? Please…” I got down on my knees and begged him dramatically. “Nope. This is something that Hermione Granger told me and only me. Come on Hermione. If that’s even you’re real name.” He was taunting me. Jerk knows it’s me but is just being a pain in the ass. “I’m waiting.” He took to tapping his foot. Bollocks. I stood up from the ground. “Fine!” I threw my hands up in the air. I whispered the answer so only he could hear. “Who?” Alec asked loudly. What was he playing at? He is so dead later. I was getting frustrated, I whispered a little louder but he was not going to give up until everyone in that room knew. “Still can’t hear you.” He was full out grinning now. “PROFESSOR SNAPE!” I screamed at him. Oh Merlin, I heard Draco and Blaise yelling “WHAT!?” behind me followed by rounds of laughter. “Shut up! He was an authoritative figure. He was a jerk I admit it, especially to me, but hey maybe that’s a pattern I’ve got going on.” I glared at Draco who promptly stopped laughing. I smirked at him and his frown just increased. “Not so funny when you think of it that way is it?” “What are you talking about?” Alec asked while looking back and forth between the two of us. “Well you see dear cousin. Remember that prat Draco Malfoy that I always told you about?” “Yeah. What about him? Is he still being an ass to you Mione, why don’t you just curse him, or kill him for that matter, I’m sure no one would mind.” Alec came to stand next to me and slung his arm around my shoulder while berating my former enemy. Mum, Dad and Mother’s eyes were wide as saucers and looking worriedly to Draco. Blaise stood beside his best friend and I saw his hand twitch to his wand pocket. Draco hand his head in his hands awaiting the onslaught. “Actually… he’s been quite nice to me this year.” “Seriously? Did he get a lobotomy or something?” I laughed at my cousin. That procedure would have explained a lot. “No. He just grew up. The war had a big effect on him. In fact… I’m dating him.” “What?! Mione, are you crazy?? You’re dating THE Draco Malfoy? Hermione you hate him!! Are you stupid or something?” Alec was holding my shoulders now and shaking me as if the information would find its way into my brain better by rattling me around. Oi, hello headache. “Alec calm down son.” Uncle Leo scolded Alec but it had no effect. The only thing that did was a wand to the face. Not my wand. Draco’s. Before I had any clue of what was happening I was behind Blaise and Draco who had formed a protective barrier in front of me and had their wands pointed at my cousin. Everyone else in the room was in shock, along with Alec whose eyes were becoming crossed from looking fearfully at the tip of the piece of wood in front of his nose. “Don’t you ever speak to her or touch her like that again. I really don’t want to kill anyone in her family, but I will if you hurt her. Got it?” Draco’s voice was low and menacing. “Draco…” I placed my hand on his arm and felt him immediately relax from my touch. He lowered his wand and took a step back, leaving Blaise still pointing his wand at Alec. Draco turned to face me and caught me up in his arms, holding me tightly to him. “You liked Snape… really?” He asked aloud with a disgusted tone to his voice. My parents and Blaise started laughing again. Bastards. They had weird crushes back in the day… the guy that played Mr. Bean and Dad with that creepy girl in the movie ‘Carrie.’ I always secretly wondered if I would wake up in the middle of the night and my house would be on fire or I’d be drenched in corn syrup. “Oh shut it. Blaise, can you please stand down now?” Blaise lowered his wand and went to stand by Mother. I disentangled myself from Draco, but wrapped my arm around his waist and walked him toward Alec. Round two… “Alec… I would like you to meet my boyfriend Draco Malfoy.” I looked up to Draco to see him staring at me with an ‘I just almost killed your cousin, are you nuts?’ look, but I used my eyes to plead with him. Just man up Draco, please…. Draco held his hand out. “Sorry about, ehem… before. I’m Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. It’s nice to meet you.” I tightened my arm around him in a silent ‘thank you.’ “Um… yeah. Nice to meet you Mr. Bond.” Alec chuckled and I laughed with him. Draco just gave us a puzzled look. “And uh, sorry for what I said.” Alec shook Draco’s hand while he apologized to me. He dropped his hand as soon as he could and took a step back. I let go of Draco and jumped into Alec’s arms. “Thank you, you loser.” He playfully tickled me then left to walk toward the dining room. “Ok then. Why don’t we all head to the dining room for some snacks and a chat before dinner. Hermione would you please show the boys to the room they’ll be sharing? Then maybe they would like a little tour of Harvard Square while the turkey’s still cooking.” Aunt Maggie gave me a small smile when I nodded then led everyone but Draco, Blaise and me to the other room. “My name is Hermione. I am your tour guide for this fine fall evening. Exits are there, there, there and there. Should you have any questions, feel free to ask. Will I answer them? Nope. Tips are appreciated. Now, let’s get a move on.” I smiled at their bewildered expressions and led them up the stairs while pointing out all the rooms along the way. “Well… that went well.” Blaise scoffed as the boys followed me down a hall to a guest bedroom with 2 single beds. “M’ lords, this will be your bed chamber for the night. Chamber pots are in the corner.” I waved them off when they questioned what a chamber pot was. Not going into detail there, thank you very much. “Actually it went better than I expected. Alec can have a bit of a temper when it comes to people messing with his family. Wand or not I’m surprised he didn’t try to attack you both.” I smiled and told them to get ready to head out of the apartment and into one of my very favorite places in America. “I know it’s not as cold as Scotland here right now, but you still might need a coat Blaise.” I led them down the stairs and to the dining room to let everyone know we were going on our outing. “So where are you taking them Mione?” Dad asked. “Well, I figured Harvard, the T station, some little shops along the way and one of my favorite reasons to come to Massachusetts, second to my family of course.” I smiled widely at the thought of showing my boys around. “Ahh. Harvard Book Store. Am I correct?” Uncle Leo questioned. “That you are sir. Now let’s go boys! Alec, you coming?” “Nah, I’ve seen it all before.” He said with a laugh. “You guys enjoy.” I nodded and led Draco and Blaise into the hallway of the apartment building and into the elevator. “What the bloody hell?” Blaise was frightened when it started moving. I explained to them the working of a muggle elevator and how it was slightly different from the magical ones while trying to contain my laughter. When we arrived in the lobby I linked arms with them and led them out into the crisp air of Harvard Square. “Of course you would bring us to a book store Mia.” Blaise whined as I dragged them towards Harvard Book Store. “Closed. Well, it is Thanksgiving. Bollocks.” I peered into the shop wishing I could be perusing the shelves. We walked up and down Brattle Street for a while. I showed them some buildings of Harvard and walked in and out of the rare open souvenir stores. When we got out of one Draco presented me with a small stuffed penguin in the smallest Harvard sweatshirt I had ever seen. “What’s this for?” I questioned him. “It reminded me of that day in Hogsmeade when we were waddling down the street.” Draco took my hand in his and I brought his up to my lips and kissed it. “Thank you. But, how’d you manage to pay for it? Draco, you didn’t steal it did you, I didn’t give you any muggle money!” I started freaking out at him and received a smile. “No love. I’ve been carrying muggle money around with me since you dragged me to Harrods this summer.” Draco laughed when I kissed him all over his face. “In that case, I love it! And I love you.” “I love you too.” He leaned down to kiss me again. “Ok can we please go back, I’m starving, we didn’t eat lunch at school remember?” Blaise was whining and trying to find his way back to the apartment. Food, again. When we got back we had about a half an hour until dinner started. The three of us went upstairs to put away our coats and my penguin. The guys were in their room and I decided to go visit my little cousins Brian and Noah. “Knock knock. Can I come in?” I slowly opened the door and had two bodies promptly flung at me. “Oi! You tryin to kill me you lil monsters? I’ve missed you guys! One question. How’d you know it was me?” I held them back at arms length. Damn they got big. Tear… my babies are growing up so fast. “Mom and dad told us everything! Then your new mom showed us pictures of what you looked like now. You look nice Mione.” Brian who was 6 hugged me again. “Thanks Bri. I wish it was that easy to convince Alec though. You almost missed a duel downstairs.” Brian and Noah’s faces lit up at the mention of the excitement. “So what are you guys playing with there? Lightsabers huh… wouldn’t happen to need a Darth Vadar would you?” They nodded their heads enthusiastically and I joined in their game, decked out in my uncle’s old black football helmet and a black bed sheet tied around my neck for a cape. I got to use a red lightsaber as well. I have to admit my cousins did have some pretty cool toys. Jumping around the room and breathing heavily like Vadar was no easy task. Damn these little ones are trying to kill me. Noah was decked out as Luke Skywalker. He had on a set of white long underwear, top and bottoms, with my Aunt’s short white summer bathrobe over it. He used a black belt to cinch it at the waist, also to hold his blue lightsaber. Brian was wearing the black dress pants and vest from a suit his parents had gotten him along with a white long sleeved shirt trying to be Han Solo. He also had a belt around his waist where he kept his ‘gun.’ Of course I was the bad guy and was trying to get Luke to join ‘The Dark Side’ while fending off the shots being fired at me. “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father?” I asked Noah in the best weird breathing Darth Vadar voice I could muster while pointing my lightsaber at him. “He told me you killed him!” Noah yelled then bounded toward me trying to fight me off, plastic against plastic. “COOL! These things make noise!” I was so excited I got totally out of character and was scolded. “Mione!” The boys yelled in unison and placed there hands on their hips. Ahh, so cute. “Oops, sorry. Ok. No, I am your father!” I picked up. “NOOOOOO!!!!!” Noah fell to the floor in fake agony. “That was fun.” Brain said with a smile. We then heard clapping and I turned around in lightspeed. Ha ha get it? “Bravo!” Draco and Blaise were standing in the door way watching our little spectacle. Yet another thing they’ll never let me forget, lovely. “Oh Merlin. Well, you guys got your first look into the wonderful world of Star Wars. Did you enjoy?” I asked while taking off the helmet. “Um… well I don’t think we understand, but it sure was interesting to watch.” Blaise said while trying not to laugh. “Boys I would like you to meet my brother and my boyfriend. Luke, Han this is Blaise my brother and Draco my boyfriend. Guys, Luke Sykwalker and Han Solo.” They all shook hands and Blaise gave them questioning looks about their ‘names.’ “Well we better get downstairs, I have a feeling dinner will be ready soon.” My cousins pushed past us at the word of dinner, still in full Star Wars garb. I walked over to Draco and gave him a peck on the cheek. “So, how much did you guys see?” He shrugged and smiled. “All of it. We followed you down the hallway about 2 minutes after you left your room, but we didn’t want to disturb you and your cousins, so we watched your little show. I thought you might have been impersonating your lover at first. You know, Professor Snape. From the back it looked like you had a Death Eater mask on and a billowy cloak.” Blaise laughed and ran to the stairs with me chasing behind. When we reached the dining room everyone had already taken their seats. Ugh, why do people always eat dinner early on holidays? I always get so hungry later on at like 9 at night because we eat till we burst at 3 and then desserts at 4. Then I feel like dying but by the time the night comes I’m hungry again. I don’t get it. “Blaise, Draco, Darth Vadar would you like to join us?” My mum was snickering as Dad addressed us. I looked at him a little puzzled and he tugged at his collar. Right… I still had that blasted sheet tied around my neck. I untied the ‘cape’ and slung it across the back of my chair. Draco sat to my right between me and Mum and Blaise sat to my left between me and Mother. They had the best time eating everything in sight while conversations flowed. Even Alec spoke to them once in a while, but he did not pick out the best subjects. “So, Malfoy. How’s your family doing?” Alec asked before taking a bite of his turkey. “Alec.” I glared daggers at him. Draco held my hand under the table and caressed it. “They’re doing well thank you.” Draco replied in such a cheerful tone it caught my cousin off guard and he didn’t ask Draco anymore direct questions. There you go Draco, so proud of you my darling Slytherin. Ok, wash mouth out with soap later; those last two words should never be put together in the same sentence. “Draco did you fight with cousin Mione against the bad moldy guy?” Brian, being the sweet little 6 year old he was didn’t know that was a sore subject. Oh children. I hope I have lots. Not. Draco almost choked on his stuffing, Blaise almost spit out his water, Mother her wine and I had a piece of cranberry sauce go down the wrong pipe. “Brian, that’s not something we talk about here remember?” Aunt Maggie tried to turn the conversation a different way but Draco surprised us by speaking up when he got the stuffing dislodged from his windpipe. “No, it’s alright ma’am. Brian is it? Or Han Solo? Well, you know how your cousin Hermione is brave? Maybe the bravest person ever?” Brian nodded enthusiastically. “Well, I wasn’t nor am I now as brave as she was. I was afraid. But your cousin and her friends, they saved my life. Twice. They’re some of the bravest people I’ve ever known. So, to answer your question, no. I didn’t fight with Hermione.” Draco’s face dropped on his last words and he continued to eat. I placed my hand on his leg and addressed Brian. “Draco’s not telling you something though. He was brave too. He didn’t want the bad guy to win. He saved my friends and my life as well by not telling the bad people that we were who they were looking for. He stood up for what was right.” When I finished Brian gave Draco a mega watt smile and thanked him for saving his Mione. Draco nodded to my cousin then excused himself from the table. “Maybe I should…” I started to get up but Alec was faster. “I’ll go.” He said with a tentative smile and left the room to find Draco. “Is he ok Mione?” Mum worried. I nodded. “Yeah, he’ll be alright.” I hope. Maybe I could bottle some Gryffindor bravery and give it to that man. Or sell it to the world; I’m sure I’d make a fortune! Not that I really need it. Headline for the next paper. ‘Hermione Granger of The Golden Trio Finds Way to Bottle Bravery!’ About 10 minutes later Draco and Alec re-entered the dining room. No one was dead thank Merlin and it didn’t look like there were any scratches or black eyes. Draco sat next to me and held my hand in his, running his fingers along the back of it. “Is everything ok?” He brought my hand up to his lips, kissed my palm then smiled. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” During dessert everyone stayed away from talk of magic or anything to do with it including the war. Draco was quiet unless someone talked directly to him. Blaise was talkative, mainly praising my Aunt for her pie making skills. After dinner we had movie time, a tradition for my family after the feast. We introduced our magical guests to the Star Wars franchise. The guys loved it to say the least. Draco and Blaise engaged in a fake battle using my cousin’s lightsabers afterwards. Before I went to Alec’s room to use his bed, he was generously sleeping on the couch for the night; I asked Draco what happened between him and my cousin. “It’s not important. He was just seeing if I was alright.” I nodded my head but knew he wasn’t telling me the truth. I’ll just have to weasel it out of Alec then. “Alright. Well I love you guys; I’ll see you in the morning. Remember, breakfast at 9, we leave by 10. Goodnight.” I gave Blaise a kiss on the cheek and Draco a hug and a lingering kiss on his lips. I left them and crept down the stairs to annoy my cousin until he told me what he talked to Draco about. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Mione wake up!” Brian and Noah were jumping around me at 8:30 am. “Ahh, blasted Jedi’s, go away and let me sleep!” I heard snickers come from the door way and sat up to see Draco and Blaise watching my cousins in amusement. “Yeah just you wait. Boys… attack the Storm Troopers!!!” I pointed towards the doorway and Brain and Noah hopped off my bed and ran after the guys. “Awesome kids.” I smiled and very slowly got up to go take a shower. “Shampoo, in my hair… lalalala I don’t care.” I love singing in the shower don’t you? Even if it is just a bunch of nonsense. BANG BANG BANG “Mia! You’ve been in there forever, breakfast’s in 15 minutes and I’d like to be clean before we leave.” Blaise shouted through the door. Hmm should I let him in? Nope, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. “You’re a guy. Just go back smelly. Oh wait no I’m sorry, you’re the one that takes longer to get ready in the morning I forgot, how silly of me.” I finished rinsing my hair and shut the water off. Ok, use the wand to dry so he doesn’t have another tantrum, get dressed and voila. Done. “Finally.” Blaise huffed when I walked out then he slammed the door shut behind me. Geez. “Someone lost a baby in the house. He’s about 6’2”, black hair, purple eyes, and pale as a ghost. Goes by the name Blaise.” I heard my brother tell me to shut up from the other side of the door and laughed to myself as I strode down the hallway to finish packing my bag. “Well hello Mr. Murphy, to what do I owe this pleasure?” I found my cousin sprawled across his bed when I entered the room. “This is my room you know.” He said as he shook his head. “Yeah, yeah.” I skipped over to the bed and lied down next to him. “So, ready to tell me what went on last night?” I looked over to Alec hoping he would give in this morning and tell me what he and Draco had talked about. “Nope. So, ready for breakfast?” He sat up and pulled me with him. I reluctantly followed him down the hall, mainly because of the death grip he had on my hand. “Draco, food. Blaise you prissy little girl, food time!” Draco walked out of his room and followed us down to the kitchen. Blaise came down a few minutes later, hair still wet and an annoyed look on his face directed at me. I just gave him a cheeky smile. He scowled even more. Love annoying him, what are brothers for right? After we were done with our helpings of waffles smothered in whipped cream and strawberries, bacon, omelets, taylor ham, (Blaise and Draco were infatuated with the taylor ham), fruits, and cereals, we bid farewell to my family and one by one as the clock struck 10 stepped into the fireplace calling out ‘Headmistress’ Office Hogwarts.’ We threw the powder down that I brought with us and were gone in a flash. “Ahh, I’m glad to see you all followed directions well. I hope you had a good time.” McGonagall greeted us with a smile when we stepped out of her floo. Always either hot or cold with that woman, certainly brilliant, but perhaps a tad bipolar as well? “Yes Professor, I think I can say we all had a good time.” I spoke for the three of us. I noticed Blaise and Draco flank me and give each other a wink. Shit, what now? “Very good, very good. Now off you go. Dinner is at its regular time; you have a while to unpack.” “Actually Professor, I was wondering if we could talk to Professor Dumbledore for a moment.” Blaise asked McGonagall and she nodded. “Alone if possible? Please Professor? I’ll give you some of the taylor ham I brought back with me.” Blaise pleaded and I couldn’t help but laugh, really Blaise? Trying to bargain with a breakfast meat? “Mr. Zabini I do not take bribes, but I will take your offer this time. I haven’t had good taylor ham in a while. I need to speak to Professor Sprout anyway so the office is yours. Please behave yourselves as usual.” She took Blaise’s food and left us alone. “Hey what on earth are you doing!?” I was being lifted off the ground and carried over to the portraits of Dumbledore and… oh no. Bloody idiots!! “NO! Let me go now!” I tried to wiggle free of their grasp when I realized what was about to go down. They sat me in a chair smack dab in front of Professor Snape. Bloody wonderful. They placed their hands on my shoulders so I couldn’t escape. “Why not just throw me in the stocks while you’re at it? Burn me alive. Stone me. Drown me. Hang the witch. Anything would be better than this. I hate you guys for the record.” I seethed at them which just produced smiles and laughter. “Oh god, what do you three want now?” Snape crossed his arms and glared at us. “Now now Severus, be nice. What may we help you with?” Dumbledore addressed us, so much friendlier than my stupid crush. What the hell did I see in him? He’s such a slimy git. “Nothi-” What in Merlin’s name is going on!? I can’t talk! Why is someone punishing me??? Is it because I liked Snape, because I had sex before marriage, because I turned Alec’s shampoo into purple dye before I left? Nope. It’s because I have a prat for a brother and a jerk for a boyfriend. I saw Blaise’s wand out and pointed at me. He must have wordlessly cast a Silencing charm so I couldn’t divert the attention away from why we were here. Oh, and great my wand is in his other hand. He’s like a bloody magician. Well Hermione… “Well you see Professor, we found out some very interesting information about a certain person while we were away.” Draco told them. Et tu Draco? Wow, my life sucks. “Go on.” Snape drawled. I looked up at him with pleading eyes. He just glared back at me. “It seems that our former Miss Granger here had a bit of a crush in our 4th year. On you, Professor Snape.” Blaise smirked at Snape whose eyes went wide then focused on my own. His eyes narrowed and his mouth turned up into a smirk. “Is that so Miss Granger?” He asked highly amused at my apparent discomfort and embarrassment. Damn my cheeks are on fire, water I need water people. Maybe just a pool so I can drown myself. “Well, that I must say is some disturbing news.” Dumbledore looked like he might faint. Snape glared at him a tad insulted I suppose and I brought my hands up to cover my face. How mortifying. “Disturbing or not, I must say it’s entertaining to watch Miss Granger squirm.” Snape drawled and I looked up at him in anger. Bloody menace. “Well, thank you boys. This piece of information has definitely raised my spirits for the day. I now have something new to torment my former student with. I appreciate the efforts of Slytherin house. You have done me proud.” “No problem Professor. Good day to you both.” Draco lifted me off the chair and threw me over his shoulder while leaving the Silencing charm in place. When we got to the 5th floor corridor Blaise took the spell off before heading off to the stairs and his dorm to find Ginny. Draco let me into the Head’s dorm first. When got into the common room I turned to find him worrying his bottom lip. Yeah, you should be scared boy, I could rip your heart out right now… but I won’t. I burst out laughing at the whole situation. Though I’d regret it later if Snape spread my horrid secret around the school, right now I didn’t care. It was too insane to handle. Draco smiled and joined in with my laughter. I walked over to his open arms and soon had tears of amusement, mixed with some of embarrassment running down my face. A/N: Things I do NOT own are as follows: Star Wars and the references I made to Obi-Wan, Darth Vadar, Storm Troopers, lightsabers, Jedis and Han Solo. Nor do I own the dialogue I used from the Star Wars movies. They belong to George Lucas. I also do NOT own the joke about ‘James Bond.’ When I wrote (Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.) that was used in the Harry Potter series and it sounds like (Bond. James Bond.) from the 007 movies/ books. So I played with it in my story. James Bond was created by writer Ian Fleming. As usual I do NOT own Harry Potter. Thankfully by the middle of December I still hadn’t heard anyone talking about my crush on Snape. Hopefully I never will. Draco and I were having a prefects meeting in our dorm on Sunday the 15th when he received a letter that freaked me out. Tap tap tap “Who the bloody hell is sending you a letter now, it’s 8 pm.” Neville strode over to the window and let the grey and white owl in. He untied the letter from its leg and gave it an owl treat before it flew away. “Well, it’s definitely not for me; no one I know has an owl that color.” I said looking back to my patrolling schedule. “It’s from my parents.” Draco mumbled and stood up to retrieve the letter from Neville’s outstretched hand. Oh boy oh boy… He hasn’t had much contact with them since the summer, what do they want now? Draco opened the letter to read and I focused on his eyes. Bad, good, sad, happy, nervous. That’s when he looked up to me. “What is it?” I asked furrowing my brow and secretly hoping he wouldn’t tell me. No more Malfoy drama please… I’ve had a lifetime of it in 7 years. “They want us to stay with them Christmas night, go to their New Years ball and then stay till we come back here.” “WHAT!?” I screeched standing up. Are they bloody insane? ME in the same house as Lucius Malfoy… one of us will be dead or in St. Mungo’s sharing a room with Professor Lockhart. “I think it’s time to leave mates.” Blaise and the rest of our friends gathered their belongings and high tailed it out of the common room. Smart move people. “I know what you’re thinking. Suicide mission.” Draco said and I huffed in agreement. “But… I haven’t seen Mother in months. I miss her. And honestly, yes Father is an arse most of the time, but if you just ignore him, things could be ok.” Draco walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. Really, you think a hug is going to make this ok? I’d rather be strangled by Devil’s Snare at the moment . “No.” I mumbled into his shirt. He loosened his hold on me and stepped back. “No?” He asked in an incredulous tone. “Draco, don’t make me go there please.” I felt tears falling down my face and upon seeing them he pulled me back to him. “Shh… it’s ok Hermione. I won’t let anything happen to you. Please? Christmas’ at the manor were always my favorite time of year. Please… for me?” He cooed to me in a pleading voice. Damn it. That night I was wide awake staring at the ceiling for fear of the nightmares that would haunt me if I closed my eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Merlin Hermione wake up!” I heard Ginny’s voice but didn’t want to listen. Ouch, then a nudge to the ribs, that got my attention. “Oh right… still in Potions I see. What goes in next?” I looked to Ginny with tired eyes. “Maybe you should go to the hospital wing and lay down, you look awful.” “Gee thanks Gin, lovely to know I look like shit. I didn’t sleep last night.” Wow, trying to read the instructions on the board when you’re tired is not a good idea. All the letters are all jumbled together and make me want to puke. “Not at all?” She asked as she tipped her cutting board into the cauldron. I shook my head and tore my eyes away from the board. “Why not?” “The letter.” I simply stated. “Oh. So, what are you guna do?” “I’m going.” I closed my eyes and let my head drop back to the table. Why did I have to say I’d go…? Merlin strike me dead please. I would like a black casket inlaid with soft velvety fabric. I’m about 5’6”. “You’re going?!” Ginny screamed and every head turned in our direction. “Miss Weasley is everything alright?” Slughorn asked from the front of the room. Ha, Ginny never gets in trouble, stupid Slug Club. “Ye- yes Professor, I’m terribly sorry for the outburst.” Ginny bowed her head back to her work. “I can’t believe you’re actually going there Hermione.” She whispered to me in a harsh voice. “That makes two of us.” I grumbled back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having to tell Mum and Dad that I would be leaving before dinner on Christmas was difficult. I only ever spent 1 year away from them during the holidays and I was not too keen on doing it again. At least I got the days leading up to it, Christmas Eve and Christmas day right? Wrong, the fact that I’d be spending Christmas night all the way till after New Years with Lucius Malfoy completely over shadowed the good points. “Well, come on you lot, trains boarding, don’t wana be late now do yeh?” Hagrid was seeing us off as we boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays. Leaving my home to be thrown into the snake pit in a few days. Lovely. “Bye Hagrid. Happy Christmas. We’ll see you in the New Year.” I hugged Hagrid along with Ginny and boarded the train with the rest of our friends. We all took seats in the Head’s compartment as it had the most room. “Can’t we just stay here instead of letting me get my blood sucked? I don’t fancy having to get a transfusion.” I whined to Draco as I took a seat on his lap. “Once again… I am not a vampire, neither is my mum nor my dad. And what’s a transfusion?” “Muggle way to restore blood to the body. I think we have it in the new section of the hospital wing at school. Anyway… girls when are we going shopping? I still need to find gifts for some people.” I turned to look at Luna, Ginny and Pansy. “Well, how about Christmas Eve day. I know it’s crazy because it’s the day before, but hopefully most people will already be done shopping so we’d have the Alley to ourselves. So, let’s say noon at The Leaky Cauldron, we’ll have lunch then head into Diagon Alley?” Pansy received nods from each of us but Luna. “Luna? Are you already done with your shopping?” I asked. Please I beg the nargles and wrackspurts do not let her give me another subscription to the Quibbler. “Oh yes. Daddy and I do our shopping right after Christmas for the next year to ensure we find the most special gifts.” She said with a smile. Neville kissed her hand and I looked to Ginny and Pansy with an ‘alright then’ smile on my face. I just hope I don’t receive an Erumpent horn like the one that blew up Luna’s house. Crazy family. Love them to death, but they’re certifiable. “Hermione love, wake up.” Draco’s silky voice made its way into my still sleeping head and I groaned. I don’t wana get up. That was the first good sleep I’ve had in a while. “Hermione get your butt moving!” Ginny, thank you, now I have whiplash. “Oww my neck. Bloody hell Gin, you need to take calming lessons from Draco here.” I scowled at Ginny but let my face relax as Draco massaged my neck while we departed the train. “Ok so I’ll see you girls day after tomorrow. Neville, Luna, Ernie I’ll see you after the holidays. Happy Christmas guys.” I hugged my friends that I wouldn’t be seeing for a few weeks and led Draco to get our trunks. Once our trolleys were loaded, we made our way over to Mother who was waiting with Blaise. “Hi Mum. I’ve missed you!” I engulfed her in a tight embrace which was over lapped by Blaise’s arms then Draco’s who was pulled in by my mother. “Ok kids, ready to go to the manor? Mia your parents came early. They’re staying with Blaise and myself till the day after Christmas. So don’t worry; they won’t be alone on Christmas night.” I hugged her again. That was great news. I felt awful for leaving them to be with the Malfoy’s. “Well, best be on our way.” Mother led us through the barrier and out to an alley by the station. Holding onto our luggage we apparated just outside of the Zabini Manor security wards. Levitating our trunks into the house I couldn’t help but smile and shout when I saw my parents coming to greet us. “Mum! Dad! I’ve missed you guys so much!” I ran to them effectively dropping my trunk in the entrance hall and pulled them into my arms. “We’ve missed you too Pumpkin. Quite a house you’ve got here huh?” Dad said with a laugh. “Yeah, it’s like I’m on vacation at all times. How’s everything going at home? Did you floo here? How are Aunt Maggie, Uncle Leo and the guys? How are-“ “Mione calm down sweetheart. Everyone’s doing well. The house is doing great. Go ahead and get settled. We’ll see you all back down here when you’re done.” Mum hugged me again and I followed the boys upstairs with my luggage floating behind me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christmas Eve morning I woke up to kisses being trailed down my neck and shoulders. “Mmmm… that feels nice…” I mumbled sleepily. I was rolled onto my back and kissed lightly on my lips before I freaked out and jumped out of bed. “Draco! Morning breath, gota brush my teeth, how’d you get in here anyway?” I scolded him; he knows how I feel about brushing my teeth before he kisses me first thing in the morning! “I don’t care love, come back here so I can snog you properly. And your door wasn’t locked, I figured I’d come wake you up before breakfast. Now come back… I don’t like having to sleep in the guest room without you. It sucks not waking up with you in my arms.” Draco whined. I stuck my head out of my en suite while brushing my teeth and saw him pouting at me. Aww, cute baby. Love that face. Ok, done with the teeth, time to go kiss that boy. “Ok baby, plant one on me.” I smiled and jumped on the bed and into his arms. “My pleasure.” He whispered huskily as he brought his face closer to mine. His lips tenderly brushed mine. Moving my hands into his hair I pulled him closer and bit his bottom lip making him moan and plunge his tongue into my mouth. My body was heating up and I was grinding into him as he let his hands roam over my skin. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK Always being interrupted!!!!! “Mi, breakfast soon. Have you seen Dra- oh. Well you better be thankful it was me that found you in here and not any of the parents. I think Mia’s dad might have killed you.” Blaise came into the room and sat down on the bed, effectively stopping my make out session with my oh so beautiful boyfriend. Thanks bro… “Oh fine, let’s go stuff our faces before I leave you guys. Whatever will you do without me?” “We’ll figure something out. Well, let’s get going, I’m hungry.” Blaise dragged us out of the bedroom and down the stairs to join the adults in the dining room. After breakfast I got ready for my day of shopping and then joined Ginny and Pansy in The Leaky Cauldron. Around 3:30 pm I finally returned home… from hell. “Those girls are bloody crazy.” I threw my bags on the floor and myself onto the chaise lounge in the parlor. “Never, ever, ever going Christmas shopping with them again!” “Mi?” Blaise came around the corner followed by Draco. “NO! Go away you can’t see, get out of here now!” Draco and Blaise ran out of the room when I threatened them with my wand. That’s right boys, I’m not playing. Ok, “Locomotor bags.” I walked up to my room with my bags following. Locking the door behind me I set to wrapping my gifts. Wow, didn’t realize how time consuming this was, well it’s done now thank Merlin. Ok, food starving, need food. I headed out my room with one destination in mind. Not even Draco calling for me as I passed his room could stop me. “FOOD NEED FOOD!” I called over my shoulder and continued to rush off to the kitchens. “LARS! I’ll be in your debt forever if you give me any type of food!” I hopped up onto the counter next to Lars who was preparing a casserole and ham for dinner. “Ooh pineapple!” I reached out to grab a chunk of fruit that was resting on a cutting board when my hand was swatted away. “That’s for the ham. There’s some left over chicken salad or spaghetti and meatballs, go eat that.” He said while going back to sticking chunks of pineapple on the ham. Yes found the chicken; now let’s go feed the stomach. I sat down at the kitchen table and started to devour the food. “Hey, you avoiding me or something?” I looked up to see Draco standing in the doorway with a confused expression on his face. “Oh, I see. Food comes before me today huh?” I nodded my head and smiled while he came to sit next to me. “Sorry, felt like my stomach was going to eat itself if I didn’t get anything in it. You would not believe how tiring shopping with those two can be. It was worse than going with my mums! And that’s a hard task to accomplish.” I took another bite then offered Draco one. “Mmm that’s good.” He mumbled after he swallowed. Thank Merlin, another boy with manors. “I know, I did tell you that Lars was the best didn’t I?” I teased him about his reaction when I got the cookies for my birthday. Draco pouted at me and took another bite. “Who’s the best?” Lars asked over his shoulder. “You are my darling chef. If you ever leave I am coming with you.” “I’d be happy to feed you for the rest of your life. Luckily for your mother I don’t have any plans to go anywhere at the moment or immediate future, I like it here too much.” “Good. I either would have gone with you or Imperioed you into staying. Anyway, thank you for the food and I can’t wait for dinner, I love ham.” I gave Lars a wave and walked out of the kitchen with Draco’s arm around my waist. “So where is everyone?” I asked. “Decorating the tree. I’m surprised you weren’t in there when I came down stairs.” Draco laughed at the horror stricken look on my face. They started decorating without me? Ahh!! “Come on!” I almost pulled Draco’s arm out of its socket trying to go join in with the decorating as soon as I could. By dinner the house looked spectacular and with the help of wands it was done in a snap. The tree stood tall with candles clipped to the branches which had inflammatory spells cast on them. Decorations where a number of things from slithering green and silver snakes and roaring red and gold lions, which Mother specially picked up for me while I was at school, to the clay handprint ornament I made when I was younger. Mum and Dad brought a whole slew of our family decorations to add to the manor tree. The presents under the tree were plentiful. I dimmed the candles around the room and went to wrap my arms around Draco. Mum had her arm around Dad and Blaise had his around Mother’s shoulder. We all stood there with our new family looking at our beautiful tree in the glow of the fire and candles. “Dinner is served Madame.” Gracy announced, bringing us all down to earth. “Thank you. Would you please ask Lars and Minnie to join us, you as well Gracy. This Christmas Eve deserves to see our whole family together.” Mother walked over to Gracy and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Aww, bashful old man. Our butler blushed and wiped away a tear. Did you have to Gracy, now you’re going to make me cry… I smiled at the old man and leaned farther into Draco; he tightened his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. Dinner was superb and it was the best feeling to have my family there, save for the Weasley’s. Lars was a riot, he and Mum argued over the correct way to cook a flan. I tried to side with Lars because he’s the chef, but mum shot me a glare and I quickly switched sides. Don’t want to anger a Granger woman that’s for sure. After dessert, apple cobbler and Crème Brule, yum, we headed into the sitting room. We all sat around the fire and the tree, listening to Christmas carols that Mum and Dad had brought along with their battery operated cd player. “Draco?” I whispered up to him. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa and I was lying between his legs with my back against his chest. The clock struck midnight, officially Christmas day… in about 15 hours I would leave my family and go back to a place I feared. But something amazing that I have came from that place; it can’t be all bad can it? “Hmm?” “Thank you for loving me. Happy Christmas Draco.” I whispered and cuddled into his embrace. He started playing with my hands and brought my fingers up to kiss them one by one. “Thank you for letting me. Happy Christmas Hermione.” He wrapped his arms tightly around me and we gazed at the tree until we left for bed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “CHRISTMAS!” I invaded Draco’s room and took to kissing him all over. He pulled me into the bed with him and tried to hush me by pulling the covers over my face. Didn’t work, just made me yell louder. Does he not know I’m obnoxious? “Alright woman I’m up. Go bother your brother while I use the loo.” He shooed me out of his room and I went gladly. The faster people got up the faster we could open presents. “Blaise. Blaise. Blaise. Blaise. Blaise.” Perhaps sunlight will work like it always did for me. Open sesame. Yup, that did it. “Ahh Mia close the bloody curtains, I’m trying to sleep here… Oh Merlin it’s Christmas!” Blaise hopped out of bed and ran to his bathroom. Two minutes later and he was out, he slung me over his shoulder and ran out of the room yelling for everyone to get their butts down to the tree. “Oomph!” He threw me onto the couch when we reached the sitting room then he decided to go rattle around some boxes. How old is this guy? “Blaise, wait for everyone else. You’re such a child.” “Alright, alright we’re here. Man you’re loud when you’re excited buddy.” Dad smiled at Blaise’s obvious excitement and everyone took seats while Gracy brought us tea. “Ok, who’s playing Santa?” Mum asked. Everyone besides Dad and I gave her odd looks. “Ok I’ll explain. Santa is a make believe fat guy in a red suit and white beard that comes through your chimney and brings presents to children on Christmas Eve. Oh, he also has a team of toy making elves and a sleigh led by flying reindeer.” I finished and Blaise told me that was disturbing. I agreed, it is kind of weird parents would make up a fat dude that breaks into your house. “Ok, so Blaise pass out everyone’s presents and we can start.” Mother instructed and he obeyed. Such a good boy. When he was done we all had pretty good sized piles. “Hermione and I are exchanging at my house tonight with my parents but we’ll be sure to fill you in.” Draco told everyone. “Ok, should we go one by one or just dig in?” Mum asked. Draco, Blaise and I yelled ‘dig in.’ Everyone tore the Christmas wrappings off their gifts. It snowed paper. I received so many lovely gifts. I got two new charms for my bracelet, a lion for Gryffindor and an otter for my patronus. Many books I had wanted over the years, of course the annual Weasley sweater, Blaise and Draco also received them this year. It was hilarious when Mum forced us to put them on and stand in front of the tree so she could take a picture to give to Mrs. Weasley. I got a pile of different chocolates, Weasley Wizard Wheezes products, new quills and ink, a beautiful journal with a Z embroidered on the front, clothes from Ginny, makeup from Pansy, golden snitch earrings from Harry, and sunglasses in the shape of crescent moons from Luna. Mother got me a gift card for a spa day as well as a black pearl necklace. Mum and Dad gave me some of those books I mentioned, a mug with Glinda on it that said ‘Only Bad Witches are Ugly,’ and a new cauldron along with those charms. Blaise and I exchanged gifts last. We again handed each other an envelope. Really… we got each other the same thing again? Sure enough, great minds think alike. We both got gift certificates to the new tattoo shop in Hogsmeade. Dad had a fit; it took about an hour to calm him down. We eventually all went upstairs to get showered and dressed before lunch. “What do I wear?! Draco, what do I wear to Malfoy manor? I’ve been there once; I don’t think I should show up dirty in jeans this time.” I was scrambling about my room searching through my closet and dressers to find the perfect outfit. Why am I even trying to impress these people? I hate Lucius. Mrs. Malfoy, not so much, but still. I guess it’s the whole meet the boyfriends parents for real this time. “Calm down love, I’m sure whatever you pick out will be great.” Draco was calm and already dressed in dark grey dress pants and a light blue dress shirt that brought out his gorgeous eyes. “Ok, ok, help! I need help Draco; remember when you freaked about meeting my family. Yeah, well this situation is 10 times worse.” I pulled him over to my closet and had him select an outfit for me. “Ok, this my darling girl will look lovely on you. And it will be appropriate for the manor.” He handed me a black tea length dress that had a pattern of white bows throughout it. A white belt cinched the waist and the top was a boat neck. No cleavage at Malfoy Manor I suppose. I went into my bathroom to curl my hair and pull half back into a clip, then put on some mascara, blush and lip gloss. Slipped the dress on, had Draco zip it up and threw on a pair of black t-strap heels. Twirling around in front of my mirror I asked Draco how I looked. “Like an amazingly beautiful girl that I don’t deserve.” He said before he kissed my cheek. “Well, I may have to agree with you on that.” I smiled cheekily then kissed him long and sweetly. “Ok, lunch, hanging out and then-“ “The snake pit.” I grumbled. For lunch Lars went above and beyond. There were fixings for sandwiches including the left over ham from last night, pasta dishes and salads, fruits; it was like we had a party of 20. I couldn’t help but want it to last longer; as soon as it was over I knew I’d be dreading when 4 o’clock came around. 4 o’clock eventually came. Shit… I don’t want to go, what good can come out of going there? Universe, I thought we were on good terms there for a while, what happened? “Bye Mum, Dad, Mother, Blaise. I’ll miss you guys. Owl or floo whenever you want alright?” I hugged my family once more and held onto Blaise the tightest. “Don’t make me go… please?” I whispered to him. He just laughed thinking it was a joke. I assure you Blaise, this isn’t a joke. Ya know; I’m shocked that my parents are even letting me go. They all know what went down there. Maybe they’re on drugs like Draco seems to be, he’s ecstatic that he gets to show me around his childhood home. I’d rather go have a look around Azkaban. “You ready love?” Draco asked as we stepped outside the houses apparition wards. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” I replied with a grimace. He held me tight to him, made sure we each had a good hold on our bags before he apparated us right outside the gates of Malfoy Manor. A/N: I do NOT own Harry Potter. “Only bad witches are ugly” is a quote from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ written by L. Frank Baum. Shaking, sweating. Oh my god. Why did I agree to this? I’m guna throw up… “Hermione? It’s getting colder and starting to snow again. You ok?” I snapped to my senses as soon as I heard Draco’s voice. Stay strong Hermione, you’re a Gryffindor. Come on, brave face, even if it’s fake. “Let’s go.” I held Draco’s hand and let him lead me through the gate and down the long drive leading to the manor. We were almost to the front door and I could feel myself tensing up. Did this place always look so gothic? Granted it looks nicer covered in snow than the last time I was here, but geez why would you want to live in some place that looks haunted? KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK “Why did you use the knocker, why not just go in? It’s your house.” I looked at Draco quizzically. I just stride right in at my homes. Is this some pureblood thing I should get used to? “It’s a pureblood thing. Good manors and all.” He rolled his eyes. So I was right…stupid pompous snobs. “Master Draco, comes in comes in. And Miss Hermione. Can Tinky takes your coats?” The little house elf bowed to Draco and myself and I had to clench my teeth together or I would have let something slip about S.P.E.W. and house elf rights. “Yes, thank you Tinky. I really appreciate it.” I gave her a bright smile and Draco nodded. The house elf smiled back and on her way to the hall closet kept looking back at me with bright shining eyes. “I love you.” Draco whispered to me as he pulled me into a kiss. “Ehem.” Someone cleared their throat and I immediately separated myself from Draco. Yup… lovely. Lucius and Narcissa. Wonderful first impression Hermione. ‘Hi, I’m Hermione as you know. I’m sorry about that but your son is just too delicious, I can’t keep my lips off him.’ Yeah, brilliant. “Draco I’m so glad you’re home.” Mrs. Malfoy stepped forward and Draco went to hug her. No, don’t leave me here… “Great to see you Mother, I’ve missed you.” Draco then turned to his father and held his hand out. “Father, Happy Christmas.” Lucius shook his hand and uttered a ‘happy Christmas’ in return. So formal, makes me sick. “Miss Zabini, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Mrs. Malfoy came to me and gave me a tentative hug. What do I do?! Do I hug back, do I just stand here? What Hermione? Ok arms, move. I gently squeezed her back when the connection between my brain and arms started to work again. “Thank you Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you both for inviting me to stay for the holidays.” I looked to Lucius and saw him nod. “Please call me Narcissa.” She smiled at me. “Only if you call me Mia.” I smiled shyly back and she nodded. “Well Draco, would you please show our guest to her room and you two can get settled in. I’m sure everything you need will be in there, if not just call for Tinky. When you’re done you may join us for tea in the parlor if you wish.” Narcissa led us over to the staircase and I followed Draco up to our rooms. “The door to your left is your guest room and my room is three doors down the hall to the right.” “Nope, no way. I am not staying in this place by myself. I don’t care about etiquette. I’m staying with you.” I started to move towards his aforementioned room. “Hermione my mother would have a fit!” He ran after me and put his hand on my arm. “Well, I’ll go home then because I’m not being alone here.” “Fine. Can we at least pretend you’re staying in that room and at night I sneak you into mine?” He pleaded with me. “There’s my cunning lil Slytherin. I knew you were still in there somewhere.” I smiled and pecked him on the lips before I headed back towards ‘my’ room. Ten minutes later and I was unpacked and Draco was leading me down the stairs. Brave up Hermione, you can do this. Don’t be afraid. “Have a seat you two. How do you like your tea Mia?” Narcissa greeted us when we entered the parlor. It’s so light and airy; I guess the whole place doesn’t need to look like a dungeon. Draco and I sat on the couch opposite the Malfoy’s. He held my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Two sugars and milk please.” I smiled to Narcissa then turned my gaze to Lucius. Hmm, staring into your cup of tea huh? I guess it must be telling you something very interesting; maybe that your hair is too long? “Thank you.” I took my tea and sipped at it quietly. Tick tock. Anyone going to say anything? I was almost finished with my tea when Narcissa finally spoke up. “So Mia, tell us about your last Christmas.” Seriously? Draco tensed beside me and I felt my face slowly slide into a smirk. “What was I doing last Christmas? Well let’s see. Ron had just abandoned us because he thought I liked Harry. On Christmas Eve Harry and I went to Godric’s Hollow trying to find Bathilda Bagshot because we thought that Dumbledore may have given her the Sword of Gryffindor. We found her, or rather she found us. Then we got attacked by Voldemort’s snake when she turned into it. “Voldemort arrived just in time to see us apparate away at the break of Christmas day. In the process Harry got bitten by the snake and I broke his wand when a charm backfired. Let’s see what else… Oh, then we went back to living in the snow covered woods in a tent and Harry lost faith in Dumbledore. “Thennnn…” I drew out the word, fully enjoying myself. “We moved on to The Forest of Dean and Harry was led to the Sword of Gryffindor by Snape’s patronus. Oh that’s right, you didn’t know Mr. Malfoy. Snape was a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Then Ron came back and saved Harry from drowning and he killed Voldemort’s locket with the sword. Then we started planning our next move to find the rest of the horcruxes. Yup, that’s how I spent last Christmas. May I have more tea please?” Damn I’m good. The Malfoy’s eyes were trained on me in complete and utter shock. Yes, I am 19 people; I’ve been dealing with that nonsense from you and others since I was 11. It doesn’t surprise me anymore. “Um…” Was all the reply I received. It was from Lucius. “Yeah. Exactly.” I said as I poured myself another cup of tea. I looked to my left to see Draco’s head in his hands. Shit… I put my tea down and scooted closer to him on the sofa. “Draco…” I rubbed his back but he didn’t move so I got to my knees on the floor in front of him and took his hands away from his face. “Draco love… it’s ok.” I caressed his cheek until he pulled me into his arms. “I should have been there Hermione… I should have protected you.” “Draco, you were a different person then. We were different. That never would have happened, but look at me. I’m still here right?” I kissed his cheek and he pulled away to look me in the eye. He placed his palm upon my cheek and I leaned into his hand. “Yes… you’re here.” He leaned in to kiss me softly. “Masters and Mistresses dinner is ready.” Tinky quickly walked away after her announcement. The Malfoy’s stood up and Draco helped me to my feet. “Is there a loo I can use down here?” I asked Draco quietly. “Yes, come on I’ll show you.” He showed me to the bathroom and pointed to the doors to go through afterwards. Ok, you’re doing fine. Just go back out there and give them your all. Walking out of the bathroom and to the open doors I kept repeating over and over ‘you’re doing great, everything’s going well’… maybe not. Why… why would they bring me here… don’t they have any other rooms we could have dined in? Seriously… I slowly stepped into the room that haunts my nightmares. A long table was to my left and three blonde people were seated at it but I didn’t care. I could hear my heels clicking against the hard wood floor. I could feel myself on the verge of hyperventilating. I stood in the very spot where I got my scar. I could feel the cold metal of her blade and the hot sticky blood drip down my skin like it was yesterday. I brought my hand to my neck to run my fingers over it and looked up to see the once broken chandelier. Did a simple ‘reparo’ fix Dobby’s handiwork? Dobby… I walked farther into the room, to the spot I see so vividly when I’m unconscious and sometimes awake. There it is. I could faintly hear people saying my name, but what I heard more than anything were my screams mixed with Ron screaming my name over and over again. Why would they bring me here… why would Draco do this to me? I fell to my knees; I didn’t have the energy to stand anymore. I heard chairs scrape across the wood floor and felt hands on my upper arms, I shook them off roughly. “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME MALFOY!” I growled at him while still focused on the floor. I searched for the nail marks I had made while being crucioed. Sure enough, still there. I could feel the excruciating pain pulsing through my memory. Tears were rolling down my cheeks at the memory of what I went through in this very spot. With my nails still in the markings I laid down on the floor curled up in a ball with my dress surrounding me. “HARRY!!!!!!!!!! RON!!!!!!!!!!” I don’t know how long stayed there just repeating “We didn’t take anything! Please stop!” I wouldn’t let anyone touch me. “Hermione…” I heard a familiar voice through my sobs and screaming and when they tried to touch me I thrashed and screamed some more, but this pair of arms, more like two pairs, weren’t giving up. I thrashed until I realized my efforts were futile. “Mione…” That caught my attention. I brought my head up and locked eyes with a set of green then a set of blue. I threw my arms around Harry and Ron and gripped their shirts in my hands until they started to hurt. I continued to sob until darkness took over my mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darkness. Peaceful. Scary at times. No one bothers me when I’m in this state. Except I can hear faint voices… must they really interrupt my lovely sleep? “How could he do that to her?” Ron’s faint angry voice found its way into my subconscious and everything hit me like I was standing on the tracks in front of the Hogwarts Express. I sat up faster than I should have. Great, now a headache to go with the nightmare that is my life. Where the hell am I? I looked around the room and realized I was in Ginny’s room at the Burrow. “Hey… how are you feeling?” Ginny was sitting on the bed next to me reading a book. How am I feeling? Seriously Gin? Well, let’s see… my boyfriend dumped me into a room where I was almost killed, I had a panic attack and now I’m at the Burrow with no recollection of how I got here. How do you think I’m doing?! “Fine.” I replied in a gravely voice... What was I supposed to say really… if I told her how I’m actually feeling I’d probably breakdown again and then everyone would be fussing over me. I cleared my throat before speaking again. “Where’s Draco?” Ginny began to bite her bottom lip and looked away. “Gin?” “Well… he’s still at Malfoy Manor.” “What…well I mean I know what happened, but what happened after Harry and Ron got there?” She got up and walked towards the door. “Maybe you should talk to Harry and Ron about it. I don’t know much of what happened up until you got here.” She walked out expecting me to follow. Oh boy… Ok, follow the voices, one sounds angry… Ron. The other sounds exhausted and sad… Harry? We were standing outside of Ron’s room listening to their conversation. I can always count on Ginny to be sneaky. “I knew he would hurt her Harry, I knew it! But would anyone believe me? No. She should be with me, I’m sure she knows that now.” Ginny opened the door as soon as she heard that. Uh oh… “Oh and you’ve never hurt her Ronald Weasley? You hurt her more than anyone! Yes, what he did was stupid, but what you did was worse. You have no right to say that she should be with you! You just want her back because of how she looks!” Ginny was fuming at her brother and had him backed up against the wall. She was right… what Draco did was stupid, what Ron did was worse, and I did have a feeling the only reason Ron wanted me back that day was because I was prettier… and rich. “Ginny!” Ron tried pushing past her but she held him at wand point and made him sit on his bed. “Now… will someone please explain to me what happened after I, well I guess I blacked out?” I stepped into the room and was pulled into Harry’s arms. “Thank you, I needed that.” Harry chuckled and squeezed me tighter. “Are you ok?” He asked. Why does everyone keep asking that? Ok, maybe I’m a tad better than I was a few minutes ago, but no I’m not fully ok yet. “I’m fine.” Once again what was I supposed to say to that question that wouldn’t land me in therapy sessions. I pulled away and sat on a chair at the other end of the room away from Ron and Ginny’s wand. “Time to fill me in people. What did I miss? How did I end up at the Burrow?” I looked between Ron and Harry a few times before Harry decided to speak up. “Well, Ron and I were here with everyone having dinner when the floo went off. Then all of a sudden Malfoy ran into the kitchen calling for myself and Ron and said something about you having a panic attack and you wouldn’t let anyone touch you.” Harry looked at me with sad eyes. “And so we ran with him out of the house and apparated to the manor. When we got inside he led us to that blasted room and there you were on the floor curled up, screaming and crying.” Ron added. “We ran over to you and tried to hold onto you, you put up a big fight. But you eventually looked up at us and clung to us. The Malfoy’s were all standing on the side watching… Mrs. Malfoy had tears running down her face. Lucius’ eyes were wide in shock I suppose…” Harry stopped. “Draco…?” I asked quietly. “He didn’t know what to do… I’ve never seen anyone... He came here with us and I talked to him a bit while you were passed out. Maybe you and I should take a walk…” Harry walked over to take my hand and lead me out of the room. “Where are we going? The house is bursting with Weasley’s at the moment.” I looked at Harry questioningly until he handed me my jacket and put his own on. “Where did you get this?” “Um… well Malfoy brought all of your things here. He didn’t think you’d want to see him or stay at the manor anymore.” “Oh.” I said. Do I want to see him? No… and yes… We slipped on boots that were sitting by the back door and Harry led me out into the snowy garden. Snow makes everything look beautiful doesn’t it? Crisp and clean. “Ok here it goes. Malfoy was basically in tears when he came to get us Mione. He said you yelled at him, told him not to touch you. He-“ Ahh… “I believe my words were ‘Don’t fucking touch me Malfoy.” Shit… “Right… And when we got back there… you were just a mess. It was like you were being tortured all over again. We didn’t know what to do so we just brought you here. Malfoy didn’t protest; he had the house elves gather your things so he could bring them here. He- he wanted to stay with you… but we didn’t think that was a good idea, especially with what he had just done.” “How could he have been so stupid Harry? That room was the reason I didn’t want to go back there. Did he do it on purpose? Confront your inner daemons or something…” Did the boy have wrackspurts in his head? “That’s the thing; he said he didn’t even think about it. I know, that sounds bad but let me explain. He was tearing himself apart. Yelling at himself, crying. He couldn’t believe how insensitive and stupid he was for not even registering what was going on until you stepped into that room. He said he was just so happy that you came home with him for Christmas that he didn’t even think about it.” I huffed and threw my hands in the air. “What, so that makes it all ok?” “No. It doesn’t make it ok, but you didn’t see him Mione. He knows what he did. He said that you hate him now, that when you called him Malfoy and told him not to touch you that his worst fear came true. Walking into that room finally woke you up, made you say ‘what the hell am I doing with Malfoy?” Harry put his arms around me and let me cry into his coat. “What do I do Harry?” “I don’t know… do you hate him?” He asked and I shook my head no. Of course I don’t hate him… “Do you love him?” His words were barely out of his mouth when I nodded my head yes. He sighed. “Well, I think you should hang here at the Burrow for a while, talk to Ginny. Maybe have Blaise come over, or go back to Zabini Manor. You’ll figure it out.” “Thank you Harry…” He tightened his arms around me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My days before New Years Eve were spent at the Burrow. I did not want to go back to Zabini Manor for fear that Draco would show up, or that he would need a friend in Blaise. I talked mainly with Ginny. She was attending the Malfoy Ball with Blaise and tried to persuade me into going. I didn’t think I was ready yet. All my parents had stopped by to make sure I was alright. Mother relayed a message from the Malfoy’s saying they were extremely sorry for putting me in that position and how insensitive it was of them. Blaise also came around to have a chat with me about Draco. “Mi, you need to talk to him sometime.” Blaise was pleading with me all afternoon on the 30th. “Just come to the ball tomorrow night and let him explain.” “Explain what Blaise Zabini? Explain how he doesn’t give a shit about my feelings and what happened to me right in front of his eyes?!” I was stomping around Ginny’s room while Blaise sat on the bed. What is he thinking? “Mia you know that’s not true. That guy would do anything for you. He just made a stupid, albeit huge, mistake. When I went to the manor to see him it was like he was a ghost. His parents said he hadn’t eaten since you left. He didn’t really sleep, all he did was cry, scream at himself or stare out the window. Mi, Draco is dying without you. I don’t like what he did any better than you do, but you have to believe it when I say he didn’t do it on purpose. It didn’t even click in his head until you started staring off into space.” “Blaise…” “No. You need to see him. I know you’ve been just as miserable as he has.” Blaise walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek. He stopped in the doorway before he left. “He needs you. And like it or not, you need him too.” And with that he was gone and tears were once again streaming down my face. Why is my life so complicated? Maybe I should move to Greenland. Live like an Eskimo, no one would find me. Make friends with pengu-…. penguins. Damn it! Why does everything make me think of him!? Maybe because he’s your world… shut up brain you’re not helping. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ December 31st. New Years Eve. Sitting at the Burrow again. “Wow Gin, you look beautiful!” I walked over to Ginny and gave her a big hug. Blaise was picking her up in 15 minutes to head over to the Malfoy’s for the ball. “You think so, is it ok?” She twirled around in her royal blue floor length gown. The one strap over her shoulder was encrusted in silver and light blue beads which trailed down to cover the entire bodice. Her red hair was pinned up with curls framing her face and a pair of silver earrings adorned her ears. “Yes. Absolutely stunning. My brother is going to love it.” I smiled as her face lit up. “Are you sure you won’t come Mione? It’s been a week…” “Nah. I might go home to my parents and ring in the New Year with them.” Or as I like to think of it, stay in my room eating mango ice cream and thinking about a guy named Draco. Yes, I know it’s cold outside. You’ve never had ice cream when your toes are basically falling off from frostbite? Well, you my friend are missing out. “Alright… What about your mother?” Ginny asked as she slipped on her blue heels. Hmm… sorry Gin, you may be missing a pair of shoes come February. “She’ll be at the ball. Being best friends with Narcissa Malfoy sort of obligates you to attend certain events.” I scoffed. “Ahh… right.” “Hey sis, Ginny wow… you look… wow.” Blaise appeared out of the fire place in a very elegant black pinstripe suit. No eyeliner to be found and his lip ring was gone. “Wow Blaise, you clean up good bro.” I gave him a hug before he was pulled away by Ginny. Look at those two… can’t keep their eyes off each other. Ugh stupid heart, stop breaking. It’s not the end of the world. ‘Yes it is.’ And stupid voice inside my head… SHUT UP! “Well, best be on our way. Happy New Year’s sis.” Blaise and Ginny gave me one last hug before they were out the door and out of the apparition wards. What to do… ahh yes. Nice comfy bed, Haagen Dazs Mango ice cream and tissue box here I come. A/N: I have NO affiliation with Haagen Dazs icecream or Harry Potter. Hair up in a French twist… thank you mum. Pearly white eye shadow and mascara… done. Sheer red lip gloss plus sealant charm…done. Strapless red gown from Pansy and Ernie…on. Silver heels from Mother…on. And last but not least… Emerald and Diamond necklace from the Malfoy’s… deep breath…on. Check in the mirror. Good. Let’s hope you’re not too late Hermione. I ran down the stairs to shouts of ‘go get him Sweetheart /Pumpkin’ from Mum and Dad. Coat… check. After fastening it up, grabbing my clutch and picking up the train to my dress I apparated just outside the gates to Malfoy Manor. Here goes nothing. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK Ok ok, don’t panic, you can do this. You love him, you can’t lose him. He’s your Mr. Darcy, your Lysander, your Paris. Don’t let him become your Rhett Butler… “Oh… um Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Ehem… good evening.” The door opened to reveal the two people that must hate me for causing their son so much pain. Why couldn’t Tinky have been the one to open the door…? “Mia! Dear, please, come in, come in.” Narcissa ushered me into the entrance hall where Lucius took my coat. Shocking… “Thank you. Um… I- I want to apolog…” I started to say but was interrupted, this time I didn’t mind. “No. Miss Zabini you have nothing to apologize for. It was our carelessness that drove you away. Drove you away from Draco. He has been in agony for the past week. It’s not been easy on us as his parents. I would like to apologize to you… for everything.” Lucius stepped towards me and held out his hand. Take it Hermione, no going back now remember? If you want to keep Draco you need to accept the people in his life. I took his outstretched hand in mine and shook it lightly. Narcissa then pulled me into her arms and whispered in my ear. “Thank you… thank you for loving my son.” “Thank you for letting me.” I pulled away and smiled as I repeated Draco’s words. “You look lovely my dear. The necklace suits you.” She said with a smile. I brought my hand up to my neck to gently run my fingers over the gems. “It’s gorgeous. Thank you so much. It was extremely unnecessary, but very much appreciated. I promise to take excellent care of it.” Narcissa brought her hand up to cup my cheek. “We know you will dear. Now, I must be getting back in there. Lucius, will you please escort Mia inside.” “Yes Cissa.” He held his arm out for me and I took it. Go Hermione. Phase one complete. “If you could please not let him know I’m here, I would appreciate it. I want to talk to him on my own.” I asked the both of them. “Of course. I’ll see you in there.” Narcissa strode into the ballroom; thankfully it was on the opposite side from where ‘that’ room is. Deep breaths Hermione. Draco’s waiting for you… hopefully. I let Lucius lead me into the ballroom. People were dancing, laughing, and having a marvelous time. I spotted Ginny and Blaise on the side of the room talking with Pansy and Ernie. They looked over to me and smiled. “He’s right over there.” Lucius said as he unhooked my arm from his and pointed in the direction of his son. “Thank you.” I looked up to the man with the long blonde hair. Too long for my taste. He nodded and left to go find his wife. Draco had his back to me. He was sitting at a table all alone, hunched over in his seat with his elbows resting on the table. I walked over to him as quietly as I could and stopped a couple feet behind him. Looking over his shoulder I could see the thing his eyes were fixated on. A ring. Oh Merlin… A large square cut emerald sat atop a silver band encrusted with diamonds. What is it with this family and green? Obsessed much? It was gorgeous though I have to admit. Ok, another deep breath. “Hi…” I spoke softly and Draco immediately sat up straight. He closed the box and stood up, slowly turning to face me. Wow he does not look good. Bags under his eyes, his skin looks sallow and even paler than usual, and he’s so skinny… I’ve totally ruined him… “Are you real?” He whispered, his voice slightly shaking, his eyes roaming my face. I nodded and smiled a bit when he brought his hand up to rest on my cheek. “Hermione I-“ “Shh.” I placed a finger on his mouth when he started to apologize “I know. So am I… I’m so sorry I abandoned you Draco.” As soon as I said his name he closed the gap between us and brought his lips down to mine. Softly and slowly he moved his mouth over mine, savoring the deliciousness of the moment. It was pure bliss. I can’t survive without this man… I suddenly tasted something salty. I opened my eyes and saw Draco’s face stained with tears. Uh oh. Happy tears, sad tears? I pulled my lips away from his for a split second to question him if he was alright but he kissed a trail down my neck then chest before he kneeled down and buried his face in my stomach. His arms wrapped around my back and he held me tightly as if his life depended on it. He was sobbing into my dress. Sad tears it is. All I could think to do was hold him, any part of him. Just hold him tightly Hermione. Never let go again you stupid girl. I had silent tears streaming down my face now as well. “Draco… shh. Baby it’s alright. I’m here… I’m so sorry I left you. I promise I won’t leave you ever again…” I tried to soothe him as well as myself. I could see his parents standing a few tables down, both looking at us with sad eyes. Ginny, Blaise, Pansy and Ernie were walking toward us. While I was looking to my friends I felt Draco unlatch his arms from around me so I loosened mine and looked down. “Draco…” He was now on one knee and looking up at me, still with tears rolling down his cheeks. One hand was still on my waist, the other held out the ring box containing the gorgeous diamond and emerald ring. Maybe they were happy tears after all. Oh my lord… this is happening. Is this happening? Am I hallucinating? Did I use one of the Daydream Charms from George’s Christmas gift? Draco took his hand off my waist to grab my left one. He brought it to his lips and kissed my palm. I smiled and received one in return. “Hermione… every moment without you has been sheer agony. Nights are the worst, not having you in my arms, not being able to smell your coconut shampoo, not being able to caress your skin. It’s more than I can bear. I don’t ever want to live like that again. I want to wake up every morning with your skin against mine, to see your face before I see anything else in the world. I can’t live without you... without your love. You are my heart, my soul, my everything. I want to marry you, make babies with you and grow old with you. Hermione Jean Granger-Zabini, will you do me the immense honor of becoming my wife?” He looked up at me with anxiousness, joy, longing and hope in his eyes. “Yes. Yes Draco, a million times yes!” Easy question. We both had tears of happiness running down our faces and smiles as bright as the sun. He slipped the incredible ring on my finger; it adjusted itself to fit. Then he stood up to capture my lips in an intense loving kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he held the back of my head with his hand, deeping our kiss. “I love you.” I whispered against his lips when I pulled away for air. He smiled in response and leaned in to claim my mouth once more. I’m engaged ahh! I’m 19… long engagement ahead. “Ahh! Congratulations!!!!” Ginny screamed once she got to us and pulled me away from my fiancé… whoa weird. Blaise pulled Draco the other way. “Thanks Gin! Oh my god I’m engaged Ginny!” I was pulled into numerous hugs, some from people I didn’t even know. After all the fuss I was pulled into someone’s embrace I never thought possible. Lucius. I was nervous to say the least at first but his words made me relax. “Congratulations Miss Granger.” He whispered my name. The name that he hated me for because it was a Muggle name. I smiled and actually hugged him back. My future father in law. Wow… never saw that one coming. When he pulled back I took his hands in mine. “Please call me Mia. And thank you. Your son is a good man. You guys must have done something right.” I laughed a little and he gave me a smirk. “Mia… my little sister. All grown up. Congratulations Mi.” Blaise tore me away from Lucius and held me long and tight then gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m only younger by 7 minutes you big buffoon.” I grumbled and received a smirk from my brother. “MIA!” Mother was the next that enveloped me in a hug. “Mia darling I’m so happy for you! I’m so glad things worked out. He loves you so much darling.” She was crying now, which was making me cry in response. Why does everyone feel the need to cry around me? “I know Mum. He’s an amazing man. He’ll take good care of me, and I him.” “I know sweetheart. Narcissa, Congratulations.” Mother greeted Narcissa just before I was pulled into another set of arms. “You as well Violet. Mia dear this is amazing. I’m so happy for you both.” She held me at arms length and I could see her eyes glistening with more tears. “I couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law.” She kissed me on the cheek and left to find Lucius. Mother was talking excitedly with some of her friends and I was searching the crowd for Draco. My Draco. The thought made me smile. “Looking for someone?” I heard his voice behind me and my face brightened even more. Turning around I noticed the smirk that played on his lips. “Maybe. He’s about 6’1”, blonde hair, gorgeous oceany grey eyes, pale skin, goes by the name… Fiancé .” I purred and wrapped my arms around his waist. Draco placed his hands on my cheeks and brought his lips down to brush across mine. “I may be able to find him for you.” He whispered. “You look beautiful tonight Hermione as always. Although I think I should probably dry your dress from where I stained it with tears.” Draco looked embarrassedly down to my stomach and pulled out his wand to dry it. “Thank you love.” I brought his face back to mine to kiss him on the cheek and whisper seductively in his ear. “I’ve missed you Draco. I’ve missed your touch… your lips… your body… Can I stay here with you tonight?” His arms snaked themselves around my waist and I felt him shudder. He kissed and licked the skin on my neck in response. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I breathed. “But right now Mister Malfoy, you need to behave yourself and play gracious host to your ballroom full of guests.” I heard him growl and I smirked. “And we need to get to you to eat something love. You look like you haven’t eaten in a week.” He looked into my eyes with deep longing. “I know Draco. I want you too… so badly.” I leaned in to kiss him again. “Can we have your attention please?” A voice sounded over the crowd. Draco and I looked over to the stage that housed the band. The Malfoy’s, Mother and Blaise were up there with glasses of Champaign. “Would Mia and Draco please come join us?” Narcissa called out. Draco smiled at me and led me by the hand onto the stage. “We would like everyone to please raise a glass to an amazing couple. We couldn’t be happier about this union. We love you both.” Mother announced. Draco held me from behind and placed a kiss on my cheek. “To Draco and Mia. May they have a long and happy life together. Congratulations!” Narcissa raised her glass and the crowd followed. I turned around in Draco’s arms and kissed his full lips. “Oh no!” Shit, I have to go tell my parents now or they’ll never forgive me. I made my way out of Draco’s arms and down the stage stairs. I turned around to grab his hand but he wasn’t behind me. I looked up to the stage and saw the fear on my loves face. Oh God, he thinks I’m leaving him again. Good job Hermione. I held out my hand for him and his face relaxed back into a smile. He climbed down the stairs and grasped my hand, letting me pull him into the entrance hall. “For a minute there I thought you were... I could feel my heart in my throat.” Draco’s voice was a tad pained which made me flinch. But he pulled me into his side and walked to the fireplace. “Where are we going?” “We’re going to my house to tell my parents.” My parents were as happy as could be. They saw how miserable I was without him, and noticed the state he was in from a week without me. We had a glass of wine with them and then headed back to the manor to ring in the New Year. Draco suggested that we bring them with us, but I didn’t think Lucius would be too happy having Muggles in his house. Not yet anyway. With about 5 minutes to spare Draco and I rushed back into the ball room. “Hey guys, you run away for a quickie?” Pansy nudged me in the side and winked. “Ha ha. No, we went to tell my parents the good news.” I put my arm around Draco’s waist. Should have gone off for a quickie though. I like the way your mind thinks Parkinson. “Almost time guys, let’s go outside. Firework show.” Draco pulled me along with our friends out into the cold air. We were surrounded by everyone else but I was freezing. “Thank you.” I murmured to Draco. Aww, such a good fiancé. He took his tux jacket off and wrapped it around my shoulders then pulled me to his body and wrapped his arms around me. Mmm body heat... Draco heat. “10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3-“ “I love you Draco.” I looked up into his eyes. “I love you too Hermione.” “2…1… HAPPY NEW YEAR!” The crowd shouted as the fireworks took off to light up the night sky. Draco brought his lips down to mine in a tender kiss. I wouldn’t let him pull away. I’ve been away from you too long Draco, give me more than that… I bit and sucked on his lower lip which made him retaliate. He plunged his tongue into my mouth and battled mine for dominance. I moaned and pressed my body into his. Then I remembered where we were and pulled away before my brother noticed. Or worse… his parents. I’m sure that won’t be on the ‘proper pureblood test’ I’ll probably have to take before I marry their son. “Come on love. We need to get some food in you; you’re looking a bit unhealthy.” I pulled Draco back into the ballroom when he shrugged. The spread at the buffet table looked delicious. Draco did thankfully eat until he felt like a glutton. His mother pulled me aside to thank me for that. Around 1am, after dancing, champagne, and talking with friends the guests took their leave. “Would you mind terribly if I spent the night here?” I asked Lucius and Narcissa when the door closed after the last guest. Draco wound his arms around me and looked at his parents with puppy dog eyes. “Of course you may stay. Goodnight you two. We shall see you some time later on today. Let’s get some rest Cissa.” Lucius winked at Draco which made me blush profusely and bury my face in my hands. He then led his wife up stairs. Oh Merlin… Lucius knows what Draco and I will be doing tonight, that’s highly disturbing. He’s probably proud of his son. Ugh… “Hmm. I’m surprised Mother didn’t order a house elf to make you your own room. Father seemed to understand though.” Draco chuckled and picked me up bridal style to carry me to his room. “Draco, we’re not married yet, you can put me down.” “Nah, I’ll put you down when we get there.” Draco set me down in the middle of his room and then went to shut his door. He locked it and cast a Muffliato on the room while I unhooked my heels and placed them by a chair. I took off my necklace and the clips that held up my French twist, letting my hair cascade down my back. Lastly I cast a contraceptive charm on myself so we wouldn’t have to think of it later. I looked to Draco and in his eyes saw the same lust that I had filling my body at that moment. I need him; tonight’s not going to be like the others I know that much for sure. I rushed toward him and we first met with our mouths. He was ravenous, biting, licking and sucking on my tongue and bottom lip. “Draco…” I moaned before he claimed my mouth again. I hurriedly got to work unbuttoning his shirt and loosening his tie. He broke our kiss for only a second when he pulled his tie over his head. His hands went back to roaming my body and mine to un-tucking his shirt from his pants. I slid it off his shoulders and ran my hands over his bare toned stomach. Draco growled low in his throat before he pulled away and looked me in the eye. His eyes were dark. Darker than I’d ever seen them. I admit it frightened me a little but mostly it made my knees weak. To know that he wanted me that badly had my heart beating a million miles a minute. While holding his gaze I moved my hands to unbuckle his belt and undo his pant’s button and zipper. He kicked off his shoes and let his pants fall to the ground. He broke our eye contact to bend down and take off his socks. On his way back up he ran his hands up my legs under my dress all the way to my inner thighs and I felt my body tremble with his touch. “Get me out of this blasted dress.” I commanded him in a breathy whisper. He obeyed. Slowly he unzipped the side of the dress and let it pool around my feet. I was standing in front of his appraising eyes in a strapless red satin bra and matching boy shorts with ribbon ties up the sides. I claimed his lips again while slowly moving my body against his. “Fuck Hermione…” He gasped out and leaned his forehead against mine. I continued what I was doing and he attacked my mouth again. He bit down on my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. It was erotic, sensual. The salt and rust taste of my blood mixed with our tongues caused me to growl this time. That turned him on even more. He untied the sides of my panties and let them fall to the ground, then unlatched my bra exposing my whole body to him. His hands found my breasts and his thumbs rubbed against me. He brought his mouth down and took me in his mouth gently biting and licking my tender flesh, my hands tangled in his hair holding him to me. “I need you…Now…” I breathed. In a second his boxers were on the floor and he had lifted me in the air. My legs went around his waist and he turned to force my back against the door. I cried out from the contact but he silenced me with his mouth. Tongue against tongue, he claimed me hard causing me to moan in pain and pleasure. I’d be sore tomorrow but I didn’t care. Not right now. He held me by the thighs and moved roughly. “Draco… yes…” Draco bent his head down to my neck and bit down between my neck and shoulder, stifling a groan. “Harder Draco…” I firmly gripped his shoulders digging my nails into his skin. He obeyed once again. “Mmm yes Draco… oh my god…. Draco!” Pleasure washed over me and my breaths came in pants. I leaned my head against his shoulder and tried to make the moment last as long as I could. My body was humming. “I’m not finished with you yet…” My head snapped up and I looked into his eyes. He hadn’t finished…? He stilled and carried me over to an arm chair near his fireplace and sat down. I moaned out his name at the feeling. One last passionate kiss before I was ready for my next round. I arched my back and began to move. “Oh Merlin Hermione…” His eyes followed my body’s movements. I could feel pleasure already starting to engulf me again. “Draco...” I moaned. I was almost there. I could feel his body start to quake beneath mine and his hands gripped my hips tightly. “Hermione yes, sweet Merlin…” Draco and I finished together as both our bodies shuddered. I closed my eyes and fell against his heaving sweaty chest. His heart was beating as quickly as mine was. I sat back to look at the face I had come to love. “I love you…” I whispered before kissing him sweetly. His hands cupped my face and his lips moved over mine with such tenderness. “I am so in love with you Hermione.” He breathed when we pulled apart. Draco and I took a shower together, washing each others bodies free of the sweat from making love. After drying myself I slipped into Draco’s green (what a shocker) silk sheets. Mmm… the soft fabric felt amazing against my skin. “No pjs love?” Draco chuckled as his eyes roamed the exposed top half of my body. He stood next to the bed in a pair of blue silk pajama pants. “I came here without any luggage. Sorry.” I smiled at him. I know you like me naked in your bed Malfoy, don’t deny it. “That’s fine with me. Naked it is.” Draco said before he took off his pj pants and boxers. Then he climbed in bed and pulled me against his chest. “Goodnight love.” He waved his wand around the room and the candles went out. “Goodnight, my future wife.” He murmured as he kissed my shoulder. His future wife… I like the sound of that. A/N: I have no affiliation with the name ‘Mr. Darcy’ from Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Lysander’ from Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or ‘Rhett Butler’ from Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone with the Wind.’ “Dum dum duh dum, dum dum duh dum…” “Ginny. That’s the wedding march. This is graduation.” I looked at my best friend like she was nuts. Ahh… graduation. Good bad sad glad. No, I’m not turning into Dr. Seuss thank you very much. I just don’t know how I feel about it. Embarking on the next adventure of my life. With Draco. Stepping into the great unknown that is the job market. With Draco. Yes. Everything I do will include Draco. My fiancée. Sigh. Dreamy, sexy, loving fiancée of mine… who just sprayed me in the face with pumpkin juice! “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY!” I screeched at the top of my lungs and ran after him out of the Great Hall where all the 7th & “8th” years were gathered for the graduation day breakfast. “I didn’t mean to! Blaise made me choke… it just came out!” Draco was running for his life. Smart boy. He knew he’d be dead for ruining the masterpiece that was my face, compliments of Ginny and her makeup kit. Turning the corner I ran into something solid and arms snaked around my waist holding me still. I tilted my head up to look at my capture. With a smirk and a wink Draco lowered his head and tenderly brushed his lips over mine then proceeded to kiss away the droplets of juice from my face. He pulled me into his body and I of course went willingly, my anger already forgotten. There was no better place than Draco’s arms… well perhaps his bed. “I’m sorry love. Really, I didn’t mean to.” He murmured into my hair and tightened his arms around me. My heart did a skip and a jump, yes ok I know I’m being sappy but hey, if you were engaged to Draco Malfoy you would be this way too. I snuggled deeper into his chest and held him closer to me. “I know. It was just fun chasing you around.” Draco tipped my head back and smiled that full megawatt smile at me before kissing me again. “Would you like to take a stroll around the castle before the ceremony?” Every time damn it. Every time I thought about how this would be my last day at Hogwarts I started to cry and every time Draco would cup my cheeks and kiss away my tears. “Shh… I know. I know…” He cooed to me and tucked me under his arm as we made our way through the halls we came to know so well. How was I supposed to say goodbye to this place? It brought me to life. It brought me to Draco, although at the time I wish it hadn’t… but now? Would I change that? Never. I hadn’t noticed that we had stopped moving, too many memories and thoughts played around in my head. I looked at our surroundings and realized we were at the foot of the Astronomy tower. My eyes went wide and I looked to Draco as he reached for the door. “Draco?” I whispered and his hand stopped midair. “I… I need to. Before it’s over.” He hadn’t turned to look at me but the agonizing tone of his voice made me step up next to him and guide his hand to the door knob. His hand was shaking as I covered it with mine. “Together.” I whispered. Draco nodded and we turned the knob, pulling the door toward us. In silence we climbed the stairs, finally at the top I heard Draco let out a ragged breath. I watched as he walked to the open windows and look around at the ground. Only when he held out his hand for me did I join him. His arms encircled me and I leaned back against his chest, taking in the view. “Isn’t it beautiful?” I asked. Draco’s lips planted a kiss on my head. “Very.” “I don’t know how I’m going to leave it.” I was such a loser. Crying over a castle. But it was my home… “You know you don’t really have to leave it Hermione.” Draco turned me to face him. Oh boy here we go again. I shook my head. “No. Draco I can’t.” I tried to step out of his hold but his hands were firm on my shoulders. “Look at me Hermione.” I brought my eyes to his face. His gorgeous, sweet face. “You should take the position. There is no one better for it than you.” We had been having the same discussion/argument whatever you want to call it for the past month. “No.” I stood my ground and stared defiantly up at him. Draco raked a hand through his already messy blonde hair. “Why? I don’t understand.” His eyes were pleading with me. “I-” Draco stepped back and crossed his arms. “No. No more excuses Hermione. You are a brilliant woman, why won’t you take this job offer? It’s an amazing opportunity. One that you shouldn’t throw away so easily. Now tell me why you won’t stay in the place you love so dearly and teach.” I closed the distance and held onto him for dear life. “I was away from you once, I can’t do it again.” Draco lifted my face to his so he could look into my eyes. “Is that what’s got you worried?” He asked with wonderment in his voice. I nodded and he smiled brightly. “Yeah, yeah I know I’m feeding your ego. You don’t have to look so happy Malfoy.” I grumbled and he pulled me back into his arms chuckling all the while. “Well love… you don’t have to worry anymore. Guess who’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” Draco’s voice was laced with humor and excitement. I pulled back quickly. No. No way! “But… but Wilkins?” Draco smiled and shook his head. “Fired. Just found out. Wish I had a chance to crush his pretty face before he left though.” Oh Merlin… this means… I jumped into Draco’s arms and he spun me around while planting kiss after kiss on my lips. Ok feeling sick. He finally stopped and I planted my feet back on solid ground. I held his face in my hands and looked at him with all the love I could conjure. “We’ll be here?” I whispered and Draco nodded. “Together?” This time he smiled. I kissed him tenderly and held him close. “I love you Draco.” “I love you too. We get to start our life together in the place where it all began.” He whispered into my hair. I sighed and gently pulled back. Draco’s eyes focused on my face, a small smile tugging at the corners of his perfect pink lips. “Thank you.” I whispered to him. I couldn’t express how grateful I felt that he would do this for me. He knew how much it had been killing me to think about leaving Hogwarts. Draco looked around the tower then out onto the grounds. “You know… I thought it would be harder for me being back here. The tower, the castle. But it feels like home, like I belong here. Even though I hurt this place… the people here… everything… they’ve all welcomed me back.” His voice was one of awe. “That’s the beauty of this place. No matter what, it will always make us feel safe, loved. You’re not the boy you once were Draco.” I kissed his lips when he brought them down to mine. We stayed in each others embrace for a few more minutes before heading back down the stairs and into the Great Hall where all of our classmates were sorting into lines alphabetically. Draco pulled me into his arms, kissed me fiercely and gave me a bright smile before heading over to the other “M”s. “Ready to do this Sis?” Blaise asked as he slung an arm over my shoulder and pulled me to the front of the Great Hall. “I suppose.” “Hey come on cheer up. We still have that slide show to look forward to.” My brother always found the good in everything. He was right. Graduation was here, we were saying goodbye to the days of being students, but we had many things to look forward to in our futures. For one, the slide show. I stood next to Draco at the podium set up on the stage we had erected on the grounds of Hogwarts. Looking out into the sea of faces I couldn’t help but smile. I spotted my parents, all three of them. The Weasley’s and Harry, and the Malfoy’s… everyone was here. Draco’s speech was almost at an end, having gone over it with him a zillion times this past week I had a good idea how far along he was. Listening to him thank everyone for giving him a second chance brought tears to my eyes, as it did the zillion times before. “Hermione love?” I wiped a tear from my cheek and smiled at Draco. He held out his hand for me and I took it, letting him lead me to the podium for my turn. “I love you.” Draco whispered before taking a step back. I smiled at him before turning my attention to the audience. Ok deep breath Hermione. “I didn’t prepare a speech for today. Surprising I know.” I received a few chuckles from the audience. “I felt as though I should speak from my heart. About how I feel this last day as a student of Hogwarts. And well… I feel sad. Anxious… but also excited. I am one of the lucky ones. I get to come back here next year, to teach. But most of us don’t get to return to the halls of this magical place. This place that has taught me so much about myself, that protected me, fought for me. When the founders created this amazing school I don’t think they were aware of the trials and tribulations that would go on here. That they themselves would cause.” Another deep breath. “Hogwarts is a home to many. It will always be a place we can all come back to without fear of rejection.” I looked over my shoulder and received a smile from Draco. “Go into the future… don’t be afraid to follow your dreams, but know that if you ever feel lost, this place is here for you to come home to. We lost a lot here, but we have gained much in return. Take a piece of it with you wherever you go. It is resilient. Just like all of us. Congratulations class of 1999. Our time here may be over, but a great big world awaits us. Have fun and enjoy all it has to offer.” I stepped back to join Draco as I received a round of applause. McGonagall smiled at the two of us as she stood at the podium. Draco and I took our seats back in the crowd as the first wave of students received their diplomas. When Draco stepped on the stage I cheered with all my might, receiving a wink from my precious Slytherin. “You ready Sis?” Blaise led me by the hand to the stage. For some reason he wanted to do this together since we missed out on so much. Each step we took onto the stage was followed by cheers from our friends and family. I locked eyes with Draco and mouthed ‘I love you’ to him, earning me a bright smile. As I was handed my diploma by the Headmistress she pulled me into a hug. The woman has emotions… who knew? “Congratulations Miss Granger. I look forward to working with you and Mister Malfoy this upcoming year.” “Thank you Professor. And I just wanted to say thank you for giving Draco a chance. This really means the world to him.” I felt myself choking up. “Albus always knew there was good in him. He just needed to find his way. He will make an excellent teacher.” McGonagall smiled at me and let me go join Blaise on the way back to our seats. When everyone was seated she took center stage again. “Now if you would all please file into the Great Hall the feast will begin; along with a surprise courtesy of Miss Zabini and the graduates.” Draco and I found each other in the crowd and kissed before separating to find our parents. We agreed to meet over by the doors to the entrance to the school. I ran into the open arms of Blaise who was waiting by our parents. “Congratulations you two!” Mother said to us before we engulfed the three of them in a family hug. “Yes, congratulations. This place is spectacular Mione. No wonder you always praised it when you came home for the summers.” Mum and Dad looked around the grounds in amazement as we made our way up the lawn to Draco and his parents by the front doors. “Good to see you sweetheart. Congratulations.” Mum hugged Draco followed by a handshake from Dad and another hug from Mother. More of the same went on between me, Blaise and the Malfoy’s. Well, I didn’t actually hug Mr. Malfoy this time, just a handshake. “Jean it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Narcissa hugged my Mum tightly. “You as well Narcissa. We have a lot to catch up on.” Mum smiled and hugged a shocked looking Lucius next. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing, as did Draco and my brother. Our parents were all friendly with one another. We had them meet a couple of weeks after New Years, after our engagement. Everything went better than expected. I was waiting for Dad to punch Lucius, or Lucius to curse my parents for being muggle. But it all went smoothly. No Avada’s, no black eyes. Just more happy family time. “Hermione! Mione over here!” My family and Draco’s joined the Weasley’s and Harry at one of the tables in the Great Hall before I had to announce the surprise. The Malfoy’s stayed at one end of my family and the Weasley’s at the other. Ugh. Some things really will never change. Oh well. “I ask Miss Zabini to make her announcement and then the feast will begin.” Professor McGonagall sat back down at the teachers table as I walked to the front of the hall. “This year I had the honor of being a sort of teacher to all the students. As you know last year our Muggle Studies professor was among the many that was taken from us. Now while I could never replace her, I tried to bring something different to the table with that class. One of the assignments was to record memories of the year here at Hogwarts. I have compiled the photographs taken by the 7th and “8th” years and created a slide show. I would like to present Hogwarts through our eyes.” I signaled for Hagrid to start the show, the candles dimmed and non moving pictures began to fill the screen that had been placed by the doors. Walking back to my family I stopped by the Malfoy’s and sat on Draco’s lap to watch our hard work. “You are one amazing woman Miss Zabini. I still can’t believe you’re mine.” Draco’s whispered words made me melt. I was his, and he was mine. Forever. I kissed him lightly on the lips. “Thank you… you my dear fiancé are pretty incredible yourself. Now let’s eat and watch the show.” I gave him one last kiss before climbing off his lap and rejoining my family. Laughs and tears flowed freely as we watched the memories flicker across the screen. Some of my favorites included Slughorn and a few classmates covered in green goo, action shots of the Quidditch teams… although most were just giant blurs since they flew by too quickly. Others like the one we took… the portraits of Dumbledore and Snape while Snape had a fit about getting his picture taken. We had McGonagall stand next to the portraits to commemorate the three headmasters of our years at Hogwarts. I think my favorite was of the entire graduating class at the end of the show. I loved the last photo. Perhaps because it was the only one that was taken with a magical camera and so everyone moved. You could feel the love and excitement radiating off it. I found Draco and myself in the photo. His arms were wrapped around me and we were both smiling and waving like fools at the camera. How things had changed in the past 8 years. I love magic. A/N: No affiliation with Harry Potter. “Ok… ok freaking out here!!!!” I was having a panic attack as I gazed at myself in the full length mirror in the ‘bridal suite’ at Malfoy Manor. It was the day of the wedding. My wedding. AHH! “Hermione! Calm the fuck down!” Ginny. Ahh gota love Ginny. I trained my eyes on her in the mirror. She was standing next to me giving me a stern look, behind that look she was giving me her ‘why are you flipping a shit’ gaze. I took a deep breath and looked back to my reflection. In and out, just breathe Hermione. It took a few more deep breaths before my heart stopped pounding. “Ok. I’m ok.” I murmured. “Good. What the bloody hell is wrong anyway? You were jumping up and down last night in excitement.” Yes. Last night was awesome. All my girls and I went to… wait for it… QXT’s! We got drunk, danced all night long. About half way through our evening the guys showed up. Draco, ahh Draco… so loving and tender. Also sexy as hell. He held me close and we danced until the club closed this morning. Many hang over potions were needed. “Hello? Hermione?” Ginny was snapping her fingers in front of my face when I came to. “Sorry.” I sighed. “What’s wrong with you today?” She asked with a puzzled expression. “I don’t know. It’s all gone so fast.” She frowned a bit at my response. “You’re happy right?” I thought about all my time spent with Draco and smiled. “Absolutely.” I replied. “Great. Then it’s time to go. Your dad is meeting us in the entrance hall.” Ginny picked up her bouquet of yellow daffodils and handed me mine. She turned towards the door then stopped and faced me again. “You look incredible Mione. I’m so happy for you.” I walked to her and hugged her tightly. “Thank you.” I whispered and pulled back. “I’ll meet you there in a minute yeah?” Ginny nodded. “Just no running away alright?” She laughed. “Never.” I promised to never run from Draco again. And I wouldn’t. He was my life; my everything. After Ginny left I walked back to the mirror for one last look at myself as Hermione Jean Granger/ Zabini. Looking back at me was the girl I saw for the first time three years ago to this day. I remember being so frightened when I woke up that morning and found a raven haired beauty staring back at me in the mirror. The eyes, those damn purple eyes scared the hell out of me. Now they brought a smile to my face, the eyes of my family. I remember thinking I was a vampire, I chuckled at that thought. Now here I was, my pale skin looking creamy in a vintage lace ivory wedding gown. The fabric like butter, cascading down my skin, hugging me like glove. The dress was perfect. Mother scoured the antique stores in Paris for this beauty. I wanted something old, something timeless. Her shopping abilities led her to the right dress. I lifted the hem of my dress and looked at my shoes in the mirror with a smile. Ornate purple heels held my feet. Another gorgeous find by Mother. That woman should be a personal shopper. I was excited about later though, no ones else knew, but I would be changing into a brand new pair of purple Chucks. My little secret. Letting the fabric one again cover my feet, my eyes settled on my face. Ginny did an excellent job. My skin looked flawless, my hair dark and alluring all curled and pinned up in the right spots. My cream lace veil would look beautiful when draped over my head. My pink stained lips lifted in a smile when I heard the door open and spotted Blaise in the mirror behind me. “Wow… Mi you look beautiful.” Blaise stepped up to me and pulled me into his arms. “Thank you.” I whispered and tried to hold back the tears. He finally released me and held me at arms length. “Dad’s waiting downstairs, you ready?” He asked. I loved how he called him ‘Dad.’ My parents, the Grangers, had become like a set of second parents to Blaise over the years. Mother was delighted that her son had a male role model in his life and she quickly became best friends with my mum after that first shopping experience the three of us had. Every holiday and special occasion, or just Sunday dinners, we all gathered around the table at the manor or the one at my childhood home. We really were one big happy family as cliché as that might sound. “Yes. I’m ready to see my man.” I smiled brightly and Blaise led me out of the suite and down to the entrance hall where my bridesmaids and Dad were waiting. “I’ll see you out there. Try not to trip.” Blaise smirked and gave me a kiss on the cheek, hurrying out the doors before I could hit him over the head. Ahh, brothers… “Hermione…” Dad got choked up at the sight of me and he engulfed me in a bear hug. “What? No more ‘pumpkin’?” I was a bit surprised he didn’t use his term of endearment, calling me that ugly orange vegetable. He finally pulled back and wiped a tear from his face… oh Dad… “No. Not today. You look stunning Hermione. My little girl is all grown up.” He took a deep breath and I could tell he was about to cry some more. “Dad I-” “Enough, enough, I can’t take this. We’ll all ruin our make-up and have to go back upstairs.” Ginny and the rest of my bridal party were almost in tears themselves. Dad and I smiled at them and followed Ginny’s lead in getting everyone ready to head out to the wedding tent in the yard of Malfoy Manor. “Good luck Mione.” Ginny gave me a quick squeeze of my hand and followed Audrey, Angelina, Fleur, Pansy and Luna out the back door. Yes, I had all the Weasley wives as bridesmaids. The Weasley’s would always be a part of my family. “That’s our queue.” Dad announced as the bagpipes began to play. He draped the veil over my face and made sure it was perfect before leading me out into the warm summer air. Oh hell… oh bloody hell. My feet were moving, my face was in a permanent smile, but my insides were tightly coiled… until I saw him. At the end of the aisle he stood. Tall, beautiful, face shinning with joy. I couldn’t get to him fast enough; I basically pulled my Dad’s arm out of the socket. “Calm down Mione, we’re almost there.” Dad whispered to me under his breath. I let out a low chuckle. I drank in the sight of him. Draco was dressed impeccably of course. In a fitted black tux he looked delicious. I couldn’t wait to peel him out of it tonight. His hair was untidy, just the way I like it and his smile was brilliant. Blaise was beside him smiling just as brightly. I knew he couldn’t wait till it was official and Draco was his brother-in-law. We finally reached the alter. Dad kissed me on the cheek, hugged Draco and handed me over to my future husband. The ceremony passed in a blur until it was time to read our vows. “Hermione… when I was a boy, I had a very clear idea of whom and what I wanted to be. And then you slapped me.” My face turned to shock and our guests started snickering. My lips turned up into a smile at the memory and I gazed into Draco’s eyes. “I think I loved you then…” He whispered. My eyes began to well up, oh Merlin oh Merlin. “You were all that was good and strong. I looked up to you from that moment on, though obviously I didn’t show it.” More snickers in the crowd. “I promise to always love you, look up to you, protect you and let you put me in my place when I behave badly. I promise to be yours for all eternity.” Draco finished his loving words with a kiss on my palm. “Ok you go.” He said and smiled triumphantly as I along with the crowd laughed at his excitement. Oh gota love my Slytherin. I took a deep breath and prayed I could get through this without bawling. I gazed up into his gorgeous eyes. “Draco…” I breathed. Oh dear Merlin he’s crying… my strong, badass man is crying. I raised my hand to his cheek and wiped away the tears. He held my palm to his face, lacing his fingers with mine. Ok starting again. “Draco, my life for 7 years had been a whirlwind of sorts, until I really met you again. You became the thing that held me down to Earth as everything still flew around me; you became my rock, my friend, my love, my lifeline. Everything I am at this moment is because of you, because you love me.” Draco’s eyes closed and more tears slipped out, I squeezed his hand and smiled when he opened his eyes again. I mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to him and he smiled in response. “You never cease to amaze me with your kind heart, your ambition, your love, your strength.” Ok here it goes… “Years ago I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices.” Draco’s mouth went slack and his eyes widened as I relayed the same words that Dumbledore had spoken to him that night on the Astronomy tower… the words Harry had told me about only once years ago. “Now I see a man before me who would make everyone who ever knew him proud. A man I love with all my heart, a man worthy of all of his hearts desires. Draco, I give you my heart, my body, my soul in hope that you will cherish them, cherish me and that you will let me cherish you… for all eternity.” Draco hauled me into his arms and held on for dear life. I could feel his body shake with his occasional sobs. I didn’t mean to make him cry… I just wanted him to realize that I love everything he was, is and will become. He eventually pulled back and held my face in his hands, my veil sticking to the tears on my cheeks. He brought his lips down and kissed me through the lacy fabric. “Thank you.” He whispered against my lips before stepping back to allow the ceremony to continue. I held his hands tightly in my own until it was time for him to lift my veil and kiss me for our first time as husband and wife. “You may kiss your bride.” And his lips were on mine. By the time we pulled apart I had forgotten about everything else in the world except Draco, my love… my husband. The thought made my smile widen. Draco’s answering smile was as brilliant as the sun. “So Mrs. Malfoy, you ready for a party?” He whispered with a smirk. “Hell yes.” I beamed at him and let him lead me from the tent. On our way back down the aisle I smiled at all the people I loved. My parents, all three of them had tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. All the Weasley’s were cheering, yes all of them. Ron eventually got over me, dumped Lavender and found a sweet girl from Ireland. Another red head to add to that family. Draco’s parents also had smiles on their face; I think I even saw a tear on Lucius’ cheek. All of our Professor’s were in attendance along with our friends from our school days. It was perfect. After many hugs, kisses, dances and congratulations I finally found my way into the arms of my husband. Draco held me close and kissed the top of my head. I sighed and snuggled deeper into his chest. “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Draco whispered into my hair. I smiled and gazed up at my beautiful husband. “Quoting Mr. Shakespeare now are we?” “Hey you gota give it to him. The man was brilliant. And I thought it was fitting given our past; plus it’s from your favorite play.” Draco kissed my lips tenderly and I rested my head against his chest once more, my heels forgotten and my Chucks making me much shorter than him again. “Yes. He was brilliant. As are you my dear, dear husband. After all, you did choose me.” I heard him laugh and nuzzle his face in my hair. “Thank you Mrs. Malfoy. Now how soon do you think we can get out of here? I want to get started on making some babies.” Draco whispered huskily in my ear. I immediately tensed up and my eyes went wide. Babies? BABIES? Oh bloody hell… A/N: Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did J. Once again… I have NO affiliation with Harry Potter or Converse high top Chucks. Although they are the best sneakers ever. And the line ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ is a quote from William Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com |