Practical Joke Novice (Draco)

This was the last place that anyone could expect to find Hermione Granger. She'd gotten tired of haunting the library like a ghost, and she'd finished all of her home work. So since it was a Hogsmeade weekend, she'd decided to go along with the other fourth years and do a bit of shopping. She'd thought as she'd passed the joke shop that she was also tired of being classified as a goody goody. The one that followed all the rules.

She entered the shop and started wandering around, looking at all the items that were being sold. Nose biting tea cups? She shook her head. Too boring. Trick wands? To easily confused with her own. She didn't intend to play a practical joke on anyone in particular, but she also didn't want to be the brundt of one either. She moved on to the next display, which contained dung bombs. That was too Ron Weasley. She wanted something that no one would suspect, but she had the feeling that could be anything in the shop. Hermione just didn't do something like this.

She continued her browsing and found a few possibilities, but wasn't sure about them. What she needed was someone that had practice with things like this, someone like Fred or George, but they would let Harry and Ron know, and then her plan would be spoiled, and she'd never hear the end of it.

She was going back around her potential choices when she bumped into someone and stepped on their foot.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, turning around to see who had been her victim with a blush. It deepened when she saw who it had actually been.


Words~ 293

He'd been bored to tears at the school, and tired of being reminded of what he was supposed to be. That was why he had gotten to Hogsmeade as soon as he'd gotten the chance. He entered the joke shop, although he wasn't sure if he was going to buy anything yet. He just wanted something entertaining to do. He was browsing when someone bumped into him, and then stepped on his foot.

"Watch where you're going!" He glared at them as they turned to him, but the glare stopped in shock when he saw who it was. Hermione Granger.

"Granger? What are you doing in a joke shop?" He was honestly curious, which he had to admit was strange. He remembered what he'd said to Potter in the corridor and just kept his usual uncaring face on. He kept reciting 'don't say anything, don't say anything...' in his head.

(152 Words)

Oh no. She had stepped on Draco Malfoy? She backed against the display behind her with her face turning faintly pink. She was definitely embarrassed now. The Slytherin had always made it a point to make fun of her or call her 'Mud-blood whenever he was in the same vicinity of her. And it was for that reason that she didn't know why she had such a huge crush on him.

She didn't want it to show on her face, so she turned away from him with a slight sneer, one that she didn't really feel. It was all she could manage though, and she felt that it would have to do, if he believed it at all.

She knew that he was in the same house as Serenity, and that he had probably been using the girl to get secrets about Harry as Serenity was Harry's girlfriend. But there was a chance that he didn't really care about what Harry was doing with someone from another house. Even if it was the Snake house.

"What I'm doing in here is none of your business, Malfoy," she said, her voice shaking only slightly. She didn't know how she was going to talk to him now, not feeling the same way as she always had in the past, hating him with a passion that was only rivaled by her passion for books, and wanting to be at the top of everything in her studies.

Dammit! That was exactly why she was here in the first place! She didn't want to be known as the know-it-all anymore! She needed to find a way to get away from that tag, and have people know her in a different way. A way that said that just because she was a Gryffindor, she still could have a wicked sense of humor.

Maybe Malfoy could be of help, then.

"Draco?" She said, using his given name. "I was wondering. Could you help me find stuff to play a joke on someone with?"

Words~ 349

He had been shocked when the girl gave a slight sneer and turned away. He didn't know the girl had it in her to sneer. He had to admit it was a fairly good sneer, but he wasn't going to say it out loud. Looking at the way she reacted to him, he rose an eyebrow. It was definitely strange, but he wasn't good at reading that kind of thing, his parents were too good at hiding their feelings. They had to be.

She then asked him for help, after using his first name. That was a surprising twist, that caused his blank look to drop once more. His face showed pure shock for a few seconds before he could recompose himself. He thought about what she had said. He had never seen Granger anyway near this place, and now she wanted to play a prank?

He considered the options he had in front of him. He could help her, and try to prove to himself that he could be near Gryffindor's without insulting them all the time. Then again, he could also do what he would normally do and say no, except not insult the girl. He had promised Ren he would try, and thought about it.

"I guess I could." He had said it, and he knew there was no turning back. He was officially going to be helping her, and now all he could do was hope no one in his house would see. Or worse, see and tell his father. He rather liked living.

Turning his head slightly, he looked at what was near them. He noticed the fillbuster fireworks, and thought about something. He knew that they weren't really a prank, but they could be. He turned back to Granger, and decided he was going to see if she could use that brain of hers to think about pranks.

"How do you suppose a Fillbuster Firework could be turned into a prank?" He had one idea, and although it wasn't as good as he knew the Weasley Twins could do, it would work. That was something else he would never admit. That he thought the Weasley twins were very good prankers.

(366 words... holy cheeseballs. lol)

Hermione was taken aback for a second. Draco Malfoy was talking to her? Civilly? He'd not called her Mudblood, or anything else derogatory. He'd not really called her anything, but she would take what she got. She felt her face grow a little warm when he'd started talking to her, asking how a Filibuster Firework could be used as a prank, and she turned to look at them, and to hide whatever flush she might have at the moment.

She looked at the fireworks next to her, thinking of how they could indeed become a prank. It sounded too Fred and George for her taste, but it was a good place to start. It gave her something to think about. Granted she wasn't going to set the firework off anywhere in the castle, that would be too risky, and she'd be in detention for a week, and fall behind in her studies........

Hermione Jean Granger! You are trying to get out of the profile that you have been in for the last four years, not be set into it even further! Stop worrying about what will happen to you and decide on a prank already!

She picked one of the firecrackers up and looked it over as it sat in her hand, trying to think of a way to use it.

"OK, I admit it," she said a few seconds later, turning to look at the blond Slytherin. "I'm a prank novice. I have no idea what to do with this, if I decide to buy it. I don't want to be made out to be a bookworm for the rest of my Hogwarts career."

To her horror, she found herself looking at his mouth, wondering what it would be like to kiss him, just once. She had to tear her chocolate eyes away from his face, and turn around again to get the vision from her mind. She made the pretense of picking out a few more of the fireworks to cover the heat that now flooded her face entirely. She knew she had to be completely red, and didn't want him to see it. Hermione Granger didn't blush over a boy! Hell, she'd never had a boy to blush over.

"Well," she said, looking back over her shoulder when she felt it was safe, and giving him a small smile. "What would you do with them, Draco?"

Words~ 415

Well, at least she admitted it. She never left the library, what would she know about pranks? True he wasn't exactly a prank master, but he knew a bit about them. He picked up a firework and turned to her.

"Imagine if this was to go off just above your head, or in front of your face." He smirked a little. At the right distance no one would get hurt, but it'd have to be timed perfectly. He may be a Slytherin, but he was NOT his dad. He didn't go around physically hurting people, or killing them. He looked at her as she smiled at him. He had to admit, she had a nice smile...

At that, he stopped himself in his thoughts. He couldn't think that about about Granger. His dad would... well he didn't know. It wouldn't be good though, that much he knew.

"I'll admit though, that's all i've got." He shrugged and put down the firework. He turned back to the displays, wondering why he hadn't even thought about insulting her. It was strange, he tried to stop insulting the girl one time and it didn't even cross his mind. What the heck was he doing?

"Is there something you're actually trying to do? Or anyone in particular you want to prank?" Sometimes if you were aiming for someone, a different prank is better than another. He picked up a fanged frisbee and looked at it closely. It snarled at him, and he set it down again. He wondered what those were good for anyway. They just seemed to snarl, and that wasn't good for much.

He was still thinking about what she said about not wanting to be known as just a bookworm anymore. He wouldn't want that if he was one, but he wasn't. He realized he was looking at her out of the corner of his eye and tried to focus on the displays again. No way was he going to try and look at her. What would come out of that?

(340 words)

Hermione put the fireworks down again, watching surreptitiously as he examined a fanged Frisbee for a second before setting it down again. She thought that she caught him looking at her, but it had to be just her imagination. Draco Malfoy would never look at her unless he was about to spit on her.

She turned around and began to search for another item to use for her prank. She'd not had a specific person to prank, and to tell the truth, she didn't know who she would even have a chance of getting away with pranking. If she did it to Harry or Ron, she'd never hear the end of it. They would tell her that they knew what she had been up to in the first place, and then try to make it seem like she didn't know how to prank in the first place. Then Fred and George would get into it and..... Oh, she definitely didn't want to trick anyone in Gryffindor Tower.

Well, there were three other houses left. She didn't know many of the other house members, but she knew a few. Cedric Diggory and Cambria Winter from Hufflepuff. They were both very nice, so she didn't want to prank them. Plus Cambria's younger sister was in Gryffindor,and she didn't want the whole of the Winter family ticked at her. She also knew that Cambria's older brothers, Gareth and Evan were in Slytherin and Ravenclaw, respectively. Oh, that just wiped out the chance of anyone in the school. There was no way she was pranking a teacher.

She turned back around and was immediately halted by the sight of Draco again. She had to get this out of her head! He would never be interested in her, she was a mudblood. He would never dream of sullying his hands by touching a mudblood, of that she was sure.

She moved on around the shop, pretending to look for something else to use as a prank, and attempting to keep her distance from the Slytherin blond. This was a mistake. She should never have come in here. And if she'd known that he was going to be coming in, she would have been able to avoid him, and possible heartache.

If Harry and Ron could see her now, they would be giving her the reprimand of her life! They'd be reminding her of all that he'd said or done to her over the last three years.

Tell that to my heart, head!she thought, and turned back to Draco.

"I didn't have anyone in particular to prank, no. I just thought of this on a whim, actually. Like I've said, I am a prank novice. I have no idea what I'm doing, so I just came in here on a whim to get possible ideas." She dropped her eyes to the table in front of her.

"No one like you could ever be interested in someone like me, a plain little bookworm," she heard softly in her head. The only problem was, it hadn't been in her head. She looked up at Draco in horror as she realized she'd actually spoken those words.

Words~ 553

He'd never even gotten a chance to say something about her comment on being a prank novice, because she'd spoken something right after that. He turned to her, with his usual blank look. Inside though, he was full of thought. She'd just said something... but he could hardly really comprehend what she'd said. It almost sounded as though she was hinting at liking him, although she obviously hadn't meant to say it.

He took a step back in shock, but not at what she'd said. No... it was at the fact that he wasn't denying anything. He wasn't disgusted by what she'd obviosuly hinted at. In fact... he wasn't saying anything at all. His mouth seemed to have stopped working.

Maybe you do like her... He wasn't sure what to think about that. He remembered what ren said, about not caring what his father had to say. This was his life... but that didn't mean he was suddenly going to start dating muggle-borns just to tick him off.

You didn't even call her a mudblood. So what if he didn't? He was trying to get along eith them... nut of course this was all in his head. It didn't quite matter what he called her, since she couldn't hear him. He was extremely confused by everything. He had so many thoughts running through his head, that he didn't even notice the next thing he said.

"Were you talking about me?" His voice didn't sound mad, or disgusted, or anything of the sort. He was honestly curious and his voice showed it. A small part of him was hoping she had been thinking about someone else, but the larger part was hoping she was talking about him. He shoved those thoughts out of his mind, wondering what Granger was planning to do. He normally associated this with girls running away in shock, but she seemed frozen stiff.

He realized he'd taken two steps towards her, but didn't move back. He assumed it was the same reason Granger hadn't taken off yet. He seemed to be glued to the spot now, although he wasn't. He was looking her in the eyes, and realized they were actually quite nice. He pushed away that thought too. Since when had he ever thought about Granger like that?

(387 words)

Was she talking about him? Oh, Merlin, he'd heard her. Hermione bit her lip. She couldn't see a way out of this without seeming like a total prat. But his response confused her. He'd not made a nasty comment about her words or called her some offensive name, he'd actually seemed curious as to whether her remark had been aimed at him.

She noticed that he'd moved closer to her, and her heart started thumping wildly in her chest. There was only one thing for it. She had to tell him the truth. She had to tell him what was going on inside her. She looked at the floor in front of her for a second, then blew out a breath and lifted her eyes back to his.

She nearly chickened out, just looking into his pale eyes. They were the ones she saw in her dreams, where she'd used to see Harry's, and very briefly, Ron's. She'd had a tiny crush on Harry before he'd started with Serenity, but when she'd realized that there was no chance for anything more than friendship between them, it had died completely. She wondered if it had been real in the first place. Maybe she'd just been protective of him as usual. That sounded like her.

But with Draco? Hermione's heart felt a pang whenever she saw him, she found herself watching the crowd in the Great Hall and each class just to catch a glimpse of him. And now that he was actually talking to her, she was so nervous that she could hardly think! And to let that admission to slip from her lips?

She nodded slowly.

"I'm not good enough for you, I know," she said softly. "You think I'm a Mudblood and a know-it-all, and I know that if I even thought you would think of me that way, you would laugh and have a big joke to tell Crabbe and Goyle." She dropped her eyes again and turned away.

Now that she'd admitted that she had a crush on Draco, she didn't know what to do. If he spread it around that the filthy Mudblood had the nerve to be attracted to him, she would die of embarrassment. Why, oh why couldn't she have kept her thoughts to herself?!

"So go ahead and laugh now. Just don't spread it around, please? I don't think that I could take that much humiliation."

Words~ 425

He didn't know how to respond to that. Not at all. He stood motionless, and silent, for a moment. Then, he shook his head at her. He wasn't going to tell anyone, and he honestly wasn't going to laugh. He didn't plan to anyway. He was going to laugh at the idea of telling Crabbe and Goyle, but she'd probaby read that wrong.

"I'm not going to tell..." he wondered why this was though. He'd been acting strange all day, and he thought back to what Ren said about leaving the pureblood range. There was no way he was... he couldn't be...

"Believe me, I don't know why, but I won't. Alright?" It was true. He had no intention of ever telling anyone about this. "And if you think I tell Crabbe and Goyle anything... I don't." He wasn't saying why though. The truth was, Crabbe and Goyle knew next to nothing. It was amazing that they managed to graduate into the next year every year. He preferred to be alone, or with Ren. Ren was his only real friend.

(180 words *Tear* lol)

Hermione didn't know whether she could feel relieved or not. So he wasn't going to tell Crabbe and Goyle? Well, that part made her feel slightly better, but there were other Slytherins that he could be telling and laughing at her with. She would be so hurt to find out that he was making a joke of what she'd told him. Then she remembered that he was in the same house as Harry's girlfriend and her face drained of blood.

"Draco, please, don't say anything to Ren. She'll tell Harry, and I will be the laughing stock of Gryffindor Tower! Please, you have to have a heart in you. Don't tell anyone that I have the nerve to have a crush on the one person that I shouldn't and that I could never ever have a chance with. I'll just leave and you can forget that you ever saw me here today. I guess I am just a know-it-all." She turned and made her way across the shop to the far wall.

Yeah, a know-it-all about everything about what to do when your crush is in the same room as you, right, Granger?

She felt her eyes start to prickle. She was about to cry, and she didn't want to do that! Draco hadn't done anything to her, she'd done it to herself. She'd been the one that had the feelings, and it wasn't his fault that he didn't feel the same way. He had the right to want to want to be with someone that was a pureblood, like him. It had been drilled into his head since he was a baby, it was the only way he knew, and she could hardly blame him for that.

But knowing that didn't make it hurt any less. She wished that she could rid herself of these feelings! Rid herself of them and forget that she'd ever had this horrible crush. It was only causing her pain, and now it was going to be even worse, since he now knew.

She looked blankly at the display in front of her, picking up one of the Ever Bashing Boomerangs that were on the table. She played with it for a moment, still not even noticing what it was that she was holding, and set it down a moment later when she felt a tear slip down her cheek. She made up her mind then and there that she was going to summon her Gryffindor courage and do something that Draco Malfoy would never forget!

She wiped it away quickly and turned to go back over to Draco, seizing his hand and leading him out of the shop and around to the side of the building.

"Shut up," she ordered. "I don't care if I don't have a chance with you, I don't want you to say a word until I do this."

She took hold of both sides of his face, and kissed him hard.

Words~ 523

He was led around to the side of the store and was ordered to shut up. That alone shocked him to no end. Then, he was kissed. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing... but he soon realized he was kissing back. His eyes widened and he pulled back quickly. He shook his head for a second before looking at her.

"I..." He was speechless. He just stared at her. No comments, nothing mean, just stared. He wasn't even sure his heart was still beating right now, he was so shocked. he supposed that was what they called Gryffindor courage. When he was finally able to think clearly again, his first thought was 'Oh, crap.' His dad would hex him ten times over if he heard about this.

Soon he realized he was still looking at her. Somehow she seemed different, either that or something in him had changed. Either way... it wasn't normal.

"I suppose I should stop calling you Granger then?" He honestly had no idea why that was the first actual sentence he spoke. It might have had something to do with the shock, but he wasn't sure. Then, he realized something else. He actually wanted to kiss again. He leaned against the outside wall of the shop, and just looked at her, waiting for her to speak. He honestly had no idea what to say next.

(231 words)

Hermione found that she was breathing hard with a sense of triumph when he pushed her away. It hadn't been her imagination. She had just kissed Draco Malfoy, and he had been kissing her back! No matter how briefly, he had been doing it.

She didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified at this turn of events. She'd managed to get up the nerve to kiss him, and it had been incredible, but was it also just more ammunition for him to torment her?

Her cinnamon eyes watched every move he made when he asked if he should stop calling her 'Granger'. He sounded confused, and not unkind. Like he didn't know what to do now.

She understood that a little. He had been raised by Lucius Malfoy. Pureblood snob extraordinaire. It wasn't his fault, but she knew there was no chance for her, since Draco would only be able to date within his class. That meant money, and of course blood status. She filled neither criteria. Her parents were Muggle dentists. They made enough money to keep the family comfortable, but not enough to afford the opulence Draco was used to.

She leaned against the wall of the building across from him, her mind reeling.

"That would be nice," she whispered. "It would also be nice to know how that kiss made you feel. It took a lot of guts for me to do that." She smiled faintly, wishing that she'd get the chance to do it again.

Words~ 252

"I can imagine it would have." Honestly though, it was difficult to find any words to describe what he'd felt. He'd never felt anything like that. He found himself hearing Ren's voice again. He looked at Hermione, wondering what she was thinking. He could almost never tell.

He wanted to tell her the truth, but he couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. He really did want to kiss her again. He had loved that kiss, and really did want to. He stepped a little closer to Hermione. He found himself wanting to kiss her even more.

"Honestly... I loved it." He stopped for a moment, considering what to do or say next. He honestly had no idea. Then he realized something. He'd just said he loved it. Maybe he should prove it to her? He stepped closer and put his hands on her shoulders and this time, not caring about what his father would do if he found out, he kissed her.

(150 words)

Oh! Hermione was shocked when Draco placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her of his own free will. Her chocolate eyes widened momentarily, then drifted closed. He'd told her that he'd loved the kiss she'd given him, and now he was showing her how much with one of his own in return!

She tilted her head to the side to allow him more access to her mouth in case he wanted to deepen the kiss. She was in heaven! There was only one problem, and that was the thought that sneaked into her brain unwilled and unwanted. She only wanted the knowledge of the experience she was having to run through her head, but there that nasty little thought was.

She was thinking what about if his father, Harry or Ron could see what was occurring between her and Draco at that moment. But she pushed it back to the recesses of her mind, and told it that she didn't care! She refused to be bothered by that right now. She was happy and that was all that mattered. She'd finally gotten what she wanted, a positive reaction from Draco Malfoy, and that reaction was a mind blowing kiss!

She pulled back a few minutes later when the need for oxygen started pulling at her lungs began screaming, meeting his pale eyes with her own. She brought up one hand and pushed a stray lock of his usually immaculate hair from his forehead and smiled.

"So where do we go from here, Draco?" she asked. "We certainly can't go back to where we were before, can we?"

She dropped her hands to his waist and waited for his answer, hoping that it would be one that she wouldn't mind hearing from him.

Words~ 301

After Hermione pulled away, she asked him a question. He thought about it, and she was right. They couldn't go back to where they were before, and he didn't want to. He wasn't sure to be honest though, because this was something new to him. Just the feeling of liking, or loving, was not something he was used to. He was used to arrangements and planning.

"We're not going back to that, that much I know. I don't know much about this kind of thing though" He sighed, and looked at her. He wanted to be able to say for sure where they were going to go, but he just couldn't. He supposed they could... hang out more, maybe just start with friends and see where it led. He couldn't think of much else.

"Well... people don't just go from disliking each other to dating... Friends? Unless you've got an idea because I honestly don't know." He shook his head, and shrugged. Someone really should write a book, or if there already was one he needed to read it. Then, he remembered his father. He couldn't let him find out about this, which meant he had to be careful. Very careful.

(201 words)

Hermione nodded. They certainly couldn't go from enemies to dating. Not that quickly. It would appear that they had been hiding from everyone from the start, and nothing could be further from the truth. It had only been at the beginning of this year that she'd learned of her new feelings for Draco. And now that she'd learned that he had something in the way of feelings for her, she knew that this had to be protected at all costs.

His father would kill him if he learned that his son had kissed the Granger Mudblood. She didn't want to cause trouble in his family. That wasn't fair to him. But it also wasn't fair to her to have to be frightened of what she was experiencing now. She wanted to be with him, and if he felt the same way, she would discover a path for them to take. One that would be beneficial to both of them, and cause the minimum of stress and havoc to their lives.

A minimum of stress and havoc? Hermione smiled to herself. Fighting her heart's crush on Draco had done enough damage to itself. Now was the chance for it to heal, and she was going to make the most of what she could get from him.

"Draco, it might be easier if you tell me how you are feeling toward me. Then I could tell you the most logical path that we could take, but from the way it's sounding, friends would be the best. That is if you don't mind being the type of friend that wouldn't object to a little bit of kissing now and then? When no one can see us of course? I don't want your father to be creating trouble for you. We all have enough to be getting on with for that to happen."

She looked down at where her hands were still resting on his waist, a little surprised that he'd not been the least bit bothered by that. He didn't seem to mind her touching him, so friends was looking to be very promising indeed.

"Let's start there," she said, still not moving her hands. "Please, just close your eyes, and listen to what your heart is telling you. Then tell me what it says you are feeling?"

Words~ 401

"I don't mind." He realized he was speaking without really thinking. Then she asked him to close his eyes and say what his heart said. The only thing that came to mind was that hearts can't talk. How was that supposed to work? He closed his eyes anyway and tried to listen to his heart. He could swear all he could hear was it beating.

"I know my father would never approve of this, but I don't quite care." He hadn't even realized he'd spoken before he opened his eyes and looked at her. It took him a moment to realize he'd said it. He wasn't at all embarrassed but it was still a shock. He closed his eyes again, deciding to try it again. Nothing though. He opened his eyes again.

"So, i'm guessing friends then?" He remembered they were still standing and looked at the ground. He wasn't sure which was better, standing, or sitting on the ground. They'd have to put up with some of this though, simply because if his father found out goodness knows what he'd do. That meant he'd have to be careful with what Slytherins saw him.

"Hopefully we'll only have to worry about my father when i'm at home. I don't tell him much about school except classes, and it's easy to lie about my social life. Do you want to sit down, or would you rather stand here?" He gestured to the ground, because there really wasn't anything else there.

(249 Words)

Hermione sat on the ground. She was wearing jeans so she had no problem with that. She had listened to him tell her about his father and how he could lie about his social life, and wished that they didn't have to. It wasn't fair, really. Harry was free to date Serenity, but then they hadn't been like mortal enemies for the last four years. But Draco had made no secret that he hadn't liked Hermione from the moment they had met.

She looked at him and sighed. She couldn't control how her heart felt, no one could. She leaned back against the wall, now feeling rather foolish. She'd gotten her wish, yes, but at a price. That price was silence. They were unable to tell anyone that they had shared a kiss together, even if he didn't care what his father thought. She certainly couldn't say anything to anyone. They would all look at her as if she had clean lost her mind. They might even try to have her committed.

That thought made her laugh slightly. An image had appeared in her head. Sharing the mental ward with Gilderoy Lockhart.

Hermione turned her head to Draco. She wondered what his friends would say if he told them that his hatred for her had softened to, at the very least, friendship. That left a little pang in her heart, but she would have to accept it. She had no other choice. It was not fair, but she would live. She had lived before learning that she liked Draco, and she would live now, knowing that he at least had some feelings for her, even though she didn't really know what they were yet. He'd not exactly told her, just that he was willing to be friends with her, and that he'd loved their kiss.

She looked back at the wall in front of her.

"I guess that's the only thing that we can be. For now. But is there a chance that we could ever be more?"

She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees.

Words~ 362

He sat down next to her and thought carefully about the question. He wanted there to be something more, but not now. That would be rushing things way too much, and he also really did want to start at friends. He looked at her, and nodded.

"I believe there could be, someday. But for now, I'd like to be friends." He gave her a small but genuine smile. Something that only Ren had ever seen before. In fact, Ren had been one of the few he'd ever shared any of his feelings with. It felt good to have someone else to talk to.

(103 Words *Facepalm*)

This statement made Hermione feel much better. Just knowing that there was a possible chance that they might be something more than friends in the future, it was enough. She was happy to just be his friend right now if she had that chance eventually.

She smiled and nodded when he gave her a small smile of his own. She'd never seen him actually smile.....and mean it. Usually it was just some little sneer of contempt. But this? This made his face light up, and for her smile to turn into an all out grin.

"Well," she said with a small chuckle. "Draco Malfoy smiled at me. I'm not sure what to say, other than I like it. You have a very nice smile."

She leaned back against the wall again and looked at him, her smile still in place.

"So what do we do now? Talk? Go our separate ways for the time being? Find Harry and Serenity and tell them that we are willing to try to be friends for their sake, even though it's a mutual decision on our part, and neither one of us ever mentioned them, really?"

She looked around at the street that was just past the walls of the little area where they were sitting.

"I'm not sure that it would be.... a good idea or not, but maybe we could just go to the Three Broomsticks and talk? We could sit at different tables if that would make you more comfortable?"

Words~ 254

He smiled again, he was pretty sure had been told he had a nice smile before. He rarely smiled though, so he didn't hear it often. He usually smirked, or sneered, not smile. He usually didn't have much to smile about though.

"Thank you." Hermione then mentione going to the Three Broomsticks. She mentione sitting at different tables, and he thought that was nice of her. Thinking about what would happen if people saw them together.

He actually liked the sound of that. Although, he wasn't sure about the different tables thing. He considered it, but it sounded strange to him. They'd be talking anyway, so wouldn't it defeat the purpose? Although, if there were any Slytherin's there it might be for the best if they did that.

"That might be a good idea. As for the seperate tables idea, I think that might be a last resort. If there's anyone there that might... ruin it if they see us sitting together? Although I doubt there will be." He was pretty sure there wouldn't be anyone there he knew, simply because they knew people like Hermione went there.

He also thought it would be a good idea to go, simply because they coud find out more about each other. The alleyway behind Zonko's wasn't exactly the best place to do that. He stood up again, and brushed himself off. He held out his hand for her to take to help her get up.

"Shall we?"

(245 Words)

Hermione smiled up at him and accepted his hand. When she was on her feet, she dusted herself off and looked to the main road of Hogsmeade.

This was it, the moment of truth. Would he actually go with her to the Three Broomsticks, or run off screaming when they reached the end of the alley? Hermione summoned up her Gryffindor courage and took the chance, leading the way to the street.

It was still early in the day, so there were a lot of students milling around. No one took notice of her, but then again, they usually didn't. She started off in the direction of the Three Broomsticks, not daring to look back and see if Draco had followed. If he hadn't, she would be crushed that she'd been the butt of another practical joke, one played very convincingly by her crush.

She looked around as she entered and found a table near the middle that would be perfect for one or two people. This way she wouldn't have to look stupid if he had left.

She sat down, and for the first time turned around to see if Draco was there or not. A smile formed on her lips.

"So," she began. "What should we talk about?"

Words~ 214

He followed Hermione down the street, wondering what to talk about when they got there. He truly did not want to look stupid by saying he didn't know what to talk about after agreeing to go there in the first place. He watched her hair move as she walked as he thought of something to talk about when they got to the Three Broomsticks.

He considered talking about her parents. They were muggles, and he could learn about muggles and her family. To him that seemed like a win/win situation. He was actually kind of interested in the way muggles survived without magic, not that he'd tell his father.

When they arrived Hermione found a table in the middle. She turned around, asking what they should tak about. He knew what he wanted to talk about, but he first pulled out a chair for her to be polite. He had been taught to be polite by his parents, though he realized he didn't usually show it. He waited for her to sit down before taking a seat himself.

"Well... as weird as this is going to sound coming from me, I was wondering if we could talk about your parents. They're muggles... and despite what everyone else thinks i'm actually a little curious as to how they live." He wondered what she must be thinking right about now.

(229 Words)

Hermione smiled when Draco asked about her family. He sounded genuinely curious. For a Pureblood that had been raised to hate all Muggles and Muggleborns, he seemed to have fallen out of that placement, and for that, she was happy.

"My parents? They're Muggles, of course, so they have to do things without magic. They use electricity for their lights and entertainment, as well as to help with the house cleaning. They use telephones and postmen instead of owls for communication."

She gave him a few moments to let this sink into his mind. He probably wouldn't understand these things right away, but she was patient. She would help him to know what he was asking, and what that knowledge could mean when he left Hogwarts and went out into the real world.

"They are also dentists, which are Muggle healers that care for the teeth."

She hadn't even noticed when her hand had inched closer to his, and was now resting within a few centimeters of actually touching.

Words~ 172 (Oh, That is pathetic!)