It was finally the day to go back to Hogwarts came. Hermione was so excited to go back and see Draco. She had been secretly been owling him.

When they got to an empty compartment she opened a book to read. Ron had fallen asleep on the trajectory. "Hermione can I talk to you?" Harry asked her. She looked at Ron to see if he was asleep and nodded. "You know how I told you another person I saw who saved me?" Hermione nodded again. "It looked like Malfoy but it didn't sound like him. Is that weird?" Hermione didn't know what to say because she knew it was Draco who saved Harry. "Maybe it was him." She carefully stated. Harry looked at her, "why would Malfoy save me Hermione?" Hermione thought about it because he didn't want him to know. "Well maybe because he didn't want his favorite enemy dead." She kid around. Harry chuckled at her thought. "Do you want anything from the trolley dear?" The old lady asked. "Four pumpkin pastries please." Harry said handing the money to the lady. "Here you go Hermione." He gave her a pastry. "Thank you." She took the pastry from him.

When the train got to Hogwarts they hurried to a carriage. Draco had 'accidentally' stayed behind as an excuse to ride with Hermione. "Potter, Weasleys, Longbottom, Her-Grannger. Move aside so I can sit." He said in a cold tone, trying to not make it noticeable that he almost called Hermione by her first name. They all looked at each other when finally Hermione decided to scoot over for him to sit next to her. Everyone looked at her weirdly but she dismissed it. Once they got to Hogwarts, Draco gave a small smile and wave to Hermione and walked away.

During the feast headmaster Dumbledoor greeted the other schools. He explained about a competition that years like Hermione's couldn't participate and a ball that they could go to. The theme was going to be a masquerade. She looked over at Draco who frowned when they were informed about not being able to participate. Hermione was actually relieved that they couldn't participate. Her friends wouldn't get hurt.

After the feast ended they had some time for their curfew to arrive. Draco used this time to show her the room he was talking about. "Draco this room is The Room of Requirements. I've read about it." A sofa appeared in the middle of the room. Draco took her hand and guided her there. "I can't believe we can't participate in the competition." Draco complained. "I'm actually glad because then you won't get hurt and I don't want you to get hurt." Hermione explained looking at his hand still holding hers. He gently squeezed her hand before letting it go. "Are you planning on going to the ball?" Hermione suddenly asked. "I don't want to. Unless..." he paused. He knew it was a bad idea. "Unless what?" Hermione asked curiously. "Unless you might want to umm come with me." She looked away feeling nervous and not wanting to feel rejection. "Is the Slytherin Prince, Draco Malfoy, scared to ask the mudblood to the ball?" She teased. "Don't call yourself that. You know I don't mean it when I tell you those things in front of our friends. Like I know you didn't mean the punch from last year. Yes Mione I'm scared to ask you because you're my friend. But, would you go with me to the ball?" He tried not sounding nervous. "Of course Draco. I would love to." Hermione placed her hand over his and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad it's a masquerade. This way I get to be with you without our friends hating us." He whispered to her. "Me too" she gently said. A few minutes later they decided to go to their common rooms and agreed to go to Hogsmeade on the weekend.

"Hermione can we talk?" She was just crossing the portrait when she heard that from Ginny. "Sure Gins." They walked to the couch. "Well I borrowed Harry's map to see where you were because you weren't in the library or here. Then I saw something peculiar. Your name and Malfoy's name together. Then I saw you disappeared with him. Why is that?" Hermione tried avoiding the redhead's eyes. "Promise you won't tell anyone." Hermione waited until Ginny nodded until proceeding. "He's kind of my friend since first year that no one knows about." She tried saying that a quiet as possible. "Ok I won't tell anyone. I promise." Hermione saw how calm her friend was so she decided to tell her something more, "Draco also asked me out to the ball. It's a masquerade so no one will know about us." Ginny stopped to think of what to say, "as long as he doesn't hurt you it's alright." Hermione took a deep breath before going up to the girl's dorm.

The weekend arrived quickly for Hermione. She got ready to go to Hogsmeade with Draco and told Ginny to cover for her. After breakfast she met Draco at the doors of the school and went out. Hermione had tamed her hair and grabbed a green shirt with grey sweats. Draco had tried with his hair but let it how it was, he had a red shirt and grey sweats. They finally realized that they were wearing each other's house colors. They both laughed at that for a while.

When they arrived to Hogsmeade they first went to look at dresses seeing that they wanted to be prepared for the ball and all. She chose a periwinkle dress fit for a princess. Since Draco already had his dress robes ready they just bought the masks.

Draco got an idea and grabbed Hermione's hand with one hand and covered her eyes with the other. He slowly guided her to a small bookstore. They went inside while Draco still covered her eyes. He stopped at a bookshelf with his favorite book from when he was little. He uncovered her eyes and showed her the book. "Can I buy you this? I would love for you to read it. Maybe with me like last time." Hermione smiled at his innocence he showed, unlike how he was with her friends. She eagerly nodded and placed a small peck on his cheek instantly making both of them blush. "Thank you." She hugged him after he paid for the book. "How about we start reading it today?" She asked with a small smile on her lips. Draco smiled, something he didn't do much unless she was with him, and nodded.

They started walking back to the castle and went their separate ways to their dorms.

Hermione saw Ginny on her bed reading a magazine. "Hey Mione, how was your small date?" Her friend asked. Hermione smiled and showed her the dress and mask she was going to wear. Ginny admired it and smiled. "What's in the other bag?" Ginny picked up the bag and opened it to find a book. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Hermione waiting for an explanation. "It's his favorite book and he bought it for me to read it with him." Ginny nodded and tried hard not to smile. They continued talking until it was time for dinner. "Let's go to the Great Hall. I need food and badly." Ginny told her and Hermione took the book so she could meet up with Draco after.

Once they got there Hermione looked at Draco and he nodded.

Draco' friend, Blaise, saw him staring at Hermione while he was eating. "Mate why are you eyeing Granger?" He whispered to Draco to not embarrass him.

"I'll tell you later I promise but I have to go now Mate." He stood up and left catching the eye from a certain Gryffindor. Hermione waited a bit and then stood up and went to go with him. Ginny looked around to see if anyone noticed and she saw Blaise with a curious look on his face.