A/N

HEY GUYS. 8D Just wanted to say, I now have a beta. (: She's helping me with my British English! (Or something like that...haha.) Anyways, big thanks to Blaze Banks!

So, thank you for all the lovely reviews. (: I'd really love it if y'all could keep it up. Some nice long ones with crit/advice/etc. would be nice too. ;) So tell me how you like this chapter!

Read and review! :D

Chapter Twenty One: Spilling the Beans

Word Count: 2,344

"Ah, right, almost had forgotten about that. Well, if he gives you any trouble, you let us know." Ron said with a wink, punching his right fist into the palm of his left hand. Harry nodded in agreement, grinning. She just laughed at them, and lightly punched Ron on the shoulder.

"Don't you two worry. I'll be fine."

Hermione was making her way back the Slytherin common room after her friends had called it a night, after she'd told them how early she expected them to be up for their first day. She walked as slowly as she could, hoping to run into Draco on the way there. It would be so much less awkward the first time if he was with her. She also wanted to ask him about her friends. She wanted to tell them about her and Draco, but wanted to get his opinion first.

She turned the last corner before the common room entrance, and stopped. Standing outside of the entrance, leaning against the wall was Draco. He hadn't seen her yet, so she took this small opportunity to just stare at him. He looked amazing; he was in a crisp white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of black trousers. He must have taken off his students robes sometime previous, as they were no where in sight.

His arms were crossed, along with his legs at the ankles. He was staring at a certain point on his shoes with a look a deep concentration. Hermione momentarily wondered what he was thinking about, but didn't have a chance to dwell on it as his head snapped up to look at her just then. She blushed a deep red at having being caught staring and gave a little cough. He smirked at her and then pushed himself off the wall.

"See something you like, there, Hermione?" he asked her, grinning a very wolfish grin. She gave him a shy smile and a slight shrug.

"No, nothing interesting in the slightest." she told him. He scowled at her but then it slowly turned into a slight smile as she grinned at him.

"Thank you for waiting for me. I wouldn't have liked to go in by myself for the first time." Hermione told him, walking forward. He shrugged, turning towards the common room entrance.

"Don't mention it. Really. Don't." he said and then muttered the password. Before he went in he turned to her and said, "I already told them all about you having to enter through this common room, so it should be fine." Draco gestured for her to enter before him and she smiled at him as she went inside. It was all ready pretty late, nearly 11 o'clock, so only a few sixth and seventh years were up still. They looked up as she and Draco walked in, gave a nod to them, and went back to what they were doing. When they reached the entrance to their own common room, Hermione said the password and walked in with Draco soon behind her. When she was standing in front of the couch, she began taking off her robe as she turned around. Taking it off, she threw it over the side of the couch and then collapsed onto it. She layed sprawled on the couch, one arm laying across her chest and the other on hanging off the side.

Draco walked over and stood next to the couch, looking down at her. She opened her eyes and grinned at him. He smirked back.

"So I wanted to ask you something," Hermione began.

"Big surprise there." Draco muttered. She gave him a glare and he shut up.

"Do you mind if I tell Harry and Ron? And possibly Ginny, too?" she asked him, sitting up so that he could sit down. He grimaced while he sat, but she figured he would let her.

"Only if you think it's needed." he said after a few minutes.

"I do. I feel bad not telling them. We've been extremely close friends ever since first year, and I just...don't feel right keeping things secret from them. I'll tell them first thing in the morning, when I go over there to wake them up." she told him, smiling and then making to get off the couch. Draco grabbed her wrist to keep her there, and when she looked over at him to ask what he was doing, he kissed her.

She melted into the kiss, leaning into him as he leaned into her. As they kissed, Hermione lost any thought about the conversation they'd just had. Heck, she lost thought about everything. Somewhere in the confusing haze of his lips on hers, he'd reached over to grab her waist and pulled her on his lap so that she was straddling him. She wound her fingers through his hair, holding his head in place. His hands were still at her waist, drawing slow circles on her skin with his fingers.

After a while, Hermione pulled away to get air. She leaned her forehead against his, keeping her eyes closed and panting. When she finally opened her eyes after a while, it was to find Draco's already open and looking back at her. She pulled away a little to see him better, and saw that he was smirking. He looked so dang smug she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. Some guys were so full of themselves. As she made to move, it was then she realized where she was sitting. She looked down and found she was straddling him. How had she gotten here...? Crap. She looked and him and blushed, quickly getting out of his lap and standing up. Draco had given up smirking and was now grinning as he watched her.

"Um, well, I'll just be off to bed now. See you tomorrow!" she said to him as she quickly retreated to her room. As she climbed the stairs leading to where she was headed, Hermione could hear Draco chuckling down in the common room. She let out a huff and shook her head.

"Men," she muttered to herself.

The next morning, Hermione woke up bright and early. She got out of bed and collected her morning things and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. As she brushed her teeth, she thought about how she would tell Harry, Ginny, and Ron about Draco. She assumed there would probably be an explosion, but it was hard to say who from.

Hermione finished up her morning preparations, and headed out of the bathroom and put her things back into her room. After that she grabbed her school bag that she'd put all her needed books into last night, and headed out the door. She hadn't seen Draco at all, so she assumed that he must have been still sleeping.

There was no one in the Slytherin common room, which she was glad of. She really didn't want to deal with a bunch of Slytherins who weren't morning people. Out in the halls as she walked up towards the Gryffindor tower, she didn't see anyone except for an occasional Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Not many people got up as early as she did, but she was used to it and liked to have a head start on the day.

When Hermione made it to the Gryffindor tower, she told the portrait the password and went in. As she had expected, no one was awake yet. She sighed and shook her head, and made her way over to the stairs leading to the boys dorm. She made her way up and to the room Harry and Ron were in, walking in quietly. She made her way over to Rons bed first, shaking him.

"Ron! Ron, wake up!" she whispered to him, shaking him harder. He let out a groan and rolled over, putting his pillow on top of his head. She plucked it off of him and began hitting him with it.

"Wake up!"

"Fine, fine, I'm awake, I'm awake. You can stop now, 'Mione." Ron muttered, rolling back over and looking through barely cracked eyes at her. She gave him a big smile and then went to Harry's bed. Right as she was about to shake him, he held up his hand.

"Don't. I'm already awake." came the muffled voice.

"Alright, both of you hurry up and get ready and to the common room. You have 15 minutes! I'll go get Ginny. Theres something I want to tell you all." she told them, leaving their room and closing the door behind her. Now she just needed to go get Ginny.

Once Hermione had woken up Ginny, she went down to the common room to wait for them. After about 10 minutes, Ron and Harry come stumbling down the stairs from the boys dorm, rubbing sleep out of their eyes. They plopped down on the couch, closing their eyes and sprawling out. They waited for Ginny, who came down about five minutes later. Once they were all seated and Hermione had their attention, she cleared her throat and wondered how to begin.

"Okay, guys, I have, um, something to tell you." she said, cringing inside at the stupidness of that statement. They looked at her and waited, and she sighed.

"So, um, you know how Draco and I kinda spent most of the summer together? And how we, um, got here to Hogwarts earlier than everyone else? Well...I...ah heck with it. Draco and I are dating." she said in a rush, closing her eyes and waiting for the outburst that was sure to come. After a few long seconds of nothing, she opened one of her eyes to look at them. They were staring at her, looks of dis-belief on their faces. Then Ron broke out laughing, and the other three joined.

"Oh...that's a good one, 'Mione." Ron said between gasps of air.

"Yeah, we almost thought you were serious for a minute there!" Harry said, wiping away the tears of laughter from his face. Hermione glared at them, and they quilted down.

"...blimey, your serious aren't you?" Ron said in shock, staring at her. She nodded. There was silence as they all stared at her, and then Ginny spoke for the first time.

"I knew it! I just knew it! He kept staring at you during dinner last night, and you were looking at him!" she was grinning as she said this, excitement written across her face. Harry and Ron looked at her with horrified expressions. Hermione grinned at her. "I'm happy for you, Hermione." Ginny told her.

"What the heck, Ginny? This...This...This is..." Harry spluttered, waving his hands around.

"This is what, Harry? Whats so wrong about it? She's obviously happy, and I'm sure he is too." Ginny said in Hermiones defense, and she threw a grateful smile at the younger girl.

"Yeah, but..." Harry said weakly.

"But nothing. Hermione is a grown girl, she can make her own decisions." Ginny said with finality. Harry sighed and looked back to Hermione.

"Sorry 'Mione. I know you make good choices, but...I mean, Malfoy?" he said to her, looking almost pleading. She smiled at him.

"Thanks Harry. And yes, Draco. He's really not that bad once you get used to him." She stood up and pulled all three of them up into a hug. "I love you guys." she told them, smiling as they returned the sentiment. "Okay, lets get going now. People are starting to get up, which means breakfast will be ready soon."

The rest of the day went as to be expected. Classes were easy for the first day back, easing them back into the routine. Hermione had only one class with Draco that day, but they hadn't had a chance to start as he had gotten there right as the class was about to start. She was looking forward to seeing him later, hoping that he would be in their common room before dinner.

She made her way to the Slytherin common room, smiling as the first and second years that were sitting inside doing their homework. Inside her own common room, Draco was nowhere to be found. Hermione let out a sigh and went to put her things down. She took of her robes and threw them across the back of a chair, and then sat down on the couch to start on her homework. Maybe he'd come back soon.

After she had been doing homework for about an hour, Hermione decided it was time to head up and get some dinner. She was disappointed that she hadn't had a chance to talk to him, but she knew she would be able to later tonight. She put her robes back on and headed out of their common room. In the Slytherin common room, a bunch of people were sitting around. Some reading, some doing homework, and some talking. Most of them ignored her, but a few first years grinned and waved at her. She smiled back, and headed out into the dungeon.

When she make it to the dining hall, she went over to the Gryffindor table to sit with her friends. She was still very thankful that they weren't mad at her or anything like that. She couldn't bear the thought of losing one of her best friends. As she glanced around the room, her eyes fell on the Slytherin table. Or, more specifically, a platinum blond head that was sitting there. She stared at his head for a few seconds, and then his head turned. He must have felt her staring, because now she was staring directly into his grey eyes. He winked at her and then turned back to her food.

Looking up, she caught Ginnys eye. Ginny grinned at her, flicking her eyes to the Slytherin table and back. Hermione blushed, but allowed a small smile as she turned her focus to her plate.

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