A/N: This is the sequel to This Christmas. I know it took awhile. and it's after Valentine's Day, but you can't control what you write. Or when you write it. Enjoy :)

Valentine's Day

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Valentine's Day. It was worse than Christmas. Draco glared at the television set. He couldn't believe he had gotten one, but he also couldn't believe the trash like commercials that were allowed to be on here. He had endured the Christmas Commercials, but with Valentine's Day coming up, it was all really too much. It had been two months, and Hermione was still with Longbottom. Two months and Draco and Ginny still hadn't figured out how to separate the two and get Hermione to be with Draco. Two months and now Draco wanted to throw the television set out the window so he didn't have to hear another stupid Valentine's Day commercial.

"Oi, Mate. You look positively livid. You alright?" Blaise's voice interrupted Draco's fury. He looked over, and took a deep breath.

"No, I'm not alright. These stupid commercials keep reminding me of how pathetically alone I am. And of course, I keep imagining Longbottom doing something like this for Hermione." Draco said with utter distaste. Blaise had been fully aware of Draco's attraction towards the witch and had also been informed on that strange night a month and a half before.

Blaise had of course thought Draco was stupid for not whisking her away the moment he had her alone. "You've loved her since the beginning, you finally manage to have her in your arms, even if just to make another guy jealous, and you didn't get away from there? ARE YOU BLEEDING MAD?" Blaise had yelled the moment Draco had told him everything.

"Draco, you have got to make your feelings known to her. You have to tell her, at least she'll have fair warning of your advances. And with me and the Weasley girl helping you, Granger doesn't stand a chance." Blaise said, switching the television to something completely different. He too was tired of watching those stupid jewelry commercials.

"I know this but, she's with Longbottom. Who would have thought puberty would have taken pity on the poor lump?" Draco said angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. He remembered the poor kid had been extremely unattractive during the first few years of Hogwarts. But now he was the hottest wizard around, and Draco had lost many girls to his good looks. Draco had been upset at first with it, but now he was angry and vengeful. He wanted to steal Hermione away from him, and steal her good. But Ginny and Blaise hadn't come up with anything too good.

He still saw her everyday at work, and she would constantly thank Draco for getting her and Neville together. It was infuriating. Draco angrily turned off the television, unsure of the reason why he had bought one in the first place. Oh, that's right, Hermione had been ranting about a tv series and Draco, wanting to have something in common with her, bought a television and starting watching the show. He of course really liked the show and still watched it, and occasionally would talk with Hermione about it. She always seemed to enjoy those conversations.

Blaise was upset that him and Ginny had been unable to come up with a way to get those two together. But even from across the club he could tell that Hermione and Draco had some amazing chemistry. Why Hermione hadn't felt it was beyond Blaise, but he was determined to get the two together.

Draco was sitting moodily on his couch, grumbling to himself about the pathetic holiday that was approaching. Blaise smirked and decided it would be a perfect day to ruin relationships and create new ones. Blaise muttered a quick goodbye to Draco and headed off. He had some things to discuss with the fiery red head.

Ginny and Blaise's plan wasn't necessarily the best. But it was at the same time. It was a simple plan, and could easily be manufactured. However, pulling it off in the right way was going to be hard. At school, it would have been the easiest thing in the world. But now it was a bit more complicated. But Blaise and Ginny were working out the kinks and were positive it was going to work.

The only problem, was convincing Draco he had to do it.

They had planned out the party perfectly. Someone Ginny had convinced the Minister that having a Masquerade at the Ministry would actually be a perfect way to promote friendship in the work place. Blaise wasn't sure how Ginny did it, but it worked. The party was slated for Valentine's Day. People could show up and leave when they wanted to.

Blaise sat down beside Draco a few nights before, already positive he was going, and explained the whole plan to him. The Masquerade had been his idea. But Ginny was the one who made all the details absolutely perfect. He had to just tell Hermione he loved her, just get it over with. The next part was hard, because none of them could control what Hermione would do.

She could ignore Draco for as long as they lived. She could hate him completely. Or she could fall in love with him.

Draco wanted to tell her, he really did, but he was scared of rejection. Who wasn't? But for Draco, it was harder. Not many girls rejected him, but when they did, he usually took it hard. Kind of hard. He never took it hard at all. But this was Hermione Granger. He had had a crush on this girl for years. And now he had to tell her he loved her. Blaise knew this was going to be hard.

On both of them. He knew Ginny was preparing Hermione, kind of praising Draco and all. But he really hoped this would work. He wanted to see his best friend with the right girl.

Draco strapped his mask on before walking towards the party. He wanted to get this over with. As he walked into the party, he nearly puked at all the terrible decorations. So many hearts and valentine related things. Had it not been for Blaise seeing him and closing in on him, Draco would have left as soon as he entered. He pointed in the direction of Hermione, and Draco decided to get it over with.

Better now than never.

"Wanna dance?" He asked in a husky voice, she turned around, smiled and nodded. So she wasn't too hung up on Longbottom, good. Draco started dancing with her, glad that they weren't the only ones. But it was just like it had been near Christmas time. The chemistry between them crackled like lightening in the air, the passion flowing through their connected bodies.

And Hermione immediately knew who it was. She remembered that night at the club, wondering why it hadn't felt like that when she had danced with Neville. But now she knew, it was because Neville wasn't him. There was just something between them that made it different. That made it right.

She wasn't going to let him know it was her. There was no way that he would like her. He probably thought she was some one else. But suddenly he turned her around, his grey eyes looking at her.

"I love you, Hermione. I have for some time now and I apologize for not telling you earlier. I love you so much I've changed my entire life for you. But you would never know. That's why I danced with you two months ago. I wanted you to be happy, even if I wasn't. I came here, just to let you know." Draco ran from the room, scared of what she would say. He didn't want to hear her reaction. He didn't think he could take her hating him.

The next few days were a blur. Draco quit his job. He wasn't going to deal with this. So he decided to run. He made it to Italy.

He was drinking, again, in a bar late at night. He shot back a glass of whiskey, then vodka, then bourbon. Hoping to forget what he had done just a few days ago. He barely noticed the hand on his shoulder.

"Hello, there." Draco turned around prepared to blow off another beautiful Italian woman. He actually had a nice spiel about how he was a gay man looking for the love of his life in Italy, when he saw her. Those gorgeous hazel eyes, the smooth creamy skin, and that all knowing smile.

"W-What are you doing here?" Draco spluttered, his eyes widened with shock.

"Reconnecting with the love of my life." Hermione said smiling at him. Draco closed his eyes, and shot back another drink.

"Right, then I'll leave you to it." He said, getting up to leave. He didn't want to be here, when he arrived.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from your reunion. I don't think I could take watching you fall in love with another guy."

"Too bad, cause it's already started." That made Draco stop for a minute, but he kept going. He loved her too much to stay near her for long.

"Draco Abraxas Malfoy where do you think you're going?" Hermione called, running after him.

"Hermione, I love you too much to watch you be with another man. I can barely stand to be near you because I love you so much. I just want to hold you in my arms, every time you're near me. And I can't do a damned thing about it." Draco said, finally turning around to look at her.

She walked forward, closing the space between them. She wiped away the lone tear on his cheek.

"Perfect. Because I don't plan on falling in love with anyone but you."