During Monday morning breakfast, Hermione received a rather unexpected surprise. Right in the middle of her conversation with Padma, a large eagle owl flew through the open window and deposited a note directly into her eggs. Every student, even the first years, knew who the owl belonged to. And at the present moment, he was the only 8th year student not in the Great Hall. She felt everyone staring at her, Ron most of all. He glared at the note as if he could set it on fire with his eyes.

Ignoring her audience, because really it was none of their business, she broke the seal and read. A grin spread across her face; it was written in ancient runes.

It would give me great pleasure if you would grace me with your presence in the Transfiguration Courtyard.

-DM

Padma, who Hermione didn't notice was reading over her shoulder huffed. "Well what does it say?"

Hermione looked up to see everyone at the table waiting for her answer. "It's written in runes and it says that it's none of your business." She glared at each and every one of them to make her point, before gathering her bag and leaving the hall.

Because she constantly looked behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed, it took her longer than she expected to meet her destination. She hoped he would be there and that this wasn't some treasure hunt sending her from one location to the next, because she had less than an hour until class began. If it was, well, he would have to wait all day because she wasn't going to miss classes no matter how curious she was.

As she walked through the archway, she growled, realizing that it was empty. "Wow, can you do that next time we're in bed?" Turning around, she realized he had been leaning against the wall beside the archway in a spot where she wouldn't have seen him unless she was turned around like now. He laughed, "Relax, I'm just kidding."

He walked to her and ran the back of his hand down her cheek, smiling when she shivered. "I'm sorry for the other day," he whispered.

"No, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have kicked you out. I mean, you shouldn't have broken in, but there was no reason we could have shared as long as it stayed platonic." She smiled at him, admiring the way his light blue dress shirt brought out the blue specks in his eyes. "What have you got hidden behind your back?"

Draco's eyes lit up as if he had a secret before presenting her with his gift. "Snapdragons? I don't get it," she wondered aloud.

"Yes," he hummed. "Tell me, Granger, what's the core of your wand?" By the sparkle in his eyes, it was clear that he already knew but she answered him anyway.

"Dragon heartstring." She blushed. "So that explains the flowers, but now I want to know how you knew about my wand."

He smirked. "Don't you remember the essay we had to do first year? The one where we had to analysis our wand materials and identify what magic the wand would be best at?" He shrugged. "I heard you talking all about it to your friends once your research was finished. Besides, with your hexes it really is quite obvious."

"Oh," she said. "I was worried you'd been stalking me or something." She held back her laughter until he began sputtering and adamantly denying what she'd said. Once he realized she was making fun of him, he took her flowers and bopped her on the nose with them.

"Not nice," he said. "And here I was, about to ask you to dinner, but then you had to get all mean on me…"

"Dinner?"

He smirked. "Yes, dinner with just the two of us. Some place nice, I think." He handed her back her flowers and took a step back. "I suppose whether or not it's a date is up to you."

Although his words were flippant, his eyes challenging hers, she could see that he was steeling himself against possible rejection. In a bold move that surprised them both, she lightly cupped his cheek and leaned forward to join their lips. She felt his smile as she broke the kiss. "So I suppose it's a date," he murmured, caressing her cheek with one hand and holding her waist with the other.

Stepping back, Hermione twirled her flowers in her fingers and playfully smirked. "Now who said anything about that?" She took several steps towards the archway before turning around to smirk at him. His head was down, hands fisted at his sides, and his jaw set firmly. "Draco," she called, realizing he thought she really did turn him down.

Draco felt like a fool for actually thinking she would accept him. He looked up to see Hermione staring at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You turn me down and you think it's funny!" he shouted.

She gasped. "Draco," she whispered, walking back to him and grasping his hands. "Please, Draco, I was joking. I'm sorry, I thought you realized…"

"Joking?" His eyes met her, silver boring into brown. The intensity made her wince.

"I didn't think you would let me go like that. I thought…" she hesitated, turning away in embarrassment. "I thought you would chase after me."

"So…" he trailed, before grabbing her waist and pulling her against him. "It's a date then?"

Before she could answer him, he quickly kissed her. "And no more jokes."

She smiled. "Yes."

"Will you please tell me where we're going so I can dress accordingly?" Hermione huffed; she'd already asked twice and was probably hoping the third time would be a charm. Draco gave her a look that he hoped would let her know asking again was pointless. "Ugh, fine!" She turned around to go back through the closets, slamming his door on the way. He knew she probably slammed the door on her side too, even though he couldn't hear it.

What she didn't know was that Draco couldn't tell her what to wear, because at the moment he didn't even know what he was going to wear. He knew where he was taking her, yes, but he wanted to impress her and he just didn't know how to do it. Normally he wouldn't give a second thought when dressing for a date, but this was Hermione and even though she didn't know it he had liked her for years and years.

Deciding Wizard Robes wouldn't do, he decided on his favorite black suit. The only problem now was that he didn't know which shirt to pair it with. Suddenly, the shirt he thought he would never wear caught his eye. He smirked at Blaise's gag gift, knowing that neither of them had ever thought it would come in handy.

Satisfied with his choice of outfit, he decided he needed a shave; he didn't want any stubble when kissing Hermione. Grabbing a piece of parchment, he wrote for her to be ready in forty-five minutes and tossed it through the veil charms and into her closet before leaving for the bathroom.