Dedicated to AccioDreams because she is a wonderful fan and just made my day =)

Just like I promised, this chapter is considerably longer than the rest (actually its my longest chapter so far), and I posted the picture I drew of Tom Felton (its the one on the side, obviously)...

I am too tired and sleep deprived to ramble on like I usually do...so...

Enjoy (see I'm too tired to even put the exclamation mark that I always put o.O)

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Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same. -- Anonymous

As Hermione put the Filet Mignon into the oven, she wondered for the millionth time if she was overreacting. Or going through some strange form of Weasley withdrawal symptoms. She had spent the entire day cleaning her apartment and cooking a seven course meal. After she set the food to cook, she changed into a pretty pink dress she had bought with Draco, arranged her hair into soft curls and put on minimal makeup.

"I have officially lost my marbles. Every single last one of them. Otherwise why would I cook a seven course meal and dress up for dinner with a Malfoy? A dinner at which he probably wont even show up. I’m going to end up eating a seven-course meal with Crookshanks. What is wrong with me? Why am I so miserable? I bet even Lavender isn’t as miserable as I am. Who am I kidding, I’m more miserable than Moaning Myrtle. All I need now is my own personal U-bend, then I’d be giving Myrtle a run for her money." Hermione’s pleasant thoughts were interrupted by her doorbell.

"Coming!" she called out as she flew (not literally) to the door.

On the other end of the door, Draco was nervously tugging on his tie, wondering if he was making a fool of himself. He was dressed in black slacks with a white shirt and a black tie. And in his hands were two boxes and a bouquet of pink roses.

"I am an idiot. Why did I have to dress up like I’m on a date or something? And why did I bring effing flowers? Why did I even come in the first place? Actually, why am I even worried about this? I’m a Malfoy, I can handle it."

Just as the thoughts passed his head, the door opened, and Draco’s mind immediately went blank. He had always known that Hermione was beautiful, long before the Yule Ball, when everyone else realized it. But today, she looked absolutely breathtaking. Draco was wonderstruck. He mentally slapped himself and cockily asked, "Missed me, Granger?"

"Of coarse, I did! Almost as much as I miss Moaning Myrtle," she replied as she moved aside to let him in. "Aww! The flowers are beautiful. Thank you."

"What makes you think they are for you?" smirked Draco. "I brought them for Crookshanks."

For the first time today, a smile appeared on Hermione’s face. "Well I’m sure Crookshanks will love it. He has a thing for pink roses, you see," she said in a mock serious tone.

"And I brought desert. Well the Mascarpone and Strawberry Trifle is for dessert. I brought the cake because I felt like it."

"Thank you. Oooh. What flavor did you get?" Hermione asked as she placed the desserts in the refrigerator.

"Lets see. Double fudge German chocolate cake with homemade masacarpone cream cheese frosting with chocolate chunks. And caramel bites," Draco said as he ticked each one of them off on his fingers.

Hermione looked at Draco with a strange look on her face. "You remembered."

"Well, its not really easy to forget, is it?" Draco said uncomfortably as they both remembered the multitudes of times Draco snuck into Hogsmeade to get it for her whenever she was upset. Most of these times, it was Ron who had made her upset.

"Thank You," she said quietly.

"So, why did you ask me to come? Were you just missing my general sexiness and couldn’t wait to see my devastatingly beautiful face, or is it something else?" Draco asked in an attempt to palliate the tension in the air.

"Always so full of yourself, aren’t you Malfoy?" asked Hermione with a smile on her face.

"Well, what can I say? I don’t brag, I just state the obvious," Draco claimed as he pretended, and failed, to look modest. "So, which one is it?"

"Um...It’s the second," she said with a sad look in her eyes, crushing Draco’s hopes of palliating the tangible graveness that filled the air. After a pause she began, "The Weasleys have thing, a family dinner, each month, when all the Weasleys come and have dinner together." Hermione paused for a second before continuing. "Ever since we graduated from Hogwarts, I’d gone to every single one of them. Mr and Mrs. Weasley have always seen me as a daughter so I was always invited. Still am now. You probably don’t see why I’m so worked up over this. Its just that I was about to be a real Weasley, you know? Though I cant really imagine how you’d know, considering that you never wanted to marry Ron. At least I don’t think you did."

"I had been looking forward to this for quite a while now. Nine years actually."A single tear made it’s way from her hazel eyes and down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away with the back of her had and continued. "It’s just kind of hard to come in terms with the fact that it will never happen. I’m sorry that you had to hear me rant about it. Merlin’s beard! I sound pathetic, don’t I? I sound as pathetic as Lavender!"

"I’m not saying this to change your mind or affect your decision in anyway. But in all the failed relationships I’ve seen, there has always been one that leaves and one that cries with a broken heart," Draco said with a hard look in his eyes. "And Hermione, it has always been clear what role you play."

As Hermione let his wash over her, one thing stood out to her. "You called me Hermione," she exclaimed with a surprised look on her face.

"Well, that’s your name, isn’t it?" said Draco as he rolled his eyes. "So who is Lavender? Wait, are you referring to that irritating colorful girl form Gryffindor?"

"The colorful girl?" questioned Hermione.

"Yeah. That’s what Blaise and I used to refer to her as." After seeing Hermione’s still confused look, he continued. "Her name. Its two colors: Lavender and Brown." Finally a look of understand passed Hermione’s eyes and she burst out laughing.

"Honestly, Hermione, if you were any slower, you’d be going backwards."

And this caused Hermione to fall into another fit of laughter and soon Draco joined in.

"Why—are—we—laughing? It—wasn’t—that funny!" Hermione chocked out between fits of laughter.

After ten more minutes of laughing hysterically, they both calmed down. "You know what, Draco?" Hermione asked, feeling a flutter in her stomach when saying "Draco" after four years. "As much as I hate to say it, I actually missed you. Its nice having you back."

"So, are you suggesting that we can a truce, Beaver?" Draco smirked, imitating the way she had asked him this question four years ago.

"Yes, that is exactly what I’m suggesting, Ferret," Hermione replied using the same reply he had used four years ago.

Once again the two of them burst into laughter simultaneously as they both remembered the night they had called the truce.

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This fateful night found then insulting each other, as usual, as they patrolled the corridors late at night, checking the common rooms to make sure everyone had gone to bed.

"Argh! Malfoy! Can you please shut up for once in your life? I don’t care about your stupid complaints" Hermione practically screamed in frustration as Draco, for the millionth time, complained about having to patrol the corridors with her. "Honestly, you open your mouth and all I hear is Moaning Myrtle."

"Granger, even Peeves has more class than you!" Draco retorted.

Just as the words left his lips, the poltergist, himself, came floating down the corridor.

"Speak of the Devil, and he appears," mutter Hermione darkly.

"Ooooh! Well. If it isn’t the deathy weathy eater and the fuzzy wuzzy bookworm! Just the two people I was looking for," crackled Peeves.

"What do you want?"asked Draco with impatience coloring his voice.

"A ickle, fickle firstie yeaire got hexed and got locked in a broom closet."

"And how do you know that?" asked Draco the same time Hermione asked, "And why should we believe you?"

"Because I’m the one who did it!" he crackled triumphantly.

"You blasted good-for-nothing poltergeist!" screamed Hermione. "Where did you lock him?"

"Third floor, fifth corridor, second door behind the column on the right," he replied with glee.

Hermione immediately stated to run in that direction with Draco running next to her muttering something about "idiotic first years."

As they reached the broom closet, Hermione pointed her wand at the lock, muttered, "Alohamora," and barged in. Draco went in after her, now muttering about "stupid Gryffindor morals."

Just as Hermione began, "I don’t see anyone—," the door slammed shut, extinguishing their only light source and plunging them into darkness.

Unfortunately Draco was only halfway through he door when it happened. Thus, the door slammed into Draco, who in turn slammed into Hermione, causing them both to lose their balance, knock over the piles of junk that were stacked up in the closet, and land in a tangled heap on the floor.

As they both to extract themselves from underneath the layers of things they knocked over, they heard a voice outside crackling with laugher . "Malfoy and Granger, sitting in broom closet, K-I-S-S-I—"

"Don’t you dare finish that. If you say one more words, Bloody Baron will hear about this," Draco growled menacingly from his position on the floor.

Immediately, the laughter ceased and after some rather creative choice words that only the Weasley Twins could have taught him, Peeves left.

"Malfoy, getoff me!" Hermione mumbled from somewhere under Draco and a few layers of junk they had knocked over during their fall.

"I would, but this bloody blanket is tangled around me!"

"Well, get it untangled!"

"Shut it Granger! Do you think that I’m not trying? I, honestly, am not enjoying this anymore than you are. What— is that you?"

"Get your hands off of that" Hermione said as a blush crept up her face.

"Oh—." Immediately Draco’s had flew away and a blush materialized on his face.

"Can you get off of me now?"

"Right. Um...Yeah...," Draco muttered as the shifted, trying to untangle himself from the blanket.

Suddenly, Draco’s head knocked into Hermione’s. They both froze. Draco’s warm breath on Hermione’s neck made her heartbeat increase. An awkward silence filled the air, the only sound was the sound of their frantic heartbeats and their heavy breathing.

"Malfoy. Get off of me. Right now."

"Trust me, Granger, I take no pleasure from being in this position."

"Then get off!"

"Gladly!" snapped Draco as he finally untangled himself, got up and walked up to the door. "Damn, its locked."

"Then why don’t you use your bloody wand to unlock it?" asked Hermione as she brushed herself off.

"Because I lost my ‘bloody wand’ when the door slammed me into a certain someone! Why don’t you use your own ‘bloody wand’?" spat Draco.

"Because I lost my ‘bloody wand’ when a certain blonde oaf came barreling into me!" huffed Hermione.

"Ouch. Your hurting my feelings, Granger," Draco said as he pretended to sniff. "You know, this whole thing is you fault. If it wasn’t for you and your stupid Gryffindor morals, we wouldn’t be stuck in an effing broom closet in the middle of nowhere!"

"Because of me?"Hermione asked, about to explode in anger. "And who it that followed me in here? You are lucky that I don’t have my wand right now. If I did you—"

"Someone! Help! I’m stuck in a broom closet with a Virago!" Draco exclaimed with a smirk on his face as he pounded on the door.

"What did you just call me?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"And she’s about to attack! Help!" Draco called out in mock fright.

Although Hermione was irritated beyond belief, she burst out laughing causing Draco to do the same.

"If I am a virago, what does that make you?"

"A beautiful prince."

"Oh, please," snorted Hermione. "If ugliness were bricks, you’d be the Great Wall of China."

"If ugliness was a crime, you’d get the death penalty," retorted Draco.

Thus the pair spent the next to hours, until Professor Flitwick came and found them, coming up with creative insults. Neither noticed when the insults had stopped being insults and had morphed into a fun way to pass time. Neither noticed the exact moment the all the hate between them dissipated. Hermione didn’t notice when she stopped hating he man she had loathed for the past seven years. Draco didn’t realize when he stopped feeling the deep rooted hatred he had felt towards the "bushy haired mudblood" for the past seven years.

After they explained the situation to Professor Flitwick, they headed over to their dormitory. Just was they were about to head for their separate stairways that led to their bedrooms, Draco stopped.

"You know Granger, as much as I hate to say this and don’t let this get to your head, God forbid if it gets any bushier, you are not as miserable company as I thought you’d be. And we kind of need to get along if we are to survive this year without going insane."

"So are you suggesting that we call a truce, Ferret?"

"You that is exactly what I’m suggesting, Beaver." Draco paused before continuing, "So what do you say...erm...Hermione?"

"Don’t let this get to your head, God forbid if it gets any larger, but I think calling a truce would be a good idea...erm...Draco."

And thus began the truce of the Slytherin Prince and the Gryffindor Princess.

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"Beep. Beeeep. Beeeeeeeep."

"And that would be our dinner," Hermione announced as she walked over to her oven.

"What are we having for dinner?" Draco asked as he followed Hermione into her kitchen.

"Filet Mignon with Madeira Pan sauce and mustard and anchovies," replied Hermione.

"Is that edible?" asked Draco as he eyed the oven suspiciously.

"You have never had Filet Mignon with Madeira pan sauce before?" Hermione asked with a shocked look on her face.

"Um. No. What is it?"

"This is Filet Mignon with Madeira pan sauce with mustard and anchovies," announced Hermiuone as she took the dish out of the oven and set in on the table.

"Looks...delicious," Draco said doubtfully as he pocked the food with his fork.

"Draco. Behave," scolded Hermione. "Now hand me your plate."

"Yes, Maam." he replied, handing her his plate.

"How is it?" Hermione asked as Draco took the first bite.

" Its rather good, but definitely not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

He shrugged. "Hermione, you are full of surprises."

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I hope you guys liked this one, because it was fun writing this chapter, and because it took forever for me to type it up (I ususally handwrite the chapters before typing and posting them).

Anyways, like I already said, I'm too sleep deprived to ramble on....so....Vote and Comment...If you have any questions, comments, concerns or opinions, fire away :)