Hogsmeade was surprisingly busy, though there were no students from Hogwarts there as Dumbledore had supposedly planned. They walked into the Three Broomsticks, where Draco ordered them two butterbeers.
Just because there weren't any Hogwarts students there didn't mean people weren't staring at them. Everyone knew which house each of them were in, and many eyebrows were raised as they walked to a table in the back of the room, holding hands.
"We just can't get away from all this staring..." Hermione mumbled with a sly grin as they sat down next to each other.
"We'll live. They'll just have to get used to it," Draco said, kissing her on the lips.
It looked like their butterbeers would just sit there for a while, since Draco and Hermione's little kiss turned into a very long kiss, or a make out session if that's what you prefer. People around them just sat and stared, which was actually disgusting when you thought about it.
They separated, smiling, noticing each other’s hair was completely messed up. "Well, not bad for a Mudblood," Draco said jokingly.
Hermione punched him playfully on the arm. "Very funny, Draco!" she said with a huge smile on her face.
It was then Draco noticed a very mysterious looking figure looking at them. He nudged Hermione, pointing over to him. He immediately walked out of the pub, as if he were trying to not be noticed.
"Well... that was strange..." Hermione said. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Draco! What if that was one of Voldemort's spies?"
Draco had never thought about that, until he remembered that Voldemort was on his way to Hogwarts. "Dammit... we really have to be careful now, Hermione." She nodded, and Draco noticed she looked a little scared.
He smiled, touching her hand gently. "Don't be scared... I won't let anyone hurt you." She smiled slightly as his fingers gently stroked her hand.
* * *
Soon it was October first, and the school was already buzzing with talk about a plan the prefects had made to have a Halloween Ball this year. Mostly everyone in the school loved dances, so it seemed like a good idea.
"Alright, so, what kind of ideas do you all have in mind?" Draco asked at the prefects' meeting, which he and Hermione were in charge of.
Over the past month, there had been no sightings of Voldemort, so everyone had been pretty calm. But, Dumbledore still warned them to be careful; Voldemort was most likely just taking his time.
One of the Hufflepuff prefects, Lindsey Colburn, raised her hand. "I think we should, like, get a band to play, you know? Like, maybe the Weird Sisters or something," she said.
"Hmm... I think we could manage something like that. Anything else? Wait, how about this... who wants to be in charge of food?" Hermione asked.
The two Slytherin prefects raised their hands. "We'll do that. It's all covered, you've got nothing to worry about," the male Slytherin prefect, Michael Johnson, said with a grin.
"I already know that..." Draco said, also grinning.
"Duh, stupid," the female Slytherin prefect, Amy Osken, said in her usual dizty tone Draco had come to recognize.
"Alright, so... I take it the two Hufflepuff prefects will be in charge of music and entertainment, then?" Draco said. The two nodded.
"And that leaves the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw prefects. What do you guys wanna do?" Hermione asked them.
"We could be in charge of advertisements and stuff..." Stacy Eastwood, the Ravenclaw prefect, suggested.
Hermione nodded at her. "Alright, sounds good. And you guys want to...?" Hermione's fellow housemates looked at each other.
"We were kind of hoping we could be in charge of, uh, the drinks..." Maria Vilsen said with a sheepish grin.
"Fine, then Hermione and I can be in charge of decorations. Is that okay with everyone?" Draco said. Everyone nodded, grinning at them both. They'd all been avoiding decorations on purpose so Draco and Hermione could spend even more time together. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out.
Draco and Hermione closed the meeting, and had the prefects patrol the corridors instead of them.
It had been a long, stressful day. Dumbledore and McGonagall had bombarded them with all of their duties for the next three months, and let's just say Draco and Hermione would be exhausted every single day. But, they were kind of expecting it.
"Whew... I think I'm just gonna go to sleep now," Draco said, leaning back in the red chair. Hermione giggled and sat in the chair next to him.
"Draco, you haven't even eaten dinner yet! You can't just go to sleep," Hermione said.
"Screw dinner, I'm tired..." Draco mumbled with his eyes shut, although he really wasn't as tired as he was making it seem.
Hermione got up and sat down on his lap. Draco opened one eye and looked up at her, surprised. Though she'd been his girlfriend for a month, she'd never done this before.
"You know... I'm really glad you've changed, Draco. But... I have a question for you," Hermione said, resting her head on his.
"What is it?" he asked, stroking her bushy brown hair.
She sighed. "Have you told your father?" Draco froze completely.
His father. Lucius Malfoy, Draco's manipulative father, was against the idea of purebloods and Muggle-borns interacting with each other. How would he handle the news of Draco dating Hermione Granger, his supposed enemy of six years?
He shook his head. Truthfully, he was afraid to tell his father.