a/n First off thank you for stumbling across this story and I hope you enjoy it. Also Ginny's going to talk about some stuff and she wasn't actually there for most of it in the books but for the sake of the story please pretend that she was. Or pretend that somebody told her that info if it makes you feel better. Remember though you are reading fanfiction so everything isn't going to be identical to the books. Enjoy.
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It was the first day of class and already Hermione Granger was running late. Tardiness was one of her worst pet peeves along side with outright skipping class and lying but somehow those had become a part of her life since she met the two boys she called her best friends six years previous.
Not intentionally had she forgotten her bag upstairs. At dawn she had been so tired listening to her dorm mates talking that she completely gave up on sleep and headed outside to sit by the lake. She planned to eat breakfast when it was first served and then make her way back up to the dorm to collect her things. That never happened. As she had been sitting on the edge of the lake she remembered closing her eyes because the sun was very bright as it was rising. The next thing she knew the sun was a lot higher in the sky and she was late for class. Ignoring her rumbling stomach she set off at a run towards the Gryffindor Tower. Making it up there in record time she sprinted up to her dorm and began throwing quills, ink and books into her book bag. Through the corridors she raced on her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
She had been dreading this class every since she had learned that their new Professor for it would indeed not be a new professor to the school, instead it would be by Gryffindor standards the worst professor in the school. Severus Snape.
How could she have managed to be late for Snape's class? She fumed to herself as she rounded the last corner. Knowing full well she was going to have a minimum of a month's detention for this she briefly considered turning around and heading up to bed. If she was going to suffer detention either way why not get the full satisfaction of not having to attend the class at all. Her conscience clicked in at this time and she continued on her way to class.
Now she could see the door, each step was carrying her closer to her doom…or at least humiliation. She was right. When she opened the door it creaked loudly and everyone's head spun around. Hermione scanned the room trying to find Harry and Ron so she could go sit with them. To her dismay she saw that Neville was occupying the third seat. Cursing under her breath as Ron and Harry each threw her an apologetic look she eagerly searched for the closest empty seat to sit in. Hopefully then people would turn their stare's away from her. To her horror she couldn't see any empty seats. Taking that dreaded but necessary look she glanced up to the front of the room to see why the person that usually had so much to say about her wrongdoing was staying silent. A smirk was plastered across his face, just like his oily mop of hair was to his scalp.
"We would all appreciate it if you would stop playing attention grabber and find a seat," he said coolly.
Still she could not see a seat so she helplessly said, "Where?" humiliated and upset she fought back the tears. No crying was not going to solve anything. In fact it would make things much worse. Snape would probably give her a week's detention for just getting his precious floors wet.
"On a chair how about?"
One side of the classroom roared with laughter, the other glared.
"Hermione over here," someone called. It was Lavender Brown. Relief washed over Hermione and she made her way over to sit beside her dorm mate. As she was placing her bag against the table leg to support it Snape said, "No I don't think that will do. You show up late and interrupt my class so I don't believe it to be fair that you get the same privileges as the ones that somehow find it in their capability to make it here on time. Nott move over one seat.
Hermione's head spun and she let out a groan. Nott was moving one seat to the right leaving one seat open between him and one white blond Slytherin. Neither of the Slytherin's protested which seemed strange to Hermione, then again the whole house worshiped Snape so why would they question anything he said.
"Anytime now would be nice," Snape said.
"I'm quite fine here," Hermione managed to say from her place beside Lavender.
"Yeah what difference does it make," Ron bellowed.
"Detention Weasley, 7 tonight," Snape said without even turning his attention from Hermione's post.
Ron began to protest but Snape fired back with, "Do you want to make it a week's worth?"
His ears went bright red as they often did when he was embarrassed but he kept his mouth closed.
Not wanting to cause anymore pain to her friends she grabbed her bag and stormed over to the other empty seat in the classroom. Slamming her bag down on the table and then pulling out her chair and flopping into it she was not happy. To make matters worse Malfoy turned his head in her direction and said, "Get lost? After all your time here you'd think you'd be able to remember how to get to class. Seeing as it's your favorite thing to do beside's hiding out in the dark with your two boyfriends."
"Malfoy you know what?"
"Does it look like I really want to know?"
"Yeah, shut that ugly trap of yours."
Their argument was broken up by Snape resuming the lesson.
Throughout the rest of class Hermione tried to not turn her head to the left. She didn't think she'd be able to control herself if she saw that smirk of his one more time.
By the time class ended Hermione could hardly control her emotions. What she needed now was something to throw hard-at Snape's head. She chuckled lightly at the mere thought of it. Wouldn't that just be wonderful?
She raced out the door before most people had even left their seats. Having 10 minutes between classes she wanted to get something to eat. Luckily she was only 2 staircases and away from the kitchen.
In the kitchen she hurriedly asked for whatever was closest at hand. She really didn't want to be late for her next class. Transfiguration. McGonagoll was strict and would certainly give her detention. Wait a minute, why didn't Snape give her one? Ron received one but she never did. Something was up.
Racing off to Transfiguration she made it in plenty of time. She made her way to her usual seat and sat down and waited. Minutes later Ron and Harry appeared in the doorway. Both talking animatedly and laughing. When they saw Hermione they rushed to her side and sat down.
"Where were you?" they both asked.
"I fell asleep," she replied.
"What? Why?"
"Because everyone talked all night and I was exhausted. I went out to the lake and fell asleep."
"You're kidding?"
"He didn't give you detention," Harry marveled.
"I know, something's weird he usually never hesitates to give any of us detention."
"Well sitting next to Malfoy is probably worse than any detention you could have."
"No kidding."
McGonagall walked in and the class fell silent. Harry shot Hermione a look that said, this discussion is not over by any means.
The rest of the day went by slowly. Thankfully Ginny was waiting for Hermione as she wandered into the common room.
"Hey," Hermione replied meekly as she flopped onto the couch beside Ginny.
"Come on let's talk somewhere more private," Ginny said as she scanned that noisy common room. There was absolutely no privacy there, "I'm thinking the room of requirement will work."
"Aww Ginny, I have so much homework to do and I'm absolutely exhausted," Hermione complained.
"And mad as hell so come on you need to vent," she grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her to her feet. Once on her feet Hermione agreed. They set off through the near empty corridors to get to their destination. A chill had risen throughout the castle as they were walking and both girls hugged theirs arms to their bodies in an attempt to keep warm. It was not helping much. As they walked three times in front of the hidden door Hermione imagined a room with a roaring fire and plenty of soft blankets and pillows to cuddle into. Ginny thought of warm, moist chocolate chip cookies and cocoa. Chocolate always made her feel better and she was pretty sure it would work on Hermione as well.
When the door appeared the two girls stepped into a small room. The air was very warm and stuffy, but the good kind of stuffy. The one you get from a burning wood. On the floor was Hermione's large pile of pillows that she nestled into. Ginny sat down beside her and offered her the plate of cookies and one of the mugs of steaming cocoa.
"Mmm thanks Ginny," Hermione moaned in delight when she tasted the warm treats, "Thanks for dragging me here."
They sat in silence as they finished eating. Only when they were done and the hot liquid and heavy mug was out of Hermione's reach did Ginny nudge Hermione to begin, "So was the rest of your day better than this morning?"
"Of course not. All I could think of was the dirty smirk on his face as I sat down beside him and Snape's growl. How could I have inflicted this upon myself? That was so stupid to fall asleep out there. And you know the worst part of it?"
"What?'
"I contemplated skipping the whole class as I was rushing through the corridors but I told myself no Hermione you have to go to class. If I had only went up to bed tomorrow I could have went and found a good seat. Argh, he bugs me so much. Why can't he just keep his nose out of everyone's business and…and…I wish I was Harry or Ron, they don't hesitate to curse him. Me I tell them to put their wands away he isn't worth it. Why haven't I let them do it? They've been wanting to do it for years now and I should have let them. Hell I should have done it. Why haven't I?'
Ginny pondered the question for a few minutes and an antsy Hermione twirled her hair around her finger. Her hair wasn't as bad as it used to be she had to admit, but it still wasn't anything great. She had lost some of the bushy, frizzyness a few years before after she stopped sleeping with it up in a pony tail. Apparently that split her ends and tore her hair. Now her hair was pretty plain. It wouldn't do much.
"Do you really want to know the truth?" Ginny asked.
Hermione could tell that Ginny was itching to spread her ideas so she agreed.
"You use your mind to get to him. You think out your attacks. Harry and Ron act on impulse and what they do best is throw curses. You although you are amazing with your wand you have something that they don't have. The ability to think what is going to hurt them the most. How can I attack them, tear them down without laying a hand on them? You're ruthless when it comes to him and from what I've seen your way works. It hurts him. Makes him think. You beat him at his own game and maybe you don't realize it because when he says something to Ron or Harry you take it as an attack on yourself, but from the outside one can tell that he doesn't provoke personally like he used to. You walk by and he will taunt the guys but not you."
"He did though in class when I sat down. He asked me…"
"Hermione he wants to get a rise out of you. He knows you will retaliate. It's a game to him. You may hate me but I'm going to be completely honest with you here. This is what I believe and I know before I even begin that you're going to shoot this theory down, but only because you are in the situation. Sometime you need an outsider's opinion."
"What then?"
"He wants you Hermione-"
"What?" she screamed as she leapt to her feet. You're kidding me. Him…me?" she shook her head in disgust.
"Just listen. You're the girl that everyone tells him he can't have. Who else is the complete opposite of him but also exactly the same? Who can stand up to him, fight hand to hand with him, head to head? You are the only one who can. You know how he plays and you spin it around and throw it back at him. Curses don't bother him and you know that. What gets him is words. Only somebody that knows the other well would be able to do that. You are so much like him it's scary. The only thing that has kept you apart is the fact that you're a muggleborn."
"And he's a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor. That's the biggest difference trumps anything that makes us alike," Hermione added.
"Hermione," Ginny shook her head, "This whole Slytherin, Gryffindor thing is insane. Both houses are exactly the same, just like you and Malfoy. Both are strong minded. Will fight for what they believe in even if it means the death of them."
"But they're evil and we're not."
"For somebody so bloody brilliant you're stupid," Ginny seethed.
That shut Hermione up, she had never been called stupid before.
"Just think about it. Good and evil are just want somebody believes. To them we're the evil ones. They believe that purebloods are the only wizards. We believe muggleborns can be. Who's to say that they aren't the right ones here? Every war each side believes the other ones are doing something horrible and they are doing the right thing. To us the Death Eater's are murderers. They go and kill our side. Like Sirius. To us they killed an innocent man. To them they killed somebody who was standing in the way of their freedoms. When we kill one of them we do it because they are standing in the way of our freedoms but really aren't we just as much as a murderer as them? It's a vicious circle and all we're doing is being selfish basically. If only everyone could accept other's ideas. Death Eaters believe that Dumbledore is what Voldemort is to us. We're only the good side because we tell ourselves that. Put yourselves in their shoes."
"What does this have to do with anything? And how long have you been waiting to say this? It sure sounds like it's been pent up for awhile?"
"For as long as I've known about Voldemort. Hermione you and Malfoy are brilliant. Exactly the same. Both as strong minded and stubborn as they get. Give it a chance. Maybe something great will come out of it."
"I can't Ginny. We hate each other."
"You can't hate someone you don't know. Hate stems from a thorough understanding of the other person. Love and hate are like good and evil, the same thing."
"Wow, you just talked about so much."
"Yeah," she took a minute and then began to laugh, "Wow I should be a philosopher. Ha."
Both girls giggled about it for awhile and then fell back into a serious mood.
"So you really think he's got something for me?"
"Of Course," she said confidently.
"Really?" she poundered it for a minute and then said, "Hermione and Draco, Draco and Hermione."
Ginny laughed, she couldn't believe that Hermione was taking this so well. She had half expected to be slugged by her when she first mentioned it.
"So really all the hate I feel for him could actually be-" she couldn't finish that sentence it was just too weird.
"What you feel is passion for him. Good or bad passion does it really matter?"
"No I guess not, its still passion. You know Ginny sometimes you scare me."
"I scare myself sometimes."
"Wow, I still can't believe this. Gin what should I do?"
"Be yourself. You both have calmed down a lot of the years. No longer are you at each others throats. I think just let fate take it's coarse and you go along for the ride and everything will work out. I'm pretty sure you're meant to be together."
"I'm…I don't think I'll change fate then."
Ginny nodded and stood up, "So you have homework? You look exhausted."
"Really you just noticed?"
Both girls headed back up to the Gryffindor Common Room. As Hermione did her homework her mind kept spinning. It was hard to concentrate on the parchment but she knew that the sooner she finished the more sleep she would get. It turned out sleep was not on her agenda again for the night. When she crawled into bed she couldn't stop thinking about what Ginny had said. It was a lot to think about and somehow Ginny had compressed a lot into not many words. Maybe Ginny was the brilliant one in the friendship and not her. As her eyes were closing she mentally kicked herself. How had she not seen this coming? Of course she and Malfoy were perfect for each other. It had just taken her someone else to point it out to her first before she could fully grasp it. She went to sleep with thoughts of her and Malfoy over the years. The more she thought about it the more it made sense.
In third year Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak. She had nervously asked if he would be all right. Why should she have cared? She didn't like him.
At the Quidditch World Cup Malfoy had warned her to keep moving so the Death Eaters didn't get her. He was not on their side so why would he warn her?
While at the Yule Ball when she had made her appearance Malfoy had been speechless when she had walked by. Really he usually took any opportunity to insult her and then would have been the perfect time.
Whenever Malfoy bothered Harry, Ron and her, the boy's demands for him to leave went upon closed ears. Instead when she told him something he listened and would leave them alone.
As her brain processed everything she couldn't help but agree more and more with Ginny. Both of them had some sort of feelings for each other.
When she totaled up everything that she had done at Hogwarts a lot of it had involved one blond Slytherin. Even when he wasn't involved in what they were doing she still managed to think about him.
Man this was getting complicated. Who could have for scene that she was falling in love over all those years. Harry and Ron were going to kill her.
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a/n Did that make sense. Sometimes what makes sense in my head doesn't when I eventually start writing. Ginny's spiel is something that I've been thinking about for a long time now and I wanted to find a way to get that out. Was it too confusing? I'd really love your input here because I really don't know what to think. Maybe it was amazing or maybe it was utterly horrible but that's for you to tell me. So reviews, reviews, reviews would be absolutely wonderful. Thank you and remember reviews motivate me to write quicker and that means quicker updates.
BTW…To the people that are reading my other stories no I haven't forgotten about them. Sometimes I find starting a new story get's me out of my writers block and then I get ideas for my other stories as well. Sorry though about no updates in awhile. School ended and then I was away and recently I started my new job so I haven't had much time to write. Bear with me though. Thanks.