" Being hexed by a witch was not one of the things on my bucket list, I can assure you," he drawled, practically laughing at her.
" Well," she sneered. A sneer that would rival his. " It was never on my bucket list to be humiliated every day of my school career."
Hermione jabbed her wand a little more into Draco's adams apple. He had pulled her skirt down in front of everyone in Slughorn's potions class. The one good thing about Slughorn, he saw right through Draco. He sent him out of class and Hermione was able to follow him out.
She had been placed as head girl and it was only a week into her 7th year at Hogwarts. Unfortunately he had been placed as head boy. They shared a dorm with each other and so far, it had been hell for Hermione. He used her stuff without asking, he ate all the food in the refrigerator, and he always bothered her while she was trying to study.
" Oh, but Granger," he smiled. " You make it so easy."
" In what way do I make it easy to torture me? Haven't I had enough of that from your family?"
That had touched a nerve and she knew it would. She had been tortured by his aunt Bellatrix, right in front of him. It seemed to have bothered him at the time, but he doesn't seem to have any problems making her life a living hell, now.
" Granger…" he warned. " You know I didn't…"
" Yeah you told me you didn't have anything to do with it before. But you sure as hell didn't do anything to stop her."
" The Dark Lord would have killed me, even if she Bellatrix would have allowed me to live."
" It just shows how big of a coward you are!" she spat back. She was tired of having the same nightmare every night. The knife being carved into her skin, spelling out MUDBLOOD, plain as day, for everyone to see.
" Granger!" he ground out. " I wanted to save you!"
" You are so full of it!" she said. But something in his eyes were telling her it was the truth, but she wouldn't let herself think of it.
" No! I'm not! I couldn't stand hearing you scream. I still hear it sometimes."
" But you still have no problem making my life a living hell?"
She lowered her wand slightly. She really wanted to know why and hexing him wasn't going to be the answer.
" It's what we do."
" No! It's what you do!. I try to ignore you. I try to keep as far away from you as possible, but no. You just have to keep picking at me. Pick, pick, pick. That's all you do. I can't take it anymore. I'm done!"
She drops her arm to her side and turns to leave. She was going to have to do something drastic to keep away from him.
" Where are you going?" He snapped.
" I'm leaving!" still walking away from him, refusing to turn around.
" Leaving? What do you mean?" She could hear his footsteps, he was following her.
" I am leaving Hogwarts. You have made my life hell for too long. I can't take it anymore!"
" Granger!" He yelled. She spun around to face him again.
" No, Draco!" The use of his first name threw him. He stopped in his place. " I can't keep doing this back and forth with you!"
He looked like he wanted to say something, even raising his hand like he was reaching out to her. But he let it fall back to his side and looked defeated.
" I…" he said. " I know how much school means to you. Don't leave, I'll just leave you alone."
" What?" She was flabbergasted. " Why would you all of a sudden stop? You never have before."
" Because I know Hogwarts isn't Hogwarts without you."
At that he turned on his heel and left her standing in the middle of the corridor. What the hell does that mean? She made her way back to her dorm, thinking about what he said the whole way. How would Hogwarts not be itself without her? That didn't make any sense. She would have to talk to McGonigal about possibly leaving later. She didn't want to make any rash decisions because of Malfoy. She was never one to make rash decisions, but he brought out the worst in her. And sometimes he brought the best out in her also.
Throwing her bag on her favorite comfortable chair and slipped off her school shoes. She crossed the commons room, to the kitchen to make herself some tea. How was it that he can make her rethink everything that is important to her? How could she allow him to get under her skin? She knew he wasn't worth it. He took up too much space in her head.
She pushed her bag to the floor and opened her potions book to what they were working on in class. She didn't get to finish her potion since she chased after Malfoy and she didn't want to fall behind because of the ferret. Was she going to let him run her out of Hogwarts? Why did he care if she left? He acted like it was the thing he wanted most in life.
Her thoughts were too consumed with what he could possibly be trying to do. She didn't even realize that she started to drift off to sleep, her legs swung over the arm of the couch, book resting on her chest.
She didn't hear Draco enter the room. She didn't see the way his eyes raked up her bare legs. She didn't see that her skirt was riding up higher than she would be comfortable with. She didn't see any of it.
