Dramione

They're Wrong About You.

A/N – Just a fanfic about three Dramione scenes. They all take place during Half Blood Prince. If it is from Draco's POV then it is in Italics, if it's Hermione's POV then they are in normal writing. (Disclaimer – I don't own any characters, they belong to the wonderful JKR). Enjoy!

They were chanting his name over and over and each time it was being drummed into my heart like a nail in a wall. Ron. Ron. Ron. Ron.

It was as if the universe was screaming at me, go to him Hermione, tell him that it's you he's been looking for.

Harry was beaming at me knowingly through the crowds of cheering fans, Ron wouldn't have been the King of the Gryffindor Quidditch match if it weren't for the two of us. Not that he would ever know that.

I caught Ron's eyes from across the room, he grinned like the Cheshire cat and jumped down off the table in the middle of the common room.

Was he coming over to me? Now was my chance. I would tell him, oh God, I would tell him. How do you start that conversation? Do I say something? Do I kiss him? How do I do it?

I began to push through the crowd, and I stumbled into the clearer part next to Harry, I gave him a nervous smile but he seemed to be gawping at something across the room.

I followed his gaze and my stomach dropped. Ron was there as I had expected, only I could barely see him, he had his face attached to Lavender Brown.

I couldn't believe it, we had been so close these past few months, but not like usual, a different kind of close. A close that had made my knees weak, and butterflies flutter around inside me. I thought he had felt it to.

I had to get away from the scene, tears were welling up in my eyes and I couldn't hold them back any longer.

I pushed my way out of the common room, through all the cheers and whoops. It was as if they were all laughing at me, as if they loved the fact that the nerdy girl got hurt, again.

I ran through the halls, stumbling along, but with every step I took, I could feel my heart breaking, and the pain was crippling.

I ran until I had reached a set of stairs that led down into an old disused corridor at the bottom of the school and I collapsed. I could no longer hear the loud victory calls of Gryffindor, I couldn't hear anything.

I needed to do something, anything to take my mind off of the party. I conjured up a few small birds and let them fly around my head, filling the silence with gentle chirps.

I felt the tears building back up but this time I just let them flow, trying to hold them back was as futile as trying to defy gravity.

I sat and wept for what seemed like hours, my tears now silent, but just as frequent, I heard someone's footsteps and – assuming them to be Harry's – looked up, my tears had no intention of stopping…

The room was eerily silent, I had been in there for almost twelve hours straight now, not that anyone had tried to find me, they all knew I was beyond help by now.

I had barely spoken to anyone at Hogwarts so far this year. Making conversation when absolutely necessary, answering teachers and only speaking when spoken to directly. Even then I had kept my answers blunt and to the point.

I was alone.

With the exception of Professor Snape, but he was there only for his own benefit. He looked down on me, everyone did. The other students avoid me, the teachers can't stand me, even the other Death Eaters saw me incapable because I had been here almost six months and had made no progress.

I was exhausted, torn apart from failure, scared of what would happen should I fail. It was too much. I needed some sleep, I was in a very fragile state, if so much as one more tiny thing went wrong, I would completely fall apart.

I always walked the same way to get back to the Slytherin common rooms, I went through a corridor at the bottom of the castle, it was disused and allowed me to avoid people – even if it did take a lot longer, it gave me time to think.

I gradually made my way along the halls, Gryffindor's were cheering, and Slytherin's were sulking. The Quidditch match was on today, I didn't go. Why would I? I no longer cared about the activities or people at Hogwarts, there was a time that I would have done whatever it took to be the one to beat Potter, catch the snitch, win the match. All I really needed was to get the Vanishing Cabinet to work.

I couldn't even do that.

I was on the verge of giving up, hiding somewhere in the depths of the castle, no one to judge me, nothing to kill me. I would give anything to have something to distract me from my life, to blur out the world.

I got past the masses of excited students and came to a corridor with stairs at the end, down those stairs were the many halls that nobody cared about, they were quite nice, maybe a bit cold, but best of all, they gave me a sense of peace.

I approached the stairs and made my way down step by step, the further down I went, the more I could hear two sounds, one was the sound of someone crying but the other was something rather odd… birds.

My feet stopped mid step as Granger sat at the bottom of the winding stairs. She had conjured up some random birds that flew around her head chirping.

As for Granger herself, well, she looked awful.

Her skin was marred by the stream of tears cutting down her face, her jumper was frayed at the sleeves from what seemed like constant picking at it, it was falling off her shoulders and her hair was falling out of the many pins trying to restrain it.

She looked a mess.

Draco stared down at me for a good 10 seconds, it gave me time to take in his appearance, for some strange reason, Draco had always fascinated me, he may have been horrible to almost everyone, but he had so many walls up that it made me want to know more.

He looked different.

He was slightly hunched over and the dark bags under his eyes contrasted hugely with the sickly pale white of his skin. His hair had darkened to a muddy blonde. His trousers were covered in dust and his shirt was untucked and crumpled with the sleeves hanging loosely down his arms. To be honest, he seemed to have lost his venom, his will to try. Not that I could talk, I was sat at the bottom of a spiralling stairwell crying my eyes out.

I stared at her for a moment, taking in her dishevelled look, in all honesty, I felt like she was doing just as bad as me, it made me want to sit and break down next to the girl that I had hated, yet secretly envied, for years.

Instead I did the only thing I knew how, I sat down next to her and began to erode her every happiness.

"What's the matter?" I sneered weakly "Weasel didn't make you a knitted jumper? Too poor to care I suppose."

She just stared at me blankly as if I wasn't even there.

"Potter ditched you too? Figured he would at some point, it never made any sense for him to like you." I tried to hiss "The blood traitor I can understand, but a Pureblood? Plain wrong, that's what it is."

She screwed her eyebrows together and looked me right in the eyes, tears and all. What was her problem? I met her confused stare with what I intended to be an icy cold one, it came out wrong though, but I wouldn't be the one to look away.

He began pelting me with a few insults but I could tell he wasn't putting any effort into it. Something was off about him, he didn't have his usual cocky mannerisms, he wasn't putting any real venom into it, he didn't care, the question was… why?

My tears had no intention of stopping but I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at him, looking deep into his tired green eyes. He was gone, a pit of nothingness stared back at me, and his walls were up too high for me to see him.

He met my gaze with an attempt at a glare, all that came out was the look of someone who needed saving.

"What happened to you Draco?" I asked, not expecting any form of answer. "Why are your walls breaking down?"

I gave a little gasp in astonishment at what I had just said, at the mention of broken things, I remembered my heart was ripping up my soul.

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks and my silent cries turned into muffled sobs. Draco just stared at me, not knowing what to do, and why should he? Nobody could help me. Nobody except Ron. Yet for a short moment, I had forgotten the pain I was in, how had Draco done that? By simply being there?

Surely something like that would be impossible…

There was a silence, one where even the wind seemed to die out into nothingness. All I could hear was Granger crying and birds chirping. I sat watching her, watching her fall apart.

We sat like that for 7 minutes. It wasn't bad though, it was actually quite relaxing, Granger had a steady stream of tears but her sobs were now silent.

I couldn't deal with the loneliness anymore. It was so comforting just sitting with an actual person, even Granger. I thought about what she had said. What had happened to me?

Voldemort.

That's what happened.

But her comment on my walls, I knew they were there, I had built them over the years, were they breaking? Was it that obvious?

I was tired. Not only physically, but mentally. I couldn't do it or much longer, the constant pressure, death eaters breathing down my neck, the inevitable fact that I had to kill or be killed.

Maybe it would just be easier. Let Voldemort kill me. No one would really miss me, maybe my Mother, not my Father, I was always just a tool for him to use to get to the top.

She was right, the walls I had built were crumbling, and the only one there to witness it was Granger.

So why was I still pretending?

The silence was screaming n my ears, but it wasn't an awkward one, despite the fact that I was crying and Draco looked like he was about to die, it was calming. Something as simple as his presence was numbing the pain Ron had caused.

In that moment I didn't care about the past, I didn't care about all the names he had called me, I didn't care about all the times I had said I had hated him. I didn't care.

Because right here, right now, he was the one sitting next to me while I cried. He wasn't saying anything comforting like Harry would, he wasn't trying to make me laugh like Ron would. But he was there, making me feel like I wasn't so alone.

I couldn't stop crying, it seemed like I would never stop. I had no idea what I was going to do later. I would have to face Ron. He was one of my best friends. I could hardly cut him out of my life like that.

Perhaps Lavender is just a one night thing. Perhaps not. I just don't know. But if Ron did feel the way I do, he wouldn't even be looking at her. He's the only guy I have ever loved, ever been connected with romantically.

Except from Viktor. I don't know what happened there, I just needed to show people that I was more than what I seemed.

Viktor was long gone, and now Ron seemed a long way away. So why was I feeling content?

Why am I still pretending?

There was no point on putting on the show anymore, no point in trying to be mean and cocky and above everyone else. It was just Granger and me, actually, just me, I blew my chances of being friends with Granger in Second year when I called her a… well, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore.

Voldemort would kill me soon if I didn't get that cabinet to work. Aunt Bella had contacted me telling me that they were all growing impatient and that she was sending something a cursed necklace to try and help but I needed to hurry.

That was pretty much it, he would kill me if I didn't hurry. Father would punish me for taking so long even if I did succeed, I wasn't going to come out of this unharmed. To be honest, I feared father's punishment more.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, no. I couldn't cry. I needed to distract myself. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and broke the silence.

"I like the birds, they're beautiful, it must have been difficult to do something that delicate."

I looked at him, I looked into his eyes and instead of a blank face, all I could see was fear, pain and hurt. Draco had taken down his walls, he was as vulnerable as me.

"Thank you." I sniffed "It was nothing, just a simple enchantment."

We exchanged weak smiles and gazed down at our legs. Mine were parted at the feet but my knees were together with my arms resting on them. Draco had his fully apart, his elbows resting on each knee. One of his arms hung limply between his legs and the other hand cradles the side of his face, tangled in his messy blonde hair.

"More intricate than most people are capable of," he paused slightly as if contemplating his next words "At least you aren't vomiting slugs."

A small laugh escaped my mouth and Malfoy chuckled as well. The small outbursts of laughter grew and within a minute we were both giggling uncontrollably, I still had tears rolling down my cheeks, but for some reason neither of us could stop laughing.

I was laughing, actually laughing, uncontrollable snorts and chuckles erupted from the two of us and although I was still in danger of Voldemort, and she was still crying over Weasley, it was nice. We couldn't stop.

It turned into the kind of silent laughs that pinched your stomach and left you breathless.

After what seemed like years of laughing and catching our breath, we fell into silence again. It was a nice silence, we were both smiling, but Granger's smile still seemed to start fading, she was still crying.

Weasley really must have done something huge this time. I had never seen her this upset. She glanced over at me and I returned her gaze, I was suddenly aware of how little distance there was between us, How close our faces were.

Granger, of all the people I could have been with, I was with a muggle born, but the weird thing was, I didn't care. I hadn't been anywhere close to contentment, yet there I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.

I don't know how it happened, one minute I was laughing and the next, I'm pressing my lips against Draco Malfoy's, a guy that I have hated for 5 years of my life.

The thing is, I liked it.

Granger tasted like a mixture of vanilla and cherry's, I don't know what I was doing, Granger, a muggle born, a person that my father would torture me for even looking at.

The worst part was, I didn't dislike it.

For some strange reason, neither of us pulled away, his shaky hand found the side of my face and my trembling arms snaked around his neck.

We both leaned into the kiss, as if there would be no end, no problems, and no consequences. The rest of Hogwarts seemed to blur out of existence, there was no Harry, no Dumbledore, no Voldemort, and no Ron.

Despite it being practically impossible, I moved closer to Granger, there was no space between us, as if even one little crack of air would make the moment end, and I didn't want it to.

I knew that I could be killed for doing this, for losing concentration on the cabinet, for fraternising with a muggle born, but I didn't care.

I felt so close to Granger that I never wanted to let go. There may have been my father's voice in my head telling me that this was wrong and that I should be repulsed, but I didn't want to stop. I just kept pushing my lips against hers, letting her scent consume me.

It was oddly comforting, being this close to Draco. I couldn't have imagined anybody else having sat down next to me, I was strangely glad that it was Malfoy with me in this moment.

There was something about the way I had forgotten everything else that was appealing. Something about the way his mouth felt that made me feel at home.

I knew that I should be pulling away, crying about Ron or doing my homework or helping Harry figure out how to find the Horcruxes, but I wanted to stay like this forever, stay at the bottom of these stairs with Malfoy, and never have to face reality again.

Voices broke through the silence and we pulled apart. We looked away from each other and listened to the voices, panting from the kiss. We could hear just about everything the voices said, choosing to listen to them instead of facing the effects of our affectionate display.

It was a boy and a girl talking, and they were giggling and stumbling through the halls, their voices echoing, bouncing off the walls.

"Are you sure you aren't with her? She looked upset."

"Of course I'm sure, we're just friends, and she doesn't mean anything romantic to me at all."

"It was actually kind of pathetic, her running away over something as silly as a kiss."

"She is kind of pathetic. She only has two friends and that's only because Harry and I felt sorry for her. She completely pathetic."

"Yes, completely."

"Come on, the stairs are just round the corner."

The two figures came round the corner and stopped dead when they saw us. It was Weasley with Lavender Brown, and boy was it awkward.

They had very obviously been talking about Granger, calling her pathetic, and it seemed that Granger had feelings for the Weasel.

I wanted to kill him, how dare he talk about her like that?! She was one of his best friends! It was completely ungentlemanly! Nobody should have that done to them, even Granger.

She had stood up and was staring Weasley in the eye, he had Lavender supressing a laugh and clinging to his arm.

"Oh... um," Lavender giggled. "Sorry to… disturb you two…"

Weasley looked from Granger to me and back to Granger again. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Granger, obviously annoyed.

"Hermione." He hissed "What the bloody hell are you doing with that evil little git? Everyone knows that people use these corridors to…"

Lavender interrupted him, she was still giggling and tugging on Weasley's arm.

"Come on Won Won. You don't need to be around her, she's pathetic remember?" She laughed "Let's go somewhere less… occupied."

She turned and skipped back round the corner they came from but Weasley just stood there staring at Granger, disgusted at the company she was keeping, disgusted by me.

"Hermione…" he began.

But Granger just aggressively yelled over his words.

"Oppugno."

The birds that had been quietly chirping the entire time flew at him, filled with Grangers rage and they chased him away down the corridor.

I could tell she was even more upset than before, she began crying again, her muffled sobs slicing through the silence.

She was falling apart, in front of my eyes and I got the feeling she wanted to be alone. I didn't mind, I needed to sleep, and mend the vanishing cabinet, and to put this night behind me.

Actually what I really needed to do was rebuild my walls, brick by brick, somehow I knew that I couldn't quite undo the damage Granger had done to them, but I needed to try.

So I got up and began to make my way up the stairs (I didn't want to spend another moment in the corridors that night) but I paused before leaving.

Draco stopped on the stairs. I was a blubbering mess, I had lost one of my best friends who just happened to be the guy I was in love with, yet I had kissed Malfoy.

I wanted to collapse in a puddle on the floor and cry my eyes out, I wanted to fade out of existence and be the pathetic girl that everyone thought I was.

And just as Draco walked away, he said one thing.

"They're wrong about you."

Then he was gone.

I sat at the bottom of the stairs for an eternity, I just sat, I wasn't crying, I wasn't hating Ron, I was thinking about what Draco had said to me.

I sat in silence until I heard more footsteps, Harry sat down and comforted me the way I knew he would, and as I laid my head on his shoulder, I drifted off to sleep, Draco' words filling my mind.