Hermione stormed into the Griffindor common room, slamming the portrait behind her. A group of first years who had been playing exploding snap near the portrait hole became suddenly silent and watched the brunette cross the room to her small group of friends. She sat down roughly in between Harry and Ginny, breaking the cuddling couple apart. Harry was about to comment, but saw the expression on Hermione's face and backed off immediately.
"Hermione, what's wrong? Why aren't you in the head's dormitory?" Ginny asked as gently as she could.
"If I have to spend another millisecond with that insufferable PRICK I will personally brew him a special batch of a certain potion and slip it into his morning pumpkin juice!"
Harry, Ron and Ginny stared in silence.
"'Mione, what happened?" Ron asked, ready to bust the skulls of some Slytherins.
But Hermione couldn't tell them, she knew the reaction it would cause and they would only cause more drama, something she did not need. So she answered with something they would all believe,
"I'm just sick and tired of Mr. Pure Blood prancing around the castle like he's so big and bad and the ruler of everyone and everything!" Her friends tsk-ed in response with variations of
"Freaking Malfoy..." or "Bloody prick..."
Hermione sighed and looked at the magic clock above the huge fireplace in the common room. It was well past curfew, the prefects seem to be slacking off with the absence of the head girl's regular inspections. She had assumed that the Gryffindor would uphold the rules posted on the bulletin board, but once again, Hermione saw that all the work was left to her.
Sighing, she stood up, "Well thanks for letting me vent you guys, but I've got to get these first years to bed, and you should head up too, if you know what's good for you." The 3 knew better than to argue with Hermione when she was in this kind of mood so they reluctantly headed up their respective staircases towards their dorm rooms.
After ushering the first years upstairs, Hermione stood in front of the fire, but she still felt cold. She looked around the room to make sure she was alone, and when she was convinced enough, she pulled the small bit of parchment from her pocket.
Hermione, it read
you know that I love you, but I can't leave her. My parents would never rest if they discovered what was going on between you and me, so I think that it's better if we keep our love a secret. This past semester has been the best I've ever experienced in all of my years at Hogwarts and I want it to continue. You and Pansy are the two most important girls in my life and I couldn't imagine life without either of you. But I want to make sure that you know, I do love you. The situation is just...complicated and until I can figure something out, we'll have to keep it the way it is. I can't leave Pansy because of our arranged marriage, and she's possibly the oldest friend that I know, she has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Asking me to choose between the two of you is like asking me to choose between air and water, I can't survive without either.
I know the incident this morning was nothing but an innocent display of affection, but you must know that it can never happen again in public. I have managed to kill the rumor before it spread, so we may continue our relationship in the privacy of the head's dorms.
With love, always,
Draco
Hermione didn't realize that she had been crying as she read the note for the 100th time, and felt ashamed for doing so in a place where she could so easily be caught. The "incident" that Malfoy had referred to was nothing more than Hermione holding his hand while on their way to breakfast. Hermione smiled, despite herself, at the memory of Malfoy's smile before he realized where they were. Panicking, he threw her hand down and spat at the floor in front of her,
"Don't touch me with your filthy hands, Mudblood." and walked past the crowds of people watching into the Great hall, leaving Hermione shocked and teary-eyed. She had skipped breakfast, and even her classes, to spend the day in her bed, crying. But as soon as the final bell rang, and all classes were over, she made sure to get out of dodge and out of the castle to avoid seeing him. Because she knew he would try and apologize and play it off as some sort of foreplay. While avoiding his typical route from classes, she made her way down to Hagrid's hut, to find Buckbeak, who had returned to Hagrid after the war. She spent the rest of the night sitting and thinking and petting the huge beast on the edge of the lake. When she realized it was already dark out, she headed back up to the castle, stopped by the kitchens for a snack, and headed upstairs, a plan already formulated in her mind if someone were to ask where she had been all day. She was going to say that she had been asked to manage some of the cataloging for the library, which, being the head girl was a duty that was asked of her often. But now as she stood over the fire in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione didn't know how she was going to keep up her act of indifference around Malfoy. She hated him for having the effect on her. She hated him for being able to calm her down with one embrace, hated how he sent chills up and down her spine each time they spoke. She hated how he looked when he woke up beside her, smiling a smile that precious few had ever seen. She hated how he made her love him. But more than all of that, she hated the hold that Pansy had over him. He would never leave her if he could help it. They had been together for almost 5 years as a couple and been friends for even longer. So what's the harm in becoming friends again? It would be easier than pretending to hate the one you love.
Hermione had spent countless nights forming ideas on how to break the two up, but could think of nothing. It all came down to family and the duty that resided there. Since before they were born, Pansy and Draco had been promised to each other, along with a sizeable dowry. If one family swayed in the deal, it would cause a feud that on its own could rival the war. The break up would have to be mutual, but Hermione couldn't think of a way to go about this.
She hated being the "other woman" but she was left with virtually no choice. Especially since it was Draco who made the first move.
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(Flashback!)
Being the head boy and head girl, Draco and Hermione had to share the dormitory given to the two with the title. There was a common room, a small kitchen, a bathroom and two separate rooms up two separate staircases. Even with avoiding each other as much as possible, the two quickly realized that they would have to become civil with one another if they were to survive the school year. And as the semester continued, they actually became friends, though they would never admit it to anyone. Their friendship had been dancing on the edge of danger for a while when it happened. Hermione had been sitting in the head's dormitory reading a large volume she had borrowed from the library. Draco had been in the shower after a particularly muddy quiditch practice and called Hermione to the bathroom. Confused at his request, Hermione walked to the hallway outside the bathroom.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked through the door
"Could you grab me a towel from the linen closet? I forgot to grab one." came the reply through the door.
"Honestly." Hermione sighed and grabbed a towel from the closet, but when she turned around, the bathroom door was wide open, and there stood Draco, in all his glory, completely naked. Hermione stood there shocked, looking at his gorgeous body when she realized exactly WHAT she was looking at and the smirk that had appeared on his face. She threw the towel at him and felt her face flush as she turned away.
"Malfoy...what the hell...!" She sputtered, face still flushed. Malfoy chuckled behind her.
"It's ok Granger, I'm covered. Well partially anyway. Turn around." Slowly, Hermione turned back around, particularly interested in an imperfection in the wall beside the bathroom door. Malfoy chuckled again,
"I never thought I'd see the day when famous was speechless."
"Shut up! I'm not speechless! I...just...have nothing to say!" Hermione said, still staring at the wall. Malfoy gently grabbed her chin and brought her face around to face his and said,
"Well, since you have nothing to say, let's give your mouth something to do, hm?" And he softly kissed her lips, placing his hand on her jawline and the other on the small of her back, drawing her closer. Hermione was too shocked to do anything at first except stand there like an idiot, but she was soon intoxicated by his kiss. Her hands snaked their way up his damp, hard chest to his hair, where her fingers interlocked into his blonde hair. After a moment, Draco broke away and touched his forehead to hers,
"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." He said. And Hermione then realized, she had wanted him to as well. How long had that desire been there? All she knew was that it was perfect and didn't care.