What Stands Between Us
(AKA God, I want to jump him!)
By Heliona and KyiziDisclaimer: Sadly, no-one belongs to us (although Heliona would like to borrow Draco occasionally! – Kyi wouldn't mind a shot either WHEN HE'S OLDER!), they all belong to JK Rowling (who's still wonderful despite what she did in "Order of the Phoenix"! Am not impressed with OotP! :-/) and Warner Brothers and lots of other lucky people. We're only playing!
Rating: PG-13 for now, we'll up it later if we need to!
Spoilers: All of the books, including "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
Authors Notes: Another joint fic, although this is possibly the only one to see the light of day! We had great fun writing this, and hope you lot enjoy reading it. J We wrote three characters each, and when we were writing the other person's character, consulted them. (For instance, Kyizi consulted Heliona about how Draco would react to something.) Hope it makes sense!
There is a room in this fic, that has been taken directly from Wood and Wild (by Heliona), so for those of you reading W&W, you'll know why it sounded familiar. (At least it's okay to steal from your own fics or Hel would be in trouble!)!
Heliona: Draco,(if Draco starts to sound like Sark from Alias, then it's intentional. After all, Sark is older Draco!) Hermione (apologies if she accidentally drools over Draco, but that's me, not her!) and Ron (if he sometimes sounds gay because he's looking at Harry, it's because it's me drooling over Harry, and I forgot I was writing Ron instead of Hermione!)
Kyizi: Ginny (Drooling over Sark-like Draco? There's no apologies required, she's meant to drool over Draco!), Harry (If Hermione suddenly starts looking like Angelina Jolie or Eliza Dushka, that's me!) and Parvati (If Ron turns into Jeff Hardy or Johnny Depp when she's looking at him, again, that's me!)
*****
Chapter One: The Day It All Began*****
Draco:
Draco Malfoy had left Snape's office after a long conversation with him concerning Quidditch, and was heading back to the Slytherin Common Room when he remembered that, in his rush to speak to the Professor, he'd left his bag in the Great Hall. Upon reaching it, he noticed that nobody was there, and Draco realised that it was just past curfew. He grabbed his bag and hurried out of the Hall, hoping to miss all the teachers.
Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall met him just as he was about to go down the stairs. "Malfoy," she called, stopping him in his tracks. "Detention tomorrow for being out of bed past curfew."
Draco was outraged. It wasn't even his fault. He'd had to talk to Snape about changing the Quidditch team, since they were so rubbish, and Snape had kept him talking for hours. "But," he started to protest.
"No excuses," McGonagall snapped. "Be down at Hagrid's Hut before breakfast." She turned and stalked away, her cloak swirling.
Great, I had to catch McGonagall when she's in a bad mood, Draco thought gloomily as he walked down to the Slytherin Common Room. And, just my luck to get a detention with that imbecile, Hagrid.
Draco had been made the Captain of the Quidditch team the year before, and he was determined not to lose to Gryffindor and bloody Harry Potter again. This, he felt, required a complete re-work of the Quidditch team. He slammed his books down on his desk and looked round with satisfaction at his room. In addition to being made Quidditch Captain, Draco had been made Head Boy, and this meant that he'd been allocated his own room. For that, Draco was very grateful. It meant that he didn't have to interact as much with his classmates, who were all either idiots or full of themselves. Draco couldn't stand any of them. Apart from Blaise, of course, but thinking about her made his head ache. He still wasn't convinced of her allegiances, and, although a Malfoy like himself would associate with a Zabini, he remained friends – he supposed the word was as accurate a description of their peculiar relationship as he could muster – with her in order to determine whether she would be an asset to his cause.
Putting Blaise out of his mind, the young man decided that he would start his homework straight away, since he didn't know how long the detention would take, and aside from that, Saturday would be taken up with re-organising the Quidditch team. As he sat down to the homework Professor McGonagall set, he once again cursed the Head of Gryffindor. Was there anyone in that House that was halfway decent?
*****
Ginny:
The sound pierced the air and Ginny cursed, slamming her hand onto the alarm clock. Groaning, she ignored the clock as it began to complain, rolled over onto her stomach and buried her head into the pillow. It was half past six and already she was having a bad day.
Light was streaming in through the crack between her bed curtains, almost blinding her as she forced her eyes open. She struggled to make her mind work as she quickly dressed and headed out of the door. She wasn't due at Hagrid's hut for another fifteen minutes or so, which was plenty of time to sneak into the kitchens and grab a bite to eat. She would have to thank Fred and George again for telling her about all the secret passages. The Marauders' Map Harry had let her borrow once had been useful as well. She was very glad she had a photographic memory when it came to maps.
The Common Room had been empty; not that she had expected anything else, and Ginny found the castle eerily quiet as she made her way to the kitchens. It was unusual not to run into a few of the ghosts, but it seemed that even they were having the morning to themselves. Once more she wished she was still curled in her bed. She had been having a really good dream about playing some Muggle racket sport with a really cute guy.
She reached up to tickle the pear and couldn't help but smile as it began to giggle. It was so cute! Shaking her head to help rid herself of the last remnants of sleep, she entered the kitchen.
"Miss Wheezy! Miss Wheezy!"
"Hi, Dobby," she said, reaching for an apple. "Is there any chance I could get a little to eat? I'm not going to be able to make breakfast this morning."
Almost instantly, she was surrounded by a group of elves holding out platters of breakfast food. She made herself a few bacon sandwiches and, stuffing one into her mouth, thanked the elves.
"You will come and visit Dobby soon?" the house-elf asked as she made her way to the door. Dobby was used to her early morning visits and he knew that meant she had to rush, but she always made sure to thank the elf by stopping in and chatting when she could.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her as she made her way across the grounds. She reached Hagrid's hut, but before she could knock on the door, it opened.
"Hey Hagrid," she said, a little forlornly. It wasn't that she didn't love spending time with the gamekeeper, but she would much rather have still been in bed. It was, after all, a Saturday, not to mention that it was not her fault that she was there.
Hagrid offered her a grin and shook his head. "Back again, Ginny?"
"It was not my fault this time, Hagrid!"
He chuckled and smiled. "Sure it wasn't."
"No, it really wasn't! I completely admit that the itching charm on the Slytherins' Quidditch robes was worth a detention if I was stupid enough to get caught. But this was not my fault!"
"I heard you tried to blow up the Transfiguration classroom."
"As if I would ever do that with McGonagall in the room!" Ginny protested, unwilling to admit that the idea had occurred to her to try in Charms. "It was Thomas."
Hagrid frowned. "Thomas? Your boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend," she said, crossing her arms. "I dumped him yesterday and he put those fireworks in my bag to get me back."
"To get you back?"
"It is not my fault that the entire Common Room heard me tell him he was a terrible kisser!" she protested.
Hagrid shook his head and turned to call on Fang. "We just need to wait a few minutes. There was a last minute detention last night."
"Oh, who is-"
"Ah, here he is."
From the tone in Hagrid's voice, Ginny really didn't need to turn around. In fact she didn't want to because it would confirm what she was pretty sure she already knew. But for some reason her legs weren't cooperating and she found herself looking back up at the school, watching as Draco Malfoy walked towards them.
"Crap."
*****
Harry:
Harry yawned as he pulled his jumper over his head. He rubbed his eyes as he pulled open the door and headed down to the Common Room. His roommates were still fast asleep but it was Saturday, and if it weren't for Quidditch training making him an early riser, he would have still been fast asleep as well.
As he entered the Common Room, he glanced automatically at the chair by the fire and smiled when he saw Hermione curled up with her legs tucked under her. She hadn't noticed he was there and her concentration was completely absorbed in the book she was reading.
He watched her, smiling as her forehead scrunched up. She leaned closer to the book and muttered something to herself. She was obviously in disagreement with the author. Again. He still remembered the time she had written to the author of one of her Arithmancy textbooks, explaining that one of the main principles was wrong. He also remembered having to calm her down when the reply was less than flattering.
"What are you staring at?" Harry jumped a little in surprise as she grinned at him.
"I'm just wondering which author is going to be next in receiving your thoughts on their theories," he said with a smirk as he sat down beside her.
"Hey!" she cried, hitting him on the arm. "That's not funny."
"I thought it was."
"Clearly," she said dryly. He grinned and nudged her arm and she mock-glared at him. It was a large chair, but with the two of them sitting in it, he suddenly became aware of just how close they were.
His expression had obviously changed, because her smile faltered and he wasn't sure whether or not she had done it on purpose, but she had licked her lips. Her lips that were very close to his, and seemed to be getting closer.
"…did embarrass him."
"Well, that was still no reason to put Filibuster Fireworks in her school bag. Especially in McGonagall's class!"
Harry jumped up from the chair and in his peripheral vision, he noticed Hermione hastily picking up her book. Just as the girls entered the Common Room, he quickly turned the book up the right way and turned to smile at Ginny's roommates.
"Hey, Harry," Stephanie said, dropping onto the seat opposite the fire and Harry was ever grateful that her Muggle upbringing meant that she didn't treat him like some kind of celebrity.
"Hey," he replied, feeling as if he had just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He started to shift a little as he noticed the other girl, Cara, staring at him wide-eyed. He knew that the girl had always been slightly star struck by him, and that did make him feel uncomfortable. But at the moment, he felt as if she was looking at him like that because she knew he had been about to kiss one of his best friends.
"Is Ginny at her detention?" Hermione asked, and Harry could tell from her voice that she was as jumpy as he was.
"Yeah," Stephanie replied. "I can't believe McGonagall didn't believe she was innocent!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I don't think McGonagall has any reason to trust Ginny since she stepped on her when she was in her cat form. Not to mention the itching charms on the Slytherins and the slime in Filch's office."
"That was all purely circumstantial."
As the girls continued to talk the other Gryffindors were beginning to make their way downstairs, but all Harry could do was stare at Hermione and try to figure out why exactly he spent every day wanting to kiss her.
For as long as he had known her, Hermione had been nothing more than a friend. A best friend, in fact, but now when he looked at her, he saw her for the beautiful, intelligent woman that she had become and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her senseless where she sat!
"Harry, we got practice today?"
Harry started and turned to face Ron wide-eyed as he was suddenly reminded of the other reason that he and Hermione were not together. The entire school saw Hermione as Ron's. Not that she was a possession, but that for so long, there had been something there.
"Harry, are you okay?"
"F-fine. I'm fine." Harry cleared his throat. "Yes, after breakfast."
Ron grinned. "Fantastic. We'll cream Slytherin next week."
Harry nodded and tried to convince Ron that his mind was on Quidditch, but he didn't have to try for long as Ron's attention was captured by the conversation beside them.
"…it's not like she meant for everyone to hear."
"I don't condone what Ginny did, but what Thomas did was not only going too far, it was dangerous."
Hermione once more captured Harry's attention and he couldn't help but smile at her. She noticed he was looking at her and smiled back before returning to the conversation.
"Personally, I feel sorry for Thomas," Ron said with a slight smirk. Harry and Hermione grinned at their friend; they both knew that Ron had hated Thomas. In fact, Ron had hated every boyfriend that Ginny had ever had.
"Why feel sorry for Thomas?" Stephanie asked. "It's Ginny that has to do detention with some creepy monster of Hagrid's."
"Yeah." Ron smirked. "But I'll bet she's spending it trying to figure out how the hell she's going to get Thomas back for what he did."
*****
Hermione:
I can't believe I nearly kissed Harry, Hermione thought, wide-eyed. I can't believe I nearly kissed Harry, she repeated, a goofy grin on her face. She suddenly realised that Ron was staring at her.
"What's up with you?" he asked, puzzled.
"Oh, nothing," Hermione answered, purposefully not looking at Harry. "I just figured out the answer to a problem Professor Vector set." She slammed her book closed. "Excuse me, I've just got to write it down." She dashed up the stairs.
When she reached the room allocated to her as Head Girl, she paused, and then moved to sit on her bed. She breathed out slowly. Fighting back her feelings was getting harder and harder, and now that Harry had nearly kissed her, she knew for definite that he reciprocated them.
For one absurd moment, Hermione violently wished that a certain red-haired best friend wasn't in their lives. She shook herself, and laughed slightly. Things were definitely getting desperate if she was wishing that she didn't know Ron.
Hermione knew that Ron was the glue in the Trio's relationship. She also knew that everyone thought that she would be going out with him by now. Although a couple of years ago, she had certainly entertained the thought, Hermione came to the conclusion that she loved Ron like a brother, and it was actually her lanky, rather famous, other best friend that she fancied now.
Hermione couldn't ignore the fact that Harry, over the last couple of years, had suddenly filled out and grown several inches. Hermione was still small, and although initially she was somewhat intimidated by the fact that both Harry and Ron towered over her now, she soon found it comforting. Ron had always been tall, and his lean frame had filled out from playing Keeper on the Quidditch team. Hermione fully admitted that, with his cheery grin and laughing eyes, Ron was quite a catch. Harry was still lean and slim, the ideal build for a Seeker, and he was often more serious than Ron. When he grinned, though, his entire face lit up, and his green eyes sparkled. Hermione shivered as she thought about it.
Suddenly she heard Ron yelling up the stairs. Glancing quickly at the clock, and realising that she'd been up in her room quite a long time, she dashed back down the stairs to meet Ron and Harry.
"Took you long enough," Ron retorted, winding her up.
Hermione stuck her tongue out at him, and glanced sidelong at Harry. He was looking back at her with a queer look in his eyes. Hermione bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from blushing, and tucked her hair behind an ear. "Come on, I'm starving."
"I don't know how you put it all in that tiny body of yours," Harry teased, leading the way out of the Common Room.
"Yeah," Ron added, "how do you manage to eat so much and stay so skinny?"
"I'm too busy stressing about you two," Hermione retorted, thinking to herself, Harry's noticed my body. Oh, stop it, Hermione, stop being so childish and act your age!
"More like stressing about homework," Ron said. "You're unbelievable!"
"Hey, I put up with you!"
Ron punched her lightly on the arm as the three of them made their way, laughing, down to the Great Hall. As they entered, Ron again brought the conversation back to Ginny. "I wonder how she's fairing?"
*****
TBC…