Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Chapter Two
"Here's your book." Ron angrily said, slamming the book down on Hermione's desk.
"R-Ron, what happened?" Hermione asked, startled.
"You'll never guess who works at Flourish and Blotts now." Ron seethed.
"Draco Malfoy." Hermione replied.
"Wha- how did you know?" Ron questioned, surprised.
"You said that I would never guess, so I went with the least likely option." Hermione shrugged.
"Oh." Ron stated.
"What about Malfoy, though?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, it's not Malfoy anymore. It's Draco." Ron angrily replied.
"O-kay…" Hermione said.
"And, Harry smiled at him. Smiled!" Ron exclaimed. "And you know what Malfoy said?"
"No, Ron, I don't." Hermione replied.
"'See you tonight.' He told Harry that he would see him tonight. You don't meet your enemy at night. That's, like, Defense Against the Dark Arts 101." Ron ranted.
"Uh huh. What did Harry say?" Hermione questioned.
"He ran out. And now he's hiding from me." Ron answered.
"Ron, I don't think he's avoiding you." Hermione stated.
"Oh, he's avoiding me. They smiled at each other, and they're seeing each other tonight. It's Malfoy." Ron fumed.
"Now Ron, there's no need to overreact. I'm sure that whatever is going on is perfectly harmless." Hermione reasoned.
"It's… Mal…foy…" Ron hissed.
"And it's Harry, as well. I'm sure that whatever is going on is perfectly fine." Hermione rationalized.
"Malfoy!" Ron repeated.
Hermione sighed. "How about I go talk to Harry?"
"If you can find him." Ron huffed, sitting down in one of the chairs in Hermione's office. "I'll be here, drafting 1001 reasons why Malfoy is a bloody git."
Hermione rolled her eyes and headed out to find Harry.
--
"You're not going to yell at me too, are you?" Harry asked, warily eyeing Hermione as she sat down next to him.
"Well… I wasn't there, so I don't really know what happened… but… Ron seems very upset." Hermione replied.
Harry sighed. "He should be."
"Upset?" Hermione questioned.
"Angry with me." Harry answered.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
Harry sighed again. "Well… see… um… it's kind of… complicated."
"As are Sudoku puzzles, but I quite like those." Hermione retorted.
Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "What's Sudoku?"
Hermione blushed. "Just a Muggle numbers puzzle."
"Oh. Well. See… Draco and I… we kind of… well… aren't, uh, enemies anymore." Harry managed to say.
"Uh huh. Well. What are you?" Hermione asked.
"Dating?" Harry lamely offered.
Hermione's eyes widened. "Um…"
Harry gave a small smile.
"Why… why Malfoy?!" Hermione questioned.
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Hermione saying, "No, never mind. I don't care why. I don't care how. I just… let's not talk about it."
"Hermione, we can't not talk about it!" Harry exclaimed.
"That's not proper English. And yes, we can. If we don't talk about it, then we can stay friends." Hermione replied.
"We can't be real friends if we aren't talking about a major portion of my life." Harry defiantly said.
"But, Harry, it's Malfoy." Hermione stated.
"Draco." Harry corrected.
"Regardless. He's a Slytherin. And a Death Eater!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Actually, Hermione, I don't think that-" Harry began.
"He's killed people!" Hermione continued.
"No, actually, he hasn't-" Harry tried again.
"He's the reason Dumbledore's dead." Hermione firmly stated.
"Technically, Snape is, and Dumbledore was already-" Harry tried once more.
"It's Malfoy, Harry, Malfoy." Hermione stared at Harry.
"And I'm Potter, Hermione, Potter." Harry angrily replied, standing up.
"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed, as if Harry had proven her point.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Let me know when you're willing to listen." He angrily said, walking away.
