False Pretenses
Chapter 3: The Unspoken Rule
Written by: ecocolatte
Hermione almost couldn't believe how quickly the gossip about her "relationship" with Malfoy had spread around the school. People seemed to be more confused than anything, with many of the Slytherins approaching Malfoy asking how he could be with a mudblood. He would always answer that it was none of their business and they seemed to get the message. Perhaps they all thought he was using her. Well, it was true. In a weird way they were using each other, except he got more benefits from it.
Not only did she have to take notes for him, but he really meant it when he said she had to complete all of his school work. Lazy bastard.
Luckily he hadn't asked her to sit with him at dinner or anything stupid like that. She sat with Ginny, Luna, and Harry. Ron and Lavender were ignoring her at the other end of the table.
Trying to ignore the stares she was getting from every corner of the room, she kept her eyes fixed on her plate.
"I think Malfoy is calling you again," Ginny said pointing to the Slytherin table.
Hermione glanced over at him and indeed he seemed to be motioning for her to come over. She stared back defiantly. Whatever he needed he could get himself. He simply raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to come over.
It became a battle of wits, both of them just looking at each other challengingly. Finally, his patience broke and he narrowed his eyes just slightly enough to let her know he wasn't pleased. With an aggravated sigh, she begrudgingly made her way over to the Slytherin table. She pretended not to notice all the glares she got from the girls there.
"Yes?" She said in a sugary sweet voice that to anyone else might sound like a caring girlfriend.
Without warning, he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her practically into his lap. She froze as he leaned in close to her ear. "They need more proof," he whispered, his breath tickling her neck.
Feeling her face heat up at their proximity, she discretely tried to wiggle out of his grip but he held her still.
"There's no need to hide it anymore, Hermione," he said rather loudly. "The secret is out now, remember?"
"Draco!" She exclaimed, turning even redder as the entire Slytherin table turned to look at them now.
"It's true everyone. Granger belongs to me," he said to them as if she was a pet. Then he looked at everyone near him menacingly. "If anyone has a problem with that, you'll have to answer to me, and I'm sure you all know what a big mistake that would be."
People began to look away finally, murmuring amongst themselves about the two of them. From the corner of her eye she caught Ron looking at them with a deep scowl.
"Give a girl some warning before you do something like this," she said to Malfoy with a frown.
He smirked at her. "Don't you realize how many girls would kill to be in your position right now?"
"Arrogant prat."
"Mudblood."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Really, get some new material already. That insult is getting old."
"Stop flirting in front of people," Blaise Zabini said from the other side of the table with a smirk of his own. "It's considered rude you know."
Finally, he loosened his grip enough for her to get up and walk back to her table. Before leaving, she saw Ron still glaring at them. Just to rile him up further, she placed a hand on Malfoy's shoulder in what she hoped looked like a loving gesture and let it remain there for a moment before returning to her seat next to Harry.
Ginny nudged Hermione's arm and looked at her suggestively. "You just sat in Draco Malfoy's lap! You lucky girl."
She rubbed her temples as she felt the beginning of a headache. This was going to be an interesting year, although hopefully she would figure a way out of this charade before then.
She and Malfoy fell into sort of a routine over the next week. He would walk with her to class to the classes they had together. In those classes she had to resist the urge to answer questions regularly, as she was met with a sharp look from him right as she was about to. Although they never kissed, Merlin forbid, he would hold her hand and put his arm around her if they were in public. On days when he had Quidditch practice she would sit in the Slytherin stands or the Gryffindor stands, if Ron wasn't there, and complete his homework assignments for him. Luckily for her, it wasn't too much of an inconvenience because she was so far ahead in all her classes anyway. Although they didn't go to Hogsmeade like regular couples at Hogwarts did, no one seemed to question them about it. Ginny and Luna continued to gush over Malfoy, much to her annoyance. Harry played along but never talked about it with her. She hadn't spoken to Ron since their argument and he was too busy making out with Lavender all the time to bother talking to Harry.
Hermione was on her way back to the Gryffindor tower after a late night of work at the library when she was suddenly ambushed by a group of Slytherin girls. One of them grabbed her arm and hauled her into a dark corner.
In front of her stood an angry looking Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Millicent Bullstrode.
"Mudblood." Daphne sneered in greeting. The three of them crossed their arms and glared at her. Hermione felt like she was in some horrible muggle teenage movie.
"Er, can I help you?" Whatever this was about, she didn't have the time for it.
"Listen here, Granger. There's an unspoken rule at this school among the girls that none of us can actually date Malfoy," Daphne explained. Really. Didn't these girls have anything better to do than pine over Malfoy?
"There is?"
"You have broken this rule. And we don't like it. We don't even believe you guys are a real couple."
Ah, so that's what this was about. "Okay…well we are. I have to go now," she said, not wanting to partake in this nonsense anymore. She tried to move past them but was roughly shoved back into the wall by Millicent, reminding her of their scuffle during 2nd year. "What do you want from me?" She snapped at them.
"We want you to stay away from Malfoy, you ugly girl!" Pansy said angrily, finally breaking her silence.
How would she get out of this? Just as she was about to reach for her wand voice stopped her.
"Ladies." A firm voice called from behind them. They turned to see Terrence Higgs, a prefect from Slytherin standing tall with his wand out.
"Not now, Higgs." Pansy said dismissively after recognizing him. "Go back to patrolling a different corridor. We'll be finished here soon."
Hermione gulped nervously. As smart and good at magic as she was, she was backed in a corner and had three witches facing her. Plus, Millicent could easily take her down in hand-to-hand combat if she wanted to. If she could only put some distance between herself and them she might have a fighting chance or at least be able to run back to the common room in time. Curse Malfoy and his stupid plan leaving her not enough time during the day for her own work and forcing her to stay out nearly past curfew. She made a mental note to yell at him in the morning.
She bet Higgs would in fact leave them alone since they were all Slytherin.
"Sorry," he said sternly. "But I can't let you do that. Leave her alone and return to the Slytherin tower and I won't take any points away for threatening another student."
Oh, well that was unexpected. Hermione looked at him in a silent thanks.
Daphne whirled around and glared at him. "You can't be serious."
"Stop behaving like children. Go already," he said, returning the glare and pointing down the hallway.
The three girls reluctantly made their way down the hall, casting dark looks back at her until they were out of sight. Once they rounded the corner, Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Are you alright, Granger?" Higgs asked her, stepping closer to make sure she wasn't injured.
"I'm fine, thank you." She clutched her bag closer to her chest.
"I guess dating Malfoy is bringing you more trouble than you expected?" He offered.
She looked down at her feet. "You could say that."
"Well you're not very popular among the Slytherin girls right now. Our common room is filled with gossip," he said. She was surprised he was still talking to her. Not the typical Slytherin male behavior. It was actually kind of refreshing.
"Well I never have been in the first place since I'm not a pureblood."
He grimaced when she said that. "Don't listen to any of that. It doesn't mean anything in the end." He looked around to make sure no other Slytherin girls were waiting to ambush her. "Would you like me to walk you back?"
"That's okay, Higgs. It's not too far. Thank you again."
"You're welcome. If they bother you again let me know," he said nodding at her before walking away.
One of the decent Slytherins, she thought with a smile. Terrence Higgs. I'll remember him for sure.
"Hurry up, we don't have all day," Draco demanded as Hermione frantically searched for the correct root near the base of a tall tree. They had been partnered together for their potions class and pairs were sent off to obtain specific ingredients. Hermione and Draco were sent to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Of course, he didn't bother to help her.
"Sorry, I'll try to move my eyes faster," she retorted with a snort.
"Did you just snort at me?" Draco asked in disbelief and a hint of disgust. "Muggles really are barbaric."
Feeling her anger flare up at his comment, she whirled around to face him. Just as she was about to tell him off he glanced behind them, looked back at her with a smirk, and gently pushed her so that her back was touching the tree. He trapped her body with his and put one arm next to her head to prevent her from going anywhere.
Hermione's face turned bright red at their position. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Oi! Get a room you two!" Blaise Zabini called from a distance as he approached them with Pansy looking annoyed.
Malfoy nonchalantly leaned back from her, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the tree. "It's not polite to walk-in on people, Zabini." Hermione couldn't help but notice for the first time how suddenly natural it seemed to just let him hold her hand like this.
"It's not polite to make-out in front of other people," the raven-haired boy said in response. "Granger, you should teach your man better."
It took her a moment to realize 'her man' was in reference to Malfoy. "You know how, Draco is." She said for lack of anything better to say. The four of them stood there awkwardly for a moment until Pansy curled her lips in disgust at Hermione and pulled on Blaise's arm.
"Come on, let's just finish the assignment." She said, walking quickly past them into the forest.
"You two are going in the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione asked. She was surprised that Professor Snape would send students into the forest alone.
"Not very far," Blaise called over his shoulder as he followed Pansy in. She watched him disappear with some concern, but soon forgot as Malfoy bent down and yanked a small plant out of the ground. He held it up to her.
"This is what we need right?" He asked as he dangled it in front of her face as if she were blind.
"Yes. Did you know that was there this entire time?" She had been looking for it for the last twenty minutes rummaging around in the dirt…
"I noticed it when Zabini was talking," he said with a shrug and shoved it into her hands. The root was still covered in dirt and it got all over her fingers.
"Thanks a lot," she said sarcastically as she shook the plant to get rid of the loose dirt and placed it in her bag. When she looked up he had already started walking back towards the castle. "Wait for me!"
He looked back at her and smirked before slightly bending down and clapping his hands. "Here, Hermione! Come on!" He called as if she were a dog. How degrading.
She grit her teeth and stomped over to him. "Jerk."
A few other students had started walking back towards the castle too. Noticing this, Draco grabbed her hand again and led them back to the castle. It briefly occurred to her as they walked that had subconsciously thought of him as Draco rather than Malfoy for the first time.
