A/N – Hey Guys, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! I got 26 reviews on my last chapter...wow! I have 96 now, and I'm dying to get to 100, so please review!
Chapter 6 –
As Ron leaned in, Hermione knew what was about to happen. Leaning in herself, they kissed.
It was extremely different from Hermione and Draco's wedding kiss. Ron was gentle, and tender, his hands cupping the back of her head; her hands were running through his hair. It was a golden moment.
The door slammed open. "I forgot my-" the voice stopped short. "What the hell are you doing?"
Hermione broke the kiss and whipped her head to the source of the voice. It was Draco, holding a broomstick and in his Quidditch robes, and he was livid.
Chapter 7
"I...I..." Hermione spluttered, at loss for words.
Draco strode over to Ron, grabbed him by the shoulders, and threw him out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him, and quickly locking it with his wand. Then he faced Hermione, and towered over her, as she was still sitting on the bed, looking scared and a little confused.
"What the hell were you doing with Weasley?" he bellowed, Quidditch practice obviously forgotten.
Hermione was still shocked over the kiss, and then Malfoy discovering them...it was too much.
"I...I don't know," she trailed off. Suddenly there was a knocking at the door.
"Let me in! 'Mione, let me in!" Ron was shouting through the door, but both Hermione and Malfoy ignored him.
"We're supposed to be married, Granger!" Malfoy roared, and Hermione scooted to the other side of the bed, away from him. He was scaring her a little bit.
He grabbed her and pulled her back to him, at the same time pulling her up so that she was standing. He was still quite a bit taller than her, and it was slightly intimidating.
"Malfoy, we can't help it if we're attracted to each other!" Hermione said, finding her voice and sticking up for herself.
Draco seemed to get madder when she said this. His pale face was red with rage. "Well you'll bloody well have to help it!"
"Why?" Hermione said, getting angry herself. "This marriage thing doesn't mean a thing to either of us, so why should I give up the chance I have with the person I like!"
For once in his life, Draco Malfoy did not know what to say. He was staring at her, like he'd never seen her before.
"Well, well, well. Granger has a backbone," he drawled angrily.
"You're damn right I do," she snapped. "So what does it matter?"
"Matter? Matter? Of course it bloody matters Granger! We're married; you can't go off and kiss other people! That's like having an affair!" Malfoy's voice was getting louder and louder, and Hermione noted that Ron had stopped banging on the door.
"Really Malfoy, you think I didn't notice Pansy Parkinson all over you today at lunch? And the way you didn't push her off at all? Do you think that matters?" Hermione's voice was quivering.
"It's not the same..." Malfoy said weakly.
"Not the same! It's exactly the same! You let her do all that in plain sight of me, what does that say about this marriage!"
"Granger, I wasn't active during that! It's Parkinson; she does that all the time, it doesn't mean anything," he said casually.
"Does that make it any better?" Hermione's temper flared up once more.
"No, well, I don't know, come on Granger, you just said it doesn't mean anything!"
Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Then why the hell are you making such a big fuss over what happened with me and Ron? Does it mean anything to you?"
Draco didn't say anything at first.
"Does it?" she demanded.
"No," he said shortly. "You're a mudblood Granger, you could never mean anything to me. You don't even deserve to be in the same room as me. All I was saying is that this is a project, and you could lose marks."
"What do you care if I lose marks?" she asked suspiciously, ignoring the 'mudblood' insult.
"Don't you care? If I tell candy-Kane you were caught cheating on me, you'd fail the project," he said snottily.
Hermione was thunderstruck at these words. With a terrible thought, she realized he was right. He could indeed fail her on this project, and that was unacceptable. She glanced at Draco helplessly, who was looking rather smug about the whole situation.
"Don't tell," she pleaded. "Please, Malfoy. Don't tell."
Malfoy looked at her, gleeful that he had the upper hand. "And if I do? That'll be a first. The brainy Granger failed a project. I must say, I thought you were smarter than that. Kissing the Weasel...did you really think I wouldn't find out?"
"It was a spur of the moment Malfoy!" Hermione said, panicked. She was bordering on hysterical. No matter what happened, she couldn't fail. "Please! Don't tell!" her voice quivered.
Draco looked at her, slightly disgusted. "This is slightly sad, I must say Granger. But fine," he said with an exaggerated sigh. "I won't tell."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up at Malfoy. "Thanks," she said gratefully.
Draco turned away, thinking about how easy it was to turn the tables so that she had forgotten her earlier argument. Granger's so easy to persuade, he thought, shaking his head.
"Just don't do it again," he added on sourly.
"You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," Hermione muttered.
Draco froze up and didn't say anything. He opened his mouth to say that he was not, but it was too late.
Hermione gasped and her eyes were as wide as saucers.
"You are!" she gasped.
"That's bull Granger, and you know it," he drawled, keeping his voice steady. "Why would I be jealous? I mean, Jesus, Granger, I just don't like it when my supposed 'wife' goes off and kisses other people!"
Hermione was still looking stunned, and watched him as he left for Quidditch, grabbing his gloves which he'd forgotten.
The door slammed, shaking Hermione out of her reverie. She got slowly up and then opened the door quietly, watching Draco jog down the stairs. She walked down the corridor and to Ron's room, and after hesitating, knocked on the door.
A sullen, "Come in," was heard, and Hermione pushed the door open.
Once Ron saw who it was he jumped to his feet.
"'Mione, I'm sorry for leaving, but he locked the door and it wouldn't open so-"
"It's okay," Hermione said, sitting down on the bed. Ron followed suit.
"But I'm still-"
"Ron," Hermione put her finger to his lips. He stopped talking, his face turning red. "I don't think this can work right now."
Ron turned away, but Hermione saw the hurt on his face.
"Not to say that it won't in the future," she told him desperately. "It's just that with this project going on, we both can't risk it." He still wasn't looking at her. "Ron...it wasn't a mistake. It just happened at the wrong time."
Ron nodded, looking a little happier. Glad that it was over with, Hermione stood up.
"Anyways, I'd better leave now. I'll see you tonight at dinner. If," she added, "you're coming?"
Ron nodded. "Definitely."
Hermione smiled widely. "Great, see you there."
With that she left, going back to her own room. For the next hour she did homework, mostly Arithmacy. She was just getting started on the Herbology when Draco walked in, extremely muddy.
After a moment of them not speaking she whirled around, intending to say something, only to be caught with the sight of Draco taking off his shirt.
He was sweating, and frankly, it was disgusting. However, one glance at his chest drove that thought from her mind. His abs were showing more than ever, and he was scarily fit.
You like Ron, she thought, staring at Draco's well-toned chest. Ron, you like Ron, she thought more firmly.
He caught her staring for a second, and Hermione quickly snapped, "Go to the bathroom, you're dripping mud on the floor."
"Want to come?"
Those simple words made Hermione's mouth drop open, and it stayed like that. She looked at him in shock, and tried to recover.
"I didn't think you'd sink so low as to flirt with a muggle-born," she said after a moment, trying to control the fast beating in her chest. It was difficult being so calm.
Draco smirked. "You didn't say no Granger. That's a start."
With that, he entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Hermione to gape at the door.
A start? What did he mean, a start? Hermione's mind was reeling; was it possible to feel so many emotions at once? She looked back at her Herbology parchment, neatly titled and dated. She tried to concentrate, tried to write something down, but she couldn't. She kept thinking of Malfoy, with his bare chest, and his sweaty, muddy face.
Closing her eyes, she drifted away for a moment. What seemed like a minute later, the bathroom door banged open and Draco sauntered out in nothing but a towel.
"Oh for God's sake," she snapped, sick of the unbeatable hold he had over her, "Put a bloody shirt on!"
"Why Granger?" Draco asked casually, going over to the closet and ruffling through his clothes. "We both know you like it so much."
Hermione gasped, and she felt anger running through her veins. The arrogant, pompous, ferret was back, and she could barely admit to herself that she was sorry.
"Correction, ferret. We both know that you like it so much, being the vain little arrogant ass that you are. I have no clue why I would like it; all I see is a skinny little blond brat in a towel, who relies on his father to get him everything that he wants," Hermione said quickly, thinking of the first thing that entered her head.
She had crossed the line, in Draco's opinion. In one second he was up in her face, practically spitting in her face.
"I told you before, Granger, never insult my father, or any of the Malfoys. You have no idea what you're talking about, so you'll stop talking if you know what's good for you," he snarled.
"Oh, I know what's good for me Malfoy, and you know what? We're married now, so like it or not, your family is temporarily my family. If I want to insult them, I can insult them, and a git like you will not tell me not to!" Hermione said strongly.
He came even closer in his rage, and Hermione could feel him against her, feeling a little more skin than was preferable. She felt his towel slipping down and shoved him away, saying loudly "pull up your towel!"
He turned around and re-adjusted it, so that thankfully she could not see anything.
"I'm going down to the common room to finish some homework...I'll come back up when we have to go to dinner."
She grabbed her things and practically ran out of the room, and down into the common room. Finding a comfortable chair she settled back, preparing to get some work done.
However as she stared into the fire all she could think about was Malfoy, his chest, the way his hair got into his face when he got angry...Hermione shook her head.
Control yourself, she thought sternly. Malfoy is a stupid, blond, ferret. He doesn't deserve your thoughts.
Hermione sighed, confused. She didn't know what to think anymore, and it was all Malfoy's fault.
A/N – Well, there you go. This chapter was a little shorter than usual, sorry, but I really wanted to get it done. Hope you can review!
