Disclaimer: I own nothing, all Harry Potter characters, places, etc belong to JKR.
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Chapter 7
The next couple of days went by quickly for Hermione, they had classes which she really enjoyed and finally she could spend time with her friends again. Draco remained pretty much the same, seizing every single opportunity to get close to her, especially in front of other students. Needless to say, his favourite prey included Harry and Ron, which they didn't really appreciate, but eventually they had to learn to deal with it. They knew the reason behind the whole scheme and that made them more accepting. Hermione of course had to go with everything Draco initiated, specially knowing that there was a spy possibly watching their every move, so she knew they couldn't afford to make any mistakes.
The news of their upcoming wedding spread quite quickly, even without a formal announcement. Hermione and Draco only told their friends, knowing that they would immediately pass the information on anyway, creating an endless chain. They were right, after about 3 days every single person in the school knew, which worked out well for them because they wanted to make sure that it reached the spy. Harry and Ron took the news relatively well, they definitely trusted Dumbledore's judgement, and since it was his idea they let Hermione off the hook easily. Ginny was in complete ecstasy, Hermione must have played her part well, because her younger friend believed her story about being in love with Draco without a problem, and she was very happy and excited about the wedding.
On the second weekend since school started Hermione had to get up a bit earlier than she normally would have, because she had a Heads meeting with Anthony in the library and she wanted to have some breakfast before going. She still didn't trust Draco enough to let him back into the bedroom, so she had to be quiet when she entered the living room because he was still asleep on the couch. She carefully went to the kitchen, but paused on the way to glance at Draco. She couldn't help smiling; he looked like a little boy with his ruffled hair, his mouth slightly open, and his hand hanging off of the couch. He suddenly snorted, which made Hermione jump a little. She felt like she'd been caught staring and she blushed, quickly making her way to the kitchen, silently cursing herself.
Hermione was already sitting at the small kitchen table, eating a piece of toast while reading the Prophet, when she heard grumbling from the living room.
"Oh, fuck!!" she heard Draco yell, which was promptly followed by "Damn, I'm late from Quidditch practise!"
Hermione smiled as she heard him run to the bathroom, presumably to take a quick shower. She shook her head slightly, then ate the last piece of toast and washed the dishes with a quick movement of her wand. She hurried out to the corridors and made her way to the library, where Anthony was already waiting for her.
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After Quidditch practise, Draco felt exhausted and went to take a shower directly to soothe his aching muscles. Then he lay down on the couch with a book in his hand, which he'd wanted to read for a long time. After the first couple of pages though, he realised that he hadn't seen Hermione all day and wondered where she was. Then he suddenly remembered something she said the night before, about meeting Rosencrantz in the library for a Head duty meeting.
'But I didn't see her before I left to practise and that was hours ago…' he thought uncomfortably. 'What on earth are they doing for so long?!'
Then he decided that he shouldn't even start thinking about that if he didn't want to explode… Which of course he didn't. After a minute of contemplating his curiosity finally won, and he quickly made his way to the library, the book left on the living room table completely forgotten. He strictly forced himself not to think about them on the way though…
When he got there, he was careful to make sure that they won't see him as he went looking for them. He finally found them towards the far end of the library. As he was getting closer, he heard Guildenstern speak to Hermione in a far-too-low voice in his opinion, which was followed by Hermione's laugh that was quite close to giggling. As he reached the bookshelf that was closest to their table, he slightly leaned forward to peek at them. He saw Goldencrantz lean close to Hermione's ear, keeping a hand on her arm as he spoke.
That's when it happened. For a second Draco only saw white fumes, his mind felt like it was boiling. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides and his expression was on the borderline of insane. Then suddenly everything cleared, he took a deep breath and he casually made his way to their table. As Hermione noticed him she quickly moved further away from Rosenstein, who just stared up at him expectantly.
"Hi there." Draco said as he reached them, his face unreadable. "May I speak to you for a minute, please?" he looked at Hermione.
Hermione swallowed, gave an apologetic nod to Anthony and hesitantly followed Draco, fearing what would come next.
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Draco lead Hermione out of the library to a secluded corridor, then quickly spun around to face her. Hermione wasn't expecting this, so she bumped into him before taking a couple of steps back, a bewildered expression on her face.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing??" Draco asked her with a slightly raised voice, his eyes glowing with anger. "You think I'm doing all this for you, risking my own life, so you can go around flirting with stupid gits like that Rosenstein chap?! Well you're WRONG!! If I see you one more time with him like that, or with anyone else for that matter, I'm out. Do you hear me?!" by the end he was nearly shouting, his face just inches from Hermione's as he glared at her, panting.
Hermione looked quite shocked, taking several more steps back, but she was restricted by the wall. By the end of Draco's speech, her face slowly turned just as mad as Draco's, though.
"What are you talking about?!" she demanded, taking a step back closer to him, glaring back at him just as murderously. "I never flirted with him, we were just talking, we're friends! What's wrong with you?!"
"Oh I bet you don't see me talking to my friends like that!" he shot back at her, then he imitated her giggling in order to demonstrate what he meant. This just made Hermione even more pissed.
"Oh my God, you are really unbelievable!" she spat. "Did you even hear what we were talking about?! He was just telling me a joke! If you don't like the way I laugh, that is your own personal problem, leave me out of it!" she poked his chest with her finger.
In the heat of their fight, they never noticed the shadow at the corner of the corridor, which quickly slid into an empty classroom, leaving the door slightly open.
"Do you even hear what you're saying?" Draco responded with the speed of a Firebolt. "You are completely unreasonable! Just think about it! No matter what you were talking about, the way you two acted totally contradicts our relationship! Do you really want to make me look like an idiot?!"
"Do I really have to answer that?" Hermione asked sarcastically. "Look, it's really none of your business who I am friends with, so I would appreciate it if you didn't stick your nose into everything all the time! I mean who are you to follow my every move like this?!" she was really yelling now, her face full of rage as she glared at him.
"Who am I?!" Draco pushed her against the wall, his icy glare piercing through her. "Your very-soon-to-be husband!! That's exactly who I am! That would give me the right now, wouldn't it?!" he spat.
"You would think, wouldn't you!" she stared right back at him. "Well you're wrong! This conversation is over! And don't you dare following me!" she added as she moved right past him, walking down the corridor hurriedly with her head held high. "Oh, and his name is GOLDSTEIN!" she yelled before she turned the corner.
Draco stared after her with wide eyes, shock plastered on his face. He couldn't believe his ears. He just stood there for a couple of minutes, still trying to comprehend what just happened between them, trying to make sense of it. Then he seemed to have realised where he was, and he quickly left the corridor, making his way towards their rooms, a cold expression on his face.
After a couple of minutes, someone exited the empty classroom and cautiously looked around before leaving the now deserted corridor.
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"So do you have anything for me, Zabini?" a low voice growled from the dark.
"Yes, Greyback." a calm, almost bored tone answered. "As you already know, they are going to get married; at least none of them broke it off yet." At this, an annoyed groan came from the shadows. "But today I overheard them having a big fight, apparently about another guy." Zabini continued.
"Hmmm… Well, I don't believe that this relationship is real…" Greyback's animalistic voice came; it even made Zabini shiver a bit. "What do you think? You've been watching them for quite some time now.."
"I have my doubts as well, but based on what I've heard so far, I can't be certain." Zabini declared. "But if I continue with my task, I'm sure I'll find some proof."
"Hah! But that might not be enough." Greyback said impatiently. "I need a back-up plan… But how can I make sure that it's just a scheme?..." he seemed to be talking to himself now.
"If I may suggest something, I have an idea that you could use in case it takes me too long to find anything." Zabini said quietly.
"Hmmm, fine! Tell me your plan!"
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Hermione stormed into the Gryffindor common room angrily, slamming the portrait behind her. She looked around, still panting, looking for her friends. As she saw Harry and Ron in a far corner, she made her way to them, making them look at her with growing concern. They quickly looked at each other before turning back to her.
"Hermione, is everything okay?" Harry asked as she slumped into one of the comfortable armchairs next to the boys. She shook her head angrily.
"No, Harry, everything's NOT okay!" she said desperately. "We just had a huge fight with Draco, apparently he thinks that he can control every step I take." she furrowed her brows.
"Why, what happened?" Ron asked, fearing the worst. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No, of course not." Hermione said impatiently. "I was just talking to Anthony and he just dragged me away and shouted at me for flirting with him!" she said, an incredulous expression on her face.
"Well, were you?" Harry asked cautiously.
"NO!" Hermione shouted. "Of course I wasn't! Harry, how could you even say that?" she lowered her voice a bit, glaring at her friend.
"Sorry…" Harry said, looking at his feet. "Just making sure…"
"I cannot believe him!" Hermione said, mostly to herself. "What a conceited little…"
"Hermione!" Harry said, raising his voice, looking around worriedly. "This is your fiancé we're talking about!" he warned her. Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Look, just please calm down!" Harry continued. "Just remember why you're doing all this, okay? I mean there's a good reason." he gave her a meaningful look.
"Which is that you LOVE him!" Ron added hastily, his eyes wide, glancing around him looking paranoid.
Hermione couldn't suppress a smile; seeing her friends worrying about her like this made her feel all warm inside. She knew she was very lucky to have friends like them. She was about to tell them not to worry, when Ginny came running down from the girls' dormitories. She stopped in front of them excitedly, looking expectantly at Harry, then at Hermione.
"Harry, have you told her yet?" she asked, grinning. Harry quickly glanced at Hermione, then looked up at Ginny.
"No, not yet, I thought you would want to be here…" he said, slightly blushing. Ginny seemed to get even more eager as she pulled Harry up to stand next to her. Hermione looked at them, starting to suspect what was going on, a big smile spreading on her face.
"Hermione, Harry and I decided to date." Ginny said, her eyes twinkling with joy. Ron just smiled at them, shaking his head. Harry still blushed a bit, but he hugged Ginny to him proudly, looking at Hermione expectantly. Hermione jumped up as she heard this, hugging them tightly and shouting "Congratulations!!". She was so happy for them, she made them sit down and tell her every detail about how they got together. They spent a lovely evening together, just sitting and talking until it got dark outside.
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After dinner Hermione said good night to her friends and she made her way back to her room. When she stepped inside the living room, she saw Draco reading on the couch. She deliberately looked somewhere else when she saw him glancing up, and she quickly turned towards the bedroom. Draco seemed pretty pissed about this.
"Good evening to you too." he said, clearly annoyed. "Don't you think we should talk about what happened?" he added, raising his eyebrows.
Hermione ignored him, and slammed the door after her.
"Well, that's not good…" Draco said to himself. "I wonder who she thinks she is." he murmured.
"Your fiancé, mate…" a small voice in his head answered.
"Oh, just shut up…" he said tiredly to the voice as he continued to read.
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A/N: Yaaay, one more chapter done! :) Thank you soooo much for all the wonderful reviews, they really keep me going! Chapter 6 got about twice as many reviews as the other ones, so I was really happy! Hope you liked this chapter too. And again, PLEASE REVIEW!! Pretty please?