Chapter Seven

The bright sun gleaming through the windows fell across Hermione's face, causing her to groan and roll over. She pulled a pillow over her face to block the sun.

She poked her face out to look at the clock on her nightstand table. The arm on it was pointed to Breakfast Time.

Groaning again, Hermione sat up and instantly regretted it. The bath last night didn't seem to have worked at all! If anything, she felt worse. Getting dressed was a difficult process, with her muscles protesting every movement.

Finally, Hermione made her way to the staircases, slowly making her way to the Great Hall. She walked inside, and her eyes immediately looked over to the Slytherin table. Draco was sitting facing the doors, and as if he felt her presence, he looked up and locked eyes with her.

Hermione recognized the look on Draco's face, because she was experiencing the same thing. Confusion. She was sure Draco could see it on her face too.

She turned away quickly and went to her seat beside Ron and across from Harry and Ginny. Ron glanced at her as if unsure of Hermione's reaction to him. He offered her a glass of pumpkin juice. She smiled feebly at him, which seemed like a good sign, as he beamed back at her.

Hermione was silent throughout the meal, avoiding everyone's stares. Once breakfast was over, they all got up to go to class. Hermione was moving slower than everyone else, from her soreness.

They were in the Entrance Hall getting ready to go upstairs to their classes when Hermione had to stop.

"You guys go on; I've got to check to make sure I've got my books." Hermione said, coming up with an excuse to stop and rest.

Ron stopped on the step above her. "I'll wait with you."

"No really, Ron, it's all right, it'll only take a second."

He stood there for a second before nodding. "All right. See you later then." He continued up the stairs.

Hermione sat down on the steps and dug through her bag until she was sure the others were gone. Then she leaned against the banister and sagged down against it, letting out a big sigh.

This is how Draco found her when he finally left the Great Hall. He watched her for a second. It was amazing how much different she looked when her guard was down.

He walked over to her. "You okay, Granger?"

Hermione looked up in surprise. "Um, yeah, I'm okay." She stood up. "Just a bit sore is all."

Draco took out his wand, pointed it at her, and said a healing spell.

Hermione felt a warmth rush over her, loosening her muscles, and making her aches disappear. "What was that for?"

"Just doing my good deed for the day is all."

"Well, thanks. I really appreciate it. I was feeling like hell all morning from our duel yesterday."

"Yeah, same here, until I remembered this healing spell."

Hermione reached down to pick up her bag. "Don't you have class to get to?"

Draco shook his head. "No, I have a free period right now. What about you?"

"I actually have Advanced Ancient Runes right now, but I'm so late as it is, I don't want to get a detention."

Draco perked up at this. "Why don't you spend the period with me?"

"But I can't just skip my class!"

"Why not? You said yourself you're already late. You don't want another detention, right? Added onto this one?"

Hermione could see his point. "I guess you're right. This detention is insufferable enough." She had a hint of a smile on her face.

They started walking down the halls, with no particular destination in mind. They mostly talked of their classes and what they were taking. Then the conversation turned to their lessons during detentions.

"I really love it, actually." Hermione said, as they walked into the Library doors. "I didn't think I'd enjoy it so much, but the power of the spells is incredible! It really hooks you and pulls you in."

Draco nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. When my father started teaching me these spells, it was incredible. It was like I felt a power within me awaken."

They walked to a table in the back of the library and sat down across from each other.

Hermione studied Draco from across the table. "Why are you being so nice to me Malfoy? I thought our friendship was just for detentions."

"Honestly? I don't know. Being with you every night and teaching you these spells has changed my perspective of you, I guess."

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Well I guess I'll be honest too, and say that I like how we are now a lot better than how we were before, fighting all the time."

Draco smiled at her, and it took Hermione's breath away. She had never seen him smile before now. It made him even more handsome than he already was.

"Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?" Draco lifted his hand to search his face.

Hermione's face turned red, and she quickly looked down at the table. "Oh, um, no. Your face is quite, uh, fine."

Draco checked his face anyways, until he was sure there really was nothing on it. He wasn't sure how to ask his next question, so he just blurted it out. "So what's going on with you and the weasel face?"

Hermione glared at him. "Don't call him that." She said half-heartedly, not wanting to fight. "And nothing's going on. I mean, we're going out. Well, I think we are. I'm really not sure." She let out a big sigh.

Draco snorted. "So, you're going out with him, but maybe not? Is the guy confused or what?"

Hermione couldn't bring herself to defend Ron, since that was exactly what she thought about it. "He hasn't said. I mean, not specifically. I really don't know what he wants."

"What do you want?" Draco asked her quietly.

She looked at him for a while before answering. All of her feelings of confusion were there, just as they were when she was talking to Ginny. "I don't know anymore. I thought I had gotten what I wanted, but not anymore."

"What changed?"

"You", she wanted to say aloud, but did not have the courage. "I don't know. I guess my feelings for him weren't the same as I thought they were."

Draco's stomach did a flip, and he scolded himself. "It's not like she would want you!"

He sat up straighter in his chair. "Well, why don't you tell him that?"

"It's not as easy as it sounds!" Hermione said. "I can't just go up to him and say, 'Ron, I don't like you anymore, we should break up.'"

"Why not?"

Hermione threw up her hands in exasperation. "Because I just can't! It's – it's mean, for one things. And –"

"And it's the truth though, isn't it?" Draco asked.

Hermione sighed, giving up. There's no winning with you, is there?"

Draco grinned, causing Hermione's stomach to flip-flop again. "Nope. Not really. I always win."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're such a guy."

Draco lifted his eyebrows. "And that's a bad thing?"

"Well, right now it is." Hermione smiled.

Draco grinned again.

"Stop doing that!" Hermione said.

"Doing what?" Draco asked.

"Smiling! It's – distracting." Hermione stuttered.

Draco kept on smiling. "What's so distracting about it?"

Hermione regretted even saying anything now. "It just is."

Draco thought about that. Could it be possible she had feelings for him too? This was all so weird; he didn't know what to do about it.

The bell rang just then, signaling the end of class. They picked up their bags and left the library. They stopped at the door.

"Guess I'll see you tonight." Hermione said.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." Draco replied.

They separated and walked down the hallway, each lost in their own thoughts.


Lunch came soon enough, and Hermione caught up with Ginny in the hallway on her way to the Great Hall.

"So how's your little problem coming along?" Ginny asked her.

"Oh, uh, I'm not really sure." Hermione wanted to tell Ginny about skipping class to hang out with Malfoy, but wasn't sure how she would take it. Finally, she decided to just spit it out.

"I spent first period skiving class and spent it with Malfoy in the library." She said really fast.

Ginny stopped dead in her tracks, and threw out her arm to stop Hermione too.

"You did what?"

Hermione shrugged. "I was running late for class and ran into Malfoy, and he convinced me to not go."

"He…convinced you…to not go to class –"Hermione nodded "- And instead…you decide to hang out…with Malfoy?"

"Yes." Hermione answered.

"Well now I'm really curious. What did the two of you talk about?"

"About classes, and the lessons he's giving me. He even asked about me and Ron."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "He did? Wonder why. What did he say?"

"He just asked if we were going out and I said I wasn't sure, and he kept on asking why I didn't ask Ron about it."

"That's odd. Why would he…unless…" Ginny's mouth gaped open.

"Unless what, Ginny?"

"Why would a guy ask if you're seeing another guy?"

Hermione shrugged, looking oblivious.

"Because he likes you too!"

Hermione's mouth fell open. "He does not! That's just ridiculous!"

Ginny crossed her arms. "As ridiculous as you liking him?"

That made Hermione stop and think. "But this is…crazy. We've been enemies for seven years, how did this happen?" She moved over to the wall and slid down to the floor.

Ginny sat down next to her, and put her arm around Hermione. "Sometimes it's just fate, my dear. The big question is, what about Ron? What are you going to do?"

Hermione hung her head. "No clue. I feel like such a bad person, liking one guy while seeing another."

"Don't think like that. It just happens sometimes. And when it does, you just have to go with it. You obviously think you'd be happier with Malfoy."

"So I guess there's really no choice, is there? I have to break things off with Ron so I don't hurt him. Even if nothing comes of this stupid crush."

"It's not stupid if it's what you feel." Ginny comforted her.

Hermione wiped the few tears off her face and stood up. Ginny stood up as well, and hugged her.

They walked to the Great Hall and sat down with Harry and Ron. Hermione chanced a glance at Malfoy, and saw him watching her with a frown. She looked down at the table quickly, guessing he must have noticed her red and blotchy face from the little bit of crying she had done earlier.

Lunch went on, with Ron being sweet to Hermione, who was feeling worse about the situation. Finally, she made a decision.

She turned to Ron and whispered, "I need to speak with you. Outside, in the hallway."

Ron paled as her words settled in. "Okay, then. Let's go now."

Hermione swallowed hard, getting up from the table. She had never known Ron to willingly leave food on his plate.

She walked out to the Entrance Hall and found an out of the way alcove where they could have a little privacy.

She turned around and Ron was right behind her. He stepped up to her, and putting his hands on her face, brought her head towards him and kissed her deeply, with more passion than he ever had before.

Hermione was startled at first, but settled into the kiss. As much as she tried, she didn't feel a spark. There was nothing on her end.

Ron ended the kiss, and rested his forehead on hers, his eyes closed. "I don't want to lose you." He said softly.

Hermione's eyes filled up with tears. She was such a horrible person! Ron didn't deserve this at all. She took a deep breath and took a step back, holding his hands in hers.

"I don't want to lose you either, Ron. Especially not as a friend. And I think that's all I can give to you right now, just friendship. I'm not ready for anything more just yet."

Ron had tears in his eyes, and he squeezed her hands. "Is there no way to convince you otherwise? Nothing at all?"

Hermione shook her head. "I thought this was what I wanted. But now I'm just not sure anymore. And it's not fair to you for me to not give you my all. If I'm going to be with you, then it's going to be when I'm able to do just that."

A tear escaped Ron's eyes and trailed down his cheek. He nodded, closing his eyes. He pulled Hermione to him and hugged her tightly. "You'll always be my girl." He whispered in her ear. "I'll wait for you."

Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron, squeezing him. She felt horrible about doing this, but she had to. In a way, there was a big sense of relief and guilt that was lifted from her. She knew this had been the right thing to do.

They separated, and Ron turned around, walking back to the Great Hall.

Not wanting to be surrounded by awkward silences, Hermione headed up the stairs and went to the Common room.

She sat down on the couch and opened up her Potions book, looking over the sections that regarded the potion that she and Malfoy were making. But her mind was on anything but schoolwork.

Had she made a horrible mistake? The realization of what she had done was beginning to sink in.

She thought of Malfoy and how they were getting on friendly terms now. That she had more than friendly feelings for him.

Hermione groaned and lay down on the couch with a pillow over her head. Things with Malfoy would never progress to anything. They had too much of a bad history together. What was wrong with her that she couldn't enjoy what she had with Ron?

The next thing she knew, a hand was shaking her awake. She sat up, the pillow falling to the floor.

Harry leaned down and picked the pillow up, sitting down next to Hermione.

"I guess I must have fallen asleep." Hermione explained.

Harry just looked at her. "Are you okay, Hermione? Ron, uh, explained what happened."

Hermione sighed and looked down at her hands, fidgeting. "Not really. But it was the right thing for me to do, for myself. Something about it just…didn't seem right." She shook her head. "I'm not explaining this right."

Harry put an arm around her. "I understand. You've got to feel that spark, that specialness when you're with someone."

Hermione nodded. "Exactly. I thought being with Ron was what I wanted, but…I guess not. At least not right now."

Harry patted her shoulder. "I expect it will be kind of weird between the two of you, but we'll do our best to smooth it over."

Hermione smiled at him. "Thanks Harry. It means a lot to hear you say that."

"No problem. But you have gone and slept the afternoon away." Harry stood up and offered Hermione his hand.

Hermione jumped up. "Oh, no! Have I missed the rest of my classes?"

Harry nodded. "Yep. But you're up in time for dinner."

Hermione grimaced. "I feel like I was just at lunch talking to Ron, and now I have to go and face him again."

Harry patted her on the back and started walking to the door. "It won't be so bad, I promise."

Hermione followed him down to the Great Hall, dragging her feet as she went. She saw Ron already sitting down with Ginny across from him.

She took the seat by Ginny, and Harry sat next to Ron. An awkward silence followed, before Harry and Ginny both started talking.

"So guess what we did in class today!" Started Ginny.

"So did you see the Chudley Cannons last game?" Harry asked at the same time.

They both stopped and turned bright red.

Hermione poked at the food on her plate. "It's all right guys. You don't have to do that."

Ron had his head near his plate, pushing food into his mouth, probably to keep from talking. Hermione noticed his face was red, and she didn't know if it was from anger or from him crying. Either way, it made her feel horrible, but she knew there was nothing she could say to make it better.

She ended up leaving early, and going upstairs to get ready for detention. She sat on her bed hugging a pillow to her chest and let all of her tears out. No matter how she felt about Malfoy, there would always be a part of her that would feel awful for what she did to Ron.

Finally, the tears stopped coming and Hermione wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She checked herself in the mirror and noticed that, once again, her face was red, blotchy, and a little swollen. She used her wand to cover it up.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione made her way down to the detention room, only to find Malfoy already there. He was sitting in a chair with his feet up on a desk and was twiddling his wand between his fingers.

Hermione cleared her throat and stepped into the room. Draco looked up at her and sat up straight.

Hermione sat in the chair across from him. "You're here early. Is dinner even over yet?"

"Just finished actually. I figured that since you left early you might have come in here. But I guess I was wrong, so I thought I'd just stay and wait it out."

Hermione was surprised. "Oh. Well that was…considerate of you."

Draco just nodded. He looked closer at her and noticed her face was a bit red. Apparently, she had tried to cover up the fact that she had been crying again.

"So why'd you leave dinner early?" He asked, wanting to know what was going on with Ron, but not wanting to be too obvious.

Hermione stiffened up. "I just wasn't hungry, was all." As friendly as they had gotten during detention, and as much as she was beginning to like him, she still wasn't ready to completely open up to him.

Draco just nodded, but deep down he was disappointed. He had hoped she would be comfortable enough around him to talk to him.

He stood up. "So are you ready for more spells to learn?" He wanted to loosen her up, and get her talking again. She looked too sad right now.

Hermione nodded half-heartedly. "Sure, I guess so."

Draco reached over and pulled her out of her seat. He ended up pulling too hard and Hermione wound up right against him, with one hand on his chest.

She looked up at him, about to speak, but he was just staring at her, not even trying to move away. She had never before noticed how bright his blue eyes were, or how there were flecks of darker blue within them.

Draco was studying Hermione just as much as she was studying him. He still had his hand on her arm, and his other had gone around her waist when she had been pulled up against him. She was the perfect height for him, and he noticed she fit him perfectly. He looked into her eyes, noticing the golden flecks within the brown. How had he not noticed before now how pretty she was? Oh, because he was too busy making her life miserable to notice, that was why.

He found himself leaning down towards her, drawn to her.

Hermione realized he was leaning down to kiss her and for a moment, she considered letting him. She had noticed he still had his arm around her, and her hand was still on his chest. His well-muscled chest. Then she remembered she had only broken up with Ron earlier that day, and didn't want to do anything just yet.

She took a quick step back and cleared her throat, embarrassed. "Um, I guess we should get started working then."

Draco was stuck in place. "I can't believe I almost kissed her." He thought. He had been lost in the moment of it all; he had started to act without thinking.

He pulled himself together and nodded. "I thought we would do a rather harder one today. But to practice it, we'll need a volunteer." He produced a cage that had a cat in it from under the chair he had been sitting on.

Hermione came closer. "What kind of spell? And what's the cat for?"

Draco set the cage down on a desk. "It's Ingravesco Incendiax. The effects of it are quite incredible. When done properly, it will leave the victim feeling like they're on fire, and there will be actual flames as well. But when you stop the spell, the flames are gone. No burning, nothing. No evidence of what just happened."

Hermione looked at him skeptically. "That sounds awful."

Draco smirked. "For the victim. Wouldn't you want to know this spell if you were in a duel?"

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I suppose you have a point."

Draco put the cage on the ground and let the cat out. "Now, it is important to put a lot of force behind this spell, otherwise it won't work. Like the Piphalus spell."

Hermione nodded. "That makes sense."

Draco raised his wand, and said the spell. The cat immediately burst into flames, causing Hermione to scream. Draco stopped the spell, and the cat fell to the floor, unharmed but panting for breath.

Hermione's hands were over her mouth and her eyes were wide open, looking at Draco.

"The cat is okay Granger. Calm down."

Hermione looked back at the cat, and sure enough, it had sat up. She dropped her hands to her side.

"Do you think you're ready to try it?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded and took a deep breath, raising her wand. She envisioned the cat as a Death Eater that she was facing in battle, and it was all about life or death.

Her breathing quickened as she felt her anger rising at the imagined scenario. She said the incantation, causing the same results as before. She held her wand with both hands, increasing the intensity of the spell.

The cat was howling in pain, rolling around on the floor, trying to get the fire off itself.

Draco was standing off to the side, watching Hermione. The transformation that took place when she was in the throes of a spell was magnificent. Gone was the innocent bookworm, replaced by a powerful witch. He smiled to himself at the work he had done in getting her to this level.

Finally, he stepped up to her and put his hand on her arm. "Granger, you can stop now."

Hermione dropped her arm, ending the spell. The cat fell down, unconscious. She didn't move, just stared at the space in front of her.

"Are you okay Granger?"

Hermione turned to Draco, and he saw that she had tears in her eyes.

"I was imagining the cat as a Death Eater, and I just put all my force into it-"

Draco unthinkingly moved forward and put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

Hermione let out a small sob. "I just wanted to kill it, and see it suffer."

Draco rubbed her back. "It's okay Hermione; don't feel bad, you didn't hurt it."

Hermione lifted her head off Draco's chest where she had laid it. "I don't feel bad. I feel good. Really good, in fact. I'm not sure why I got all emotional." She stepped back from Draco and wiped her eyes. She stopped and looked at him. "You called me by my name."

Draco looked aghast. "I did not! I called you Granger, while you were crying all over my robe, I might add."

Hermione smiled. "You did not. You called me Hermione."

"Not," said Draco.

"Did," Hermione poked his chest. "Somewhere in there is a big soft spot."

Draco swatted her hand away. "You're delusional. I have no soft spots for anyone."

"It's okay, Draco. I won't tell a soul how much of a teddy bear you really are." Hermione teased.

Draco didn't have a response to that. He was too busy replaying the way she had said his name. It was a lot different from the way his Slytherin friends said it.

Hermione was cleaning up the little bit of a mess she had made during their lesson, and then slung her bag over her shoulder. She turned to Draco, "See you later?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah, see you later."

Hermione walked to the door and turned around. "Good night…Draco." She smiled at him and left.

"Good night, Hermione." Draco whispered to the empty room. He put the cat back in its cage, cleaned his mess up, and left the room to go to bed.