Chapter eight

Draco hurried out of the classroom, and pushed past the crowd of first year Hufflepuff's that happened to be in his way. He knocked a bag of chocolate frogs out of a small red-headed Huffllepuff's hands, causing them to escape and jump insanely around the corridors. Students scrambled to grab them, glaring at Draco as he walked briskly away from the scene, as the boy who had held onto them looked like he was ready to cry at the sight of his treats getting away. Draco didn't look back, he just needed to get away from her. Her eyes, her rosy cheeks, her intoxicating smile. He could feel all eyes on him when he helped Hermione cast the spell, he could feel the burning accusing eyes of his house, questioning his actions. Even he was now questioning himself, why was he so damned infatuated with her? He cursed under his breath, he knew that if he had stayed in that room with her any longer, he would have had to kiss her. But she was a mudblood, a filthy disgusting mudblood. If his father had known about today's lesson, and last night for that matter, Draco would have been cut off from the family in seconds. He could hear his father's voice ringing in his ears,

''Mudbloods stole the pride and honour of possessing our gift.'' His voice was so clear, so in-bedded in his mind that he couldn't ignore it. He had two conflicting voices in his mind constantly, there was one screaming at him to get away from Hermione, and the other voice was gently urging him to take a chance with the curly haired Muggle-Born. He descended down several staircases, and finally arrived in front of the portrait in front of the Slytherin common room.

''Salazar.'' He said promptly, and it swung open.

The common room was near empty, and he quickly collapsed on the green leather armchair closest to the fireplace. The fire was not lit, and the common room had an unusual cold feel to it. He listened for the other students to enter the common room, they usually lingered in the hallways on the way down irritating smaller students by taking their bags and tossing them out the windows. But today, they were curious about Draco. He could hear them talking loudly about the last lesson, particularity about Draco and Hermione. The portrait swung open, and Pansy led a small pack of Slytherins into the common room. She stopped talking for a moment, and stared at Draco, before looking back at the crowd. She glared at them with a look of vicious venom, and they evaporated from the common room, either exiting through the portrait or heading upstairs into their dorms. The grumbled and murmured as they walked together, their heads close. Draco raised an eyebrow at Pansy, as she stood with her arms crossed staring at him defiantly.

''What was that all about?'' She demanded. Draco knew exactly what she was talking about, but he chose to act dumb.

''What exactly are you talking about, Pansy?'' He answered, looking at her with cold eyes. She had no claim over him, yet she convinced herself that he belonged to her and that they were going to marry just like her parents had. Met through Hogwarts and family ties, and wed a few weeks after graduation.

''Granger! You were practically dry humping her in class!'' She accused, getting flustered. Her eyes grew wide with anger, and her cheeks flushed unattractively. She was not an ugly girl, but her personality made her extremely unattractive. She was slightly more than plain, her eyes were quite nicely shaped and her nose was pleasant, but her mouth was too small and her ears too large. Her hair was cut into a style that didn't suit her face shape, but her figure was nice. Draco would probably have considered her if she was not stupid and ignorant.

''You sound jealous, Pansy.'' Draco smirked, and she blushed furiously, before sitting dramatically in the chair across from him.

''No, Draco! I'm not jealous that you just made a fool of yourself by grinding with a, with a MUDBLOOD!'' She screeched, and Draco shot up out of his chair and grabbed her wrist.

''Don't you EVER say that to me again, Pansy. If you dare try to accuse me of outrageous things, and then try and corner with insults, you better think again.'' He said through his teeth, before letting go of her. He turned his back on her, and ran his fingers through his hair. He heard the small sobs from Pansy, but ignored them.

''Draco, we have plans, you know that. Why would you jeopardise those plans by doing this?'' She choked, and he sighed heavily.

''What plans? Your plans? Your mothers plans? What plans, Pansy? I don't recall which you're speaking about.'' He said, still not turning to face her. His voice was monotone, perhaps even cold.

''Everything, Draco. Everything! Your father approves of me-''

''I am not my father!'' He yelled, turning to face her again. She had really angered him now, she was forever trying to use his father as a way to get into his life. He had had enough of her constant nagging, dropping hints, even discussing her plans for a wedding loudly with her girlfriends whenever he was closely.

''Draco, please!'' She cried, and tried to reach out and take his hands. He pulled away from her, and stormed out of the common room, leaving her alone with her sobs of sorrow.


''I can't believe he touched you.'' Ron said, as they walked through the hallways. Hermione blushed, and looked down as they walked, both of them took it as shame and humiliation that she needed help from Draco Malfoy.

''I will jinx him into St. Mungo's.'' Harry said, his voice serious and angry. Hermione looked at him in shock, he was rarely this passionate about hurting Draco. It was useful playful taunting, laced with distaste.

''I don't really think it's a big deal-'' She started, causing both to stare at her in disbelief.

''You're just saying that, you're in shock. Don't worry, we'll sort him out.'' Ron said proudly, though all three of them knew Ron wasn't much of a match for Draco Malfoy, his spells were mediocre and his jinxes tended to backfire most of the time. Footsteps were heard behind them, and Hermione turned to see Luna Lovegood standing smiling at them with a vacant expression in her eyes.

''Sort who out?'' She asked, dreamily. Her hair had smoothed out and grown over summer, so now it reached her elbows. Her large eyes were always far away looking, despite being fixed on the trio. She smiled at them. Her smile was pretty, sometimes a little wide in comparison to her dreamy eyes, but overall Luna was quite an attractive girl. Her only problem was others chose to stay away from her due to her strange conversations and beliefs.

''Oh Draco Malfoy was-'' Harry started, but Ron cut him off, his ears bright red.

''Hi Luna. What did you just have?'' He stammered, and tried to smile attractively. It came off a little frightening, Hermione had to admit, but Luna smiled warmly back at Ron.

''Oh I just had Charms, with the Gryffindors. I worked with Ginny, actually. She's very nice to me, she always sticks up for me.'' She said in her singsong voice, pushing her hair behind her ears. As she did this, she revealed strange looking earrings, which Hermione realised were real fairies looking extremely annoyed. They had been enchanted to remain still, but their facial expressions showed that they really were not happy to be jewellery.

''That sort of behaviour runs in the family.'' Ron said, puffing his chest out slightly. Both Hermione and Harry looked at him in amusement, but Luna looked at him with genuine interest.

''Is it like your red hair?'' She asked, tilting her head slightly. Harry and Hermione couldn't contain their laughter any more, so they quickly exited the scene. Both spluttered with laughter as they semi-ran around the corner and down the corridor, into a quiet area which had purple and yellow tapestries hanging near suits of armour. Hermione wasn't sure if she had ever been in this part of the school, so she began running her hands down the material, trying to read the inscriptions in the armour.

''Harry have you ever seen this before-'' She began, then froze. She felt his hands on her waist, and she quickly turned to face him. He stood there, his face gentle and his eyes different from what she had ever seen in him before.

''Harry, what are you doin-'' His lips came crashing down on hers, and she took a quick intake of breath. She didn't know what to do, so for a brief moment she stood completely still. Harry continued to kiss her, his breath became rasp and his hands tightened on her waist. Suddenly, Draco Malfoy's face drifted into her mind, and she felt disgusted that she was letting Harry kiss her. She managed to tear her face away from his, and push him away.

''What the hell, Harry?!'' She demanded, as he turned red and ran his fingers through his un-kept hair.

''I thought you – Hermione, don't you? What?'' He stammered, before looking left and right to see if anyone had come near them. The area was completely empty and quiet. Hermione pressed her back against the wall, and shook her head.

''Harry, you're like my brother. My best friend.'' She said quietly. Harry stood frozen for a moment, before nodding his head slowly. He didn't say anything, he simply walked off briskly in the other direction. Hermione shook slightly, before sliding down onto the floor. Tears streamed down her face, and her shoulders shook as she sobbed. Why couldn't she just like Harry, as more than a friend? Why did she have to think of Draco, somebody she was supposed to hate?

Many things flooded her mind, Harry's expression when she pushed him away, warm nights in the common room with Harry and Ron, Draco in Transfiguration, her mother and father in hiding, Draco kissing her.. She let out a louder sob of frustration, and buried her face into her arms. Her hair tumbled over her arms, her entire body shaking with the hollow sobs. She did not notice the footsteps which followed her cries of anguish, and the halt of them only a few feet away from her, not until the owner of those footsteps cleared his throat.

Draco Malfoy stood in front of her, his face painted with confusion and concern. He didn't say anything, and when she finally looked up, Hermione gave a small whimper of dread. She didn't want him to see her, not like this. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves, and struggled to stand up, trying to swallow her sobs. Draco remained silent, watching her struggle. He finally stepped forward, and held his hand out to help her stand. Hermione cautiously took it, and he pulled her upright with his strong arms, causing her to stumble forward into him. Neither stepped away from each other, Hermione stared down at his chest, which featured his Prefect badge and Slytherin badge. Draco placed his hand under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. What seemed like an eternity, they both stared fiercely into each other's eyes, daring the other to duck their face away. It seemed to happen in slow motion, Draco Malfoy brought his face down to Hermione Granger, who tilted her face upwards. Due to their height difference, Hermione stood on her toes slightly, and their lips met.


Okayyy, so I know this chapter was slightly shorter than my last, and I'm super sorry I'm not too consistent with length, but I'm going to try super hard to keep them between two-three thousand words! But yes, we got a little bit of Luna/Ron going on, a bit of Pansy throwing a hissy fit, Harry finally putting the moves on Hermione, and Draco finding her in her time of need. Don't worry, I will update soon as I'm off school! So yup, please review and so forth, it helps me update.

- Amy!