A/N: Told you this would be out soon. )

Previously on The Affair- Hermione finds about Draco's Pureblood lineage and status. They discuss why purity is important and their relationship is put to the test. Hermione begins to question if a relationship with Draco is even possible.

Chapter Nine

Draco was walking back to his dormitory to drop off his books before heading to dinner. The dungeons seemed colder than usual and his quickened his pace some. He was having a shit week and just wanted to be left alone. He would have never thought that fighting with Hermione would upset him this much. They had a moment in the library, but since then neither had really made any contact with the other. Draco wondered if Hermione had been scared off by what his parents expected from him. He was tired of this push and pull with her. He felt like they fought more than they had fun together now. He cared about her yes, but could he ever be with her?

Stop being such a wuss, she's just a girl. A Mudblood, even. Draco wanted to stop feeling anything for Hermione. They weren't moving forawrd and he marked it up to the fact that he was Pureblood and she was a Mudblood; they weren't supposed to get along. But without Hermione around Draco was getting bored. There was no one to talk to about school work (or anything else for that matter), not even Nott cared that much and Crabbe and Goyle were useless.

He noticed a steady stream of spiders climbing the steps leading out the dungeons as he walked up to dinner. Weird. He thought to himself. Maybe it's some kind of de-bugging spell; Hermione would probably know. Draco grimaced; he was going to start punishing himself like Dobby everytime he thought of her.

She would rather hang out with Scarhead and the Weasel instead of me. He sneered to himself. Can't she see how stupid they are?! What can she get out of that friendship. Unless it's more than a friendship… Draco could barely stand the thought. Hot springs of jealousy flowed through him. She fawns over Lockhart, maybe she thinks the same way about Potter because he defeated the Dark Lord.

He imagined the dopey red head holding her hand in their common room by the fire. Hermione's bright smile directed at him. What could she see in him?! I am ten times the man he is!

Draco was fuming as he entered the Great Hall. He wasn't even hungry anymore. Looking over the Gryffindor table he saw Weasley and Potter, but no Granger. Draco turned on his heel and headed towards the library. He knew she would be there, she was always there these days. Maybe he could find an answer tonight whether or not it was worth trying with her anymore.


Hermione was enraptured with Professor Lockhart's book Gadding with Ghouls when someone pulled the book from her hands and snapped it shut. The noise seemed to echo in the quiet library and made Hermione jump. A tall blonde Draco Malfoy stood over her smirking.

Hermione scoffed. "Can I have my book back, please?" She held out her hand. Draco paged through the book roughly. "You'll hurt it! Give it back!" she hissed.

"Easy, Granger, it's just a book. It doesn't have feelings." Draco chided. He set the book on the table as he took the seat across from her. Both looked around to make sure no one could see him. Hermione quickly snatched it back up and tried to find her place. "You realize he is a giant poofter, don't you?" Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

She scoffed again and propped the book open. "Dumbledore wouldn't have hired him if he didn't think Professor Lockhart was capable of teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Useless class if you ask me" Draco examined his nails.

"Of course, with all the dark things happening at this very school right now there's no reason we need to learn to defend ourselves" Hermione glared at him.

"I normally find your crushes more entertaining than this" Hermione sneered at him knowing he was talking about himself.

She quickly made sure they were still alone before she hissed, "You were the one who kissed me! So who likes who?"

"You like me." Draco wolfishly grinned at her and she had trouble not grinning back. "Let's get out of here."

"I was perfectly fine reading before you came along." Hermione lowered her eyes back to her book. After their last conversation she still wasn't sure where they stood.

"Don't be boring, Granger" Draco groaned, "There are lots of places to hide in the dungeons."

"I'm not boring and I shouldn't have to hide." Hermione didn't lift her eyes from her book. "Shoo."

"Lockhart's a git. Let me know when your school girl crush is done." Draco stormed off in jealousy. Hermione finally looked up from her book to see Draco push a first year into a large stack of books.


Hermione was dealing with the Chamber of Secrets in her own way- research. Some Muggleborns were scared out of their wits, but Hermione was determined to find out everything she could about the Chamber of Secrets. She was ignoring Harry and Ron along with Draco. Nothing could get in her way right now.

After she had convinced Professor Binns to tell them the myth of the Chamber of Secrets she had a little more to go on, but so far her research had proved futile. Ron was going on about Slytherin again and Hermione absent mindedly nodded along with him. Harry wanted to check out the place where Mrs. Norris was petrified and Hermione agreed.

Ron looked almost scared to death staring at a line of spiders climbing out the window. Hermione tried to stifle her giggles, but they escaped her. She would never of thought that Ron would be terrified of spiders.

But Ron wouldn't let the subject of the Heir of Slytherin go. While they sat in the common room that night. She couldn't concentrate on her homework while he babbled on so she pushed it aside. But when Ron accused Draco of being the Heir of Slytherin a cold grip tightened around Hermione's heart.

He couldn't be, he just couldn't. She knew Draco better than either one of her friends and he had never seemed like he could really hurt someone before. Although he had called her a Mudblood… then kissed her. Hermione shook her head. "Well… I suppose it's possible…" Her mind raced back to him helping her in the library; he had purposefully skipped over his family in the Pure-Blood Directory, could it be that there was something in that book that he didn't want her to see? If only she could get her hands on it again! She could ask Draco, but he would shut her down if she tried to read about his family. She could ask him if she could borrow it… but if there was something that he was hiding, he wouldn't be daft enough to let her walk around with the proof in her hands. Hermione signed and ran her hands through her wild hair.

She didn't even want to hear the words coming out of her mouth, but Ron wasn't wrong for once. Hermione needed to find out if he was innocent or guilty, but how? The answer dawned on her- Polyjuice Potion. It would be difficult and dangerous, but it might be her only chance to get the truth from him. If she asked him he could easily deny it if he was. And if he wasn't he might be furious that she thought of him like that. If she asked him and he said no, how would she explain that to Ron and Harry? The Polyjuice seemed like the only way.

The next day they were sitting in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom reading Moste Potente Potions. She felt overwhelmed as she read the ingredients and instructions for it. Harry was voicing his concerns about going through with this. Hermione's heart skipped a beat. She needed to find out the truth. Ron had planted a seed of doubt in her mind and she couldn't rest until she knew the truth. Plus, if she could clear Draco's name then maybe Ron would stop being so terrible to him.

Hermione was scared. She was a Muggleborn witch and that's what whatever was in the Chamber wanted to hurt or kill. She decided she was brewing this potion; not just to find out about Draco, but to find out who wanted her and all the other Muggleborns dead.


Draco paced nervously in his dormitory. Today was his first Quidditch match and of course it had to be against Precious Potter. He glanced at his slick broom that lay on the green comforter. For a split second he wanted to throw it out the window and just tell them he couldn't play. But Draco couldn't do that. His Father had travelled all this way to see him play in his first match and he couldn't disappoint his Father.

He skipped breakfast and headed down to the stadium early. Adrian Pucey was already there tossing a Quaffle lazily into the air and catching it. The sky was grey and threatened rain; Draco wasn't sure if that would make it easier or harder to see the snitch. It wasn't long before Flint and the rest of the Slytherin team appeared.

"Alright, Gents- this should be an easy game" Captain Marcus Flint began, "with these broom we will be near unstoppable." Flint's dark eyes landed on Malfoy. "You just catch that Snitch before Potter does, Malfoy. Make sure of that." The last words sounded more like a threat than encouragement. Draco nodded and gripped his broom tightly as they walked onto the field.

Madame Hooch sounded her whistle and Draco took off into the sky. For a while he showed off the speed of his broom by zooming past the Slytherins in the stands as they cheered for him. He glanced over to the Gryffindor side looking for a certain bushy brown head but couldn't spot her. Frowning, Draco flew higher up to get a look at the pitch.

Green blurs swooshed past the slower Gryffindors and he watched as Adrian Pucey scored a goal on Wood. Draco smirked and saw Potter hovering above him. He fly underneath him and called out to him. As soon as Draco spoke, a Bludger came pelting towards Potter and Draco laughed, pulling his broom up. One of the Weasley twins flew in and directed the Bludger towards him.

Draco easily dodged the ball with his swift broom and flew off to look for the snitch. It wasn't long before Gryffindor called for a time out. The Slytherins happily landed their brooms; they were sixty points ahead and Gryffindor had failed to score yet. Draco told them about the Bludger attacking Potter which they found hilarious.

When the game started again Draco was determined to catch the Snitch before his rival. It would be easy with Potter distracted by the Bludger. "Training for the ballet, Potter?" Draco called out. Potter had seemed to freeze in midair, staring at Draco, then the Bludger smacked into Potter's right arm. Draco couldn't help but laugh and nearly fell off his broom from it.

Before he knew what was happening, Potter was diving right for him. Draco dived down and grazed the ground before spinning around to see Harry Potter clutching the Golden Snitch. Potter promptly fainted. Draco landed on the ground as the whistle blew. "What a drama queen" he muttered to himself.

He couldn't even enjoy the sight of Potter in pain because of the sinking feeling of losing that was settling in his stomach. He turned around to see Marcus Flint striding towards him. Draco rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming next.

Flint fussed and cussed at him for a good ten minutes before saying "If you're Father hadn't bought these brooms you be out!" Draco seethed inside. His team stalked away from him leaving him alone on the Quidditch pitch. Looking up, he saw his Father exiting the stadium and Draco knew that he wouldn't be staying any longer than needed.

Draco dropped his broom off and changed into a pair of black trousers and a grey sweater. He made his way through the castle and happened to pass by the Hospital Wing where Hermione and Weasley were walking out.

"Looks like you can't buy everything" Weasley said smugly as he saw Draco.

"At least I can buy something" Draco spat back. He glanced at Hermione for a moment who seemed torn. He nodded towards the astronomy tower and raised his eyebrow. She gave a curt nod and turned to follow Weasley. If anyone could make him feel better is was Hermione. Draco slowly walked up the winding staircase to the top of the astronomy tower.

Hermione followed shortly and Draco smiled as she came into view. "You really are a good flyer" Hermione offered.

Draco shrugged and looked out over the grounds trying to avoid looking at the stadium. "Yeah, but a bad Seeker" he grumbled.

Hermione came to stand beside him. "There are other games. I'm sure you'll win against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw; Harry is a really good Quidditch player, you shouldn't feel too bad."

"That's a great thing to hear," he sneered, "You're good, Draco, but my bestest friend in the whole world the Precious Potter is just better." Draco scoffed.

Hermione pulled away from him. "I came up here to try and help you, if you are just going to be rude then I'll go."

Draco stood in silence for a moment; he didn't want to apologize because he felt that he was right. Although he could have been nicer about it. He broke the silence with "My Father came to watch me play today. I bet he thinks he wasted his money on those brooms. He has a failure as a son."

"Draco, no…" Hermione hated seeing him like this. She slowly slid her hand into his, after a moment he squeezed it. "He doesn't think of you like that, I'm sure of it."

"You've never met my Father" Draco said sullenly.

Hermione rubbed her thumb along his hand. She felt guilty for suspecting him of being the Heir of Slytherin. When Draco was like this, there was no doubt in her mind that he was a good person. But he could act so different around other people. Which was the real Draco?

"It's getting late and it's… not safe for you" Draco turned towards her. "You should get back to your common room."

"What about you?" She asked worried about him.

"I'm Pureblood. I'm safe." He shrugged. Hermione felt a pang of hurt in her chest and let go of his hand. She would always be a Mudblood to him.

Hermione turned to leave and heard Draco whisper behind her, "Thank you."

She turned and smiled, "You're welcome."


Next time on The Affair- Draco and Harry duel at the Dueling Club. Hermione's plan to find out the truth about Draco backfires. He helps her in her research in the library, and Hermione has a brush with fate. Draco and Ron have a dangerous encounter. Will their relationship be able to survive?

A/N: I hate having to add awkward things in just because they happened in the book. Oh well, that's what I signed up for. The rest of Chamber of Secrets should go by pretty fast due to Hermione being MIA for such a long time. Thank you everyone for your reviews and for reading, mostly for bearing with me while I was away and sick!