Getting Used To It
Draco walked into the Great Hall in his school uniform and had his cloak hung over his shoulder. His hair was spiked again this morning. His headphones were on and he was listening to his Poison CD. He started walking over to his usual spot at his own Slytherin table and then saw Pansy. No thank you. He stopped and looked for somewhere else to sit. He saw Hermione sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. He took his headphones off, tip-toed over, and paused behind her.
He put his hand on her shoulder. She screamed, turned around automatically, and punched him in the stomach before realizing what she was doing. He fell over onto the floor after he yelled in pain. "Oh my God! Draco!" She went down to the floor to help him up.
"It's nice to see you, too," he said hoarsely with his hand over where she had hit him.
"I really didn't mean to do that. It's just that you startled me."
He reached down and pulled his shirt tail out of his pants so he could look at the bruise. "Damn! Where did you learn to do that?"
"Believe it or not, I was raised by muggles and they don't have the advantage of magic for defense." She touched the place where she punched him. "Does that hurt?" Chills were sent up and down his body when he touched him but then he winced in pain. "Sorry," she said, timidly. "So, uh, did you want to ask me something?"
"Well, I was going to ask if I could sit with you before you assaulted me." He said as he got up and tucked his shirt back in. She got up, too, and sat back down.
"Sure, you can sit here but why don't you want to sit over at..." She looked over to the Slytherin table to see the hideous face of none other than Pansy Parkinson. "Oh."
He plopped his books down on and sat down where Neville usually sat. When he sat down, a place setting and food appeared. He grabbed a fork and piled his eggs and bacon onto a piece of toast, smashed the other piece on top, picked up his creation, and took a big bite out of it. He took a sip of tea and felt his injury again. "Ouch."
They sat there talking and eating and then people began to come in. Draco noticed this and he saw Harry and Ron walk in. He got up abruptly. Hermione looked past him and saw them coming. She reached up and pulled him back down. "They're going to have to get used to it sometime."
He hesitantly sat back down but didn't continue eating. He kept looking at Harry and Ron as they were approaching. Ron nodded in acknowledgement towards Malfoy and sat on the other side of Hermione. Harry, on the other hand, sat directly across from her without looking at him at all. Malfoy felt like an alien in some foreign land and the silence was killing him. After about 15 minutes, Draco got up, collected his things, kissed Hermione on the cheek, and left.
"Gee, thanks, guys." Hermione said as she threw her fork down.
"What?" Harry said in surprise.
"Why do you have to hate him so much? He's a really nice guy."
Harry looked befuddled. "This is Malfoy we're talking about! Malfoy!"
"Yes, but he also happens to be my boyfriend!"
"That doesn't mean that I have to like him!" He glanced over at Ron who was eating his omelet.
"You could have at least tried to be a little bit nice to him!" Her face was flushed.
"Do you really expect us to push aside 7 years of him being an asshole and be his best mate a mere three days after you two hooked up?" Harry was getting worked up and shooting confused looks at Ron who was still just sitting there eating.
"I think you could have been more polite- that's all." She picked up her books and walked out of the Great Hall towards the library.
Harry watched her as she walked out and then turned back to Ron. "Where the hell were you back there?!" Harry was mad.
He paused and very matter-of-factly said, "Well, Harry, I was sitting right h-"
"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!!" Harry was standing up and his voice echoed throughout the room. He noticed this and sat back down.
"I was staying out of it. I don't want to get any more involved than I already am. I completely agree with you- Malfoy is an asshole but he is Hermione's boyfriend and we were pretty rude back there."
"But this is Malfoy! He's..." Harry paused. "Malfoy!"
"Is that your only accusation?"
"Yes! His name is enough to make him a bad person!"
"She is happy with him and that's all that counts to me. Now, you can continue making a fool of yourself or you can accept the fact that Hermione Granger, your friend, is in love with Malfoy."
"I would expect you of all people to be a little more upset about this whole ordeal!" Harry's hushed voice had turned into something a little less than a yell.
Ron's face was getting red. "Don't think that I'm too thrilled about this! You know if it was my way I would be the object of her affection but I'm not! Malfoy is! She is my best friend- just my friend! I can't change that, believe me- I tried!" His face was flushed, voice was cracked, and his eyes were tearing. He wiped away the wetness on his cheeks and collected himself. "I just learned to accept it. Don't make it a bigger deal than it is."
"Were you not just trying to commit suicide 2 days ago about this?"
"That's in the past and I've put that behind me. I'm living here and now and you should, too."
"What are you trying to say? That you don't think that Malfoy was the bastard that he was?"
"No. I am trying to say that that shouldn't be the reason why you hate him. I really do think he has changed and that is how we should see people- how they are right now, not how they were back then. If how you're seeing him right now is how you see all people, you would still see Sirius as a murderer."
Harry knew he had been beat. That didn't change the fact that he was infuriated. "Well... I'm not going to like him."
"That's your decision- not mine." Ron got up and left. Harry looked down at his food and proceeded to eat in silence. He jumped when his mail landed next to him. He gathered his things and went out towards the Herbology greenhouses.
