Story title: Oblivious and Annoying

Pairing: Hermione/Draco

Characters: Hermione, Ron , Draco

Genre: Romance/Drama/Angst

Writer: Anonymous at this time

Summary: Hermione has been knocking back Ron's advances for weeks but he didn't seem to get it, making a very public scene when he asks her to be his Valentine she finally gets through to him with her refusal breaking his heart, worse still is when he sees who she's chosen instead

I want to thank my amazing beta KU aka KRiddle, not only did she do a fantastic job of beta-ing my work but she offered of her own free will and towards the end of the contest time on top of all that. She's awesome, supportive, motivational and not afraid to tell it as it which is definitely something I need! You're awesome, I love you and thank you again for undoubtedly making my work 100× better

I would like to acknowledge that all of the writers know that the Harry Potter characters, locations and any plot lines used are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.


"Go away Ron!" Exasperated and too tired to deal with another round of oblivious Ron and his attempts at obtaining a date with her, Hermione might have shoved past him a little harder than necessary.

Not that it helped, he quickly grabbed her arm moments later once again impeding her progress, "C'mon 'Mione please, just one drink. It doesn't even have to be dinner or anything big," Ron begged, a hopeful look in his eyes. Hermione knew she had to somehow remove that look if she wanted to have a proper friendship with him; but she knew she would hurt her friend in the process. Sighing, she turned to face him. Readjusting her hold on her shoulder bag with one hand she placed the other on her hip.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley stop asking me out. I only like you as a friend and I'm involved with someone else anyway so back off!" With that she turned and rushed off towards her own dormitory, refusing to stick around and hear any further protests he had.

Arriving at the Gryffindor Head's dormitory she mutters the password and steps in, relieved to see Blaise wasn't in the lounge room to pester her about her day straight away. She headed towards her her room, shutting and locking the door before placing her bag on her desk and crashing down on top of her bed.

How one person could be so oblivious and annoying was beyond he. She didn't want to lose his friendship or potentially damage her other friendships, but at this point it seemed like she would have to ram a 'not interested' sign down his throat before he finally got it.

Rolling over onto her back to sit up she went to her desk and started taking her books, homework and other assorted things such as her quills and ink. She lay them out on her desk, which happily resided near her window that had a built in reading seat.

Stretching slightly before sitting down on her rather comfortable rolling office chair she pushed everything but school work out of her mind and she felt herself slowly relax and unwind from the comfort of the familiar task. She easily completed the set questions for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions, finding the intellectually focused task calming although she knew not everyone shared her view on its relaxation qualities.

oOo

Several hours later after completing nearly the entire week's worth of homework for all her classes, she came crashing back to the reality of the real world and all its issues by a loud and urgent knocking on her door.

Putting her quill carefully in her inkpot and leaving the parchment spread out on the desk so the ink dried, she pushed the chair out from the desk before standing and slowly walking over to her bedroom door, confident she knew who it was and what it would be about.

Sure enough when she opened the door her favourite muscled, blonde, handsome man was in her view. After her long day she didn't hesitate to grab him forcefully by the shirt and drag him in close for a long, deep kiss releasing a happy sigh in the process.

Draco was completely shocked at how his knocking was received but wasn't particularly complaining when his girlfriend shoved her tongue in his mouth. He quickly returned the favour and she pulled him into the room as she continued the kiss and shut the door behind him.

He had heard all about today's events from Blaise, who had happened across the pair and watched what occurred from the privacy of an alcove; despite really wanting to punch the redheaded git, Draco was more concerned with how Hermione was doing. He knew Ron was getting to her with his constant propositions.

If a bit of heavy snogging was what she needed to release the obvious tension he could feel in her neck after having wrapped one of his hands around the back of it, tangling his fingers into her curly brown hair, he wasn't going to be the one to deny her.

Finally breaking apart, both breathing a little heavily she smiled up at him adoringly and pecked him on the lips quickly before sitting back down on her bed, lightly dragging Draco down next to her by the hand.

Leaning her head into his shoulder, Draco instinctively wrapped an arm around her pulling her in closer and soothingly rubbing his hand along her upper arm as he waited for her breathing return to normal and her body to relax. After a minute or so he felt her adjust her position slightly so she was facing him, "Thank you Draco, I'm sorry about that it's been a long day and I've missed you." A small frown appeared on her face as she apologised and Draco chuckled.

"Hermione what are you sorry for? Taking longer than a second to answer the door? Kissing your boyfriend? Because I'm certainly not going to complain about that." Noticing some dark smudges on his shirt he chuckles again.

"Maybe for the stains your ink covered fingers left on my shirt, but even that isn't something that a quick Scourgify can't fix." By the end of his spiel Hermione's frown had been replaced by the ghost of a smile.

"What would I do without you hmm? It seems like these days you're always saving me from breaking apart. Funny that." Recapturing his lips with a wry smile on her own, she hummed contentedly, thinking about how well, albeit unpredictably, her life had turned out after the war was over.

oOo

Tomorrow was Valentine's Day, and Hermione was struggling to get to sleep. She had heard some rumours that partially scared her but mostly made her angry at Ron; now she was dreading tomorrow arriving despite previously being thrilled. Ron was apparently still planning something involving her, and from the sounds of things it would be over the top and extremely public. This information had come from Lavender and Parvarti, who were trying to pass this on in speech that was constantly interrupted by giggling fits. Hermione questioned the reliability of their testimony, but one could never be sure.

Letting out a frustrated groan Hermione adjusted her position for what seemed like millionth time. Why, after several opportunities to be with her, did Ron pick now, when she wanted nothing from him. She hadn't been interested in him for nearly three years. Everyone else had noticed her lack of interest except Ron himself, who was blissfully unaware and stuck in a lovestruck daze. It probably didn't help that only a select few knew about Draco since it had only been a few slow and steady months, and Ron wasn't really one of those people likely to take it well. They were slowly becoming more public, but the backlash wasn't something either of them were looking forward to.

Slowly blinking and sitting up Hermione looked at the clock on the wall and groaned. It wasn't even midnight yet. Getting out of bed and tiptoeing to quietly open the door she focused her mind on making a warm cup of tea to help calm herself. Just as quietly as she opened it she shut the door behind her and continued towards the kitchenette she shared with Blaise. Getting out one of the cups and placing it on the bench she put the kettle on to boil before grabbing the box containing her favourite chamomile tea and the jar of honey, her preference in sweetener. Leaving out milk but adding two teaspoons of honey and some cold water to the boiling water in the cup she took the teabag out after a minute or so until it was just perfect.

Taking her tea cup in her hands she went to the lounge and settled into a warm and comfortable armchair. She took a long sip of her tea. As the warm liquid travelled down her throat, settling in her stomach, a tiny amount of potential madness seems to seep out of her mind.

Each sip of her tea alleviates the toll of enduring the insanely agitating and repetitive thought process that had been plaguing her since before her head first hit the pillow.

Whatever happened tomorrow, she would deal with it like she dealt with most things these days; intelligently, confidently and with Draco by her side.

She had long finished her cup of tea when she heard the kettle start to boil again. Getting up to see who it was, she saw the familiar outline of the Slytherin man that shared the Head's dormitory with her. Blaise had refilled the kettle and was making his own late night drink. Leaning against the bench and turning to look at her, he gave her a warm smile, which she saw despite the dim kitchen lighting.

She placed her cup down next to his and before she had the chance to even reach out Blaise had already replaced her tea bag. He already knew which one she was going to grab from countless other late night tea parties between the two of them. They had learnt each others deepest thoughts, feelings and dreams from their meaningful conversations, a strong bond of trust and friendship had developed between them. It wasn't surprising that he knew that she wasn't feeling the best.

Pulling her in for an extremely comforting hug, his warm hand rubbed circles on her back, making her relax a little bit more and her tense muscles began to slowly fade away just like the headache she had had all evening. Inhaling the familiar scent of Blaise's personal and rather expensive cologne that always lingered around him and surrounding objects, she felt calmer than she had all night.

Blaise always had that effect because, (surprisingly considering it was Blaise Zabini known flirt and lady chaser), she never felt any pressure or discomfort in his presence, only the ease of simple uncomplicated but strong friendship. They both knew where they stood and they were perfectly fine with where that was.

Almost as if he knew she needed all the comfort she could get, he pressed a light kiss on her head and hummed soothingly to her. Then he made them their tea and they drank in comfortable silence before retiring to their rooms. Hermione was now able to actually fall asleep now that her brain had stopped running at light speed.

oOo

Hermione woke to the sound of an owl tapping on her window. Yawning as she stretched and clambered out of bed, she didn't take a lot of notice of whose owl it was or what it was carrying. Mindlessly lifting the latch and opening the window, Hermione turned to grab a treat for the owl. Turning back with a couple of treats in her open palm extended towards the owl, she finally noticed the gift it had delivered her.

In front of her lay a dozen beautifully blooming roses, all charmed so the petals imitated the surface of a different gemstone for each rose. Attached was an ornate letter with elegant handwriting in dark ink across the front of the envelope addressed to her. Grabbing the envelope and opening it she started reading the beautifully embossed words:

Hermione Granger,

In recent times I have grown to know you as a person, and I thank Merlin for that opportunity. You are more than I could ever imagine I would be lucky enough to have in a partner, and I love you more than anyone I have ever loved in my entire existence. I cannot wait to spend my future with you by my side as we continue to grow and learn. I hope I can always make you feel happy and as loved as you make me feel.

Eternally yours,

Draco Malfoy

After reading the letter and looking at the gift he had sent to her she felt a wave of love and adoration wash over her. She gave the owl one last absent-minded stroke before it took off back out the window. Hermione readjusted the roses so they would get the sunlight shining on them for most of the day, before grabbing her gift for Draco out of her bedside drawer and proceeding to get ready for classes.

She had taken a while to decide what to get him but eventually settled on an emerald green patterned quill with a matching ink pot. After dressing and grabbing her books, she headed down to the Great Hall, completely forgetting about Ron; until she walked in and saw him holding an obnoxious amount of red heart shaped balloons, an excessively large card and a bouquet of daisies. She walked towards her friends and sat down, trying to avoid catching Ron's eye and hoping he didn't notice her. Piling food onto her plate, she started eating straight away, hoping to get out of there quickly and avoid him completely if possible.

She was not that lucky however, and Ron made his way over before she could finish eating. she desperately tried to find a way to escape the impending disaster.

Ron was almost swaggering as he walked over, sure that his presents were going to impress Hermione. Knowing how this was likely to go she almost felt a bit sorry for him; as bad as this was going to be for her, she wasn't getting publicly rejected on Valentines Day.

"Hello beautiful, how are you on this fine day of romance? I got these gifts for you to express my love for you, I hope you like them." As he thrust the gifts towards her, Hermione didn't know what she was meant to do with them. Deciding to try and make this as gentle as possible, she took the gifts and placed them down on the table immediately.

A frown crossed Ron's face, but he quickly recovered and presented her with another smile, waiting for her response. Swallowing nervously she quickly planned out what she would say to him; how could she possibly avoid hurting her once best friend, and how would she be able to restore that friendship after this, when it was already so strenuous between the two of them?

She took a deep breath and looked Ron right in the eyes, trying her best to convey her sincerity. Quietly she began her final attempt at getting through to him.

"Ron I am beyond sorry that it has come to this. We used to be so close and I genuinely miss that; but the opportunity for what you want disappeared a long time ago, and I'm not so sure that even if we had taken it that we would have been happy. We really aren't meant for each other romantically. I think of you as a brother Ron. I love you but not how you want and I don't think you really want this either. You just think this is how it should be, but we were made for other people.

A lot of people already know this, and I've been trying to tell you for some time now; I've been dating Draco for several months and I see a future with him. I hope that one day we can return to being friends again, but for now I think you need to take some time to rethink your viewpoint on a few things. Come and find me when you're willing to just be my friend.

I care about you Ron, but I can't keep doing this and it's not good for you either. Goodbye." Getting up from the table and placing a light kiss on his cheek, Hermione walked out of the Great Hall without another word or a single look back. What had been done was done, and she had no desire to see the aftermath of it. Walking out onto the grounds and heading down to the lake she ignored any calls of her name, and the look on her face deterred anyone from trying to get too close; besides most wanted to gossip to each other about it or get back to their own Valentine's Day plans.

Finally reaching a secluded spot far away from the castle she sat down on the grass and stared at the lake and the forest on the other side, absorbing the warm sunlight. She closed her eyes and lay down, letting her mind empty so she could just enjoy the solitude of this moment.

oOo

Draco had silently watched on from the Slytherin table; and when Hermione had walked out, his eyes remained on Ron, not her. He knew Hermione could take care of herself and he thought that she handled it rather well. He was, however a bit worried at how Ron would react to the situation.

He didn't go into a rage like Draco thought he would; in fact he just sat there looking defeated and heartbroken. Draco supposed he would too if Hermione had rejected him. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about that, but he still felt a little bad for the bloke.

Ron had collected the gifts off the table and started disheartedly shuffling out of the Great Hall. Most people were trying to avoid looking at him, rather than laughing at him; everyone felt sorry for him and didn't have the heart to make light of the situation, which Draco was grateful for. The last thing he needed was for Ron to be humiliated or enraged and make a rash decision.

While lost in thought over Ron, Harry had made his way over to Draco and sat down beside him, giving a polite nod to Blaise who was on Dracos other side.

"She handled that well. I actually think Ron will finally accept that it's not going to happen and be alright eventually, but right now he's heartbroken, and I think it'll be best if you and Hermione stay away from him for a little while until he's had time to process it all. He doesn't need a constant reminder of what just happened for the next few days because that will just make him more upset, take longer for him to get over it if you get what I mean?" Harry said thoughtfully.

"I get you don't worry, I'm not particularly keen on running into him myself, and I think you're right about leaving him alone for a bit. Although maybe you should go check on him, I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm worried about the poor sod." Running his hand through his hair, Draco sighed, wondering when he started caring about Rons well-being. It was probably due to Hermione caring about the boy.

"I'm going to go make sure Hermione is alright, just… let me know how things are going with Ron please Potter." Harry nodded in agreement. Standing up, Draco nodded Potter and Blaise in farewell then headed to the lake, knowing that it's the most likely place Hermione would have gone to.

As he walked around the shore of the lake towards the far end, he felt the unpleasant atmosphere that he had encountered in the Great Hall dissipate. His heart felt lighter, and a peaceful calm came over him. Somehow he knew things would be alright.

Ron would grow out of his broken heart and neither Draco nor Hermione would have to worry about dealing with his advances anymore. Finding Hermione laying down on the grassy bank soaking up the sunlight, he stood a distance away just watching her. Her eyes were closed and she looked the most relaxed he'd seen her in weeks. Her chest rose from her even breathing and her face was starting to flush from the sun but she was far from burning; she looked beautiful, and he felt his heart beat in a steady rhythm from being back in her presence.

She was his anchor and the only thing guaranteed to calm him no matter what. This was the girl he was going to spend the rest of his life with,he knew. Stepping closer he lay down next to her and she reached for his hand intertwining it with hers.

That was how they spent a good portion of their Valentines Day; lying down on the grass in comfortable silence, simply content with each other's company and enjoying the nice weather away from the rest of the world even if it was just for a little while.

It was enough for them.


The writer would like to thank you for reading and reviewing this story! Hope you enjoyed xxx