-Joan Jett "You don't own me"
He'd stood up for her, and in doing so, he'd marked her as his territory. She was almost grateful to Malfoy for inadvertently hitting on her. Not that he'd hit on her at all – but Ron had seen it as such, because he was Ron, and that was just how he worked. They'd been down in the Potions corridor, waiting for Slughorn to come along and unlock the door to his classroom, when Malfoy had come down to their end of the corridor, Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle in tow. They tried to make it seem as though they were simply passing by, but did a rather horrendous job of it. As he walked past her, Malfoy purposely knocked into Hermione, causing her armful of books to go tumbling to the ground. He'd simply laughed and stopped to watch her pick them up. Ron had, of course, seen this as some sort of threat to Hermione, and also, a possible opportunity to see up her skirt (forgetting that not every single boy on the planet had a mind identical to his own.). He had then punched Malfoy squarely in the jaw, just in time to see Professor Slughorn round the corner. Ron, knowing that he'd get off, leaned down, seized Malfoy by the collar, and yanked him to a standing position, slammed him into the wall; then growled in a very threatening manner,
"You ever so much as look at Hermione again, I swear I'll have Ginny bat-bogey you into next century, you got that?" Malfoy turned white, clearly still trying to forget past events (specifically those in Umbridge's office), but nonetheless, managed to smirk at Ron and say,
"It's a bit pathetic, Weasley, isn't it, that you have to resort to your little sister when you want to threaten someone?" Ron turned nearly purple with rage, but by that time, Hermione had picked herself up, and she was tugging on his sleeve.
"Ron, don't. He's not worth it. I'm fine, really."
"He was threatening you, Hermione."
"I can take care of myself, Ronald."
"Not when you're on the ground, picking up your books, you can't!" Hermione was about to retort, but Malfoy interrupted.
"Listen to you two, bickering on. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were married." Both Ron and Hermione flushed and said,
"Shut up, Malfoy," in unison. Harry and Seamus were both snickering, very quietly, in response to Malfoy's remark. (Someone would mention the fact that they fought like a married couple to the pair at least once a week).
"Leave him be, Ron," Hermione had said, simply, and Ron obeyed her this time, letting go of Malfoy and turning away. Harry, Dean and Neville pulled him into the classroom, before Malfoy could get in another snide remark, but Hermione, needing to ask Seamus a question about their Arithmancy homework, had stayed behind. Just as she had opened her mouth to speak, Malfoy had turned to her and said,
"You know, he's marked you."
"What the hell're you on about, ferret?" she'd spat.
"He won't let another man touch you."
"Well, I should think not. He's protecting me from slime like you. He's my friend, why shouldn't he?"
"I didn't see Potter or Longbottom jump up like that to defend you. They're supposed to be your friends too, aren't they? No, Granger, he's definitely marked you. You're his territory now."
"I'm no one's territory, you foul little excuse for a wizard."
"You're his." And they'd left it at that, for Slughorn had come out to call them inside. Still, his words rang in her head. 'you're his territory now.' What the hell was that supposed to mean? For some reason, she wanted to find out.
AN: That was rather longer than usual, but I like it. I would just like to clarify that I am NOT implying Hermione/Draco in any way here, just that Ron's over-protective and wants to keep 'his' Hermione safe (I think I might touch on this topic again in the next chapter.). Um…I was going to say something else…oh yeah. Ok, well, if you're going to review (which you really should, you know), can you do me the tiniest favor and go review my story A Little Less Sixteen Candles? Please? I wouldn't ask, but it's my first Harry/Ginny, and I've only gotten one review so far – it's been up for like two days already, and I really want feedback, seeing as Harry and Ginny are new to me. Thank you SO MUCH!
