Chapter 9
The ball was only 5 days away and Draco noticed that Hermione had been avoiding him. They would see each other occasionally, but Hermione would do or say anything to make their conversation short. It was beginning to annoy the hell out of him. He knew that Hermione was pretty upset from the other day when he sort of inferred that he didn't really care about her, but it wasn't supposed to come out that way. He thought maybe she was mad at him for what he said, but why would she be mad at him for so long? Actually, why would she be mad in the first place?
Truth was, Hermione had been over that night a few minutes after she stepped out of the room. She felt completely silly as to how she reacted to what he said. Of course he didn't really care about her, why would he? They were nothing more than partners for this stupid class. They didn't mean anything to each other, did they?
Honestly, the real reason she had been avoiding Draco was due to the fact that she didn't want to feel anything more towards him. Hermione didn't know where these feelings came from. She didn't want to have any, but for some reason they were there and she couldn't get rid of them. So, her only way of preventing them from growing is to avoid Draco as much as possible. She knew that she had to see him sometimes, but if it wasn't necessary then she wouldn't talk to him. It was the only way.
Draco sat in the living room reading the Daily Prophet when Hermione strolled in. They went through the whole morning without saying a word to each other. It was quite simple actually, since they didn't have classes together plus they didn't see each other during lunch. Hermione walked towards the stairs without even acknowledging Draco, but he wouldn't let her get away this easily today. He was going to sit her down and demand to know why she was acting this way.
"Not even a 'hello', Granger?" Draco said. He put the paper down and stood up to face her.
"Hi." Hermione said, without even looking at him. She took the first step up the stairs when Draco grabbed her arm.
"You're not going anywhere."
"What's wrong with you? Let me go!" Hermione pulled her arm out of his grasp, but he was holding on so tight that his fingernails scratched her when she pulled away. She looked down at the scratches already forming on her arm and then back at Draco before she ran up the stairs and into the bedroom. Draco rubbed his face in frustration as Hermione slammed the bedroom door shut. Why does she have to be so difficult? He thought and walked up to their room. He opened the door slowly and peaked in.
Hermione sat at the end of her bed wrapping something around her arm. She was having a little trouble though, since the bandage wrap kept falling and it was pretty hard with only one hand. Draco walked over and sat down next to her.
"Here, let me help you." He offered, but Hermione turned the other way. "Granger, I'm not going to cut your hand off. Will you just let me help you?" She didn't make a move to face him so Draco just grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her around to face him. To his surprise she didn't object and let him wrap her arm.
He carefully unwrapped the messy bandage that she had attempted with so that he could start over. On her arm he saw there were swollen cut marks. He reached over with his other hand and lightly touched the bumps which made Hermione flinch.
"I'm sorry." Draco said and began to wrap the bandage around Hermione's arm. She didn't say anything, just sat there and watched him.
"Thank you." Hermione said to him once he finished. She began to get up, but Draco stopped her.
"Granger, will you please talk to me? What did I do to upset you? Why are you ignoring me? I have so many questions for you, but if you would just answer one I'll be happy."
"I'm sorry, Malfoy. I know this'll sound stupid but it's not you, it's me."
"I don't get it."
"I…What I'm trying to say is that you're not doing anything wrong."
"Then why won't you talk to me?'
"It's so complicated"
"What is? You're confusing me"
"I have feelings for you, okay?" Hermione blurted out of frustration, "I don't want to, but I do. And it's killing me." Hermione fell to the ground where she stood and buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.
"Granger…I…I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. I know the feeling isn't mutual. It's fine, I'll get over it."
They were silent for a moment. Draco wanted to say something, anything, but his mouth wouldn't open. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that he does care for her, but he couldn't. He didn't want to tell her because he didn't want to admit it to her and more importantly, to himself. Draco Malfoy wasn't supposed to fall for a mudblood. It was highly frowned upon, but deep down inside he knew that it was real and he did have feelings for her. He just had an easier time hiding it.
"I have to pick up Owen and Eleina from the children center. Then I think I'm going to visit Ginny. I'll see you at dinner." Hermione got up and left the room, leaving Draco to think by himself.
Draco walked over towards the lake. He had left the dorm a few minutes after Hermione did. It shocked him that Hermione had feelings for him. Draco knew that he felt that way to her, but never thought that the feeling was mutual. Now that he knew what she really felt, he didn't know what to do. He needed to get some fresh air, needed to think in peace. Draco sat on a large boulder and stared off into the lake.
"Is this seat taken?" Draco heard a voice say behind him. He turned around to see Pansy, a smile on her face, and moved over a little so that Pansy could sit next to him.
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" Draco asked
"Well, I was talking with some friends and I saw you sitting here so I decided to keep you company."
Draco nodded and picked up a rock that was set beside him.
"Something wrong?"
"No..Yes..I don't know" Draco sighed.
"What's the matter, Draco?"
"I'm just so confused right now"
"Does it have to do with Granger?"
"Maybe"
Draco threw the rock he had in his hands and it skipped across the lake. Pansy took another rock from the ground and threw it, but it only plopped and sunk to the bottom. Draco laughed as Pansy tried again, but failed. He continued to skip rocks while Pansy just gave up.
"Do you like her?" Pansy asked suddenly.
"Who?"
"McGonagall." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes, "Granger, you idiot, do you like her?"
"What? Of course not!"
"Don't deny your feelings. I know you too well. You wouldn't be so worried over this if you didn't like her. Stop being so stubborn and just accept the fact that you do."
Draco fell silent and started to fiddle with the rock in his hands.
"Listen Draco, it's completely okay if you have feelings for her, but it's not okay to keep it bottled up inside."
"I don't know what to do. I've never felt this way before."
"Just let her know how you feel. You'll feel better about it once you let her know. If she doesn't accept it, then it's her loss. I know you're a great person on the inside, you just choose to show the ugly."
Draco couldn't help, but laugh. "Why is it that you always know the right things to say to make me feel better?"
Pansy just smiled. They sat together and talked for a while longer before it got dark.
Hermione headed over to the Gryffindor tower after she left the children center. Ginny was sitting in the common reading a book when she saw Hermione walk in with Eleina and Owen.
"Hermione! What a nice surprise! I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks. How are my little cuties doing?" Ginny bent down and hugged both Eleina and Owen in one big hug. "Come, sit."
Hermione sat down on the opposite end of the couch with Owen on her lap. Ginny took Eleina and began to play with her blonde hair.
"They've gotten so big already. I just wanted to pinch their cheeks." Ginny said which made Hermione laugh. "So what brought you here on this nice day?"
"I just wanted to talk."
"Oh? About what?'
"Promise you won't hate me when I tell you this."
Ginny narrowed her eyes at Hermione, but nodded her head in agreement.
"Okay well, you know how I'm 'married' to Malfoy for this Family Life class?"
"Yes…"
"Um…I sort of…developed a crush on him. And the worse part is that I...told him…" Hermione said in embarrassment and hid her face in Owen's hair. He turned around to look at his mom and touched her face with his tiny hand. She smiled down at the little boy. Ginny, however, was speechless, mouth opened in shock. Hermione looked at her and laughed.
"I know, it's horrible."
"I wouldn't say it was horrible, just…unexpected."
"Haven't you ever had that feeling where you're attracted to someone and you don't want to be, but you can't help yourself?"
"I'm pretty sure every girl has gone through that." They sat in silence for a moment, Ginny still playing with Eleina's hair and Hermione just sat there. "So…what did he say when you told him?"
"Same thing as you, nothing. I'm so embarrassed. I don't even want to see his face. Ginny, I don't know what to do."
"I have a solution!" Ginny said after a couple of seconds of thinking.
"What…?" Hermione said, a little unsure.
"Well, how about I set you up with this really nice Ravenclaw boy?"
"No way! That's so silly."
"Why not? It'll keep you're mind off of Malfoy. You never know, you might end up liking him and besides, you don't have a date to the ball anymore."
"I don't know about this…."
"Come on, Hermione. Just give it a chance. If it doesn't work out then fine, but you don't know until you give it a shot. I promise I won't bug you about it if you just give him a chance."
"Okay, okay! You're lucky you're my best friend."
"Yes! Trust me Hermione, he's a great guy."
"When can I meet him?"
"How about at dinner, tonight? I'll let him know."
"Great."
This better work, Hermione thought.
When Hermione returned to her dorm, Draco wasn't there. She decided it was a good time to give Owen and Eleina a bath, right before dinner. It took her about half an hour to finish their bath and get them dressed. She walked out of the bathroom and jumped when she saw Draco walking up the stairs. She didn't expect him to be there.
"Hey." Draco said and walked past her to their bedroom.
"Hey," Hermione said, but to no one in particular since Draco was already in the room and probably didn't even hear her. Hermione walked back into the children's room and set down Owen and Eleina on the floor. She began to brush Eleina's hair when Draco walked into the room.
"Daddy!" Eleina exclaimed and ran over to Draco.
Hermione looked up at him as he stood in the doorway. Draco looked back into the eyes that were staring at him. He couldn't tell her how he felt, not yet at least.
"Are you ready to go to dinner?" Draco said quickly, he already wasted enough time by standing there not saying anything. Hermione just nodded her head and picked up Owen.
"Hermione, sit next to me." Harry said when he saw her and Draco walk over towards the table. Hermione smiled and sat down next to him. Draco sat next to Pansy, who was across from Harry, but he sat on Pansy's other side not across from Hermione. Hermione didn't mind though, she was glad he didn't sit across from her. Everyone talked a little bit while they ate, but Draco just ate in silence. That is until Pansy nudged him on his side. Draco looked up to see a boy, wearing Ravenclaw robes, standing behind Hermione.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?" Hermione looked up and her eyes met with dark brown ones. The boy had light brown hair that was spiked up and a bright smile on his face. Hermione had to admit that he was pretty cute. Good job, Ginny.
"Hi, my name is Jacob Franklin. Ginny sent me over."
"Oh, hello."
"I was just wondering if we could maybe have a little talk after dinner. Just to get to know each other, I guess."
"Um..Yeah, sure. That sounds good."
"Okay, well just let me know when you're done. I'll be waiting over at the Ravenclaw table, but take your time. I'll wait for you." Jacob said, and with a last smile he walked back to his table. Hermione smiled as she watched him walk away. Her eyes followed him, but then fell on the Gryffindor table where saw Ginny grinning like crazy while giving her two thumbs up. Hermione laughed at her friend. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Look at the smile on your face, Hermione. You're beaming!" Lavender said from the other side of Harry.
"What? No I'm not." Hermione said, her face turning a shade of pink.
"It's okay, Hermione. Don't be embarrassed. He seems like a nice boy plus he's pretty good looking. I'm jealous!" Parvati said from across the table. Hermione just smiled and turned her attention back to the food in front of her.
Pansy looked over at Draco who had been quiet the entire time. He looked a bit upset, but it was hard to tell. He was always good at hiding his emotions, but Pansy knew him too well.
"Draco, are you okay?" She leaned in closer to him so he was the only one that could hear her. But Draco didn't feel the need to be secretive and stood up violently.
"Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be okay?! Everything's great! Just peachy!" Draco yelled.
Everyone around them stopped and looked up at him like he had just escaped from a mental hospital. Ron, who was about to drink a spoonful of soup, froze with his mouth open and the spoon a few inches away. Neville was pouring pumpkin juice into his cup and didn't even notice the pumpkin juice overflowing. Even Owen, who was sitting beside him, clung closer to Pansy. Draco glared at everyone and stormed out of the Great Hall.
Draco walked out of the Great Hall towards the entrance of Hogwarts. He didn't care that it was pouring out and walked right into the rain. Pansy, who ran after him, stopped before she ran into the rain
"Draco, what has gotten into you? Where are you going? Get back inside before you catch a cold!"
"I blew it! I should've told her earlier, but now it's too late."
"Calm down. It is not too late."
"How do you know? She probably likes him now and totally forgot about me."
"They just met!"
"So? Now they're going to have their silly little talk and he's going to find out that she's an amazing, caring person and they're going to fall in love while I sit here and regret the fact that I didn't tell her how I felt about her when I had the chance."
"You don't know that. She could completely hate him and never want to see him again. Stop assuming things will happen when you don't know for sure, now quit being childish and come inside!"
Draco stomped back inside Hogwarts all drenched from the rain.
"I hate her." Draco said to Pansy as he walked past her and straight to his dorm. Pansy just shook her head and as she walked back to the Great Hall she thought, Maybe they just weren't meant to be.
