A/n:
Again… I do not own any of the characters, nor do I own the setting… I only own the plot.
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The exam week progressed, everyone was pressured. But through the week, Hermione couldn't be any happier. She and Draco studied together as promised. It helped cease the tension of the exams. Having four practical exams and ten written exams was no joke. It was crucial, especially for the seventh years as it will determine if you are fit to graduate.
Finally, Saturday arrived, which meant no more studying, no more exams, and no more troubles. Students were leaving the next day, which also meant seventh years will have the castle all to themselves till the next week.
Hermione sat by the lake, Draco was resting his head on her lap, waiting for the sunset to come.
"So, how did the exam go, Draco?" Hermione asked while playing with a strand of his hair.
"All right, I guess. I messed up a bit at Transfiguration and Defense… you?"
"Just fine, though I did make a mistake in Potions." Hermione sighed.
"I'm sure you'll be fine; you are the smartest girl in school. I'm sure you'll make valedictorian."
"Need I remind you that we are still competing against each other?" she raised and eyebrow and laughed. "Maybe this time I'll come second and you'll be first. Either way, it doesn't really matter… we'll still be celebrating."
"I know." Draco said, sitting up.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No… but turn around."
Though reluctantly, Hermione turned around, wondering what Draco was going to do. She noticed his arms move above her head, slowly going down. She saw a golden necklace lowering down, a Moon Flower shaped pendant made of diamonds hung from the fine chain.
"Draco…" she said softly as she felt the cold metal on her skin. "I can't accept this… This is just too much." She turned to face him, her eyes shining with happy tears.
"You have to. You have no choice." He said, grinning. "It's a gift from me to you."
"Draco, I love it… Thank you." She said, kissing him lightly.
"I'm glad you do." He smiled sweetly at her.
Hermione loved it when he smiles. She could see a whole new person she never saw before. His grins and smirks were still there, but she knew his smiles were only for her eyes to see.
"C'mon… let's go get dinner." He said standing up and helping her stand as well.
"Yes, I am slightly starving."
The pair of them went to the Great Hall. Hermione gave Draco a peck on the cheek before going in and sitting beside Ginny. She watched Draco walk to his table and sit beside Blaise.
"Hermione, what a lovely necklace." said Ginny, noticing the necklace dangling on her neck. "When did you get it?"
"A few minutes ago." Hermione smirked.
"Draco?" Ginny glanced at the Slytherin table and smiled. "He gave it to you?"
Hermione nodded, "He gave it to me before we went to get dinner."
"How romantic."
"Who's romantic?" Harry said, cutting into their conversation.
"Oh, no one." Ginny grinned. "What made you stop eating?"
"When I heard you say someone was romantic." Harry smirked.
"Look at what Hermione's special someone gave her." Ginny said, pointing at the necklace.
"Bloody hell… who gave it to you?"
Hermione laughed, "You really don't notice much, do you?" She pushed her hair back, giving him a full view of the necklace, "Like it?" she grinned. "Well, if you haven't noticed, I'm not telling you. It's not that hard to guess, you know."
"We're supposed to be best friends, why don't you just tell me?"
"I'm not telling you unless you figure it out for yourself." Hermione said firmly. "It's really easy. You just have to open your eyes and clean your glasses."
"Oh, fine. I'll get to know."
Just then, a paper swan floated to her and landed on the side of the plate.
Dear Hermione,
I was wondering if you would like to spend your last Hogsmeade visit with me. We can meet at the Three Broomsticks after lunch on Saturday.
Truly yours,
Draco Lucius Malfoy
Hermione smiled and took a pencil out of her pocket, writing only a single word on the parchment.
Yes.
DM/HG
The last Hogsmeade weekend finally arrived. Hermione dressed as carefully as she could. She pinned her hair up, letting only a few strands fall on her shoulders. She chose simple clothes to wear. A light colored shirt, and jacket, her jeans fitting her legs nicely, giving her a much longer and taller look.
She looked at her reflection one last time, making sure she wasn't overly dressed. It wasn't a formal date, she didn't want to look that she was trying to hard to look presentable.
It was half past twelve when she decided to go down. Since she was going to meet Draco there, she was going to go alone. Harry was with Ginny, Ron was with Luna. Both girls agreed to meet at Hogsmeade as it was already their vacation. She had no one else to go down to the village with.
Hermione waited inside the small pub, sitting near the window so a little breeze can get in while she waited. She was still a bit early than they planned, but she didn't mind waiting. She wanted to see what Draco could possibly plan for the two of them. But was she didn't expect to see was Draco, emerging from one of the private room with Pansy.
Hermione couldn't believe it! Draco in a private room with Pansy! What was he playing at? Her mind was whiling, her chest felt tight. Could she have been played? Were the Slytherins playing her all this time? She gave him everything she could offer! She watched them smile at each other, then Pansy lounged herself at Draco and pecked him on the cheek. He laughed and patted her back, running his hands through her hair. She couldn't take it anymore. She watched Pansy leave, Draco walked over to Madame Rosmerta and talked for a while before returning to the private room he was in.
Hermione could feel the tears forming in her eyes, threatening to fall and show all of Hogsmeade her depressed state. She quickly got up and ran out. She didn't even know where she was going, but she was running as fast as she could.
"Hermione? What-?" Harry asked as soon as she ran to the common room. But she didn't stop to say a word. She ran straight to her own common room and cried.
She couldn't believe what she saw. How could Draco, after all that they shared, do that to her? It didn't make any sense to her. Her mind was whirling, she felt dizzy, and she couldn't breathe properly. What kind of a fool was she? They were Slytherins! How thick was she to trust them? If love made her trust someone who shouldn't be trusted, then she didn't want to love again!
DM/HG
"Hermione… Hermione… Time to wake up." She heard Harry say.
Hermione rubbed her swollen eyes and looked up. Harry was sitting beside her, holding a cup of tea. She sat up, pushing her hair away from her face, staring down at her knees.
"Hermione, are you all right?" Harry asked quietly, pressing the cup of tea in her hands.
"I'm fine, Harry, don't worry about me." Her voice was raspy. She gladly took a sip of the tea he brought her, feeling the warm liquid run through her dry throat.
"What happened yesterday? You came in running and crying."
"It was nothing, Harry."
"Is it about Draco?"
Hermione flinched at the sound of his name. She didn't want to talk about it, but she knew she couldn't drive Harry away. "Yes." She answered, staring down at the tea rather than look at Harry.
She felt Harry's hand rub her shoulders, bringing her some sort of comfort. "Hermione, I know I've been busy with Quidditch, Ginny, and Head Boy duties, and I haven't been paying much attention to what's going on with you. I'm sorry."
Hermione smiled lightly and shook her head, "It's not your fault, Harry."
"But a part of me says that it is. Look, you're my best friend, but lately I haven't been acting like I'm your best friend. Ginny told me yesterday about you and Draco. We talked over the floo network last night when you were asleep. By the way Ginny was telling me, you two were so happy. What happened?"
Hermione sighed and relayed the story, but she couldn't help but cry. Harry but a comforting arm around her and let hr cry on his shoulders. "It's just not fair..." she whispered.
Harry took the cup of tea from her hands and placed them on her bedside table, "Haven't you given it a thought that he didn't mind letting people see him with Pansy since everyone knows they're just friends?" Harry tested.
"How could he meet up with another girl before a date?" she sniffed.
"Hermione, there's nothing wrong with that. He knew you wouldn't mind, that's why. Don't take it seriously, it's nothing." He assured her. "Now, drink the rest of your tea and get dressed. McGonagall wants to see you in half an hour. I'm sure it's nothing bad." He added and the confused look on Hermione's face. "I think she just needs to talk to you about something.
Hermione nodded and wiped her tears, "Thanks, Harry." She mumbled.
Harry nodded and left her alone.
Hermione stared at her reflection; she looked horrible. Her face was tear strained, her clothes deshriveled, her hair was a complete mess. She sighed and went to take a bath, letting the warm water cool her down before she met with anyone else. As much as she wanted to believe Harry, the images of Draco with Pansy still flashed through her head. To her, it wasn't right.
She quickly got dressed and went down to McGonagall's office. "You wanted to see me professor?" she asked as she entered.
She quickly froze when she saw she wasn't the only one the professor called. Draco Malfoy was also sitting before McGonagall's desk. He was looking relieved when she caught his eyes. She quickly put on a brave face and sat at the empty chair beside him.
"Ms. Granger!" McGonagall said, smiling happily. "We've been waiting. No need to feel tense, dear. I only called you two to congratulate both of you. You two are the most promising students Hogwarts have ever seen. It's been a long time since we had students out of Ravenclaw house garnering the highest grades possible; the last seen were Severus Snape and Lily Evans-Potter, that is. Their batch were the first who had a line-up who were not in Ravenclaw. Remus Lupin was next to Severus, Sirius and James tied next, then came the Ravenclaws.
"Ms. Granger, I am pleased to say that you are the class Valedictorian. Although Mr. Malfoy gave a brave fight, you were ahead by two points. A very close match, I should say." McGonagall said proudly.
Hermione smiled lightly and nodded, "Thank you, professor. Can I leave? I can't wait to tell my friends the wonderful news."
"Of course! Of course!"
Hermione stood and walked out of the office, but she heard footsteps behind her. She tried to ignore it and walked faster, but Draco caught up with her.
"Hermione!" he said, a winning smile on his face. "Congratulations! I knew you'd make it!"
"Thanks, Malfoy." She answered coldly.
The smile vanished, replaced a very worried look. "Are you all right? I was waiting the whole day yesterday, but you didn't show up. I owled you, but the owl came back with my own letter."
"I had better things to do than meet with you, Malfoy."
"What's with this Malfoy thing?"
"That is your last name, isn't it?" she spat, glaring dagger at him. "How could you?" she said in a dangerous whisper. "I saw you with Pansy yesterday. How could you lie to me like that? After what we've been through? You lied to me! You tricked me!" she cried.
"Hermione… What? It wasn't like that!
"Wasn't like that? You two emerging form a private room, she hugged and kissed you before she left. How long have you two been laughing behind my back?"
"Hermione, it isn't what you think!"
"What was she doing there then?"
"I… I can't tell you, I'm sorry. But, Hermione, believe me; it isn't what you think. I love you, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you-"
Hermione didn't want to hear it. She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek. "Liar." She hissed. "You've been deceiving me, haven't you? How could you do that to me? After what I gave to you?" she yanked the necklace from her neck and thrusted it into his hands. "If you think you can buy m off, you're wrong."
She turned around and ran, not even listening to Draco call out her name. Tears blinded her vision again, distraught clouded her thoughts. It was finally over, she finished it. She didn't realize that she reached the common room and gave the Fat Lady the password. She saw Harry and Ron sitting together by the fireplace, but her vision began to blur.
"Hermione, are you all right?" Ron said, walking towards her.
"Yes… I'm-…" but before she could say fine, everything went dark around her. Last she heard was her two friends shouting her name.
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A/n:
I am really so sorry for the long wait before the update, and the crappy chapter. With school work, my computer's broken, my step-dad being a complete asshole, I can't do any work done.
