A/N: Oh my god! Guys I'm super sorry! I honestly thought that I posted this chapter ages ago! I'm so terribly sorry! I was wondering why I wasn't getting any reviews. I've just been completely busy with school and everything going on, that this must have slipped my mind. Again. I'm so terribly sorry! Well here's the chapter 10 that I was supposed to have up. It had a different AN on it, but because I feel really bad that I haven't posted it, I switched it up a bit. Don't forget to review. They make me smile. (:
Chapter 10:
It had already been a couple of weeks since that Hogsmeade trip, where Draco and Hermione had decided to try being friends. They were still calling each other by last names, but they definitely had a friendlier ring to it. There was about a week until Halloween, and the four friends found themselves sitting outside under a tree. It was unusually warm for an October afternoon, but the teenagers were enjoying it.
Luna and Hermione were sitting at the edge of the grass dipping their toes into the black murky water of the Black Lake, and conversing quietly.
The topic of said girls, were currently sitting under the tree, doing their homework.
Hermione looked back at the handsome blonde, noticing that his arm sleeves were rolled up, his pale flesh shown bright in the sunlight. She couldn't believe that she was actually friends with Malfoy. The boy who tormented and taunted her for the past 7 years.
He looked completely different now, when his sneer wasn't constantly in place. He almost looked peaceful. He didn't look stuck up either. She noticed that a strand of his hair had fallen in front of his face, when he turned to ask Blaise a question, and she had the strong urge to just walk over there and remove said hair from his vision.
She was only broken out of her gazing, by a gently nudge in her side. She jumped slightly before giving Luna a sheepish look. The younger girl gave her a smile before breaking out into peals of laughter. "You were staring again Hermione." She giggled again, making the brown hair girl blush.
"I was not." Hermione mumbled quietly under her breath. That only made Luna laugh even harder. "You definitely were. But it's okay. I know where you're coming from. I stare at Blaise all the time as well." Hermione looked up a little startled at Luna's confession. "You like Blaise?!" She half whispered half yelled before Luna shushed her with a wave of her arms.
They both turned around, to see both of the boys staring at them with raised eyebrows. "Everything alright girls?" Blaise asked them, noticing the small blush on Luna's face. "Yes. Yes… Everything is just fine. Hermione just doesn't know when to not yell." Luna said, throwing Hermione a look, to which the other girl blushed and looked away.
The boys smirked before going back to their work. "Thanks so much Hermione. He almost found out!" Luna half whined, before dissolving into giggles. Hermione knew that the other girl wasn't seriously mad at her, before whispering an apology.
"How did the whole you liking Blaise thing happen anyways?" Hermione asked curiously. Luna picked at the grass, her feet swaying in the water before looking up at the sky. "I just noticed how nice he was at the Hogsmeade trip. He even bought everything for me." Luna smiled at that memory before looking over at Hermione.
"What about you Hermione? How long have you liked Draco?" She asked the older girl innocently.
Hermione spluttered on air before looking over at Luna, a shocked expression gracing her features. "I don't like Malfoy. Are you mad Luna?!" She whisper yelled, not wanting to be overheard by the two boys whom they were talking about.
Luna gave her a look that said that she clearly didn't believe a word that was coming out of Hermione's mouth. "Right. And you weren't staring at him just now either were you Hermione?" She asked again, before giving the brunette a small smirk.
Hermione looked at Luna before shaking her head slightly. "You've been spending too much time around those boys. They're starting to rub off on you! You're even smirking like them Luna!" Hermione then giggled before getting up and walking to the two boys that were now talking quietly to each other.
"It's all your fault! The both of you!" Hermione said, before grabbing the book that was sitting on the floor in front of Malfoy, and gently whacking him on the shoulder with it. He grabbed her wrists before she could smack him again and stared at her, not realizing how close the blonde boy had gotten to her.
"Stop hitting me Granger and tell me… What's our fault?" He said, looking down at her, his hands gently holding onto her wrists. She finally seemed to realize how close they were to each other before backing away slightly, his hands still holding onto her.
"Luna's starting to act like you two now. She's even imitating your smirks!" She tried to sound stern, but it came out more breathy then she intended it to be.
Draco looked over to where Lovegood was sat next to Blaise, and he noticed the small smirk gracing the girls' face. "Well look at that Blaise. She does have a smirk there." He then barked out a surprising laugh, before shaking his head.
Hermione had never really seen him laugh before, and she decided right that second, that she like it. His face really lit up when he laughed, making him look even more handsome than she thought he already was.
Realizing her train of thought, she quickly backed up some more, pulling her hands out of Malfoy's grasp. Now was not the time to start having those feelings about him. They were still getting into their friendship role. Thinking about him in a light like that was not something that she could even fathom right now.
Her smile slowly slipped off her face as her train of thoughts led her away. Who would even want to date her anyways? She was tainted. No longer pure. She had scars that covered her whole body. What boy would want her now? She knew that she didn't deserve anyone. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't notice the blonde boy sitting next to her, continue watching her.
She jumped slightly when she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Hey… Are you okay? You looked kind of lost for a second," he said, staring at her with a small glimmer of concern in his grey eyes.
She nodded her head in the affirmative, before giving him a small smile. "Yes. I'm alright. Thank you Malfoy. I just let my thoughts wander for a second. But I shouldn't let it get to me." He stared at her for a second longer before nodding his head. "Okay." And he went back to his work.
"Hey I'm going to head back up to the common room guys. I'll see you later okay?" And with that, she got up, leaving 3 concerned friends staring after her.
DMDMDMDM
Draco stared after the brunette, wondering what was wrong. He hated to admit it, but ever since they had become friends, he could not stop staring at her, or thinking about her and it was driving him mad. Blaise assumed that he was starting to get feelings for her but he continued denying those accusations.
There was no way he was getting feelings for Granger. It just wasn't possible for him to get any type of feelings for the girl that he tormented for the past 6 years. He shook his head and turned back to the other two and continued talking.
Before they knew it, it was already nightfall and dinner was fast approaching. The three friends got up from their spot under the tree and made the walk back inside. As soon as they reached the double doors Blaise and Draco said goodbye to Luna and they went to their separate tables.
They sat down and started pulling various items of food towards them and it wasn't long until Draco's eyes strayed towards the Gryffindor table. It was only then that he noticed that Granger wasn't at her spot. He shrugged it off thinking that she just got tied up reading in the common room and he continued talking to Blaise thinking that she would be down before the end of dinner.
The boys quickly finished eating before standing up and walking towards the Ravenclaw table where Luna stood up and was waiting for them. The three of them walked out of the Great Hall.
"Did you two see Hermione? She didn't come to dinner at all." Luna said, concern showing in her voice. Draco and Blaise shook their heads. "Come on. Let's go and see if she's in the common room," Draco said, and the three of them made their way up to Draco and Hermione's shared common room.
Upon arriving to the common room, Draco said the password and the three of them walked in, to find it empty. Granger's things were sitting on the couch, so she had been there. "Maybe she's in her room? I'll go check." Luna said, before racing up the stairs. They could hear her calling Hermione's name, and after a few minutes she came down shaking her head.
"She's not in there. The portrait told me that she went down to dinner." Draco got a confused look on his face. "But she didn't go to dinner. We didn't see her at all."
Blaise looked contemplative for a moment. "Maybe she decided to go to the library instead?" Blaise asked but he didn't seem so sure about it. "Why would she go to the library without her things though? It doesn't make any sense." Draco added in.
"I have no idea, but let's just go check, maybe she wanted to grab a book from there." Blaise said, before the three of them walked back out of the common room. They walked down the stairs and made their way across the many hallways before Blaise heard a sound and held out his hand for the other two.
They strained their ears, walking slower towards the source. They heard laughter coming from the other side of the wall.
"That stupid mudblood didn't even know what hit her. Did you see the look on her face?! She didn't even see our faces so she can't tell anyone that it was us." They heard cackling as the laughter got even louder this time. "Granger got what she deserved, that filth little mudblood."
Draco flew around that corner so fast that Blaise and Luna couldn't even stop him. He ran around the corner and picked the guy up off the floor by his collar and pushed him up against the wall. He looked at the robes. Slytherin. He sneered and recognized the boys immediately. Rowl and Higgins.
"What the fuck did you do to Granger?" When the two boys didn't answer him he sneered and his grip on the other boys collar got tighter. "Answer me!"
The two boys looked at him with wide eyes, and noticed Blaise and Luna standing behind them.
"W-we just gave the l-little mudblood what she deserved," Higgins stammered, the grip that Draco had on him becoming a little too tight. "S-she's in t-the Hospital Wing by n-now." Draco let go of him, before looking at Luna and Blaise and making a run towards the other side of the castle where the Hospital Wing was.
The three of them didn't stop until they got there. Stopping in front of the double doors, Draco looked at the other two before pushing the doors open and walking inside.
The sight that greeted them in there was not pretty. Madam Pomfrey was over Granger, waving her wand, and healing various cuts. There was a huge gash on her head, where she must have hit it when she fell.
At the sound of approaching footsteps Madam Promfrey looked up noticing the two Slytherins and the Ravenclaw approaching.
"Is she going to be alright Madam Pomfrey?" Luna asked, her voice even more quiet than it usually is. Madam Pomfrey's eyes softened, at the obvious worry that shown on the three teenagers faces.
"She should be okay Miss Lovegood. She was hit with a couple of nasty jinxes and she hit her head pretty hard. She also has two broken ribs. She has a concussion so I had to put her to sleep. She should wake up in a little bit though. Hopefully she won't be in too much pain when she wakes up." With that, the mediwitch bustled back into her room and shut the door.
The three teenagers walked quietly towards the bed that the brunette was laying in. She looked so pale, and there was a hint of a bruise marring her features.
"Why would people do this to her? She's been through so much already, that she doesn't deserve anything being done to her. She doesn't deserve to be hurt. Not at all." Luna sat down and grabbed one of Granger's hands, holding onto it.
The three of them sat in silence waiting for Granger to wake up.
HGHGHGHG
She was walking back to her dorm with a small smile on her face. She knew that she shouldn't be having any types of feelings for the blonde boy that she not considered her friend, but she was having trouble pushing them away.
She walked up the stairs and finally came across the portrait that was guarding her common room. She said the password before it opened up allowing her entrance.
Walking inside she sat her things down on the couch, before heading up to her room and grabbing her charms textbook. She figured that she might as well begin working on her homework while she waited for dinner to start. She continued working for some time, before glancing up at the clock. She gasped noticing the time, and realized that dinner had begun 5 minutes ago.
Without putting her things away, she rushed out of the portrait hole and down the stairs, trying to make it to dinner. She was so caught up in trying to make it to dinner on time, she didn't notice the 4 people that were in the hallway. Nor did she hear them whisper a tipping jinx. She was near the stairs at the time, when she felt another spell hit her, cutting her arm, her blood spilling on her shirt.
Another jinx hit her and she tripped this time, falling towards the ground. She wasn't able to catch herself from falling this time, her head hitting the corner of the stairs.
Her vision became fuzzy, as she felt something wet on the back of her head. She realized that she must be bleeding. Lifting her eyes up, she noticed someone walking closer to her, but couldn't make out who the person was.
As her eyes became clouded over, and her eyes began drifting close, she could have sword that the person standing over her, had long fiery red hair.
Everything went black.