A/N: Hello to my readers! Hope you all have been enjoying thus far, but I wouldn't know because I barely have any reviews. I enjoy writing my stories because I like to think that they make people happy (honestly even if they don't it's fun for me), however I would be a lot more motivated to write if people gave me feedback and continued to tell me what they want to see out of the characters and the plot. Anyway, I am really having fun writing and I love my story, so I want to keep writing it. The chapter list keeps growing and if you all want me to continue, let me know!
The morning had to come eventually, but Ron refused to admit this horrible inevitability. The evening before had been the perfect beginning to a relationship with the girl that he had imagined being with for years, but looking back on that evening he feared that maybe it hadn't been as magical as he remembered. Did Hermione really enjoy herself, and if so, could it all go downhill from here? The room had felt so warm and accepting last night, but now he felt as though the cool November air wanted to make its presence known, filling the room with an all-consuming chill. Trying to gain some sort of clarity in his usual morning haze, Ron stretched and arched his back into the air, taking it all in. Much to his chagrin, he looked down only to see Hermione shivering from both the loss of contact and the sudden rush of air on her now exposed upper body.
That's when it all hit him. He had been sleeping with Hermione Granger, the girl of his dreams, in her private common room. But they weren't so private, were they? He had neither seen nor heard anything indicating that Malfoy knew the couple we were sprawled out across the couch, and Ron was sure that if he had seen them he would come and make some comment about "the blood traitor and the mudblood". Ron hated be snide bastard and wished that his girlfriend didn't have to share a room with him, but at least he was sure she wasn't being hit on by her new male roommate. He'd always felt as though he was the low man on the totem pole, especially at Hogwarts. All of his roommates were adored by the female population, excluding Neville, leaving Ron feeling unwanted and unneeded. At least Hermione only lived with one guy, and he'd never dare come near her.
By the time Ron's mind had been able to process all of this, Hermione was beginning to wake up and wriggle beneath him, looking for a bit of room to stretch. A night on the couch with Ronald was great in many aspects, but the way that her back was repaying her was less than comfortable. Still, she had no regrets and was glad to see that he hadn't run away in the middle of the night. As she slowly threw her arms into the air, trying to work out all the kinks in her back, she felt exposed and guilty. She had been here all night in a shared common room, a room Draco easily could have seen here in. That little ferret was probably going to hold this over her head for the rest of her life!
How right she was. Draco was still sitting in his room, afraid to go downstairs and reveal his position, but even more afraid of himself. There was a horrible bout of jealousy running through his veins and he couldn't let a soul know that. Sure he had been with plenty of girls, and yet he had never had that feeling, that need to stay by her side all night. He was sure if it was commendable or disgusting, but seeing Ron still there in the morning irked him to the bone. Was there something inanely wrong with him, keeping him keeping him from having that connection with a girl? There were a fair few pureblood girls who he had dated purely to please his family, and fulfill the obligations but he wasn't genuinely attracted to any of them. They were missing that determination and pride, that gutsiness!
Draco was now disgusted with himself, possibly more so than he ever had been with the Weasleys. The girl that he wanted, the one that haunted his mind was none other than Hermione Granger. Merlin's beard, what could be more embarrassing? Surely if his father knew he would be beaten to a pulp, just as he deserved. But no matter how wrong it seemed or how guilty he felt, the feeling was undeniable.
He had seen plenty of couples roaming the halls together, looking just as in love and happy as Granger and Weasel-bee, but this sort of rage had never filled him before. Why couldn't he have noticed this earlier, even a day earlier when he could have stopped the torture that was surely about to begin. Oh he knew that Ron would follow her everywhere and they'd constantly be snogging all over the common room. Their relationship would be inescapable, and Draco felt the twinge of regret. He could have figured all of this out a day before, just one day but now breaking them up would prove to be even harder than stopping them from getting together.
Each minute took hours in the mind of Draco, waiting until he could hear the young couple move about. He didn't want to be seen, and this gave him all the more time to plot. Even if he felt like a traitor at the moment, he knew that Malfoys were notoriously talented at developing sinister plans. The obvious task at hand was how to break them up, but the filthy Gryffindors were too damn loyal. There had to be something that Granger would never tolerate, but what could it be? After just a quick second it dawned on him; the one thing that would ruin a loyal Gryffindor was the thought of disloyalty. All he had to do was make the Weasley twit look like a cheating bastard, something Malfoy was delighted to take on. And so the plans began, giving Malfoy a fair reason to stay locked in his room all day, denying himself the pain of watching the new couple wrapped together in front of the fire. After several hours, Draco's plans had come together and he was more excited for Monday morning classes than he had ever been.
Luckily for Malfoy, Mondays had to come eventually and the day was miserable with the wet air of impending rainstorms. There couldn't be a better set up for the plans that had been brewing in his mind until the wee hours of morning. He hadn't even had the desire to eat on Sunday; he had just laid in bed running through dozens of options for optimal destruction. There were plenty of ways that his evil plots could be brought to reality, but he thought hard on what would destroy any chances at their relationship recovering. Hermione was a young woman full of pride, whether she showed it or not, and he thought it would be best to revisit old wounds, namely Lavender Brown, Gryffindor slag.
And so it began. The students of Hogwarts had begrudgingly left their four-posters and walked through the campus to their Monday morning classes. Most of them looked as if they could have happily been anywhere else in the world, but Draco appeared as if be could have skipped through the halls with that evil smirk plastered on his pale face. There was a very Malfoy look to him at that moment, which was a redeeming factor to Draco. If he was going to try and get Granger, he should at least do it as evilly as possible. The world was working in his favor for once, as the week started off with Ancient Runes, one class that he had with Granger and without the sniveling Potter and Weasley. He also had a few select Slytherins in the class with him, and the ever important Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws had always made excellent pawns in the ploys of Draco Malfoy, and he planned to take full advantage of the situation now. It would have been a bit better if that Patil girl was around, but she could have never made it into N.E.W.T. level Runes, and so he would have to settle for Terry Boot, who was also a sizable gossip. As Terry entered the hallway that lead to Professor Babbling's room, Draco cooly walked up to him, patting him on the shoulder and tried to act as comfortable as possible, considering Boot's questionable blood lineage.
"Ay there Boot, have a good time at the ball the other night?" Draco tried to jump into casual conversation, though it was never something that he had considered himself to be especially well versed in.
"Umm, yeah it was great. Thanks for putting it together, and send my thanks to Hermione as well." Terry was clearly a bit thrown by Malfoy's sudden interest in him, but stranger things had happened.
"Yeah well I'm sure she isn't really going to care how much everyone enjoyed the party, seeing as it was absolute shit for her. Weasley ran off with Lavender in some broom closet for half an hour leaving her at the punch table all to herself. I suppose that's what you get for dating someone as thick as a Weasley." It had been hard, but Malfoy managed to come off as a normal teenager just trying to send around another bit of bad rumours, just as hideous as all the rest that circulated the halls of Hogwarts.
"Blimey! I've known Ron for years and I never would have pinned him as the kind of bloke who would cheat on a girl, especially not a catch like Hermione! Well, pass along my condolences, but I gotta run and grab a seat." And with that, Terry was off to begin the putting the wheels in motion. Draco thought it was a rather dignified plan, as Hermione would never see him participating in the whispers and thus wouldn't never suspect him as the instigator of all the lies surrounding her and her new boyfriend, or in Malfoy's hopes, soon to be ex-boyfriend.
It was mere minutes before class began but sure enough Draco saw the word spread from student to student before finally a sympathetic Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan put his hand on Hermione's shoulder and seemingly offered her his shoulder to cry on. It was at the inopportune moment that Professor Babbling stood at the front of the class but before any instructions could be given Hermione ran to the head of the class and gave some excuse about Head Girl business and scheduling conflicts, rambling on for so long that Professor Babbling had no choice but to let her leave.
Her feet barely touched the ground as she ran through the halls, horrified at the chance of crying in front of everyone. The only place that she was sure she could hide was in the girls bathroom, with Moaning Myrtle. For once she was actually comforted by the idea of having Myrtle around, at least she would have someone to mope with. As she finally got her feet through the door she rushed to the quickest stall and kicked her foot hard against the door in front of her. The loud slamming noise it made was more than gratifying and she did it again and again, trying to release all of her anger before she confronted Ron. Knowing that she could be this violent frightened her a bit, but she's wished that Ron could know, just so he knew that she was sparing him. Her entire body shook in a fit of rage, trying to shake off any images she had created of Ron and that horrid whore in her mind. Lavender had always stood in her way when it came to Ron and she couldn't believe that it had happened again. The wizarding world fancied Hermione to be a level headed young woman, as well as a rational teenager, but she would have put them all to shame as she began to flail about, trying to relieve herself of all this violent energy. Once she felt composed, she turned towards the door and began to walk out of the bathroom, feet now hitting the ground evenly and her posture carrying a certain sense of confidence and urgency.
She felt bad using the excuse multiple times in one day, but she marched into Ron's Defense Against The Dark Arts class and asked if she could see him for a moment regarding some past Prefect's records. As he walked out, she hastily pulled the door shut behind him, making sure that no one would hear their conversation, knowing it would get her in more trouble than she could handle at the moment.
"You are unbelievable, you know that right? How dare you run off with that slag on our first date? I hadn't even made it to the first bell of the week and I am being offered shoulders to cry on because my rotten tosser of an ex-boyfriend had the nerve to cheat on me, while on a date with me!" her voice had become stern, but she had carefully managed her volume and tried to do so with her emotions, but the tears felt as if they were boiling beneath her eyes.
"'Mione, you have to be kidding me? Who would tell you something like that? Merlin, I'll kill them!" and the anger in Ron was suddenly taking over, until he saw the whiteness flush over Hermione's skin, making him fear the worst.
" You didn't deny it. You just want to know who spoiled your little secret, don't you? Well I don't know who told, but I'm glad that everyone knows what you've done. I just can't believe I didn't see it coming." her eyes were flooded with emotion, but she just leaned across Ron's chest to open the door to the classroom and announcing that she was done with Ronald and he could go back to class.
"Oh we are not done talking Hermione! I can't believe that you would listen to these lies! Just hear me out, none of it's true. I have no idea..." and he was cut off by the professor, who closed the door with the flick of a wand.
Hermione left from there straight to the Heads' dorms and sent Dumbledore a letter requesting the day off from classes for personal matters, to which he graciously responded yes. It was only nine in the morning and she was free to curl up in a ball on the couch and cry for as long as she needed.
A/N: alright, I am not sure if I like the perspective of this chapter, but it definitely sets the wheels into motion! The following chapters will be in one character's perspective only, but I want to know what everyone thought of this chapter. Also, keep on reading and reviewing! I might even give my reviewers a sneak peak at whats to come!