A/N: here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for all the awesome reviews! You guys rock! :)
"Let go of me," repeated Hermione. Draco seemed unable to hear her, tightening his hold against her wrists that he had clamped together with his hands. She tried once again to wring herself out of his grasp. "Draco!" she cried again. "Let go! You're hurting me."
"Not until you explain yourself," he finally breathed out, trying to calm himself.
Hermione opened her mouth and then closed it again. What was she supposed to say? She glanced at his face and then back at the floor. Oh Merlin… this was going to be terrible. What on earth could she say to him? What explanation could she give this time? She swallowed, thinking hard. She couldn't- no, no. He wouldn't believe her. It's too crazy.
Then again, they were in the wizarding world. If anything crazy was to ever happen, that was the place. She could even have Merlin in the painting back her up. She raised her eyes to meet his again. She could feel herself sinking into his silvery orbs. Memories flashed by.
Despite the situation she was in now, in all of her life, she had never believed a man could treat her so well. So… full of love. She had never been treated as well as the way Draco had treated her. Loved her, unconditionally, no matter what she threw in his way. She grimaced as she recalled the things that she did; repeatedly breaking his heart, over and over again, saying hurtful things to him, shying away from his advances against her. It had been a little over a month since she had been trapped in Pansy's body, and she had been almost completely miserable.
Almost.
Somewhere along the way, through all the things that she had been through, somewhere along the way she had fallen in love with Draco.
In love with Draco Malfoy. The boy who had made most of her life in school hell, belittling her, making her feel inferior next to pureblooded wizards. He had made her believe many a time that she was worthless, bullying her repeatedly, watching as her self-confidence crumbled before him before his very eyes. He was the boy who had watched her being tortured repeatedly by his own aunt, right in front of his very own eyes, the boy who had been the first one to ever call her a Mudblood.
It was surprising, really. How could she have loved someone who had tormented her so?
She flashed back to the many times that she had awoken with Draco lying next to her, stroking her cheek softly, or playing with a lock of her hair. She thought of all the times that he had called her beautiful, just because. She thought of all the times that he had continuously tried to please her, bringing her home anything from a bouquet of flowers to an adorable little Pygmypuff that had been enchanted to say "I love you". She thought of all the times that his mouth had formed those words, letting them slip with such ease that they rolled around his tongue as he told her again and again of how much he loved her. Her cheeks reddened as she thought of the time they had consummated their marriage.
She had never known that a man that was once so harsh and cruel could be so… gentle. So loving. So passionate.
Yes, she had to tell him the truth. It would be the right thing to do.
But what if he didn't believe her? What if… what if he wouldn't love her anymore if she revealed who she was? She silently scoffed to herself. Of course he wouldn't. She's Hermione Granger. He loved Pansy Parkinson.
But what other choice did she have? She looked straight into his the silver rings that spun around his pupils, dilated in the dim light of the room.
"I-I'm going to try and explain to you, alright?" she said after the small internal battle in her mind ceased. "But you're not going to believe a word I'm going to say now, because it's just too… well, too bizarre," she said, contorting her face into a small wince. Draco narrowed his eyes at her, trying to see if she was going to tell the truth.
"Okay," he said after a moment of silence. "Go ahead. Explain yourself."
Hermione took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She could feel her hands trembling, and she tried to still them, ignoring the pain that was coming from her wrists being grinded so hard against each other.
"I'm not who you think you are," she said slowly. Draco scoffed.
"You've got that right, Pansy," he spat. "Sometimes I don't even know who you are anymore. You just-"
"Let me finish," she interrupted him before he got into a rant. "I might have seemed different to you because… well, I'm a different person. I'm not the woman that you know and love."
Draco's furious face morphed into one that was slightly confused and horrified. "W-what are you saying? You don't feel the same way about me or something?" he asked, his eyebrows drawing together in worry. She could feel his grip on her wrists slacken. Her heart broke at his sudden forlorn expression, quickly forgetting his harsh manner to her just seconds ago.
"N-no, that's not what I meant, Draco," she stammered out quickly. "That's not what I meant at all. It's just…" she trailed off, not knowing how to continue. She glanced at the book laying on the floor before raising her eyes back at him.
"I'm not Pansy," she said finally. "I'm Hermione Granger". She watched his face intently as he froze, his body growing still. "I just woke up one day, and I was in a different bed, and a different man lying next to me," she continued. At those words, she heard something snap in Draco. He suddenly pushed her roughly, watching her through cold eyes as she fell to the floor.
"How could you?" he snarled at her. "How could you even think about joking about something at a time like this, Pansy? You got rid of our child, our unborn child that had your blood and mine running through its veins. How do you feel about that, huh, Pansy? And Hermione Granger, out of all people? You have some nerve-"
"It's true," she cut him off angrily. "I'm not Pansy! I'm not your wife! I'm Hermione Granger," she said. "You just ask Harry and R-Ron," she faltered at his name, pangs of pain throbbing in her heart.
"I can't listen to this anymore," said Draco. "I'm going to the guest room. Come and talk to me when you've come back to your senses, Pansy".
"Draco, wait!" she called out. He simply rolled his eyes and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door hard behind him. "I love you!" she cried out. Draco paused, not turning around. His eyes pricked as they began to fill with tears before he blinked them away. "I don't know if I love you anymore," he said quietly. He knew that she could not hear him, and he leaned on the door outside.
Oh Merlin. His marriage was a disaster. Who was he kidding? Nothing was turning out right. He knew that it was alright in the beginning of their relationship, and even better after their wedding. But now…
Now it was nothing short of a horrendous disaster. She had gotten rid of their child? Their own flesh and blood? And she knew how he felt about fathering a child one day. And on top of that, she had been unresponsive to him, to his affection, to his love.
Love.
Pah, love had no meaning anymore. At least not to him. Draco walked slowly over to the guest room and slid under the cool covers. He tossed to his right, missing the presence of a warm body lying beside him.
How could she? How could she have done this? Draco sighed deeply to himself, turning onto his back and laying an arm over his forehead. He stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. He wondered why he had become so furious at her losing the baby. He sighed again, closing his eyes.
It can't have been just the baby. It was… everything. Every tiny thing that had ever gone wrong in his marriage, his relationship… his life. The baby was just the straw that broke the camel's back. And to add to all of that, she had to bring up Hermione Granger?
She knew how he had felt about her. How he had once felt about her, he corrected himself. Sure, he had hated her. He had hated her so harshly and terribly that the line between hate and love had become blurred and distorted to a point where he could not deny it. He could never deny it to himself.
He had loved Hermione Granger. The insufferably smart, bushy-haired, bucktoothed mousy girl that had always been seen scurrying about the castle with a load of books tucked under her arm, dashing into classes. The girl who could always be seen shooting her hand up as fast as she could whenever someone had asked a question, earning several dozens of points for Gryffindor almost each class.
The girl who had been able to stand up to him in their second year, only to have been insulted by him and made her friend throw up slugs. The girl who had the nerve to punch him in her fury the following year as he had laughed and ridiculed her at the loss of that blasted Hippogriff, the one who had transformed into a beautiful girl in the Yule Ball, shyly clutching Viktor Krum's arm as he led her onto the dance floor as they strode past him and Pansy. The girl he had turned in on their fifth year to Dolores Umbridge after joining into the group Dumbledore's Army.
He had tortured and ridiculed her continuously with his boyish and childish antics, resenting her for every grade that she had achieved that had beaten his. He had watched her get literally tortured again and again by his aunt in their seventh year, demanding to know how she had gotten some blasted sword. She was the girl who had never let him forget that he had been Transfigured into a ferret. She was the girl who was the mastermind behind the downfall of Voldemort.
She was the girl who had died just a month ago.
He did not dare reveal how he had truly felt about her the day he had read about it in the paper, her smiling face staring back at him mirthfully as he ironically read about her death.
Is it possible to love two people at once?
His head hurt. He exhaled slowly, opening his eyes again. No. He loved Pansy. It's always been Pansy.
But how could she? How could she have the gall to even mention her name to him?
Turning to his side, his fretful mind slowed down and he finally drifted off to sleep.
Draco awoke with a start. Something had disturbed his sleep. He was about to go back to sleep when he heard a faint sound coming from somewhere. He frowned, yawning as he sat up. "Honey, I think someone's in the manor. I'm going to go see if-" he stopped when he turned to his side to see that no one was there.
Oh. Right.
He yawned, getting up slowly from where he was lying as he stretched his limbs out. Suddenly, he felt something in his brain click. His eyes snapped open as realization hit him.
Someone was in the house.
Pansy was not with him.
Someone that was in the house could be with Pansy right now.
He sprang out of bed, not bothering to put on a dressing gown or a pair of pants over his boxers as he ran towards their room as fast as he could. He threw the door open, dashing inside to see if she was alright. His eyes flashed towards the bed, his heart stopping as he saw the bed empty. He ran inside the room, going over to the door where the bathroom was.
"Pansy?" he called out frantically. "Pansy? Pansy, answer me right now-" he stopped talking as the door hit something solid. He squeezed himself into the bathroom and checked to see what the door hit. The sight that met his eyes made his blood stop cold.
There, lying on the floor, was Hermione Granger.
And she was coughing up blood.
A/N: Curious to see what's going to happen next? I know I am. Fortunately for me, I'm the one writing the plot; therefore I know what's going to happen next. You guys, on the other hand, need to leave me a few dozen reviews or so to encourage me to write and update faster (: ah yes, the joys of being an author :P love you all! Please continue reviewing my story :D
Any suggestions as to what is going to happen next? Leave a review, you never know. You could be right ;) or I might realize that your suggestion is better than what I had in mind and might end up using that instead! :)