Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling and I don't own the Harry Potter series

A/N: Okay, in this chapter, Hermione and Draco are finally together, of course! But still, problems are here, there, and everywhere… sori, I just want to put this kind of problem in their relationship… but don't worry, readers, they'll still be together, no matter what happens… Read this chapter please! Enjoy:p

Chapter 37: Being Misunderstood

The next day, Hermione felt greatly refreshed. With her scented smell, well-pressed school uniform, a big smile and contented and loved heart, she went outside her room.

When Hermione was going out of her room, Draco, too was going out of his room. Call it coincidence and the brunette beamed at his sight.

"Good morning!" she merrily said.

Draco rolled his eyes and yawned. "It's too early to be happy, Hermione," he paused as another yawn escaped from his mouth. "I can't believe you can be so cheery on a very early time in the morning."

"Well, for your information, Mr. Grumpy," Hermione said, approaching Draco who was now rubbing his eyes, "today is a very good day for me to be cheery! The weather is very good today."

Draco faked a yawn. "Yeah, lies and lies. Admit it, you're happy to see me, aren't you?"

Hermione blushed and frowned. "Am I smiling now?"

The blond chuckled and pulled Hermione into a hug. "But I am smiling now, meaning I'm happy to see you."

The brunette snorted. "All right, all right," she said as she pulled away from Draco and made her way towards the portrait hole of their common room. "I think we are already running late so wipe that stupid smile off your face, Draco." And then, she went out of the Common Room.

Draco shook his head. "What's her problem?" And then, he followed Hermione out, too.

And so, they walked together towards the Great Hall but in a good distance away from each other (Head Girl's request). Their small journey was quite funny, indeed. Hermione would laugh at the jokes Draco was telling her but if a student passed them by, Hermione's laughter would be disguised into a pretend shout of fury just to make it look like the two Heads were engaged in a fight and shouldn't be messed up with. Once the student was gone (because of fear of the two 'enraged' Heads), the pretend would disappear and laughter again was heard.

Unfortunately, they had reached the closed doors of the Great Hall.

Hermione was about to go inside but Draco's right hand held her arm.

"What is it, Dr - ," she said but stopped when the blond pulled her in a tight hug. Hermione recovered from her shock and returned the hug, a small smile gracing on her lips.

"Let me hug you fur just a minute," Draco said as he kissed Hermione's forehead.

Hermione softly laughed as she snuggled her head comfortably against the blond's neck. "Draco, I'm not going anywhere. We'll still see each other."

"But I'll miss you," the Head Boy said, tightening his hug. "We can't just hug each other anywhere or else, Potter and Weasley might have a heart-attack."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "All right, time's-up."

"You're counting?" Draco asked.

"Of course," Hermione said pulled away. She gave Draco a brief kiss on the cheek. "See you around!" And Hermione held the handle of the door. Before opening it, she looked at the blond again. "Oh, and Draco, I'll miss you too." And then, she went inside, leaving Draco who was softly chuckling.

Draco followed too and went towards the Slytherin table. There was only one seat left and that was beside Blaise. The blond sat there, making Blaise look at the newcomer. Draco looked at him, too. They just stared at each other, a tension growing between them. But then, Blaise grinned, breaking the tension between them and making Draco smile too for his thanks.

Draco averted his gaze away from Blaise to the Gryffindor table. Hermione was talking with Ginny. She might had sensed eyes on her because she glanced at the Slytherin table and looked at Draco. The blond noticed that she smiled at him before returning to her conversation with the she-Weasley.

At last, the mail came. Draco's owl gave him love letters from avid fan girls and a new edition of the Daily Prophet.

He then looked at his girlfriend again. It was exactly the time when Mia gave her a new edition of the Daily Prophet and surprisingly, three red roses. He watched as Hermione read the letter attached from the flowers (it says 'from your darling boyfriend'). He watched as Hermione rolled her eyes while slightly laughing. She then looked directly at her 'darling boyfriend'.

"Why you," she mouthed.

"I love you," Draco mouthed back with a smile. Suddenly, Hermione's three red roses glowed. The brunette looked at Draco curiously who just smirked. The roses glowed and glowed so bright it attracted so much attention. At last, the glowing faded and in replacement of the three red roses was a whole bouquet of flowers. Hermione looked at Draco, eyes wide because of wonder (she looks adorable that time, in Draco's opinion). The blond just smiled. It seems like 'I love you' is truly magical.

"Nice one, mate," Blaise commented from beside him.

"Thanks," the flattered Head Boy said. He then looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet and saw a picture of the beautiful Princess. The title of the article underneath it, though, was not beautiful at all.

Royal Third Party

Princess Hermione Gardner, 17 years old and the heiress of the Gardner family is now promised to be engaged with Mr. Blaise Zabini, 17 years old and in Slytherin, next month, June 10, 1997 was last seen in the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch in a very unimaginable way. I, Rita Skeeter, age 30, would tell you all about this shocking news.

It is known to the whole Wizarding World that Princess Hermione chose Blaise Zabini as her soon-to-be fiancé and future husband on the day of the Revelation Ball but yesterday afternoon, I had seen with my own eyes something really, really very unimaginable.

Princess Hermione was seen with Draco Malfoy, 17 years old and in Slytherin, heir of the Malfoy clan and also known as the Head Boy and best friend of Mr. Zabini. The two of them were seen hugging. Princess Hermione was crying while Mr. Malfoy was comforting her. This might just be a friendly hug but when the time they had kissed, it certainly meant something more.

Shocking, right? These things had proved that there's a third party happening. (For more pictures about the issue, see on p. 17).

Draco hurriedly went to page 17, preparing for its contents.

Once he was on page 17, he almost dropped the newspaper. There were pictures of them hugging. The time when he kissed her, too, was there.

"Oh, curse that nosy Skeeter!" Draco mumbled under his breath. "Now I know how Hermione feels every time an article appears about her," Draco said as he looked at the Gryffindor table. It seemed like Hermione was reading the article too because she was already crumpling the sides of the newspaper. And almost abruptly, Hermione stood up and left the Great Hall in haste.

Draco too stood up, wanting to follow Hermione out, even though he knew his fellow Slytherin mates are looking at him with mouths agape. He stood up even though it absolutely confirmed that there was something going on between the Princess and the Slytherin.

Blaise too followed the couple.

Once Draco was out of the Great Hall, he searched for his girlfriend until he found her in the Quidditch Pitch.

"Hermione."

The brunette slowly looked at the source of the voice and saw Draco, looking at her worriedly. "That was… that was… horrible," was all the trembling Hermione could say. She didn't know what to do. She was too shocked, too angry to cry.

Draco embraced her, kissing the top of the brunette's head. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He had pointedly noticed that Hermione's hands were limply at her sides. His hug tightened, though. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, you should be," someone said with a very angry tone. Instantly, the two broke their hug and looked at the newcomer, newcomers rather. King Troy was there, looking really angry with Queen Helen who was looking at the young couple worriedly.

"Father," Hermione addressed him (worry in her tone), "Mother."

"You're Highness," Draco said as he bowed.

"What is the meaning of this and the article?" King Troy asked coldly, ignoring the courtesy of both.

"Troy - ," Queen Helen said.

"Don't say anything, Helen," King Troy ordered. His attention then was back to Hermione and Draco. "Answer me! What is the meaning of this and the article?!"

Tears started to fall down from Hermione's eyes. "Father," she said, almost inaudibly. "I love him."

King Troy stared hard at his daughter, eyes blazing because of fury.

"How - ," he said, breathing heavily. "How – HOW CAN YOU LOVE A PERSON LIKE HIM?!" Apparently, King Troy knew things about Draco and his family.

"He's not like his father!" Hermione cried, more tears spilling down her face. Draco, choosing to be silent, was tempted to hug the brunette, to comfort her, but he restrained himself from doing it. Maybe if he did that, King Troy would be angrier.

"Since when did you start answering me back?" King Troy demanded. "Maybe this Malfoy boy has greatly influenced you."

"Father, I love him!"

"I don't care if you love him!" King Troy answered. "And to think that you already chose Blaise as your fiancé!"

"Father, Blaise - ."

"I didn't know my own daughter's two-timing!" the King said. And then, silence hang around the tensed atmosphere. Now, that had hurt.

"I'M NOT TWO-TIMING!" Hermione shouted, heavily breathing.

And then SMACK!

King Troy had slapped Hermione.

Queen Helen gasped while Draco's eyes enlarged.

Hermione slowly looked at King Troy, tears trickling down her face. Her right cheek was smarting because of the slap.

King Troy's face was blank; his emotion was hard to determine.

The brunette bit her lips and then, walked away.

"Hermione dear – ," Queen Helen said but Hermione just continued to walk away. She looked at Draco, asking him to follow her through his eyes, and the blond nodded, understanding it.

Draco then started to walk, following Hermione but then stopped just beside King Troy.

"You should have listened to Hermione, you're Highness," Draco said, not forgetting to be courteous. "I know how it feels when your own father doesn't listen to what you want to tell him," he finished then started to walk again. Draco noticed the smile Queen Helen was giving him which he returned before completely following the Princess.

Unknown to the four, Blaise had witness all and an idea formed in his mind, knowing that it would help Hermione and Draco.

Draco was walking back to the Heads' Dormitory. Hermione hadn't showed up in any of her classes that day and this made the blond very worried since Hermione hated missing any subjects.

"'Pureblood'," Draco said to the portrait of the Hungarian Horntail. Then, it opened. Draco went inside, looking around for any sign of Hermione but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, the blond went inside his room straight to his own balcony. He yawned once opening the sliding door and then did his habit of looking at the other terrace. And there was Hermione, one elbow resting on the table and chin on top of her hand. She looked like she was deeply thinking.

"There you are," Draco said, snapping Hermione out from her reverie. "I've been looking all over the place for you."

Hermione gave him a sad smile. "I'm just here, Draco," she said.

"You didn't attend any classes today, Hermione," Draco said. "Are you quite all right?"

The brunette didn't answer. Draco then noticed that Hermione started to bite her lower lip; a sign that she would cry soon. So, in a flash, the blond went inside his room, making Hermione look at his terrace curiously. She heard some clanking and the opening of her bedroom door. Peering inside, she saw a frantic Draco, making his way towards her. Once the blond reached the sliding door, he opened it abruptly.

"Draco wh - ," Hermione started but was stopped by Draco's sudden hug. The brunette's eyes widened her eyes because of shock. "What are you doing?" she asked as she lowered both of her hands on his back.

Draco's embrace tightened. "Hugging you, obviously. I'm just getting ready," he said, nervousness in his voice.

"For what?"

"You're going to cry, aren't you?" Draco asked.

"I won't," Hermione said but the tone in her voice was betraying her.

"Stop denying," Draco said. "I know this had been a very hard day for you, Hermione. The… umm… the… you know, the thing that had happened just this morning is a very good reason for you to cry."

And then, Hermione broke down into tears.

Draco sighed. "I knew it."

Hermione tightened her hug, just burying her face on Draco's shoulder. "I – I'm making you uncomfortably, right?" she asked, a bit muffled.

"You know the answer to that question already," the Head Boy said, starting to rub Hermione's back for comfort.

"I – I'm sorry."

Draco didn't answer but instead kissed the top of Hermione's head. Yes, seeing Hermione cry was making Draco very uneasy but he knew it was hard to stop your tears from falling. Thinking from his own experiences.

Hermione started to say incoherent words. Even though Draco hadn't understood anything, he just continued to hug her.

Minutes passed by (hours maybe) and Draco grew tired but still, Hermione was crying. Draco decided to sit down. He pulled Hermione's chair (using his feet) and sat down on it while the brunette sat down on his lap.

More minutes passed by and Draco was starting to doze-off. But then, he went back to his senses. He noticed Hermione was breathing deeply already.

"Hermione," Draco whispered. He looked at the brunette and saw that Hermione was sleeping already. Draco got his wand and pointed it at the sliding door. "'Alohomora'," he murmured and the door opened. He pocketed his wand. Draco stood up and carried Hermione, his one arm under her neck and the other under her legs.

"Mindy," he softly summoned while putting Hermione on her bed. He conjured a small, wet towel and started to wipe Hermione's face to get rid of her dry tears. Suddenly, a small pop was heard.

"What did Mister do to young Mistress?!" Mindy screeched.

"Shhh!" Draco said, "Hermione's sleeping. And for your information, I didn't do anything to her."

"Then why did Mister call Mindy?"

"Hermione fell asleep before changing into her night clothes," Draco explained as he continued to wipe Hermione's face, "so, Mindy, I'm asking you to change her clothes, then, instead of waking her up. It has been a long day for her so I don't want to wake her up anymore."

"Mindy gets it, Mister," the house-elf said as she pushed Draco away from Hermione's bed and towards the Head Girl's door. "Mindy will change young Mistress' clothes." When she successfully pushed Draco outside Hermione's room, she said, "And Mindy says goodnight." She was about to close the door but Draco slipped his right foot inside, immediately stopping Mindy from closing the door.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. The house-elf opened the door impatiently and had let Draco in. He said, "Merlin, you almost squished my foot!"

"What does Mister want now?" Mindy asked, crossing her arms.

Draco raised one finger and said, "Just one minute. It would be brief. I just forgot to do something."

Mindy glared at him but didn't do anything.

The blond strolled towards Hermione's bed. He bent down and brushed off some hair away from her face. And then, he kissed Hermione's forehead, whispering, "I love you."

"Is Mister done?" Mindy asked, tapping her foot impatiently. She had witnessed what Draco had done and it made her more impatient.

Draco sighed. "All right, I'm done. Geez, why do you have to be so impatient?" he asked, walking towards the door.

"Goodnight, Mister!" Mindy said in mock cheeriness. Draco rolled his eyes and went towards his own room. Once Draco was out of sight, Mindy looked at the sleeping Hermione and shook her head. "Mindy will never understand why young Mistress loves Mister."

A/N: End of chapter… hehehe… I don't know what to say… oh, uhmm… just review:p