Never Be The Same Again chapter 4
Is this something that I might regret
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
A lonely heart that can't be tamed
It's not a secret anymore
Now we've opened up the door
Starting tonight and from now on
We'll never, never be the same again
But sometimes it seems completely forbidden
To discover those feelings that we kept so well hidden
But wait a fine line's between fate and destiny
Do you belive in the things that were just meant to be?
Hermione, Harry, and Ron hurried to their next class, Care of magical creatures. Ron seemed to be watching Hermione with a strange
expression on his face, but she didn't notice him.
"What's up, Hermione? You've been acting odd today," he said. Hermione looked up at him.
"How so?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. Ron shrugged.
"I don't know, you're really quiet. Sometimes kind of dreamy." he said. Hermione shook her head slowly.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all," she said quietly, before going back to staring at the ground. Harry looked at her.
"Are you sure? You seem almost upset," he said. Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione sighed.
"No, I'm really fine. I was up late last night," she said, not feeling quite as quilty because that, at least, was true. Both boys looked
comfortable with the answer, so they left her alone and she was left to her thoughts. She felt excited that she would be seeing Draco,
in a few minutes and later that night, but she also felt like she was betraying Harry and Ron. In a way, she was. Everytime she would
drift off in thought about Draco, Ron would make a joke or Harry would talk about quidditch and she felt guilty all over again. When they
got to Hagrid's hut, Hermione discovered that her partner for their current project, Lavender, was missing.
" All righ', ev'rybody, find yer partner and get goin'!" Hagrid called out to his students happily as they began to work on their task.
Hermione headed over to Hagrid.
"Hagrid, Lavender's gone today," Hermione said. Hagrid smiled at her.
"An' you finnished yer project already, eh? Come with me, we'll water my cabbages." he said, motioning for her to follow him. As they
watered the cabbages, Hagrid began talking to Hermione about the business of the castle. She half listened until something he said
caught her ear.
"... an' I saw somone up in my secret room las' night..." Hermione dropped her water pail.
"Your... secret room? Which window is it?" she asked, trying to sound merely curious. Hagrid set down his pail and rubbed his beard.
"I don't know... abou' right there, over the lake," he said, pointing to the window Hermione and Draco had been looking out just the night
before.
"Hmmmm," Hermione said, trying to sound only slightly interested. "How did you find it?" she asked. Hagrid smiled.
"It was in my firs' year," he said dreamily. "an' I was exploring the castle, an' I found this little tunnel, an'... there it was," he said. Hermione
smiled politely.
"That sounds nice," she said. Hagrid nodded thoughtfully.
"Then one day, it disapeared, an' I haven't foun' that tunnel since," he said. Hermione wanted to tell him, but knew that she couldn't. It
had been Hagrid's secret room, but now it was hers. Hers and Dracos.
As the class period ended, Hermione grabbed her bag and began to fill it with the many heavy books she usually carried around. Just
as she stood up to follow Harry and Ron up to the castle, someone slammed into her, knocking her books out of her bag and into a
big mess all over the ground. Hermione looked up to see Draco smiling at her.
"Well, well, here we are again," he said softly, before Hagrid yelled over to him.
"Malfoy! Help her with those books!" he snarled. The two of them bent down to put her books in her bag, and as they finnished (it
wasn't a quick job; Hermione carried around a lot of books) he gave her a quick peck on the lips while no one was looking. He grinned
at the suprised look on her face.
"See you later, Granger," he said quietly, before turning and walking away. Hermione watched his retreating back, feeling light-headed
and happy. She followed him at a distance up to the castle for dinner.
***********************
As the end of the tunnel came nearer and nearer, Hermione's heart leapt to her throat. Any second now she would be seeing Draco.
She stepped into the light and pulled the hood of her cloak off her face. Draco was sitting on the floor, his pants rolled up to mid-calf
and his hair messed up. He had a quill sticking out of his mouth, and he was lost in thought. He didn't even realize Hermione was there
until she cleared her throat. He looked up quickly.
"Oh, hi," he said, smiling at her. Hermione grinned at him as he stood up to kiss her on the cheek.
"You look cute," she said, blushing slightly as he smiled at her again.
"No, you're prettier," he teased gently. Hermione was amazed at how sweet and quiet Draco could be when he wasn't around his large
rude friends.
"Sorry about the bookbag incident today," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you," Hermione couldn't help but grin.
"I didn't mind at all... maybe it will happen more often." she said with an ornery grin forming on her face. Draco grinned mischieviously
back at her.
"Maybe..." he said, and they both laughed. Hermione began to play with the small silver chain on her neck nervously.
"Um, Draco," she said, looking up at him. "there's something that's been on my mind that has been bugging me for awhile. See, I feel
REALLY guilty about... doing this with you, sneaking around like this, when my best friends naturally hate you. Is there any way you
could possibly... be a little nicer to them? More civil, I mean?" Hermione asked, rushing quickly to get it over with. Draco sighed and
looked out the window.
"Yeah, I guess... but I'm not suddenly going to become one of their best friends," he warned. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Like they'd let you," she said, and Draco nodded. Suddenly there was a loud bang and their heads swang towards the tunnel in
surprise.
Is this something that I might regret
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
A lonely heart that can't be tamed
It's not a secret anymore
Now we've opened up the door
Starting tonight and from now on
We'll never, never be the same again
But sometimes it seems completely forbidden
To discover those feelings that we kept so well hidden
But wait a fine line's between fate and destiny
Do you belive in the things that were just meant to be?
Hermione, Harry, and Ron hurried to their next class, Care of magical creatures. Ron seemed to be watching Hermione with a strange
expression on his face, but she didn't notice him.
"What's up, Hermione? You've been acting odd today," he said. Hermione looked up at him.
"How so?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. Ron shrugged.
"I don't know, you're really quiet. Sometimes kind of dreamy." he said. Hermione shook her head slowly.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all," she said quietly, before going back to staring at the ground. Harry looked at her.
"Are you sure? You seem almost upset," he said. Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione sighed.
"No, I'm really fine. I was up late last night," she said, not feeling quite as quilty because that, at least, was true. Both boys looked
comfortable with the answer, so they left her alone and she was left to her thoughts. She felt excited that she would be seeing Draco,
in a few minutes and later that night, but she also felt like she was betraying Harry and Ron. In a way, she was. Everytime she would
drift off in thought about Draco, Ron would make a joke or Harry would talk about quidditch and she felt guilty all over again. When they
got to Hagrid's hut, Hermione discovered that her partner for their current project, Lavender, was missing.
" All righ', ev'rybody, find yer partner and get goin'!" Hagrid called out to his students happily as they began to work on their task.
Hermione headed over to Hagrid.
"Hagrid, Lavender's gone today," Hermione said. Hagrid smiled at her.
"An' you finnished yer project already, eh? Come with me, we'll water my cabbages." he said, motioning for her to follow him. As they
watered the cabbages, Hagrid began talking to Hermione about the business of the castle. She half listened until something he said
caught her ear.
"... an' I saw somone up in my secret room las' night..." Hermione dropped her water pail.
"Your... secret room? Which window is it?" she asked, trying to sound merely curious. Hagrid set down his pail and rubbed his beard.
"I don't know... abou' right there, over the lake," he said, pointing to the window Hermione and Draco had been looking out just the night
before.
"Hmmmm," Hermione said, trying to sound only slightly interested. "How did you find it?" she asked. Hagrid smiled.
"It was in my firs' year," he said dreamily. "an' I was exploring the castle, an' I found this little tunnel, an'... there it was," he said. Hermione
smiled politely.
"That sounds nice," she said. Hagrid nodded thoughtfully.
"Then one day, it disapeared, an' I haven't foun' that tunnel since," he said. Hermione wanted to tell him, but knew that she couldn't. It
had been Hagrid's secret room, but now it was hers. Hers and Dracos.
As the class period ended, Hermione grabbed her bag and began to fill it with the many heavy books she usually carried around. Just
as she stood up to follow Harry and Ron up to the castle, someone slammed into her, knocking her books out of her bag and into a
big mess all over the ground. Hermione looked up to see Draco smiling at her.
"Well, well, here we are again," he said softly, before Hagrid yelled over to him.
"Malfoy! Help her with those books!" he snarled. The two of them bent down to put her books in her bag, and as they finnished (it
wasn't a quick job; Hermione carried around a lot of books) he gave her a quick peck on the lips while no one was looking. He grinned
at the suprised look on her face.
"See you later, Granger," he said quietly, before turning and walking away. Hermione watched his retreating back, feeling light-headed
and happy. She followed him at a distance up to the castle for dinner.
***********************
As the end of the tunnel came nearer and nearer, Hermione's heart leapt to her throat. Any second now she would be seeing Draco.
She stepped into the light and pulled the hood of her cloak off her face. Draco was sitting on the floor, his pants rolled up to mid-calf
and his hair messed up. He had a quill sticking out of his mouth, and he was lost in thought. He didn't even realize Hermione was there
until she cleared her throat. He looked up quickly.
"Oh, hi," he said, smiling at her. Hermione grinned at him as he stood up to kiss her on the cheek.
"You look cute," she said, blushing slightly as he smiled at her again.
"No, you're prettier," he teased gently. Hermione was amazed at how sweet and quiet Draco could be when he wasn't around his large
rude friends.
"Sorry about the bookbag incident today," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you," Hermione couldn't help but grin.
"I didn't mind at all... maybe it will happen more often." she said with an ornery grin forming on her face. Draco grinned mischieviously
back at her.
"Maybe..." he said, and they both laughed. Hermione began to play with the small silver chain on her neck nervously.
"Um, Draco," she said, looking up at him. "there's something that's been on my mind that has been bugging me for awhile. See, I feel
REALLY guilty about... doing this with you, sneaking around like this, when my best friends naturally hate you. Is there any way you
could possibly... be a little nicer to them? More civil, I mean?" Hermione asked, rushing quickly to get it over with. Draco sighed and
looked out the window.
"Yeah, I guess... but I'm not suddenly going to become one of their best friends," he warned. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Like they'd let you," she said, and Draco nodded. Suddenly there was a loud bang and their heads swang towards the tunnel in
surprise.