By: GaiNax
Before Hermione could say anything he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Good night, Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow at potions." Draco slowly walked away from Hermione wondering what Ron was thinking. He knew that Ron was going to say something, sooner or later. He walked quickly and hid behind the corner of the hall.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Ron uncovered himself from under the invisibility cloak. "I CANNOT believe you actually let HIM kiss YOU! Are you mad? Are you crazy?"
"Yes I am mad, Ronald Weasley. I am mad at you for being so judgmental. I mean just because Draco has been mean in the past, doesn't mean that he is now. And yes I am crazy. Crazy about Draco Malfoy." Hermione said the last sentence dreamily and spun around on her heel like those lovesick teenyboppers.
"And since when did you started calling him Draco?"
"Since we got to the compartment…"
"So you're saying that he's HB?" Ron was frustrated. He didn't want his enemy to be in the same room as his crush.
"Yeah. He really deserves the honor. He's so smart and handsome…"
Ron glared at Hermione and stomped his way back to the common room with Harry not far behind mumbling something about Draco being a humungous bighead.
"Harry… I can't believe she likes him…" He paced around the room looking more and more nervous.
"And not you?"
"Well… yeah! Why not me? I mean, am I ugly? Am I too stupid for her to even consider going out with me? What does he have that I don't have… aside from money?"
"Well…I don't know. All I can say is that you've got a lot more going for you than Mr. I-am-better-than-thou. He's too arrogant and so is she. A relationship like that would never last."
"How'd you know? You've had less luck with women than I've had."
Harry ignored his friend and continued. "Just think … 2 people fighting constantly … well that only leads to break up."
"They didn't look like they were fighting at all…"
"Ron … I'm going to bed." Harry headed to his dorm and didn't bother waiting for Ron.
'How could she like him? The one who calls her a mudblood all the time, the one who hexed her teeth and her hair, the one who hates us and the one who's in Slytherin?' Ron paced around the common room. He knew that he couldn't compete with Draco's money and looks but he always thought personality is the quality that counted. 'Why can't he leave one girl for me? He can have all the girls in Hogwarts but why did he have to pick Hermione?' He banged his fists on the wall really hard. Any harder and he would've waken everyone in Gryffindor who are sleeping. He looked at his watch and decided to go to bed at last.
Meanwhile in the Slytherin Common Room…
"Listen up everyone! I've got something to tell you …"
"That you're in love with me?" It was Pansy who spoke up.
Draco scoffed. "No … Anyways on to my news…" He walked over to the middle of the common room. "The mudblood is in love with me!"
Everyone looked at him dumbfounded. One of the Slytherin 7th years spoke up… "How's that possible?"
"Well you see, my dear naïve friend, I pretended to show some interest in her and well, she's so gullible that she believed me. Don't worry; I'm not going to be nice forever. Once I get bored of making the weasel mad, I'll revert back to my Slytherin ways." That wasn't the only reason he is doing this. The other reason would be that pug faced girl standing next to him. "That means I can't be seen near you, Pansy, for a while…"
"Aww Draco, you're no fun." She pouted and walked away.
"Right… Everyone go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us. Pretend that you, as in all of you, do not know anything at all." 'Not that it makes any difference.' Draco walked over to his bed and lays there for a while. He kind of felt guilty that he was using Hermione for his sick purposes. She didn't do anything to him and yet she gets hurt in the process of making Weasley mad. He shrugged off his feelings; 'she deserves it … for being smarter than me' and he fell asleep.
Hermione walked into the Great Hall in the morning hoping to see Draco again but instead she was greeted by a bunch of Slytherins laughing and pointing at her. Draco was telling them to stop incase she might suspect something but Hermione misinterpreted it for 'caring'. She thought that he actually cares about her enough to stop his fellow Slytherins to stop laughing at her.
"Stop it!" Draco sneered. "You're going to blow my cover. If my plan doesn't work I'll kill you all one by one … no actually you lot don't deserve to be killed, you all shall be tortured until you die. Now hush up."
The whole Slytherin table quieted down after Draco threatened them.
"Look Ron, maybe Draco does care for me." She sat next to Ron who had his head buried in his hands. "If he ever tries to hurt me, you'll be the first one to know and you'll have the honors of beating him up, ok? But until that happens, let me be happy."
"I still think that you're doing a foolish thing." Before Ron went to sleep last night, he had overheard Hermione telling Ginny that she was planning on asking Draco to be her boyfriend. Of course Ron tried the subtle approach on the subject calling it a 'foolish thing'.
"You know?"
"Of course I know. The vent in Ginny's dorm is connected to mine so obviously I heard. And I know. I can't believe you weren't planning on telling Harry or me until it was too late to stop you. I can't believe you'd go so far as to lying to us."
"So that's how you know all those secrets I have … I'm telling …" Ginny overheard Ron and Hermione's conversation and wanted to be part of it.
"Shut up Ginny, I'm talking to Hermione." Ron pushed his little sister away and continued conversing with Hermione.
Hermione stared into his eyes uneasily. "I wasn't going to lie to you or Harry."
"But you were going to keep something hidden from us. That is so selfish of you."
"You're the one who's being selfish, Ronald." Hermione was about to leave but Ron grabbed her arm tightly.
"You're not leaving until we're finished."
"Ron you're hurting me!" She tried to pull away but Ron was too strong for her.
"I suggest you leave her alone." Draco grabbed Ron by the shoulders and shoved him to the wall. 'My plan is working like clockwork' smirked Draco. "Are you okay Hermione?"
Hermione hugged Draco tightly, planning never ever to let go. "Yeah." She laid her head on his chest and cried softly ignoring the murmurs of the people staring at them. 'I don't care what people think as long as I'm with Draco.' Hermione smiled then frowned when she realized that her first subject was Transfiguration and she didn't have it with the Slytherins. "I don't want to go to class."
"That's a first." Draco chuckled. 'My plan is working better than I thought it would.' He smiled and hugged Hermione tightly. "Anyways, I have to go to class. I'll see you at potions." He quickly pushed her away and walked out of the Great Hall.
'I think I'm in love.' Hermione sighed and walked to the Gryffindor Common Room. A couple of students asked her if she was crazy but she gave them the same reply she told Ron. "Yes, I am crazy… I am crazy about Draco Malfoy."
All the girls, in all houses, except Slytherin, envied her. Not because she was beautiful or smart since there are a couple of females who are much prettier than her but they envied her because Draco Malfoy paid attention to her. He even comforted her in her time of need. But that wasn't the reaction of the boys. They didn't envy Malfoy, I mean they like Hermione but not in that way. They always see her as their sister or a person who they could ask for help in their homework, nothing more. The boys were worried about Hermione. For all they know, Malfoy could've given Hermione a love potion or used the Imperius curse on her.
Hermione finally escaped the interrogations when she went back to her room. She needed to get her things for class and later on she'd have to pack her things to move into the Head Common Room. As she reached for her Transfigurations textbook, Pigwideon flew into her room with a piece of parchment tied to its legs. Hermione untied the parchment from the owl's leg and fed it some crackers she had on her bedside table. The letter read:
Dear Hermione,
I'm sorry for what I've done. I really regretted everything I said to you. Please forgive me. I know that I cannot make decisions for you but please listen to me. Draco Malfoy is bad news and you'll only end up hurt in the end. I distinctly remember what you said about me being the first one to beat him up if he ever harms you and you better mean it. I want to be friends with you again. The only reason I was acting like this was because I love you and I was jealous. You were paying more attention to the ferret than me. Please forgive me Hermione.
With Love,
Ronald Weasley
She folded up the piece of parchment and placed it into her pocket. "I'm sorry too, Ron." She quickly shoved the book into her bag and walked out of the common room in search for Ron. "Ron! Where are you?"
"Here." Ron was already on his was to Transfiguration.
"I just want to say that I forgive you and … I'm sorry for not paying any attention to you or Harry." She dropped her bag on the floor and hugged Ron tightly. "Ron… I love you too but not in that way." She whispered into his ear. "Please forgive me." Ron nodded and hugged her back.
Draco was on his way to Charms class and saw Ron and Hermione hugging each other. He didn't feel jealous but he felt angry. 'My plan failed.' He thought. He needed to do something else. He walked over to the two with his hands in his pocket and cleared his throat. "Ahem."
"Hi Draco!" Hermione pulled away from Ron and smiled cheerfully at Draco.
Draco pulled out a silver chain with a dragon on it, courtesy of Andréa. "Will you be my girlfriend, Hermione?" He looked over at Ron who's turning really red.
She looked as shock as ever. She wanted to be the one to ask but she was glad he did. "Of course!" She smiled. "But I think Ron and I should go, we're going to be late for class. See you tonight." Hermione pulled Ron's hand towards Transfiguration class.
"See you tonight?" Ron raised one eyebrow at Hermione.
"We live together. It's nothing."
Ron nodded and walked into class. He suddenly remembered they had a meeting with Dumbledore tonight about the 'plan' to capture Voldemort. He was going to say something to Hermione but he didn't. He wanted to see where her loyalties lie. If she was a really determined student she would show up but if she doesn't show up, well … 'she's going to have a stern lecture from me, for once.' Ron grimaced.
The day went slowly for Hermione. She was hoping to see Draco in her classes but the only classes she had with Slytherin was Potions and Care of Magical Creatures and those were tomorrow. She hurried to her room and grabbed her things. She was going to move into the Head Common Room a bit early to surprise Draco. It was located on the fifth floor. She saw a portrait of the founders and stood in front of it. She tried to remember the password she was given last night. "Starlight?" The portrait didn't budge. "Star bright?" The portrait remained stationary. 'Hm… what was the password again?'
"All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts."
Hermione turned around and saw Draco grinning at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Different people interpret quotes differently. In my opinion it means that you have too many things on your mind therefore you fail to remember the right password. Am I correct?"
"Hmmm… perhaps. Just tell me the password already!"
"Does your thoughts include a certain Gryffindor … named Ron Weasley?"
"Maybe! If you want to stay in this relationship with me I suggest you tell me the password to our dorm right now!"
"Calm down! The password is stardust!" The portrait swung open, revealing a very nicely furnished room. The common room was designed to accommodate both a Gryffindor and a Slytherin student. The chairs were red velvet and so was the carpeting whilst the athmosphere felt like in was in a dungeon, just like the Slytherin common room. There were three doors. Obviously 2 of them led to their bedrooms. The third one was for the bathroom.
"Beautiful…"
Hermione forgot that Draco was with her. "I agree, this is a beautiful place."
"No, I meant you, Hermione." Draco walked towards her and looked into her Hazel eyes. "I want what's best for you."
Hermione nodded, not fully understanding what he meant by that.
"And a few minutes ago, you seem engrossed in your thoughts. You seem too distracted and I fear that it might deter your performance academically."
"What?"
"Stop thinking about Ron. You'll do badly in school if you keep thinking about him." Draco held her hands tightly. "I want you to promise me that you'll never ever talk to Ron or Harry or any of the Gryffindors ever again."
Hermione nodded. She didn't want to lose Draco. She wanted his approval so badly. And she knew she wouldn't get it if she said no. 'Ron will understand…' she thought. "I promise."
'This is a great plan … and this time, it'll work.' Draco laughed. Not out loud of course. 'She's like putty in my fingers…' He wrapped his arms Hermione, smiling at her fakely, and hoping that nothing would ruin his perfect plan. Hermione looked at the time and realized she needed to do something. She wanted to attend the meeting but she didn't want Draco to get angry. She rushed to her room and decided to tell them that she wasn't going to show up.
Ron and Harry were in the Headmaster's office, waiting for Hermione.
"She'll be here…" Harry kept saying. But it has been 3 hours and she still didn't show up. A white tawny owl tapped at the window. Harry recognized who's it was. He opened the window and untied the parchment from the owl's leg. "She's not going to show."
Dumbledore nodded his head. "I think you 2 should head back to the common room, we'll continue this tomorrow."
Ron nodded and stormed out of the Head Master's room without even waiting for Harry. 'What's wrong with you Hermione? You made us wait for you for 3 hours and you didn't show up. I thought you were more responsible than that.'
A/N: What do you think Ron would say to Hermione? I wrote this chapter since Jessica said she was too busy to help me write anymore. Tell me what you think of my story so far.