Chapter 5: The Fight
"Hermione…" Ron walked up to her chair. Hermione sat up.
"Look, Ron…we need to talk." Hermione had to know. She was going to ask. Now. She led him over to an empty corner and turned to face him.
"Ron." She sighed. "I need to know something…" She rubbed the side of her head. "I had this dream…that said that you lied to me…you and Harry were trying to get me to confess that I love him, and I can't shake off the feeling that…" She stopped at the look on Ron's face. He was wide-eyed in horror.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Hermione, we…um…did…kinda manipulate you, and we, well, I…" Hermione's face turned bright red in fury.
Harry walked up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Common Room, when he bumped (quite literally) into Draco. Harry glared at his longtime enemy.
"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Harry snapped coldly. Malfoy stood up and brushed dirt off of his arms.
"Well, if you must know, I was going to see your little mudblood friend."
"Speaking of which," Harry snarled. "What about her interests the likes of you?"
"Aww…widdle Harry getting jealous?" Draco mocked. He crossed his arms and smirked. "Face it, Harry. She's beginning to like me, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Harry's eyes slanted dangerously. "Hermione would never like scum like you."
"Oh! I'm hurt!" Draco mocked a fake faint. Harry was just about to leap at Malfoy's throat, when Professor McGonagall stepped quietly down the stairs.
"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Potter!" she snapped. "What on earth are you doing in the halls? Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing near Gryffindor? Slytherin is on the other side of the castle." She stared at him down her nose until he finally grumbled and pushed past Harry to go towards Slytherin. Professor McGonagall turned to Harry. "And what were you doing with your wand out, Mr. Potter?" Harry searched for a logical answer, but couldn't find one. "Go back to Gryffindor Tower with a warning, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall snapped. She turned and padded back up the stairs. After a moment, Harry turned and followed.
"Pork Chops" Harry muttered, and the portrait swung open. He walked in, once again, to find Hermione and Ron being surrounded by a ring of people, but instead of Hermione and Ron arguing, Hermione was sitting on top of Ron, beating his face in.
Hermione was angry. Actually…that's putting it rather understated. Hermione was murderous. She could have killed anyone on that spot if they annoyed, touched or even talked to her. Ron recognized this and backed off. But the movement he made caused her to explode.
"What am I? A thing? An object you can just take advantage of?" She screamed at the top of her voice. Ron backed away towards the wall. Hermione followed. "Do I not have feelings? Am I not a human being or something? I can't believe you!" her eyes were bloodshot and as big as a house-elf's. Veins began to pop out of her neck and temples. She looked like a raging bull ready to charge.
"Well…I…" Ron meekly tried to respond, but Hermione was beyond reasoning. She wanted to end the torture that every person in this room tried to give her. She wanted to end them messing with her feelings and brains. She leapt at Ron.
Ron, completely taken by surprise of Hermione's latest action fell under her weight. She punched him hard in the face. The crunch of his nose felt good under her throbbing knuckles. She could have stopped right there, but she didn't. She was driven completely insane by the sight of the blood pouring out of Ron's nose that she began to pound down even more. That was when Harry walked in. He took one look at the crowd and at Hermione, then ran over to the fighting pair and pulled Hermione off Ron.
"Ron!" He yelled. "Are you ok?"
"Why do girls hit so hard?" Ron moaned through a face full of blood. Harry looked over at Hermione, who was looking horrified at what she did.
"Come, on, Ron. Let's get you to the infirmary." He looked at Hermione again, who was mouthing speechless words. He gently helped Ron up and walked out with him. The crowd looked at Hermione. She said nothing and walked out.
Instead of following the others, Hermione went down and decided that before she was expelled, she would try to look at her last books from the wizard's world. She sat down at a table in the back, and pulled out a book. She propped it on its side, then buried her face behind it and wept.
She cried for a very long time, and was beginning to think that she was all alone when she heard a voice behind her.
"What's the matter, mudblood?" Hermione turned around quickly and wiped her eyes.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" She snapped back. He sat on the table behind her, his arms crossed and a smirk playing on his face.
"You liked it, didn't you?"
"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" She glared at him.
"You liked hitting him, didn't you?" he repeated. She set her jaw. He got up and walked over to her.
"You liked the feel of flesh hitting flesh under knuckles, didn't you? You liked seeing the blood ooze out of his nose. You liked the terror in his eyes-"
"ALRIGHT!" Hermione yelled. "That's enough!" she spat at him.
"This is what it feels like mudblood. That Adrenaline rush just pumps through your body." He hissed.
"Stop it!" she yelled, covering her ears.
"The thrill of the hunt, the smell of blood at your nose, the excitement of death at your fingertips, at your mercy-"
"Enough!" she screamed and pushed him away.
Draco stumbled, and then shot her a dark look. "Better be careful, mudblood! You don't want two deaths on your hands!"
Hermione's eyes widened. "You know Malfoy." She breathed through her teeth. "I thought you could change. I really did, and I was foolish enough to believe it. But you're not any different from your father!" she screamed. She turned around to storm off, when she ran into Professor Snape.
"Come with me, Miss Granger." He said, coldly, a smile playing on his thin lips.
"Well, you're very lucky that she didn't pound your face into your head, Mr. Weasley." Madam Pomfrey was quickly stirring a potion that would help mend his broken nose (noses are quite different from the rest of your body, and special potions are needed in their mending). "Hermione's quite strong for her age, and it's not every day when someone can break a nose with only one punch." She placed her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't have teased her. Heaven knows that girl has way too much on her mind."
"We didn't teabe her!" Ron said through the tissue that he was holding to keep the blood from flowing. "Then what did you say to her? It must have been something horrible for her to snap like that. I mean-" She was cut off by Professor Dumbledore walking into the room. He took one look at Ron and Harry and his face broke out into a warm smile. He shook his head.
"Poppy, could you please excuse the boys and me?" He smiled. She nodded and walked into the adjacent room. The headmaster sat down on a nearby chair. "Now, Ron, Harry." He looked at each of the boys. "What happened?" He gave the boys a look that made them feel as if he were omniscient and already knew, and they better not lie.
Harry sighed. "We…well…you already know, professor."
"Yes, Harry, I do." His voice was quiet. "You shouldn't have abused Miss Granger like that. She is a very delicate girl." Ron snorted, ending up with blood squirting all over his tissue. Dumbledore smiled a bit. The door creaked open, and in walked Professor Snape leading a meek and quiet Hermione. He watched her as she sat down, and then departed the room. Professor Dumbledore watched them quietly.
"I think," he broke the heavy silence, "that friendships should not be ruined by affairs of the heart." He gazed from one to another. He got up to leave, but Hermione stopped him.
"Please, sir. Will I be expelled?" She hesitated a bit.
Professor Dumbledore turned around and smiled. "Hearts are confusing things, Hermione. Since not even I can understand my own, I have a feeling that no one else does and can control them. You certainly cannot imagine the depth of your heart, and therefore, I cannot expect you to have control over this sort of thing." With those words, he left the room. Madam Pomfrey bustled in and pushed Hermione and Harry out the door. She said her patient needed rest, because his nose needed very painful recovering. Harry and Hermione stood in the hall, not daring to say anything to the other. "Hermione…" Harry said, softly. Hermione looked down at her feet.
"Yes?" she asked. She was ashamed for having lost control. All she could see was, well, red. She felt a tinge of flush creep across her face as Harry place a hand on her cheek.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "The truth is…" he continued. "That I really do…" Hermione lifted her gaze into his eyes. Harry blushed a bit, smiling. He leaned closer to Hermione, and opened his mouth.
"Hey! Harry!" Ginny's voice echoed in the empty hall. "Where's Ron?" she asked, jogging up. Harry and Hermione sprang apart from each other instantly.
"No, I didn't see an eyelash in your eye, Herm." Harry said quickly.
"Don't call me that." Hermione replied, scowling.
Ginny giggled a bit. "Hey, Hermione. I heard what happened, and I'm sorry."
"It's ok. It really wasn't your fault that your brother was stupid."
"No. I'm not saying it's my fault, I'm just saying that I'm sorry my parents gave him the stupid genes!" Ginny burst out laughing.
"He's in there." Harry waved behind him with a smile on his face. Ginny threaded her arm through Harry's elbow, and together, they walked through the door.
Hermione watched them go, her arms crossed, and her face tight. How dare he? How dare he act like nothing just happened? She stalked off, sourly, through the empty corridor. As she walked, she could hear her footsteps echo on the stone floor. She stopped a bit to dry the tears that were now streaming down her face.
The footsteps didn't stop.
Someone was following her. She continued and walked, faster down the hall. The footsteps hurried after her. She broke into a run. The footsteps did the same. They started getting louder and louder. Suddenly, something heavy came crashing down on Hermione's legs. She tried to scramble out from underneath the weight, but it held her firmly down. Something, sounding like a glass bottle, fell on the floor. It didn't break, but made a loud clattering noise.
"Listen to me, Mudblood!" It was Draco. He turned her over, so she was looking directly into his eyes. "What you said back in the library wasn't true!" he said, panting. Hermione was pleased to see that her little run had taken the wind out of him. "I will never be my father! I refuse to be like him! You don't know what it's like! Having him yell at me all the time, for not being perfect, for not being like you. You don't know what it's like, seeing him beat you, your mother-" he broke off, as if the thought pained him. "I will never be him!" Draco snarled into her face. By that time Hermione had been able to push him away, though not off her. He sat on her legs, tears threatening to come down. Once again, Hermione felt the warmth well up in her iced-over heart. She was able to sit up, now, and, as she reached out to touch his cheek, she spoke.
"I'm sorry, Draco." He swatted her hand away.
"You don't know what I've been through." He spat. They sat for a while in the dark hall, each one not daring to say a word. Soon, Draco got up, and left Hermione sitting in the darkness. Hermione reached out to brace herself as she got up, and her hand came into contact with something cold, and smooth, unlike the stone of the floor. Curious, she got up, and fingered the glass in her hand. In the light of a torch, she found it to be a bottle of invisible ink.
Okeys! Sorry it took so long! I had soooooo many midterms, I started to go insane (started?). Anyways, I;ve about run out of threats to make you review. I was going to threaten you with nsync or something like that, but then, I realized that some of you might not veiw that as punishment, so now, as a kneebreaker, I am going to send.........ME!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes! The Lady Athanasia Live and in person to bash your face in for not reviewing! HA! Try to stop me from finding you! I know where you live! I know ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!........Yeah, I'm getting kinda tired, so review...