Author's Note: Whoa! I'm still reeling from glee after seeing Tom Felton in CoS. I swear I'm gonna watch it again this Sunday (by hook or by crook I will see Tom again! *evil laugh*) and drool over "His Sexiness" *lol* Okay, okay, I think I'm losing it. But oh well...checking him out inspires me to write this fic and just make Draco dreamy! Uhm...that's kinda hard but I'm blabbering here now so...personal replies to those lovely reviewers at the bottom of this chapter as always...toodles!
Disclaimer: Ya'll already know what this stands for
Summary: Draco & Hermione were suppose to start their 7th year at Hogwarts as a couple, but due to a misunderstanding the previous year that dream soon crumbled and now they are to start their 7th year picking up the pieces of their tattered lives...
Setting: 7th Year
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VIII. Confrontation...Again!
Hermione waited for Draco after dinner the following evening. She knew he left the Slytherin table as soon as he was done with his meal and exited the Great Hall without Crabbe and Goyle following him. Seems like his two sidekicks finally found a couple of ladies to keep them occupied rather than spend most of their time dogging after the hailed Slytherin Prince and Sex Symbol. She ate her dinner in record speed, using the excuse that she needed to do some research in the library before it closes as she made a mad dash out of the Great Hall and waited for Draco to leave the Slytherin table. She knew when he was almost done his meal and made sure she was done a good three to five minutes before him.
When Draco's silver blond head appeared through the large Great Hall door, Hermione stepped out of her hiding spot and blocked Draco's way.
Draco skidded to a stop before he collided with Hermione who appeared from out of nowhere before him.
"Mione?" he asked softly, his eyebrows furrowed at the center of his forehead.
Hermione tried not to flinch at his chosen nickname for her. She tried desperately not to be reminded of that night back in December, but every time she was near Draco he managed to bring up memories she'd rather left forgotten.
"We need to talk." she said simply, "Got a minute?"
"I got more than a minute to spare to you." he replied almost breathlessly, disbelief crossing his handsome face.
Hermione quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She turned on her heel and headed towards the direction of the library, but Draco caught her elbow before she could take more than two steps away from him.
"Let's go walk down by the lake. It's nice out tonight. Millions of stars to look at and--"
"I'd rather not go to the lake tonight, thank you very much." she interrupted sternly, "But if you want to stay outside, why don't we go sit out in the courtyard and talk." she suggested instead.
Now it was Draco's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Don't you think that's too public for us, Mione?"
"Too public for what? We're only going to talk." she pointed out sternly, "Unless you have some monkey business in mind, I suggest we head to the library."
"Why? So we could act on my so-called 'monkey business' in private?" he smirked.
Hermione's dark eyes turned into a pair of tiny slits chopping Draco's handsome face into think slices, "There's no way you'll be able to do your wicked monkey business ways on me or even with me, Draco Malfoy!" she spat out angrily and shrugged his hand off her elbow. "Now I want to talk to you and talk we shall. Either we go to the library or to the courtyard--your choice."
~*~
Seated on the floor between two large bookshelves nearing the back of the big library where hardly any student frequents, Draco faced Hermione and took his time gazing at her lovely face, memorizing each and every contour of her lovely face he has missed touching--and kissing. He doesn't know why Hermione asked to talk to him tonight, but he wasn't stupid enough to say "No, sorry, I don't have time. Maybe another time?" when he has been doing his damnedest to be alone with her for so long now!
"Okay, what is it you want to talk about?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush, Malfoy. I tried asking Harry, but that git's too thick in the head that he doesn't even want to tell me the truth." she began, she was seated in an Indian-style seat before him, her robes parted and her school uniform skirt was hiked up to expose her knees and made him catch a glimpse of her underwear--well, sort of anyway. "Are you even listening to me?" she snapped irately, pulling her skirt over her knees and covered Draco's view of her lovely...uh...loveliness, period.
Draco quickly snapped into attention and lifted his gaze to meet hers. Smiling cheekily he shrugged and slouched against the bookshelf behind him, making himself as comfortable as possible even though leaning against a bookshelf was far from comfortable! Books and shelf dividers alike were poking his back, making it impossible for him to lounge leisurely against the damn thing.
"Yeah, I'm listening. So you asked Potter, but he's a stubborn git and never gave you a straight answer. Am I right?" he quirked an eyebrow and met her gaze, challenging her to tell him he was wrong. Although he was somewhat preoccupied admiring her, his attention was fully in tuned with whatever she was saying.
"Something fishy is obviously going on. You and Harry can't turn out to be close friends overnight! You hate each other's guts since our first year."
"Oh yeah? Well I never expected to fall in love with a Mudblood like you, but I did so I don't see anything with my becoming friends with Harry." he replied nonchalantly.
Again Hermione flinched. She knew she was already used to Draco calling her names--especially Mudblood--but after what happened between them she honestly thought he'd refrain from referring to her as such.
"So the crow has turned white." she muttered under her breath and sat back, crossing her arms over her chest. She still didn't believe him. This was all too good to be true. Harry and Draco becoming fast friends all in a course of 48 hours? Way too fishy. she thought to herself.
Draco knew Hermione wasn't buying his answers. She was giving him that look that she neither believed nor understood what he said. He couldn't really tell her the honest-to-goodness truth that the reason behind him and Potter forging an alliance was because his sworn nemesis was helping him get the girl of his dreams back!
~*~
Draco met Harry en route to their first class the next day and pulled him aside. They never got the chance to meet the night before to talk much about their plan to get him and Hermione back together since Hermione pretty much kept him locked up in the library with her hounding him for information which he couldn't really divulge to her. It would ruin his well-laid plan with Potter if he started blabbering about the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the damn truth!
"She's asking too many questions, Potter. And I can't very much lie to her anymore." Draco hissed, keeping an eye out for Hermione just in case she decided to make another unexpected appearance like the last time. "She's a damn good sleuth and knows which buttons to press, what questions to ask and whatnot!"
"Will you relax, Malfoy? Hermione's just being Hermione. She has a knack for solving things, but this is one case she won't be solving any time soon--unless you slipped and blurted out that you're asking me for information about her, hence why we're always seen talking and hanging around together."
Draco made a face at him. "And also I asked you to help me get back together with her, not make her any more angrier with me than she already is!"
Harry frowned at his disgruntled former nemesis. "You don't really expect her to just forget about what she read in that parchment your father sent you, did you?"
"But I swear to you, I didn't act on my father's orders!" he insisted, "She should've given me the benefit of the doubt instead of jumping into conclusions!"
"Well, another Hermione fact: she acts now and thinks later. A very bad trait that I rubbed-off on her." (a/n: Hmm...maybe I'm wrong about this info, but I just have to have Harry say something about Hermione so I made this up--I'm not sure if she's an impulsive character)
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to be continued...
A/N: Hmm...well, here's the next chapter! Thank you all for the reviews and some of the ideas hurtled my way. They're all thought-provoking ideas...hehehehe
cass: sorry about the cliffhanger...here's the next chapter
Angela: I didn't think some peeps would think I'd use the PolyJuice potion, and the thought of using that potion didn't even cross my mind. I know it's (PolyJuice) been used quite a lot so I decided to go the other direction and do it the traditional way: SHE ASKED HIM HERSELF! *grins*
Lilie Blaze: well I think in this chapter you got your wish. Draco & Hermione talked and Harry & Draco talked
Queen Li: thanks for liking the idea I concocted of making Harry & Draco buddies. BTW, how's your major writer's block situation? getting over it soon?
Draco's one and only: hehehe, well I read your review and read your threat and so here is the next chapter! BTW, yeah, Tom Felton seems to look more and more sexier each time *grins*
Loki: I didn't realize until you brought it to my attention that I opened up so many possibilities in the previous chapter...hmm...now I'll have something else to work on if I stumbled upon some writer's block! hehehe thanks!
Brookie: yeah, EVERYONE will be surprised to see Harry & Draco walk down the great hallways of Hogwarts thrown deep into a serious conversation. No name calling being exchanged back and forth...besides, it's a nice change for those two butting-heads! hehehe
Hermione18: thanks, and I'll be listening/reading whatever suggestions you might come up with
Quistis88: quite unbelievable that Harry and Draco would end up becoming friends--and all because of one girl!
CindyLea: hmm...well we'll see where this story steers towards and maybe--JUST maybe--Hermione might end up preggy with Draco's child just to spite Lucius! *lol*
Hero: hmm...Harry or Ron paired up with Pansy...hehehe, I'll mull over that one, thanks!
Slytherin's Angel: hehehe, thanks for cheering Hermione on--and thanks for leaving your mark!
Demon Wolf: I must admit that when I first saw Tom in Anna and the King I kinda had a crush on him. He was so cute in that movie, then in the first HP movie he was kinda cute there too, but when I saw pix of him recently for CoS...ohlala! hehehe
maxzoid: no problem...thanks for liking this sequel so far...
Hannah4Daniel: hey, all my love to SHSGOL as well! hehehehe
Nysa: I am neither British nor American. I'm Canadian *grins* and the reason behind my switching spellings is because I am used to spelling words the British way, but since the word processor I'm using is using American dictionary, when I do spellchecks and stuff it just spells it the other way. And thanks for pointing out that tidbit of a fact regarding Harry's hair colour. I know it was a dark shade of something! *lol*