***Hello again all you cool people who actually read my story. I slowly
like my story more and more as I write it, so the pessimism is going to
take a blow. Oh no! How awful. Not much else to say. Oh, once again,
there are page breaks that managed to find their way into the story. Just
disregard them…unless they make sense where they are. And, as always,
Review!!***
**Disclaimer: I don't own characters or names except for Jason, who is actually a good friend of mine who likes this girl named Jenny (Ginny…Jenny…see the likeness?!) Isn't that crazy?! Not really…but still.
The Greatest of Sacrifices:
Union of Enemies
By Kate Potter
April 24-25 (It's 11.59, so, I'm not sure what date to put), 2002
After the last dream, Hermione had uninterrupted nights. Also, after a week had passed, Hermione stopped taking the potion as directed by Pomfrey and was pleasantly surprised when she found out that she didn't have any more dreams anyway.
On a particularly sunny Friday morning, Hermione walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast with Ginny. Hermione was also pleased to know that Ginny and Jason had hit it off extremely well. They were even planning for their one-week anniversary, which was coming up the next day. The only downside Hermione could see with them was the fact that she wished she had someone. She often felt that if she couldn't be half of a happy couple, she didn't want anyone else to be. But she supposed she should be happy for Ginny, especially since she was the one who had gotten them together.
They reached the hall a little late, as there weren't many places left to sit. Ginny went off and sat between Dean and Parvati while Hermione sat next to Seamus. It seemed as though he still hadn't recovered from the potion incident a while back; he stared at everything apprehensively as though it was going to explode right then and there. He had also grown quite agitated. Whenever someone would try to get his attention, he'd jump with a nervous look on his face.
Hermione was in the middle of drinking pumpkin juice when the loud flapping from above her sounded the arrival of the owls. Hermione saw the owl that usually delivered her "Daily Prophet" fly in and land on the table in front of her. She quickly untied the paper from its foot and gave it a piece of toast in gratitude.
Hermione undid the piece of string tying the paper in a roll and read the headlines.
"Ministry Officials and Aurors Stop Raid of Deatheaters At Thursday's Quidditch Match"
"Britain In Need Of More Recruits"
"Dark Forces Rising In Northern Areas Of Scotland Like Wick. Ireland Also Becoming Center Of Dark Power"
Hermione tried not to think too much about the stories in the paper, but it seemed as though that was all the paper had to tell about. Dark Forces had been rising rapidly, Hermione knew it, but she didn't know that it was this close. Wick wasn't too far away from where she lived.
Hermione had blocked out the paper from her mind the rest of the day. Classes had gone by smooth enough, except for the quarrels with the Slytherins, which, Hermione noted, Draco still didn't join in.
In a considerably boring History of Magic class, Hermione had fallen asleep, much like Harry. Unfortunately, Professor Binns had chosen that day to explain a particularly complicated and excruciating essay that he wanted done for Monday. Ron groaned.
"Didn't we JUST have an essay for this class?" He said, glaring at the teacher.
When neither Harry nor Hermione responded, he looked over at them, annoyed. Ron nudged Hermione in the ribs a little harder than he had intended. She woke up with a start and rubbed her side.
"What is it?" She snapped at him.
"Binns just assigned ANOTHER essay…"
Hermione groaned.
"And it's worse than the last one."
"They can get worse?" Hermione grumbled. The professor might as well assign them a mile-long essay; only a couple people would probably be able to finish the essay on time. Plus, since Hermione had been asleep, she didn't even know what the essay was to be about. She decided she'd asked after class was over and not disturb him in the middle of the period.
When the bell rang, she told Harry and Ron not to wait up for her since she only needed to ask Binns a quick question.
"Um, excuse me professor." She said, walking up to the old ghost.
He looked up at her dully with a "What is it Harriot?"
"Um, it's Hermione," she corrected, "And I'm just a bit confused about your essay."
"Maybe if you didn't sleep in my class you would know what the homework was."
"But—"
"I'm sorry, Miss Granning, but my class requires attention."
And with that, Professor Binns floated through the wall behind him. Hermione stood there, dumbstruck. Who did he think he was? He was a teacher for crying out loud! His job was to help students, not not help them.
Hermione grabbed her things together and walked out the door. Since it was the last period of the day, the halls were quiet. This made Hermione feel a bit better. Loud noises usually made her irritable. Hermione kept walking towards the north tower, not paying much attention to anything around her. Without warning, however, someone grabbed her wrist. She whipped around to see who it was and was furious to see that it was none other than Draco Malfoy.
Hermione wrenched her wrist from his grasp.
"What do you want?" She spat at him.
"I just want to talk." She would've come up with another comeback for a remark like this from Draco, but he looked serious.
"…Why…why should I talk to you?" She stuttered out, trying not to notice how upset he looked.
"I just need to talk. Please Hermione." What is this? Draco pleading?
'Wow, for once he said my first name." She thought to herself.
"Why me. You hate me! You hate everything about me!" She practically yelled at him. She turned to go, getting really peeved at his little act.
"I don't hate you, Hermione. Quite the opposite."
Hermione whipped around, glaring at him. What the heck was he talking about? Hermione scoffed and walked away from him. She couldn't tell if she was angry or not. She was just plain confused. She seemed to be like that a lot lately.
For the next couple of days, classes with the Slytherins were unbearable. There was a tingling feeling that pricked that back of her neck and told her someone was looking at her and when she'd turn around to see who it was, it would be none other than Draco. Also, when in classes where he sat in front of her, she would find herself staring at the back of his head. Harry and Ron noticed her strange behavior as well.
"Hermione? Hello?" Ron said, waving his hand in front of her face.
Hermione would blink and sit up again and look at him confusedly when he did this.
"What is it?" She said.
"Oh, nothing," Harry said, "Just that you seem to have found a new interest in the back of Malfoy's head."
"Don't worry," She said to them, "I'm just picturing it exploded over and over again in my mind. It's quite entertaining."
Harry and Ron laughed. They seemed to have bought it. Of course, that was far from what she really was thinking. She was mostly thinking of what he had meant when he had said, "I don't hate you, Hermione. Quite the opposite." It was driving her insane. If he meant what she thought he had meant, that would just make her more confused. It didn't make sense for him to like her, the way he had always acted before.
When the bell rang, there was a scuffle of desks and chairs as students got up. Hermione was just about to leave when the bottom of her bag ripped and all of her books, papers, quills, and ink fell to the floor. Harry and Ron had stopped to help, but she waved them away, not wanting them to be late for class. Reluctantly, Ron and Harry left her to clean up on her own.
Just when she thought that she was the last person in the class, someone crouched in front of her and handed her one of her books and a quill. Hermione looked up to see Draco.
Hermione took the book and quill from his hand with a small, "thank you" and put it into her now-repaired bag.
"Will you talk now?" He asked.
Although Hermione could think of a million other things she'd rather be doing at the moment, she didn't have a class next, and she really did want to know why he was acting so odd lately. Now was as good a time as any.
"What do you want to talk about?" She said a little harsher than she wanted to.
"I…um…well…"
"Just spit it out, Malfoy!"
Draco looked up at her with a stunned/hurt look on his face.
"This is kind of hard Granger, give me a minute."
His gaze changed quickly from sad to angry, which made Hermione a bit nervous. She looked down at her bag and shook her head.
"I'm sorry." They said at the same time.
Hermione smiled a bit at the irony, but it quickly disappeared. She didn't want Draco to know she'd grown soft on him, which she thought was pointless since it was quite obvious already.
"I didn't mean to yell…" he said, "I guess I can't help it. I'm just like that."
"Not lately, you aren't." Hermione said.
"What do you mean?" He asked, looking at her.
"Well, whenever my friends fight with yours in class, you never say anything anymore."
"Oh," he said, "Well, I've been trying not to get involved in stupid quarrels."
They didn't say anything for a few seconds, which seemed to be an eternity.
"It's a nice change." Hermione finally said.
"What is?"
"You. Not fighting all the time and calling me and my friends names."
"I'm sorry about all that." He said, still eyeing her. "I didn't mean it, you know."
Hermione was still staring at her bag, not wanting to make eye contact with Draco. This was so awkward already.
"Well, for what it's worth," Hermione said, "I didn't mean whatever I said about you…much."
Draco laughed and Hermione smiled a bit again and looked at him. 'He has a nice smile' she thought to herself. She didn't even notice that they had been staring at each other for nearly ten seconds just smiling. Draco seemed to notice, though, and he stood up suddenly, breaking their gaze and leaving Hermione still kneeling on the floor. Hermione gathered her things up from the floor, flushing embarrassedly.
"Well, I should get going." He said to her, while eyeing the door. "Vince and Greg will be wondering where I am."
'Vince and Greg? Oh, Crabbe an Goyle.' Hermione thought to herself.
"Yeah, Harry and Ron would probably be out searching for me soon, too, if they didn't have class now, that is."
"Heh, um, here" He offered her him hand. A bit uncomfortably, she took it and he helped her up. For being a somewhat skinny guy, he was really strong. It seemed like he had put too much effort into pulling her up and she stumbled into him. Hermione looked up; their faces were extremely close…
Draco took a step back just as Hermione did, too.
"Well, I should get going then."
"Yeah, me too"
Draco let her step out the door first and followed her out. They got to an intersection in the hall, knowing that they were about to go opposite ways. They flashed each other quick smiles and walked down the different halls.
That night, Hermione lay in her bed, thinking considerably different about Draco than she had a few days before.
Then next morning, at breakfast, Hermione received a small note from an owl she didn't recognize. On it, was pointy, but neat handwriting that read:
Hermione, is it possible for you to meet me tonight near the Potions room at 11:00? It would be greatly appreciated. –D.
Hermione read the note over and over again. Instead of writing back, she looked around the table to see if anyone was watching her, and then looked over to the Slytherin table. Draco was watching her intently, and when she nodded to him and half-smiled, he couldn't help but smile, too.
The day couldn't have gone by more slowly. At least, that's what Hermione had though. She was quite anxious to find out what Draco wanted to talk about. She was still a bit upset to admit it, but she liked him. Whenever she looked at him, her stomach would get all tickly.
Hermione was doing her homework when the clock struck 10:30 p.m. She decided that it wouldn't hurt to be a bit early, besides, when she wasn't in a rush, it took nearly 20 minutes to get the other side of the castle where the potions dungeon was. By the time she did reach there, however, she wasn't sure what time it was. All she knew was that soon enough, Draco would be there…hopefully.
Hermione figured a few minutes went by. She was sure that he wasn't late, but she was getting rather restless to see him. Another couple minutes went by and she was getting annoyed. Not exactly at Draco, but at how cold the entire school was.
All of a sudden, from behind her, someone grabbed her wrist. She spun around to see Draco and his trademark smirk.
"Draco. Hi." She said, a bit breathless.
"Hey." He said coolly.
Draco held onto her wrist and slowly walked closer to her. Out of instinct, Hermione backed up a step with every step he took closer to her.
"So…you wanted to talk?" She asked politely.
"Kind of." He said with a piercing stare.
"So…what about?" She asked nervously.
"About you." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Unless you want to talk about something else."
"…um"
Draco took another step towards her and when she tried to step back, she found the cold, stone wall in the way.
"I like you a lot, Hermione." He said. "I thought that was kind of obvious when we were talking before."
"Oh?" Was all she could say.
"I thought that maybe you felt the same." He said, inching closer.
Hermione's face was now just inches from Draco's. She was so confused. Again. She just now liked Draco, but he'd been her enemy for such a long time. Could she really trust him? The last time she gave her heart to someone…she didn't want to think about that.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly, taking her other hand in his.
"…It's nothing." She said, turning away, freeing her hands.
"You don't trust me." He said, sounding hurt.
"…No, that's…not it." Hermione said quietly. That was it, but she couldn't tell him.
"Then what?" He asked, walking up behind her, whispering in her ear and slightly resting his chin on her left shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck.
"You're afraid of me?"
"No…Draco…" she said softly. She didn't move away.
"So it's both…" Draco said, placing a hand on her other shoulder.
"…"
Draco grabbed her other shoulder and turned her so she was facing him.
"Knew it." He said, his face an inch from hers.
"Please Draco…"
"Why are you being so stubborn?" He asked, laughing.
Draco leaned towards her. So close she could feel the heat of his skin. She felt his lips touch hers and she freaked. She turned away and Draco let go of her shoulders. He sighed loudly and started to walk away.
"Why do you ignore it?" He asked. "You can't live without me."
He walked away into the darkness of the corridor behind her. She could hear his footsteps fading. It was dawning on her. She did like him, a lot. She didn't think she loved him, but it was definitely an infatuation she couldn't ignore anymore. As much as she didn't want to say it, Draco was right.
Hermione turned around quickly, but Draco, along with the sound of his footsteps, was gone. She stood there for a moment, wondering if she should try to follow him, but decided against it. It would be too easy to get lost in the stone walkways. She would have to get with Draco again sometime.
For the next couple of days, Hermione couldn't stop thinking of Draco. It was the most she could do, too. Whenever she would look at him in the Great Hall during meals, either he would look back at her or someone at her table would ask her what was wrong.
"Nothing," she would say. She'd then give him one last look just to see him smirking at her.
"He's making me crazy!" She thought to herself. "And he knows it! How could I let this happen to me? He's not even a decent person…"
On one considerably stormy Saturday afternoon, Hermione was sitting on a chair by a large window in the Gryffindor common room. Outside looked as dreary as ever. It was quite windy and the howling was echoing through the large stone room. She could see the whomping willow in the distance; its many branches whipping in the wind as if someone had tried to walk up to it. She could also see Hagrid's hut; its windows alight and chimney smoking. She wished she could go see Hagrid, but the wind, which was now blowing the rain on the window, making loud splatting noises, looked as if it could blow her away. She decided to take a walk, since Harry and Ron, as usual, had started a long discussion about Quidditch.
She walked out the portrait hole, guessing Harry and Ron wouldn't even notice.
"Where are you going dear?" the fat lady asked.
"I'm not sure," Hermione replied. "Just out, I guess."
She turned and walked away from the portrait. She didn't know where she was going, but she seriously needed something to do. As the windows and nothing else seldom lighted some corridors, they were eerily dark and glum. The pounding rain also added to the darkness, making Hermione shiver and wish she hadn't left. But once she got to the entrance hall, the chandeliers lit up every corner. Some other students, who were obviously just as bored as her, could be seen sitting on the chairs next to the windows. From these, you could see the lake where, currently, the giant squid could be seen protruding from the surface of the water. She looked around, she didn't know anyone out here, and so she started up the large staircase. They seemed longer than usual since she wasn't in her normally mad rush to get to class. She stopped at the first landing and looked at a portrait in front of her. There were others, but this one caught her eye. It was of a general-ish looking man. He didn't look like someone who possessed magical powers, but, in his belt, there was a small pocket that held a wand. She looked at the man's jacket. There were medals and pins all over it and a patch. It had the initials J.P. on it and two wands crossing and creating a large X. Hermione wondered how she had never seen this portrait before. It was in fairly good condition, as if it were not too old. She was pretty sure it had always been there, but she had just never looked at it.
"…Hermione"
Hermione jumped and someone behind her put their hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, just me!" Harry said, looking slightly amused, slightly shocked.
"Harry, you startled me!" she said, turning to look at him.
"I used to look at this picture a lot, too." He said, nodding at the man in the picture.
"You?" Hermione said, looking at it, too. "How come."
"I just have a connection to it somehow…I don't suppose you know what I mean, though, huh?"
Hermione didn't know what to say. She knew that people, even muggles, could sense connections with important things even if they didn't really know about them. But, Harry was right; she never really felt it before.
"Do you know who this is, Harry?" she asked him.
"…no," he said quietly, then suddenly laughed out loud. "How would I know?"
Hermione laughed quietly, too.
"I dunno," she said, "just asking."
"Well, I have to go ask Professor Binns about that nasty essay, you know?," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder again, "But I suppose you have it done already?"
"Yeah, I do." She said half smiling.
"I didn't really need to ask." He said, tugging friendlily at her hair, "I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
"Right," Hermione said, "Dinner."
She watched Harry walk up the stairs and disappear through a door. She looked back up at the man in the picture. She looked at his face. He was quite handsome…dark hair…tall, but there was something about those eyes. They were…dark blue? Violet? She couldn't tell. She looked at his patch again…J.P…J.P…wait a minute…James P…blast…
"Oh!" she gasped, "Harry!"
She turned to go up the stairs towards Harry, but she couldn't see him. She had a tendency to be late like that.
She walked back down the stairs and looked at the portrait one last time and went up the opposite set of stairs Harry went up. These corridors were quite dark, too, but were deep inside the castle, so she couldn't hear the rain. It was quite creepy; not being able to see anything or hear anything but her own footsteps and breaths. She took a few turns and went through a few doors, stupidly, because she didn't really know her way around, though she thought she did at the moment. Hermione took a left at where she thought would take her back, but found another long hallway. She turned around and went the opposite way, but she only found an empty classroom. She was kind of confused, but she didn't worry yet. She walked back the way she came…or was that the way she came? She couldn't remember. She remembered a trick her father had taught her. If you place your hand on a wall when you're lost, and keep on walking, not removing your hand, you'll eventually find the exit of any maze…well…as long as the rooms and halls don't constantly change as they did at Hogwarts. She tried to find her way back, but to no avail. What had she gotten herself into? She knew better than to go wandering around. It wasn't like her to do this. Ten minutes passed and she still didn't find her way. She was starting to get scared when she took another right and found herself at the same empty classroom as before. She turned her back to the wall and let herself sink to the floor. What was she going to do? Why did she always have to be so sure of herself? Suddenly, from down the long corridor in front of her, she heard footsteps. They were getting louder.
"Hey!" She yelled. "Who's there?"
The footsteps stopped abruptly, then started up again at the same speed. They were getting closer and closer. Hermione knew better than to be scared of a fellow student or teacher, but she still felt a bit apprehensive. The footsteps stopped again when they were very close.
"Hellooo?" She said. "I know you're there."
"Hello again Granger." …Draco.
"Draco…?" She said, standing up. "What are you doing down here?"
"I think I should be asking you the same question." He said. "This is Slytherin ground."
"Slytherin ground?" She questioned, "I didn't know you owned the areas of the school close to your common room."
"Well you were mistaken. So, what are you doing down here?"
"…I…got lost." She said quietly, a little embarrassed.
"Lost?" He said, sounding quite amused. "It's not that hard to get around here."
Draco stepped closer to her, close enough that she could see his face in the dim light. Her whole body felt lighter and her heart was beating faster than usual. Suddenly, without a trace of warning, Draco grabbed her wrist and led her down the hall.
"Where are you---" she started.
"Shhh"
"Draco…?"
Draco led her down several halls and through several doors. The whole time, Draco didn't say a word. She hoped that he wasn't just pulling another one of his sick tricks. Finally, after about five minutes, Draco stopped. Hermione could see the entrance hall through a tapestry in the distance. Even though they had stopped walking, Draco wouldn't let go of her hand.
"Oh…thank you Draco." She said, not able to look him in the eyes and instead focusing on her feet.
"Don't sound so surprised." He said, taking her other hand in his.
She didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to rip her hands free of his, but the other part, which was also the majority, wanted to stay with him. She felt…safe.
"You still don't trust me?" he asked, looking her in the eyes, "Or are you afraid of me?"
Hermione was pretty sure that she could trust him now. She didn't know why, all he did was get her un-lost from the castle. She also wasn't scared of him much anymore. He was a lot gentler than she ever thought he could be.
"No." She said.
"No what?" he asked her.
"Neither. Neither of them."
Draco smiled, not smirked, smiled, and put one hand under her chin and lifted it so she was looking at him.
"I never want you to be." He said quietly. "I want you to want to be by me when you're scared. I want you to wish that you were by me when the ones you thought you could trust lie to you."
"I will…" Hermione whispered, "I do…"
Hermione took her free hand and brushed it across his cheek, making him close his eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes and looked deeply into hers.
"I want you to love me." He said.
"I…"
Before she could finish, Draco leaned forward and kissed her. He pressed her up against the wall and put his hand on her waist. It wasn't a deep kiss or one that had much emotion in it, but when draco pulled back, Hermione's eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply…
"Yes…?" he said, "You were saying…?"
"I…h-have to go." She stuttered, and walked towards the light coming from the tapestry. Draco kissed her! Draco! Malfoy! Draco Malfoy! He also practically said he loved her, or, at least, said he wanted her to. What was that about? What, were they maybe nice to each other for five days and only talked during two of those days? She was so confused. She had quite a bit of thinking to do. Again.
Hmm…this chapter came out really fast. I actually wrote it in the same day I finished the third chapter. A whole bunch of ideas came to me at once and I couldn't fit them in one chapter. I like this chapter lots, for obvious reasons. Swooning over Draco is a daily occurrence in my life. Which is rather pathetic when you think about it because Draco isn't even real…oh well…a girl can dream. Well, anywho, is it just me, or does Hermione always have a lot of "thinking to do" in this story? She's also confused an awful lot. I'll try to fix that. Well, once again, I'd like to thank my beta, Bren, and anyone who has reviewed. Should I do that thing where I copy and paste all the names of people who reviewed? I dunno, with the amount I have now, it doesn't seem like it would really be worth it. These are things to think about. Hmm…well, please review if you haven't already. My goal at the moment is to either get more than 10 reviews or make it onto at least one person's favorite authors list. I know, it's kinda pathetic, but that's who I am…pathetic, that is. And if you have reviewed, review again because you're cool. Have a nice day!
-Kate P.
**Disclaimer: I don't own characters or names except for Jason, who is actually a good friend of mine who likes this girl named Jenny (Ginny…Jenny…see the likeness?!) Isn't that crazy?! Not really…but still.
The Greatest of Sacrifices:
Union of Enemies
By Kate Potter
April 24-25 (It's 11.59, so, I'm not sure what date to put), 2002
After the last dream, Hermione had uninterrupted nights. Also, after a week had passed, Hermione stopped taking the potion as directed by Pomfrey and was pleasantly surprised when she found out that she didn't have any more dreams anyway.
On a particularly sunny Friday morning, Hermione walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast with Ginny. Hermione was also pleased to know that Ginny and Jason had hit it off extremely well. They were even planning for their one-week anniversary, which was coming up the next day. The only downside Hermione could see with them was the fact that she wished she had someone. She often felt that if she couldn't be half of a happy couple, she didn't want anyone else to be. But she supposed she should be happy for Ginny, especially since she was the one who had gotten them together.
They reached the hall a little late, as there weren't many places left to sit. Ginny went off and sat between Dean and Parvati while Hermione sat next to Seamus. It seemed as though he still hadn't recovered from the potion incident a while back; he stared at everything apprehensively as though it was going to explode right then and there. He had also grown quite agitated. Whenever someone would try to get his attention, he'd jump with a nervous look on his face.
Hermione was in the middle of drinking pumpkin juice when the loud flapping from above her sounded the arrival of the owls. Hermione saw the owl that usually delivered her "Daily Prophet" fly in and land on the table in front of her. She quickly untied the paper from its foot and gave it a piece of toast in gratitude.
Hermione undid the piece of string tying the paper in a roll and read the headlines.
"Ministry Officials and Aurors Stop Raid of Deatheaters At Thursday's Quidditch Match"
"Britain In Need Of More Recruits"
"Dark Forces Rising In Northern Areas Of Scotland Like Wick. Ireland Also Becoming Center Of Dark Power"
Hermione tried not to think too much about the stories in the paper, but it seemed as though that was all the paper had to tell about. Dark Forces had been rising rapidly, Hermione knew it, but she didn't know that it was this close. Wick wasn't too far away from where she lived.
Hermione had blocked out the paper from her mind the rest of the day. Classes had gone by smooth enough, except for the quarrels with the Slytherins, which, Hermione noted, Draco still didn't join in.
In a considerably boring History of Magic class, Hermione had fallen asleep, much like Harry. Unfortunately, Professor Binns had chosen that day to explain a particularly complicated and excruciating essay that he wanted done for Monday. Ron groaned.
"Didn't we JUST have an essay for this class?" He said, glaring at the teacher.
When neither Harry nor Hermione responded, he looked over at them, annoyed. Ron nudged Hermione in the ribs a little harder than he had intended. She woke up with a start and rubbed her side.
"What is it?" She snapped at him.
"Binns just assigned ANOTHER essay…"
Hermione groaned.
"And it's worse than the last one."
"They can get worse?" Hermione grumbled. The professor might as well assign them a mile-long essay; only a couple people would probably be able to finish the essay on time. Plus, since Hermione had been asleep, she didn't even know what the essay was to be about. She decided she'd asked after class was over and not disturb him in the middle of the period.
When the bell rang, she told Harry and Ron not to wait up for her since she only needed to ask Binns a quick question.
"Um, excuse me professor." She said, walking up to the old ghost.
He looked up at her dully with a "What is it Harriot?"
"Um, it's Hermione," she corrected, "And I'm just a bit confused about your essay."
"Maybe if you didn't sleep in my class you would know what the homework was."
"But—"
"I'm sorry, Miss Granning, but my class requires attention."
And with that, Professor Binns floated through the wall behind him. Hermione stood there, dumbstruck. Who did he think he was? He was a teacher for crying out loud! His job was to help students, not not help them.
Hermione grabbed her things together and walked out the door. Since it was the last period of the day, the halls were quiet. This made Hermione feel a bit better. Loud noises usually made her irritable. Hermione kept walking towards the north tower, not paying much attention to anything around her. Without warning, however, someone grabbed her wrist. She whipped around to see who it was and was furious to see that it was none other than Draco Malfoy.
Hermione wrenched her wrist from his grasp.
"What do you want?" She spat at him.
"I just want to talk." She would've come up with another comeback for a remark like this from Draco, but he looked serious.
"…Why…why should I talk to you?" She stuttered out, trying not to notice how upset he looked.
"I just need to talk. Please Hermione." What is this? Draco pleading?
'Wow, for once he said my first name." She thought to herself.
"Why me. You hate me! You hate everything about me!" She practically yelled at him. She turned to go, getting really peeved at his little act.
"I don't hate you, Hermione. Quite the opposite."
Hermione whipped around, glaring at him. What the heck was he talking about? Hermione scoffed and walked away from him. She couldn't tell if she was angry or not. She was just plain confused. She seemed to be like that a lot lately.
For the next couple of days, classes with the Slytherins were unbearable. There was a tingling feeling that pricked that back of her neck and told her someone was looking at her and when she'd turn around to see who it was, it would be none other than Draco. Also, when in classes where he sat in front of her, she would find herself staring at the back of his head. Harry and Ron noticed her strange behavior as well.
"Hermione? Hello?" Ron said, waving his hand in front of her face.
Hermione would blink and sit up again and look at him confusedly when he did this.
"What is it?" She said.
"Oh, nothing," Harry said, "Just that you seem to have found a new interest in the back of Malfoy's head."
"Don't worry," She said to them, "I'm just picturing it exploded over and over again in my mind. It's quite entertaining."
Harry and Ron laughed. They seemed to have bought it. Of course, that was far from what she really was thinking. She was mostly thinking of what he had meant when he had said, "I don't hate you, Hermione. Quite the opposite." It was driving her insane. If he meant what she thought he had meant, that would just make her more confused. It didn't make sense for him to like her, the way he had always acted before.
When the bell rang, there was a scuffle of desks and chairs as students got up. Hermione was just about to leave when the bottom of her bag ripped and all of her books, papers, quills, and ink fell to the floor. Harry and Ron had stopped to help, but she waved them away, not wanting them to be late for class. Reluctantly, Ron and Harry left her to clean up on her own.
Just when she thought that she was the last person in the class, someone crouched in front of her and handed her one of her books and a quill. Hermione looked up to see Draco.
Hermione took the book and quill from his hand with a small, "thank you" and put it into her now-repaired bag.
"Will you talk now?" He asked.
Although Hermione could think of a million other things she'd rather be doing at the moment, she didn't have a class next, and she really did want to know why he was acting so odd lately. Now was as good a time as any.
"What do you want to talk about?" She said a little harsher than she wanted to.
"I…um…well…"
"Just spit it out, Malfoy!"
Draco looked up at her with a stunned/hurt look on his face.
"This is kind of hard Granger, give me a minute."
His gaze changed quickly from sad to angry, which made Hermione a bit nervous. She looked down at her bag and shook her head.
"I'm sorry." They said at the same time.
Hermione smiled a bit at the irony, but it quickly disappeared. She didn't want Draco to know she'd grown soft on him, which she thought was pointless since it was quite obvious already.
"I didn't mean to yell…" he said, "I guess I can't help it. I'm just like that."
"Not lately, you aren't." Hermione said.
"What do you mean?" He asked, looking at her.
"Well, whenever my friends fight with yours in class, you never say anything anymore."
"Oh," he said, "Well, I've been trying not to get involved in stupid quarrels."
They didn't say anything for a few seconds, which seemed to be an eternity.
"It's a nice change." Hermione finally said.
"What is?"
"You. Not fighting all the time and calling me and my friends names."
"I'm sorry about all that." He said, still eyeing her. "I didn't mean it, you know."
Hermione was still staring at her bag, not wanting to make eye contact with Draco. This was so awkward already.
"Well, for what it's worth," Hermione said, "I didn't mean whatever I said about you…much."
Draco laughed and Hermione smiled a bit again and looked at him. 'He has a nice smile' she thought to herself. She didn't even notice that they had been staring at each other for nearly ten seconds just smiling. Draco seemed to notice, though, and he stood up suddenly, breaking their gaze and leaving Hermione still kneeling on the floor. Hermione gathered her things up from the floor, flushing embarrassedly.
"Well, I should get going." He said to her, while eyeing the door. "Vince and Greg will be wondering where I am."
'Vince and Greg? Oh, Crabbe an Goyle.' Hermione thought to herself.
"Yeah, Harry and Ron would probably be out searching for me soon, too, if they didn't have class now, that is."
"Heh, um, here" He offered her him hand. A bit uncomfortably, she took it and he helped her up. For being a somewhat skinny guy, he was really strong. It seemed like he had put too much effort into pulling her up and she stumbled into him. Hermione looked up; their faces were extremely close…
Draco took a step back just as Hermione did, too.
"Well, I should get going then."
"Yeah, me too"
Draco let her step out the door first and followed her out. They got to an intersection in the hall, knowing that they were about to go opposite ways. They flashed each other quick smiles and walked down the different halls.
That night, Hermione lay in her bed, thinking considerably different about Draco than she had a few days before.
Then next morning, at breakfast, Hermione received a small note from an owl she didn't recognize. On it, was pointy, but neat handwriting that read:
Hermione, is it possible for you to meet me tonight near the Potions room at 11:00? It would be greatly appreciated. –D.
Hermione read the note over and over again. Instead of writing back, she looked around the table to see if anyone was watching her, and then looked over to the Slytherin table. Draco was watching her intently, and when she nodded to him and half-smiled, he couldn't help but smile, too.
The day couldn't have gone by more slowly. At least, that's what Hermione had though. She was quite anxious to find out what Draco wanted to talk about. She was still a bit upset to admit it, but she liked him. Whenever she looked at him, her stomach would get all tickly.
Hermione was doing her homework when the clock struck 10:30 p.m. She decided that it wouldn't hurt to be a bit early, besides, when she wasn't in a rush, it took nearly 20 minutes to get the other side of the castle where the potions dungeon was. By the time she did reach there, however, she wasn't sure what time it was. All she knew was that soon enough, Draco would be there…hopefully.
Hermione figured a few minutes went by. She was sure that he wasn't late, but she was getting rather restless to see him. Another couple minutes went by and she was getting annoyed. Not exactly at Draco, but at how cold the entire school was.
All of a sudden, from behind her, someone grabbed her wrist. She spun around to see Draco and his trademark smirk.
"Draco. Hi." She said, a bit breathless.
"Hey." He said coolly.
Draco held onto her wrist and slowly walked closer to her. Out of instinct, Hermione backed up a step with every step he took closer to her.
"So…you wanted to talk?" She asked politely.
"Kind of." He said with a piercing stare.
"So…what about?" She asked nervously.
"About you." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Unless you want to talk about something else."
"…um"
Draco took another step towards her and when she tried to step back, she found the cold, stone wall in the way.
"I like you a lot, Hermione." He said. "I thought that was kind of obvious when we were talking before."
"Oh?" Was all she could say.
"I thought that maybe you felt the same." He said, inching closer.
Hermione's face was now just inches from Draco's. She was so confused. Again. She just now liked Draco, but he'd been her enemy for such a long time. Could she really trust him? The last time she gave her heart to someone…she didn't want to think about that.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly, taking her other hand in his.
"…It's nothing." She said, turning away, freeing her hands.
"You don't trust me." He said, sounding hurt.
"…No, that's…not it." Hermione said quietly. That was it, but she couldn't tell him.
"Then what?" He asked, walking up behind her, whispering in her ear and slightly resting his chin on her left shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck.
"You're afraid of me?"
"No…Draco…" she said softly. She didn't move away.
"So it's both…" Draco said, placing a hand on her other shoulder.
"…"
Draco grabbed her other shoulder and turned her so she was facing him.
"Knew it." He said, his face an inch from hers.
"Please Draco…"
"Why are you being so stubborn?" He asked, laughing.
Draco leaned towards her. So close she could feel the heat of his skin. She felt his lips touch hers and she freaked. She turned away and Draco let go of her shoulders. He sighed loudly and started to walk away.
"Why do you ignore it?" He asked. "You can't live without me."
He walked away into the darkness of the corridor behind her. She could hear his footsteps fading. It was dawning on her. She did like him, a lot. She didn't think she loved him, but it was definitely an infatuation she couldn't ignore anymore. As much as she didn't want to say it, Draco was right.
Hermione turned around quickly, but Draco, along with the sound of his footsteps, was gone. She stood there for a moment, wondering if she should try to follow him, but decided against it. It would be too easy to get lost in the stone walkways. She would have to get with Draco again sometime.
For the next couple of days, Hermione couldn't stop thinking of Draco. It was the most she could do, too. Whenever she would look at him in the Great Hall during meals, either he would look back at her or someone at her table would ask her what was wrong.
"Nothing," she would say. She'd then give him one last look just to see him smirking at her.
"He's making me crazy!" She thought to herself. "And he knows it! How could I let this happen to me? He's not even a decent person…"
On one considerably stormy Saturday afternoon, Hermione was sitting on a chair by a large window in the Gryffindor common room. Outside looked as dreary as ever. It was quite windy and the howling was echoing through the large stone room. She could see the whomping willow in the distance; its many branches whipping in the wind as if someone had tried to walk up to it. She could also see Hagrid's hut; its windows alight and chimney smoking. She wished she could go see Hagrid, but the wind, which was now blowing the rain on the window, making loud splatting noises, looked as if it could blow her away. She decided to take a walk, since Harry and Ron, as usual, had started a long discussion about Quidditch.
She walked out the portrait hole, guessing Harry and Ron wouldn't even notice.
"Where are you going dear?" the fat lady asked.
"I'm not sure," Hermione replied. "Just out, I guess."
She turned and walked away from the portrait. She didn't know where she was going, but she seriously needed something to do. As the windows and nothing else seldom lighted some corridors, they were eerily dark and glum. The pounding rain also added to the darkness, making Hermione shiver and wish she hadn't left. But once she got to the entrance hall, the chandeliers lit up every corner. Some other students, who were obviously just as bored as her, could be seen sitting on the chairs next to the windows. From these, you could see the lake where, currently, the giant squid could be seen protruding from the surface of the water. She looked around, she didn't know anyone out here, and so she started up the large staircase. They seemed longer than usual since she wasn't in her normally mad rush to get to class. She stopped at the first landing and looked at a portrait in front of her. There were others, but this one caught her eye. It was of a general-ish looking man. He didn't look like someone who possessed magical powers, but, in his belt, there was a small pocket that held a wand. She looked at the man's jacket. There were medals and pins all over it and a patch. It had the initials J.P. on it and two wands crossing and creating a large X. Hermione wondered how she had never seen this portrait before. It was in fairly good condition, as if it were not too old. She was pretty sure it had always been there, but she had just never looked at it.
"…Hermione"
Hermione jumped and someone behind her put their hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, just me!" Harry said, looking slightly amused, slightly shocked.
"Harry, you startled me!" she said, turning to look at him.
"I used to look at this picture a lot, too." He said, nodding at the man in the picture.
"You?" Hermione said, looking at it, too. "How come."
"I just have a connection to it somehow…I don't suppose you know what I mean, though, huh?"
Hermione didn't know what to say. She knew that people, even muggles, could sense connections with important things even if they didn't really know about them. But, Harry was right; she never really felt it before.
"Do you know who this is, Harry?" she asked him.
"…no," he said quietly, then suddenly laughed out loud. "How would I know?"
Hermione laughed quietly, too.
"I dunno," she said, "just asking."
"Well, I have to go ask Professor Binns about that nasty essay, you know?," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder again, "But I suppose you have it done already?"
"Yeah, I do." She said half smiling.
"I didn't really need to ask." He said, tugging friendlily at her hair, "I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
"Right," Hermione said, "Dinner."
She watched Harry walk up the stairs and disappear through a door. She looked back up at the man in the picture. She looked at his face. He was quite handsome…dark hair…tall, but there was something about those eyes. They were…dark blue? Violet? She couldn't tell. She looked at his patch again…J.P…J.P…wait a minute…James P…blast…
"Oh!" she gasped, "Harry!"
She turned to go up the stairs towards Harry, but she couldn't see him. She had a tendency to be late like that.
She walked back down the stairs and looked at the portrait one last time and went up the opposite set of stairs Harry went up. These corridors were quite dark, too, but were deep inside the castle, so she couldn't hear the rain. It was quite creepy; not being able to see anything or hear anything but her own footsteps and breaths. She took a few turns and went through a few doors, stupidly, because she didn't really know her way around, though she thought she did at the moment. Hermione took a left at where she thought would take her back, but found another long hallway. She turned around and went the opposite way, but she only found an empty classroom. She was kind of confused, but she didn't worry yet. She walked back the way she came…or was that the way she came? She couldn't remember. She remembered a trick her father had taught her. If you place your hand on a wall when you're lost, and keep on walking, not removing your hand, you'll eventually find the exit of any maze…well…as long as the rooms and halls don't constantly change as they did at Hogwarts. She tried to find her way back, but to no avail. What had she gotten herself into? She knew better than to go wandering around. It wasn't like her to do this. Ten minutes passed and she still didn't find her way. She was starting to get scared when she took another right and found herself at the same empty classroom as before. She turned her back to the wall and let herself sink to the floor. What was she going to do? Why did she always have to be so sure of herself? Suddenly, from down the long corridor in front of her, she heard footsteps. They were getting louder.
"Hey!" She yelled. "Who's there?"
The footsteps stopped abruptly, then started up again at the same speed. They were getting closer and closer. Hermione knew better than to be scared of a fellow student or teacher, but she still felt a bit apprehensive. The footsteps stopped again when they were very close.
"Hellooo?" She said. "I know you're there."
"Hello again Granger." …Draco.
"Draco…?" She said, standing up. "What are you doing down here?"
"I think I should be asking you the same question." He said. "This is Slytherin ground."
"Slytherin ground?" She questioned, "I didn't know you owned the areas of the school close to your common room."
"Well you were mistaken. So, what are you doing down here?"
"…I…got lost." She said quietly, a little embarrassed.
"Lost?" He said, sounding quite amused. "It's not that hard to get around here."
Draco stepped closer to her, close enough that she could see his face in the dim light. Her whole body felt lighter and her heart was beating faster than usual. Suddenly, without a trace of warning, Draco grabbed her wrist and led her down the hall.
"Where are you---" she started.
"Shhh"
"Draco…?"
Draco led her down several halls and through several doors. The whole time, Draco didn't say a word. She hoped that he wasn't just pulling another one of his sick tricks. Finally, after about five minutes, Draco stopped. Hermione could see the entrance hall through a tapestry in the distance. Even though they had stopped walking, Draco wouldn't let go of her hand.
"Oh…thank you Draco." She said, not able to look him in the eyes and instead focusing on her feet.
"Don't sound so surprised." He said, taking her other hand in his.
She didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to rip her hands free of his, but the other part, which was also the majority, wanted to stay with him. She felt…safe.
"You still don't trust me?" he asked, looking her in the eyes, "Or are you afraid of me?"
Hermione was pretty sure that she could trust him now. She didn't know why, all he did was get her un-lost from the castle. She also wasn't scared of him much anymore. He was a lot gentler than she ever thought he could be.
"No." She said.
"No what?" he asked her.
"Neither. Neither of them."
Draco smiled, not smirked, smiled, and put one hand under her chin and lifted it so she was looking at him.
"I never want you to be." He said quietly. "I want you to want to be by me when you're scared. I want you to wish that you were by me when the ones you thought you could trust lie to you."
"I will…" Hermione whispered, "I do…"
Hermione took her free hand and brushed it across his cheek, making him close his eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes and looked deeply into hers.
"I want you to love me." He said.
"I…"
Before she could finish, Draco leaned forward and kissed her. He pressed her up against the wall and put his hand on her waist. It wasn't a deep kiss or one that had much emotion in it, but when draco pulled back, Hermione's eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply…
"Yes…?" he said, "You were saying…?"
"I…h-have to go." She stuttered, and walked towards the light coming from the tapestry. Draco kissed her! Draco! Malfoy! Draco Malfoy! He also practically said he loved her, or, at least, said he wanted her to. What was that about? What, were they maybe nice to each other for five days and only talked during two of those days? She was so confused. She had quite a bit of thinking to do. Again.
Hmm…this chapter came out really fast. I actually wrote it in the same day I finished the third chapter. A whole bunch of ideas came to me at once and I couldn't fit them in one chapter. I like this chapter lots, for obvious reasons. Swooning over Draco is a daily occurrence in my life. Which is rather pathetic when you think about it because Draco isn't even real…oh well…a girl can dream. Well, anywho, is it just me, or does Hermione always have a lot of "thinking to do" in this story? She's also confused an awful lot. I'll try to fix that. Well, once again, I'd like to thank my beta, Bren, and anyone who has reviewed. Should I do that thing where I copy and paste all the names of people who reviewed? I dunno, with the amount I have now, it doesn't seem like it would really be worth it. These are things to think about. Hmm…well, please review if you haven't already. My goal at the moment is to either get more than 10 reviews or make it onto at least one person's favorite authors list. I know, it's kinda pathetic, but that's who I am…pathetic, that is. And if you have reviewed, review again because you're cool. Have a nice day!
-Kate P.