***Hello everyone. I really really super sorry about taking so long to update, but my home computer is a piece of crap and the internet wasn't working for so long. I was using the computers at school for a while, but now that it's summer, that doesn't really work out anymore. My computer is still being really stupid, but I was able to use my friend's. So, for those of you that got too impatient to read my story anymore, I don't blame you and I'm sorry. For those of you who do still want to read this, you are super-awesome!***
**As a warning to all: This is an un-beta'd version, so if there are any mistakes, that's why. My beta is super-cool (I use super a lot ;) ), but I just couldn't wait. So, as soon as I do get a beta'd version, I'll replace this one.**
The Greatest of Sacrifices
Mixed Emotions By Kate PotterMay 22, 2002
Hermione was thankful that she still had one more day to be able to hide away in her room. Ever since yesterday afternoon, mealtimes had been extremely awkward. Not only did Draco just stare at her, but her friends had also noticed that she was acting different.
"Hermione," Ron had said earlier that day, "What's wrong? You don't look yourself."
"Oh."
"C'mon Hermione. Aren't we friends?" He said in a mock-hurt tone.
"Yes, we're friends, Ron," She replied, "but is it so hard to believe that I want to be by myself for a bit?"
Ron looked at her with a puzzled look.
"Hermione…?"
Hermione groaned. "Fine! I'll leave then if you're so incapable of it!"
With that, Hermione went to her room and left Ron in a grumpy mood, but still quite confused.
No one knew anything about Hermione's sudden Draco problem. She wasn't about ready to tell anyone, either.
"Why am I even thinking about this?" Hermione thought to herself. "This should be a really easy decision."
"So why isn't it?" She said aloud.
"So why isn't what, uh, what?" Said a voice at the door leading to the common room. Hermione raised her head and saw Ginny standing there, smiling.
"It's nothing." Hermione said.
Ginny walked over and sat on the edge of her own bed, which happened to be right next to Hermione's.
"What's nothing?"
"Nothing's nothing, Ginny." Hermione said, rolling her eyes in frustration. "Just…nevermind."
"Um…no, I don't think so. Hermione! Please tell me?" Ginny used the same mock-hurt voice that Ron had used, but since Hermione could relate to Ginny more, probably because she was a girl, she felt that she could open up to her a bit more.
"It's…this guy" Hermione started, but before she continued, Ginny raised a hand to stop her.
"Hermione, before you go any further, I just want to tell you that I do not, I repeat do not give dating advice if it involves my brother.""Um, Ginny, if it were about Ron, do you really think I would talk to you of all people? No offense."
Ginny sat in thought for a bit while Hermione watched her quizzically.
"No, I guess not, and none taken." She said finally. "So who's the lucky guy?"
"I can't tell you. Not just yet, at least." Hermione added after seeing Ginny's annoyed look. "It's just that I know I shouldn't be with him, but it's just so hard to stop thinking about him."
"I know how you feel." Ginny said before pausing a minute. "So who is he?"
"Ginny." Hermione said, getting up from her bed and walking to the window.
"C'mon 'Mione! How about this?" Ginny got up, too, and walked to Hermione. "If I guess who he is, will you say 'yes' or 'no'?"
"…Sure."
"Well, is he a Gryffindor?"
"No."
Ginny giggled. "Is he a Ravenclaw?"
"No."
Ginny giggled again. "So you like a Hufflepuff, huh? Let's see…"
"He's not a Hufflepuff, Ginny."
Ginny stopped giggling and looked at Hermione with a confused look on her face.
"Um, so he goes to a different school?" She asked hopefully.
"He does go to this school, Ginny." Hermione said, feeling worse with every word Ginny said.
"Well, I guess Slytherin isn't so bad." Ginny said. "The cute guys in Slytherin outnumber all the other houses."
"Thanks, Gin." Hermione said, going back to her bed. "That makes me feel so much better."
"Sorry! Sorry!" Ginny said, trying yet failing to conceal her smirk and laughter. "So it's a Slytherin, eh? Let's see…Blaise Zabini?"
"No."
"Uh…Mark no, Mitch Nott?"
"Nope."
"Hmm…Graham?"
"Ginny, he's three years younger than me!"
"So what? Maybe you like younger guys. Okay! Okay!" Hermione threw a pillow at Ginny and shot her a nasty glare. "Not even Graham?"
"NO!"
"…You don't like Morag, do you?"
"Does anyone like Morag?"
"Right. Next…" Suddenly Ginny started laughing uncontrollably.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, not able to hide a slight smile herself.
"I was just thinking…"Ginny said, "…about how funny it would be if you like Vince or Greg." Ginny laughed again.
"Crabbe or Goyle?" Hermione said unbelievably. "How could anyone like them? I don't think they can talk. They pretty much just grunt and guffaw!"
Hermione and Ginny laughed for a minute about Crabbe and Goyle's inability to much of anything.
"Okay, back to guessing…um…Hermione?"
"Yeah?"
"It isn't Malfoy…is it?"
Hermione didn't say anything.
"It is!" Ginny jumped up from her bed.
"Ginny, you mustn't tell anyone!" Hermione pleaded to her.
"Don't worry!" Ginny said excitedly. "Have I ever given you a reason to not trust me?"
"No," Hermione started, "but it's really important that you don't tell a soul."
"I know, I know. So…how long have you liked him?"
"I dunno, a couple weeks maybe?"
"Well, Hermione," said Ginny, grabbing her bag which she must have come into the room to get in the first place, "I don't know why you're being so weird about this."
Hermione glanced at Ginny with a frustrated look.
"I mean, I've always thought Draco was pretty, well, cute."
"But you don't like him, do you?"
"Well, no."
"See! That's my problem. It's just that we come from completely different backgrounds, not to mention he's been a complete jerk to me for the last six years."
Hermione also thought about her dreams and if Draco was the one the girl was talking about, but she didn't want to tell Ginny that.
Ginny stood there and nodded in comprehension but didn't say anything.
"But on the other hand, lately he's been really nice to me. He's also very smart and funny…"
"…and cute." Ginny added.
"That's besides the point. So, what would you do?"
Just before Ginny could say anything, there was a knock on the door and Ron's head appeared. He gave Hermione a quick glare before turning his head to Ginny.
"The team's heading down to the field now, Ginny. You better hurry up." He said.
"Yeah, hold on a sec." Ginny told him, turning back to Hermione. Ron was still in the doorway.
"We'll talk about this later, okay?" She told Hermione.
"Alright."
"Talk about what?" Ron asked Ginny.
"None of your business." She shot back at him.
"Fine! Just keep everything from me!" Ron said angrily. "I'm leaving now if either of you care."
"Ron!" Ginny called after him. When she got to the door she turned back to Hermione. "You coming?"
"Yeah." Hermione hesitantly got up and walked out the door to watch the first Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch game of the season.
"WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE SEASON!" Roared Dean Thomas' voice over the large crowd of students and teachers. "TODAY'S MATCH: SLYTHERIN VERSUS GRYFFINDOR!!!"
The stands erupted with cheers as they supported their favorite teams. Most cheers, though, going for the Gryffindors.
The teams lined up on the field as Madame Hooch walked forward. She walked up and down the teams, lecturing them about a fair game Hermione assumed. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin games almost always ended up in someone being brutally beaten down or injured. Hermione was watching the game while sitting next to Neville, who was between her and Ron. Ron was quite cross with the Hermione, but it was either her or sitting next to the professors. Suddenly, there was a loud whistle.
"AND THE GAME BEGINS!!!"
Hermione watched as Ginny and Alice zoomed around the field, ready to catch the quaffle, while Natalie, being very quick, caught the ball right away and zoomed toward the Slytherin side of the field. Hermione cheered them on along with the other Gryffindors.
"Gryffindor in possesion with McDonald catching the quaffle in the first toss. Now with Weasley, now McDonald again. She's closing in….WHOA!"
Dean ducked down as a bludger came right at him with Jordan Patil not far behind.
"Hey!' Dean yelled at him. "Watch where you're aiming that thing!"
But Jordan didn't hear and he was soon back in the game. It was by far the least vicious game Hermione had ever seen Gryffindor and Slytherin play. Usually they act like it's a fight to the death.
Within the first ten minutes, Gryffindor had scored three times while Slytherin scored four. There was still no sign of the snitch, and high above the rest of the players, Hermione could see Harry and Draco zooming around in circles, looking for the little, golden ball.
"You Bas-" Dean had started, but McGonagall had grabbed the megaphone away from him. Hermione scanned the field looking for what had happened and saw that one Gryffindor was on the ground and the rest were huddled around them.
"What happened?" She asked Ron, who looked very white.
"They hit Ginny." He said plainly.
Hermione squinted to see better and could see Natalie and Curt sitting her up. Ginny lifted a hand to her head and looked as if she were shaking her head, but just then, another person walked in the way of Hermione's sight.
"She's okay, Ron. She's moving."
It looked as if some color had reappeared on Ron's face and he eased up a bit. Up above, Harry, knowing that Ginny was okay, took some time to look for the snitch undisturbed, while Draco was looking for something else; Hermione. She looked up and saw him looking at her just as Harry, wondering what he was doing, followed his line of sight and looked at Hermione, too. Suddenly Hermione saw Harry zoom up to Draco and shove him in the shoulder. They were arguing, but she could barely see them, much less hear what they were saying. She pointed this out to Ron, but he seemed more interested in Ginny at the moment.
Ginny had gotten to her feet fine, but she was swaying a bit. It looked like she was trying to tell everyone she was fine and she could play, but Madam Hooch was being timid.
Hermione looked up again to Harry and Draco. Harry looked a lot angrier than Draco did; yet Draco made the first move. It happened all too quickly. One punch was thrown, and then another, then a whistle.
"Penalty shot for both teams!"
Even though she couldn't see his face, Hermione was willing to bet 10 galleons that Draco was furious.
Alice flew across the field to take the Gryffindor penalty shot. It took her at least a minute to get ready, but it was all in vain. Her throw, although very fast, was intercepted stunningly by the Slytherin keeper.
On the other side, one of the Slytherin chasers was getting ready to throw. When Alice had flew back down to the rest of the Gryffindors, he took the shot and made it, making the score now 30 to 50, favoring Slytherin. Ron was getting edgy and irritated. Neville was looking hopeless. The game started again.
The rest of the game was extremely depressing. With one chaser injured and a seeker who was probably too angry to focus on the game, the Gryffindor team took a large downfall. The score was 40 to 80 when Draco caught the snitch and ended the game. Hermione watched as the dispirited Gryffindor team shook hands with the excited Slytherins and walked back to the lockers.
She, Ron, and Neville walked back up to the school with the rest of the students and staff. Ron was fuming and muttering curses to himself while Neville wasn't saying anything. Hermione didn't know what to say and felt quite bad.
When Hermione got back to the common room, she immediately went right back up to her room and fell onto her bed.
"What an awful day." She said to herself. She didn't want to jinx it, though. Usually when you think that a day can't get any worse, it does. Hermione sat, exploring her thoughts for about ten minutes before Ginny came in. She had gauze wrapped around her arm and a band-aid on her knee, but otherwise she looked fine.
"I'm sorry about the game Ginny." Hermione said as Ginny sat down on her bed.
"I don't want to think about it right now." She said, "That's the last think I want to think about right now."
"Okay, sorry. Again." She replied.
Since Hermione couldn't think of anything else to say, the both of them sat in silence. That is, until Ginny brought up something Hermione didn't want to think about.
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." Ginny said, pulling a folded piece of paper out from her pocket and handing it to Hermione. "That's from Draco. He slipped it into my hand when we had to shake hands with the other team."
Hermione took the paper from Ginny, unfolded it, and read.
Hermione, will you meet me on the astronomy deck tonight at around eight? We should probably talk. No doubt you've been tense, I've been watching you. I just need to talk to you about some things. –Draco
"So what does it say?" Ginny asked her. Hermione was staring at the paper and didn't realize anyone was talking.
"Hermione?" Ginny said again, a bit louder, "What does it say?"
"He wants to meet me tonight." She said. "In the Astronomy room."
Ginny didn't exactly have the reaction Hermione was expecting or hoping. Instead, Ginny was taken over by a fit of giggles.
"When?" Ginny asked.
"When?" Hermione said angrily. "When?! I'm having a mid-life crisis at 17 and all you can think about is...is when?!"
Ginny stopped giggling abruptly and gave Hermione a sympathetic look.
"Hermione…I'm sorry." She said. "But you do like him, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's settled!" Ginny said. "You're going. And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer!" She added after Hermione opened her mouth to protest.
"Was it being the only girl in your family or being the youngest that got you so stubborn like this?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"A deadly combination of both."
7:45 came all too quickly in Hermione's opinion. Ginny on the other hand looked completely thrilled at the idea of her and Draco meeting in secret. In fact, she seemed more worried about the whole thing as well, but not for the same reasons.
"Oh, what are you going to wear?" She said as she shuffled through Hermione's wardrobe. "Maybe you should borrow something from me."
"Ginny, calm down." Hermione said. "I can go like this. It's not like I'm going on a date or anything."
"I suppose." She said as Hermione walked out the door. "But if I were you, I'd want to look my best when seeing Draco Malfoy anytime."
Hermione reached the astronomy room a few minutes before eight o'clock. Draco said to meet on the astronomy deck, but since he wasn't there yet and it was the middle of October, Hermione didn't think that she needed to wait outside in the cold for him.
A few times Hermione considered just walking back to Gryffindor, but she held up. Finally at 8:11, Draco appeared in the room.
"I didn't think you'd come." He said emotionlessly and walking to the door that lead to the deck.
"I almost wasn't going to." She said following him.
Hermione stepped onto the deck after Draco and was surprised at how warm it actually was outside.
"Well, I'm glad you did." He said closing the door.
Hermione went to the stone railing and leaned over. There was a lovely view from where she stood. The lake was close by and she could see the mountains and treetops in the distance. She could even see Hagrid's cabin, whose windows were lit and chimney smoking.
"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked as he came to the railing next to her.
"I just thought that we should talk about the situation that we're in." he said, looking right at her.
"Situation?" she said to herself sardonically.
"Situation?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about?" He said hopefully, not taking his eyes off her.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"I guess so."
Draco looked away from Hermione and stared at the lake instead.
"I like you a lot, Hermione." He said quietly.
Hermione didn't say anything. Her dream suddenly popped into her mind and she couldn't make it go away. 'Trust no one you don't already trust now' flashed in her mind over and over.
"Hermione" Draco said, looking at her again. "Hermione, are you listening?"
"What? Sorry." She said quickly.
Draco lowered his head in frustration and closed his eyes.
"I shouldn't have asked you to come here." He said starting back towards the door, but before he got to it, Hermione grabbed his wrist to hold him back.
"Wait!" She said, a bit louder than she wanted. "Draco…I like you, too. It's just that this is all happening so sudden. I just don't know what to think right now."
Draco looked down at her as though he was trying to read her mind. It was making Hermione feel awkward, but before she could do anything about it, Draco grabbed her shoulders and kissed her.
"Ginny come on!" Ron argued with his sister. "Where's Hermione?"
"I can't tell you!" She yelled back. "It's none of your business. It's not like she's lying somewhere dying or anything."
"And how do you know? Are you there with her?"
Harry was getting pretty tired of hearing the same fight over and over again. Somehow they were able to go in circles and not even notice it.
"I know because she told me all about it! If she wanted you to know she would have told you!"
"I was friends with her before you even knew who she was! Why wouldn't she tell me?"
"I don't know Ron! Maybe because I'm a girl?"
"C'mon, just tell me!"
"It's none of your business, Ron! Just leave it be!"
"Fine! I'll just ask her when she gets back!"
"She may be a while. I wouldn't wait. But if you excuse me, I have finished my work and I'm going to bed."
"Hey! I'm not done!"
"Goodnight Ron!"
Harry watched as Ron chased after Ginny who was walking up the stairs to her room. After a few seconds, he couldn't see them anymore, but for the next five minutes, he could still here them fighting.
"At least they aren't down here." He said in his mind.
Harry was almost complete with his work, too. But he thought that he might as well wait up for Hermione. He wasn't tired anyway and he hadn't really talked with her in a while. She also seemed to be zoned out one day and then irritable the next. Hopefully they could just sit and talk like they used to be able to.
Harry sat in deep thought for a while before getting back to his work, totally oblivious that Hermione was actually just outside the portrait opening.
Hermione and Draco stood just outside the fat lady's portrait.
"So you'll meet me again tomorrow?" Draco said, smiling.
"Of course. Same time, same place, right?" She answered, also smiling.
"Right." Draco leaned down and kissed her again. "I'll see you then."
"Bye." She said quietly.
Draco walked down the hall and Hermione watched until she couldn't see him anymore. She turned around, muttered the password, and stepped through the hole. She couldn't help but smile when she walked in and she wasn't expecting anyone to be there, but…
"You look happy." It was Harry.
"Hey Harry." She said. "What are you doing?"
"I thought I'd just wait up for
you."
"Oh, really?" She said, feeling a bit strange. "Thanks, but I was just going to go right up to my room."
"That's fine with me." Harry said. "I was just kinda hoping we could talk a bit."
"What did you want to talk about?" Hermione asked, all the while inching closer to the stairs.
"I dunno. You could tell me where you went tonight." He said.
Hermione looked at him a bit taken aback. She knew it would come up, but not just like
that.
"Harry, I'm really tired, we can
talk tomorrow."
"Okay, fine." Harry said, emotionless. "I just want you to know, Hermione, that I'm your friend and you can tell me anything."
"Harry," she said, giving him a small smile, "I've always known that."
Hermione walked up the stairs and left Harry sitting at the table. When she got into her room, no one was awake, so she had to sneak quietly to her bed. When she had finally slipped into her pajamas and got into bed, she couldn't sleep, not knowing whether or not to feel happy.
Well that's the chapter. I'm sorry if it was boring, but I promise it'll get interesting very soon. I also said I would put in my personal thankyou's at the end of this chapter. So…
Laura: Thank you very much! Don't worry, you wont have long to wait.
Lolo: Thanks!
Jade: You're just going to have to wait!
Draco'sgurl: That's a good idea, maybe I'll use it…
Lily Wondercat: Thanks a lot for all the reviews! I don't really think that my story is that good, but I try! J
Tanuki-chan: My superb story…ha ha. Thanks anyway! :D
Embyr Black: Thank you!