Disclaimer: I'm really getting sick of these things, and you should know
by now that I don't own it, JKR does.
Chapter 26
Hermione's POV
Potions class seemed to last even longer than usual as I itched to finish with the ingredients for the day's potion so I could find Terry and Hannah and talk to them. I glanced across the room at Draco, who was working with Parvati Patil, and saw that in place of his trademark scowl, a look of worry was etched into his features.
I must not have been paying close enough attention, because when Ron tried to hand me a beaker for our potion, it slipped through my fingers, landing on the hard stone floor with a crash of shattered glass and a spray of sizzling liquid. "Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, quickly taking a step back from the mess.
"I- I'm sorry, I just-" I stumbled over my words.
"Miss Granger!" Snape's voice boomed. "I strongly suggest that in the future you take extra precautions and pay closer attention to the task at hand!" He pulled his wand from his robes and muttered a quick clean-up spell, before walking away in a flutter of robes.
I was about to let out a sigh of relief when he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, and twenty-five points from Gryffindor." Everyone from my house groaned.
"Mione?" Ron questioned nervously. "What's wrong? You missed breakfast this morning, and now you can't pay attention. What's up?"
I forced a smile, hoping it didn't look as tense as it felt. "It's nothing, Ron. I didn't get much sleep, and I woke up late, so that's why I missed breakfast. I guess I'm just tired. Really, Ron," I added after seeing the look he gave me.
Ron sighed in defeat. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure you know that I'm always here for you if you wanna talk, okay?"
This time my smile was sincere. "Alright, Ron. Thanks."
An hour later, after potions, I was sitting on my couch with my legs under me, my hands clenched tightly in my lap, staring into Draco's eyes, filled with worry. He was sitting on his couch, a carefully maintained distance between us. If Hannah and Terry did know, and did tell someone, we didn't want to somehow make it worse. Draco suddenly tore his gaze away from mine as Terry and Hannah came walking through the portrait together, talking and holding hands.
"Hey, you two," Hannah smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Hannah came and plopped down on my couch cross-legged. "How come you didn't tell us you two were, you know, together?" I cringed as Hannah confirmed what I knew all along but was denying: They had seen us. "I mean, you are together, aren't you?" she asked, glancing at me, then at Draco.
"Well..." I stammered, and looked to Draco for help.
He got up off his couch and walked over to our couch, looking down at Hannah and I. "Hermione and I are 'together' as you say, yes." His tone was serious, not to be argued with. "But if that gets around, I will hunt you two down, because so far you are the only two people who know. And it's going to stay that way."
Hannah looked confused and was about to open her mouth to say something when I interrupted. "Hannah, Terry," I said urgently, looking at both of them. "Please, *please* tell me you guys didn't tell anyone!"
Hannah looked confused. "Well, no." I let all my breath out in relief, sagging against the back of the couch. So we weren't too late. "But I don't see why it's such a big deal, and why nobody can know. I think it's cute," she smiled.
"Hannah," Draco said warningly. "You have no idea what would happen if some of the Slytherins found out. What would happen if my *father* found out. If he knew I was dating Hermione, a... muggle-born... he might go to extreme measures. Hannah," his voice dropped down to a whisper, "he would probably kill Hermione."
I think that got his point across, because Hannah's eyes widened, and Terry looked grim. "So both of you guys have to swear you won't tell, okay? Swear on your life that you won't tell anyone, you won't act any differently, and you'll try your absolute best to not let anyone catch on. Do you swear?"
Hannah and Terry looked at each other. "We swear," Hannah said sincerely, and Terry nodded solemnly. I broke out into a small smile, and threw my arms around Hannah's neck.
"Thank you. You have no idea how awful it would be if anyone found out. Thank you so much, it means everything to me."
"Oh, Hermione, it's no problem," Hannah reassured me. I didn't know whether I wanted to cry or to laugh.
Draco's POV
"I'm so relieved!" Hermione exclaimed, flopping backwards onto my bed. It was about 11:30, and we'd just returned from doing homework in the common room. I pulled the char from my desk up to the edge of the bed and sat down. "Have I ever told you I like your room?" she asked, yawning, looking around.
I laughed. "Even with this color scheme?"
She sat up and smiled. "Well, that could use some adjusting, you know." And with that, she pulled out her wand and, before I could stop her, muttered a spell. I hadn't heard it before, but immediately saw it's effects. Right in front of my eyes, my room began to change color. The black slowly faded into a dark maroon, and the green began to sparkle gold.
I gaped at her, disbelieving. "Change it back!" I demanded, laughing. She stuck out her tongue at me, and got up off my bed and, after flashing me a brilliant smile, went to the door.
"Goodnight," she said, closing the door softly behind her. I shook my head, staring at the back of my closed door. Some people may have thought it wasn't possible for me to ever care for another person, let alone a muggle-born Gryffindor. But I did, I cared so much that it almost scared me.
A knock on my Slytherin common room portrait brought me back to reality. Wondering who it could be, I went to open it. On the other side, I saw Crabbe. Thinking that I wouldn't have any objections to having him in my room, he pushed open the door the rest of the way, and walked in.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
"I just wanted to see how you were getting along over here, with all these goody-two-shoes." As if just seeming to notice something wrong, his giant eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Draco, what's with the color change?" he asked gruffly.
My mind raced. 'Oh god, what do I say?' I thought frantically. I hoped my panic didn't show in my face, and I tried to keep my cool. "Oh, He-Granger, did it." I said in what I hoped was a casual voice.
Crabbe's expression slowly changed from confused to a sly one. "Draco, you bedded a Gryffindor? Hahahaha," he guffawed. I was shocked, but tried not to show it.
"Uh... yeah..." I didn't see any choice but to agree with him. It wasn't as if I had said it, he just assumed. 'Please forgive me, Hermione,' I silently pleaded.
Crabbe was still chuckling. "I'm sure your father will be pleased. Shall I tell him at the next meeting, or do you want it to be a surprise, after you've slept with the entire house?"
"Um, no, don't tell him, I'll, uh, surprise him later. Yeah." I mentally cringed.
"Alright, well I guess I'll leave you alone then, huh?" And with that he left, leaving the portrait wide open. I rushed to close it before I had any more unpleasant encounters, and waited until it was safely secured and I was leaning against the back of it before expressing my disgust. 'How could he think that?' I thought frantically. 'It's just wrong!'
'Well,' I continued my thoughts as I pulled my shirt over my head and changed into a pair of long black pajama pants. 'At least it was only Crabbe. He'll almost definitely forget this ever happened by morning.'
My last thoughts before I fell asleep were of Hermione.
A/N: So, what did you think? I want constructive criticism in reviews, please, not just people telling me to keep writing! I'm not complaining in the slightest, but I'd really appreciate it if you had any suggestions or anything if you put it in a review or email it to me. Thanks!!
Chapter 26
Hermione's POV
Potions class seemed to last even longer than usual as I itched to finish with the ingredients for the day's potion so I could find Terry and Hannah and talk to them. I glanced across the room at Draco, who was working with Parvati Patil, and saw that in place of his trademark scowl, a look of worry was etched into his features.
I must not have been paying close enough attention, because when Ron tried to hand me a beaker for our potion, it slipped through my fingers, landing on the hard stone floor with a crash of shattered glass and a spray of sizzling liquid. "Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, quickly taking a step back from the mess.
"I- I'm sorry, I just-" I stumbled over my words.
"Miss Granger!" Snape's voice boomed. "I strongly suggest that in the future you take extra precautions and pay closer attention to the task at hand!" He pulled his wand from his robes and muttered a quick clean-up spell, before walking away in a flutter of robes.
I was about to let out a sigh of relief when he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, and twenty-five points from Gryffindor." Everyone from my house groaned.
"Mione?" Ron questioned nervously. "What's wrong? You missed breakfast this morning, and now you can't pay attention. What's up?"
I forced a smile, hoping it didn't look as tense as it felt. "It's nothing, Ron. I didn't get much sleep, and I woke up late, so that's why I missed breakfast. I guess I'm just tired. Really, Ron," I added after seeing the look he gave me.
Ron sighed in defeat. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure you know that I'm always here for you if you wanna talk, okay?"
This time my smile was sincere. "Alright, Ron. Thanks."
An hour later, after potions, I was sitting on my couch with my legs under me, my hands clenched tightly in my lap, staring into Draco's eyes, filled with worry. He was sitting on his couch, a carefully maintained distance between us. If Hannah and Terry did know, and did tell someone, we didn't want to somehow make it worse. Draco suddenly tore his gaze away from mine as Terry and Hannah came walking through the portrait together, talking and holding hands.
"Hey, you two," Hannah smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Hannah came and plopped down on my couch cross-legged. "How come you didn't tell us you two were, you know, together?" I cringed as Hannah confirmed what I knew all along but was denying: They had seen us. "I mean, you are together, aren't you?" she asked, glancing at me, then at Draco.
"Well..." I stammered, and looked to Draco for help.
He got up off his couch and walked over to our couch, looking down at Hannah and I. "Hermione and I are 'together' as you say, yes." His tone was serious, not to be argued with. "But if that gets around, I will hunt you two down, because so far you are the only two people who know. And it's going to stay that way."
Hannah looked confused and was about to open her mouth to say something when I interrupted. "Hannah, Terry," I said urgently, looking at both of them. "Please, *please* tell me you guys didn't tell anyone!"
Hannah looked confused. "Well, no." I let all my breath out in relief, sagging against the back of the couch. So we weren't too late. "But I don't see why it's such a big deal, and why nobody can know. I think it's cute," she smiled.
"Hannah," Draco said warningly. "You have no idea what would happen if some of the Slytherins found out. What would happen if my *father* found out. If he knew I was dating Hermione, a... muggle-born... he might go to extreme measures. Hannah," his voice dropped down to a whisper, "he would probably kill Hermione."
I think that got his point across, because Hannah's eyes widened, and Terry looked grim. "So both of you guys have to swear you won't tell, okay? Swear on your life that you won't tell anyone, you won't act any differently, and you'll try your absolute best to not let anyone catch on. Do you swear?"
Hannah and Terry looked at each other. "We swear," Hannah said sincerely, and Terry nodded solemnly. I broke out into a small smile, and threw my arms around Hannah's neck.
"Thank you. You have no idea how awful it would be if anyone found out. Thank you so much, it means everything to me."
"Oh, Hermione, it's no problem," Hannah reassured me. I didn't know whether I wanted to cry or to laugh.
Draco's POV
"I'm so relieved!" Hermione exclaimed, flopping backwards onto my bed. It was about 11:30, and we'd just returned from doing homework in the common room. I pulled the char from my desk up to the edge of the bed and sat down. "Have I ever told you I like your room?" she asked, yawning, looking around.
I laughed. "Even with this color scheme?"
She sat up and smiled. "Well, that could use some adjusting, you know." And with that, she pulled out her wand and, before I could stop her, muttered a spell. I hadn't heard it before, but immediately saw it's effects. Right in front of my eyes, my room began to change color. The black slowly faded into a dark maroon, and the green began to sparkle gold.
I gaped at her, disbelieving. "Change it back!" I demanded, laughing. She stuck out her tongue at me, and got up off my bed and, after flashing me a brilliant smile, went to the door.
"Goodnight," she said, closing the door softly behind her. I shook my head, staring at the back of my closed door. Some people may have thought it wasn't possible for me to ever care for another person, let alone a muggle-born Gryffindor. But I did, I cared so much that it almost scared me.
A knock on my Slytherin common room portrait brought me back to reality. Wondering who it could be, I went to open it. On the other side, I saw Crabbe. Thinking that I wouldn't have any objections to having him in my room, he pushed open the door the rest of the way, and walked in.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
"I just wanted to see how you were getting along over here, with all these goody-two-shoes." As if just seeming to notice something wrong, his giant eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Draco, what's with the color change?" he asked gruffly.
My mind raced. 'Oh god, what do I say?' I thought frantically. I hoped my panic didn't show in my face, and I tried to keep my cool. "Oh, He-Granger, did it." I said in what I hoped was a casual voice.
Crabbe's expression slowly changed from confused to a sly one. "Draco, you bedded a Gryffindor? Hahahaha," he guffawed. I was shocked, but tried not to show it.
"Uh... yeah..." I didn't see any choice but to agree with him. It wasn't as if I had said it, he just assumed. 'Please forgive me, Hermione,' I silently pleaded.
Crabbe was still chuckling. "I'm sure your father will be pleased. Shall I tell him at the next meeting, or do you want it to be a surprise, after you've slept with the entire house?"
"Um, no, don't tell him, I'll, uh, surprise him later. Yeah." I mentally cringed.
"Alright, well I guess I'll leave you alone then, huh?" And with that he left, leaving the portrait wide open. I rushed to close it before I had any more unpleasant encounters, and waited until it was safely secured and I was leaning against the back of it before expressing my disgust. 'How could he think that?' I thought frantically. 'It's just wrong!'
'Well,' I continued my thoughts as I pulled my shirt over my head and changed into a pair of long black pajama pants. 'At least it was only Crabbe. He'll almost definitely forget this ever happened by morning.'
My last thoughts before I fell asleep were of Hermione.
A/N: So, what did you think? I want constructive criticism in reviews, please, not just people telling me to keep writing! I'm not complaining in the slightest, but I'd really appreciate it if you had any suggestions or anything if you put it in a review or email it to me. Thanks!!