A/N- Okay, I just had this idea. I think that I should change the title of this story because, well, it's just so common, the opposites attract thing. So I want to call the story 'Love is like Quicksand' and that comes from my favorite saying 'Love is like quicksand, the deeper you fall in, the harder it is to come out'. So from now on, every chapter will have that quote in the beginning and I will have to change the first few chapters to say that as well [ sigh updating past chapters … yay … not ]. If anyone has any comment on the title or whatever, please tell me, whether you think it's dorky or whatever so I can change it if it is. Thanks !!! And also, according to my calculations, which I am not sure are correct or not, it starts off on Thursday and they're doing Hall Duty again.
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Chapter Ten: Damn water … things
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Love is like quicksand, the deeper you fall in, the harder it is to come out …
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Hermione woke up, covered in sweat, not realizing that Draco woke up like this every morning. She had a dream, a really weird one. She had the dream before, on Tuesday night, the night after her weird dream of Harry turning into an owl. Trembling slightly, she dragged herself out of bed and dressed, with her eyes half-open.
"Uh … … ergh … …"
Draco looked up as Hermione, resembling a zombie, staggered in their common room.
It was around 6:15 am and Draco was his Charms essay which was due today. Hermione, who didn't usually wake up at this hour, was surprised to see him there.
"What … yawn … are you doing … yawn … up this early?" she managed to splutter.
"I'm doing my homework, I'm always awake at this time," he said, a bit surprised she even bothered to ask.
"Oh," she replied and flopped on the couch, closing her eyes.
"Yeah, anyway, what are you doing up so early?" Draco asked her, curiously.
"Had a dream," she told him, still closing her eyes, "couldn't be bothered to go back to sleep incase I overslept."
"Oh," he muttered. He had a dream as well, but then he always had that dream so he didn't think that was weird.
"I had a dream as well," he said, absently-mindedly.
"Really?" Hermione asked, opening her eyes and looking at him, locking her brown eyes with him.
"Yeah," he said, almost dreamily.
"Was it weird?" she asked, looking at him curiously.
"Well, at first it was weird, but then I always have the same dream, every night, so it's beginning to seem more like a routine."
"Same, I've been having the same dream for the last two nights," she murmured.
"Really?" he asked, genuinely interested now, "what's it about?"
"I … I can't say, it's kind of … private …" she mumbled, looking at the ground.
"Oh," he said, looking a bit disappointed, "well, my dream's sort of private as well."
She nodded, still looking at the ground.
Draco resumed his essay and Hermione stopped looking at the ground and looked at his work, as if she just saw it for the first time.
"Are you doing your Charms essay?" she asked, peering over.
"Yeah, on Crying Charms," he said, looking at the scroll of parchment with disgust.
"Don't you like Charms?" she asked him.
"No, I prefer Transfiguration. Although I'm not too bad in either of the subjects," he said modestly.
"Really? I like Transfiguration the best as well," she replied, "I like all the subjects but Transfiguration is my favorite."
Draco looked at her as she looked at his essay with interest.
"We had to do one as well, but we got to hand ours in yesterday," she said, reading through his work.
"Oh," he muttered.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything," said Hermione, "but you've made a few mistakes."
She pointed at a sentence and he changed it.
They spent the next half an hour or so, checking his work until Hermione was sure there were no more mistakes.
"Thanks," said Draco, glad that he won't be losing any marks due to carelessness.
"No problem," she said, smiling at him and getting up.
As she walked away, Draco felt a weird feeling in his stomach, like a flip. He clutched his sweater and thought that he was sick, after all, he had never got that feeling before.
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Hermione tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. Hall Duties started at 7:30pm and Draco was ten minutes late.
"Don't forget, Draco!"
"I won't! Now piss off!"
Hermione turned as Draco stomped angrily into the hall outside the Great Hall. Blaise was behind him, shouting for him not to forget something.
"I'm here," Draco huffed as Hermione watched with a raised eyebrow. Blaise stopped next to him, huffing as well, leaning on his shoulder to support her. Draco shrugged her off and grabbed Hermione's arm.
"Let's go," he whispered, walking away quickly.
Slightly surprised, Hermione followed him and Blaise yelled after them, "REMEMBER DRACO !!!"
"SHUT UP !!!" yelled Draco, over his shoulder.
They turned around a corner and soon, Blaise's voice could be no longer heard.
"Erm, Draco?"
He snapped his head at her.
"Could you let go of my arm?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry," he muttered, letting go of her arm and turning a bit pink.
"It's alright," replied Hermione as they walked up a flight of stairs.
"What was all that about?" she asked.
"That was nothing, she just wanted me to remember something."
"That was obvious," sniggered Hermione.
"Yeah, about the Christmas Ball, she said we had to go in the same colors and she wants to wear this 'cute and snug-fitting grey robe' so I have to remember to wear something grey as well."
"Oh," said Hermione, "Are you going with her? I would've thought you were going with Pansy."
"Nah, I've got better taste," he said with a smile.
Hermione grinned back and felt her insides melt and her face felt really hot.
It must be getting hot, with this thick cloak on.
As Draco smiled at her, he felt something as well. That flip sensation.
Damn, must be catching something.
"Erm, so, we should work on the Valentine's Day Ball, huh?" asked Hermione, hoping the weird feeling would go away.
"Yeah, we should," he replied.
They spent the next couple of hours discussing plans and etc. as they completed their Hall Duties.
Later that night, as Hermione lay in bed, she smiled to herself, remembering how much Draco had acted like a gentlemen. She then drifted off to a deep sleep, forgetting about the dream she had for the last two nights.
Meanwhile, Draco was in his own room, but he did not show any signs of sleep. He just sat there, mulling over the Hall Duties when he suddenly had an idea. Grabbing a piece of parchment and quill, he began writing furiously.
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The next day, the only classes that the Gryffindors would be having with the Slytherins was Care for the Magical Creatures class. Draco took this opportunity to give Hermione the parchment.
"Gather round, gather round!" shouted Hagrid, gesturing them to come closer. They all carefully stepped forward.
"No need ter be afraid," boomed Hagrid, "now just follow meh and I'll take yer ter the creature we'll be studying today."
He led the way behind his cabin and everyone followed, running to catch up to him. Draco gathered up all his courage and reminded himself that without Potty and Weasel around, it would be easier.
"Hermione!" he called out hoarsely.
She turned, her hair flipping out behind her. Draco ignored the flipping feeling as he caught up to her.
She was waiting patiently and smiled when he approached.
"Yeah?"
He reached into his robes and handed her the parchment he had written for her last night.
She unfolded it, curiosity written all over her face. Scanning it, she smiled at him.
Ideas for the Valentine's Day Ball [ written on the parchment ]
"You actually … ?"
"Yeah," he said, smiling at her.
"That's unbelievable, you actually managed to remember everything!"
"I memorized every single word," he said proudly.
She beamed at him, her eyes twinkling. And he smiled back.
"That's great," she whispered, "now I'll just add these to my ideas already written down."
"Oi! Yer two! Back there! Malfoy! 'Ermione!"
They both turned to Hagrid, who was calling them over and saw the rest of the class looking at them. Hermione noticed Ron looking at the ground and Harry smiling at her. Ignoring the heat she felt whenever she looked at Draco, she stuffed the piece of parchment Draco had given her into her pocket and they both walked together to the rest of the class.
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Draco walked happily to the Great Hall. Just thinking about how happy Hermione was when he had given her the parchment. It was weird, simple things like that made Hermione happy. To her, it's the thought that matters but to Draco, growing up as a Malfoy, the bigger and the more expensive is the preferred choice.
He made his way to the Slytherin table and was greeted by Blaise, to his disappointment. He could see Pansy glaring at him as he sat down and her glare turned from hatred to loath as Blaise seated herself next to Draco.
He sighed, this was going to be a long dinner.
But half way through the meal, Dumbledore stood up and called for attention.
"After dinner, I would like Mr Malfoy to talk to me. That is all."
He sat back down and Draco wondered what Dumbledore wanted. Clearly, Blaise was just as concerned about this as he was.
"What does he want, Draco?" she asked him.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," he muttered.
"Is it about the prefects partners thing? Did you ask him about that yet?"
"No, I didn't," said Draco, feeling annoyed. He also felt glad that he was working with Hermione and not Blaise.
"Oh, well, remember to tell him tonight," she told him.
Draco just mumbled something incoherent and when he was finished with his dinner, walked up to the Staff's Table.
"Erm, Professor Dumbledore? You wanted to see me?" asked Draco, tentatively.
"Yes, I did, Mr Malfoy. Now, I'm not sure whether you're aware of this or not, but Miss Granger's birthday is coming up."
Draco nodded, not knowing this at all.
"Two of her friends, who wish to remain anonymous, wish to celebrate it with her but cannot, due to some personal problems."
Draco immediately thought of Potty and Weasley … the female one.
"So, the surprise party which they were planning for her cannot take place in the Gryffindor Common Room. They came to me, seeking advice and I came up with the idea that the party should be held in her common room, which belongs to you as well. Of course, I couldn't continue without your consent, so Mr Malfoy, do you grant us permission?"
"Well, yeah, I guess," said Draco.
"Excellent. I will send those two students up on Saturday while Hermione and you are at the Prefect's meeting. They will make plans such as where to put everything and determine how many people are invited."
"Alright then," said Draco, "but how are they going to come in without knowing the password?"
"Ah, yes, well, after you have made sure that Miss Granger is nowhere near your portrait, you can let them in. They will be nearby; I will tell them to come at approximately 11am, when your next prefect meeting starts and as soon as Hermione has left and is out of hearing and sight range, you can open the portrait and let them in. According to my calculation, an average prefect's meeting lasts for two hours so they will both have two hours to plan. You may assist if you wish," said Dumbledore.
"I understand, Professor," replied Draco.
"That is all, Mr Malfoy," said Dumbledore.
Draco nodded his head and exited the Great Hall. By that time, he was the last student to leave so he quickened his pace, wanting to get back to his common room as soon as possible. But as he arrived on the fifth floor, he was greeted by none other than Peeves, the poltergeist. Draco tried to ignore him and walk past but Peeves had already spotted him.
"Ah, if it isn't an ickle little prefect …"
He flew in front of Draco, blocking his way. Draco noticed he was carrying multi-colored rubbery balls.
"Move over, Peeves," said Draco dully.
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then I will make you," threatened Draco, pulling out his wand.
But Peeves was too quick. He threw the water balloons at Draco, except Draco didn't know they were water balloons.
"Ahhh! I'm wet! Peeves! I am so going to get you!"
But Peeves just laughed, threw anther two at him and blew a raspberry.
"Fucking ghost … damn water … things …" muttered Draco under his breath.
But when he looked up again, Peeves was gone and that left Draco drenched in water, standing in a puddle of water.
Still grumbling, he walked into the common room, to see Hermione asleep on the couch. Deciding to surprise her, he crept up to her slowly. Up close, he noticed she was smiling slightly.
So cute … he thought.
"BOO!" he shouted.
Hermione sat up and shrieked. When she saw Draco laughing his head off, she smiled and joined in laughing.
"You scared me badly," she huffed. He just at down and smiled at her.
She smiled back and then suddenly looked at her watch, as if she just woke up.
"Oh my God! I'm late!"
She didn't even notice Draco's confused expression as she jumped up. Then he remembered. The meeting with Potty and Weasley.
But he couldn't be bothered to eavesdrop tonight, he was too tired. So he watched as she frantically ran to the portrait hole, yelling a "Bye, Draco" on the way.
He closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch, listening to her running footsteps. He suddenly jerked his eyes open and sat up straight. The stairs leading down to the fourth floor was right next to the stairs leading to the sixth floor. And Hermione was running to the stairs, where the water was. He jumped up and scrambled to the portrait just as he heard a piercing scream.
"Hermione!!!"
He ran down the corridor, thinking that Hermione probably didn't slip. She couldn't have, she would've thought before she ran. But then she was in a hurry. His fears were confirmed as he approached a body, lying in a puddle of water, it was unmistakably Hermione.
He trembled as he saw blood, slowly spreading around her head.
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A/N- Ew … blood coming out of her head, gross. Anywayz, did you like it??? Please review !!!
Thanks to my reviewers:
Ellie (XxSweetAngelz@aol.com) – Thanks, I know he's stubborn, but that's how I want him to be. Lolz!
Draco Luva – Thank you!!!
Willow – Thanks, yeah, I guess that part was alright.
Ainda Druidel – I guess I should be happy I have some new storylines … lolz, I haven't seen the movie, is it good???
