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Ice Cream and Tears
Hermione slept later than she usually would, and when she finally woke she got up and changed her clothes and headed down to the common room. Harry and Ron were sitting on a couch and both looking rather tense. The rest of the room was empty as most of the Gryffindors were in the Great Hall downing breakfast.
Hermione approached her two friends. "What's wrong with you two?" she inquired.
"What's wrong with us? What's wrong with us! Do you even have to ask?" came the reply from what looked like a rather angry Ron who was now turning the same color as his hair.
Apparently Hermione should know what was wrong, but she didn't she turned her head slightly to the side in confusion. "Come again?"
"What Ron means to say," Harry paused. He had begun softly but lost his temper also when he resumed his speech, "Is where were you last night? There was no sign of you! You didn't tell anyone where you were! How were we supposed to know where you were or if you needed help!"
"And who are you my mother?" Hermione was now getting mad, couldn't they tell she didn't want to be treated like a child. "I happen to have been in the library spending time with people who do treat me with respect!" Was this true? Malfoy who had spent six years taunting her and making her mad, was now being better company than her two best friends? She didn't have time to reflect upon this because Ron's counter was coming back.
"Oh and whose people?"
"What's it to you?"
"We want to know who it is so we can protect you!" shouted Harry.
"Protect me! Protect me from what?"
"From stupid gits that are only talking to you because they want your body."
"What?!"
"Hermione you're a girl. And the guys have noticed. They don't talk to you because they want to hear what you have to say. They talk to you because they think you're hot. They see each word that you exchange as one step closer they are to getting you into a bed!"
"That's not true!"
"Yes it is! Guys are age don't really care about what girls think, they think about one thing, and that's what we're trying to protect you from Mione." He had now stood up and placed his hands on Hermione's shoulders and was looking her in the eyes, his voice had become softer. It was as if he were trying to act brotherly.
This was too much for Hermione. She couldn't believe that her best friend was actually telling her that she meant nothing more than a pretty face on a nice body. "Oh and I suppose that you two are above all that. You're better than all the rest of the guys right? You can save me, right?"
"Mione…"
"No listen! I am not stupid or naïve, and I do not want to be treated as such. You tell me that you want to protect me from guys that think I'm just some bimbo who will do what they want, when you are treating me just the same way! Did you ever stop to think that maybe, I know what most boys our age think of and that I can take care of myself. Do you think that I would just give in to any guy because they talk to me? Because that's how you're acting. Like you think I'm some stupid little whore. Well I'm not! And I wont have that! I thought you guys were my friends, but you've been acting like prats ever since this year started. I'm not some damsel in distress and I don't need rescuing!"
With that she turned and stormed out of the common room, leaving behind a rather stunned Harry and Ron. Hermione was now hurrying through the corridors fighting the tears that threatened to spill over her cheeks. Did they really think that I could be coerced into doing something like that? I would never! They should know that! But they didn't really did they? Her thoughts were brought to a stop by a rather large chest colliding with her face. She grabbed hold of the hand that was in front of her offering to help her up.
"We really gotta stop bumping into each other like this," Malfoy casually joked. But at just that moment she had stood fully up and looked at him. In the depths of her eyes he could see pain and hurt. "H-Granger what's wrong?" He didn't know why but he was asking. Well, he was supposed to gain her trust wasn't he? Yes, if he comforted her that would surely help. Right? Right. That was why he was asking he decided.
Hermione began to shake her head and tried to speak but found herself incapable of words. Draco pulled the girl towards him and wrapped his arms around her. Her body heaved up and down slightly and he knew that she was really crying now.
In his arms Hermione began to feel safe, comforted. His arms were strong and held her tightly. It was a strange feeling to be coming from her best friend's enemy, well… and her thoughts returned to Harry and Ron and then she began to cry harder.
Draco began to gently sway side to side. Hermione's head came right up under his chin. He could smell the sweet smell of her shampoo; it was intoxicating. With out really being aware of what he was doing he laid his head down on top of hers. He began mumbling words like "shh" and "everything's going to be okay. Finally he felt her body stop heaving which meant she was done crying.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She nodded into his chest. He reluctantly loosened his hold and led her over to a bench in the empty hallway that they had been standing. It took her a while to find where to start, and she wasn't sure if she could make him understand, but it would help to talk.
"It's Harry and Ron. Lately they've been treating me like I can't take care of myself. They intervene in any conversation I have with boys. I know that they are just trying to protect me, but I don't need protection. I can take care of myself, and I wish they would see that. Some times it just like…" she faltered looking for someway to describe it.
"They spent all this time with you and never really see you or understand. And sometimes, like they never try to." Draco was now looking down at the ground in front of him as Hermione turned to look at him. She must have been surprised at the fact that he spoke the same thing she was feeling. Draco was surprised at himself for speaking what he was feeling; he had become a master of not showing emotion. But there was something, maybe it was the fact that Hermione was crying, that he had let his guard down and showed what he was feeling and thinking. And oddly enough, he didn't feel ashamed or embarrassed to do it.
"Yes," Hermione said still looking at Malfoy, she didn't know why but it surprised that he was actually feeling something. "And some times I feel so alone."
"Like if they don't see me, who will." Draco had now looked Hermione in the eyes, and to her shock there were somewhat watery. "And it feels that no one in the world will ever understand, and you just have no choice but to be the only one who you can truly depend on."
Hermione's tears were now drying up, and she began to focus on Draco whose problems seemed so similar to hers. This explained why Draco had been alone so often nowadays. Hermione let out a small chuckle.
Draco was indignant, after all this was the first time, he had told anyone how he truly felt and she was giggling. "What, may I ask, is so funny?"
Hermione giggled a little more and whipped her eyes, "It just crossed threw my mind, that if someone told me a week ago I would be sitting in a hallway with Draco Malfoy, exchanging my most private emotions, I would have told them to get their head examined!"
Draco thought about this and smiled, it was true. One week ago he would have done the same. That is to say one week ago he would have never expected his assignment to require so much, but you gotta do what you gotta do. At least that's what he told himself.
Hermione stood up, "Do you know what we need?"
"What?" he looked at her slyly.
"We need ice cream." She gave a short nod, pursed her lips, and lowered her eyebrows in a definitive manner.
"Oh? And where exactly are we going to get ice cream?"
"Hogsmead," she said as she turned and started down the corridor. "Well are you coming?" It was Saturday, but it wasn't a Hogsmead weekend, he decided to let Hermione know this.
"And?" she said. Clearly she picked up on his look of disbelief, because she then said, "Oh, come on. Did you really think that Hermione Granger follows all the rules? You know you really shouldn't assume things about people with out knowing." She smiled as this was a quote from Malfoy. This made him smile too.
"Okay, but how are we going to get there?"
"Oh, I have my ways." She was no longer distressed looking at all, in fact she looked absolutely mischievous. Draco smiled a real smile for the third time in one day as he followed her down the hallway.
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Hermione climbed out of the passage and into the cellar of Honeydukes' closely followed by Draco. "Now the trick is to get out with out anyone seeing that you were in the cellar," she was informing Draco.
After successfully sneaking out, they made their was to a small ice cream shop. Hermione ordered vanilla ice cream with sprinkles and Draco ordered a chocolate ice cream with nuts. They were sitting in a booth in the corner laughing and having a grand old time. Their conversation was very animated and the two debated about many things. Their debate turned physical however and Hermione ended up having chocolate ice cream in her hair, while Draco's robes were decorated heavily with sprinkles. When they finished eating and throwing their ice creams, they headed back to the castle to clean up.
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That day had been the start of a friendship between Hermione and Draco. Just like Voldermort wanted. At least that's what Draco told himself: that he was doing his part to get his arch nemesis Harry Potter. He was refusing to admit to the fact that other than that, he actually enjoyed talking to Hermione. When he told her things that he could never tell anyone else, he told himself that this was to gain her trust. When he found himself wandering toward the back table of the library, he told himself that he was simply doing his job.
What he did not admit to himself was that he found Hermione quite attractive, and furthermore, intelligent. She wasn't boring like all those other girls. Hermione was something different, she was special. There was now one girl who neither lied down at his feet or hated him. She intrigued him, surprised him, entertained him, challenged him, and she understood him.
But, in spite of this new found friendship his life was growing more deplorable every day, or maybe it was in light of this new friendship. What Draco didn't realize was that everything else in the world couldn't hold a candle to Hermione Granger. He did not understand why all of the people he used to hang out with were disgusting him, why new people he met disappointed him. All he knew was that it did.
This however disappointed some one else. Pansy had watched as Draco first became distant with his old friends. Then she saw him become friends with that filthy Mudblood. She was also aware of the fact that Draco wanted no part of her any more, and that made her mad.
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Things did not look quite so bad for Hermione though. She had patched things up with Harry and Ron after a few days, and they had finally begun to treat her like she was a capable human being. This made her happy. It also gladdened her that she had found a new friend. One who wanted to talk about something besides Quidditch or boys. It made her euphoric to know that finally she had someone who could hold a debate with her and actually know as much as her about the topic, well almost as much anyways. Draco was rather learned and a surprisingly good listener. And he didn't have Quidditch practice at the same time as the Gryffindor team, so she had some one to talk to when every one else was out.
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Draco was sitting in his dorm room trying to finish up his potion's essay, when an enormous owl began to peck at the window. Reluctantly, he opened the window and allowed the owl to enter. It flew to his bed and waited for him to remove the piece of parchment from his leg. When Draco had just finished undoing the parchment, the owl bit his finger and flew out of the room.
Draco swore loudly and grabbed his painful and bleeding finger. He reached for his wand and put a curing charm on it. This made his finger feel better, but it had no effect on his spirit. The parchment had been written by his father no doubt. The letter was rather short and wasted no time with politeness that was usually found in his letter.
Draco,
You are to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break. My sources tell me that Hermione Granger and Harry Potter will also be staying at Hogwarts this season.
Draco knew that this meant that Weasley would be staying too, but his father seemed to find that unimportant. He continued reading:
At the beginning of the break, two port keys will be sent to you. One will be used to take you and Granger to the Dark Lord's lair. You are to make sure that Potter knows that you have taken Hermione and that he will follow you. The second port key will be for him to find. This is the plan; don't screw it up!
This letter was not even signed; Draco crumbled it into a ball and threw it in the fire. He hated when people told him what to do. He decided that it was time to lay down. Sleep rarely came to him nowadays, and when it did it was haunted by cryptic and reoccurring dreams of trying to find that girl, whoever she may be. He closed his eyes.
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Hermione yawned as she stood up from her armchair. Her potions essay and book were stuffed into her bag and she headed up the hall and to her room. She found her pajamas and quickly put them on. Tiredness overwhelmed her as she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.
Hermione was outside walking threw a meadow. She was wearing a long flowy white dress that reached her ankles. It was sleeveless and it tied in that back at the waist corset style. Her feet were bare and her hair hung down around her slender frame and shined in the moonlight. She was supposed to meet someone soon somewhere around here. Her feet appeared to know the way. Before long she stood in front of the mouth of a cave; she went inside.
Inside the cave was lit by a few candles. It contained a couple chairs and a bed which gave the impression that it was someone's bed room. Hermione crossed to the end of the bed and rested her hands on the end, which was at about the same height as her hips. She would wait there she knew he would come. A few seconds later she heard the familiar footsteps enter the room. She turned around to face a tall man who was wearing black pants and a white shirt that tied in the front at the neck. He looked down at her with his silvery eyes, and she returned his gaze.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come," he said.
"Nothing could keep me away," was her reply.
"I want you to have this," he held out a small box. She opened it and inside found a small ring. It was silver and it looked like a snake that curled around your finger. Where the head and the tail met, there was a shining emerald. It was breathtaking. "It was my grandmother's," he added as he reached into the box and took the into his hand and then gently slid it onto her delicate finger.
"It's beautiful," she said, "Thank you."
He smiled at her and she returned his smile while taking a step closer to him. He lost no time in closing the remaining distance and pulling her into a passionate kiss. She reached one arm around him and while the other hand snaked up and played with his hair. His hands slid from her sides to her back to the ties that laced her dress, and she made no move to stop him. She was lost in the passion of his embrace, as much as he was in hers. They moved onto the bed and spent then night enjoying each other. The candles had burned out and now moonlight was the only light in the room, came from the pale glow of the moon.
He rolled off from on top of her, but still held her tight in his arms. Their foreheads were close together but they had stopped kissing and were now simply enjoying the closeness of being together. He put his hand on the skin below her belly button and smiled. She understood what he meant and smiled too. It was every thing she ever wanted. He leaned down and kissed her lips softly for a second and pulled away again. Then he laid his head on the pillow beside hers and closed his eyes still holding her close to him in his arms.
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Okay, so I'm ending it in a weird spot, and you guys are probably thinking, what does this have to do with anything? But I promise, it'll become clearer, and you will see how things tie in next chapter.
If you would like me to e-mail u when u update, just let me know in ur review, and I will be more than happy to do so!
Thank you to all my oh so wonderful reviewers! I luff u guys!! Especially Roxy Surfer who has reviewed all three of my stories! and Dragonsprincess who has reviewd every time! And Einahpets who has revieved two of my stories! U guys rock! And guess what! The more people review, the faster I will post another chapter!
Well, until there's more! Wait there is! Well until I post it any ways! Later guys!
~Atiannala
