CHAPTER 2~ Not My Day
Hermione had her last class of the day with Harry. She told him about why she wasn't at lunch and about her conversation with Malfoy. Her head was still in tangles. There was no explanation for Malfoy acting like that way he did. She was utterly bamboozled.
"So you mean to tell me that Malfoy was acting. normal?" Harry asked as they stepped out of the classroom and headed toward the courtyard where they would meet up with Ron.
"Well, there really is no normal per se, but he was definitely acting like a person with feelings. If you can imagine that," she answered.
"Wait a minute, you never told me what exactly you talked about."
Hermione didn't think she should tell Harry the exact details, even if her was her best friend. She didn't think that Malfoy would want anyone to know. "We were just talking about this and that."
Harry looked at her suspiciously, but didn't push too far. He figured that if she didn't tell him it must be something important to her. "Oh, okay then."
Hermione smiled at him as they made their way toward where Ron was waiting for them. She had told him earlier about what transpired between her and Malfoy. He looked like he was furious, but she told him that they were just talking. Conveniently, she left out the portion where he rubbed her back to comfort her. They didn't need to know that.
Ron smiled as he saw them approach. They soon began their journey home. Before they even got one foot off school grounds a slow drawl stopped them, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Golden Trio of Hogwarts. Scarhead, Weasel," Malfoy nodded at them each in turn. His cronies were all standing behind him. His gaze focused on Hermione, who looked him dead in the eye. "Granger, feeling any better?" he asked. The tone of his voice dropped from loathing to concern.
She stared at him for some time before responding, "Yes, Malfoy. And yourself?"
He nodded once. "You better take care of her," he warned Harry and Ron before shoving past them with the rest of his posse following stupidly behind him.
Harry and Ron's gazes followed him. Confusion was clearly written all over their faces. Hermione had to tug on the sleeves of their jackets to get them to follow her down the other road.
Ron opened his mouth, but closed it again. Hermione watched the boys as the tried to fathom what he had said.
"Oh, snap out of it!" she demanded.
"But he was being like all.nice to you and stuff," Ron said. "He was all different to you. Do you care to tell us what really happened at lunch?"
Hermione sighed exasperatedly then stopped and faced the two boys. "I did tell you what happened. We talked. That's all. He wanted to talk, so I talked to him. Nothing happened. If you don't believe me you can ask him."
"We believe you," Harry mumbled weakly. "It's just, not normal for Malfoy to act like that toward you."
"Let's just drop it," Hermione sighed as the continued walking toward her house. I'm not really in the mood to discuss this anymore. It tires me."
They remained quiet for the remainder of the walk back to her house. No one had anything to say and they were used to the awkward silences that sometimes fell over them, so they didn't mind it much.
At the door to the small house, Harry and Ron hugged her good-bye then headed off back down the street to go to their own houses.
She opened the door to the house and inhaled sharply, knowing what was to come.
Her older twin brothers Danny and Dylan always arrived home before she did since they took the bus. They would wait for her to come home everyday and when she did, they'd jump on the chance to beat her. Never were the satisfied until she was bruised and bleeding.
Like everyday, they were awaiting her arrival in the family room, if it could be called that. All it consisted of was a small, nineteen inch T.V. and a lumpy couch. Her father was most likely sleeping somewhere.
"Good afternoon, Hermy," Danny said in a singsong voice. "Did you have a nice walk with your boyfriends?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She hated that nickname and she hated it when they called Harry and Ron her boyfriends. Both of her brothers knew that the relationship between her, Harry, and Ron was pure friendship.
"What, Hermy, are you too good to answer your dear brother now?" Dylan asked. "Since when did you become too good for the family?" Both of them appeared to look upset that Hermione wouldn't answer them, but she knew better. Weakness made a person an easy target. She wouldn't give in to them. She knew better.
"Can you two just leave me alone for today?" Hermione said, although she knew they wouldn't.
"What, our baby sister can't deal with pain anymore?" Dylan teased.
"Hey, Dylan, I think that maybe she's becoming weak. What do you think?" Danny chimed in.
Dylan nodded. "I think that you are absolutely correct."
They both turned their eyes to look at their sister, who was two years younger than they were. Both Danny and Dylan were seniors at Hogwarts while Hermione was a sophomore. Hermione avoided her brothers as much as possible while in the hallways.
With the blink of an eye, the two seventeen-year-olds were towering over their fifteen-year-old sister. Hermione tossed her backpack to the corner of the room and braced herself for the beating that was to come. She saw Dylan raise his fist over her head and was about to slam it into her face when the doorbell rang.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief as Danny headed to the door. Dylan brought his fist to his side and sat back down on the lumpy sofa. Trying to look inconspicuous, Hermione looked toward the door to see who was there.
At once, she saw silver-blonde hair. She headed over to the door, where Danny was trying to shove him away.
"Malfoy!" Hermione called. "What are you doing here?"
Danny glared at her then at Malfoy then turned back into the house.
"I-I don't really know exactly," he responded, scratching his head. "I just started walking and this is where I ended up. I'll go if you don't wanna talk."
"Um no! I mean I'll walk with you."
Malfoy looked at her questioningly. His brow furrowed, his hands shoved deep into his pants pockets. "Why would you wanna do that after the way I've treated you?"
"Can I explain while we're walking, Malfoy?" she hissed under her breath. With an eyebrow quirked, he nodded dumbly. Hermione slammed the door behind her and walked as quickly as possible away from the house.
"Is there a problem, Granger?" Malfoy interrogated as he caught up with her at the corner of the block.
"W-why would you think that, Malfoy?" she retorted.
"Well, you seemed to be more than enthusiastic to leave your house and you're walking like you wanna come first in a ten kilometer marathon."
Hermione felt uncomfortable talking to Malfoy about her situation. Her stoic eyes looked into his steely impassive ones. "Just family problems," she blurted out. "It's nothing to worry about."
"To me it seems like you have more than just family problems, Granger. And if it is just that, then from the looks of it, they are serious problems, not just minor things that are not to be concerned over."
She bit her lip hard. "I can't tell you." Her eyes tore away from his to look at the old blind man walking down the street with his faithful canine companion.
Draco looked her over. Her red hair was cut short. Her lips were thin, skin pale. She was thin, almost to the point where she looked starved or anorexic. The clothes she wore covered her body. There was no way anybody could see what kind of figure she had for her shirt was at least two sizes too big while her jeans were held up with a belt that could not be seen and dragged under her Etnies. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
"You told me you would," he said softly.
"I just needed to get out of the house. I wasn't thinking." She leaned against the brick building behind her. Her chin was leaned against her chest and her left foot was against the wall while her right remained on the floor.
Draco nodded. "All right then. I won't push it. Wanna get something to eat?"
She looked up in surprise. "Are you kidding? Almighty Draco Malfoy wants to go out for food with the scum of the universe, Hermione Granger? Aren't you worried about your precious rep?"
"Look, we're already out in the middle of the street in broad daylight where anyone can walk by and see us conversing. What difference will it make if we go to McDonald's and people see us conversing?"
"Whatever. Fine."
The fast food restaurant was only three blocks away. Draco ordered a Big Mac and fries. Hermione got the same thing. He paid for her even though she told him she'd get it herself.
They sat down in the corner, away from prying eyes. "So, really Malfoy, why all of a sudden did you decide to be civil to me?"
"Do I need a motive for everything?"
"Must you answer a question with a question?"
"Must you?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "This conversation is getting us absolutely nowhere I see."
Draco smirked as he bit into his burger. They ate in a comfortable silence. Hermione knew she couldn't just tell Draco about her brothers for fear that he might phone the authorities or something like that. Not even Ron and Harry knew the extent of which she was beaten. They knew that she did get hit, but she never told them how badly bruised she was.
Her legs, arms, stomach, and back were covered in bruises. She knew that when she went home, things would just get worse for her. The postponement would just make Danny and Dylan that much more eager to get their hands on her.
They walked slowly back to Hermione's house when they had finished eating. Hermione was not at all thrilled to be going home.
"I just wish I could forget everything," she mumbled as they neared her street. "I wish that I never had to deal with the bullshit that goes on in that place."
"How bad is it?" Draco prodded, still trying to figure out exactly what was wrong.
"Bad enough," was her simple but effective reply.
At the door to her house, Hermione looked at Draco and Draco Hermione. Their eyes locked. Neither could remember anything about their lives except that moment. Time stopped. Everything was moving in slow motion.
Draco stepped closer to her and placed his lips on hers. Her senses kicked in and she shoved him away. "What do you think you're doing, you bastard?" she yelled.
"I-I thought that's what. It just seemed right."
"Yeah, well it wasn't. You're a fucking Malfoy for Christ's sake! What the hell would you want with me anyway? A friendship? I don't think that's possible considering you've hated me for the past eleven years of our lives. Something more? You can dream on."
"Well, how about a truce then?"
Hermione glared at him and spit on the ground by his feet. "There's your truce, you piece of shit. I know you want more than that." She opened the door and slammed it as hard as she could before he could even say another word.
She grabbed her bag off the floor and stormed past her brothers toward the staircase. Danny grabbed her arm hard enough to leave another bruise. She kicked behind his knee and sent him crumbling to the floor. Without a backward glance, she ran up the stairs and locked herself in her room.
"Knife. Where's my knife?" she said to herself. "I need it now. I need to take away the pain." She ripped open the drawers of her dresser and sifted through the clothes. "No, I didn't put it there. Where did I put it last night?" Her hands ran through her hair making it stick up in about seven different places. She didn't care. All she wanted was a way out. She turned her head about frantically searching for the one thing that could stimulate her. A glimmer of silver caught her eye by her bed. That's when she remembered she had fallen asleep with it in her hand the night before.
With a pounce much like that of a tiger, she grasped the knife in her right hand and rolled up the left sleeve of her shirt. She searched for a spot on her wrist that had already scarred over or there was no trace of a healing wound. When she finally found one, she placed the cool blade upon her flesh and slashed like a killer would his victim.
Blood flowed down to the palm of her hand. She let out a sigh of relaxation as the red flowed from the new wound. Her feelings of anxiety, depression, hatred all left her for those few brief moments. Pure bliss, that's what it was. She sucked the blood from the wound as she had come accustomed to doing. When it had basically stopped flowing, she started on that night's homework.
~
School. She dreaded going the next day. Malfoy would be there. He'd be worse. Crueler than usual. She knew she deserved what he would give her. She should have been a little kinder to him. After all, he did buy her McDonald's, which she hadn't had in the longest time. Food was rare to come by in the Granger residence. Mr. Granger didn't work and Danny and Dylan would never give the money they made off their part-time jobs to him so they could be fed.
All day she avoided him. When he slammed her locker shut in the morning, she re-opened it without glancing at him. When he tried to talk to her on the way to first period, she ignored him. In fact she didn't hear a word he had said. If he did apologize, she would never know. He tried to write her a note during class. She just shoved it into her backpack without bothering to read it. All in all, she did a pretty good job in keeping him away from her.
It went this way for the rest of the week. Hermione still had the dream about him every night, but she didn't bother to dwell on it. Dreams don't come true. Or do they?
The weekend came. Not soon enough in Hermione's opinion. Away from Malfoy and his tormenting glares. Away from all the people she had to act for. Away from the place she despised most (except of course from her own house).
Friday night Kelly was having a sleepover. Five girls were invited. Just as in every sleepover she had though, some boys would slip in later on in the night when her parents were asleep. The girls who would be there were Kelly, Lana, Hermione, and two girls that Hermione didn't particularly care for, Pansy Parkinson, and Lavender Brown. Both were very popular with the boys and dressed in scanty clothing.
"I just got a new lie detector!" Kelly said proudly. "You girls wanna use it to play truth? We can hook one person up to it and then have everyone ask her one question each. How about it?"
Hermione wasn't so sure, but the other girls agreed, so she had no choice.
"We should make Hermione go first," Pansy said with an evil grin on her face.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
They hooked her up to the machine. She wasn't nervous at all since she had been hooked up to them before. Her psychiatrist was a bit off his rocker and liked to hook her up to one when he asked questions.
Once she was all set up, Pansy jumped at the opportunity to ask the first question. "Just so that we all have some dirt on you, are you still a virgin?"
"Yes, and I don't plan on losing my virginity any time soon," she replied matter-of-factly. "In my opinion, that was a stupid question to waste. Next."
Lavender asked next. "Are there any guys in our school who you would want to lose your virginity to?"
"Yes, I can think of one."
"Who?"
"That exceeds your one question limit. I'm sorry. I guess you'll just never find out." She looked at Lana and Kelly with pleading eyes. They both nodded knowingly.
"Do you have a thing for either Ron or Harry? I see you with them a lot," Lana asked already knowing the answer.
"We're just friends. That's all I want. That's all we'll ever be."
"Well, in that case, do you mind if I ask Harry out?" Kelly finished.
"Not at all. I think it'd be good for him." Hermione smiled a little. She was grateful that her friends didn't continue on the same lines as Pansy and Lavender.
The girls all took their turns. They mainly asked stupid questions, but it was fun watching the needle jump every time Pansy lied about something or other.
By the time Kelly, the last to be hooked up, was finished, there was a soft tap on the door. Kelly rushed over and let in five boys. Hermione looked up to see Harry, Ron, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini (a good friend of Malfoy's), and Hayden Kirkpatrick (Lana's boyfriend).
Hermione groaned inwardly when she saw Malfoy stroll in. How they all always managed to get there at the same time Hermione never figured out. They probably all waited outside until they were all there then knocked on the door.
Pansy greeted both Draco and Blaise with a hug. She had dated Draco for a while then dumped him for Blaise. No one ever figured out why. Blaise did whatever Draco did. It was like he didn't have a mind of his own. She and Blaise went into the spare closet. They said they needed privacy.
Hayden and Lana immediately found a corner and began making out like it was their last day on Earth. Ron greeted Hermione then went over to talk to Lavender. Kelly grabbed Harry over to the side before he made it near Hermione. That left Draco alone with Hermione.
She tried to stay hidden in the shadows, but that didn't work. He knew exactly what she was doing. *This is not my day* she thought miserably.
Hermione had her last class of the day with Harry. She told him about why she wasn't at lunch and about her conversation with Malfoy. Her head was still in tangles. There was no explanation for Malfoy acting like that way he did. She was utterly bamboozled.
"So you mean to tell me that Malfoy was acting. normal?" Harry asked as they stepped out of the classroom and headed toward the courtyard where they would meet up with Ron.
"Well, there really is no normal per se, but he was definitely acting like a person with feelings. If you can imagine that," she answered.
"Wait a minute, you never told me what exactly you talked about."
Hermione didn't think she should tell Harry the exact details, even if her was her best friend. She didn't think that Malfoy would want anyone to know. "We were just talking about this and that."
Harry looked at her suspiciously, but didn't push too far. He figured that if she didn't tell him it must be something important to her. "Oh, okay then."
Hermione smiled at him as they made their way toward where Ron was waiting for them. She had told him earlier about what transpired between her and Malfoy. He looked like he was furious, but she told him that they were just talking. Conveniently, she left out the portion where he rubbed her back to comfort her. They didn't need to know that.
Ron smiled as he saw them approach. They soon began their journey home. Before they even got one foot off school grounds a slow drawl stopped them, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Golden Trio of Hogwarts. Scarhead, Weasel," Malfoy nodded at them each in turn. His cronies were all standing behind him. His gaze focused on Hermione, who looked him dead in the eye. "Granger, feeling any better?" he asked. The tone of his voice dropped from loathing to concern.
She stared at him for some time before responding, "Yes, Malfoy. And yourself?"
He nodded once. "You better take care of her," he warned Harry and Ron before shoving past them with the rest of his posse following stupidly behind him.
Harry and Ron's gazes followed him. Confusion was clearly written all over their faces. Hermione had to tug on the sleeves of their jackets to get them to follow her down the other road.
Ron opened his mouth, but closed it again. Hermione watched the boys as the tried to fathom what he had said.
"Oh, snap out of it!" she demanded.
"But he was being like all.nice to you and stuff," Ron said. "He was all different to you. Do you care to tell us what really happened at lunch?"
Hermione sighed exasperatedly then stopped and faced the two boys. "I did tell you what happened. We talked. That's all. He wanted to talk, so I talked to him. Nothing happened. If you don't believe me you can ask him."
"We believe you," Harry mumbled weakly. "It's just, not normal for Malfoy to act like that toward you."
"Let's just drop it," Hermione sighed as the continued walking toward her house. I'm not really in the mood to discuss this anymore. It tires me."
They remained quiet for the remainder of the walk back to her house. No one had anything to say and they were used to the awkward silences that sometimes fell over them, so they didn't mind it much.
At the door to the small house, Harry and Ron hugged her good-bye then headed off back down the street to go to their own houses.
She opened the door to the house and inhaled sharply, knowing what was to come.
Her older twin brothers Danny and Dylan always arrived home before she did since they took the bus. They would wait for her to come home everyday and when she did, they'd jump on the chance to beat her. Never were the satisfied until she was bruised and bleeding.
Like everyday, they were awaiting her arrival in the family room, if it could be called that. All it consisted of was a small, nineteen inch T.V. and a lumpy couch. Her father was most likely sleeping somewhere.
"Good afternoon, Hermy," Danny said in a singsong voice. "Did you have a nice walk with your boyfriends?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She hated that nickname and she hated it when they called Harry and Ron her boyfriends. Both of her brothers knew that the relationship between her, Harry, and Ron was pure friendship.
"What, Hermy, are you too good to answer your dear brother now?" Dylan asked. "Since when did you become too good for the family?" Both of them appeared to look upset that Hermione wouldn't answer them, but she knew better. Weakness made a person an easy target. She wouldn't give in to them. She knew better.
"Can you two just leave me alone for today?" Hermione said, although she knew they wouldn't.
"What, our baby sister can't deal with pain anymore?" Dylan teased.
"Hey, Dylan, I think that maybe she's becoming weak. What do you think?" Danny chimed in.
Dylan nodded. "I think that you are absolutely correct."
They both turned their eyes to look at their sister, who was two years younger than they were. Both Danny and Dylan were seniors at Hogwarts while Hermione was a sophomore. Hermione avoided her brothers as much as possible while in the hallways.
With the blink of an eye, the two seventeen-year-olds were towering over their fifteen-year-old sister. Hermione tossed her backpack to the corner of the room and braced herself for the beating that was to come. She saw Dylan raise his fist over her head and was about to slam it into her face when the doorbell rang.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief as Danny headed to the door. Dylan brought his fist to his side and sat back down on the lumpy sofa. Trying to look inconspicuous, Hermione looked toward the door to see who was there.
At once, she saw silver-blonde hair. She headed over to the door, where Danny was trying to shove him away.
"Malfoy!" Hermione called. "What are you doing here?"
Danny glared at her then at Malfoy then turned back into the house.
"I-I don't really know exactly," he responded, scratching his head. "I just started walking and this is where I ended up. I'll go if you don't wanna talk."
"Um no! I mean I'll walk with you."
Malfoy looked at her questioningly. His brow furrowed, his hands shoved deep into his pants pockets. "Why would you wanna do that after the way I've treated you?"
"Can I explain while we're walking, Malfoy?" she hissed under her breath. With an eyebrow quirked, he nodded dumbly. Hermione slammed the door behind her and walked as quickly as possible away from the house.
"Is there a problem, Granger?" Malfoy interrogated as he caught up with her at the corner of the block.
"W-why would you think that, Malfoy?" she retorted.
"Well, you seemed to be more than enthusiastic to leave your house and you're walking like you wanna come first in a ten kilometer marathon."
Hermione felt uncomfortable talking to Malfoy about her situation. Her stoic eyes looked into his steely impassive ones. "Just family problems," she blurted out. "It's nothing to worry about."
"To me it seems like you have more than just family problems, Granger. And if it is just that, then from the looks of it, they are serious problems, not just minor things that are not to be concerned over."
She bit her lip hard. "I can't tell you." Her eyes tore away from his to look at the old blind man walking down the street with his faithful canine companion.
Draco looked her over. Her red hair was cut short. Her lips were thin, skin pale. She was thin, almost to the point where she looked starved or anorexic. The clothes she wore covered her body. There was no way anybody could see what kind of figure she had for her shirt was at least two sizes too big while her jeans were held up with a belt that could not be seen and dragged under her Etnies. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
"You told me you would," he said softly.
"I just needed to get out of the house. I wasn't thinking." She leaned against the brick building behind her. Her chin was leaned against her chest and her left foot was against the wall while her right remained on the floor.
Draco nodded. "All right then. I won't push it. Wanna get something to eat?"
She looked up in surprise. "Are you kidding? Almighty Draco Malfoy wants to go out for food with the scum of the universe, Hermione Granger? Aren't you worried about your precious rep?"
"Look, we're already out in the middle of the street in broad daylight where anyone can walk by and see us conversing. What difference will it make if we go to McDonald's and people see us conversing?"
"Whatever. Fine."
The fast food restaurant was only three blocks away. Draco ordered a Big Mac and fries. Hermione got the same thing. He paid for her even though she told him she'd get it herself.
They sat down in the corner, away from prying eyes. "So, really Malfoy, why all of a sudden did you decide to be civil to me?"
"Do I need a motive for everything?"
"Must you answer a question with a question?"
"Must you?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "This conversation is getting us absolutely nowhere I see."
Draco smirked as he bit into his burger. They ate in a comfortable silence. Hermione knew she couldn't just tell Draco about her brothers for fear that he might phone the authorities or something like that. Not even Ron and Harry knew the extent of which she was beaten. They knew that she did get hit, but she never told them how badly bruised she was.
Her legs, arms, stomach, and back were covered in bruises. She knew that when she went home, things would just get worse for her. The postponement would just make Danny and Dylan that much more eager to get their hands on her.
They walked slowly back to Hermione's house when they had finished eating. Hermione was not at all thrilled to be going home.
"I just wish I could forget everything," she mumbled as they neared her street. "I wish that I never had to deal with the bullshit that goes on in that place."
"How bad is it?" Draco prodded, still trying to figure out exactly what was wrong.
"Bad enough," was her simple but effective reply.
At the door to her house, Hermione looked at Draco and Draco Hermione. Their eyes locked. Neither could remember anything about their lives except that moment. Time stopped. Everything was moving in slow motion.
Draco stepped closer to her and placed his lips on hers. Her senses kicked in and she shoved him away. "What do you think you're doing, you bastard?" she yelled.
"I-I thought that's what. It just seemed right."
"Yeah, well it wasn't. You're a fucking Malfoy for Christ's sake! What the hell would you want with me anyway? A friendship? I don't think that's possible considering you've hated me for the past eleven years of our lives. Something more? You can dream on."
"Well, how about a truce then?"
Hermione glared at him and spit on the ground by his feet. "There's your truce, you piece of shit. I know you want more than that." She opened the door and slammed it as hard as she could before he could even say another word.
She grabbed her bag off the floor and stormed past her brothers toward the staircase. Danny grabbed her arm hard enough to leave another bruise. She kicked behind his knee and sent him crumbling to the floor. Without a backward glance, she ran up the stairs and locked herself in her room.
"Knife. Where's my knife?" she said to herself. "I need it now. I need to take away the pain." She ripped open the drawers of her dresser and sifted through the clothes. "No, I didn't put it there. Where did I put it last night?" Her hands ran through her hair making it stick up in about seven different places. She didn't care. All she wanted was a way out. She turned her head about frantically searching for the one thing that could stimulate her. A glimmer of silver caught her eye by her bed. That's when she remembered she had fallen asleep with it in her hand the night before.
With a pounce much like that of a tiger, she grasped the knife in her right hand and rolled up the left sleeve of her shirt. She searched for a spot on her wrist that had already scarred over or there was no trace of a healing wound. When she finally found one, she placed the cool blade upon her flesh and slashed like a killer would his victim.
Blood flowed down to the palm of her hand. She let out a sigh of relaxation as the red flowed from the new wound. Her feelings of anxiety, depression, hatred all left her for those few brief moments. Pure bliss, that's what it was. She sucked the blood from the wound as she had come accustomed to doing. When it had basically stopped flowing, she started on that night's homework.
~
School. She dreaded going the next day. Malfoy would be there. He'd be worse. Crueler than usual. She knew she deserved what he would give her. She should have been a little kinder to him. After all, he did buy her McDonald's, which she hadn't had in the longest time. Food was rare to come by in the Granger residence. Mr. Granger didn't work and Danny and Dylan would never give the money they made off their part-time jobs to him so they could be fed.
All day she avoided him. When he slammed her locker shut in the morning, she re-opened it without glancing at him. When he tried to talk to her on the way to first period, she ignored him. In fact she didn't hear a word he had said. If he did apologize, she would never know. He tried to write her a note during class. She just shoved it into her backpack without bothering to read it. All in all, she did a pretty good job in keeping him away from her.
It went this way for the rest of the week. Hermione still had the dream about him every night, but she didn't bother to dwell on it. Dreams don't come true. Or do they?
The weekend came. Not soon enough in Hermione's opinion. Away from Malfoy and his tormenting glares. Away from all the people she had to act for. Away from the place she despised most (except of course from her own house).
Friday night Kelly was having a sleepover. Five girls were invited. Just as in every sleepover she had though, some boys would slip in later on in the night when her parents were asleep. The girls who would be there were Kelly, Lana, Hermione, and two girls that Hermione didn't particularly care for, Pansy Parkinson, and Lavender Brown. Both were very popular with the boys and dressed in scanty clothing.
"I just got a new lie detector!" Kelly said proudly. "You girls wanna use it to play truth? We can hook one person up to it and then have everyone ask her one question each. How about it?"
Hermione wasn't so sure, but the other girls agreed, so she had no choice.
"We should make Hermione go first," Pansy said with an evil grin on her face.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
They hooked her up to the machine. She wasn't nervous at all since she had been hooked up to them before. Her psychiatrist was a bit off his rocker and liked to hook her up to one when he asked questions.
Once she was all set up, Pansy jumped at the opportunity to ask the first question. "Just so that we all have some dirt on you, are you still a virgin?"
"Yes, and I don't plan on losing my virginity any time soon," she replied matter-of-factly. "In my opinion, that was a stupid question to waste. Next."
Lavender asked next. "Are there any guys in our school who you would want to lose your virginity to?"
"Yes, I can think of one."
"Who?"
"That exceeds your one question limit. I'm sorry. I guess you'll just never find out." She looked at Lana and Kelly with pleading eyes. They both nodded knowingly.
"Do you have a thing for either Ron or Harry? I see you with them a lot," Lana asked already knowing the answer.
"We're just friends. That's all I want. That's all we'll ever be."
"Well, in that case, do you mind if I ask Harry out?" Kelly finished.
"Not at all. I think it'd be good for him." Hermione smiled a little. She was grateful that her friends didn't continue on the same lines as Pansy and Lavender.
The girls all took their turns. They mainly asked stupid questions, but it was fun watching the needle jump every time Pansy lied about something or other.
By the time Kelly, the last to be hooked up, was finished, there was a soft tap on the door. Kelly rushed over and let in five boys. Hermione looked up to see Harry, Ron, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini (a good friend of Malfoy's), and Hayden Kirkpatrick (Lana's boyfriend).
Hermione groaned inwardly when she saw Malfoy stroll in. How they all always managed to get there at the same time Hermione never figured out. They probably all waited outside until they were all there then knocked on the door.
Pansy greeted both Draco and Blaise with a hug. She had dated Draco for a while then dumped him for Blaise. No one ever figured out why. Blaise did whatever Draco did. It was like he didn't have a mind of his own. She and Blaise went into the spare closet. They said they needed privacy.
Hayden and Lana immediately found a corner and began making out like it was their last day on Earth. Ron greeted Hermione then went over to talk to Lavender. Kelly grabbed Harry over to the side before he made it near Hermione. That left Draco alone with Hermione.
She tried to stay hidden in the shadows, but that didn't work. He knew exactly what she was doing. *This is not my day* she thought miserably.