CHAPTER 5~ Suspended
As they approached the school, Hermione saw Harry and Ron already in the courtyard. They were there earlier than usual, so it was obvious that they had left without even waiting for Hermione. This made Hermione's face burn with anger even though the air was so cold.
Not even Lana and Kelly looked up when Hermione approached with Draco by her side. "Good morning," Hermione said with venom dripping from her voice. "It's nice to see that you two waited to walk with me this morning."
Harry and Ron turned to face her. "Well-well you see.we were um." Ron started.
"We got driven to school today, and there was no more room in the car," Harry picked up. "Mrs. Weasley had Ron and I, Ginny and Fred and George, so there wasn't really any room for you. And it looks like you got here okay," he added in what was a vain attempt as an apology.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Did you even call home to tell me this?"
"Well no not exactly."
"Whatever I wasn't home anyway."
"So then why are you bitching?" Ron snapped. "Where were you anyway?"
Draco stepped up beside her. "She's at my house for the week. 'Cause you two seem to care oh so much lately. I offered for her to stay at my house."
Ron's eyes visibly widened. He clenched his jaw and his fists. His whole body was trembling as the anger built up inside of him. "Y-you stayed at Malfoy's house? I should've known there was something going on between the two of you when we caught you kissing yesterday. How could you betray us for him?"
Hermione shook her head. "I didn't betray you, Ron. I'm sorry that Draco was able to protect me better than you two. At least he cares about what happens to me. All the two of you care about are your precious girlfriends."
Ron grabbed her wrist and held it tightly. "You know that's not true."
"Let me go," she hissed.
"Why should I?"
"'Cause if you don't you'll have to deal with me," Draco threatened.
"I'm not scared of you, Malfoy," Ron said. He averted his eyes to look at Draco although he didn't release his grip on Hermione.
"You should be."
Hermione slapped Ron as hard as she could with her free hand. Ron howled in pain and shoved her to the ground. "You stupid bitch!"
"Don't you ever call her a bitch again," Draco said as he lunged foreword. Ron toppled onto the concrete with Draco on top of him, punching him repeatedly in the head.
Hermione rushed over and tried to pull them apart along with Harry, but their attempts were futile. Draco refused to give up, and Ron couldn't even get one punch on him.
A crowd soon formed around them. Lavender was screaming for them to stop, while Blaise and all Draco's friends were cheering. Soon the crowd was broken apart as Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore fought their way through.
Draco stood up as he saw the professors come through. Hermione didn't care though; she slugged Ron one more time while Harry tried to help him to his feet.
"What is going on here?" came Professor McGonagall's shrill voice as all the cheering died down. The question was more to startle the students than to get answers since it was obvious as to what was going on.
Draco was smirking. Hermione looked livid. Harry was acting as Ron's support. And Ron was bloodied up a bit. His nose and lip were bleeding and both of his eyes were black. There was also a bit of blood dripping from under his crimson hair.
"Mr. Potter, get Mr. Weasley to Madame Pomfrey right away. Mr. Malfoy, Ms Granger, follow me," Dumbledore instructed.
Draco winked at Hermione as they followed Dumbledore up to the Headmaster's office. The usual twinkle had left his eye. In fact, he looked downright intimidating. Never had Hermione been in Dumbledore's office because she had been in trouble. The mood had always been light and cheery. Now, however, things were a bit different. She knew that she would be in trouble even though Ron would get out of it because of the beating he took.
"Sit," Dumbledore commanded. "Now, before you even try to explain yourselves, I want you both to know that you will be suspended until next Tuesday. No matter how Mr. Weasley provoked you, you had no right to fight him. You may explain now."
Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance. Hermione decided to start. "Well, you see, Professor, last night Draco let me stay at his house because I was having some family problems. Ron and Harry were mad at me yesterday were mad at me before I went home, but I thought they'd at least call to apologize for what happened, but they didn't. When we arrived here today, I saw that they didn't even care that I wasn't at home yesterday. That angered me some, so I decided to see what was wrong. Ron got all mad when I told him that I was staying with Draco, and he grabbed my wrist."
Draco decided to pick up from there and finished the story. If anything, Dumbledore only appeared to become even madder.
"That is still no reason for your actions. I will have a talk with Mr. Weasley, but his actions were nowhere near as bad as yours."
That's when the announcements decided to come on. Most of them weren't anywhere near important. The last one caught both Draco and Hermione's attention.
"And finally on Friday, February 15 there will be a Valentine's Day Dance. Tickets will go on sale next Wednesday the 13."
Dumbledore looked at the two teens. "Well then, I trust you don't need an escort to get back home. I will see you both in a week."
Draco and Hermione stood up and left the large office without a backward glance. They walked out of the building and back toward the Malfoy Manor.
Hermione was grinning from ear to ear as if she'd just won the lottery. There was a slight skip in her step, suggesting that she was happier than usual. Apparently she wasn't disappointed about being suspended. It was something Draco thought he'd never see.
"Uh, you okay?" he questioned with a worried look upon his normally stoic face.
"Perfect! Never better! Why? Do you have a problem with me being happy?" She turned to face him, but the smile was still apparent on her lips.
Draco laughed a little. "No. Not a problem. I just never thought you'd be happy about getting suspended. What about your perfect grades? Aren't you worried at all?"
She turned and skipped along again, with a very confused Draco trailing behind her. It wasn't that he was disappointed to be out of school for a week. It was just that he knew Weasley wouldn't even get a day. All because he was perfect Potter's best friend, and fuck buddy for all Draco knew.
At the Malfoy Manor, Anna interrogated as to why they were home. Draco calmly explained, and she almost hit the roof. Hermione and Draco threw their bags in Draco's room then headed back out the door.
Hermione pulled her hands into her sleeves and wrapped the ends in her fists to keep warm. Her face turned red from the biting wind as they made their way toward the mall, where they could keep warm.
Not surprisingly the mall was almost empty. Few adults were there apparently just browsing through shops on their day off. A handful looked at Hermione and Draco with frowns etched across their faces. They probably thought the two teens were skipping school.
For the greater part of the day, Hermione and Draco just browsed through the different stores, looking, not buying. It became rather boring after a period of time. They walked into the same stores over and over, possibly expecting things to change in a short period of time.
Finally realizing that there was nothing more to do, they went back to the Malfoy Manor for lunch.
Lucius Malfoy greeted them in the kitchen. There were still about three hours before they would have normally been home. Draco froze. His eyes grew wide.
"Well, Draco, I heard about what happened today," he said with a sneer. "That lovely headmaster of yours called me up at work. Fighting with a Weasley? I thought I told you to stay away from filth like him. They're only trouble those redheaded pieces of filth.
"And this must be Hermione." He looked over Draco's shoulder to glance at her. "You don't look a thing like your parents. That is a good sign." Lucius stood and walked over to where she was standing.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," she said quietly looking up at him. "It's nice to see you again."
"Yes, it is," he agreed. "How is your father? Has he found a job yet?"
"No, sir, he hasn't. I have to take care of myself."
Lucius nodded thoughtfully. "Do you have a job or are your brothers working to support you?"
"I had a job for a bit, but I had to quit," she responded. She didn't like talking about her family with Lucius Malfoy. It made her feel very uncomfortable.
"Well then you can come work for me after school if you would like. We pay more than minimum wage, so you will have enough money for whatever you like. How does that sound?"
There was a hint of unnatural sweetness in his tone that Hermione wasn't sure if she could trust or not. Deciding that it was best not to have a confrontation with this particular man, she agreed. He told her that she could start the next day if she wanted. The hours would be from 3-9. He also informed her that Draco worked there from time to time for some extra cash in his pocket.
Lucius swept out of the room without so much as a backward glance toward his son. He seemed not to care.
Draco rolled his eyes and headed toward the refrigerator to look for something to eat. "Well he seemed to like you enough."
Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "Sure. Whatever you say."
"I'm serious. He only lets people he likes work for him, so you must have said something right. You seemed a little uptight though. He wouldn't do anything to you if that's what you're worried about. I'm the only one he hits," he said sounding nonchalant.
Hermione rested her elbows on the counter and held her head in her hands. "I don't get it."
"What's not to get?" Draco asked turning around with a bag of carrots is his hand. "All you gotta do is file stuff for him. It's really nothing to worry about."
She sighed and took a carrot in her hand.
~
The next day was relatively eventless. They stayed in the warm mansion and watched T.V for the greater part of the day.
Without the other knowing, they kept stealing secret glances at each other. Neither would let the other know what they were feeling, however.
To Draco it seemed almost wrong to like Hermione. He felt that he wasn't good enough for her. He wanted her to have someone who could protect and take care of her, and he didn't know if he was the right person for that. Sure he helped her out when possible, but he wanted better for her.
Hermione thought that Draco was too good for her. He protected her without really having to. She knew that he couldn't possibly feel the same way for her as she did for him, not when there were so many other girls he could have. Her heart sank just thinking about it.
They left for Lucius Malfoy's office around 2:30 so they would make it on time. Hermione was still a bit nervous of what she had to do, but Draco kept reassuring her that it was nothing but filing folders and things like that. He promised to help her out as much as possible.
Lucius only nodded to them as they entered the large, pale grey office. He kept everything neat and in order. There was not a piece of paper on his desk that didn't need to be there, with the exception of the folders that needed to be filed in the room that was attached. Also, there was one large bookcase behind the ebony desk where Lucius was furiously writing, and shelves, which held few pictures. In front of the desk there were two black leather chairs.
Draco grabbed the stack of papers off the corner of the desk and led Hermione into the attached room where there was nothing but filing cabinets.
He showed her where the different files went and told her to make sure that everything was in alphabetical order. As he had promised, it was simple.
It took them a few hours to sort through everything. The number of filing cabinets complicated things a bit, but it wasn't so bad.
As Hermione was reading the file names to figure out where to put them, she came across one that read "Death Eaters." She had remembered hearing about a gang in London with that name. Their leader called himself Lord Voldemort. They basically went around killing those who didn't support them. Rumor had it that Voldemort was killed and came back from the dead, but no one really knew for sure. She decided not to worry about it, and perhaps ask Draco if he knew anything later that night.
By six o'clock, they had finished filing all the original folders, but were soon given many more from some of the other employees that would take the rest of the night.
At nine, Lucius came in and told them that they could return home and he would be there in a few hours.
"Where does he go after he gets out of here that it takes him two hours to get home?" Hermione asked Draco once they were back on the dark streets of London.
Draco just shrugged. "Don't know. He used to come home right away, but that was before mother died."
"Oh." She decided to leave it at that, not wanting to talk about parents again.
Draco understood why she didn't pursue the topic any further. He put her arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner. To his surprise, she didn't object to their sudden closeness and let him leave it there for the rest of the walk home.
Hermione collapsed onto the bed in Draco's room and looked up at his ceiling. She was surprised when he crawled on top of her and lowered his mouth to hers. Their tongues battled passionately.
After a few minutes, Draco broke away and whispered, "Do you wanna go out with me?"
A small smile appeared on Hermione's lips as she pulled him back down for another heated kiss.
"So is that a yes?" he asked after he broke away again.
"That's a hell yes."
"And what about the dance next Friday? Wanna go with me?"
"Of course I will."
Draco smirked and laid next to Hermione on his bed. "And what will Potthead and the Weasel think? Tsk tsk tsk." He shook his head. "Betraying them for me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I am not betraying them. Ever since Harry and Kelly started going out, it's like I'm not even here. I don't know what's gotten into them, but I wanna know. Plus, they hafta learn to respect my decisions whether they approve or not. Last time I checked, I'm a big girl and I know what I'm doing."
"Sure about that?" he teased.
She smacked him playfully across the head then stood up.
"Where are you going?" Draco pouted.
"I need a shower. I'll be right back in like fifteen minutes. Do you have a problem with that?" Without waiting for a response she said, "Good. See you then."
~
The week went by fairly quickly with Hermione and Draco basically following the same routine. Wake up, eat, lounge around, work, come back home, shower, and sleep. It wasn't all that boring though. They rather liked being by themselves without having anyone around to say anything.
They went back to school on Tuesday. Neither wanted to, but they didn't exactly have much of a choice.
They held hands as they slowly walked to the school. Hermione brought up a good point along the way. "You know I go home tonight?"
"Already? Can't you stay a while longer?"
"I would love to, but I don't know what's gunna happen yet when I go home. It'll be like Christmas all over again for Danny and Dylan. They're probably going through withdrawal since I'm not there for them to beat up."
Draco's eyes darkened at the mention of their names. "If they do anything to you, I'll kill them. I don't want you to have to go through that. They shouldn't be doing that to you. You deserve better."
"That won't stop them, Draco, we both know that."
"I'll make them stop."
Hermione smiled sadly up at him. She knew that he couldn't do anything to make them stop, but it was nice to think he could.
In the courtyard, Harry and Ron were looking everywhere for Hermione. They saw her walking down the street with Draco. Just before they entered they courtyard, Harry and Ron saw them kiss. Both boys became filled with anger, but they promised that they wouldn't do anything to Draco for Hermione's sake. They decided that they wanted her to be happy.
As Hermione was about to walk past Harry and Ron, she heard her name. "Hermione! Oy Hermione!"
She turned to face Harry and Ron. Draco stopped next to her. "What do you guys want?" she asked irately.
"To apologize," Harry said. "We were both assholes for not trusting your decision and we want you to be happy"
"Yeah, 'Mione, I didn't mean to get so upset with you last week. I was being stupid. Can you forgive us?" Ron added.
Hermione looked between the two and saw in their eyes that they truly were sorry. It took her a few seconds to make up her mind, but she really didn't want to lose her two best friends in the world, and nodded slightly.
Draco decided to go over and talk to his friends and left Hermione to talk to hers. Things were pretty much back to normal. Well with the exception of Hermione and Draco's relationship.
As they approached the school, Hermione saw Harry and Ron already in the courtyard. They were there earlier than usual, so it was obvious that they had left without even waiting for Hermione. This made Hermione's face burn with anger even though the air was so cold.
Not even Lana and Kelly looked up when Hermione approached with Draco by her side. "Good morning," Hermione said with venom dripping from her voice. "It's nice to see that you two waited to walk with me this morning."
Harry and Ron turned to face her. "Well-well you see.we were um." Ron started.
"We got driven to school today, and there was no more room in the car," Harry picked up. "Mrs. Weasley had Ron and I, Ginny and Fred and George, so there wasn't really any room for you. And it looks like you got here okay," he added in what was a vain attempt as an apology.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Did you even call home to tell me this?"
"Well no not exactly."
"Whatever I wasn't home anyway."
"So then why are you bitching?" Ron snapped. "Where were you anyway?"
Draco stepped up beside her. "She's at my house for the week. 'Cause you two seem to care oh so much lately. I offered for her to stay at my house."
Ron's eyes visibly widened. He clenched his jaw and his fists. His whole body was trembling as the anger built up inside of him. "Y-you stayed at Malfoy's house? I should've known there was something going on between the two of you when we caught you kissing yesterday. How could you betray us for him?"
Hermione shook her head. "I didn't betray you, Ron. I'm sorry that Draco was able to protect me better than you two. At least he cares about what happens to me. All the two of you care about are your precious girlfriends."
Ron grabbed her wrist and held it tightly. "You know that's not true."
"Let me go," she hissed.
"Why should I?"
"'Cause if you don't you'll have to deal with me," Draco threatened.
"I'm not scared of you, Malfoy," Ron said. He averted his eyes to look at Draco although he didn't release his grip on Hermione.
"You should be."
Hermione slapped Ron as hard as she could with her free hand. Ron howled in pain and shoved her to the ground. "You stupid bitch!"
"Don't you ever call her a bitch again," Draco said as he lunged foreword. Ron toppled onto the concrete with Draco on top of him, punching him repeatedly in the head.
Hermione rushed over and tried to pull them apart along with Harry, but their attempts were futile. Draco refused to give up, and Ron couldn't even get one punch on him.
A crowd soon formed around them. Lavender was screaming for them to stop, while Blaise and all Draco's friends were cheering. Soon the crowd was broken apart as Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore fought their way through.
Draco stood up as he saw the professors come through. Hermione didn't care though; she slugged Ron one more time while Harry tried to help him to his feet.
"What is going on here?" came Professor McGonagall's shrill voice as all the cheering died down. The question was more to startle the students than to get answers since it was obvious as to what was going on.
Draco was smirking. Hermione looked livid. Harry was acting as Ron's support. And Ron was bloodied up a bit. His nose and lip were bleeding and both of his eyes were black. There was also a bit of blood dripping from under his crimson hair.
"Mr. Potter, get Mr. Weasley to Madame Pomfrey right away. Mr. Malfoy, Ms Granger, follow me," Dumbledore instructed.
Draco winked at Hermione as they followed Dumbledore up to the Headmaster's office. The usual twinkle had left his eye. In fact, he looked downright intimidating. Never had Hermione been in Dumbledore's office because she had been in trouble. The mood had always been light and cheery. Now, however, things were a bit different. She knew that she would be in trouble even though Ron would get out of it because of the beating he took.
"Sit," Dumbledore commanded. "Now, before you even try to explain yourselves, I want you both to know that you will be suspended until next Tuesday. No matter how Mr. Weasley provoked you, you had no right to fight him. You may explain now."
Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance. Hermione decided to start. "Well, you see, Professor, last night Draco let me stay at his house because I was having some family problems. Ron and Harry were mad at me yesterday were mad at me before I went home, but I thought they'd at least call to apologize for what happened, but they didn't. When we arrived here today, I saw that they didn't even care that I wasn't at home yesterday. That angered me some, so I decided to see what was wrong. Ron got all mad when I told him that I was staying with Draco, and he grabbed my wrist."
Draco decided to pick up from there and finished the story. If anything, Dumbledore only appeared to become even madder.
"That is still no reason for your actions. I will have a talk with Mr. Weasley, but his actions were nowhere near as bad as yours."
That's when the announcements decided to come on. Most of them weren't anywhere near important. The last one caught both Draco and Hermione's attention.
"And finally on Friday, February 15 there will be a Valentine's Day Dance. Tickets will go on sale next Wednesday the 13."
Dumbledore looked at the two teens. "Well then, I trust you don't need an escort to get back home. I will see you both in a week."
Draco and Hermione stood up and left the large office without a backward glance. They walked out of the building and back toward the Malfoy Manor.
Hermione was grinning from ear to ear as if she'd just won the lottery. There was a slight skip in her step, suggesting that she was happier than usual. Apparently she wasn't disappointed about being suspended. It was something Draco thought he'd never see.
"Uh, you okay?" he questioned with a worried look upon his normally stoic face.
"Perfect! Never better! Why? Do you have a problem with me being happy?" She turned to face him, but the smile was still apparent on her lips.
Draco laughed a little. "No. Not a problem. I just never thought you'd be happy about getting suspended. What about your perfect grades? Aren't you worried at all?"
She turned and skipped along again, with a very confused Draco trailing behind her. It wasn't that he was disappointed to be out of school for a week. It was just that he knew Weasley wouldn't even get a day. All because he was perfect Potter's best friend, and fuck buddy for all Draco knew.
At the Malfoy Manor, Anna interrogated as to why they were home. Draco calmly explained, and she almost hit the roof. Hermione and Draco threw their bags in Draco's room then headed back out the door.
Hermione pulled her hands into her sleeves and wrapped the ends in her fists to keep warm. Her face turned red from the biting wind as they made their way toward the mall, where they could keep warm.
Not surprisingly the mall was almost empty. Few adults were there apparently just browsing through shops on their day off. A handful looked at Hermione and Draco with frowns etched across their faces. They probably thought the two teens were skipping school.
For the greater part of the day, Hermione and Draco just browsed through the different stores, looking, not buying. It became rather boring after a period of time. They walked into the same stores over and over, possibly expecting things to change in a short period of time.
Finally realizing that there was nothing more to do, they went back to the Malfoy Manor for lunch.
Lucius Malfoy greeted them in the kitchen. There were still about three hours before they would have normally been home. Draco froze. His eyes grew wide.
"Well, Draco, I heard about what happened today," he said with a sneer. "That lovely headmaster of yours called me up at work. Fighting with a Weasley? I thought I told you to stay away from filth like him. They're only trouble those redheaded pieces of filth.
"And this must be Hermione." He looked over Draco's shoulder to glance at her. "You don't look a thing like your parents. That is a good sign." Lucius stood and walked over to where she was standing.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," she said quietly looking up at him. "It's nice to see you again."
"Yes, it is," he agreed. "How is your father? Has he found a job yet?"
"No, sir, he hasn't. I have to take care of myself."
Lucius nodded thoughtfully. "Do you have a job or are your brothers working to support you?"
"I had a job for a bit, but I had to quit," she responded. She didn't like talking about her family with Lucius Malfoy. It made her feel very uncomfortable.
"Well then you can come work for me after school if you would like. We pay more than minimum wage, so you will have enough money for whatever you like. How does that sound?"
There was a hint of unnatural sweetness in his tone that Hermione wasn't sure if she could trust or not. Deciding that it was best not to have a confrontation with this particular man, she agreed. He told her that she could start the next day if she wanted. The hours would be from 3-9. He also informed her that Draco worked there from time to time for some extra cash in his pocket.
Lucius swept out of the room without so much as a backward glance toward his son. He seemed not to care.
Draco rolled his eyes and headed toward the refrigerator to look for something to eat. "Well he seemed to like you enough."
Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "Sure. Whatever you say."
"I'm serious. He only lets people he likes work for him, so you must have said something right. You seemed a little uptight though. He wouldn't do anything to you if that's what you're worried about. I'm the only one he hits," he said sounding nonchalant.
Hermione rested her elbows on the counter and held her head in her hands. "I don't get it."
"What's not to get?" Draco asked turning around with a bag of carrots is his hand. "All you gotta do is file stuff for him. It's really nothing to worry about."
She sighed and took a carrot in her hand.
~
The next day was relatively eventless. They stayed in the warm mansion and watched T.V for the greater part of the day.
Without the other knowing, they kept stealing secret glances at each other. Neither would let the other know what they were feeling, however.
To Draco it seemed almost wrong to like Hermione. He felt that he wasn't good enough for her. He wanted her to have someone who could protect and take care of her, and he didn't know if he was the right person for that. Sure he helped her out when possible, but he wanted better for her.
Hermione thought that Draco was too good for her. He protected her without really having to. She knew that he couldn't possibly feel the same way for her as she did for him, not when there were so many other girls he could have. Her heart sank just thinking about it.
They left for Lucius Malfoy's office around 2:30 so they would make it on time. Hermione was still a bit nervous of what she had to do, but Draco kept reassuring her that it was nothing but filing folders and things like that. He promised to help her out as much as possible.
Lucius only nodded to them as they entered the large, pale grey office. He kept everything neat and in order. There was not a piece of paper on his desk that didn't need to be there, with the exception of the folders that needed to be filed in the room that was attached. Also, there was one large bookcase behind the ebony desk where Lucius was furiously writing, and shelves, which held few pictures. In front of the desk there were two black leather chairs.
Draco grabbed the stack of papers off the corner of the desk and led Hermione into the attached room where there was nothing but filing cabinets.
He showed her where the different files went and told her to make sure that everything was in alphabetical order. As he had promised, it was simple.
It took them a few hours to sort through everything. The number of filing cabinets complicated things a bit, but it wasn't so bad.
As Hermione was reading the file names to figure out where to put them, she came across one that read "Death Eaters." She had remembered hearing about a gang in London with that name. Their leader called himself Lord Voldemort. They basically went around killing those who didn't support them. Rumor had it that Voldemort was killed and came back from the dead, but no one really knew for sure. She decided not to worry about it, and perhaps ask Draco if he knew anything later that night.
By six o'clock, they had finished filing all the original folders, but were soon given many more from some of the other employees that would take the rest of the night.
At nine, Lucius came in and told them that they could return home and he would be there in a few hours.
"Where does he go after he gets out of here that it takes him two hours to get home?" Hermione asked Draco once they were back on the dark streets of London.
Draco just shrugged. "Don't know. He used to come home right away, but that was before mother died."
"Oh." She decided to leave it at that, not wanting to talk about parents again.
Draco understood why she didn't pursue the topic any further. He put her arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner. To his surprise, she didn't object to their sudden closeness and let him leave it there for the rest of the walk home.
Hermione collapsed onto the bed in Draco's room and looked up at his ceiling. She was surprised when he crawled on top of her and lowered his mouth to hers. Their tongues battled passionately.
After a few minutes, Draco broke away and whispered, "Do you wanna go out with me?"
A small smile appeared on Hermione's lips as she pulled him back down for another heated kiss.
"So is that a yes?" he asked after he broke away again.
"That's a hell yes."
"And what about the dance next Friday? Wanna go with me?"
"Of course I will."
Draco smirked and laid next to Hermione on his bed. "And what will Potthead and the Weasel think? Tsk tsk tsk." He shook his head. "Betraying them for me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I am not betraying them. Ever since Harry and Kelly started going out, it's like I'm not even here. I don't know what's gotten into them, but I wanna know. Plus, they hafta learn to respect my decisions whether they approve or not. Last time I checked, I'm a big girl and I know what I'm doing."
"Sure about that?" he teased.
She smacked him playfully across the head then stood up.
"Where are you going?" Draco pouted.
"I need a shower. I'll be right back in like fifteen minutes. Do you have a problem with that?" Without waiting for a response she said, "Good. See you then."
~
The week went by fairly quickly with Hermione and Draco basically following the same routine. Wake up, eat, lounge around, work, come back home, shower, and sleep. It wasn't all that boring though. They rather liked being by themselves without having anyone around to say anything.
They went back to school on Tuesday. Neither wanted to, but they didn't exactly have much of a choice.
They held hands as they slowly walked to the school. Hermione brought up a good point along the way. "You know I go home tonight?"
"Already? Can't you stay a while longer?"
"I would love to, but I don't know what's gunna happen yet when I go home. It'll be like Christmas all over again for Danny and Dylan. They're probably going through withdrawal since I'm not there for them to beat up."
Draco's eyes darkened at the mention of their names. "If they do anything to you, I'll kill them. I don't want you to have to go through that. They shouldn't be doing that to you. You deserve better."
"That won't stop them, Draco, we both know that."
"I'll make them stop."
Hermione smiled sadly up at him. She knew that he couldn't do anything to make them stop, but it was nice to think he could.
In the courtyard, Harry and Ron were looking everywhere for Hermione. They saw her walking down the street with Draco. Just before they entered they courtyard, Harry and Ron saw them kiss. Both boys became filled with anger, but they promised that they wouldn't do anything to Draco for Hermione's sake. They decided that they wanted her to be happy.
As Hermione was about to walk past Harry and Ron, she heard her name. "Hermione! Oy Hermione!"
She turned to face Harry and Ron. Draco stopped next to her. "What do you guys want?" she asked irately.
"To apologize," Harry said. "We were both assholes for not trusting your decision and we want you to be happy"
"Yeah, 'Mione, I didn't mean to get so upset with you last week. I was being stupid. Can you forgive us?" Ron added.
Hermione looked between the two and saw in their eyes that they truly were sorry. It took her a few seconds to make up her mind, but she really didn't want to lose her two best friends in the world, and nodded slightly.
Draco decided to go over and talk to his friends and left Hermione to talk to hers. Things were pretty much back to normal. Well with the exception of Hermione and Draco's relationship.