Hermione left before Draco could, purposely avoiding him. She made her way up to the Gryffindor common room. The Fat Lady was already open and a redhead emerged from the hole as Hermione approached it. "Hey! So are you Head Girl?" asked Ginny, looking up to Hermione.
"I will be," Hermione said in a very unexcited voice.
"What's wrong?" asked Ginny.
"Nothing," Hermione answered, already climbing into the common room. "See you later."
"Yea, you too," called Ginny as the painting swung closed. Ginny lowered her head and walked away slowly, feeling like Hermione had been keeping something from her that made Ginny' heart twinge. She really liked Hermione.
"'Lo, Hermione," Ron shouted over the noise. Hermione walked over to the table Harry and Ron were sitting in, completing a Potions essay.
"So," Pansy said as Draco advanced towards the Slytherin room. He sighed, and then turned to look at her.
"Why do you keeping 'so'ing me?"
Pansy looked bitterly at him as she came towards the stretch of bare wall. "I'm not deaf, you know? I heard you two in the hall. So you are Head Boy."
"I will be," he corrected.
"I hate that Mudblood," she warned. Pansy turned to the wall. "Righteous." The wall moved aside, revealing the common room behind it.
Draco was studying her, looking scornful. As he made to enter, she grabbed one of his arms, blocking him. "What?"
She looked up into his eyes, making sure not to move as she said, "Watch out for her. I don't trust her one bit."
"Stop over reacting," he sneered, pushing her arm off him.
"What's the matter, Hermione?" asked Ron, noticing her look. "I mean, you'll be Head Girl!"
"And Malfoy is Head Boy."
"What?" they said together again, Harry and Ron.
"James declined. He doesn't want the pressure. By the way he was talking you'd think he was a Hufflepuff," she sighed. "I mean really, he just declined the best award in the school!"
"It's alright," said Ron, looking from Hermione to Harry and trying to conjure up a reason why it was alright. "You'll have to work with him a lot, but that is it."
"It'll be alright," Hermione said decidedly. She had lost a lot of her drive since everything had become so complicated.
"You're right, it will be," Harry encouraged her.
The next Saturday morning, she was walking to Hagrid's when she noticed something from the greenhouses. The doors were left open, something very unusual. She looked at them and remembered Neville's detention, which he had served the night before. "He must have left them open," she sighed, walking over to them. As she closed them, she noticed that someone was in another greenhouse. Someone with white-blond hair and green Quidditch robes. Her mind darted back to the 'Amare' spell. 'I'm only frazzled because I haven't had a snog in a while.' Her mind went back to Victor, and she shut her eyes. She barely thought of Victor anymore. Her mind moved around her memoriews…when Malfoy has slammed her against the castle, she couldn't breath. She forgot about the differences between boys and girls, about the difference in strength.
She shivered, unconsciously, and then looked up. Draco had gone. 'Where did he go?' she asked herself.
"Granger," he called. She turned, and he was standing behind her. She couldn't tell how he was feeling since he was pretty good and masking his emotions. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same question to you."
"I was collecting ingredients for Professor Snape," he said, still emotionless.
"I was closing the doors." He looked suspiciously at her. "I was," she said defiantly.
"Fine." He turned to leave and Hermione grabbed his arm. He turned, looking back at her with a deadly stare. She hesitated, still quiet afraid of men, but said, "I want to talk to you."
"Well are you going to?" he taunted when she didn't say anything.
Yes. About that time near the lake-"
He laughed suddenly. "I forgot about that." He pulled his arm from Hermione and turned to leave.
"No," she blurted out.
"Instinct," he said casually, shrugging. "That was all."
"No, Malfoy," she said again.
"What, Mu…" he stopped, and she stared at him, expecting to her 'Mudblood.' "Granger," he ended, cooly.
"Well, alright fine. Then we're fine?"
"We were never fine, nor ever will be." He turned, and then looked back at her. "Mudblood."