Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water
Chapter Two- With Friends Like This…
Disclaimer- They are not mine and we ALL know it!!!
Hermione Granger sighed as she strolled down a dimly lit hallway at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tears began to well up in her spice colored eyes as she contemplated her sorrows. 'What is wrong with me?! He is only my friend I can not expect anything from him. I sincerely wish that he would ask me to the Valentine's Ball. Can he not see how I feel about him?' These thoughts overwhelmed her and she hurried to the nearest wall and leaned her back against it for support. Suddenly glad for the fact that most of the students were at dinner now and could not see her break down in a fit of tears.
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At that same time Draco Malfoy was also wandering the hall of the school. He had been in the Slytherin house after his Quidditch practice and had fallen asleep on a ominous looking black sofa in the common room. He had awoken with the realization that he was missing dinner and that none of his fellow Slytherins had bothered to wake him, for the fear of his wrath. He donned his cloak, checking to make sure that his wand was still in the small inside pocket where he kept it, before hurrying out of the common room. His pace slowed as he rationalized that there was no way for him to get to the Great Hall in time for dinner, besides Apparating (which is literally impossible inside of Hogwarts), so he slowed his pace greatly.
He began to think of the Valentine's Ball and Banquet and of the young witch who he ached to accompany. His parents would never have approved of his choice, she was not a Slytherin after all, but what did he care what they thought anyways. 'Stop thinking about her Draco, it would take a miracle for her to accept your invitation anyways.'
Draco strolled around the corner with his hands in his pockets, when his ice blue eyes widened in surprise. For there, sitting in the corner with her head in her hands was the girl that had just moments before dominated all of his thoughts.
Her bushy brown hair falling over her delicate face and slumped shoulders. Her small frame was trembling furiously. This sight tugged at his very heart and soul, causing him to reach out a pallid hand and place it gently on her shoulder.
"Hermione." He whispered cautiously.
She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, shock and sadness could be seen in her beautiful eyes. Tears cascaded down her flushed face and her lips trembled with unspoken anguish.
"What is wrong Hermione, please tell me. I will not tease you nor will I tell a soul, I swear on….the ghost of….ummm….Salazar Slytherin."
Hermione raised an eyebrow as she debated the issue internally. Finally she decided that Draco would be the perfect to confide in. She would not have to be worried about him telling Harry, Ginny, and especially Ron about her 'problems'. It was also considered a very serious gesture if a Slytherin was to swear upon it's founder. She inhaled deeply before agreeing to unburden her heart to none other than Draco Malfoy.
He put his back to the wall and slid into a sitting position immediately on her right hand side. Hermione smiled slightly at the young wizard at her right, trying not to notice that he was horribly good looking. His striking pale blue eyes watched her every move and his chiseled features softened a bit with concern. Draco was obviously well built and rather muscular from playing Quidditch. His darkness and deviant personality were intriguing. Hermione quickly shook these thought from her head as they were clouding her vision of the 'junior death eater'.
"Well…quite frankly it has to do mostly with Ron."
Draco gulped as he wondered what he had gotten himself into. All he knew was that if that redheaded twit of a Weasley had hurt her in anyway that he would throttle him the very next time that he saw him. He then nodded for her to continue.
"Yesterday after the planning committee meeting for the Valentine's Ball and Banquet. Harry asked Ginny to the Ball now I am very jealous of her."
A look of utter surprise overtook Draco's thoughts… 'Hermione and Harry?' He had never even considered that possibility before, he always thought that his primary competition was Weasley.
She could nearly see the thoughts which were quickly formulating in his brain. "Oh goodness no! I am jealous of their happiness and the fact that Harry likes Ginny the same way that she likes him. Ron on the other hand sees me as another little sister and a friend. He is so blind, if he cannot see how I feel about him…" Her voice broke as she began to cry again.
Draco diffidently put his arms around her crying form and began to stroke her disheveled hair. She buried her face in his robes and continued to weep.
"Hermione, that prat does not deserve you. Anyone who hurts you so does not deserve you. He is a complete idiot, and a fool not to ask you." He whispered soothingly as he tightened his grip around her.
Within moments her tears ceased and she lifted her eyes to meet his. His confidence suddenly returned to him at the mere sight of her radiant eyes.
"Hermione…since Ron is such a prat and will not take you to the Ball and Banquet," He paused to take a breath "Would you be willing to settle for me?"
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Dinner had just ended in the Great Hall as Ron Weasley headed back to Griffindor. He was very worried about Hermione, she had not shown up for dinner and nobody knew where she had disappeared to. He thought of what his older brothers had told him the night before in the boys' dormitory. 'The time will never be just right' rung in his ears and plagued him mind since then. I will ask her tomorrow evening after the Quidditch game against Slytherin. After everyone else has gone to bed I will find an excuse to get her to meet me in the common room. After making his decision he grinned widely and corrected his atrocious posture. He strode happily down up the stairways and down the halls proud of his decision, until one fateful moment.
He rounded a corner to see Draco huddled in the corner with his arms wrapped tightly around some brainless Slytherin girl, no doubt. Then he made the spilt second decision to interrupt Malfoy's 'fun-filled evening' to take revenge on him for all the times that he had ruined fun and perfect moments.
"Malfoy! You Bloody Twit, having a bit of fun, are we?" Ron quipped stepping out of the shadows.
Draco immediately tensed up and released his grip on the girl that was clinging to him. As Ron neared him, his heart nearly stopped. The girl who Malfoy had been so tenderly holding only moments before was Hermione…his Hermione. His face turned crimson with rage as he clenched his fists at his sides.
"Hermione! What the Bloody Hell do you think you are doing! Associating with Slytherin scum is way below you! And Draco Malfoy none the less, the death eater wannabe!" He approached Hermione threateningly. His temper appeared to be getting the better of him, though in truth that was not it. It was his broken heart that was getting the better of him.
Draco leapt to his feet and stood between the distraught young Weasley and Hermione defensively. "Leave her alone you big dim ox or you be eating slugs before the day is done!" He reached for his wand as Hermione too stood and set a hand on his arm.
She pushed herself forward between the two before looking into Ron's eyes defiantly. "What is your problem all of a sudden Ronald ?" Hermione asked spitefully. Ron peered questioningly into her eyes. Was he imagining things or could he see a spark of pain in her eyes.
"I was looking for you because….I want to ask you to the Valentine's Ball…."his voice faded as the grin on Draco's grew.
"It just so happens that I already have a date!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Who?!" Ron yelled
"Draco." Hermione stated glancing over her shoulder to give Draco one of her winning smiles. "I am going with Draco Malfoy."
Draco caught Ron's distraught glance at him and he smirked.
Ron pushed his way past Hermione and Malfoy and began to run towards the Griffindor tower. Even from this distance you could hear Ron angrily holler the password at the Fat Lady and the Portrait slam shut behind him.