Chapter Three
There was still no sign of Harry or Ron. Hermione was beginning to get worried. They had not come to Diagon Ally AND she had not seen them at all on their way to Hogwarts.
Draco, sensing her nervousness asked her, "What's wrong?" He was trying hard to get into the habit of being nice.
"Oh- its just I'm really worried that something's happened to Harry and Ron and..." she stopped. Why would care about Hermione's actual feelings? If he did, she wouldn't be his 'girlfriend' in the first place. "Never mind." she said.
"No- I want to help." Draco said stroking a single curl that fell on her forehead. Hermione pulled him over where they were out of listening distance.
"Look...You don't have to put on this act when it's just me." Hermione said.
"It's like I said before, we need to act like we're really a couple if we want people to believe us. I figure I should get used to it." He said. "So...Although Potter and Weasley are not my- er- favorite people, I will try to help you figure out where they are." He said.
"Thank you Draco." said Hermione who was very touched by this gesture of kindness. She leaned in and pecked Draco on the cheek.
"What was that for?" asked Draco in a puzzled voice.
"You said we have to make it believable didn't you." Hermione giggled at her actions 'WHAT HAVE I JUST DONE?' she thought. It was no fun always being the good girl. And that look of utter shock on Malfoy's face was worth doing it again.
Malfoy was still trying to comprehend what had just happened as he slowly walked toward Hermione, trying to act cool and collected. She decided to play with his head. "So, you want one for the flip side... SWEETIE?" She laughed as Malfoy turned bright red.
"We need to discuss how you want to figure out what happened to your friends." Draco said in a serious voice.
"Precisely, and perhaps we can stop off for some tea and a nice game of chess." Hermione said, mocking Draco's speech.
"DO YOU WANT ME TO HELP YOU OR NOT?" growled Draco, now getting angry.
"Alright, alright, settle down, " said Hermione in a soothing voice. "Yes... I do want your help." She finished. But before they began to look, their search was halted by... a visit from Ron and Harry!
"Where have you two been?" asked Hermione relieved.
"We came up a week early to help Professor Lupin resettle into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom." said Harry grinning.
"Well, then why did you send me a letter telling me to meet you in Diagon Ally?" asked Hermione.
"What letter?" asked Ron. "Oh well, come on, let's get inside and---" he said stopping when he finally noticed a hand resting on Hermione's shoulder.
Draco saw him falter. 'It's about time. The stupid git didn't even realize I was here. This is going to be fun.' He smirked at this last thought.
"What do you think you're doing Malfoy?" spat Ron.
"Take your hand off her," Harry said, drawing out his wand.
"You guys...settle down... Malfoy's my...my..." Hermione stopped. 'Oh God. How am I going to do this? They're going to lose their minds!'
'So she's actually going to go through with it? I should have known I could count on the Gryffindor loyalty.'
"Your what? Attacker, Siamese twin, what?" asked Ron.
"HE'S MY BOYFRIEND!" Hermione yelled. Her friends' faces went pale as ghosts.
Hermione waited to see what her their reactions would be when it finally sunk in. Would they be angry? Sad? Would they think it was a joke? Would they feel betrayed?
"What...How..." Ron said at a loss for words.
Harry finally spoke up and said, "You must be joking."
Hermione shook her head, looking at the ground, unable to face her friends.
"How did this happen?" Ron said finally getting his voice back.
"Well..." Hermione said cutting off Malfoy just as he was opening his mouth to explain. "My family and I were vacationing in France and we just happened to be at the same hotel as Draco and his family. We got to talking, and well, now were a couple." Hermione said talking so fast, she had to catch her breath when she finished.
'Hmm...seems Gryffindor's CAN lie.' Draco thought approvingly.
Afraid that her friends would question her until the next morning, Hermione said, "Well...we best be off to the Great Hall. Don't want to miss the sorting do we?" And she ran off dragging Malfoy with her.
Once away from Ron and Harry, Draco said, "I'm surprised Weasley didn't pick up Potter and start beating me with him."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know, they do have a valid reason for thinking you are evil beyond all reason." Hermione said giggling.
"Oh yeah? And why is that?" asked Draco.
"Why? You've GOT to be joking me." Hermione said.
"It's all in good fun." Malfoy replied.
"Is that the real Draco or the Draco who wants to get a job at the ministry so he acts nice Draco?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"Well... they're the same person now." Draco said.
"You know Malfoy, you might actually have a real non-pure blood girlfriend if you wouldn't go around calling them mudbloods." she said. "You weren't exactly...er...cursed with those baby blue eyes." She said mockingly.
"Oh yeah, well, you might have had a real boyfriend if would take your nose out of your books sometimes, because you...well...lets just say you're not that hard to look at." He said in retaliation.
Hermione blushed. No one had ever told her anything that sweet before. She herself did like her new look she developed over the years but never received such a compliment on them. The two of them stood for a while trying to think of something to say but too nervous to act.
Finally Draco said, "Well, I guess we really ought to go up to the Great Hall they'll be announcing the Heads and Prefects."
As they walked in to the Great Hall, they parted ways to their separate tables. It was decorated as usual and all the students were filling in and taking their seats. Instead to taking her usual spot near Harry and Ron, Hermione chose to sit next to Ginny who might be a bit more understanding. As soon as Hermione sat down Ginny began her own questioning.
"Is it true? Are you really?" Ginny asked excitedly.
"Yes, now could you speak louder, I don't think the rats down in the dungeon heard you." Hermione said sarcastically. "I was afraid you might be like your brother; whom can't seem comprehend why on earth I would chose to date Draco." Hermione said while thinking, 'Even though I didn't CHOOSE to.'
"Well...my opinion is, whatever he lacks in personality he certainly makes up in looks." Ginny giggled, stealing a glance towards Draco.
"Ginny...It's so nice to have a person to talk to who understands that the world does not revolve around Quidditch." Hermione giggled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thanks To:
sweet-77-thang, DanishGirl, dark star, ILUVRONWEASLEY, Raven Rosethorn1, crystal369
A/N: This was a really long chapter, about 1.888 words. Hope you guys liked it. A few of you have pointed out that my paragraphs don't tend to separate. I'm in the process of fixing that. Also to ILUVRONWEASLEY, he may very well like Herm; but he could just be Malfoy doing whatever he has to in order to get what he wants. lol Not much info but I don't want to give anything away. Also, if anyone else wants me to e-mail them when I update just put it in your review.
There was still no sign of Harry or Ron. Hermione was beginning to get worried. They had not come to Diagon Ally AND she had not seen them at all on their way to Hogwarts.
Draco, sensing her nervousness asked her, "What's wrong?" He was trying hard to get into the habit of being nice.
"Oh- its just I'm really worried that something's happened to Harry and Ron and..." she stopped. Why would care about Hermione's actual feelings? If he did, she wouldn't be his 'girlfriend' in the first place. "Never mind." she said.
"No- I want to help." Draco said stroking a single curl that fell on her forehead. Hermione pulled him over where they were out of listening distance.
"Look...You don't have to put on this act when it's just me." Hermione said.
"It's like I said before, we need to act like we're really a couple if we want people to believe us. I figure I should get used to it." He said. "So...Although Potter and Weasley are not my- er- favorite people, I will try to help you figure out where they are." He said.
"Thank you Draco." said Hermione who was very touched by this gesture of kindness. She leaned in and pecked Draco on the cheek.
"What was that for?" asked Draco in a puzzled voice.
"You said we have to make it believable didn't you." Hermione giggled at her actions 'WHAT HAVE I JUST DONE?' she thought. It was no fun always being the good girl. And that look of utter shock on Malfoy's face was worth doing it again.
Malfoy was still trying to comprehend what had just happened as he slowly walked toward Hermione, trying to act cool and collected. She decided to play with his head. "So, you want one for the flip side... SWEETIE?" She laughed as Malfoy turned bright red.
"We need to discuss how you want to figure out what happened to your friends." Draco said in a serious voice.
"Precisely, and perhaps we can stop off for some tea and a nice game of chess." Hermione said, mocking Draco's speech.
"DO YOU WANT ME TO HELP YOU OR NOT?" growled Draco, now getting angry.
"Alright, alright, settle down, " said Hermione in a soothing voice. "Yes... I do want your help." She finished. But before they began to look, their search was halted by... a visit from Ron and Harry!
"Where have you two been?" asked Hermione relieved.
"We came up a week early to help Professor Lupin resettle into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom." said Harry grinning.
"Well, then why did you send me a letter telling me to meet you in Diagon Ally?" asked Hermione.
"What letter?" asked Ron. "Oh well, come on, let's get inside and---" he said stopping when he finally noticed a hand resting on Hermione's shoulder.
Draco saw him falter. 'It's about time. The stupid git didn't even realize I was here. This is going to be fun.' He smirked at this last thought.
"What do you think you're doing Malfoy?" spat Ron.
"Take your hand off her," Harry said, drawing out his wand.
"You guys...settle down... Malfoy's my...my..." Hermione stopped. 'Oh God. How am I going to do this? They're going to lose their minds!'
'So she's actually going to go through with it? I should have known I could count on the Gryffindor loyalty.'
"Your what? Attacker, Siamese twin, what?" asked Ron.
"HE'S MY BOYFRIEND!" Hermione yelled. Her friends' faces went pale as ghosts.
Hermione waited to see what her their reactions would be when it finally sunk in. Would they be angry? Sad? Would they think it was a joke? Would they feel betrayed?
"What...How..." Ron said at a loss for words.
Harry finally spoke up and said, "You must be joking."
Hermione shook her head, looking at the ground, unable to face her friends.
"How did this happen?" Ron said finally getting his voice back.
"Well..." Hermione said cutting off Malfoy just as he was opening his mouth to explain. "My family and I were vacationing in France and we just happened to be at the same hotel as Draco and his family. We got to talking, and well, now were a couple." Hermione said talking so fast, she had to catch her breath when she finished.
'Hmm...seems Gryffindor's CAN lie.' Draco thought approvingly.
Afraid that her friends would question her until the next morning, Hermione said, "Well...we best be off to the Great Hall. Don't want to miss the sorting do we?" And she ran off dragging Malfoy with her.
Once away from Ron and Harry, Draco said, "I'm surprised Weasley didn't pick up Potter and start beating me with him."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know, they do have a valid reason for thinking you are evil beyond all reason." Hermione said giggling.
"Oh yeah? And why is that?" asked Draco.
"Why? You've GOT to be joking me." Hermione said.
"It's all in good fun." Malfoy replied.
"Is that the real Draco or the Draco who wants to get a job at the ministry so he acts nice Draco?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"Well... they're the same person now." Draco said.
"You know Malfoy, you might actually have a real non-pure blood girlfriend if you wouldn't go around calling them mudbloods." she said. "You weren't exactly...er...cursed with those baby blue eyes." She said mockingly.
"Oh yeah, well, you might have had a real boyfriend if would take your nose out of your books sometimes, because you...well...lets just say you're not that hard to look at." He said in retaliation.
Hermione blushed. No one had ever told her anything that sweet before. She herself did like her new look she developed over the years but never received such a compliment on them. The two of them stood for a while trying to think of something to say but too nervous to act.
Finally Draco said, "Well, I guess we really ought to go up to the Great Hall they'll be announcing the Heads and Prefects."
As they walked in to the Great Hall, they parted ways to their separate tables. It was decorated as usual and all the students were filling in and taking their seats. Instead to taking her usual spot near Harry and Ron, Hermione chose to sit next to Ginny who might be a bit more understanding. As soon as Hermione sat down Ginny began her own questioning.
"Is it true? Are you really?" Ginny asked excitedly.
"Yes, now could you speak louder, I don't think the rats down in the dungeon heard you." Hermione said sarcastically. "I was afraid you might be like your brother; whom can't seem comprehend why on earth I would chose to date Draco." Hermione said while thinking, 'Even though I didn't CHOOSE to.'
"Well...my opinion is, whatever he lacks in personality he certainly makes up in looks." Ginny giggled, stealing a glance towards Draco.
"Ginny...It's so nice to have a person to talk to who understands that the world does not revolve around Quidditch." Hermione giggled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thanks To:
sweet-77-thang, DanishGirl, dark star, ILUVRONWEASLEY, Raven Rosethorn1, crystal369
A/N: This was a really long chapter, about 1.888 words. Hope you guys liked it. A few of you have pointed out that my paragraphs don't tend to separate. I'm in the process of fixing that. Also to ILUVRONWEASLEY, he may very well like Herm; but he could just be Malfoy doing whatever he has to in order to get what he wants. lol Not much info but I don't want to give anything away. Also, if anyone else wants me to e-mail them when I update just put it in your review.