A/N: Ok, I've gotten some reviews from people who aren't really clear on why Hermione cant be friends with Harry and Ron, and basically its because she needs to be a spy for Dumbledore which means she needs to get close to Deatheaters and Voldemort without them suspecting. And I think they would suspect her if she was buddy- buddy with the boy who lived and a muggle-loving Weasley. That's why she needs to pretend to be with Draco, so she has a good excuse for why she's not friends with them anymore and so he can help her get close to Voldemort. And if Harry and Ron knew, they could blow her cover. Ok? ;-)
Chapter 15- confrontations
Hermione got mechanically up the next morning. Brush hair… put on makeup… she thought dully as she went through the actions half-heartedly. Staggering, she made her way down the stairs to the common room where Draco's worried face was staring up at her.
"Hermione…" he said her name softly, his eyes full of concern. "It is to be expected that she looks so sad, defeated." He tried to reassure himself. "She lost her two best friends… because of me." He felt a guilty squirm in his stomach.
"Hey." She replied, flashing him a half-hearted smile that didn't reach her eyes. Draco's eyes narrowed, and he made his way to her, reaching out for her hand.
"It's going to be ok." He said, intently looking into her eyes. He felt a storm brewing inside him.
"I know." She replied, sending him a more confident smile.
"Shall we?" Draco said, clasping her hand tighter as they made their way out of their portrait hole down to the Great Hall. Hermione took a deep breath…
~
Hermione sat down at one end of the Gryffindor table, away from Harry and Ron. The Great Hall was buzzing, everyone looking from herself to Malfoy after they appeared together, hand in hand. Hermione picked at her food, not really hungry. She knew she had to do this. Even if she didn't have feelings for Draco… she lifted her eyes to glance at him. He was sitting back in his chair at the other end of the Great Hall; looking aloof and unaffected by the fervent whispers. He glanced in Hermione's direction and gave her a small wink. Hermione looked down at her food again. She could practically feel the death-glares the Gryffindors at their unusually quiet table were giving her. She could feel heat rising to her face and was the first to jump up when the bell rang, signaling the start of classes. "Potions in the morning…" she thought gloomily, as she waited for Draco in a secluded hall off the main entrance.
Draco could see the worry in Hermione's face as he neared her. Pulling her to him, he kissed her forehead and hugged her protectively. Hermione felt like her heart would break. "Dragon…" she sobbed softly.
"Oh, save me the angst." A loud and obnoxious voice came from the other end of the hall. Hermione pulled away from Draco startled, but his arm was still encircled protectively around her waist. She looked over the girl standing in front of her. She was tall, with perfectly straightened dark hair circling down to her waist, and makeup expertly painted on her pugish face. She was wearing stylish labeled clothing under her school robes that clung tightly to every curve, leaving nothing to the imagination.
"What do you want, Parkinson?" Draco replied in a tired voice.
"So it's true." Pansy continued, looking at Hermione maliciously and completely ignoring Draco's question. "You've found some way to charm Drakie into liking a freak like you, and now you're all sad because you're little Gryffindor boy-toy's have turned on you." Hermione felt Draco's grip on her tighten.
"Shut your mouth." Hermione snapped, feeling her empty sadness suddenly replaced with hot anger. As if all the stress that had been building up lately will implode to Pansy.
"I'll shut my mouth when you shut your legs, you dirty whore!" Pansy shot back, eyes glinting maliciously and a small smirk tugging at her lips. Draco's face was almost red with rage.
"STUPIDIFY!" Draco yelled, his wand poised at Pansy and she fell to the floor, stiff. "That should keep her awhile." He said to Hermione, a smile spreading across his lips tenderly as he looked at her.
"Oh my God!" she cried, and started running, pulling Draco forcefully behind her. "Potions!" She bellowed. Draco rolled his eyes, but followed her quickly to the dungeons below.
~
Snape looked up in surprised as the Head Boy and Girl came rushing into their classroom, 20 minutes late. "Sorry Professor… we-" Hermione started, but was cut off by Snape.
"Detention tonight, both of you. You may speak to me after class, now sit down." he said, eyeing them closely. He wasn't the only one. All of the Gryffindor's were staring at Hermione as if their worst nightmares had been confirmed by her late arrival with none other than Malfoy. After all they had been seen leaving the Great Hall first. The Slytherin's had similar expressions, in fact the only people who weren't staring at the couple acidly were Harry and Ron, who hadn't looked up since her arrival. Hermione nodded her head to Snape as they took a seat in the back together, near Harry and Ron. It was quite unsettling for Hermione to feel everyone's eyes on her and Draco. She calmed down however, when he gave her hand a squeeze under the table as they started gathering ingredients for the potion. She looked over to Harry and Ron swiftly and felt a sudden pang in her chest. She felt like she was seeing them for the first time, really noticing them. She thought of Ron. He was tall not broad, but wasn't lanky anymore. His hair was still carrot-red, but she realized how much it suited him.
"I never thought of him like this when we went out." She thought suddenly, wondering if she had thought of him like that, if things would have been different between them. She didn't dare look at Harry again, but she could see him clearly in her mind. Not as tall as Ron, more broad, tanner skin than Draco, jet-black hair and sparkling green eyes… any girl's dream guy. She suddenly smiled to herself, remembering all the times she spent with them and felt better. They weren't finished. They would understand after the war that Hermione has always cared for them and was still there for them. "What about Draco?" nagged a voice in the back of Hermione's mind but she shushed it quickly, placing the thought out of her mind at top speed.
Draco leaned back in his chair, looking at Hermione softly. He was waiting for the potion to simmer; amazed that she didn't say a word about it. "She's such a perfectionist," he thought, fondly. Her eyes looked fierce, and he wondered what she was thinking. Her hair was framing her face; she had been too lazy to put it up into a bun that morning. Draco wanted desperately to run his fingers through it, and wondered vaguely what everyone would think. "Who cares." He thought, and reached out tucking a piece of Hermione hair gently behind her ear. He saw her eyes snap into focus, startled. She turned to him, smiling.
"You're the best, Dragon." She whispered to him, taking Draco off guard. She hugged him there in the middle of potions. "Thank you for being so understanding." She whispered into his ear before pulling back. The hug was one like a friend would give to another friend, but to the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins, it meant something much, much more.
~
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Hermione. She was weighed down with homework that could occupy her until next year, and still had to practice with Snape and Draco and have detention that day. Draco was hardly better off. They sat down at the table in their common room, heads buried in their books, to busy to talk to each other. Draco looked down at his watch… 5:45.
"'Mione…" he taunted, grinning as she looked up from her books with a dazed look.
"What- Dragon! I have a lot of work to do!" she said exasperatingly as he pulled up behind her, kissing her neck in a rather sensitive spot.
"So do I, Granger." He laughed as she rolled her eyes. "But unfortunately, we have to make our way to the dungeons to let you prod my mind for a bit. Come on!" he smiled, and picked her up.
"Oh my God! Draco! No put me down right now. This isn't funny at all!" Hermione squealed as he made his way to the portrait hole still holding her over one shoulder. They were laughing, happy just to be hanging out. Draco had carried her halfway down the corridor before Ginny turned a corner and stopped short upon seeing them. She raised an eyebrow.
"No wonder Harry and Ron have been fuming all day, Hermione!" she said, accusingly. She had heard the rumors all throughout the day about her best friend and her enemy, but had still wanted to talk to Hermione.
"Ginny…" Hermione said desperately as Draco lowered her gently to the ground. She looked at Ginny, who's red-hair was so different from Ron's. Not orangey, but a deep red. She was taller than Hermione at 5'8, and was the envy of almost every girl in school for her good looks. She tried to catch her eye, but Ginny still hadn't taken her eyes off Malfoy. They seemed to be having a silent battle each staring at the other furiously. Malfoy was the first to lower his eyes.
"Just be careful." Ginny said softly, turning to look intently into Hermione's eyes. Hermione felt her gaze lowering as well under Ginny's powerful green eyes. "Later." Ginny said, as she turned gracefully to head back to the Gryffindor common room. Nor did she look back over her shoulder once.
"We're going to be late, Hermione." Draco said softly into her ear. Hermione had stayed rooted to the same spot watching Ginny leave. Nodding her head, Hermione placed her hand gently in his and allowed him to guide her down to the dungeons. Standing in front of the door Draco pulled Hermione up to him, kissing her on the lips softly before reaching his arm out to open it.
A/N: I'm realllllllyyy sorry it took me so long to get this out. I really wanted my beta-reader to edit the last couple chappies though. So please review and I promise I'll be more prompt with chapter 16! Later! :)