Author's Note: Thank you to all those who have taken the time to review! I just love reading your comments and opinions about Except Her. Sorry by the way if this took long to get uploaded. As usual, school. Right after the exams, the teachers once again overloaded us with work. Alas, the woes of high school…
Anyway, here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy.
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EXCEPT HER
Chapter Thirteen
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She watched him as he escaped from her grasp and ran away to hide from her. She recalled the panic and fear that flickered in those gray eyes she rarely looked into. He had disappeared before she even seized the chance to call out his name she hardly spoke.
Draco.
Hermione sat still, gaping at the place he once stood upon beside her. The rose he had given her lay forgotten on her lap, waiting for her to take notice of it. She took it in her hands and fingered it gently, twirling it as she examined its silky white petals and its thorny stem.
She could still feel the light brush of his lips on her forehead, whispering the words she deeply missed to hear. A gentle shiver ran down her spine when he caressed her face and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
She expected someone mysterious, someone she hardly knew. Some guy who smiled all the time, who told jokes though they were corny, who was charming and who had the softest of touches.
She definitely did not expect it to be a Slytherin.
And Draco Malfoy at that.
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"…And one must always remember to stir the potion thrice in a clockwise motion, not counter-clockwise." Professor Snape said, his expression scowling and glaring at each and every one of his students.
They were to make a complex potion, an Entrancing Draught, that day. Snape had written the directions on the board before he explained them one by one, and each of the students listened with intense attention, for this was one of the last potions they were to make that school year that was to be counted in their N.E.W.T.S.
But Draco wasn't one of them.
"Then you must drop the lavender petals and…"
His ears were now deaf to everything the Potions Master was saying at the moment; he stared at the board with a hazy expression, his head resting on the palm of his hand. He drummed his fingers anxiously, and once every five minutes, he'd glance at the clock on the wall.
This class is taking too long, he thought impatiently. He wanted to get out of the dungeons as fast he could to escape her glances and questioning looks.
Ever since classes had started, he knew Hermione was staring at him, watching his every move. Once or twice he'd meet her light brown eyes – they, as he expected, were accusing and curious at the same time.
"Start now." Snape spat. Automatically, everyone around the room stood up and hurriedly made their way to either their partners or the student cupboard.
Draco pulled himself up and walked to where Blaise Zabini was. The Slytherin nodded at him, telling him to get the necessary ingredients from the student cupboard. He followed and did exactly what he was told.
Petals, fairy dust… He took what he needed and checked if everything was already complete. Then he had realized that he was lacking shrivelfig. He searched the cupboard, but apparently, it was missing.
Damn. He thought.
"Here." Someone handed him a handful. He turned around in surprise and froze.
Hermione stood in front of him, holding the jar of shrivelfig with one hand and a handful of it in the other. "You need it, am I right?"
With nothing to say, he took it and muttered a small thanks. He walked back to his table and didn't think twice of looking back at her. His heart was racing rapidly; he felt hot all of a sudden.
He hated it when she was close to him – she always gave him a feeling of vulnerability and discomfort.
"What's wrong with you?" Blaise gave him a strange look. "Why are you red all of a sudden?"
Draco shrugged and started chopping the shrivelfig. "I just feel hot, that's all."
"But it's January."
Draco scowled and glared at his fellow Slytherin, as if to say, Leave me alone. Blaise's lip twitched in fear and went back to what he was doing.
Draco glanced at the table where Hermione was, and frowned.
He couldn't escape from her now. He knew he'd have to face her some time.
He'd have to tell her.
But then…
Would she accept me?
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She hated him more than ever.
What was he trying to do, deceiving her again?
He was trying to confuse her, that's what it was.
This is a sick joke.
She watched him from the Gryffindor table as he silently ate his dinner. His blonde head stood out from the rest of the students in Slytherin; his pale, smooth face was distinguishable.
"Who're you looking at?" Harry suddenly asked, sitting down across her. He had apparently just arrived from Quidditch practice. "Someone I know?"
Hermione shook her head and began eating her peas. "No, just thinking."
She saw Draco stand up from the table and leave the Great Hall, his black robes billowing behind his lean figure. Hermione drank from her goblet and grabbed her bag. "I'm done. See you at the Common Room." She made her way out of the Hall as quickly as she could.
Once reaching the hall outside, she turned left and started brisk walking. She had to look him straight in the eye, face to face, and ask him directly about everything. She hated not knowing the answers to the questions she asked.
These were one of the questions that she desperately wanted to be answered.
But only he knew the answer.
He was the only one who could give the right response.
Soon enough, she found him sitting by the terrace she usually stayed at. She knew he heard her steps, but he hardly turned around to meet her eyes.
"I knew you'd come looking for me sometime this week." He said softly.
"What do you get from this, Malfoy?" she suddenly asked without thinking. "Is playing with my feelings enjoyable to you?"
He looked at her with a questioning expression. "What d'you mean?"
"You're doing this as a bet, aren't you?" Hermione's anger spilled out, which was clearly obvious in her voice. "Well, you've certainly won it already, since I'm already confused."
"This isn't a bet, Hermione."
"Stop calling me that. You have no right to."
"You think this is a joke?"
"Isn't it? You can never be serious about anything."
"You think everything I've told you through everything I've done is a joke?"
Hermione dropped her bag. "Yes! I demand that you apologize to me now for making a fool of me!" Her chest heaved up and down, as her insides were welling up with anger and frustration.
Draco frowned. "You want an apology?"
She nodded.
"Fine." He looked straight into her eyes without any hesitation whatsoever.
Hermione waited, staring back at him, and resisting the temptation to get lost once again in his gray eyes.
He stood up, walked up to her and whispered into her ear. "I'm sorry for ever loving you."
And he traipsed away without ever looking back at her.
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Author's Note: There you have it, Chapter Thirteen. Hope you enjoyed it. I wrote it in one sitting so excuse its lack of feeling or emotion. Chapter Fourteen might take long as well.
Hope you all review. :)
I'll be waiting…
