~ The Simon Cowell of Fanfiction.net ~ - Don't worry about being lame. . .
I currently reside in Lamesville. =) I am going to make things get a little
better for Hermione soon. . .
Artemis - Oh, thank you so much, and yes, I hate stories where Draco has somehow "changed" and he is "really nice" now, because it's just not happenin' for me. God shall have to help me, I may have to prolong the agony. . . =(
Purple Spotted Hedwig - Hmm. . . interesting s/n. . . ahem. . . The faster the better? Should my fingers come off? =) Like a published book?! Nah. . . I don't think so. I'm not writing this in his point of view, because that would be kinda weird. MAYBE (emphasis on maybe) I'll write the story again but from his POV.
blueamber - 23:50 of agony. . . hmm. . . Okay, not that I don't LIKE your idea, but I already have *my* idea, so you'll have to wait and see. Those dreams'll make sense soon too, Alrighty?
willowfairy - OMG, I have to break a circle? That's not good. I'll write as fast as I possibly can!!!
Imperfectionist - I WILL keep writing. . . I WILL I WILL I WILL! =D
Hmm. . . odd, has anyone seen freakyfairy? Anyway, read the chapter, review, make me HAPPY!!!!
~+~
Chapter 8
Hermione awoke the next morning, and she felt as though she had been run over by a large semi-truck that weighed more than a thousand or so elephants. She didn't feel any better than she had the night before she lay down, and she felt less rested than she had before she went to bed, so she had a feeling that she didn't sleep too well the night before.
Sighing, she rolled out of the bed and began stumbling around the room to get ready of the day. Her classes started soon and she wasn't looking forward to them like she had in the past, they seemed to be just another reason that she didn't want to wake up, but she always did anyway. She got up, just like she had every day, glared at Malfoy's sleeping form, got quickly dressed to avoid being there when the other people in the room woke up, slung her bag over he shoulder, stumbled down the stairs, ate, and "enjoyed" a day of classes.
Everything was beginning to blur together and she wasn't able to distinguish happenings from one day to the next day anymore, because everything seemed to be one long, horrible day.
One long horrible day that was going to continue as long as she lived.
~+~
The weeks rolled by, and before she knew it, it was late into November, and she had gotten into another fight with Harry and Ron. Although she was sure that they weren't going to stay mad at each other long, she couldn't help but feel that they had lost some of the compatibility they had had in earlier years because they didn't get along as well anymore. She couldn't deny the fact that they were changing, and their interests were changing more and more from hers.
She wasn't paying as much attention in her lessons. She found her thoughts were full of two main subjects - annoying Draco Malfoy and killing Draco Malfoy. She didn't care what he said to her anymore, she mostly tuned it out, but she still didn't like to listen to him talk like he was the king of Norway.
In fact, Hermione felt herself drifting away during an Advanced Transfiguration lesson, and she was lucky, because Professor McGonagall spoke loudly when the message was important which took her from her thoughts. Otherwise, she would have never heard anything that was said.
"And, I would like to say, that to improve the relationships between everyone here in the Advanced Transfiguration dormitories, everyone should buy a small gift for each person that is in the dormitory. If not for everyone, then the people that you are in the same sleeping quarters with." Professor McGonagall's words seemed to have an instant effect on the group. The Ravenclaws were protesting that that would be a complete waste of money and that they didn't want to give the gifts, and Hermione was protesting that that would be a complete waste of money and that she didn't want to accept the gifts.
The protests grew louder and louder as everyone began yelling to be heard over everyone else, who were also yelling, and they yelled louder to be heard, and so this continued on until it sounded like everyone were yelling drunks in the Advanced Transfiguration room.
Professor McGonagall completely ignored the protests, and pressed on with her talking, causing everyone else to stop talking or face missing important notices and facts. When Professor McGonagall continued speaking about Christmas presents, the stem of protests came again.
The main flow of protests came from the mouths of a few particular Ravenclaws that Hermione disliked immensely and didn't care whether the got her a present or not that Christmas and for every Christmas to come.
"I REFUSE to buy presents for these ingrates." Said one of the Ravenclaws that Hermione had lodged with before, and the other two annoying Ravenclaws that had also been in the dormitory nodded their avid agreement. Hermione couldn't have cared less, she would have thrown away anything they gave her anyway.
Professor McGonagall seemed to consider them for a moment before she spoke, and her words shocked Hermione. She hadn't been expecting what happened next, and it was quite obvious that neither did anyone else in the room, judging, of course, by their facial expressions and incessant stuttering.
"Then I suggest you go pack your things. I expect you to be gone in the next twenty minutes." Professor McGonagall said flatly, and there was silence following these words. When nobody moved, Professor McGonagall continued talking and the Ravenclaws seemed to have called an "emergency meeting" scheduled during Professor McGonagall's instruction time.
As she was nearing the end of her speech, the three Ravenclaws stood up and walked up to their dormitory without making any noise and obviously thinking that if they left while Professor McGonagall was talking, she wouldn't notice that they had left until later, but they should have known that Professor McGonagall was definitely not a stupid teacher. They were gone within fifteen minutes.
"And," said Professor McGonagall, proving that she HAD seen the Ravenclaws leave, she addressed the remaining students who were still shocked to have seen Ravenclaws walk out of a class, especially Professor McGonagall's. "The Hufflepuff, Mr. Cornwall, will be moving into the bed that was previously occupied by Miss Parkinson -" All three of the other occupants of the dormitory scowled, but Professor McGonagall only seemed to notice the Slytherin that Hermione didn't know, and for this she was glad. She didn't want to have another talk with Professor McGonagall about how she wasn't setting a good example for the younger students.
" - don't give me that look Mr. Prudie - and I want all of you to make him feel welcome." Hermione sighed. At least things couldn't get much worse.
~+~
As was expected, things got steadily worse ever since the Hufflepuff had moved into the dormitory and it was taking its toll on every member of the dormitory, not just Hermione, and for this reason she put up with it longer than she would have normally, but it got to the point where it had to stop. The Hufflepuff seemed to expect everyone to wait on him hand and foot, and it was getting on Hermione's nerves, and she could tell it was getting on Malfoy and Prudie's nerves as well.
It got to the point where Malfoy had hexed the Hufflepuff student, but Cornwall dodged the hex and, instead, the hex hit Hermione dead on, which became instantly a permanent feature because of the spell that Professor McGonagall had put on her and Malfoy a while before.
Hermione sighed and looked in the mirror to see what hex had taken its toll on her now. It took her a few seconds to realize what had happened. Hermione felt anger surge through her as she saw what had happened. The anger coursed through her and she hated Malfoy more than she ever had before.
Apparently the Hufflepuff was muggle born too, because tattooed across her forehead was "Mudblood". Hermione glared at her reflection for a minute before she heard laughter.
All three of the people in the dormitory room were laughing hysterically and pointing at Hermione, which made her breath deeply, and Hermione's anger erupted without warning. She couldn't hold it in any longer and she completely lost control and exploded.
She let out a scream of anger and rushed toward Malfoy, the only reason being he was the one who had originated the cures, so she directed her fury at him instead of anyone else. She tackled him and banged his head into the ground repeatedly while she cussed and swore at him. This ceased seconds after it started, because he was much stronger than her.
He grabbed her wrists and held them in a painfully tight grip to keep her from hurting him and glared at her with pure hate accenting every line and feature in his face. His anger was quite evident, even through the now developing bruise on his eye, and Hermione was surprised that she had been angry enough to do that, but she didn't feel one single bit sorry.
"What are you going to do now, you little, meaningless, pitiful, sad excuse for a person, worthless, dirty, Mudblood b -" Malfoy stopped ranting as well as talking as he noticed that the door handle was turning as though someone was trying to get in, and the Slytherin boy, Prudie, flicked his wand and locked the door.
The doorknob instantly stopped rattling and there was a flash of light as the person tried to unlock the door, but the spell held fast and the door didn't open, which seemed to satisfy Malfoy.
Malfoy turned back to continue insulting Hermione, but she was completely ready for him this time. When he turned back to her, the look of malice on his face, she took careful aim, and spat at him hitting him dead in the face.
He dropped her wrists and wiped his face with the sleeve of his robes while he swore about her under his breath, but she was too pleased with herself to notice. She had a defense that he would never want to make her use again, and she was very happy. So happy, in fact, that she didn't care that she had Mudblood tattooed across her face.
Smiling to herself, she turned and walked over to her bed, where she sat down to examine her wrists. He had been gripping them so tightly that there were red marks where his hands had been, and Hermione rubbed them furiously, glaring at Malfoy the whole time.
~+~
Christmas was quickly approaching, and despite how much she hated the idea, she decided that she would buy something for every person in the Advanced Transfiguration dormitory because, she figured, that would give them less of a reason to hate her, as it seemed everyone did.
Her hardest task was to figure out what Malfoy wanted, because she was sure that he wouldn't even look at her let alone TALK to her. Not that she liked the idea of talking to him that much either.
She stormed into the common room where he was sitting - alone - glaring at the fire with such hatred that she was sure he was pretending that it was her head, which was fine with her. Although she couldn't seem to notice that he seemed to be meaner to her ever since the day he had helped her with her spell
"Malfoy." She said, and he didn't even turn to look at her which made her feel quite annoyed. If he was half the gentleman that he always bragged about then he would at least turn to look at her when she was trying to talk to him, but no, he stared at the fire as though he didn't even know she was there, although she knew full well that he knew she was there.
"Go away Mudblood." He said plainly with a scowl broadcast on his face, and she rolled her eyes in extreme exasperation. Why was he always so. . . Malfoyish? Couldn't he be nice to anyone, EVER?
"Answer my question, alright?" she said, trying to keep the air of fake happiness and calm in her voice, but she was fighting a losing battle, especially since he didn't seem to want to cooperate.
"No, go away." Malfoy repeated, and she felt her eyes roll back in their sockets, and she closed her eyes, praying for patience that wouldn't come, and this she knew, but she prayed anyway.
"ANSWER my question." She said, and again he didn't even bother to face her, but he continued staring at the fire as though it was going to be the answer to all of his problems. He was making her so angry she longed to kick him swiftly in the face to make him pay attention to her, but ignored urge.
"Go away, Mudblood." He said. Hermione clenched her hands into fists as she glared at Malfoy's back.
"Shut up and answer my question." Hermione said, and Malfoy rolled his eyes at her in scorn and he laughed hollowly.
"How can I answer you if I shut up?" He asked sarcastically and Hermione found herself longing to punch him. Instead, she settled for yelling at him.
"Goddamn you, YOU KNOW what I mean, PUREBLOOD." She said, and she said "pureblood" as though it were a horrible swear word. Malfoy seemed shocked by this approach, but quickly recovered, but not before he had shown his anger.
When she had spoke, he jumped up and glared at her before realizing what he had done, but he didn't are anymore.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Mudblood." He said, and she tightened her fists so that her nails dug into her palms, causing them to feel like they were bleeding.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about, and I don't care what you think, alright?" she said this angrily and quickly.
"I never care what you say, whenever I hear your voice, it offends me." Malfoy said, smirking as though he had won the argument. He was standing ten feet away from her, but glaring all the same.
She marched angrily over to him and glared at him, now only two feet away from him and hatred was etched in her face as plain as her eyes.
"Yeah?" she said. "Oh, well, nothing you say offends me - I'm glad you can string words into sentences now, and in case you were wondering, you offend my by just being there." She said, and mimicked his smirk.
"You're worth less than the dirt on my shoes." Malfoy said and Hermione's nostrils flared as she glared at him.
"Ditto."
Hermione glared at Malfoy and turned around, crossed her arms, and sat down with her back facing him. She couldn't believe how obnoxious he could be sometimes. If he hated her so much, then why did he even bother to talk to her? He could just as easily ignore her.
"You're just a pathetic Mudblood." He said angrily as he kicked a wooden chair, that Hermione frequently sat in, into the wall where it splintered apart when it met the hard surface bricks.
"You know, that would hurt me a little bit more if I wasn't so used to hearing it ever ten words. I've heard it for four years of my life, MALFOY, and I'm not scared of you anyway."
Although Hermione continued arguing with Malfoy, she wasn't even thinking about what she was saying. She was thinking about Harry and Ron again. She was happy that they were friends again, but she didn't feel like everything was "back to normal" between them, but they talked to her now, and that was good enough for her - at least, right now it was.
"You're a plain Mudblood with a temper that -"
"Just SHUP UP and tell me what you want for Christmas." Hermione said angrily to Malfoy. She was tired of listening to him take out every frustration on her, because she thought he had already done enough damage to her as it stood. The inadvertent tattoo and the green hair. What would he do to her next?
Get the information you need, and leave, Hermione thought to herself. Right.
Malfoy wrinkled his eyebrows and stared at Hermione for a minute, obviously at a loss of words.
Thank God he isn't talking, Hermione thought.
"Why?" he asked with heavy emphasis on the word. Hermione rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Because I love wasting my money on gifts for people that hate me." Hermione said sarcastically. "Because I HAVE to, you Moron." She said as she rolled her eyes again.
DUUH . . . He's such an idiot, along with everything else. She told herself.
"Why would I want anything from YOU? It'd be poisoned with mudblood scum. I don't want anything from you."
"Poison? Alright." Hermione said, making a note.
Malfoy gave her a death glare.
"If I had to live with you any longer and Christmas wasn't soon so I could go home, I would poison your pumpkin juice." He told her as he gestured toward a mug that he was holding. Hermione rolled her eyes and glared back at him.
"If I had to live with you any longer, I would drink it, Malfoy." She said, and he narrowed his eyes.
"You think you're the amazing witch, but you're just a worm to me. Don't forget that Granger."
"That's funny." Hermione said, cupping one ear with her hand as though she couldn't hear. "Sounds like English, but I don't understand a word your babbling." She said, smirking again.
"Very funny, Know-It-All." Malfoy said and he stormed up the stairs, leaving Hermione rather satisfied. She had won the battle wits, act one.
~+~
Hermione couldn't help but notice that Fred or George were always spying on her when she was with Ron or Harry, but they were always alone, their fiery red hair so red it looked like it was paint.
She couldn't figure out why they would be spying on her, and it got steadily worse. She started seeing the lone figure everywhere she went, always leaning against the wall, arms crossed, staring in her direction but not acknowledging her existence, and to be honest, it made Hermione feel giddy.
She didn't like the idea that there was someone that was spying on her all the time, but whenever she tried to approach the figure, they would always disappear before she got close enough to talk to them or even get a good look at their face which made her think it was Fred or George even more. She didn't know what they were planning to do to her, but it wasn't going to be a good thing, of that she was sure.
Malfoy was getting steadily meaner as time progressed, and he never showed any emotion besides anger.
~+~
Hermione felt herself sinking into a sad depression as the Christmas holiday approached. She wasn't allowed to go home because her parents were traveling to Switzerland to "relive their honeymoon" as it had said in the letter, so she was going to be staying here, but her mood livened when she found out that Malfoy wasn't going to be here.
Maybe she would enjoy Christmas after all.
~+~
As she watched the carriages full of people that were going home for the Christmas holidays, she watched, sadly, as Harry and Ron walked away, but her mood brightened when they both turned back and waved, energetically, to her.
Perhaps this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.
~+~
A/N: I am sorry to inform you that the chapters may be coming once every two days because I have a camp to work at for a week, which takes ALL stinkin' DAY . . . I will write as quickly as I possibly can, so don't kill me, and remember to review!!!
Artemis - Oh, thank you so much, and yes, I hate stories where Draco has somehow "changed" and he is "really nice" now, because it's just not happenin' for me. God shall have to help me, I may have to prolong the agony. . . =(
Purple Spotted Hedwig - Hmm. . . interesting s/n. . . ahem. . . The faster the better? Should my fingers come off? =) Like a published book?! Nah. . . I don't think so. I'm not writing this in his point of view, because that would be kinda weird. MAYBE (emphasis on maybe) I'll write the story again but from his POV.
blueamber - 23:50 of agony. . . hmm. . . Okay, not that I don't LIKE your idea, but I already have *my* idea, so you'll have to wait and see. Those dreams'll make sense soon too, Alrighty?
willowfairy - OMG, I have to break a circle? That's not good. I'll write as fast as I possibly can!!!
Imperfectionist - I WILL keep writing. . . I WILL I WILL I WILL! =D
Hmm. . . odd, has anyone seen freakyfairy? Anyway, read the chapter, review, make me HAPPY!!!!
~+~
Chapter 8
Hermione awoke the next morning, and she felt as though she had been run over by a large semi-truck that weighed more than a thousand or so elephants. She didn't feel any better than she had the night before she lay down, and she felt less rested than she had before she went to bed, so she had a feeling that she didn't sleep too well the night before.
Sighing, she rolled out of the bed and began stumbling around the room to get ready of the day. Her classes started soon and she wasn't looking forward to them like she had in the past, they seemed to be just another reason that she didn't want to wake up, but she always did anyway. She got up, just like she had every day, glared at Malfoy's sleeping form, got quickly dressed to avoid being there when the other people in the room woke up, slung her bag over he shoulder, stumbled down the stairs, ate, and "enjoyed" a day of classes.
Everything was beginning to blur together and she wasn't able to distinguish happenings from one day to the next day anymore, because everything seemed to be one long, horrible day.
One long horrible day that was going to continue as long as she lived.
~+~
The weeks rolled by, and before she knew it, it was late into November, and she had gotten into another fight with Harry and Ron. Although she was sure that they weren't going to stay mad at each other long, she couldn't help but feel that they had lost some of the compatibility they had had in earlier years because they didn't get along as well anymore. She couldn't deny the fact that they were changing, and their interests were changing more and more from hers.
She wasn't paying as much attention in her lessons. She found her thoughts were full of two main subjects - annoying Draco Malfoy and killing Draco Malfoy. She didn't care what he said to her anymore, she mostly tuned it out, but she still didn't like to listen to him talk like he was the king of Norway.
In fact, Hermione felt herself drifting away during an Advanced Transfiguration lesson, and she was lucky, because Professor McGonagall spoke loudly when the message was important which took her from her thoughts. Otherwise, she would have never heard anything that was said.
"And, I would like to say, that to improve the relationships between everyone here in the Advanced Transfiguration dormitories, everyone should buy a small gift for each person that is in the dormitory. If not for everyone, then the people that you are in the same sleeping quarters with." Professor McGonagall's words seemed to have an instant effect on the group. The Ravenclaws were protesting that that would be a complete waste of money and that they didn't want to give the gifts, and Hermione was protesting that that would be a complete waste of money and that she didn't want to accept the gifts.
The protests grew louder and louder as everyone began yelling to be heard over everyone else, who were also yelling, and they yelled louder to be heard, and so this continued on until it sounded like everyone were yelling drunks in the Advanced Transfiguration room.
Professor McGonagall completely ignored the protests, and pressed on with her talking, causing everyone else to stop talking or face missing important notices and facts. When Professor McGonagall continued speaking about Christmas presents, the stem of protests came again.
The main flow of protests came from the mouths of a few particular Ravenclaws that Hermione disliked immensely and didn't care whether the got her a present or not that Christmas and for every Christmas to come.
"I REFUSE to buy presents for these ingrates." Said one of the Ravenclaws that Hermione had lodged with before, and the other two annoying Ravenclaws that had also been in the dormitory nodded their avid agreement. Hermione couldn't have cared less, she would have thrown away anything they gave her anyway.
Professor McGonagall seemed to consider them for a moment before she spoke, and her words shocked Hermione. She hadn't been expecting what happened next, and it was quite obvious that neither did anyone else in the room, judging, of course, by their facial expressions and incessant stuttering.
"Then I suggest you go pack your things. I expect you to be gone in the next twenty minutes." Professor McGonagall said flatly, and there was silence following these words. When nobody moved, Professor McGonagall continued talking and the Ravenclaws seemed to have called an "emergency meeting" scheduled during Professor McGonagall's instruction time.
As she was nearing the end of her speech, the three Ravenclaws stood up and walked up to their dormitory without making any noise and obviously thinking that if they left while Professor McGonagall was talking, she wouldn't notice that they had left until later, but they should have known that Professor McGonagall was definitely not a stupid teacher. They were gone within fifteen minutes.
"And," said Professor McGonagall, proving that she HAD seen the Ravenclaws leave, she addressed the remaining students who were still shocked to have seen Ravenclaws walk out of a class, especially Professor McGonagall's. "The Hufflepuff, Mr. Cornwall, will be moving into the bed that was previously occupied by Miss Parkinson -" All three of the other occupants of the dormitory scowled, but Professor McGonagall only seemed to notice the Slytherin that Hermione didn't know, and for this she was glad. She didn't want to have another talk with Professor McGonagall about how she wasn't setting a good example for the younger students.
" - don't give me that look Mr. Prudie - and I want all of you to make him feel welcome." Hermione sighed. At least things couldn't get much worse.
~+~
As was expected, things got steadily worse ever since the Hufflepuff had moved into the dormitory and it was taking its toll on every member of the dormitory, not just Hermione, and for this reason she put up with it longer than she would have normally, but it got to the point where it had to stop. The Hufflepuff seemed to expect everyone to wait on him hand and foot, and it was getting on Hermione's nerves, and she could tell it was getting on Malfoy and Prudie's nerves as well.
It got to the point where Malfoy had hexed the Hufflepuff student, but Cornwall dodged the hex and, instead, the hex hit Hermione dead on, which became instantly a permanent feature because of the spell that Professor McGonagall had put on her and Malfoy a while before.
Hermione sighed and looked in the mirror to see what hex had taken its toll on her now. It took her a few seconds to realize what had happened. Hermione felt anger surge through her as she saw what had happened. The anger coursed through her and she hated Malfoy more than she ever had before.
Apparently the Hufflepuff was muggle born too, because tattooed across her forehead was "Mudblood". Hermione glared at her reflection for a minute before she heard laughter.
All three of the people in the dormitory room were laughing hysterically and pointing at Hermione, which made her breath deeply, and Hermione's anger erupted without warning. She couldn't hold it in any longer and she completely lost control and exploded.
She let out a scream of anger and rushed toward Malfoy, the only reason being he was the one who had originated the cures, so she directed her fury at him instead of anyone else. She tackled him and banged his head into the ground repeatedly while she cussed and swore at him. This ceased seconds after it started, because he was much stronger than her.
He grabbed her wrists and held them in a painfully tight grip to keep her from hurting him and glared at her with pure hate accenting every line and feature in his face. His anger was quite evident, even through the now developing bruise on his eye, and Hermione was surprised that she had been angry enough to do that, but she didn't feel one single bit sorry.
"What are you going to do now, you little, meaningless, pitiful, sad excuse for a person, worthless, dirty, Mudblood b -" Malfoy stopped ranting as well as talking as he noticed that the door handle was turning as though someone was trying to get in, and the Slytherin boy, Prudie, flicked his wand and locked the door.
The doorknob instantly stopped rattling and there was a flash of light as the person tried to unlock the door, but the spell held fast and the door didn't open, which seemed to satisfy Malfoy.
Malfoy turned back to continue insulting Hermione, but she was completely ready for him this time. When he turned back to her, the look of malice on his face, she took careful aim, and spat at him hitting him dead in the face.
He dropped her wrists and wiped his face with the sleeve of his robes while he swore about her under his breath, but she was too pleased with herself to notice. She had a defense that he would never want to make her use again, and she was very happy. So happy, in fact, that she didn't care that she had Mudblood tattooed across her face.
Smiling to herself, she turned and walked over to her bed, where she sat down to examine her wrists. He had been gripping them so tightly that there were red marks where his hands had been, and Hermione rubbed them furiously, glaring at Malfoy the whole time.
~+~
Christmas was quickly approaching, and despite how much she hated the idea, she decided that she would buy something for every person in the Advanced Transfiguration dormitory because, she figured, that would give them less of a reason to hate her, as it seemed everyone did.
Her hardest task was to figure out what Malfoy wanted, because she was sure that he wouldn't even look at her let alone TALK to her. Not that she liked the idea of talking to him that much either.
She stormed into the common room where he was sitting - alone - glaring at the fire with such hatred that she was sure he was pretending that it was her head, which was fine with her. Although she couldn't seem to notice that he seemed to be meaner to her ever since the day he had helped her with her spell
"Malfoy." She said, and he didn't even turn to look at her which made her feel quite annoyed. If he was half the gentleman that he always bragged about then he would at least turn to look at her when she was trying to talk to him, but no, he stared at the fire as though he didn't even know she was there, although she knew full well that he knew she was there.
"Go away Mudblood." He said plainly with a scowl broadcast on his face, and she rolled her eyes in extreme exasperation. Why was he always so. . . Malfoyish? Couldn't he be nice to anyone, EVER?
"Answer my question, alright?" she said, trying to keep the air of fake happiness and calm in her voice, but she was fighting a losing battle, especially since he didn't seem to want to cooperate.
"No, go away." Malfoy repeated, and she felt her eyes roll back in their sockets, and she closed her eyes, praying for patience that wouldn't come, and this she knew, but she prayed anyway.
"ANSWER my question." She said, and again he didn't even bother to face her, but he continued staring at the fire as though it was going to be the answer to all of his problems. He was making her so angry she longed to kick him swiftly in the face to make him pay attention to her, but ignored urge.
"Go away, Mudblood." He said. Hermione clenched her hands into fists as she glared at Malfoy's back.
"Shut up and answer my question." Hermione said, and Malfoy rolled his eyes at her in scorn and he laughed hollowly.
"How can I answer you if I shut up?" He asked sarcastically and Hermione found herself longing to punch him. Instead, she settled for yelling at him.
"Goddamn you, YOU KNOW what I mean, PUREBLOOD." She said, and she said "pureblood" as though it were a horrible swear word. Malfoy seemed shocked by this approach, but quickly recovered, but not before he had shown his anger.
When she had spoke, he jumped up and glared at her before realizing what he had done, but he didn't are anymore.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Mudblood." He said, and she tightened her fists so that her nails dug into her palms, causing them to feel like they were bleeding.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about, and I don't care what you think, alright?" she said this angrily and quickly.
"I never care what you say, whenever I hear your voice, it offends me." Malfoy said, smirking as though he had won the argument. He was standing ten feet away from her, but glaring all the same.
She marched angrily over to him and glared at him, now only two feet away from him and hatred was etched in her face as plain as her eyes.
"Yeah?" she said. "Oh, well, nothing you say offends me - I'm glad you can string words into sentences now, and in case you were wondering, you offend my by just being there." She said, and mimicked his smirk.
"You're worth less than the dirt on my shoes." Malfoy said and Hermione's nostrils flared as she glared at him.
"Ditto."
Hermione glared at Malfoy and turned around, crossed her arms, and sat down with her back facing him. She couldn't believe how obnoxious he could be sometimes. If he hated her so much, then why did he even bother to talk to her? He could just as easily ignore her.
"You're just a pathetic Mudblood." He said angrily as he kicked a wooden chair, that Hermione frequently sat in, into the wall where it splintered apart when it met the hard surface bricks.
"You know, that would hurt me a little bit more if I wasn't so used to hearing it ever ten words. I've heard it for four years of my life, MALFOY, and I'm not scared of you anyway."
Although Hermione continued arguing with Malfoy, she wasn't even thinking about what she was saying. She was thinking about Harry and Ron again. She was happy that they were friends again, but she didn't feel like everything was "back to normal" between them, but they talked to her now, and that was good enough for her - at least, right now it was.
"You're a plain Mudblood with a temper that -"
"Just SHUP UP and tell me what you want for Christmas." Hermione said angrily to Malfoy. She was tired of listening to him take out every frustration on her, because she thought he had already done enough damage to her as it stood. The inadvertent tattoo and the green hair. What would he do to her next?
Get the information you need, and leave, Hermione thought to herself. Right.
Malfoy wrinkled his eyebrows and stared at Hermione for a minute, obviously at a loss of words.
Thank God he isn't talking, Hermione thought.
"Why?" he asked with heavy emphasis on the word. Hermione rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Because I love wasting my money on gifts for people that hate me." Hermione said sarcastically. "Because I HAVE to, you Moron." She said as she rolled her eyes again.
DUUH . . . He's such an idiot, along with everything else. She told herself.
"Why would I want anything from YOU? It'd be poisoned with mudblood scum. I don't want anything from you."
"Poison? Alright." Hermione said, making a note.
Malfoy gave her a death glare.
"If I had to live with you any longer and Christmas wasn't soon so I could go home, I would poison your pumpkin juice." He told her as he gestured toward a mug that he was holding. Hermione rolled her eyes and glared back at him.
"If I had to live with you any longer, I would drink it, Malfoy." She said, and he narrowed his eyes.
"You think you're the amazing witch, but you're just a worm to me. Don't forget that Granger."
"That's funny." Hermione said, cupping one ear with her hand as though she couldn't hear. "Sounds like English, but I don't understand a word your babbling." She said, smirking again.
"Very funny, Know-It-All." Malfoy said and he stormed up the stairs, leaving Hermione rather satisfied. She had won the battle wits, act one.
~+~
Hermione couldn't help but notice that Fred or George were always spying on her when she was with Ron or Harry, but they were always alone, their fiery red hair so red it looked like it was paint.
She couldn't figure out why they would be spying on her, and it got steadily worse. She started seeing the lone figure everywhere she went, always leaning against the wall, arms crossed, staring in her direction but not acknowledging her existence, and to be honest, it made Hermione feel giddy.
She didn't like the idea that there was someone that was spying on her all the time, but whenever she tried to approach the figure, they would always disappear before she got close enough to talk to them or even get a good look at their face which made her think it was Fred or George even more. She didn't know what they were planning to do to her, but it wasn't going to be a good thing, of that she was sure.
Malfoy was getting steadily meaner as time progressed, and he never showed any emotion besides anger.
~+~
Hermione felt herself sinking into a sad depression as the Christmas holiday approached. She wasn't allowed to go home because her parents were traveling to Switzerland to "relive their honeymoon" as it had said in the letter, so she was going to be staying here, but her mood livened when she found out that Malfoy wasn't going to be here.
Maybe she would enjoy Christmas after all.
~+~
As she watched the carriages full of people that were going home for the Christmas holidays, she watched, sadly, as Harry and Ron walked away, but her mood brightened when they both turned back and waved, energetically, to her.
Perhaps this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.
~+~
A/N: I am sorry to inform you that the chapters may be coming once every two days because I have a camp to work at for a week, which takes ALL stinkin' DAY . . . I will write as quickly as I possibly can, so don't kill me, and remember to review!!!