Summary: Hermione's life is left in pieces, all because of Draco. She finds herself lying often, betraying her friends' trust.
Draco meets a mysterious woman, who has a thing against him. He finds himself spending more time than he cares to stomach with Kyle Thompson—the only guy to ever win Hermione's heart.
As for this mystery woman, well, there's a deeper meaning than Draco could ever comprehend as to why she's sneaking around, bent on being there at every turn of his life. A deeper meaning that she herself doesn't want to remember.
Disclaimer: Did you see the VMAs? Or lucky enough to see Justified/Stripped (*cough* like me *cough*)? Yea…well…Justin is the only one I wanna own. Sadly, I own not one bit of him, and I only own Carrie, Kyle, and both Hopes in my story.
Last time:
[Draco]
Draco let out a low growl. How dare he insult his late mother!
The demanding son of a bitch, Draco thought hatefully. I absolutely refuse to do anything of the sort! I'm a grown wizard for Merlin's sake!
There was a knock on the door, and Draco quickly shoved the damned letter into his pocket. "Yes?" he called through the door.
"It's Kyle. Dinner's ready," Kyle yelled. In a more sarcastic tone, he added, "So if his majesty would kindly grant us with his presence…"
Draco glared at the direction of the door, grumbling. " 'If his majesty would kindly grant us…' " he mimicked, flinging it open. "I'll grant you with my fist in your face…"
[Hermione]
"I've been stupid," she whispered, sinking to her knees.
No one made any movement to help her up.
"Please forgive me," Hermione murmured, tilting her head. Her chocolate eyes shone brightly with tears. "I'm not sure how you can, but…I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen like this—"
Harry interrupted her pleading voice. "Just tell us, dammit," he hissed harshly, his green eyes hardening. His icy cold voice was foreign, even to him. Even Draco would be proud…the bloody prat.
Hermione almost whimpered at the demand. She bit her lip. "You're not going to like it," was all she whispered, before passing out.
Chapter Six: Out In the Open
Ron sort of watched, feeling oddly unattached as Harry tried frantically to revive Hermione. In a sort of dull voice, he calmly whispered, "Ennervate," the spell that had been used on Winky as they were going to enter fourth year.
Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and she glanced around dazedly. If he looked carefully enough, it almost looked like she wished they had just left her passed out.
Harry jumped back, ensuring that she hadn't noticed his concern. The frigid look he had been sporting before was back on his face, as he gripped Hope's waist firmly.
"Did I pass out?" Hermione croaked weakly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
Under any other circumstances, Ron would have been sympathetic to her, and insisted she go home, and tell them when she was better. Instead, he whipped out a hunk of chocolate and shoved it in her direction. "Eat it," he commanded, his sapphire eyes stern.
Hermione ate it slowly, a seemingly permanent frown etched on her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered again, looking up at them with dull cinnamon eyes.
"Just stop being cryptic, and explain yourself," Harry ordered sharply. "We're all anxious to know."
She glanced over at him, looking hurt. "I know. I'm really—"
"Sorry, we know," he interrupted, glaring. "Get on with it."
Ron snuck a glance at Hope, and found that she was utterly shocked at how icily Harry was treating his best friend. Truth be told, he was surprised, too.
Hermione gazed down at the carpet, chewing on her bottom lip, trying to think of how to phrase it.
Ron had a vague idea of what she was going to say, and desperately wanted her to not say anything. He wanted to ignore the big, fat ugly truth that was about to stare him in the face.
It was surreal to him, as she looked back up, and opened her mouth to speak. He wished he could press stop, and rewind. This day was going horribly wrong.
"Malfoy and I…"
Ron knew it was hard for her to say. He did, really. He was really, truly proud that she had the guts to admit it. He just didn't want to deal with it right now. Not now, after he life had begun to regain its normality.
"I don't want to hear this," he grumbled, red-faced, as he jumped up, and ran out the door.
At the very least, Ron was semi-proud that he hadn't pushed her on the way out. He knew where he was going now, and he knew it was going to be bad. Hopefully Hermione didn't know where he planned on going.
~*~
Hermione looked up feebly at Harry, her eyes apologetic. "I've got to stop him before he does something stupid," she murmured, rushing to follow him. "I promise I'll explain."
She didn't even wait for Harry to nod, she just ran straight out the door. "RON!" she hollered, cupping her mouth.
Hermione ran down the hall, out the door, and stopped to spin around. This wasn't a muggle movie. Ron didn't run away. He apparated to wherever it was he planned on going.
She thought she knew where he was going, but secretly prayed he wasn't that thick, to try and go…
Shaking her head, she concentrated on the tall, enormous, cold building, and disappeared with a Crack!
Stumbling on the sidewalk leading up to the Manor, Hermione frowned, spotting the redhead. He was that stupid.
~*~
"Ron, no!" he heard a voice hiss from the bushes.
He whirled around, glaring at Hermione. "If you think I'd let Malfoy get away with any sort of funny business with you, you're off your rocker! Who knows what he did to you!" Ron exclaimed in a hushed voice, glancing up at the Malfoy Manor.
"Ron, please. Come back to Harry's. Don't be stupid," Hermione pleaded, staring hopefully. "He's not even there!"
He felt intellectually insulted by Hermione. "Just because you were Head Girl, and Top Student along with Draco, doesn't mean you can insult my intelligence!" he growled, rolling up the sleeves of his scarlet robe.
"Ron, no, I didn't mean—"
"'Irrational Ron. He's always storming through, never thinking twice. He's so thick'," Ron mimicked harshly. "I'm not an idiot!"
She tugged frantically at his robes. "Please, just come back. Draco's not even there. Please."
He made the stupid mistake of looking into her pleading eyes, and groaned. "Fine. But no more stalling on your part! I want to hear it from you, dammit!"
"Yes, yes, of course," Hermione promised, whirling around the grounds. "We need to go, now."
With that, she apparated back to Harry's, and Ron was very tempted to go on up to the manor anyway.
But with a crack! and a tug at his insides, Ron was facing Harry, who was glaring daggers at Hermione.
"I slept with Malfoy. There," she blurted suddenly, sending a weak grin towards Ron. "I didn't stall…"
"I can't believe you slept with Malfoy!" Harry boomed, causing them to cringe. "Did it not occur to you how dangerous that could be?!"
"No, Harry, it didn't!" Hermione yelled back, a little more confident now that everything was out. "But then, reason never seemed to flow your way when it came to Cho, did it?"
Even though it was a serious issue, Ron had to hold back a snicker at the burn towards Harry.
His wife, Hope, looked wordlessly at her husband and Hermione. "Cho?" she echoed, glaring at Harry.
"She's not important," he barked. He paused, and realized his mistake, and grinned sheepishly at Hope. "Sorry, love." Then Harry turned serious again, turning on Hermione once more. "Answer me this," he began. "Because, bloody hell…so help you if you lie to me, Hermione," he warned. "Did you and…that scum have a child?"
Ron's snickers fell abruptly silent. It had never even occurred to him that she could have been impregnated because of her little romp in the sack. Please say no, his mind pleaded, as he closed his eyes.
He had to strain to hear the soft, "Yes," that emitted from Hermione, and his eyes flew open.
She looked guilty, but relieved to have the secret out at the same time.
He knew then, that things were not alright between the sacred Trio. He knew they most likely never would be alright.
~*~
Draco was rolling and unrolling Lucius' letter when Hope apparated suddenly into his room.
"Sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes.
It was rather evident that she wasn't in good shape, and had been crying. But before Draco could so much as utter "Hello," she frowned and disapparated.
It caused him to frown to, and he dropped the letter. He walked towards the door, opening it slowly.
Kyle was probably still in his study, and he was the only other person in the house she would ever go to talk to.
So with that deduction in mind, Draco stealthily crept over to the general area Kyle had shown his study to be in. He figured, if he got close enough, he would hear voices, and then he'd know.
He felt triumphant when he had ducked next to a portrait, and heard a muffled feminine voice.
So Draco, though figuring it wasn't very wise, murmured the spell that allowed people to hear through walls.
"Prat," he hissed, after discovering Kyle had put a barrier around the place.
I wonder what's going on with Hope. Is she ok? Draco wondered, backing away from the hall. He refused to be caught.
~*~
Kyle was speechless, and had no idea what to say when Hermione—or rather, Hope—showed up next to his bookshelf with great, big tears in her fake yet vibrant green eyes.
"Is everything ok?" he asked softly, rooted to the spot.
"No," Hermione moaned, falling back onto a loveseat. "It's not. Everything went horrifically wrong, and they hate me."
"They don't hate you," he assured her, sitting next to her. He glanced around almost suspiciously, and then put up a silent barrier in case anyone got any funny ideas.
"But they do," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut tight. "They'll never forgive me, and—"
"I've always thought Harry and Ron were great big gits, anyway," Kyle tried, rubbing her back. "They always get overly pissed off, and it takes them forever to make up with the person they fought with."
"I do it, too," Hermione protested.
"No, you do it to get the satisfaction of seeing how creative they get with apologies. They do it because they're stupid."
"So I'm spiteful?" she laughed.
Kyle grinned, but nevertheless answered, "No…just…manipulative."
"Oh, that's so much better, Thompson. You're making me sound like Malfoy!" she whined, pouting. "I'm nothing like him.
Although he knew she wanted to be cheered up, he couldn't help himself. "Oh?" he asked, gesturing towards her. "So you wouldn't call yourself conniving? You're masquerading as a strange witch, just to be with him, Hermione!" he exclaimed, standing up. "You're guilting me into helping you…that's pretty Malfoy of you."
Hermione glared at him. "Even so! I can't help it if the bloody prat rubbed off on me! I used to be an innocent! You know that."
He nodded. "Right. Blame Draco for corrupting you," Kyle offered, the entire sentence dripping thickly with sarcasm.
She nodded enthusiastically. "You're exactly right. Draco Malfoy tainted me, and he is to blame for my twisted corruption."
He stared at her. "I was being sarcastic. Hermione…"
Hermione glanced up at him innocently, waiting for what he was going to say next with wide-eyes.
Kyle shook his head. "Forget it. So, tell me what those stupid arses did, huh?"
She sighed, and looked extremely depressed. There was an internal battle waging in her mind, but Kyle knew she would feel better if she let it off her chest.
~*~
Hermione inhaled, ready to relive the experience again, flinching at the memory of Harry's cold, glacial green eyes.
It was so vivid, and she instantly felt like a huge drama queen. Worse things happened every day.
Like getting pregnant at 17, she thought bitterly. That was bloody brilliant.
Kyle looked at her expectantly, encouraging her with warm sapphire eyes. He gave a small, reassuring smile. "I cast a silencing spell," he reminded her.
Hermione nodded, biting her lip. "I know. I'm just…a little shaken with how horrifically horrible my two best friends took the news."
Kyle looked a little guilty, before admitting, "Well…you did keep it a secret for around five years. I wouldn't exactly blame—"
"Wouldn't blame them?" Hermione finished angrily, her fake emerald eyes flashing fiercely. "Wouldn't blame them for turning their back on years and years of friendship? Not trying to understand my position? Not comprehend that Draco Malfoy…TRICKED me into feeling for him?!" she demanded hysterically, her eyes watering.
"Calm down! I'm just saying. From their point of view…I mean, come on, Mione. How would you feel if Harry never told you about James?" he reasoned.
She felt immediately guilty for getting angry so quickly. "But…at least I had reason," she argued weakly.
"Not exactly."
"Well! It's not like I would be upset at Harry for getting the real Hope pregnant! She's the essence of good!" Hermione protested, not liking the scenario at all.
"But what if it were…Pansy, for good measure? You hate her."
"Kyle, really. I don't see—"
"Just think about it," Kyle interrupted. "How would you feel after trusting him since you were eleven…and he kept something as huge as a relationship with your enemy number one—two—" he amended quickly, "and a baby?"
Hermione glanced down, secretly hating Kyle for being the rational person she had prided herself in being. "I'd hate it," she admitted grudgingly.
"Give them a few weeks," he advised. "And tell me exactly what happened."
"Fine," she conceded, knowing he wasn't giving it up. "After Ron had finally showed up I—"
"Mione, do you think you could change back into your normal self? It's a bit unsettling to be discussing this with Hope, my fiancée, rather than Hermione, one of my closest friends," Kyle added, smirking good-naturedly.
Hermione giggled a little, feeling a bit strangely relieved. "I don't blame you," she said, lifting her vial, and taking a small, ungenerous sip.
She cleared her throat, waiting momentarily for her features to be back to normal. "I think Lou Ann will be a bit upset at me for making her work so late…" Hermione mused out loud in her regular voice, smiling. "Carrie will hate me for sure."
"Carrie won't hate you," Kyle corrected. "She'll be dead asleep at—" he paused to check the time, "ten at night."
Hermione winced. "I feel like I'm killing a teenager's social hours on a weekend night."
"She'll get over it when you pay her with a bonus."
She grinned sheepishly. "Anyway, I stalled a bit with small talk. It ended up turning against me," Hermione scowled, remembering Harry's question. "So I just went to the bathroom for a few minutes."
"Do I want to know why?"
"Not really," Hermione laughed, staring straight ahead. "I found a letter in the trash can," she added softly, her eyes glazing over.
"You snooped through the trash?" Kyle asked increduously.
"It was from Draco. I was confused at first," she admitted, suddenly taking interest in her linked hands. "It was addressed to Hope, who for a moment, I thought meant Hope Potter. But it was for me. He apologized," Hermione added in a wistful tone.
"That was nice," Kyle retorted dryly. "I'd sure hope that prat apologized."
"It was heartfelt!" she argued defensively. "It was nice."
"…But it was for Hope, not Hermione," he said aloud, voicing her unspoken thoughts. "And that upset you."
"A little," she recognized. "But, I mean, why would he write some letter to me? He just slept with me and dumped me…I'm no different than any other nameless face he's had sex with. Like I'm special," Hermione scoffed, her soft brown eyes conveying hurt.
She saw Kyle's eyes twinkle a bit mischievously but he said nothing on that fact.
"But you are special. You are different," he replied. "Draco sees that. He just refuses to admit it to himself, much less anyone else. Don't be put off by this Slytherin tough guy façade we all put up," Kyle offered, thankfully tossing in some light humor.
"Well, that letter was quite a bit of an icebreaker," Hermione continued, looking a bit brighter. "And they didn't really grasp it when I explained everything."
"I still don't grasp it," he shot back. "I'd be surprised if any of them understood even if you spelled it out for them."
"I showed them," she defended, covering her vial protectively with her hand. "Then they understood. I started to tell them, but I was so nervous! I actually fainted."
"You fainted?" Kyle repeated, eyes widening. "Are you ok?"
"Ron forced me to eat some chocolate," Hermione waved him off dismissively. "I kept apologizing. Harry was really upset," she reflected, remembering his icy, unfeeling eyes again. "He was very cold, and rough. Harry was the one to force it out of me."
"Force? Did he touch you? I swear to God, I always thought he was a good for nothing—"
"He didn't hurt me," Hermione interrupted, smiling wryly. "Ron freaked out before I could say anything. He apparated out, and it turned out to be to the Malfoy Manor. He said he wouldn't let Draco get away with it. I hadn't even said a word."
"Well, at least he still cares," Kyle offered, looking a little uplifted. "That's definitely a good sign, Hermione."
"It took some convincing, but I got him back at Harry's. Then I blurted out that Malfoy and I were…involved."
"How tactful," he replied sarcastically.
"Harry started yelling. He pretty much called me an idiot, and I got mad…I more or less insulted his irrational behavior when he was lovesick over Cho," Hermione continued, a ghost of a smile on her face. "His wife didn't take to well to that…"
"I'd imagine not," Kyle chuckled, leaning forward.
"He asked if we conceived a child." She blinked. "I told him I did. Everything fell apart! I just…I left."
"Never a better time. Hermione…you always had a flair for the dramatics."
"Hey," Hermione protested, crossing her arms. "I…well, what more could I do? Harry looked like it took all of his physical and mental strength not to Avada me on the spot!"
"You sure pick the greatest people," he retorted sardonically, with a smirk. "Thank Merlin you have me."
"Shut up," she scolded weakly, tossing back her combination of wavy and curly chestnut hair. "Just wait until you have a fallout. I can't wait to mock you like this."
"But I never got pregnant at 17 with my enemy," Kyle pointed out teasingly.
"Merlin, let's hope not," Hermione scoffed, her eyes almost dancing.
~*~
Lucius swept through the manor, mentally betting on which way Draco would go.
He figured the boy would be rebellious, and just tell him to 'sod off', which would leave him with no choice but to fetch him forcefully.
Lucius remembered the filthy mudblood standing with dirt-poor Weasley on his doorstep, pleading silently.
He needed to know what business that bitch had at his house. And that wizard slime. If it had anything to do with Draco's…tryst with her, he'd kill Draco. Son or not.
He debated on how to confuse his son the most, and finally settled on telling Draco that the 'love of his life' was standing at their steps. That would bring the boy running home, to ensure she was safe.
Disgusting.
~*~
Draco quickly scanned over the new letter Lucius had just sent him with a pained sort of feeling in his chest, and squeezing the air out of his lungs.
Draco,
Would you care to tell me what your mudblood bitch was doing standing on our doorsteps, tainting out manor…with her filthy Weasley friend?
I'm sure she'd love to talk to you, so hurry home.
--L.H.M.
It was short, sweet, and to the point. It was mocking.
Was he serious? Did he really have Granger locked up somewhere in the dungeons like he had insinuated in the letter?
Draco desperately weighed his options, feeling like this was a trap. But could he risk it?
He finally decided to go downstairs and tell Kyle he was going home for a bit. At least someone would be happy…
By the time Draco got there, he realized, with a push of his hands through his rumpled hair, that Hope was still conversing in private with Kyle.
He felt guilty, but once the unlocking spell finally popped into his mind, he unlocked the room, and strode in abruptly, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm really sorry, Hope, Thompson, but I had to interrupt. I just wanted to say—"
The words died from Draco's mouth as his silver eyes looked up from the floor to Kyle and…Hermione Granger herself.
He was rendered speechless, and Kyle looked furious. Hermione just looked meek and ashamed.
Finally regaining composure, but still slightly puzzled, he addressed her coolly, "Granger. What exactly are you doing here?"
A/N: I'm so brilliant it surprises me sometimes. Do you guys have any idea how long I've been waiting to write this??? Hehe! So the question I shall leave you with is: What is Draco thinking right about now?
So, again, thanks to all my reviewers, whom I love. The encouragement has meant more than you could ever know! If you feel like reading something new I wrote, there's a new story I have (it's in my profile) called Night Stalker. I'll let you figure that out.
Um…feel free to review calling me an evil whore, for having it end like that. Or be nice, and just curse me for life. I hope everyone liked that chapter! I was listening to a combination of Justin Timberlake and Brandy (some Christina Aguilera)…
[Submitted: August 30, 2003]