Here's chapter 9!! Hope you enjoy it and thanx for reviewing. I would've posted yesterday, but I had to go do my school supplies shopping, and of course, I had to get school clothes. . . hehe. anyway, here you are:
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Chapter 9: The Christmas Party
(Christmas Eve)
"I can't believe this, Ron. She cheated on me with MALFOY!" Harry retold the things he saw to Ron the next day.
"Harry." Ron, who was sitting on his bed in their dormitory, said.
"I mean, she could've just said she was with Malfoy, but nooo, she had to go and two-time me and make me make a fool of myself.
"Harry!" Ron yelled.
"I really had no idea that she was the type of girl that would do that, but I guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover, can you? It makes me so—"
"HARRY!"
"What?!?" Harry turned around to face him and stopped waving his arms around angrily. They fell to his side. "What, Ron?"
"Listen, mate, don't take this the wrong way or anything, and I know it hurts, and I know it makes you upset, but she can't really help who she loves, Harry."
"LOVE?" Who said anything her loving him." Harry paused. "She doesn't, does she?"
'Oi. Wrong thing to say,' Ron thought, getting up. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be outside if you need me." He left, leaving Harry staring after him.
-ooooooo-
It was 7:00 that night and Hermione was getting ready for the party. She stood in front of her wardrobe, her arms crossed over her chest. Finally, she decided on a long, silky, maroon dress that complimented her skin tone. She looked in the mirror, thinking that maroon looked really good on her. The dress had little straps about an inch wide that tied at the shoulder, leaving the excess strap to lie down against her body. The dress was tight around her chest and waist, then loose around her legs.
Hermione heard a knock on her door.
"Come in," she said, using her wand to fix her hair. Draco entered her room.
"You look great," he said, leaning against the doorway in his dress robes.
"Thanks. So do you," she replied, tossing her wand to the side in defeat.
"Here," Draco walked over toward her with his wand out. He did something with it and her hair lay loose, straight, and shiny down her back. With another wave, part of her hair was twisted around up into a half-bun, half of her hair still down. Hermione stared into her reflection and gave a small smile. She could still see Harry's and Ginny's angry faces imprinted in her mind. She tried to hide it, but Draco wasn't fooled. He turned her around so she faced him and rested his hands on her shoulders.
"Hermione, what's wrong?"
Hermione broke down then, tears falling down her cheeks. "Draco, Harry knows. Ginny knows. And- and. . ."
"What?" Draco asked, confused.
"Harry knows about us! And so does Ginny. Ginny hasn't spoken to me for weeks, and Harry found out yesterday. Only, he kind of saw it. . . . I had him teach me Occlumency and I completely forgot about how the attacker can see your memories, and he sort of saw us. . . ."
Draco wrapped his arms around her and rubbed the back of her head. "It's ok, Hermione. It really is. Shh. It's ok. It'll be alright. Shh. . . ." He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. "We'll go to the party, and we'll show them that you are happy and that their cold-shoulder acts aren't working, okay? You're better than Potter and Weasley, do you know that? Potter survived a curse and got a scar. He's always surrounded by Daily Prophet reporters and has no privacy. How great is that? And as for the Weasley girl, she's always surrounded by her brothers and she can't do anything on her own. Who wants that? But you. You are smart, beautiful, funny, fun to be around, and you are normal. You don't have to live in a shadow, you don't have to be followed around like some celebrity. That is something to be proud of, Hermione. Besides," Draco continued, wiping a tear away from Hermione's face. "You're mine. That is something to be especially proud of."
Hermione smiled and laughed. She wrapped her arms around him and placed a kiss on his lips. Draco enveloped her in his arms again and kissed her back. She opened her mouth and let him through. Draco's tongue slid through into her mouth and their tongues moved together. As she was tangled in this bliss, she realized that she had fallen in love with Draco.
She pulled away and smiled, wiping her eyes. Draco used his wand and fixed her makeup so it wasn't messed up. Her eyes weren't puffy with crying now. They were like they had been before. "Thank you," she said, picking up her wand.
"You're welcome." There was a pause and an awkward silence followed those words.
"Now, what did you come in here for? I'm sure you didn't come in here to listen to me cry," Hermione was the first to break the silence.
"Oh, that. I just wanted to let you know that you can go ahead to the party. I'm going to patrol the hallways first, then I'll meet you there. Ok?"
"That's fine," she replied. She put her wand away in her trunk and turned the face Draco. "I'll see you there."
"Ok," Draco gave her a quick kiss and left.
-ooooooo-
Draco was walking down the hallways on the fifth floor and thought about what just happened. He had actually made her feel better about herself and the whole "Harry finding out" thing. He smiled to himself. But his smile disappeared when he saw Faith heading his way in a breathtaking silver dress. She had tried to hit on him several times before and he had found out that she was not "his type".
"Hey, Draco," Faith cooed.
"Hi, Faith," Draco replied dully.
"Where are you going? The party is the other way," she ran her fingers down his neck.
"Yeah, but I'm doing my Head Boy duties first," Draco spat, taking her fingers off him.
"But Draco," Faith whined, putting her hands on his shoulders. She ran a hand down to his pants.
Draco grabbed her hands and threw them at her. "Not now, not ever, Pierce." With that, he walked away.
-ooooooo-
Hermione looked around the Great Hall for the 3rd time, but still no sign of Draco. 'Where is he?' She asked herself. 'He promised me he'd be here.'
"Who are you looking for, 'Mione?" Ron asked. He himself was looking for Harry. "Because if it's Harry, I can't help you there. I haven't seen him since this morning. He said he'd be here, but--"
"Ron," Hermione interrupted. Ron looked at her. "What would you say. . . if I told you Draco and I were together—hypothetically speaking of course."
Ron continued to look at her. "I'd say it was fine with me, because you can't help who you love." But the way he was looking at her made her realize he already knew. She gave him a hug.
"Thanks, Ron."
"No problem. But if he so much as hurts you. . . he--- ooh, Pumpkin Pastries. . ."
Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron strolled off into the crowd.
"Looking for someone?" a cool voice said behind Hermione. She turned. Ginny was standing there, arms crossed.
"Hi Ginny," Hermione said, careful to avoid her eye's. Ever since that day Ginny pulled Hermione out into the hallway, Ginny hadn't been very pleasant around her.
"Looking for Malfoy?" she asked, and, not giving Hermione a chance to answer, said, "Obviously he doesn't really care, since he's not here." Ginny put her hands on her hips. "I told you this would happen. I told you-- -"
"Ginny. Shut up." Hermione walked away from her and went into the hallway. She saw Draco walking toward her.
"Sorry. I got held up," he said thinking about Faith. He involuntarily shuddered.
"It's okay. Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Draco held out and arm and Hermione took it. They walked into the Great Hall. As they entered, Harry (who finally arrived) and Ron stared at them. Harry looked angry, and Ron held him back. Hermione could hear him saying "Harry, stop. You're acting like a kid. She can't help it. She loves Malfoy."
But Draco wasn't paying attention. He saw something that made him stop walking. In the corner of the Great hall, stood Lucius Malfoy.
"Draco?" Hermione asked, but when Draco didn't answer, she followed his gaze and saw Lucius. Lucius looked twice as furious as Harry.
"Draco, this is your chance. This is your chance to stand up for yourself in front of your father."
"I can't, Hermione. I can't." Draco finally broke his and his father's eye contact to look at her.
"Yes you can! Draco, just do it. Just get up there and get it over with. If you don't, you might live in his shadow forever."
"I- I. . . fine." Draco walked up to the stage that Dumbledore and McGonagall had put up for the party. Once he was on the stage, Draco said "Sonorus." Everybody's eyes were on him. Including his father's.
"This song that I'm going to sing is for somebody in this room--" he looked at his father. "But I won't say who. I think that person will know. Okay. . ." Draco prepared himself, then started.
"I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless lost under the surface
Don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired So much more aware
I'm becoming this All I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you"
Holding too tightly Afraid to lose control
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
And every second I waste is more than I can take
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired So much more aware
I'm becoming this All I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me with someone disappointed in you"Hermione looked over at Lucius who was so outraged he looked ready to kill. Then she looked back up at Draco."I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be. . ."The crowd cheered (they seemed to have forgotten it was Malfoy) and Draco walked off the stage and back toward Hermione, still keeping eye contact with his father. Lucius got up, started to walk over to him, but changed his mind and walked out the door.
"It worked, Draco! It worked!" Hermione hugged Draco while he just stood there, in shock, glad to have gotten it over with
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A/N: HEY!!!!! Hope u liked it! GO DRACO!!!!!!!!!! awwwwww. . . they love each other. . . how sweet!! NEways, review!! I want to know what you guys think! chapter 10 up soon!