Heya, gyrlfriend: thanks for your review! I'm sure you can guess...and to Zuvalupa: you are the most loyal one of all...you reviewed TWICE! Now I really like you!
Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, and therefore do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be working on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which she says has something to do with Chamber...in some way...if it's got another Tom riddle memory I'll die! Of happiness, that is. Though I mustn't get my hopes up.. okay, random rambling! Moving on...
"How do you know?" protested Ron weakly.
Pansy smirked. "Well, as you know, Draco and I, well...broke up in September. Said it was N.E.W.T. year and he needed to focus..." she sniffed. It had been a bad breakup. Pansy had accused him of cheating, and Draco had told her he just needed "space" and that they could still be friends. As if. Pansy just didn't think it was over; she stuck to him like someone'd placed a Permanent Sticking Charm on her.
According to legend, she had been cooing over him in the Slytherin common room when he exploded and famously declared, "I've had it! We're not a couple anymore, Parkinson! I'd rather date Hermione Granger than you!" in front of half the Slytherins.
"But I was still, er, suspicious," Pansy continued. "He kept talking to other girls. Just not me. So I started watching him."
"Stalker," Draco muttered darkly.
Pansy shot him an 'I'll deal with you later' look and went on. "And then, one day in Potions towards September's end- surely you remember this, professor- I overheard Draco asking Hermione Granger about Arithmancy. And he later transferred to her class."
Pansy did not seem to have taken it well, Harry noticed. So what if Draco joined Arithmancy? No one else seemed to care half as much.
"It sounded pretty suspicious, so I started asking around. Some kids said that they were partners in the class, and so I went and asked Professor Vector. She said that they hated one another, but had actually grown quite close after a few weeks, by the end of October. And I saw it, too. They smiled at one another every once in a while and I caught him staring at her in Potions."
"Wait just one minute," argued Fred, looking at Hermione helplessly. "If you were so suspicious you'd think any girl was trying to sneak off with Draco!"
Pansy glared. "I did. But later I noticed Ginny Weasely watched them as much as I did. So I asked her and she said...well, let her tell you." Pansy said and nodded at Ginny. As Ginny slowly stood, Hermione looked up and stared at her in anguish as though she'd been slapped.
"Well, Hermione's always loved Arithmancy," said Ginny softly. "So when he became a part of it, she talked about how he affected the class. At first, it was things like, 'Oh, I hate Malfoy!' and 'Malfoy needs to crawl off into Slytherin house and die!', but it became 'Malfoy said something very thoughtful today', and 'Malfoy and I agreed on something!'" Ginny paused, and glanced at Harry and Ron.
"You noticed it, right?" she asked.
Harry nodded slowly. Ron gaped like a fish, at a loss for words.
"Eventually she referred to him as 'Draco', and then I started to worry about her. I noticed she stayed on the field a little longer after Slytherin Quidditch games, so I tailed her. She'd congratulate him and then they'd talk, and one day, they..." Ginny took a deep breath. "They kissed."
Draco shut his eyes as though he hoped to vanish, and Hermione's eyes widened as she gazed helplessly at Ginny. She didn't seem to realize she was slowly shaking her head.
Harry was furious, but Ron looked even worse. His ears were red and his face pale. They weren't hearing this, Harry thought. Hermione'd never do it.
But he looked at Ginny and knew...
"So, I stayed after every Slytherin game, and as time went by it became every Quidditch game at all. Soon I noticed how she's share this little secret look with him every time he caught the snitch, and of course I felt betrayed."
Ginny glanced around. Most people didn't believe it. She sighed and went on. "I decided to tell her my concerns at Hogsmeade. But I couldn't find her. Later on, Colin Creevey showed me a picture of the two of them."
Ginny extracted a photo from her files and handed it to Mrs. Weasely, who glanced at it and then gave a little snort of disgust, then passed it to Arthur, who paled and gave it to the twins, who shot Hermione ugly looks and handed it over to Narcissa who clenched her hands tightly and shoved it at her son. Draco took one glance, nudged Hermione, who looked at it quickly then looked away, passing it to Harry and Ron.
Ron said, "I don't believe it!" and Harry just stared. It was a picture of the two on a secluded bench area behind the Shrieking Shack. Hermione simply looked infatuated, leaning against Draco's chest and gazing up at him, while he looked down at her, smiling; is arm around her shoulder. As with wizard pictures, they moved: Hermione looked at Harry, startled, then Draco put his arms around her and they turned their faces away. When Harry looked at her, he saw her look away again.
Ginny cleared her throat. "I contacted Pansy and decided that they weren't 'just meeting'. We had taken pictures- I have more in my file- but we needed to know where else they met. Because she's in their Potions class, Pansy figured it out. Pansy?"
"Pansy snickered and stood, while Ginny sat down.
"Every day in Potions, one of them would mention the name of a book. Then the other would check said book out. I thought it was interesting. Of course," she added, "I started checking the books out earlier and using the copying charm on the notes hidden inside. Those notes, by the way, are in my folder." She declared, raising it in the air.
"Allow me to introduce my favorite," announced Pansy. "Ahem. November 19: 'Draco,'" she began, in a fake love-sick voice, "'I miss you so much! I've been thinking a lot about what you said on our last Hogsmeade trip and you're right- it would be devastating if anyone found out about us. Your reputation would shatter, I'd be publicly shamed, and our friends would desert us. Oh, how about next Saturday, 11:00, ROR?'" Pansy sniffed. "She's referring to the Room of Requirement, which was where they have been meeting. In fact, I believe they had a meeting just before they came here."
"That's why you left the library!" shouted Ron.
"Relax, Weasely," panted Pansy. "Later. Let me finish."
Ron looked at Hermione murderously and she quailed.
"Then, they had a couple more letters, and then...oh, I like this one: 'Draco', she says, 'I know it's not the first time I've said it, but now I mean it. We shouldn't see eachother. End of story. I'm sorry, Draco, because I do love you, but it has to be like this. Goodbye." Pansy brushed away a fake tear. "Of course, they got together again, something like 'Oh Draco, I can't stop thinking about you!' and 'Hermione, we can't keep doing this. It's killing me, blah, blah, blah.' And by the way, Ginny kept taking pictures. Unfortunately, well....back to you, Ginny."
Pansy sat and Ginny stood. "Hermione found a picture of her and Draco, well, you know. You could tell about where it was because they were snogging next to his broomstick, with Draco still in his Quidditch robes." Ginny looked away from Hermione. "I told her I wouldn't tell."
"Well, I'm glad you did!" exclaimed Fred.
"I'm not," muttered Ron.
"Please, continue," implored Mr. Weasely, and Ginny said, "Well, they've just been sneaking around the school, all over it, meeting, since the end of September, and now it's nearly Christmas! I was just worried she was making a mistake, and Pansy thinks the same of Draco." For the first time, Ginny looked straight at Hermione and said, "It's better this way."
Harry glanced Hermione's way, and she peeked out at him. He had been thinking he would never forgive her, but now he wasn't so sure.
"Okay," said Pansy gleefully, "don't hold back on your feelings! I know you hate it as much as I do!"
For a while, no one spoke. Then, "Have your father and I taught you nothing? You're just going to sneak out dating some Muggle girl just because you want a break from Pansy, who's from a good, respectable pureblood family!" shrieked Narcissa. "Do you have any idea what your father would say?!"
Draco put his head in his hands.
"You should be ashamed, Draco. How dare you. How dare you touch that filthy little girl." Narcissa stood, glared at her son, and then left.
"Well, I think both of you have bee very daring," interrupted Molly. She stood and motioned up her husband. Harry knew how they felt; the Malfoys hated the Weaselys, and vice versa. They left, followed by Fred and George, who of course had to add their own opinions.
"I don't believe you, Hermione. What did he try to get you to do?" asked George rudely. "Hex Harry's Firebolt? Send Ron to the Hospital Wing? You're smarter than this!" He stomped off, and Fred said, "I don't know what you were thinking when you first started kissing that git, but if you think now that you're better than us, you don't deserve even a Malfoy!" and he left as well.
Snape raised an eyebrow at Ron, who was clutching the arms of his chair as though he wanted to break them, He stood and said stiffly, "I don't know what you're playing at!" and then left. Snape and McGonagall also left.
"Well, you don't need me!" chimed Pansy. "See you tomorrow, Draco!" and she skipped off.
There was an awkward silence. "Er- can we leave, Professor?" asked Harry. Dumbledore nodded. His expression was hard to read, but Harry didn't think he looked angry, or even disappointed- but rather, thoughtful.
The remaining four stepped out into the empty hallway and watched the door close, then
"I just can't believe you'd do that."
Hermione had turned to Ginny. She'd even begun shaking. "Why did it matter so much? It was beautiful, Ginny, and you ruined it all." Draco had put an arm around her, there being no use pretending. "Why?"
Ginny could no longer suppress any explanations. "Why? WHY? I should think you'd know!" she spat. "Because HIS DAD WANTS HARRY DEAD!! Don't you get it, don't you know! It's betrayal! You traitor, you don't get it! HIS DAD WANTS HARRY DEAD!" She had run out of breath. "Hermione, listen, I'm sorry, but-"
"No!" Hermione cried. Her eyes were brighter than usual. "You're not! I just- don't understand you. I trusted you. And you- you, Ginny Weasely, you- betrayed me. YOU'RE the traitor, not me!" Hermione braced herself, and her voice was low and controlled, yet quivering with concealed rage. "I kept your secrets, Ginny Weasely," she said quietly. "The least you could have done was keep mine."
And she turned on her heel and disappeared down the corner, leaving a livid Ginny, a lonely Draco, and a torn Harry.
And voila. That's it. I'd like to thank you for being so patient, and I'm sorry it took so long, I was a little busy with the other stories, cough-Better than Trelawney-cough. What is up with the people who keep reading that, I will never know. Honestly.