Harry woke up the next morning, furius with what'd happened the
previous night. At the same time, there was a pit in his stomach. He'd
just severed his friendship with one of the people he cared for the
most. And on top of it, she probably thought he was in love with her.
He wouldn't do that to Ron...Ron. Had what Hermione said been true?
They'd had their fights over the years, but he couldn't imagine them
being his friend just because they felt sorry for him. He went up to
the prefect rooms and knocked on Ron's door. It opened. Hermione walked
past him out of the room, without even looking at him.
"She's real upset with you, mate. What'd you say to her?"
"The truth. She thinks Malfoy has changed. I walked in on them last night."
"She says you were spying on her."
"I wasn't spying. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"She faced Voldemort and she lived with Malfoy for a week. I think she can survive anything."
"So you're taking her side too?"
"Well you had no business spying on her. We're not little anymore Harry, there's no need to go spying around in the corridors. These are our last years here, we should try and make the best of them, and we can't afford to lose anymore house points. Why not try having a peaceful year, this year Harry? Do we have to be heros?"
"I can't believe you, Ron. You know I haven't had a choice in any of the things I've been through."
"You didn't have to go snooping around to find out about the Sorcer's Stone. You didn't have to go snooping around to find the Chamber of Secrets. If we hadn't butted in with Sirius and Buckbeak, we'd have been living normal lives."
"And what? You sister would be dead, we'd never know the truth about my parents and Sirius. Voldemort might've been back full force and unbeatable. We needed Sirius, and we had to save him. And I expect you're going to blame me for being in the Triwizard Tournament as well? And for Cedric's death? You're no better than the Dursley's right now, Ron. We did what we had to in order to save the school. You probably wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for me. I didn't choose to be 'the-boy-who-lived', Ron. I can't believe you're still holding this all against me. I was trying to protect Hermione from Malfoy. I thought you'd appreciate that too. She's still sleeping with him, Ron. Just so you know." Harry stormed out of the room. He now had no one.
Harry entered the Great Hall. Ron had joined Hermione at the Gryffindor table and they were talking to Parvati Patil. He saw Luna Lovegood sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table, and went over to her.
"Mind if I join you for breakfast?"
"Yeah, sure." she was a little taken back.
"Thanks." he replied with relief and sat down next to her.
"Why aren't you sitting with Ron and Hermione?" she asked, helping herself to a plate of food.
"Because they don't know the true meaning of friendship." he commented, coldly. They didn't speak throughout the rest of the meal. As Harry was finishing, Malfoy came strolling by.
"Found yourself a new girlfriend, did you Potter? What a perfect match. Looney Lovegood with 'the-boy-who-lived'. You two go great together. You can't drive each other crazy, cause you already are!" he smirked and walked off.
"That Malfoy, he's such a horrible boy." Luna remarked. Harry didn't respond. He got up and went outside. Hermione was outside studying under a tree, absentmindedly casting bubbles out of her wand while Crookshanks chased them. He sat out by the lake and watched the giant squid come up every now and then. He heard a noise from near by. It sounded like Malfoy. He knew he shouldn't do anymore spying. He looked back over at Hermione, still under her tree. He moved a little bit closer and noticed Malfoy with Pansy Parkinson leaning up next to the side of the castle. He had his hand on her leg.
"Why've you been avoiding me, Draco?" she whined.
"I haven't been avoiding you, I've just been busy."
"Yeah with that mudblood. Are you cheating on me?"
"No, Pansy. I'd never cheat on you, not with that vile excuse for a witch." he stroked her face with his index finger. He kissed her passionatly.
"How about I come by your room tonight? We haven't had a night to ourselves in over a week."
"Sounds good to me, the password is 'snake bite'. I'll see you tonight at seven, love." he told her and kissed her again. Harry ducked behind a bush so he wouldn't be discovered. Harry took out a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote down a note, pretending to be Malfoy. He told her to be at his room at seven ten, and wrote down the password. He went up to the owlery and sent her the note, then headed off for Divination, where he sat with Seamus Finnigan instead of Ron.
Even though he promised himself, no more snooping. He had to see the outcome of the situation. He left the Great Hall early, and went up and got his invisibility cloak and the maurader's map. He snuck his way to the Slyerthin common room, able to sneak in with a few Slytherin third years. He watched as Malfoy came into the common room with Crabbe and Goyle. He said goodbye to them and headed to his room. Harry quietly followed, sneaking in right behind Malfoy. He sat down on one of the chairs in the boys' prefect room. He looked around the room. The green and silver glistened through the room. Hermione's thoughts crept back into his head "you're Slytherin to the core." She'd be eating her words once she saw her secret boyfriend secretly in bed with someone else. Harry hadn't thought about how childish he was acting, or of Dumbledore's words to just leave them alone. He was hurt. Maybe he did feel something more than friendship for Hermione, but all he wanted right now was revenge.
Pansy Parkinson was right on time, and five minutes early. Malfoy smiled and pulled her close. He led her to the bedroom, where Harry didn't dare venture. What he saw the previous night had been bad enough. Hermione was also, right on time. How she managed to get past the other slytherins, he didn't know. He figured there was a secret prefect passway that allowed her to go between prefect rooms freely. The castle was filled with mysterious passages. She didn't see Malfoy around anywhere, so she headed towards the bedroom. She put her ear to the door, then covered her mouth with her hand. The sounds were unmistakable, and said it all.
"Alohomora." she tapped the handle with her wand, it swung open.
"Draco Malfoy!" she screamed.
"What are you doing here, mudblood?! We don't have tutoring for another hour. Get the hell out of my room!" Malfoy yelled and slammed the door in her face. Hermione burst into tears and ran out of the room. Guilt hit Harry hard. What he'd done was wrong. She had to see though, he couldn't be changed. Harry let himself out and headed back towards Gryffindor. Half way there he removed the cloak. He still felt bad. As he passed by the Transfiguration room he heard crying. He knew it was Hermione. He wanted to go to her, but he felt too guilty. He went back up to his room and went to sleep. He dreamt of Ron being attacked by a giant spider, Malfoy and Hermione getting married, and his dreams once again turned back to Sirius. When he woke up in the morning he was feeling no more engergized than he had when he'd gone to sleep. He moped down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He heard voices outside the corridor to the Hall.
"So I hear you have a taste for the snake, well I've got a snake you can try." He saw Franklin Fratz had Hermione pinned up against the wall.
"Get off me." she hissed at him.
"Now I see why Malfoy couldn't resist you, you've truly got the heart of a lion, Gryffindor." he kissed her hand, and moved in for her lips.
"Leave her alone, Fratz." Harry pulled out his wand. Franklin smiled and walked away, he winked at Hermione.
"Stop rescuing me, Harry." she commented and entered the Great Hall with great pace. He decided to eat alone. He wasn't in the mood for Luna's talk about her father's magazine.
"I know it was you, Potter." Malfoy sat down across from Harry.
"What was me, Malfoy." Harry sighed. He started to collect his things for class.
"I don't know how, but I know you had to do with last night. Stay away from me, Potter. I am not someone you want to mess with. The previous five years are childsplay compared to what will be coming. Hermione doesn't like you anymore, frankly, I don't think she ever did."
"You brought it upon yourself." Harry stated and walked away.
Harry spent the rest of the term, alone. Ron was still refusing to speak to him, as was Hermione. It looked as if though things between her and Malfoy were over. There'd been no news of any other plans that Voldemort had. End of the term exams came and went, and all of Hogwarts was packing up for their Christmas vacation. It was the night of the Christmas feast, Harry was called into Dumbledore's office.
"Harry! Merry Christmas!" Dumbledore exclaimed. He was wearing a red santa's hat and red robes. With his long beard, he resembled St. Nick, a great deal. Harry smiled.
"You shall be returning to headquarters for the Christmas Break, I pressume?"
"Yes. I have no where else to go, and I don't want to stay here this year."
"Well then I have a task for you. Malfoy will be staying with you for the holidays. He has no home to return to, and I don't want him lurking the hallways, it's not safe when his own father is after his head. I don't want him knowing the location though, so I have to ask you to escort him."
"Why can't Hermione do it?"
"She said thank you but no thank you, professor Dumbledore, and left it at that I'm afraid."
"It's my fault."
"What is, Harry?"
"What happened between them. I told her not to trust him, then gave her reason not to."
'I'm afraid that Mr. Malfoy is the one who gave her a reason not to trust him, not you Harry. You were just trying to help her see the way he was, which so happened to be: not a very good boyfriend. She will forgive you in time."
"Nothing gets by you, does it Professor."
"Not anything that goes on within these wall, Harry." he smiled. Harry felt better after having talked with Dumbledore. He ran into Hermione in the hallway.
"Hi." he said.
"Hi, Harry. Look I'm sorry. You were right about Malfoy."
"No, don't. Let's stop fighting? We're going to have to spend the entire break together, we might as well get along. Besides if Malfoy's going to be with us, we have to stay together." he told her. She hugged him.
"Ron's forgiven you too, he's been wanting to say something, but he feels sheepish. And I have to admit, I've said some pretty harsh things to him."
"What happened with Malfoy?"
"Oh, he cheated on me. We broke up. Now we're back to name calling as usual."
"It's nice to have you back, Hermione." Harry smiled and took her hand. They walked hand in hand together back to Gryffindor Tower.
"She's real upset with you, mate. What'd you say to her?"
"The truth. She thinks Malfoy has changed. I walked in on them last night."
"She says you were spying on her."
"I wasn't spying. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"She faced Voldemort and she lived with Malfoy for a week. I think she can survive anything."
"So you're taking her side too?"
"Well you had no business spying on her. We're not little anymore Harry, there's no need to go spying around in the corridors. These are our last years here, we should try and make the best of them, and we can't afford to lose anymore house points. Why not try having a peaceful year, this year Harry? Do we have to be heros?"
"I can't believe you, Ron. You know I haven't had a choice in any of the things I've been through."
"You didn't have to go snooping around to find out about the Sorcer's Stone. You didn't have to go snooping around to find the Chamber of Secrets. If we hadn't butted in with Sirius and Buckbeak, we'd have been living normal lives."
"And what? You sister would be dead, we'd never know the truth about my parents and Sirius. Voldemort might've been back full force and unbeatable. We needed Sirius, and we had to save him. And I expect you're going to blame me for being in the Triwizard Tournament as well? And for Cedric's death? You're no better than the Dursley's right now, Ron. We did what we had to in order to save the school. You probably wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for me. I didn't choose to be 'the-boy-who-lived', Ron. I can't believe you're still holding this all against me. I was trying to protect Hermione from Malfoy. I thought you'd appreciate that too. She's still sleeping with him, Ron. Just so you know." Harry stormed out of the room. He now had no one.
Harry entered the Great Hall. Ron had joined Hermione at the Gryffindor table and they were talking to Parvati Patil. He saw Luna Lovegood sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table, and went over to her.
"Mind if I join you for breakfast?"
"Yeah, sure." she was a little taken back.
"Thanks." he replied with relief and sat down next to her.
"Why aren't you sitting with Ron and Hermione?" she asked, helping herself to a plate of food.
"Because they don't know the true meaning of friendship." he commented, coldly. They didn't speak throughout the rest of the meal. As Harry was finishing, Malfoy came strolling by.
"Found yourself a new girlfriend, did you Potter? What a perfect match. Looney Lovegood with 'the-boy-who-lived'. You two go great together. You can't drive each other crazy, cause you already are!" he smirked and walked off.
"That Malfoy, he's such a horrible boy." Luna remarked. Harry didn't respond. He got up and went outside. Hermione was outside studying under a tree, absentmindedly casting bubbles out of her wand while Crookshanks chased them. He sat out by the lake and watched the giant squid come up every now and then. He heard a noise from near by. It sounded like Malfoy. He knew he shouldn't do anymore spying. He looked back over at Hermione, still under her tree. He moved a little bit closer and noticed Malfoy with Pansy Parkinson leaning up next to the side of the castle. He had his hand on her leg.
"Why've you been avoiding me, Draco?" she whined.
"I haven't been avoiding you, I've just been busy."
"Yeah with that mudblood. Are you cheating on me?"
"No, Pansy. I'd never cheat on you, not with that vile excuse for a witch." he stroked her face with his index finger. He kissed her passionatly.
"How about I come by your room tonight? We haven't had a night to ourselves in over a week."
"Sounds good to me, the password is 'snake bite'. I'll see you tonight at seven, love." he told her and kissed her again. Harry ducked behind a bush so he wouldn't be discovered. Harry took out a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote down a note, pretending to be Malfoy. He told her to be at his room at seven ten, and wrote down the password. He went up to the owlery and sent her the note, then headed off for Divination, where he sat with Seamus Finnigan instead of Ron.
Even though he promised himself, no more snooping. He had to see the outcome of the situation. He left the Great Hall early, and went up and got his invisibility cloak and the maurader's map. He snuck his way to the Slyerthin common room, able to sneak in with a few Slytherin third years. He watched as Malfoy came into the common room with Crabbe and Goyle. He said goodbye to them and headed to his room. Harry quietly followed, sneaking in right behind Malfoy. He sat down on one of the chairs in the boys' prefect room. He looked around the room. The green and silver glistened through the room. Hermione's thoughts crept back into his head "you're Slytherin to the core." She'd be eating her words once she saw her secret boyfriend secretly in bed with someone else. Harry hadn't thought about how childish he was acting, or of Dumbledore's words to just leave them alone. He was hurt. Maybe he did feel something more than friendship for Hermione, but all he wanted right now was revenge.
Pansy Parkinson was right on time, and five minutes early. Malfoy smiled and pulled her close. He led her to the bedroom, where Harry didn't dare venture. What he saw the previous night had been bad enough. Hermione was also, right on time. How she managed to get past the other slytherins, he didn't know. He figured there was a secret prefect passway that allowed her to go between prefect rooms freely. The castle was filled with mysterious passages. She didn't see Malfoy around anywhere, so she headed towards the bedroom. She put her ear to the door, then covered her mouth with her hand. The sounds were unmistakable, and said it all.
"Alohomora." she tapped the handle with her wand, it swung open.
"Draco Malfoy!" she screamed.
"What are you doing here, mudblood?! We don't have tutoring for another hour. Get the hell out of my room!" Malfoy yelled and slammed the door in her face. Hermione burst into tears and ran out of the room. Guilt hit Harry hard. What he'd done was wrong. She had to see though, he couldn't be changed. Harry let himself out and headed back towards Gryffindor. Half way there he removed the cloak. He still felt bad. As he passed by the Transfiguration room he heard crying. He knew it was Hermione. He wanted to go to her, but he felt too guilty. He went back up to his room and went to sleep. He dreamt of Ron being attacked by a giant spider, Malfoy and Hermione getting married, and his dreams once again turned back to Sirius. When he woke up in the morning he was feeling no more engergized than he had when he'd gone to sleep. He moped down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He heard voices outside the corridor to the Hall.
"So I hear you have a taste for the snake, well I've got a snake you can try." He saw Franklin Fratz had Hermione pinned up against the wall.
"Get off me." she hissed at him.
"Now I see why Malfoy couldn't resist you, you've truly got the heart of a lion, Gryffindor." he kissed her hand, and moved in for her lips.
"Leave her alone, Fratz." Harry pulled out his wand. Franklin smiled and walked away, he winked at Hermione.
"Stop rescuing me, Harry." she commented and entered the Great Hall with great pace. He decided to eat alone. He wasn't in the mood for Luna's talk about her father's magazine.
"I know it was you, Potter." Malfoy sat down across from Harry.
"What was me, Malfoy." Harry sighed. He started to collect his things for class.
"I don't know how, but I know you had to do with last night. Stay away from me, Potter. I am not someone you want to mess with. The previous five years are childsplay compared to what will be coming. Hermione doesn't like you anymore, frankly, I don't think she ever did."
"You brought it upon yourself." Harry stated and walked away.
Harry spent the rest of the term, alone. Ron was still refusing to speak to him, as was Hermione. It looked as if though things between her and Malfoy were over. There'd been no news of any other plans that Voldemort had. End of the term exams came and went, and all of Hogwarts was packing up for their Christmas vacation. It was the night of the Christmas feast, Harry was called into Dumbledore's office.
"Harry! Merry Christmas!" Dumbledore exclaimed. He was wearing a red santa's hat and red robes. With his long beard, he resembled St. Nick, a great deal. Harry smiled.
"You shall be returning to headquarters for the Christmas Break, I pressume?"
"Yes. I have no where else to go, and I don't want to stay here this year."
"Well then I have a task for you. Malfoy will be staying with you for the holidays. He has no home to return to, and I don't want him lurking the hallways, it's not safe when his own father is after his head. I don't want him knowing the location though, so I have to ask you to escort him."
"Why can't Hermione do it?"
"She said thank you but no thank you, professor Dumbledore, and left it at that I'm afraid."
"It's my fault."
"What is, Harry?"
"What happened between them. I told her not to trust him, then gave her reason not to."
'I'm afraid that Mr. Malfoy is the one who gave her a reason not to trust him, not you Harry. You were just trying to help her see the way he was, which so happened to be: not a very good boyfriend. She will forgive you in time."
"Nothing gets by you, does it Professor."
"Not anything that goes on within these wall, Harry." he smiled. Harry felt better after having talked with Dumbledore. He ran into Hermione in the hallway.
"Hi." he said.
"Hi, Harry. Look I'm sorry. You were right about Malfoy."
"No, don't. Let's stop fighting? We're going to have to spend the entire break together, we might as well get along. Besides if Malfoy's going to be with us, we have to stay together." he told her. She hugged him.
"Ron's forgiven you too, he's been wanting to say something, but he feels sheepish. And I have to admit, I've said some pretty harsh things to him."
"What happened with Malfoy?"
"Oh, he cheated on me. We broke up. Now we're back to name calling as usual."
"It's nice to have you back, Hermione." Harry smiled and took her hand. They walked hand in hand together back to Gryffindor Tower.