Sorry this took longer than usual to get up; obviously with it being
Christmas I've had less free time than normal. Thanks for the reviews,
keep them coming :o)
The elven princess; thanks for the review. More is on it's way. It is sad about the Malfoys but I don't like to think that people are born evil; I think it must begin and evolve from somewhere.
Dracohermioneluver; I'm glad you thought the Chapter worked well; I really wanted it to and was so nervous people would hate me for it, cos it's such a dark subject. You're going to have to wait a while before February thought :o)
Miss Rhapsody; Thank you very much *big grin*
Ali potter; glad you liked the letter, I thought it would be the kind of thing that Dumbledore would write.
feltons-no.1-dominatrix; Thank you very much :o)
Keliyon; Thanks for the review. Everyone can write, you should give it a go. I'd be more than happy to read anything you write.
Lostgurl920; You're not getting information out of me that easily. I'm not telling anyone what's going to happen to any of the characters yet, partly because I don't even know myself..I can end this in two ways and I don't know which would work best. So your guess is as good as mine :o) As for Hermione's power there's a bit more on that is coming up in a few Chapters time.
Juxtaposed; Glad your loving Draco (although, let's be honest.who doesn't!) Narcissa just gave up when it came to protecting Draco. She no longer felt she should take the beatings for him so she didn't. You can kill Pansy if you want to. I have no idea what I'm going to do about her so let me know how you think it should end and I'll see how it will fit in. If you send me a name for yourself I'll put you in the showdown at the end and you can kill her yourself if you want-she deserves anything you throw at her, lol.
Chapter 11-A Tale of Two Pensieves
Draco was bored. He'd been waiting in Hermiones' rooms for over and hour and a half and she still hadn't returned. He'd gone there with the intentions of a nice, romantic evening; just the two of them, but within minutes of his arrival she had been called away on Head Girl business-some Ravenclaw girl was being bullied or something like that anyway; he hadn't really been paying attention. As she was Head Girl, it fell to Hermione to put right any problems that any girl at Hogwarts might have.
So now Draco was lying casually on her super large, red couch, surrounded by huge, squishy, crimson cushions with gold lining he'd noticed ("How very Gryffindor." He smirked). He was bored out of his mind, and had been seriously considering hexing Crookshanks, just for the hell of it in an attempt to remove some of the boredom that was causing his mind to feel melted and useless.
He had tried to keep himself amused but all Hermiones' books were boring ones that he could obtain from the library and she only had muggle music (Although he had absolutely no idea how to work the CD Player that she had hexed so it would work inside Hogwarts). He'd busied himself by zapping flies but that too had eventually lost all its appeal.
He eyed Crookshanks again, wondering if he could get away with a mini-hex, but as if the cat knew what he were thinking, it stood up and strolled into the bedroom. Draco followed the cat with his eyes and noticed one of the large, oak cupboards had swung open. He stood up and walked to the cupboard to shut the door, but his eyes saw a silvery light shimmering from inside and he stopped. He opened the door fully and saw that inside there was a beautiful white stone pensieve; it was very much like Dracos' own black, marble one that he used often, and from the fullness of this one it looked as though Hermione habitually used hers too.
Again he went to shut the door-he wouldn't like it if someone went through his thoughts. However, two things stopped him from closing the door-he wouldn't mind if it was Hermione searching his thoughts, so would she really mind?! They shouldn't have secrets from each other. The other thing that stopped him were the images shining in the surface; Voldemort, Death Eaters, the muggle man she'd killed at the first revel, Nienna, Dinru; this was obviously where she stored all of her Death Eater thoughts until they were needed at the revels. He again went to shut the door when Rons' face swam to the surface.
What the hell was Weasles' face doing there?! He wasn't a Death Eater; the only connection he had to Death Eaters was Hermione. Draco was curious and leaned in closer for a better look; Ron was looking desperate and upset.
"This should be good for a laugh." Sneered Draco, touching the surface of the iridescent contents with his index finger. Instantly he felt himself being tugged forward into the thoughts that Hermione would rather forget.
----------------------------
This memory was recent, he could tell; Hermiones' hair was black, meaning that the incident he was about to witness had happened within the last week or so. It was evening, and Hermione's green eyes were shining and reflecting the last rays of the setting sun. The sky was a fiery mixture of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks, and the flickering candlelight from the torches, burning ion the wall of the castle, caused Hermione's short, slender shadow to dance and waver on the cold, stone walls.
At the end of the corridor Hermione turned right into a very short corridor, at the end of which there was a large portrait of a very outsized lady in a pink, silk dress.
"Password." The fat lady asked, fanning herself with an elaborate, ornate fan.
"Phoenix Feather." Hermione replied.
The portrait swung open and Hermione clambered through; Draco followed. They were in the Gryffindor common room. Draco stared around: it was very different to the Slytherin common room which was dark and filled with green leather and stone. The room in which he was standing now was warm and cosy; large deep red velvet curtains hung at the long, ornate window at the opposite end of the room. The huge fireplace was boasting a hefty log fire, and an array of old, mismatched, squashy and patched armchairs were dotted around the room, although most had been pulled up in front of the fireplace as the inhabitants did their homework and tried to warm up in the cold November evening.
Draco stood, staring a moment too long and only just caught sight of Hermiones' robes whipping around a corner as she disappeared up a flight of spiral stairs. He followed her and emerged in a large circular dorm room. Ron was there, alone, sat on the end of one of the beds. Draco smirked; what a wimp the Weasel was-he was pale and shaking, wringing his white hands together a she eyed Hermione nervously as she entered the room.
"Nyeh." He squeaked, before blushing, coughing and trying again, "Hi." He managed.
"Hey Ron. What's up?!" Hermione asked, transfiguring her school robes into dungarees, left hanging round the waist and a short, shocking pink t- shirt hat flashed her flat midriff. She then threw herself into the bed next to Ron and led down, smiling at him. Draco felt his anger rise-she was so comfortable around him. Fortunately the sensible side of his testosterone fuelled mind kicked in;
"Of course she's like that around him; they've been best friends for years."
This satisfied Draco and he shut down his jealousy, focusing instead on the nervous wreck of Ron in front of him; he was now licking his lips and running a shaking hand through his hair, making it stand on end.
"Um..." he began, but didn't get any further as though he had forgotten what he was about to say. There was a long pause, which Hermione broke;
"Ron, what the hell did you ask me here for?!" She sighed impatiently.
"I...Yeah, um...I..."
"Merlin Ron! Spit it out; I've got places to be you know."
"Oh yeah, like where?!" Ron enquired.
"Oh, um...just Head Girl stuff." Hermione faltered and Draco smirked-se would be seeing him later. This made him smile; he'd got one over Weasel.
"So," Hermione continued, "what did you want to see me for?!"
Ron remained silent for a few minutes and Hermione sat, staring into space, idly twirling a strand of hair around one of her fingers. Suddenly Ron turned around, leaned over and kissed Hermione.
"Oi!" Yelled Draco, standing and moving to pull Ron off Hermione, whose eyes were wide and panicked. Draco stopped his advance, remembering he was in Hermione's memory; there was nothing he could do as whatever was about to happen had already happened. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what happened next.
He didn't have to wait long though; Hermione made sure of that. Gathering her senses she pushed Ron off her, looking at him with shock on her face. Draco sighed with relief.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" She yelled.
Ron sat himself on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.
"Oh, 'Mione, I..."
"DON'T Ron." Said Hermione through gritted teeth, "Don't call me that."
"Gin still does."
"Yeah but that's different, with you it's...there's..."
"What?!" Ron spat, "Too many memories?! Is that it?!"
"Something like that." Hermione whispered, standing up and leaning against the wall. Ron stood up, walked over to her and leaned into her again, trying to embrace her.
"Oh 'Mione, I still love you, you know."
"No you don't Ron." She replied sadly, gently pushing him away, "You just think you do because nothing's going your way."
"I'm scared though; I'm scared I'm going to lose you." "You don't have me Ron; I'm not yours to lose"
"That's not what I mean. Gods know I still want you but I'm scared that one day I might never see you again."
"Why?!"
"You might...this all might...you could be..."
"Killed?!" Hermione said forcefully, staring Ron in the eye. "I know that Ron; we all do, but I'm the only one who can do this, and if I don't come back then so be it if, in the end, it will help us all."
"That's not true 'Mione and you know it." Ron yelled, thumping the wall, Hermione didn't flinch. "Malfoy can do this by himself; let him do the dirty work, let him get killed and do us all a favour. One less Malfoy is no loss at all."
"Don't say things like that Ron; what we are doing needs the two of us and Draco's doing an alright job-he's the only other one who could do this." Draco smiled and Hermione's defence of him.
Ron was silenced by this outburst.
"Look Ron," Hermione continued, "I'm going to be fine. I am NOT going to die, and we WILL win."
"What about giving us one more chance?! For old time's sake?!" Ron ventured, again trying to embrace her.
"No Ron." Hermione replied with force, grabbing his wrist, he winced at the powerful contact of her grip. Hermione continued, "Look, we didn't win the first time and you know as well I do that we wouldn't work again, for various reasons. I know it's harsh and I'm sorry, but after what happened between us I can't look at you like that. You're my best friend and I love you, but I'm not in love with you. We're friends, and that's all; I' sorry. I've got to go."
She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and gave him a brief hug before slipping out of the door.
"See you." She whispered, gently closing the heavy door behind her.
Ron and the surrounding room faded, the memory ended and Draco was back in Hermione's rooms. He sighed and turned to go back to his boredom of lounging on the sofa, however all he saw when he turned around was a very angry lioness.
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"Um...hi." Ventured Draco but Hermione's scowl deepened, "What's up 'Mi?!"
"Oh, nothing!" She spat, throwing her midnight curls over her shoulder, her green eyes were flashing dangerously.
"Don't give me that shit Hermione; what's wrong?!"
"Quite a few things actually." She whispered venomously, sauntering past him and closing the cupboard where the pensieve now calmly stood.
"What were you doing in there?!" She asked.
"Nothing." Draco lied.
"Now who's giving me bullshit."
"Alright, I was curious and bored. The cupboard door swung open and I was going to close it but one of the images tempted me so I visited it."
"Which one?!" Hermione said, her voice calm and even.
"Ron. Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Because there was nothing to tell; you saw for yourself."
"He kissed you."
"Yes, but unless you sat there with your eyes shut for the entire time you should have noticed that HE kissed ME and I didn't kiss back."
"I noticed." Draco muttered, "But you can't blame me for being curious-he is your ex."
"I know." Hermione sighed.
"Anyway, where have you been?" Draco enquired, looking quizzically at Hermione.
"Your rooms, I left my notebook there last night and I needed it to sort out Gemma Swanley." Draco assumed this was the Hufflepuff girl.
"Oh, I see." Was all he said.
"Ironic that you should visit my pensieve-I had a little look into yours; VERY interesting conversation with your father."
"Which one?"
"You've only got one father Draco."
"Mores the pity-I meant which conversation?"
"I believe it was the one were your exact words were "You don't think I enjoyed fucking that filthy little mudblood do you?! Please correct me if my quotation is inaccurate!"
"No, your quotation is perfectly accurate."
"So?! Is that all I am to you?!"
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing;
"Of course not 'Mi; I care about you so much."
"How do I know that Draco?! Every guy I get close to hurts me. Viktor, Ron, it's just been one fiasco after another. It's not fair."
"I am telling the truth 'Mi and you should believe me."
"Why should I believe you Draco?! You spent five years making my life a living hell and now you say you care about me and want to be with me yet you call me a Mudblood to your father."
"I say what my father wants top hear-what will please him. He needs to trust me."
"What, like I need tot rust you in the plan you and him have got?!"
"The plan he's got. Why don't you trust me?! I don't want you dead, Gods, that's the last thing on Earth I want."
"But for all I know you could be telling the truth to your father and not to me!"
"But I'm not." Persisted Draco, his temper and his voice rising at his girlfriends inability to trust him, "I'm on your side, I care about you and I want to protect you. Not everyone is against you you know, so stop acting like such a bloody proud, know-it-all Gryffindor and listen to other people for once in your life."
Hermione glared at him:
"Once a Malfoy always a Malfoy-you really are your father's son aren't you."
Draco stared at her in horror and anger at the words that had just fallen from the lioness's lips. Hermione realised the awfulness of what she had said as soon as she spoke the words; her hands flew to her mouth and she began crying.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, "I'm so sorry-you are nothing like Lucius, Draco, you aren't. He's cold and manipulative, he cares fro no-one but himself."
"Three traits I had for most of my life." Scoffed Draco.
"But you don't now; you're brave, sweet and caring." She said, gingerly moving towards him and brushing a strand of heir from his face.
"I'm so so very sorry." She repeated.
"I know." Sighed Draco, "You just hit close to home that's all."
He pulled her into a huge hug, and the pair sat entwined in each others arms for a long time before Draco spoke;
"Um, what happened between you and Ron?" He ventured.
"Huh?!"
"In the memory you told Ron that after what happened you could never look at him in that way again, he'd only every be your friend, what happened to make you say that?!"
Hermione sighed and cuddled closer to Draco's chest, nestling her head under his chin and breathing in his scent. She Accio'd a blanket from the bed and began talking;
"It was the beginning of last year, when me and Ron were publicly an item and we were so happy-or sop I thought. He began distancing from me and spending loads of time in the dormitory alone. He asked me not to disturb him so I didn't; I just left him to it. Anyway, I'd noticed that the relationship hadn't been going superbly well so I decided to surprise him. I waited until Harry, Neville, Seamus and Dean had left the dormitory and I got all dressed up, sexy underwear, the whole lot under my robes, then I went up to his dorm room. I figured that whatever he was doing wasn't too important for him to be able to stop and see me. I just didn't figure that the thing he'd be doing would be Lavender Brown-little bitch. I walked in and they were pressed up against the bed post, her scrawny legs wrapped around him, at it like rabbits. Great Christmas present isn't it!"
Draco was fuming-how dare the Weasel treat Hermione like that then want her back. He didn't deserve her. Hermione hadn't finished;
"They saw me and Ron tried to apologise and talk to me; so did she but I wouldn't listen I was so angry. I'd given myself to him, I'd loved him and this was how he thanked me?! By screwing my best friend." Her voice was shaking and tearful as she spoke.
"But you still forgave him?!" Asked Draco, shocked by the whole scenario.
"Yes, but it took time. Eventually we talked and I had to admit that the relationship would not have lasted anyway-it had been breaking up the group; Harry had been feeling left out a lot. It took ages for us to become friends again and no-one knew the real reason why we had broken up. Ron and Lavender waited a few months before going public but as you know they didn't last either so Ron's single again-he got a taste of hid own medicine when Lavender cheated on him with Dean. Ron didn't like that at all."
"Did you ever forgive Lavender?!"
"No." Hermione replied shortly, "She tried to talk to me enough times but I'd taken enough shit from her to last me a lifetime so I smacked her one and that was that."
Draco stared, stunned;
"You smacked her?!"
"She did deserve it."
"That's true." He admitted, "It'll be a while before we can go public you know."
"I know," She sighed, "You don't think our relationship risks breaking up the group do you?!"
"No 'Mi, I don't. Harry already knows and he's OK with it and I'm sure Ron will be fine too when he eventually finds out."
"All the same though, I think I'll wait a little bit longer before I tell him." Smiled Hermione, kissing Draco as their romantic night finally began. Draco certainly wasn't bored now.
The elven princess; thanks for the review. More is on it's way. It is sad about the Malfoys but I don't like to think that people are born evil; I think it must begin and evolve from somewhere.
Dracohermioneluver; I'm glad you thought the Chapter worked well; I really wanted it to and was so nervous people would hate me for it, cos it's such a dark subject. You're going to have to wait a while before February thought :o)
Miss Rhapsody; Thank you very much *big grin*
Ali potter; glad you liked the letter, I thought it would be the kind of thing that Dumbledore would write.
feltons-no.1-dominatrix; Thank you very much :o)
Keliyon; Thanks for the review. Everyone can write, you should give it a go. I'd be more than happy to read anything you write.
Lostgurl920; You're not getting information out of me that easily. I'm not telling anyone what's going to happen to any of the characters yet, partly because I don't even know myself..I can end this in two ways and I don't know which would work best. So your guess is as good as mine :o) As for Hermione's power there's a bit more on that is coming up in a few Chapters time.
Juxtaposed; Glad your loving Draco (although, let's be honest.who doesn't!) Narcissa just gave up when it came to protecting Draco. She no longer felt she should take the beatings for him so she didn't. You can kill Pansy if you want to. I have no idea what I'm going to do about her so let me know how you think it should end and I'll see how it will fit in. If you send me a name for yourself I'll put you in the showdown at the end and you can kill her yourself if you want-she deserves anything you throw at her, lol.
Chapter 11-A Tale of Two Pensieves
Draco was bored. He'd been waiting in Hermiones' rooms for over and hour and a half and she still hadn't returned. He'd gone there with the intentions of a nice, romantic evening; just the two of them, but within minutes of his arrival she had been called away on Head Girl business-some Ravenclaw girl was being bullied or something like that anyway; he hadn't really been paying attention. As she was Head Girl, it fell to Hermione to put right any problems that any girl at Hogwarts might have.
So now Draco was lying casually on her super large, red couch, surrounded by huge, squishy, crimson cushions with gold lining he'd noticed ("How very Gryffindor." He smirked). He was bored out of his mind, and had been seriously considering hexing Crookshanks, just for the hell of it in an attempt to remove some of the boredom that was causing his mind to feel melted and useless.
He had tried to keep himself amused but all Hermiones' books were boring ones that he could obtain from the library and she only had muggle music (Although he had absolutely no idea how to work the CD Player that she had hexed so it would work inside Hogwarts). He'd busied himself by zapping flies but that too had eventually lost all its appeal.
He eyed Crookshanks again, wondering if he could get away with a mini-hex, but as if the cat knew what he were thinking, it stood up and strolled into the bedroom. Draco followed the cat with his eyes and noticed one of the large, oak cupboards had swung open. He stood up and walked to the cupboard to shut the door, but his eyes saw a silvery light shimmering from inside and he stopped. He opened the door fully and saw that inside there was a beautiful white stone pensieve; it was very much like Dracos' own black, marble one that he used often, and from the fullness of this one it looked as though Hermione habitually used hers too.
Again he went to shut the door-he wouldn't like it if someone went through his thoughts. However, two things stopped him from closing the door-he wouldn't mind if it was Hermione searching his thoughts, so would she really mind?! They shouldn't have secrets from each other. The other thing that stopped him were the images shining in the surface; Voldemort, Death Eaters, the muggle man she'd killed at the first revel, Nienna, Dinru; this was obviously where she stored all of her Death Eater thoughts until they were needed at the revels. He again went to shut the door when Rons' face swam to the surface.
What the hell was Weasles' face doing there?! He wasn't a Death Eater; the only connection he had to Death Eaters was Hermione. Draco was curious and leaned in closer for a better look; Ron was looking desperate and upset.
"This should be good for a laugh." Sneered Draco, touching the surface of the iridescent contents with his index finger. Instantly he felt himself being tugged forward into the thoughts that Hermione would rather forget.
----------------------------
This memory was recent, he could tell; Hermiones' hair was black, meaning that the incident he was about to witness had happened within the last week or so. It was evening, and Hermione's green eyes were shining and reflecting the last rays of the setting sun. The sky was a fiery mixture of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks, and the flickering candlelight from the torches, burning ion the wall of the castle, caused Hermione's short, slender shadow to dance and waver on the cold, stone walls.
At the end of the corridor Hermione turned right into a very short corridor, at the end of which there was a large portrait of a very outsized lady in a pink, silk dress.
"Password." The fat lady asked, fanning herself with an elaborate, ornate fan.
"Phoenix Feather." Hermione replied.
The portrait swung open and Hermione clambered through; Draco followed. They were in the Gryffindor common room. Draco stared around: it was very different to the Slytherin common room which was dark and filled with green leather and stone. The room in which he was standing now was warm and cosy; large deep red velvet curtains hung at the long, ornate window at the opposite end of the room. The huge fireplace was boasting a hefty log fire, and an array of old, mismatched, squashy and patched armchairs were dotted around the room, although most had been pulled up in front of the fireplace as the inhabitants did their homework and tried to warm up in the cold November evening.
Draco stood, staring a moment too long and only just caught sight of Hermiones' robes whipping around a corner as she disappeared up a flight of spiral stairs. He followed her and emerged in a large circular dorm room. Ron was there, alone, sat on the end of one of the beds. Draco smirked; what a wimp the Weasel was-he was pale and shaking, wringing his white hands together a she eyed Hermione nervously as she entered the room.
"Nyeh." He squeaked, before blushing, coughing and trying again, "Hi." He managed.
"Hey Ron. What's up?!" Hermione asked, transfiguring her school robes into dungarees, left hanging round the waist and a short, shocking pink t- shirt hat flashed her flat midriff. She then threw herself into the bed next to Ron and led down, smiling at him. Draco felt his anger rise-she was so comfortable around him. Fortunately the sensible side of his testosterone fuelled mind kicked in;
"Of course she's like that around him; they've been best friends for years."
This satisfied Draco and he shut down his jealousy, focusing instead on the nervous wreck of Ron in front of him; he was now licking his lips and running a shaking hand through his hair, making it stand on end.
"Um..." he began, but didn't get any further as though he had forgotten what he was about to say. There was a long pause, which Hermione broke;
"Ron, what the hell did you ask me here for?!" She sighed impatiently.
"I...Yeah, um...I..."
"Merlin Ron! Spit it out; I've got places to be you know."
"Oh yeah, like where?!" Ron enquired.
"Oh, um...just Head Girl stuff." Hermione faltered and Draco smirked-se would be seeing him later. This made him smile; he'd got one over Weasel.
"So," Hermione continued, "what did you want to see me for?!"
Ron remained silent for a few minutes and Hermione sat, staring into space, idly twirling a strand of hair around one of her fingers. Suddenly Ron turned around, leaned over and kissed Hermione.
"Oi!" Yelled Draco, standing and moving to pull Ron off Hermione, whose eyes were wide and panicked. Draco stopped his advance, remembering he was in Hermione's memory; there was nothing he could do as whatever was about to happen had already happened. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what happened next.
He didn't have to wait long though; Hermione made sure of that. Gathering her senses she pushed Ron off her, looking at him with shock on her face. Draco sighed with relief.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" She yelled.
Ron sat himself on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.
"Oh, 'Mione, I..."
"DON'T Ron." Said Hermione through gritted teeth, "Don't call me that."
"Gin still does."
"Yeah but that's different, with you it's...there's..."
"What?!" Ron spat, "Too many memories?! Is that it?!"
"Something like that." Hermione whispered, standing up and leaning against the wall. Ron stood up, walked over to her and leaned into her again, trying to embrace her.
"Oh 'Mione, I still love you, you know."
"No you don't Ron." She replied sadly, gently pushing him away, "You just think you do because nothing's going your way."
"I'm scared though; I'm scared I'm going to lose you." "You don't have me Ron; I'm not yours to lose"
"That's not what I mean. Gods know I still want you but I'm scared that one day I might never see you again."
"Why?!"
"You might...this all might...you could be..."
"Killed?!" Hermione said forcefully, staring Ron in the eye. "I know that Ron; we all do, but I'm the only one who can do this, and if I don't come back then so be it if, in the end, it will help us all."
"That's not true 'Mione and you know it." Ron yelled, thumping the wall, Hermione didn't flinch. "Malfoy can do this by himself; let him do the dirty work, let him get killed and do us all a favour. One less Malfoy is no loss at all."
"Don't say things like that Ron; what we are doing needs the two of us and Draco's doing an alright job-he's the only other one who could do this." Draco smiled and Hermione's defence of him.
Ron was silenced by this outburst.
"Look Ron," Hermione continued, "I'm going to be fine. I am NOT going to die, and we WILL win."
"What about giving us one more chance?! For old time's sake?!" Ron ventured, again trying to embrace her.
"No Ron." Hermione replied with force, grabbing his wrist, he winced at the powerful contact of her grip. Hermione continued, "Look, we didn't win the first time and you know as well I do that we wouldn't work again, for various reasons. I know it's harsh and I'm sorry, but after what happened between us I can't look at you like that. You're my best friend and I love you, but I'm not in love with you. We're friends, and that's all; I' sorry. I've got to go."
She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and gave him a brief hug before slipping out of the door.
"See you." She whispered, gently closing the heavy door behind her.
Ron and the surrounding room faded, the memory ended and Draco was back in Hermione's rooms. He sighed and turned to go back to his boredom of lounging on the sofa, however all he saw when he turned around was a very angry lioness.
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"Um...hi." Ventured Draco but Hermione's scowl deepened, "What's up 'Mi?!"
"Oh, nothing!" She spat, throwing her midnight curls over her shoulder, her green eyes were flashing dangerously.
"Don't give me that shit Hermione; what's wrong?!"
"Quite a few things actually." She whispered venomously, sauntering past him and closing the cupboard where the pensieve now calmly stood.
"What were you doing in there?!" She asked.
"Nothing." Draco lied.
"Now who's giving me bullshit."
"Alright, I was curious and bored. The cupboard door swung open and I was going to close it but one of the images tempted me so I visited it."
"Which one?!" Hermione said, her voice calm and even.
"Ron. Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Because there was nothing to tell; you saw for yourself."
"He kissed you."
"Yes, but unless you sat there with your eyes shut for the entire time you should have noticed that HE kissed ME and I didn't kiss back."
"I noticed." Draco muttered, "But you can't blame me for being curious-he is your ex."
"I know." Hermione sighed.
"Anyway, where have you been?" Draco enquired, looking quizzically at Hermione.
"Your rooms, I left my notebook there last night and I needed it to sort out Gemma Swanley." Draco assumed this was the Hufflepuff girl.
"Oh, I see." Was all he said.
"Ironic that you should visit my pensieve-I had a little look into yours; VERY interesting conversation with your father."
"Which one?"
"You've only got one father Draco."
"Mores the pity-I meant which conversation?"
"I believe it was the one were your exact words were "You don't think I enjoyed fucking that filthy little mudblood do you?! Please correct me if my quotation is inaccurate!"
"No, your quotation is perfectly accurate."
"So?! Is that all I am to you?!"
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing;
"Of course not 'Mi; I care about you so much."
"How do I know that Draco?! Every guy I get close to hurts me. Viktor, Ron, it's just been one fiasco after another. It's not fair."
"I am telling the truth 'Mi and you should believe me."
"Why should I believe you Draco?! You spent five years making my life a living hell and now you say you care about me and want to be with me yet you call me a Mudblood to your father."
"I say what my father wants top hear-what will please him. He needs to trust me."
"What, like I need tot rust you in the plan you and him have got?!"
"The plan he's got. Why don't you trust me?! I don't want you dead, Gods, that's the last thing on Earth I want."
"But for all I know you could be telling the truth to your father and not to me!"
"But I'm not." Persisted Draco, his temper and his voice rising at his girlfriends inability to trust him, "I'm on your side, I care about you and I want to protect you. Not everyone is against you you know, so stop acting like such a bloody proud, know-it-all Gryffindor and listen to other people for once in your life."
Hermione glared at him:
"Once a Malfoy always a Malfoy-you really are your father's son aren't you."
Draco stared at her in horror and anger at the words that had just fallen from the lioness's lips. Hermione realised the awfulness of what she had said as soon as she spoke the words; her hands flew to her mouth and she began crying.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, "I'm so sorry-you are nothing like Lucius, Draco, you aren't. He's cold and manipulative, he cares fro no-one but himself."
"Three traits I had for most of my life." Scoffed Draco.
"But you don't now; you're brave, sweet and caring." She said, gingerly moving towards him and brushing a strand of heir from his face.
"I'm so so very sorry." She repeated.
"I know." Sighed Draco, "You just hit close to home that's all."
He pulled her into a huge hug, and the pair sat entwined in each others arms for a long time before Draco spoke;
"Um, what happened between you and Ron?" He ventured.
"Huh?!"
"In the memory you told Ron that after what happened you could never look at him in that way again, he'd only every be your friend, what happened to make you say that?!"
Hermione sighed and cuddled closer to Draco's chest, nestling her head under his chin and breathing in his scent. She Accio'd a blanket from the bed and began talking;
"It was the beginning of last year, when me and Ron were publicly an item and we were so happy-or sop I thought. He began distancing from me and spending loads of time in the dormitory alone. He asked me not to disturb him so I didn't; I just left him to it. Anyway, I'd noticed that the relationship hadn't been going superbly well so I decided to surprise him. I waited until Harry, Neville, Seamus and Dean had left the dormitory and I got all dressed up, sexy underwear, the whole lot under my robes, then I went up to his dorm room. I figured that whatever he was doing wasn't too important for him to be able to stop and see me. I just didn't figure that the thing he'd be doing would be Lavender Brown-little bitch. I walked in and they were pressed up against the bed post, her scrawny legs wrapped around him, at it like rabbits. Great Christmas present isn't it!"
Draco was fuming-how dare the Weasel treat Hermione like that then want her back. He didn't deserve her. Hermione hadn't finished;
"They saw me and Ron tried to apologise and talk to me; so did she but I wouldn't listen I was so angry. I'd given myself to him, I'd loved him and this was how he thanked me?! By screwing my best friend." Her voice was shaking and tearful as she spoke.
"But you still forgave him?!" Asked Draco, shocked by the whole scenario.
"Yes, but it took time. Eventually we talked and I had to admit that the relationship would not have lasted anyway-it had been breaking up the group; Harry had been feeling left out a lot. It took ages for us to become friends again and no-one knew the real reason why we had broken up. Ron and Lavender waited a few months before going public but as you know they didn't last either so Ron's single again-he got a taste of hid own medicine when Lavender cheated on him with Dean. Ron didn't like that at all."
"Did you ever forgive Lavender?!"
"No." Hermione replied shortly, "She tried to talk to me enough times but I'd taken enough shit from her to last me a lifetime so I smacked her one and that was that."
Draco stared, stunned;
"You smacked her?!"
"She did deserve it."
"That's true." He admitted, "It'll be a while before we can go public you know."
"I know," She sighed, "You don't think our relationship risks breaking up the group do you?!"
"No 'Mi, I don't. Harry already knows and he's OK with it and I'm sure Ron will be fine too when he eventually finds out."
"All the same though, I think I'll wait a little bit longer before I tell him." Smiled Hermione, kissing Draco as their romantic night finally began. Draco certainly wasn't bored now.