STILL ALONE
Chapter Two: The Very Beginning
Author's Note: So sorry for the late update! It's just... I've been working on another Harry Potter story about James and Lily. So if you're interested in J/L, please go to my profile and look for Monday Mornings. :) Anyway though, beginning chapters are always boring... so please bear with me!
xoxo
He was mad at her again.
Hermione sighed as she shook her head. She couldn't believe it. It was already their third fight this week, and if that wasn't ridiculous enough, it was over the same thing. The same damn thing!
And that thing was Viktor Krum.
Why he had to constantly mock her about writing to Viktor, she did not know. It seemed that every time she received an owl from him, or when she was writing back to him, Ron would always scorn at her.
"If he really didn't want to get with you, then he wouldn't be sending you owls every week," he would say to her angrily. "So if you're truthful in what you say: that you two are only friends and nothing more, then you should only write back once a month! At the rate you're going at, you are only shamelessly leading him on, Hermione!"
In her defense, Hermione would merely say, "That is for me to decide."
She was so tired of trying to explain to him every time they fought that her and Viktor were merely friends. She didn't see the point in trying when all he would do was yell at her, never focusing on giving her a chance to explain. And even when he did, he never really did listened to her anyway.
So she was tired of it. Tired of it all. Tired of him.
Because honestly, she didn't even understand why it bothered him so much. After all, Harry seemed to be fine with it, and it was he who had to compete with Viktor during their fourth year.
But at the same time, Hermione wasn't blind either. She figured that Ron probably acted out on an account of his jealousy. But if he was so jealous, she reasoned, then he should've done something about it in the first place.
Boys, she thought inwardly with a roll of her eyes. They always have to make things so much more complicated than it really is.
With another sigh, Hermione placed down her quill and began to re-read what she had just written to Viktor, just to double check for any errors and grammar. She could be such a perfectionist sometimes.
Her eyes burned however when it came across the line: I will think about it.
Maybe I should change it, she thought. Because I don't know—
"I will think about it?" a deep, sharp voice mocked from behind her. Recognizing the cold voice instantaneously, Hermione turned around to glare at the smirking Slytherin. "Thinking about going to visit Krum over the summer, are we, Granger? Does the Weasel know about this?"
In a huff, Hermione turned away and rolled up her parchment, in an attempt to keep it away from his prying Slytherin eyes. "Shut it, Malfoy, and go away," she said irritably. "Mind your own filthy business."
"I'd rather not, Granger," Draco said lazily as he leant up against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "It's rather fun watching you squirm from embarrassment. It's a shame your two bodyguards aren't here to save you from that. Speaking of those two dolts, where are they anyway?"
"Quidditch practice," she answered casually. She wasn't going to let someone like Draco Malfoy rile her up now—not when she had so much more studying to do. Arguing with him right now would just be a waste of time, and besides, that's exactly what he wants, she thought, for you to bicker with him. There would be many other times for that, guaranteed. "They're not dolts either, Malfoy," she said, defending her two companions. "I believe the two dolts would be your two bodyguards."
When she saw Draco smirk at this, she stared at him. Why wasn't he defending them? "Yes, I suppose you're right, Granger. They are rather stupid, aren't they?" He seemed amused by this.
"Some friend you are," she mumbled under her breath as she began to gather up her belongings to leave.
"Before you leave, Granger, I have something to tell you." He paused momentarily on purpose, knowing that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. Hermione looked sharply at him out of the corner of her eye, urging him to continue. His smirk widened. "Weasley is in the Hospital Wing."
She didn't believe him for a moment. "How do you know?"
"McGonagall told me to tell you." He grinned maliciously. "'Oh, Mr. Malfoy! Would you please go tell Miss Granger, presumably in the library, that Mr. Weasley is in the Hospital Wing due to a Bludger to the stomach? I expect she'd want to know,'" he mimicked her tone of voice.
Hermione's face fell. "Why would she tell you—"
"Shut up, Granger," he growled. "Weasley's such a lousy player. Honestly, a Bludger to the stomach? Can you tell me how or why he's still on the team?" He paused, as if he was in deep thought before grinning maliciously at her again. "Or perhaps it's because they feel so sorry for him that—"
"What?" Hermione stared at him in disgust, as if she couldn't believe he had just said that. Then, glaring at him, she spat, "Remember what I said to you during our second year at the first Quidditch practice, Malfoy? Yeah, that still applies."
Draco seemed unfazed by this. "Yes, I do, but it wasn't just that, Granger. I have the talent too, and you know it. Being rich doesn't hurt at all. And just to let you know, my father bought those brooms after I made it onto the team."
She shook her head, not believing him.
"Do you remember what I said to you right after that?" he asked cruelly, and Hermione's face hardened. "That still applies too, Mudblood."
He had called her that too many times before to get an argument out of her. The effect just didn't sting as much as it used to. "That's getting old, Malfoy," she said calmly with her head held tall. Then, without another word, Hermione quickly scurried out of the library, and to the Hospital Wing.
I hope you're okay, Ron. Stupid Malfoy, I'll deal with you later.
xoxo
When Hermione arrived, Harry had just stood up, as if he was about ready to leave. But Hermione didn't see him, as her attention wasn't on him. Instead, it was focused on the red-haired boy that laid upon the hospital bed. She quickly hurried over to him, dropping her books onto the ground without a care.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly as she slid into the chair that Harry had previously been sitting in. She held onto his hand delicately. "Ron?" she asked again when he didn't answer her.
With a grunt, he turned to look at her, his face stony as he took his hand out of her grasp. For a moment, Hermione didn't understand what was wrong, until—
"My gosh, you're not still mad about our argument, are you?" she asked hysterically, as her eyes widened in exasperation. "Ron, you are being absolutely ridiculous! You're sitting here in pain and you won't even talk to me because of a stupid argument that we've had a million times before?"
He looked away from her and remained silent.
"Ron, really," Harry added, agreeing with Hermione fully, "this is ridiculous." He glanced down at his watch and let out a heavy sigh, obviously disgruntled. "Work this out, guys, because I've got to go. Detention with Malfoy... and Filch," he groaned.
Hermione gave him a sympathetic look as Ron frowned.
"See you later, Harry," Hermione said quietly, "and don't get into anymore trouble."
"Haha," Harry said sarcastically. "Bye Ron, Hermione. I'll meet up with you guys later in the common room, all right?"
They both nodded and Harry left. Looking back at Ron, Hermione frowned. He wasn't looking at her and was obviously uncomfortable with her being here with him. Standing up, she brushed off her robes and bent over to pick up her books.
"Since you obviously don't want me here, I'll see you later, Ronald," she said coldly.
He watched her retreating form silently, hating the sound of his name when she called him by his full name. When she reached the door, he gave up. "Stay, Hermione," he finally said.
Hermione paused, turning back to look at him. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You're not going to be a git?" She smiled at him, letting him know that she was only joking, and he smiled back.
"No." He gestured her to come sit down next to him on the chair with a light swing of his head. "So I take it Malfoy told you?"
She nodded as she sat back down. "Yeah. Are you okay though?"
He nodded.
"But why did McGonagall tell Malfoy, of all people, to come tell me?" she asked. "I mean, he could've easily said yes to her and not do it."
Ron shrugged. "We were going to have someone else do it, but we just happened to pass by Malfoy first. Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. So I got hit with a Bludger, it's not like I'm dying. Everyone was freaking out like crazy."
"That Bludger is pretty hard, Ron. Don't speak of it too lightly; that thing can cause a lot of damage," she warned gently. "Remember Harry back in our second year?"
Ron laughed out loud as he recalled the memory. "It wouldn't have been half as bad if Lockhart wasn't there, trying to fix Harry's wrist himself."
Hermione laughed along with him. "Yeah."
A peaceful silence filled the atmosphere for the next few minutes, but it was broken gently when Ron turned to look at Hermione. "Did Malfoy do anything to you?" he asked.
"Aside from the usual, no." Hermione picked up one of her books from the ground. "I can protect myself, you know. I don't always need you and Harry by my side whenever we confront each other. I can hex Malfoy back into a ferret if I really wanted to."
Ron grinned. "I'd love to see that again."
She grinned back at him. "At the rate Malfoy's going at with me, you probably will."
xoxo
With a blank face, Harry turned the knob to Filch's filthy and ungodly room. When he entered, he had to suppress another groan as the vision of evil, Draco Malfoy, filled his sight.
Great, he thought sourly as he stepped further into the room. Time with Filch and Malfoy. This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
A smirk crossed Draco's features as he watched his archenemy take a seat from across from him. Harry was doing everything to keep his eyes away from Draco, knowing that if he looked over, his temper would reach its extreme. And if that happened, another detention would be set in line.
After all, the very reason why he and Draco were in this room right now doing detention was because Harry had lost his temper at the smug bastard. Draco had a real knack for pissing him off.
The room was cold, Harry suddenly realized with a slight shiver. Cold and dark—honestly, what had he expected? It was Filch's room after all. It would've been much more creepy to him if he had walked in to find out that Filch's room was bright and filled with bunnies—that is, filled with bunnies in a good way.
"So," Harry heard Draco start from across the room, "you finally decided to show up. You're five minutes later, Potter. Filch would've slaughtered you if he was on time to find out himself." Harry could almost feel the smirk in his voice.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry refused to look at him; he knew that that was what Draco was trying to get him to do.
He never thought he'd say it, but Harry wished that Filch could just be here right now, where he should be. That way, the temptation of hexing Draco would be under strict control.
Harry gritted his teeth as Draco began to whistle, purely out of the lack of nothing to do. Or was it? He was probably just doing it to bug the hell out of Harry.
Then, as if God was answering his prayers, an irritated Filch came stomping in, muttering a string of curses meant for Peeves the Poltergeist. He didn't seem to be aware of Harry and Draco, that is, until he looked up.
"Oh, yes, detention..." Filch smiled darkly, his crooked, yellow-plagued teeth showing. "Potter and Malfoy, what have you two gotten yourselves into now?" His smiled faded.
Harry and Draco exchanged awkward glances before staring back at Filch again.
xoxo
"All right, Mr. Weasley, you are free to go," Madam Pomfrey said tightly as she brought in a tray with some antidotes, placing it beside the stand of another injured student. She looked back at Ron and stared at him sternly.
Ron gulped as Hermione suppressed a smile. Though a nurse, Madam Pomfrey did come off a bit scary sometimes, but it was only because she worried about the well-being of all her students. She had to be stern and demanding, otherwise, the students could and would easily walk all over her.
"Now, listen here, Mr. Weasley," she said as she helped him off the bed. "You be very careful playing Quidditch next time, all right?" Ron nodded. "And watch out for that horrid Bludger," she added. "Wouldn't want to do this all over again, would we?"
Ron shook his head.
"Good, off you go now."
As Madam Pomfrey left, Ron looked back at Hermione with a dreadful face. "She's so scary sometimes."
Hermione laughed. "She only wants the best for you, Ron. She's coming off a little scary because she wants you to be careful, so that you won't have to come back here again."
Ron seemed to think about it for a moment, and then nodded. "I suppose you're right, Hermione."
"Of course," she said, "of course."
xoxo
"Cleaning," Harry panted, "Filch's," another pant, "filthy," wheeze, "room." He paused for a moment. "This is disgusting. I bet you he hasn't cleaned this room in years."
"Look at what you got us into," Draco growled, as he polished the many dirty desks. "You stupid Saint. Why did you have to lose your damn temper?"
Harry glared at the arrogant Slytherin. "Why do you have to be such a stupid bastard all the damn time?"
"SHUT UP!" Filch suddenly roared as he entered the room. "One more squeak from either one of you and that will be a week's worth of detention."
They both fell silent, and that was how it remained throughout the night.
xoxo
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kasandra asked as her mother stopped. "There was barely any interaction between you and Malfoy!"
Hermione sighed as she tried to calm her daughter down. "Love doesn't start just like that, Kasandra. The beginning is always the most slowest and perhaps the most boring part to it. Your father and I didn't ever do much with each other before that but bicker.
I was just establishing what Harry, Ron, and I had together first. I want you to see how close we were, what we did for each other. The reason why Harry got detention was because of me—a few days earlier, your father had confronted me. Harry was only trying to protect me, as always along with Ron, but he got a bit carried away. Obviously, friendship plays a big role in this—you can't be in love without being friends first."
While Kasandra was disappointed, Harry had a look of horror on his face.
"Filch," he muttered. "That was the worst day, cleaning anything and everything within his class—WITHOUT MAGIC, but WITH MALFOY. It was terrible."
"I can imagine," Hermione said with a slight smile.
"I can't believe Viktor Krum liked you." Draco stared at her in disbelief. "That's unbelievable."
"Should I be hurt by that comment?" Hermione asked jokingly.
"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just... he was famous. He was the Bulgarian Seeker... and you were... er... uh... okay, let's face it, Mum, you were just a frizzy-haired, nerdy bookworm."
"Though bluntly put, that's quite true."
"So, Uncle Ron had a crush on you?" Draco asked, now changing the subject. "Wasn't that kind of weird for you? Being best friends and all?"
"A little bit, but we'll get to that later."
"Come on, Mum!" Kasandra pleaded. "Get to the good part!"
"You can't rush things, Kasandra, not if you want the full story. This is just the very beginning."
"I know, but... this isn't helping. Malfoy's such a jerk right now! So continue!"
Hermione sighed. "All right, all right..."
xoxo
To my reviewers:
Vipera berus, aleks, justcrazyobsessed, Marionette, AngelofDeathO-o, Prozac Bunny, Sparkle85, ali potter, corae, beatrix,and ela: Thank you all for reviewing!! I'll keep trying to update as soon as I can. :)
josie: Thank you for all the compliments! As for your question regarding where Ron is... don't worry about it. ;) He'll pop in sometime.
Cassidy: I know where you're getting that... but I hope that after reading this, you get how the format of the story is. The very last scene will always be Hermione and the kids reflecting/talking.
star fantasy 29: Thank you so much!!
SaTiNk06: Lol, wow... thanks. And in this story, no, Draco and Hermione will not end up together. (Hence Hermione re-telling the story) There may be a sequel, however, where they will end up together... but I'm not even thinking about that yet.
TennisNerd23: Pranali, you are such a dork... haha, I'll see you in school soon.
Callisto Callispi: Ahh! Don't worry! I'm not going to abandon this story. Thanks so much for reviewing. :) I love your story so much! It's my absolute #1 favorite. (If you haven't noticed, it's the only one in my favorites. Hehe.)
Oh, and if you've found any spelling errors and/or wrong grammar... I'm sorry! I have no beta-reader, so I do it all on my own with all of my other stories. I hope it isn't too bad.
And keep the reviews coming! :) I especially love long reviews, so if you have time, please critique it! Thanks so much!
And I apologize too for the blandness of this chapter!
I normally don't do this, but guys, if you haven't read The Passion of Hate and Love by Callisto Callispi, do so now! It's an AMAZING DracoHermione fanfiction!