STILL ALONE
Chapter Three: Not So Harmless
Author's Notes: Here's chapter three! Sorry for the slight delay.
xoxo
"...and Malfoy was being an impossible git, as always. It wasn't fun at all, especially with Filch breathing down your neck. For a squib, he is quite and rather scary."
Ron gave Harry a sympathetic pat on the back with a grim face. "It wasn't much fun laying on that hospital bed either with a bad stomach. Hermione was reading to me half the time... nearly put me to sleep a few times."
"I heard that, Ron," Hermione snapped as she caught up with them from behind. Both boys gave her apologetic looks. "Anyway," she said with a wave of her hand, as to dismiss the earlier comment made by Ron. "Hogsmeade is in two weeks and I was wondering if either one of you guys were going with anyone else?"
Ron eyed her sharply. "Why?"
"Yeah, why?" Harry asked. "We always go to Hogsmeade together."
"No, not last year we didn't." She glanced at Harry wearily. "You went with Cho Chang, remember?"
Then, what seemed like a pained motion, Harry nodded. He didn't even want to think about that. By now, Harry and Ron had stopped in their steps, staring at Hermione curiously. They were waiting for her to explain herself.
"Well," she started nervously, staring at the ground, "you see... I just got this note..."
"What note?" Ron asked at once.
"Ron, let me finish!" she scolded, glaring up at him. Then she sighed. "I don't know who it's from, but the person who wrote it told me to—"
"Well, well, look who we have here, if it isn't the Pothead, the Weasel, and the Mudblood. What a pleasant surprise," drawled the voice of a certain blond-haired Slytherin in the shadows as the trio made a move to turn around the corner.
Harry's hand immediately flew to settle on the hilt of his wand as Ron stepped in front of Hermione, shielding her from Draco's glaring eyes. It was merely routine for the both of them to do this during an unpleasant encounter with the conniving Slytherin. When dealing with him, Hermione was their first priority.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry spat.
But Hermione didn't want this; she didn't want to be constantly protected by her best friends. She wanted to prove to them that she could hold and fight her own battles. Gently, she pushed Ron out of the way, glaring up at Draco.
"Aw, the little filthy Mudblood wants another quarrel with me." Draco's smirk altered into a rather amused grin. "Come on, Granger, go for it," he teased.
Hermione's eyes narrowed. Her hand slowly reached into the inside of her robes for her wand. "Don't taunt me, you stupid ferret." She could hear the protests of Harry and Ron beside her, trying to pull her back as Draco stepped closer to her. "I'm not scared of you, Malfoy. Don't think I won't hex you."
Ron held his long arm out in front of Hermione, his eyes leveled with Draco Malfoy. It suddenly occurred to Hermione then that Draco was just as tall as Ron. Though Ron was tall and lanky, Draco had more flesh and muscles on his bone, due to his head start on Quidditch, no doubt. She suddenly felt very little, being the smallest of the three and a full head shorter than Ron and Draco.
"Leave her alone, Malfoy," she heard Ron growl. "Pick on someone your own size."
Draco's mouth opened to speak, but Hermione beat him to it.
"No, Ron, let me at him."
Ron seemed surprised by this and stared down at the small brunette. "Hermione," he warned through the stress of her name.
Amused, Draco roughly pushed Ron out of the way, hovering tauntingly over Hermione. "No, Weasely," he said as his eyes remained firm upon the Muggle witch, "I'd like to see the Mudblood here prove her words to me. Go on, Granger," he provoked. "Hex me. I dare you."
"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" both Harry and Ron roared.
"Leave her alone!" Ron shouted.
But he didn't. Draco waited for a few seconds, watching Hermione darkly as she seemingly debated with herself. She seemed to be struggling coming up with an answer. But when she finally came up with it, she stepped forward to him. Harry immediately took a hold of her wrist.
"You don't want to do this, Hermione," he said quickly as he tried to pry the wand out of her hands. "Just leave it to me and Ron. We'll take care of this stupid git for you."
Hermione turned to look at him and shook her head. Slowly, she pulled her arm away from him, her wand still in hand. "No, Harry. I've had enough of his insults and ridicules. I've had enough of him, and I'm not going to take it anymore."
Before Harry could open his mouth to protest, a sudden thump echoed throughout the hall. Harry and Hermione abruptly turned their heads to find Ron and Draco on the ground wrestling.
"You stupid bastard!" Ron shouted as he landed a punch across Draco's cheek. "I'll kill you! I'm going to—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ron was hit with a rough blow to the stomach, where Draco's powerful fist had been beaten in. A loud groan escaped the red-haired boy's mouth as he rolled over. Harry and Hermione were at his side instantly.
"Ron!" cried Hermione. "Ron! Are you okay?!" She knelt down next to him, her frantic hands pressed softly against his stomach.
The pain was too much to bear and he did not answer her.
"Come on, Hermione," Harry said quickly as he and Hermione picked Ron up. "Let's bring him to the Hospital Wing."
"No!" Ron protested weakly. "You can't... Madam Pomfrey's gonna get mad..."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because I was there yesterday," he groaned. "If I come back the next day with another stomach injury, she'll—"
"Who cares!" Hermione shrieked. "You're in pain, Ron!"
"No, Hermione, listen to me," he urged. "If you bring me to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey will want to know what happened. If you tell her that Malfoy and I got into a fight, that'll be a month's worth of detention and points taken away from our Houses. Please don't make me go through that pain. This is nothing compared to what it will be if you drag me to the Hospital Wing. Harry just told me how his detention went with Malfoy and Filch..." Ron went pale. "I can't stand a month's worth of that..."
Harry glanced over at Hermione. "He does have a point," he stated.
"But he's hurt!" She glared at Harry. "You can't—"
"If you let me lay down for a while, I'll be fine..." Ron muttered. "Please, let's just go back to the Gryffindor Common Room before someone comes and sees this..."
After a moment of debating with herself, Hermione gave up with a frustrated sigh. "Fine!" she said loudly in exhaustion. "But Ron, if you're not better by tonight, then I'm bringing you to Madam Pomfrey."
They started to head away, and going unnoticed by Harry and Ron, Hermione glanced back at Draco, who had just gotten himself off of the ground with a bruised cheekbone. She glared at him for a second, silently informing him that she was not over with him yet.
Draco stared back at her lazily, as if he was unfazed by what had just happened. Hermione turned away, her full, worried attention now focused on the limping boy beside her of whom she was holding onto tightly.
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Draco growled deep within his throat as he stomped through the Slytherin Dungeons. He hadn't been this angry in a very long time—it had taken everything he had to act impassive as Hermione and Harry carried Ron off with so much care and tenderness. The affection she had for those boys sickened him to no end.
But what really angered him was the fact that she had the nerve to glare back at him, threatening him, challenging him. She had the nerve to disrespect him.
Stupid Mudblood, he raged inwardly. You don't know who you're messing with. I'll get you back soon enough.
Just as he made a move to close the door to his dormitory, Pansy Parkinson appeared at the doorway, staring at him in shock. Draco, who didn't want to be bothered at the moment, slammed the door in her face.
"Draco!" she shrieked as she opened the door, letting herself in. "What happened to you?" She reached out to touch his bruised cheekbone, her hands cold against his wound.
"Don't worry about it," he said calmly, pushing his face away from her. "It's only a bruise. It'll fade away in time."
His words did nothing to comfort her, as she still looked at him with worry. "Who did this to you? Was it Potter? It was Potter, wasn't it? Oh, don't worry, Draco, I'll—"
"Pansy." He stared at her lazily. "Shut. Up. Do. Not. Worry. About. It." He was speaking slowly and loudly, wanting her to grasp his message solidly.
She was quiet for a few minutes. Then, as if his words suddenly sunk into her, she stopped her questioning and leaned into him, kissing him lightly on the mouth.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
Draco breathed in deeply and pulled away, his mind clearly elsewhere. "No."
You'll get what's coming to you, Granger. Just you wait.
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"Are you okay?" Hermione asked for the tenth time in two hours as Ron sat up in his bed.
Hermione hadn't left his side since she and Harry dragged him all the way up to his dorm. Now, she was trying to keep him company (by not reading to him) while Harry went off with Neville to look for his lost toad, Trevor.
"I'm fine, Hermione," he sighed for the fifth time that hour. "It isn't fair how girls are allowed to come up to the boy's dorm but the boys aren't allowed in the girls," he complained.
Hermione laughed. "Are you trying to tell me something, Ron? Do you want me to leave and never come back up here again?"
"No, no, it's not that. It's just... not fair."
"Yes, yes it is. Boys are perverts," Hermione stated bluntly.
"Hey!" he protested. "That's not completely true!"
"Okay, fine. Most boys are, then."
"Yeah..." he responded quietly, suddenly glaring into nothingness.
Hermione noticed this and stared at him, touching his hand gently. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked. "What's wrong? What are you glaring at?"
"Malfoy," he growled. "I'm going to hex his ass—"
"Let it go, Ron." Hermione shifted uneasily in her chair, as the mere thought of Draco caused her to become uncomfortable and angry. "I'll take care of it."
"Don't be silly, Hermione."
She glared at him. "How am I being silly, Ron?"
Ron, noting the tight strain in her voice, quickly decided to change the subject. "What were you saying about Hogsmeade weekend again, Hermione? You said you got a note? From who?" He wasn't changing the subject to avoid her question—well, maybe that was part of the reason, but he really was genuinely interested in what importance the note held.
"Don't try to change the subject on me!" she yelled. "Really, tell me, how am I being silly?"
Ron sighed. "Hermione, Malfoy is not a person to mess around with. I mean, I suppose back in our first to third years, it was just a harmless bickering game, but we're getting older now, and he's not so harmless anymore. He's a dangerous person to get involved with. You have to really watch your back when he's around... and when he's not. His father is a Death Eater. There's no doubt in my mind that he will become one too."
"Ron, don't you think I already know that?" she said in an exasperated tone. After all, she wasn't dumb. She knew exactly what the Malfoys were capable of. "I know we're not kids anymore, and I know he's not harmless. But keep in mind, I probably know five times as much spells as he does. I'm not the smartest Hogwarts student witch for nothing."
"He doesn't need to know any of those spells, Hermione," he said softly. "All he needs to know are the Unforgivable Curses, which I'm sure he does. When it comes down to it, that's all you really need to finish off someone."
Hermione's face softened when she saw Ron's expression overcoming with concern. "I'm not too worried about that right now. Malfoy knows better than to use those at Hogwarts. And either way, even if he didn't know me, he'd hate me anyway because I'm a Mud—Muggle. So messing with him or not, it's just the same."
Ron's mouth twitched. "Hermione..."
Hermione waved her hand at him. "Let's just drop it. We have better things to do with our time than to talk about that stupid ferret."
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Hermione was bored.
Doing her Prefect duties without Ron was quite lonely. It was now 11:23 P.M. as she patrolled the halls, making sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. She scanned the halls wearily and fifteen minutes later, when she had seen nothing and no one, she decided to call it a night.
But before she could even make her way back to her dorm, Hermione heard an odd knocking from the hall behind her. Curious, she turned around and was greeted with the sight of a smirking Slytherin in the shadows leaning against the wall, with his hands tucked casually into his pockets.
Her eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she spat.
Draco ignored her inquiry and replied with his own. "Where's your Weasel, Mudblood? What, is he really that weak to skip Prefect duties because of his stomach?" He grinned maliciously when she glared angrily at him. "Well, it seems like no one's here to protect you now. Shall we continued what you started earlier?"
Hermione merely continued to glare at him, his threatening words oblivious to her. Just the sight of him blasted up her anger in full, and she couldn't stand it.
However, Hermione found herself feeling very small when she suddenly realized that Draco Malfoy stood a mere foot away from her, with no doubt something evil formulating within his mind. She stared coldly at him as he smiled corruptly, unflinching.
"Well, Granger?" he taunted. "What are you going to do now?"
Despite her firm, all-knowing appearance, Hermione did not know.
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"So was Uncle Ron really serious when he said that Malfoy was a dangerous person to get involved with?"
Although the question was directed to her mother, Harry had decided to answer instead. "Yes, Kasandra," he said instantly. "It was true. Those who took your father lightly paid dearly in the end."
"So what did he do you to you, Mum?" Kasandra asked. "He didn't do anything... of that kind, did he?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, Kasandra. Your father was many things, but a rapist was not one of them." She turned her head to Draco. "You do realize that you are an uncanny replica of your father, right?"
He nodded. "Yes."
"It's very odd," Hermione continued. "We were exactly your age when all of this happened. Not only that, but I just realized that you, Draco, looked exactly like your father when he was your age."
Draco said nothing, but Kasandra jumped at the chance to insult her brother.
"Wow, he must've been pretty ugly then," she teased. Draco shot her a cold glare and she merely smiled back at him. "Kidding, of course. Sheesh, calm down."
"Anyway," Draco said with a roll of his eyes at his immature sister, "what happened next? And I gotta say, Uncle Ron did put up a pretty good fight for you."
"Yeah," Kasandra added. "Too bad he was beaten to a pulp by Malfoy. If you ask me though, Malfoy doesn't even seem all that tough." She paused thoughtfully. "And the note, what was that all about?"
"Oh." Hermione smiled. "We'll get to that later."
xoxo
To my reviewers:
Sparkle85: Thanks. :) And for Callisto Callispi's fic, just go into my favorite stories section and it'll be in there. You can't miss it... because it's the only one. :)
Callisto Callispi: AAHH! I was so glad when you updated chapter 18 of Passion! It was so freaking awesome... XD Hehe, thanks so much for your review!
ElvenPirate: Hey, thanks! And yeah, I do find that whole "Uncle Harry" thing kinda cute too. xD
JessDracoLover24: LJ group and you're here reading D/H? Perhaps you accidentally read the wrong story. :) But thanks in any case!
anonymous: Star Wars, eh? I've never seen Star Wars before...
din's fire: Thanks.
Lilykins: Ack, thanks! I just realized that you were right. Harry's hair is jet black, not brown. (Sorry, but when I'm writing, I envision the characters from the movie, in which Daniel Radcliffe has brown hair) I DO read the books, I really do! :) I'll be sure to fix that later on when I revise my chapters! Thanks for pointing that out to me and thanks also for adding this and me to your favorites!
TennisNerd23: Haha, okay. See you in Physics then.
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Hopefully, the next update should come within the next month... we'll see. I won't abandon this, though at times it may seem like it. Updates may be very slow. Thanks for all the reviews though! And keep them coming!! :)