It took another week for Malfoy to get out of the hospital wing.
Whether it was out of spite on Madame Pomfrey's behalf, or genuine lack of health, I may never know.
I visited him a few times, but Madame Pomfrey's constant presence wouldn't allow us to talk very much. Or do anything else, for that matter.
Not that I'd been thinking about that, or anything.
By the end of the week, less people were giving me looks. I suppose they just assumed I wasn't going to tell them, or anybody else, anything, so they gave up.
It was a Saturday, and Harry and Ron were wolfing down their food in preparation for quidditch practice.
I was sitting beside Lavender, who was still subtly trying to pump me for information about what had happened to Malfoy. I pretended to be very interested in my food, and only spoke when she asked me a direct question.
"Well, we better get going, Ron" Harry said, standing up.
"Oh. Okay, then" Ron gave Lavender a quick kiss on the cheek and waved to me before following Harry out of the hall.
When they were halfway across the floor, Malfoy walked in.
Even though I'd visited him just the day before, the sight of him still made my heart beat a little faster.
He pushed Harry and Ron out of his way, roughly, and they turned around to glare at him as he walked past.
It was then that they noticed the same thing that I was noticing.
He wasn't walking towards the Slytherin table.
He was walking straight to the Gryffindor table.
More specifically, straight towards ME.
I turned around to face him as he walked towards me. He wore his famous smirk, and ran his hand through his hair as he sat down sideways next to me. Lavender, who was sitting on my other side, elbowed me painfully in the ribs. I glanced at her, and she wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"Listen, I really need that talk now" Malfoy said, quietly.
"Very subtle, Malfoy. The entire hall is staring at you" I hissed.
"Of course they are. I'm sure I'm rather nice to stare at."
I rolled my eyes at him. He smirked again, and stood up, grabbing my arm. I let him pull me along. I didn't know what else to do.
He pulled me out of the hall, and seemed to actually enjoy the strange looks everybody was giving us as we went past.
He sneered at Harry and Ron as we passed them, and I gave them an apologetic look. All the same, they didn't look too forgiving.
As soon as we left the hall, I pulled my arm away and glared at Malfoy.
"What was that?!"
"What was what, Granger?" he asked, and his face broke into a smile when he saw how annoyed I was.
"You know what I'm talking about! It was bad enough with just Harry and Ron being mad at me because of this but now-"
He cut me off, by placing a hand over my mouth.
"You know what your problem is? You talk too much" he said, smirking.
Without taking his hand off my mouth, he grabbed my arm again and pulled me into a classroom.
When he took his hand away, I was just about to give him a peice of my mind when he pressed his lips on mine, silencing me. My anger seemed to vanish, and I sank into the kiss.
Slowly, without breaking the kiss, he guided me towards one of the desks. He gently pushed me back against it, until my knees started to buckle, and I leaned back.
Before I knew what was happening, he was climbing on top of me, pushing my back against the desk under his weight. One of his hands came crawling around the small of my back, and pulled me closer to him.
When, finally, he came up to breathe, I opened my eyes and regarded him with interest. He noticed me looking at him and smirked, kissing me on the end of my nose.
"There. I'm glad we had that little chat."
I frowned.
"That was ... you mean you didn't really need to talk to me?"
"Well, I did before. But I would have thought we'd had plenty of time to talk in the hospital wing, Granger."
"Oh" I said, not quite sure of what to make of that information.
"Oh, indeed."
I shifted my weight, uncomfortably.
"Um. Malfoy? Can you do me a favor?"
He narrowed his eyes at me.
"What?"
"Can you ... get off me? I can't breathe."
---
In an attempt to avoid the critical eyes of many of the students, I went straight up to the common room after breakfast, to work on my homework.
I remained surprisingly un-interrupted until after lunch, when quidditch practice let out.
I looked up from my ancient runes essay, and was greeted with the sight of Harry and Ron, both soaked with rain from head to toe and glaring at me.
"Raining out, is it?" I asked.
"What the hell was that this morning, with MALFOY?!" Ron yelled.
"He came in and talked to me. What's the big deal?"
"WHATS THE BIG DEAL?!" Ron's voice broke, and I winced. He was really angry.
Harry took over from Ron, and stormed over to me.
"Hermione, is there something you're not telling us?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard him!" Ron cried. "Don't think we didn't notice you visiting Malfoy in the hospital wing, and now this!"
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Harry interrupted me, his voice eerily calm.
"Think about it, Hermione, before you lie to us again. We're going to find out sooner or later."
I carefully rolled up my essay, and put it to one side. Then I motioned for Harry and Ron to sit opposite me.
"Okay" I said, willing my voice not to shake. "No more lies."
Whether it was out of spite on Madame Pomfrey's behalf, or genuine lack of health, I may never know.
I visited him a few times, but Madame Pomfrey's constant presence wouldn't allow us to talk very much. Or do anything else, for that matter.
Not that I'd been thinking about that, or anything.
By the end of the week, less people were giving me looks. I suppose they just assumed I wasn't going to tell them, or anybody else, anything, so they gave up.
It was a Saturday, and Harry and Ron were wolfing down their food in preparation for quidditch practice.
I was sitting beside Lavender, who was still subtly trying to pump me for information about what had happened to Malfoy. I pretended to be very interested in my food, and only spoke when she asked me a direct question.
"Well, we better get going, Ron" Harry said, standing up.
"Oh. Okay, then" Ron gave Lavender a quick kiss on the cheek and waved to me before following Harry out of the hall.
When they were halfway across the floor, Malfoy walked in.
Even though I'd visited him just the day before, the sight of him still made my heart beat a little faster.
He pushed Harry and Ron out of his way, roughly, and they turned around to glare at him as he walked past.
It was then that they noticed the same thing that I was noticing.
He wasn't walking towards the Slytherin table.
He was walking straight to the Gryffindor table.
More specifically, straight towards ME.
I turned around to face him as he walked towards me. He wore his famous smirk, and ran his hand through his hair as he sat down sideways next to me. Lavender, who was sitting on my other side, elbowed me painfully in the ribs. I glanced at her, and she wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"Listen, I really need that talk now" Malfoy said, quietly.
"Very subtle, Malfoy. The entire hall is staring at you" I hissed.
"Of course they are. I'm sure I'm rather nice to stare at."
I rolled my eyes at him. He smirked again, and stood up, grabbing my arm. I let him pull me along. I didn't know what else to do.
He pulled me out of the hall, and seemed to actually enjoy the strange looks everybody was giving us as we went past.
He sneered at Harry and Ron as we passed them, and I gave them an apologetic look. All the same, they didn't look too forgiving.
As soon as we left the hall, I pulled my arm away and glared at Malfoy.
"What was that?!"
"What was what, Granger?" he asked, and his face broke into a smile when he saw how annoyed I was.
"You know what I'm talking about! It was bad enough with just Harry and Ron being mad at me because of this but now-"
He cut me off, by placing a hand over my mouth.
"You know what your problem is? You talk too much" he said, smirking.
Without taking his hand off my mouth, he grabbed my arm again and pulled me into a classroom.
When he took his hand away, I was just about to give him a peice of my mind when he pressed his lips on mine, silencing me. My anger seemed to vanish, and I sank into the kiss.
Slowly, without breaking the kiss, he guided me towards one of the desks. He gently pushed me back against it, until my knees started to buckle, and I leaned back.
Before I knew what was happening, he was climbing on top of me, pushing my back against the desk under his weight. One of his hands came crawling around the small of my back, and pulled me closer to him.
When, finally, he came up to breathe, I opened my eyes and regarded him with interest. He noticed me looking at him and smirked, kissing me on the end of my nose.
"There. I'm glad we had that little chat."
I frowned.
"That was ... you mean you didn't really need to talk to me?"
"Well, I did before. But I would have thought we'd had plenty of time to talk in the hospital wing, Granger."
"Oh" I said, not quite sure of what to make of that information.
"Oh, indeed."
I shifted my weight, uncomfortably.
"Um. Malfoy? Can you do me a favor?"
He narrowed his eyes at me.
"What?"
"Can you ... get off me? I can't breathe."
---
In an attempt to avoid the critical eyes of many of the students, I went straight up to the common room after breakfast, to work on my homework.
I remained surprisingly un-interrupted until after lunch, when quidditch practice let out.
I looked up from my ancient runes essay, and was greeted with the sight of Harry and Ron, both soaked with rain from head to toe and glaring at me.
"Raining out, is it?" I asked.
"What the hell was that this morning, with MALFOY?!" Ron yelled.
"He came in and talked to me. What's the big deal?"
"WHATS THE BIG DEAL?!" Ron's voice broke, and I winced. He was really angry.
Harry took over from Ron, and stormed over to me.
"Hermione, is there something you're not telling us?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard him!" Ron cried. "Don't think we didn't notice you visiting Malfoy in the hospital wing, and now this!"
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Harry interrupted me, his voice eerily calm.
"Think about it, Hermione, before you lie to us again. We're going to find out sooner or later."
I carefully rolled up my essay, and put it to one side. Then I motioned for Harry and Ron to sit opposite me.
"Okay" I said, willing my voice not to shake. "No more lies."