Disclaimer: I don't own.
oo It Takes Two to Make Love oo
oo Chapter Four oo
"This is crap," Draco drawled. "It's been two days and the only thing we've succeeded in is having you lose all semblance of a brain in front of Christian." Hermione scowled. She regretted in telling Draco what had happened but at the time had found it prudent to relay all information regarding her...situation to Draco. After all, this concerned both of them, right?
"It wasn't as bad as you make it out to be," Hermione said. They were sitting in one of the private study rooms in the library, hidden from the public's curious eyes. Hermione made special sure that no one saw either her or Draco enter the same room. If anyone did, she could just imagine the rumors that would spark. Did you hear? Hermione's actually been shagging Draco on a regular basis! Why else would she spend so much time in the library anyway? Hermione glared at Draco at the thought.
"What are you looking at me for? Glaring's not going to help anyone, my little pathological liar."
"If you call me names just one more time, Malfoy!" Hermione said, threateningly. Their whole meeting had been full of nothing but Draco calling Hermione names and taunting her. And that was when he was being considerate.
They had agreed to meet solely because their sanities were being put to the test, Hermione's by her own guilt, Draco's by the unending flood of students that were harassing him about the rumor. Strangely enough, Hermione didn't have a problem with that. Perhaps it had something to do with being placed in all the advanced classes. Her classmates all believed that they were above petty things such as rumors and hormones and made it a clear fact that they couldn't care less about the gossip circling around Hermione. Or, to be more precise, they cared but did their best in not showing it. After all, these advanced placement students had a reputation to uphold, didn't they?
Therefore, Hermione ran into no trouble in the classes but she did run into the last person she wanted to see. And this was the latest reason why Draco was mocking her.
"Hello Hermione." Hermione stopped on her way out to class and inwardly cringed. She plastered on her brightest smile and turned around.
"Hello Christian. Long time no dig." Long time no dig! Since when did Hermione talk like an idiot? Christian merely gave her an amused glance.
"Right. So I heard the strangest thing the other day..." And that was Hermione panicked.
"Oh, I'm sorry Christian but it looks like I have to go."
"Hermione, it's lunch time."
"Oh, so it is! I must go...polish er- Malfoy's broom." Hermione ran off, not realizing the implications of what she had said until she was all the way back in her dorm and spent two hours trying to think of a good enough punishment for herself. Christian, however, was left standing there, a little stunned and a little amused. He shook his head thinking Hermione really would have enjoyed hearing about the new Arithmancy formula that had been proved.
"Polish my broom!" Draco hooted. "How about it, Granger? Come over here and polish my broom?" Hermione looked at him with disgust on her side of the small room.
"Don't be vulgar," Hermione said, rather primly. "And stop calling me Granger. I have a name, you know. It's "Hermione." As hard as it may be for you to pronounce words that have more than one syllable, I would be much obliged if you would try it."
"Snotty today, are we?" Draco said. "Well okay then, Her-my-oh-nee." She scowled at how he drew out her name, enunciating each sound in an extremely aggravating manner.
"If you haven't noticed," he continued. "You haven't been calling me by my name either. Come now, it's only two syllables, it needn't be too difficult."
"I know your name. And I know you're also quite paranoid about it." Draco's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Harry told me a while ago that when you introduced yourself, he laughed and you thought that he was laughing at your name. Draco isn't too despicable a name; there must be a story behind this one." Draco's eyes stayed narrow.
"I find it prudent among my peers to respect my name," he said, in a very strange voice indeed. Hermione strained to try and understand what he might have indicated by his words but found them carefully bland. Was he ridiculed when he was a child?
"And that's it?" Hermione challenged. Draco heard the challenge and didn't back down, just as Hermione had hoped. He pressed his thin, colorless lips together and his eyes stayed narrow. He was sizing her up; Hermione could tell. It reminded her very much of what Crookshanks did whenever she scolded him, wondering when he could slink away and give on the air that he couldn't care less of what Hermione thought of him. That dratted cat. Malfoy, well Draco now, would make quite a better cat than a human, especially one that she had to interact with.
"I was a peevish, feeble boy," he said. Draco was still looking at Hermione warily, as though wondering if he should keep going.
"With no ability to defend oneself. Draco means dragon. People found it...amusing that a small boy like me would be named after such a mighty creature."
"And thus, an inferiority complex was born," Hermione said. "Although you would never know it now. I almost wish you stayed a peevish, feeble boy because your ego could stand to be deflated. A lot."
"So you think I'm quite fit now?" Draco asked, smirking. His wariness was gone and his overblown ego was back. Hermione pretended as though she didn't hear the question. She looked at her parchment, full of scribbles and doodles and plans that had been crossed and re-crossed out.
"Honestly, it's been two days and we haven't thought of anything," Hermione said. Draco shrugged.
"Ah my offer of validating this rumor still stands," he said. Hermione straightened in her chair with an offended air.
"I will oblige to no such thing!" she said. "I may have temporarily lost my sense but I will not lose my-"
"Virginity?" Draco supplied.
"My self respect," Hermione said, scathingly.
"Ah, I see." Suddenly, Draco brightened.
"Hold on a minute, there," he said, looking triumphant. "Then are you implying that you are, indeed, not a virgin?" Hermione flushed and glowered at the blonde boy.
"This conversation has become too coarse for my liking," she said, trying to sound as dignified as she could. She gathered her things.
"Good day, Draco." She left, head held high. Draco watched her leave and chuckled to himself. He knew people may wonder why he was putting up with the Gryffindor bookworm after so vehemently hating her for all these years, if they knew. Honestly? It was because she was quite amusing, especially when she was angry. He'd best not let her know that; knowing Hermione and her personality, she would probably make a point not to lose her temper anymore just so Draco wouldn't have that satisfaction. She was contrary like that but that was precisely why she was so interesting.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Hello there, Hermione," Ginny said. She had finally caught up the miserable looking girl sitting at a table by herself in the Great Hall. Harry, from the opposite side of the room, located them and started to make his way towards them as well. Who knew where Ron was these days, however. Most likely off with Padma as they have been inseparable since the beginning of the school year. Incidentally, that was also the time when Ron had finally grown into himself and was much more aesthetically pleasing. It didn't hurt that he had played Quidditch all summer with Harry.
Ginny grabbed a mango-lemon smoothie, gave her thanks to the house-elves, and sat down across from Hermione.
"Why the long face?" she implored.
"Nothing. Everything." Ginny made a sympathetic, humming noise.
"That bad? Harry tells me that you met Draco Malfoy. You guys are trying to work together to figure out what to do."
"He did, did he?" Hermione said, giving Harry a pointed look as he sat down next to her.
"What?" he protested. "Ginny asked me what was going on. I didn't know it was a secret. Was it a secret?"
"Well, no. But I'd really like it if no one else knew," she said. "There's enough about that boy and me floating around as it is."
"Right," said Harry. He reached across the table and made to grab the smoothie and Ginny slapped his hand.
"So how is it going?" he asked.
"I don't know," Hermione moaned. "He's okay and then he's just so intolerable."
"Christian or Draco?" Harry asked.
"Who do you think?" Ginny asked, making it clear in her words that she found Harry to be daft.
"Hey, it's a valid question," Harry said.
"Mal- Draco is."
"Ah, on first name basis now, are we?" Harry said with a teasing smile on his face. Hermione glared at her friend.
"It was part of a compromise," she explained. "So that he wouldn't call me Granger all the time, although I still have a problem with everything else he calls me."
"But you call him names too," Ginny pointed out.
"Thank you, both of you actually, for making me feel just marvelous," Hermione said, dryly. Ginny beamed and Harry straightened importantly.
"You're welcome," they chorused. Hermione reached across and took Ginny's smoothie, to Harry's great annoyance.
"Both of you are impossible," she said.
"Have you come up with a plan yet, to patch things up?" Ginny asked. Hermione shook her head.
"You'd think with a simple thing such as teenage gossip there would be loopholes, but no, while my Magical Law class deals with situations such as murdering a unicorn and there's a loophole to something like that. There's something inherently wrong about that."
"Well, the loophole in that case is insanity," Harry said. "You don't want to plead yourself mad to the entire student body of Hogwarts now, do you?"
"Besides, the politics of teenage society is much more complicated," Ginny chimed in. "It's full of rules that you don't even know exists until you break them and you...well I suppose you broke a rule."
"Yes, lying and claiming you've shagged somebody who in reality you hate is probably breaking some rule," Hermione said. "There's no way out of it."
"Well there is one way," Ginny said, hesitantly.
"No, I will not proposition myself to Draco Malfoy!" Hermione said, emphasizing her words by thumping on the table. Ginny squeaked.
"Besides, what if Draco doesn't agree to it?" Hermione continued. "That plan is not even a plan. It's ill-thought out and it'll never work."
"My dear Hermione, as a member of the male gender, I will assure you that no boy would ever turn down sex."
"Except if they're insane," Ginny reminded.
"Right, loophole," Harry agreed.
"Even you, Harry?" Hermione challenged. "Come sleep with me, right now Harry. What would you say to that?" Harry shifted a bit.
"I'm the Boy-Who-Lived," he argued. "I'm in a category of my own." Hermione laughed a little bit.
"Honestly, what am I going to do with you two?"
"Shower us with attention and love," Ginny said, promptly. Hermione rolled her eyes and helped herself to more of Ginny's smoothie.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo