(A/N: I'm so sorry all! I've been very busy lately, I know, that's a poor
excuse for the summer but...it's true. I'm going to try to update a lot here
in the next week and a half since my family and I are going on vacation to
ENGLAND and the Middle East! So that'll definitely be exciting! Since I
was thinking about different countries I was just wondering what countries
ya'll live in? So if you could put that in your reviews I though that'd be
really interesting to see. Don't feel bad if you don't, I'm just curious.
Just a side note, especially for other obsessed HP fans like me, I was very
upset to learn that PoA has dropped to #3 in the box office, loosing it's
#1 slot, waa...very sad. But on a happier note I loved all of the reviews for
last chapter, they were just all so nice! Just thought I'd express my
thanks to all who reviewed! A note to all: there isn't any D/Hr action in
this chapter. I know I promised some but I had another idea during the week
that I decided to try. But I really do mean it, next chapter we'll get some
interaction between our favorite Gryffindor and Slytherin. Hugs! Haystack)
To my lovely reviewers...
tkdcutie: Glad to hear from you again!! And I'm very pleased to hear that you like the sequel, I was wary to do one myself but I just had this big idea for the plot (which hasn't shown up yet but...;) more surprises in store!
regina-terrae: Yes, poor Draco! And you'll get an even more Poor Draco by the end of this chapter! Thanks for reviewing
x-eternaldarkness-x: Loved your review, it was one of those that made me smile! I was very flattered by it! Sorry about the update! I really should slow down, too much going on right now! Thanks for reviewing!
dracoisahottie13: Glad you liked the suspense at the end of Chp. 10. As to if Hermione knows that Draco was the stranger she saw when Ron was all drunk the answer is no. Not yet anyways, she still has no idea of his sufferings, poor bloke! Sorry about the update too! I really hope to get the next chapter out REAL quick! Hope this chapter is long enough, it certainly felt it, and it took quite a while to write! San Vous means Without you in French and it has mainly to do with the continuing of the characters after Harry's death and being all "without him" As for the plot siesta, hopefully I'll get to the big plot thing real soon, probably within two chapters or so! You know how I am...take things slowly! =)
SamboTheGreat: Another review that made me smile, and for that matter it made me laugh as well! You are one I feel most sorry to about the update!!!! Forgive me? I promise to make the next one better! Glad you like it!
Orchid6297: Now here is the person to whom this chapter is dedicated!! Yes, that's right. I dedicate this chapter to you for you comment about Pansy. It really got me thinking and so...I added in this entire chapter instead of skipping ahead to what will be chapter twelve. So...Thanks! I love ideas and constructive critism like that! Writing my Draco in such agony is hard on me too, but I will agree that sometimes he does need to be brought down a couple of pegs!
CHAPTER ELEVEN: DARK BROWN PITS OF NOTHING
Pansy watched Hermione's face very carefully. Eyebrows furrowed at the strangeness of Draco's absence, eyes wide at Blaise's comment, and finally her petite form and chocolate curls disappearing down the corridor at an impressive sprint.
Next to her, Blaise sighed. "I sure hope Malfoy's alright. He looked ruddy terrible this morning."
"Do you know what happened to him?"
Blaise raised his eyebrows at her, "I just said I didn't"
"I know but I didn't really expect you to tell that mudblood the truth." Pansy spat
"You do know" Blaise said amused "That you're practically the only one in the whole bloody school who still doesn't approve of their relationship?"
"And why in Merlin's name would I approve?"
He shrugged, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You've lusted after him for years. It's just the sort of thing you'd do, even though the rest of us put that petty stuff behind us after the war."
"Don't talk about what you don't know Zambini" Blaise sighed and shrugged his shoulders before heading towards the Great Hall doors. Pansy stayed put, still glaring at the spot where Blaise had stood.
"Aren't you coming?"
"No, I'll be right in." She said defiantly
"What are you planning to do?" Blaise asked suspiciously
"Nothing!" Pansy snapped
"Bloody Hell Pansy! Don't go and do anything stupid!"
"I won't alright! I'll be right in!" And with that Pansy turned around and began confidently walking down the corridor. Reaching the top of a staircase she looked down only to see a wisp of chocolate hair turn the corner, to which Pansy smirked. This was pure genius, this plan of hers. Finally she would get Draco and finally she would crush that know-it-all Gryffindor. Yes, Revenge was sweet!
"Password?" The lady in the Slytherin painting asked, meanwhile looking disapprovingly at Hermione.
Hermione fidgeted under the lady's stare and internally panicked. She didn't know the password! "Um...Parseltongue?" She tried meekly
The portrait scowled at her "No. That's not it."
"I-I don't know the password," Hermione said timidly
The lady's eyes sparked and an only too familiar smirk spread to the corners of her mouth. "Well then I'm sorry but no password, no entrance"
"You don't understand! I need to get in there! Something is wrong with my boyfriend!"
"No password, no entrance"
Hermione was beginning to panic. Something was wrong with Draco and she couldn't get to him. What if he was sick? What if he'd been attacked by some of the still remaining Death Eaters? Hermione chided herself at the thought; that was impossible. But telling herself this didn't stop the fear it had brought upon her. She turned to the lady once again and put on her best pleading face, prepared to bargain, beg, and grovel.
-----------------------
Ten minutes later, Hermione had become no more successful with the Portrait than when she began. Every attempt she could think of, she was answered with a "No password, No entrance"
Finally, Hermione hung her head, recognizing defeat. She made her way towards the owlery in hope beyond all hope she could be able to contact Draco.
Pansy watched Granger sulk off and smirked. How many times had she seen Granger so defeated? Not many.
Making sure that Hermione was well down the corridor, Pansy hurried to the Portrait. "Serpentard" She whispered quickly as the Lady smiled at her, "Good girl" and swung open to reveal the Slytherin common room. Scrambling through the hole and into the common room she looked around widely for Draco.
She didn't have to look very far. Lying face down on the floor was Draco, with, just as Blaise had said, with feathers and paper all around him. Silently thanking her mother for teaching her such acting skills she took a deep breath, and steadied herself. It was all or nothing, this was her last resort, her last chance to win Draco.
Draco opened his eyes at the sound of someone entering the common room but refused to move. Feeling too miserable to even look at the person he closed his eyes again, slipping into slumber when a voice brought him back. The person gasped.
"D-Draco?" The voice asked. It sounded familiar but Draco couldn't seem to place it. "Oh my God Draco!"
He moaned, he really didn't want to open his eyes again and face the stranger in all of his glorifying misery (A/N: isn't that an oxymoron?) but feeling guilty, he did and met the face of a girl who rolled him onto his back.
"What happened?" She asked horrified, but all she received in return was a moan. "Are you sick?" The girl touched his forehead. "No you don't feel warm...Draco please say something!"
"Here" She conjured up a glass of water "Drink this. It'll help"
Sitting up for the first time all day, Draco took the glass with shaky hands. "Thanks" he said to the girl. She was right; it really did help. Suddenly he could see better, not just shapes and blurs, and finally he could see the face of this mysterious girl.
"PANSY?!" Draco asked shocked. "What in bloody hell are you doing here?!"
"I came back to get a book I forgot for Transfiguration" She said simply
"No, I mean why...why" Draco couldn't seem to formulate what he really wanted to ask: Why are you suddenly acting normal and human?
"Why what?" Pansy asked sweetly
"Never mind" There were a few moments of silence between the two.
"Here I'll take that," She said referring to the empty glass and muttering a simple vanishing spell.
"So...you want to tell me what happened?" Pansy asked, not at all in her normal wide eyed expression, while she brushed some feathers off of Draco's shirt.
Draco hesitated. It was strange, never in a million years would he have told Pansy anything but here he was, finding himself willing to. But then again, she was acting as he'd never seen her before: kind and genuine, a great feet to accomplish for Pansy since everything from her personality to that annoying high pitched voice of hers was fake and who mercilessly poked fun at others. "Hermione" he said, avoiding going into great detail.
"Oh" she said sympathetically, purposely avoiding his gaze. "So you did find out," she muttered under her breath.
Draco's heart stopped beating. She knew! And the way she said it, it sounded like she'd known for a while. How long had Hermione been cheating on him?!
"How did you find out?" Draco growled
"Pardon?"
"How did you find out about Hermione and Weasley?"
"Oh... Well the first time, I saw them kissing behind the Quidditch Pitch. I thought maybe it was just Hermione comforting Ron or something, so I didn't mention it and eventually forgot about it. By the second time I saw them snogging in the broom closet, I thought something was up. But all of that was made official this morning."
At this point the world was spinning for Draco and he'd long ago stopped breathing. "Why?" he choked out "What happened this morning?"
"Well they were kissing again during breakfast when she saw that you weren't there. Some of their friends were egging them on. They were really getting it on when I left. Just revolting really."
No! This couldn't be happening! His heart had already been crushed; he couldn't take anymore! Breath now came in gasps, heart dead in his chest, refused to beat, sweat trickled down his pale forehead, and tears flowed gracefully down his cheeks. He was only dimly aware of Pansy calling him; nothing mattered now. He'd given up everything for her, and she'd left him. How could she do something like that? Whatever had happened to her loving him? 'Bloody Hell Hermione you are such a damn liar' Draco thought savagely.
"Shh...it's okay. Don't cry Draco." Pansy said, rubbing his back. "You deserve better than the likes of her"
But Pansy didn't understand...Draco still loved her. Despite Hermione cheating on him, despite her kissing and snogging Ron, despite breaking his heart, Draco still loved her with everything he had. That's what hurt the most. He was really and truly in love with Hermione Granger, and the certainty that she had felt the same, that wonderful feeling of happiness, had disappeared, leaving him too stunned and hurt to do anything but sit here, letting Pansy Parkinson rub his back!
"Draco, look at me." Pansy ordered. Obeying Draco hesitantly raised his gray eyes to meet her dark brown ones.
He studied them carefully, looking into them like he had done with Hermione, searching for that special something he had always found in hers. But he was disappointed. Nothing. No warm, tingling sensation that spread over his entire body, no goofy smile creeping up the corners of his mouth by accident, and no urge to just hold her in his arms to fight away. It was like staring at brown pits of nothing, they were empty.
"Draco, I can tell you still want her. But if she's willing to kiss Ron in front of the teachers, the Headmaster himself, and the entire student body and risk anyone telling you, then I think it's over. She's never coming back to you. Hermione's gone."
The words ran along what Draco had been thinking but hearing Pansy say them made them so much real...and so much more painful. Suddenly he saw that it really was over.
"Draco I've fancied you for so long. Will you be my boyfriend?"
Bloody Hell! Why hadn't he seen that one coming? Draco cringed, how many times had Pansy asked him that over the course of seven years? He opened his mouth to tell her no and to get a life, when he shut it. Why couldn't he say it? She just seemed so different, and he couldn't deny that even though she still looked like a pug he'd really enjoyed this "new" Pansy. And if it really were over with Hermione, he could use Pansy to help him get over her (even though he'd never stop loving her and he knew it) and maybe make Hermione jealous. Taking a deep breath and telling himself that he'd probably regret doing this, he attempted a fake smile that he hoped looked real, and said, "Sure Pansy"
He expected a smile, or maybe at the most, a squeal. But Draco did not expect an ear-splitting shriek and a wet, slimly kiss.
But when the torture was over and Pansy ran out of the common room screaming, when Draco had wiped off where she had kissed him, he thought, 'Maybe this all was for the better, maybe it was better this way.'
(A/N: A draining chapter for me to write but I hope you all enjoyed it! Now I'm not going to beg you all to review, instead I'm just going to stare at you until you push that review button!)
To my lovely reviewers...
tkdcutie: Glad to hear from you again!! And I'm very pleased to hear that you like the sequel, I was wary to do one myself but I just had this big idea for the plot (which hasn't shown up yet but...;) more surprises in store!
regina-terrae: Yes, poor Draco! And you'll get an even more Poor Draco by the end of this chapter! Thanks for reviewing
x-eternaldarkness-x: Loved your review, it was one of those that made me smile! I was very flattered by it! Sorry about the update! I really should slow down, too much going on right now! Thanks for reviewing!
dracoisahottie13: Glad you liked the suspense at the end of Chp. 10. As to if Hermione knows that Draco was the stranger she saw when Ron was all drunk the answer is no. Not yet anyways, she still has no idea of his sufferings, poor bloke! Sorry about the update too! I really hope to get the next chapter out REAL quick! Hope this chapter is long enough, it certainly felt it, and it took quite a while to write! San Vous means Without you in French and it has mainly to do with the continuing of the characters after Harry's death and being all "without him" As for the plot siesta, hopefully I'll get to the big plot thing real soon, probably within two chapters or so! You know how I am...take things slowly! =)
SamboTheGreat: Another review that made me smile, and for that matter it made me laugh as well! You are one I feel most sorry to about the update!!!! Forgive me? I promise to make the next one better! Glad you like it!
Orchid6297: Now here is the person to whom this chapter is dedicated!! Yes, that's right. I dedicate this chapter to you for you comment about Pansy. It really got me thinking and so...I added in this entire chapter instead of skipping ahead to what will be chapter twelve. So...Thanks! I love ideas and constructive critism like that! Writing my Draco in such agony is hard on me too, but I will agree that sometimes he does need to be brought down a couple of pegs!
CHAPTER ELEVEN: DARK BROWN PITS OF NOTHING
Pansy watched Hermione's face very carefully. Eyebrows furrowed at the strangeness of Draco's absence, eyes wide at Blaise's comment, and finally her petite form and chocolate curls disappearing down the corridor at an impressive sprint.
Next to her, Blaise sighed. "I sure hope Malfoy's alright. He looked ruddy terrible this morning."
"Do you know what happened to him?"
Blaise raised his eyebrows at her, "I just said I didn't"
"I know but I didn't really expect you to tell that mudblood the truth." Pansy spat
"You do know" Blaise said amused "That you're practically the only one in the whole bloody school who still doesn't approve of their relationship?"
"And why in Merlin's name would I approve?"
He shrugged, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You've lusted after him for years. It's just the sort of thing you'd do, even though the rest of us put that petty stuff behind us after the war."
"Don't talk about what you don't know Zambini" Blaise sighed and shrugged his shoulders before heading towards the Great Hall doors. Pansy stayed put, still glaring at the spot where Blaise had stood.
"Aren't you coming?"
"No, I'll be right in." She said defiantly
"What are you planning to do?" Blaise asked suspiciously
"Nothing!" Pansy snapped
"Bloody Hell Pansy! Don't go and do anything stupid!"
"I won't alright! I'll be right in!" And with that Pansy turned around and began confidently walking down the corridor. Reaching the top of a staircase she looked down only to see a wisp of chocolate hair turn the corner, to which Pansy smirked. This was pure genius, this plan of hers. Finally she would get Draco and finally she would crush that know-it-all Gryffindor. Yes, Revenge was sweet!
"Password?" The lady in the Slytherin painting asked, meanwhile looking disapprovingly at Hermione.
Hermione fidgeted under the lady's stare and internally panicked. She didn't know the password! "Um...Parseltongue?" She tried meekly
The portrait scowled at her "No. That's not it."
"I-I don't know the password," Hermione said timidly
The lady's eyes sparked and an only too familiar smirk spread to the corners of her mouth. "Well then I'm sorry but no password, no entrance"
"You don't understand! I need to get in there! Something is wrong with my boyfriend!"
"No password, no entrance"
Hermione was beginning to panic. Something was wrong with Draco and she couldn't get to him. What if he was sick? What if he'd been attacked by some of the still remaining Death Eaters? Hermione chided herself at the thought; that was impossible. But telling herself this didn't stop the fear it had brought upon her. She turned to the lady once again and put on her best pleading face, prepared to bargain, beg, and grovel.
-----------------------
Ten minutes later, Hermione had become no more successful with the Portrait than when she began. Every attempt she could think of, she was answered with a "No password, No entrance"
Finally, Hermione hung her head, recognizing defeat. She made her way towards the owlery in hope beyond all hope she could be able to contact Draco.
Pansy watched Granger sulk off and smirked. How many times had she seen Granger so defeated? Not many.
Making sure that Hermione was well down the corridor, Pansy hurried to the Portrait. "Serpentard" She whispered quickly as the Lady smiled at her, "Good girl" and swung open to reveal the Slytherin common room. Scrambling through the hole and into the common room she looked around widely for Draco.
She didn't have to look very far. Lying face down on the floor was Draco, with, just as Blaise had said, with feathers and paper all around him. Silently thanking her mother for teaching her such acting skills she took a deep breath, and steadied herself. It was all or nothing, this was her last resort, her last chance to win Draco.
Draco opened his eyes at the sound of someone entering the common room but refused to move. Feeling too miserable to even look at the person he closed his eyes again, slipping into slumber when a voice brought him back. The person gasped.
"D-Draco?" The voice asked. It sounded familiar but Draco couldn't seem to place it. "Oh my God Draco!"
He moaned, he really didn't want to open his eyes again and face the stranger in all of his glorifying misery (A/N: isn't that an oxymoron?) but feeling guilty, he did and met the face of a girl who rolled him onto his back.
"What happened?" She asked horrified, but all she received in return was a moan. "Are you sick?" The girl touched his forehead. "No you don't feel warm...Draco please say something!"
"Here" She conjured up a glass of water "Drink this. It'll help"
Sitting up for the first time all day, Draco took the glass with shaky hands. "Thanks" he said to the girl. She was right; it really did help. Suddenly he could see better, not just shapes and blurs, and finally he could see the face of this mysterious girl.
"PANSY?!" Draco asked shocked. "What in bloody hell are you doing here?!"
"I came back to get a book I forgot for Transfiguration" She said simply
"No, I mean why...why" Draco couldn't seem to formulate what he really wanted to ask: Why are you suddenly acting normal and human?
"Why what?" Pansy asked sweetly
"Never mind" There were a few moments of silence between the two.
"Here I'll take that," She said referring to the empty glass and muttering a simple vanishing spell.
"So...you want to tell me what happened?" Pansy asked, not at all in her normal wide eyed expression, while she brushed some feathers off of Draco's shirt.
Draco hesitated. It was strange, never in a million years would he have told Pansy anything but here he was, finding himself willing to. But then again, she was acting as he'd never seen her before: kind and genuine, a great feet to accomplish for Pansy since everything from her personality to that annoying high pitched voice of hers was fake and who mercilessly poked fun at others. "Hermione" he said, avoiding going into great detail.
"Oh" she said sympathetically, purposely avoiding his gaze. "So you did find out," she muttered under her breath.
Draco's heart stopped beating. She knew! And the way she said it, it sounded like she'd known for a while. How long had Hermione been cheating on him?!
"How did you find out?" Draco growled
"Pardon?"
"How did you find out about Hermione and Weasley?"
"Oh... Well the first time, I saw them kissing behind the Quidditch Pitch. I thought maybe it was just Hermione comforting Ron or something, so I didn't mention it and eventually forgot about it. By the second time I saw them snogging in the broom closet, I thought something was up. But all of that was made official this morning."
At this point the world was spinning for Draco and he'd long ago stopped breathing. "Why?" he choked out "What happened this morning?"
"Well they were kissing again during breakfast when she saw that you weren't there. Some of their friends were egging them on. They were really getting it on when I left. Just revolting really."
No! This couldn't be happening! His heart had already been crushed; he couldn't take anymore! Breath now came in gasps, heart dead in his chest, refused to beat, sweat trickled down his pale forehead, and tears flowed gracefully down his cheeks. He was only dimly aware of Pansy calling him; nothing mattered now. He'd given up everything for her, and she'd left him. How could she do something like that? Whatever had happened to her loving him? 'Bloody Hell Hermione you are such a damn liar' Draco thought savagely.
"Shh...it's okay. Don't cry Draco." Pansy said, rubbing his back. "You deserve better than the likes of her"
But Pansy didn't understand...Draco still loved her. Despite Hermione cheating on him, despite her kissing and snogging Ron, despite breaking his heart, Draco still loved her with everything he had. That's what hurt the most. He was really and truly in love with Hermione Granger, and the certainty that she had felt the same, that wonderful feeling of happiness, had disappeared, leaving him too stunned and hurt to do anything but sit here, letting Pansy Parkinson rub his back!
"Draco, look at me." Pansy ordered. Obeying Draco hesitantly raised his gray eyes to meet her dark brown ones.
He studied them carefully, looking into them like he had done with Hermione, searching for that special something he had always found in hers. But he was disappointed. Nothing. No warm, tingling sensation that spread over his entire body, no goofy smile creeping up the corners of his mouth by accident, and no urge to just hold her in his arms to fight away. It was like staring at brown pits of nothing, they were empty.
"Draco, I can tell you still want her. But if she's willing to kiss Ron in front of the teachers, the Headmaster himself, and the entire student body and risk anyone telling you, then I think it's over. She's never coming back to you. Hermione's gone."
The words ran along what Draco had been thinking but hearing Pansy say them made them so much real...and so much more painful. Suddenly he saw that it really was over.
"Draco I've fancied you for so long. Will you be my boyfriend?"
Bloody Hell! Why hadn't he seen that one coming? Draco cringed, how many times had Pansy asked him that over the course of seven years? He opened his mouth to tell her no and to get a life, when he shut it. Why couldn't he say it? She just seemed so different, and he couldn't deny that even though she still looked like a pug he'd really enjoyed this "new" Pansy. And if it really were over with Hermione, he could use Pansy to help him get over her (even though he'd never stop loving her and he knew it) and maybe make Hermione jealous. Taking a deep breath and telling himself that he'd probably regret doing this, he attempted a fake smile that he hoped looked real, and said, "Sure Pansy"
He expected a smile, or maybe at the most, a squeal. But Draco did not expect an ear-splitting shriek and a wet, slimly kiss.
But when the torture was over and Pansy ran out of the common room screaming, when Draco had wiped off where she had kissed him, he thought, 'Maybe this all was for the better, maybe it was better this way.'
(A/N: A draining chapter for me to write but I hope you all enjoyed it! Now I'm not going to beg you all to review, instead I'm just going to stare at you until you push that review button!)