Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, nor the storyline for Order of the Phoenix.
I am using some of the plot from Order of the Phoenix, but some things may have to be changed for the sake of this story, so please do not get angry and send the giant pink plot bunny after me!
Please review, and I hope that you like this next chapter!
It was the first weekend in October and everyone was at Hogsmeade. Harry and Ron ran to Zonko's, leaving Hermione alone to buy a new quill. Harry's meeting had been successful, for the most part. There were a few students who did not believe Harry's claim that Voldemort was back. There were others who did not feel Harry was competent enough to teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Granger, I saw you at Hog's Head."
Hermione jumped as she realized Draco was standing right behind her. "How long have you been there?"
"You think you're so clever. What's the plan? Are you going to kill You-Know-Who by looking at him? If I were you, I would have a heart attack just looking in the mirror every day." Draco smirked. Crabbe and Goyle laughed on cue.
"Shove off, Malfoy." Hermione paid for the quill and walked toward the door. Draco moved in front of her.
"What are you going to do about it, Mudblood?"
"I've got bigger problems than you, Malfoy." For once, she didn't have to pretend that she was not scared of him. This time, there was something bigger on hand.
"Oh, then—"
Hermione raised her wand. "Don't make me turn you into a ferret!"
For an instant, Draco let down his guard. "You wouldn't!" Then he regained his calm. "You couldn't, anyways. You would be expelled."
Hermione looked up into his cool eyes full of hatred, hatred for the Mudblood standing in front of him. She let out all of the anger and tension in her body in a single, calming breath. "Try me."
Draco stepped aside. A sneer sat on his face, so practiced that Hermione wondered why his face wasn't stuck that way permanently.
Before she was too far away, Draco called to her, "One day, I'll get you Granger and you'll regret the day you ever laid eyes on me."
On Halloween, Professor Dumbledore announced that there would be a small party after dinner. Everyone put on their dress robes and marched to the great hall.
Hermione came with Harry and Ron.
Ron looks great in his dress robes…filling in very nicely. She eyed him up and down. IT'S RON I'M TALKING ABOUT! What am I thinking? First Malfoy, now Ron. Soon I'll be looking at Neville. Hermione almost had a heart attack at her last thought.
Hermione sat down at the Gryffindors' table. Jack-o-lanterns floated every few feet, illuminating the tables where everyone waited patiently to start the feast.
Dumbledore stood up and the Great Hall filled with silence. "Afterwards we will all enjoy dancing, honoring the Quidditch teams and fans, as well as inter-house unity. Tuck in!" The tables filled with food.
When everyone finished, the plates were cleared, the tables were safely against the back walls, and the Halloween dance started. Many members of the female population hunted Draco down. He turned them all down, saying he had to save energy for Quidditch practice. When he noticed that Pansy kept shrieking in laughter over every word he said, he decided it was time for a little fun.
From across the room, he saw a third year staring at him. He stared back with an intensity that would knock bowling pins out of their lane. He then looked at the doors of the Great Hall and back to the girl. She nodded. Looking around to make sure no one noticed, Draco got up.
Pansy tapped him on the shoulder. "I thought you were going to dance with me. You promised, love-kitten!"
"Good g…woman, get a hold of yourself!" He started snapping in front of her face. When that did not work he started waving. She was lost in a vision of her and Draco on their wedding day.
He took the opportunity to yell at her, without the risk of tears. "You sound like a banshee, you sniveling wretch. And if I catch you calling me 'love-kitten' or any other stupid nickname you have for me, I'll turn you into a newt!" He felt satisfied, though he did not know where the newt part came from. Oh well, off to more exciting things.
Hermione noticed the third year walking out, just before Malfoy took his exit. Something is not right here. Malfoy would never waste his time on a third year.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron looked at her, full of concern.
"It's nothing…nothing. I just need some air."
"I'll go with you. It is a bit stuffy in here."
"NO! I mean, uh…I will probably go to the common room, and then to bed. Yes, I think that I'm getting very tired." She faked a yawn and then walked as fast as she could out of the Great Hall. She started in the direction she thought Malfoy took. She turned the corner and—
"Get off!" The girl wriggled under Malfoy's weight. He had her pinned against the walls with his hands. When he finally had her under control, Draco took out his wand and pointed it at her.
"It's just a little hex. It won't hurt—if you stand still."
"Let me go!"
Hermione took a deep breath before she said, "Malfoy, let her go."
Draco turned towards Hermione. His eyes squinted and his muscles tensed as he continued to hold the girl to the wall. "You better stay out of this, Mudblood. You don't have any of your friends to rescue you this time."
"Just let her go, and everyone will walk away as happily as they came."
"No chance in that, Granger." He stepped back to give her a view of the young Hufflepuff, now couched on the floor.
Hermione started for her, but Draco cut her off. "What do you think you are doing?"
"I am going to help this poor girl."
"Think you can get me expelled?"
"You would deserve it!"
"I think that all of this is going to go my way. I will just go get Professor Umbridge. She and my father have an understanding. She would see you here with this poor girl, and you wouldn't be around any longer to soil my reputation as the best at Hogwarts. And poor Sirius…"
Draco turned to the young girl. "Off you go, and not a word of this to anyone. Or I will…" He let his wand send off a few colorful sparks. The girl ran to the Great Hall and never told anyone the rest of her life of her encounter with Draco.
"Now that we have this settled I am leaving." Hermione turned and started walking away in the direction of the Great Hall.
Draco lifted his wand. "Not so fast."
Before Hermione had any time to counter the spell she went flying backwards. She was out cold before she touched the ground.
She woke up in the infirmary at Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey was looming over her. 'Where am I?' She tried to speak, but nothing would come out.
"It's no use trying to talk, dear. You were knocked out cold by that floor. Had a bit of a concussion, but nothing I couldn't take care of."
Hermione barely heard a word of what Madam Pomfrey was saying. It was a long stream of buzzing. Also Hermione did not notice Ron and Harry standing by her bedside. They waited by her side days while she was unconscious.
When everything stopped buzzing, she heard Ron say that they brought all of her homework.
"How…how…lo…"
Harry understood what she was about to say. He sat down next to her and patted her hand. "You've been out for three days. We were really worried that you wouldn't wake up." Madam Pomfrey got up to check on her other patients.
Ron moved closer. "Who did it? We want to know right now who jinxed you!"
Hermione thought about Draco's warnings. Then she remembered that she had to stay out of trouble, or else the D.A. or worse—Sirius—might be endangered. She pointed at the drink on the small table next to her. Harry picked it up and brought it to her lips.
Hermione nodded when she was finished. "Thank you, Harry."
Harry set the cup down. "How do you feel?"
"Awful. What happened?"
"Madam Pomfrey says you hit your head. Took quite a spill and scared us half to death. But we know that something had to knock you down. Can you tell us who it was?"
Hermione thought quickly of everything she did that night. No, she could not tell about Draco. What else could she say that possibly…
"Ron, do you remember when I said I needed air."
"Yes, well I…"
"I fainted, and I must have hit my head on the way down. I think it is from the stress, homework and all. But I'll be fine, honestly."
Ron and Harry both shared a look of disbelief. Hermione kept thinking about Draco and the laughter she heard as she was flying through the air.