Disclaimer: The characters from Harry Potter, which I so creatively use in my own plot, are nevertheless creations of JKR.
A/N: Guess who's back, back again, Sweetwater's back, tell a friend. LoL. Hey guys!! I'm finally back! Hope you all had a great holiday! I can't believe it's a new year!! I have been so INCREDIBLY, EXTREMELY busy lately, and I apologize that I haven't posted a new chapter sooner. But between college level classes, tests, quizzes, reports, essays, projects, being in the school play, the PSATS, creative poetry writing club, Junior State debate team, VIP, Art/Literary magazine, culture club, national honor society and science discovery institute installations, community service, and the Christmas concert(I had a solo!) I have been one VERY busy little person here! Put that with advanced placement physics, which is hell on earth, and you get the story of my crazy life right now LoL. Anyway, enough of my babbling, it's been so long just thought I'd need to catch you up LoL. And don't worry, I haven't abandoned this story, I love it, and if I had more time, there'd be more of it. Hope you all enjoy and remember to review!
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Hard days made me, hard nights shaped me
I don't know, they somehow saved me.
And I know I'm making something, out of this life they called nothing
I take what I want, take what I need,
You say it's wrong, but it's right for me
I won't look down, won't say I'm sorry.
I know that only God can judge me.
And if I make it through today, will tomorrow be the same?
Am I just running in place?
And if I stumble and I fall, should I get up and carry on?
Will it all just be the same?
Cause I'm young and I'm hopeless.
I'm lost and I know this.
I'm going nowhere fast that's what they say.
I'm troublesome, I've fallen, I'm angry at my father.
It's me against this world and I don't care.
3 Good Charlotte, The Young and the Hopeless
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Chapter 11: Surprises, Revelations, and New Sensations
"What have I done to deserve this?" moaned Draco trying to sound miserable to
cover up his sudden nervousness. He had accidentally brushed against Hermione's
arm and a patch of the blue spots had miraculously faded away.
"Oh trust me, you have done a LOT to deserve this. Now what are we going to do
about it? I don't feel like standing here all day with you of all people."
"Fine then Granger, get these damnable spots off my usually beautiful, clear skin."
"Malfoy, you can't count on going through life, expecting people to jump at your
every command. I know I sure won't."
Draco sighed and replied "Fine, fine…can you help me?"
"Now was that so hard? Well, actually for you it probably was. I'll help you Malfoy
but you can't expect to not help me in return."
At this Hermione took Draco's arm and touched the various spots, both of them
gazing in wonderment as the marks mysteriously vanished at her touch. When her
skin had cleared up, he returned the favor for her, and the spots on her arms faded
as well. Now there was one thing left and both were worrying about how their last
spots would be removed…the ones on their lips. The two had remained absolutely
silent, and tension hung in the air that could be sliced with a knife. However,
becoming impatient and annoyed at his nervousness, Draco broke the unnerving
quiet.
"So, um…we have this blue stuff on our lips too…what do we do about that?"
A blushing Hermione reached out and put her finger on Draco's mouth to see if the
blue coloring would go away, but nothing happened.
"I was afraid of that," Hermione replied.
"Why isn't it going away? Shouldn't it go away by touch, like the others did?"
questioned an annoyed looking Draco, who was wiping his mouth.
Hermione tried to explain her theory with caution, using the best wording she could
think of. "Well, I think it's because the spots have appeared in places that have had
contact with each other before. Like, as an example, if I had touched your hand
before, in theory, there would be a blue spot there from whatever spell this is, and
the only way to get the spot off would be to touch it again with the same hand. So
the only way to get it off our mouths would be to…well…you know...again." As she
said this, she looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling sheepish and could feel
herself blushing.
Draco was suddenly feeling an uneasy, queasy feeling that he couldn't quite
understand. He would have to kiss Hermione again, this time unwillingly, if he wanted
his mouth to turn back to its normal color. But, what he couldn't be sure of was if it
really would be as unwilling as he tried to tell himself. All he was sure of was that
this would cause a lot more of unneeded confusion that already filled his troubled
mind.
"Isn't there some other way?" Draco finally asked her after contemplating the situation over, the tone in his voice reflecting a growing agitation, but mostly at
himself.
"It's the only way I can think of. We've tried everything else, the marks won't
wash off and haven't faded away, and if there were a spell that could help, I would
probably know about it! Do you think I'm thrilled about this?" Hermione could feel
another usual argument coming on again, and she was getting quite tired of it. She
didn't want to spend all her time constantly fighting with Malfoy.
Draco sighed realizing that she was right-it did look like the only solution. He didn't
want to look like he was giving in too easily, but he was actually getting tired of
constantly fighting as well.
Draco let out a forced groan and trying to sound like he absolutely hated the idea
of this, which he kept telling himself he did, and finally replied. "Fine. If this must
be done, I guess we should get it over with. But I'll let you know I'll have to be
disinfecting my mouth for weeks after this."
"Very funny. So on the count of three?"
"Whatever, Granger."
"One……Two……Three!"
The two quickly pecked each other as fast as they could and pulled away almost
immediately. After it was over Hermione was frantically wiping her mouth and Draco
was spitting into the sink. However, no matter how much they both continued to
believe they hated each other, they couldn't deny that there was a certain spark
between them. But neither of them was willing to admit yet that that spark existed
and they continued to ignore it, making a bigger fuss over it than was really needed,
just because of stubbornness.
"Thank God that's over with," Hermione said after a few more minutes of
overreacting from the tiny kiss. Draco was looking at her with that all-too-familiar
smirk, looking like he was plotting his next great devious act.
Hermione raised her eyebrows at this, but just turned around and was about to walk
out. However Draco's hand came from behind, reached out and stopped her from
opening the door.
"Now Granger, what would it look like if someone saw us both coming out of the
bathroom together? Wouldn't want that to happen, now would you?"
"I guess not," Hermione agreed, stepping out of the way so he could go first.
Draco turned the knob, and was about to leave, but not before he leered at her and
said "And by the way Granger, I think you're forgetting something important." With
this he quickly, but softly kissed the top of her head, and left her there standing in
shock.
As soon as Hermione shook herself out of her daze, she ran to the mirror and
pushed away some hair that was in front of her face. She got to see the last traces
of the blue splotch she had forgotten was on her forehead fade away. Her
bewilderment grew by the second as she tried to come up with a logical explanation
to what had just happened. She had forgotten all about the blue spot on her
forehead. She had meant to ask Malfoy where exactly it had come from, but she
now knew her answer.
'He must have kissed the top of my forehead before. But when? And he didn't seem
too upset to do it again. But why? Why does this have to be so confusing?' Hermione
continued to think to herself as she made her way to the place that always made
her feel better-the library. 'Maybe I can make sense of this whole thing there.'
Draco was walking down the corridor back to the Slytherin dungeons, smirking to
himself, and pleased that he had managed to confuse and upset Hermione once
again. The thing was, now he was starting to confuse himself too. He knew he had
done that just to get Hermione irritated, which would never cease to amuse him,
but, why did he kiss her? There were probably 100 other ways he could have
annoyed her, and yet he chose that. As he continued to ponder this fact, he felt an
annoying, yet familiar sensation in the pit of his stomach that could only be
described as butterflies. He tried to rationalize of why he would be feeling that
way, making up an excuse that he must be hungry, or getting sick, but he just
couldn't keep justifying what exactly he was feeling as something else then what it
was. He wasn't exactly sure of what this feeling was, but at least now he admitted
it was there. And he knew this feeling seemed to arise whenever he was in close
proximity to Hermione. He knew he couldn't keep avoiding her, but he didn't know
what else to do. Finally, he thought he had his mind made up and was heading toward
the library, where he knew she would be, and would confront her and make sense of
this once and for all. As he reached the familiar doors he got a feeling that he was
making a big mistake-but it was a mistake he couldn't deny. However before he
could act upon this impulsive whim that he would have earlier deemed as pure
insanity, a cold, almost sadistic voice rang through the hallway that had an odd
familiarity to Draco that chilled him-it was a voice he never expected to hear again.
As Hermione made her way to the library, she noticed the hallways were deserted.
This wasn't odd because there were no classes, as it was Sunday, and most students
would be enjoying time outside because of a recent snowfall, or inside their common
rooms enjoying themselves. As she was about to round a last corner she heard the
familiar voice of a person she had been with a short while ago. She was about to go
question his actions again, but stayed still as she caught a glimpse of someone she
was sure was not supposed to be in Hogwarts. Knowing she couldn't possibly
intervene herself, she quickly racked her brain to who she could go to.
Dumbledore's office was all the way on the other side of the school, so she was
forced to go to the closest teacher's office possible-Snape. Hermione quickly ran
to the office and rapped on the door trying to catch her breath. To her surprise,
both Snape and McGonagall emerged from his office.
"Ms. Granger," Snape said giving her a quizzical glance, "Why are you out of breath,
you know that dashing around the school isn't acceptable behavior." But as he
recognized her clearly troubled expression he asked, "What's the matter?"
"Professor Snape, its Draco Malfoy-he may be in serious trouble. You have to come quickly, he's by the library."
Snape eyed her skeptically, but at the mention of one of his favorite students
followed the girl who was already making her way back to where Draco was. He also
called back to McGonagall, "Contact the headmaster right away and meet us there
to see what all this fuss is about."
Hermione explained to Snape just who she had seen, and a surprise and anger
flashed through his eyes as they both quickened their pace.
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It's a new day, but it all feels old, it's a good life, that's what I'm told,
But everything it all just feels the same.
I don't ever wanna be like you,
I don't wanna do the things you do,
I'm never gonna hear the words you say,
and I don't ever wanna,
I don't ever wanna be you,
You…Don't wanna be just like you… Don't wanna be you.
3 Good Charlotte, The Anthem
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Draco's eyes widened in surprise, and he tried to hide the building anxiety and fear,
trying to keep his emotions in check as he had always been taught to do by the very
man that was standing in front of him--his own father, Lucius Malfoy.
"Aren't you supposed to be…how did you…?" Draco's voice trailed off in utter
shock at who he was speaking to.
Lucius let out a resounding, and quite disturbing laugh that made Draco wince at the
sound. "How did I escape Azkaban? My dear boy, you do know I am one of the most
powerful wizards in the wizarding world. I do have my ways. And, hopefully soon
enough you'll know those ways too."
Cool malice and smug superiority embodied Lucius' whole demeanor, and it wasn't
until then that Draco understood the true meaning of hate. He thought that his
father couldn't be more wrong when he said he'd hoped Draco would learn more of
his ways soon. He remembered back to when he had idolized his father and
wondered how, over time, this feeling had diminished, but now that he knew it had,
it left him with a strong certainty. That he never wanted to be anything like Lucius
and he never could be. A sudden thought crossed his mind- did his father know
about what had happened between him and Hermione? But no, this was almost
impossible. So why was he here? He tried to remain calm as Lucius continued.
"Now Draco, I know that you must be experiencing some confusion right now, it
happens even to the best of us. But, I know with my continued guidance there'll be
no question you'll follow in my footsteps. We have unfortunately lost many of our
most devoted Death Eaters, not many survived the last attack, and Voldemort's
power is diminishing. But we are both certain that with your help-the help of a new ,
young, and strong supporter, that he will be even more powerful than before, and
gain just as many followers. The plan is all figured out, now I'm here to claim the
most important part of that plan- you. So lets be on our way." Lucius told Draco of
his plans and started to head down the hallway expecting his son to follow.
Draco just remained rooted to his spot, narrowing his eyes. Realizing he was not
following, Lucius turned around with anger and said harshly "Draco, we don't have all
day. The Dark Lord is waiting and we don't want anyone to see us! Now get a move
on!"
Building up all the courage he could muster, Draco said the one simple word he had
never said to his father in his life, "No."
Unimaginable fury built up inside of Lucius, and he put a challenging expression on
his face, almost daring Draco to repeat what he had just said and suffer the
consequences.
"Excuse me? Did you just defy MY authority? This is unacceptable. What has gotten
into you? First saving mudbloods, now questioning what I say?"
Draco felt his heart go up to his throat at these words. So his father did know. He
gulped, and stood his ground, preparing for the worst.
"Draco, don't look so surprised. Did you actually think I didn't see you that night? I
was expecting you to help us then, and if you think your actions can go unpunished,
you are sadly, sadly mistaken."
Lucius raised his wand to perform one of the Unforgivable Curses, and which one it
was, Draco surely didn't want to find out. However, before he got the chance, a
calm, confident voice could be heard yelling "Petrificus Totalus!" and Lucius Malfoy
froze and his stiffened body fell to the floor.
To Draco's utter relief, Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall
came rushing forward. Dumbledore took Lucius' wand and snapped it in half, and
conjured up magical handcuffs to insure that he would not escape if the spell wore
off. He sternly said to McGonagall, "Contact Cornelius Fudge immediately and tell
him to get here as soon as possible-we have another escaped Death Eater here, just
waiting for the Dementor's kiss."
Professor Snape went over to Draco and asked with concern, "Mr. Malfoy are you
alright? Did he hurt you?"
"No professor, you came just in time, but how did you know Lucius was here?" As
Draco wondered about this fact, it was then that he saw Hermione a little behind
Snape, looking as though she was deciding whether to approach him or not.
Dumbledore was the one to answer his question. "Well Mr. Malfoy you'll have to
speak to Ms. Granger about that, she was the one that saw. Now that it looks like
the situation is under control, I need to return to my office and finish up what I
was working on. Severus I believe you can watch Lucius until Mr. Fudge gets here.
Do take care Mr. Malfoy."
Draco awkwardly went over to Hermione, trying not to think of what would have
happened to him if Hermione had not seen and gone for help. He had lost that
strong conviction he had earlier when he was about to go see her in the library, his
obstinacy returning, not letting him say what he had wanted to beforehand.
"Well, I guess I should be thanking you, I don't even want to think about what
Lucius would have done to me if you hadn't gone for help."
Hermione was little taken aback that he had actually thanked her for something.
Not wanting to sound too pleased at this she replied, "Oh, well, your welcome I
guess, you needed help, and I would have done it for anybody really."
"Of course you would have done for anybody, you're Hermione Granger," Draco
replied smirking.
Hermione's face fell at this, upset that once Malfoy was actually starting to be nice
again, he had to make a nasty remark.
Draco, seeing the hurt look on Hermione's face quickly tried to calm her down by saying, "Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that, don't take it the wrong way." He took a deep breath not quite hearing anything but the beating of his heart and blood rushing in his ears. He was still high on adrenaline from his encounter with Lucius, which is why he probably said his next words without really thinking about them, and taking into consideration what exactly the meaning of them was. "The thing is, I know you would have done it for anyone, and I think that's... what I like about you." Draco himself couldn't even seem to comprehend the words that had come out of his mouth, but he couldn't take them back now, he'd just have to wait for her reaction.
Hermione stood in shock not believing what her ears had just heard. This was wrong...this wasn't the Draco Malfoy she knew. What was going on? Did he mean...what she thought he meant? No, it couldn't be. She had to find out what the explanation for what he had just said was.
"Malfoy...What exactly are you saying? Does this mean...what I think it means?"
Draco, finally realizing what a huge mistake he had made tried to come up with an excuse. What he had just said had come out the wrong way, it didn't mean anything-or so he still tried to tell himself. This wasn't right; he wasn't supposed to feel anything about her except hate. But he knew he no longer hated her. Even so, this wasn't right, and it had to stop. He was in Slytherin, she Gryffindor. He had a mutual understanding of hate toward her best friends, and had no desire to change that anytime soon. He had to convince her, and himself, that his past words were empty, obscure thoughts, said only out of relief that he was now safe. Safe-he thought about that for a moment. Now that his father was gone for good he was able to make choices in his life freely. So what was still holding him back? It was his pride. His pride, even though it seemed to diminish a little more each day, still stood strong like a stone wall that still couldn't be penetrated for now. This pride, mixed with doubt and anxiety, is what made him say these next words.
"What? Of course not! Get a grip Granger, you look into things too deeply. I was just relieved to be rid of Lucius once and for all and got carried away. I didn't think you'd take that so seriously."
"Oh, yes...of course, I knew it didn't really mean anything. Draco Malfoy would never say anything remotely like that to Hermione Granger."
She let out a nervous laugh that showed she wasn't amused at all, but was really just frustrated and trying to relieve her tension. Draco started to feel bad when he saw the slightly hurt look in her eyes, but his pride and apprehension still stood in the way. He wouldn't let things get this far again. He knew things couldn't go back to the way they were; too much had happened already to change that, but he could make a new start-where he would forget about Hermione Granger once and for all.
"Well, I'm glad Lucius Malfoy has finally gotten what he deserved, from what I here he was a very evil man. I...guess I'll see you around, we still have this research to finish."
With this, Hermione turned around, just wanting to go back to her dorm, not even waiting to see if Draco had a reply. She knew what he had said about liking her had to have been impossible.
'I just thought when he said it, I saw something in his eyes-something different that hadn't been there before, but I must have been wrong.'
Hermione couldn't believe what she was thinking and what was causing her even greater disbelief was that she actually felt...disappointment.
'God Hermione, he's right, you do need to get a grip.'
She headed up to her room, closing the curtains around her sanctuary-like bed, and pulled the covers tightly around her. Even though it was still a little early to be going to sleep, the day had exhausted her and she needed a good rest. She needed sleep to wash away all that had occurred that day, wash away the confusion. She was certain all would be better after a good's nights sleep. She just didn't want to, and couldn't make sense of anything right now.
But tomorrow, tomorrow would be another day...
A/N: Hey again. Hope you liked this chapter, it was nice and long, thought you guys deserved it for having to wait so long LoL. And remember to please review because my Sweet 16 Birthday was December 30th (yaay LoL) and it would be a very happy birthday present! Thank you to everyone has reviewed and continued to read this, you're more appreciated then you know! Hope to post soon, because I'm writing the next chapter as we speak, but as you already know, once vacation is over, I'll be very busy again. TTYL!
~SweetWater~