Chapter 9

Last time-

"Drakie!" yelled a high-pitched voice from behind him. 'Oh Merlin. Just what I need!' he thought as he kept walking down the corridor.

Suddenly he felt two arms wrap around him from the back. "What do you want, Parkinson?" Draco asked in an irritated voice.

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"Oh Drakie! I've missed you soooo much! Have you been avoiding me, 'Snickers?' I mean, what have you been doing?" Pansy yelled.

"I can't breathe! Get the bloody hell off of me!" Draco yelled shoving her. "What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?"

"I missed you!" she pouted. "T just wanted to see you. I miss your kisses, Honey Bear! I mean you are my boyfriend and you haven't so much as kissed me once since we got back to school."

"NO! I have told you a thousand times, I can't stand you! I am not your boyfriend! Now GO AWAY!!!!!!" he yelled as he began to walk towards his portrait hole, leaving Pansy stunned and unmoving.

'I can't stand her! She is such a slut!" Draco thought as he walked.

'I can't believe he did that to me. I know he really loves me. He is just afraid of his feelings!' Pansy thought as she walked off to the Great Hall for dinner. 'He will be mine. I will kill anyone who tries to get in my way. I love him and he loves me. I know it!'

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Hermione took a huge bite of food. Harry and Ron were staring at her with wide eyes as she plowed through her meal. She was eating faster than they have ever seen her eat. She usually yelled at them for eating too fast.

"Hermione? Why are you eating so fast? Do you have somewhere to go?" Ron asked her quietly.

"What?" she asked after swallowing a bite of her food.

"Why are you eating your food as if you are in a hurry? Do you have somewhere you have to go?" asked Harry.

"Oh, well, I wanted to go to the Library before curfew." she lied. 'Not,' she thought, 'I need to go see how Draco is doing. I am worried about him because he didn't show up for dinner….maybe I should bring him some food. He is probably starving.' Suddenly she started wrapping food in a napkin, shrinking it, and stuffing it into her pockets. "Well, bye then. I need to go." she said as she got up and ran out of the hall towards her common room.

When she arrived at the portrait hole, she yelled, "Marshmallow!" and ran in. She quickly skimmed the common room. He wasn't there so she ran up the stairs towards his room. When she was about three feet away she heard some sobbing coming from the other side of the door. She knocked lightly on the door before stepping inside. The lights were off, and Draco was laying on the bed, crying. She pulled out her wand and whispered a spell transfiguring a book from his shelf into a tray. She placed the food on it and resized it. She then levitated the tray and walked over to Draco's trembling form.

"Draco," she whispered as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I brought you some food from the Great Hall."

After a minute of complete silence, he turned and looked at her. His eyes had a lost, helpless look in them. She suddenly had the urge to hold him and never let him go. He needed her to hold him and comfort him and she would do just that as long as he needed her to.

She lowered to tray to the ground. Then she climbed onto the bed next to the boy. She wiped the tears from his eyes and gently kissed his forehead. At first he didn't respond, but soon he relaxed in her comforting arms.

After ten minutes he fell asleep. He was still clinging to her as if he would die if he ever let her go. She knew that if she tried to get up it would wake him up, so she just laid there holding him. A few minutes later she too fell asleep.

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Hermione was torn from her peaceful dreams when she heard a gasp. She immediately shot straight up in her bed looking for the source of the noise. When her eyes finally focused she saw Ron Weasley standing in front of her. "Ron, you scared me half to death! What are you doing in my room?" she mumbled in a slightly angry tone.

"Y-you a-are in b-bed with M-Malfoy!" he stuttered.

"What are you babbling about Ronald Weas…??" she cut herself off when she felt something move beside her. She turned and sure enough, she was in bed with Draco. Suddenly her memories came flooding back. She remembered everything that happened last night. 'Merlin, Ron caught me in bed with Draco Malfoy!' she thought. "Oh, that…Well ummm… let's go outside

He nodded and they walked out. By the time they were in the hall she had thought up an explanation. "It was nothing. We were discussing the preparations for the dance and we must have fallen asleep. Come on Ron, do you think I would actually do anything with Malfoy?" she said as they walked towards her room. Ron didn't look so Hermione said, "I really need to shower! I have Malfoy slime all over me! Yuck! Would you mind? You can sit on my bed and wait."

He nodded as she ran into the lavatory to take a quick shower.

Ten minutes later she was done with her shower. 'Shoot! I told him to wait on my room. I forgot clothes! Oh well. It's not like I will be naked. Plus he just looks at me as a friend now.' she thought as she got out. She wrapped a towel securely around her and she walked out.

Ron was sitting on Hermione's bed looking at a book. When he heard the door open he said, "You have way too many books in…" his voice trailed off when he looked up at her. His mouth drooped open and his eyes widened.

"What?! I can not possibly have too many books! I don't have enough!" she said, not noticing the stunned look on his face.

"Ummmm, 'Mione? Did you know that you are only wearing a towel?" he asked.

"Yes, Ron. I do know that I am wearing a towel. I forgot to bring extra clothes into the lavatory when I took a shower. I didn't think that you would care." she said as if the whole thing was no big deal. "I mean, we are best friends. I have nothing to hide. Why should I?" After she had said that, she realized she was being cruel so she changed the subject. "So, why are you here anyway?"

"Ummm," he mumbled still watching her as she opened her drawers and pulled clothes out. "Well, I wanted to ask you something last night, so I went to the Library to find you. I looked everywhere, but you were not there. It was only five minutes after you left, so naturally I thought you would still be there." he said, staring at his feet very intently. "When I realized that you weren't there I left. I decided that I would just come up here and talk to you in the morning. That's when I found you in bed with Malfoy."

Hermione, not wanting to discuss Draco, said, "What did you want to ask me, Ron?"

"Well, you see…I feel like I need to explain something to you…" Ron started.

"Yes?" she asked, prompting him to continue.

"Okay, I wanted to tell you why I really broke up with you. I know it was a while ago, but I wanted you to know the real reason….I have been wanting to tell you so you wouldn't hate me." he said.

She nodded, signaling him to continue.

"Well, okay….I broke up with you because…because I am in love with you. You see, when I first realized this I was scared. But now I realize that there is no way to avoid it even if I wanted to. Which I don't. I love you Hermione and I want to be with you." he said.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She didn't feel the same way. "Ron…" was all she got out before she remembered that she was still in nothing but a towel. She jumped up and ran into the lavatory to change.

When she came back out, Ron was gone. 'Was that for real? He--loves me? I never saw that coming. What am I supposed to do now? What about me and Draco…Draco… I need to go see how he is doing!" she thought. She shot up from her spot on the bed and ran over to Draco's room. She had totally pushed all thought of Ron out of her head and went to Draco's side.

"Draco, Wake up!" Hermione said when she entered his room. When he didn't more she went to the bed. She sat next to him and ran her fingers though his silky hair. He stirred and looked up at her with cloudy eyes.

"Huh?" was all he said. Then after a pause he tensed up and said, "What time is it?"

"It's 8:45 in the morning." she replied, smiling.

He relaxed and said, "Whew, I was afraid that we missed the trip to Hogsmeade. So are you excited?"

"Yeah, it's going to be fun!" she replied. "Now get up and get ready! We will be late, Malfoy!" she said in mock irritation. Then she got up and left. She slammed the door on the way out. 'Ha ha ha. I love messing around with him!' she thought as she walked to her room to do her hair.