Disclaimer: Do I look like JK Rowling? Well you wouldn't know would you? Maybe I do! But that doesn't mean that I am here or that I own Harry Potter…so there.
A/N: Hey everybody! Wow, I'm in a really good mood and you wanna know why? Cause I got a lot of reviews. You too can join the Make Me Happy Foundation just by providing a simple review! Ok enough of that, the reviewer of the chapter is…*drum roll* Princess of Darkness! There now don't you feel special? Well you should. I've answered some of your questions at the end of the chapter. Thanks to everyone else who reviewed too, I love you all! Just not like that. Ehem ok on with the story. Read and review! Later.
Ok one more distraction, sorry. This song just reminded me of what Draco seems to be feeling in a lot of these Draco/Herm stories so if you want take a look, if not scroll down and read the story. This is only part of the song just if you were wondering. Thx!
~Watching through these clouded eyes, pretending that I'm numb.
You shower others with feelings I'm dying to receive.
I can't control this war I'm fighting, silently inside of me.
The pain is just too real that time cannot erase.
I hate, I love.
Someone please save me from this something I've become.
I'm sinking ever deeper in this jealous pool of rage Odi Et Amor.~
Odi Et Amor is Latin for I hate and I love. By the way if you want to download that song you probably won't be able to seeing as it's written by me! Yep the truth comes out. Now just go read the dang story.
Whisper~Mad~Crazy Chapter 12-The Ring
Hermione shut her eyes trying to block out the bright morning light that was shining through the windows. She groaned as she realized her efforts to fall back asleep were in vain. Slowly she made her way to her dresser and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a white tank top. She opened her door slowly and peeked out into the common room. She didn't feel like talking to Draco at the moment, not after last night. She quickly made her way to the bathroom and closed the door. Once inside she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and went to work starting up the shower. She spent about an hour in the shower and was surprised that Draco hadn't come knocking at least once to tell her to hurry up. She got dressed and instead of drying her hair put it up in a loose bun with a few strands framing her face. She opened the door to the bathroom and glanced about, still no Draco.
'That's odd.' She thought to herself. She shivered slightly. It wasn't cold enough for the house elves to start a fire but there was still a slight chill to the room. She proceeded to her bedroom and put on a light blue zip up sweater with white around the edges. She studied herself in the mirror before applying a little cover up and some light lip-gloss. She smiled at her reflection; she really had changed over the past few years. She was nothing like the scrawny, bushy haired little girl she was in first year. Now she was a mature woman, who had developed in more ways than one and the guys had definitely started to notice. Harry, Draco, Ron…She frowned.
'Why do I care if Draco notices me or not?' Her thoughts drifted back to last night in the hallway. When he had come up behind her to give her, her cloak back she had to try with all her might not to lean into him. To feel him wrap his arms around her, breathe in his scent. She took a deep breath, not realizing what she was doing.
'He always smells like Old Spice. I love Old Spice.' She lifted her hand to her cheek. He had kissed her too and she hadn't wanted to admit it but it had felt so right. It felt comforting knowing he was there and then it felt awkward with Harry.
'Harry…' She thought. It wasn't fair. To her or to him. It wasn't fair that even after trying with all her might she couldn't rid herself of the feeling that always came over her whenever Draco was around, the way her breath caught and she got butterflies whenever she would first see him, before the insults would start to fly. And it wasn't fair to Harry because deep down she knew it wasn't meant to be. Sure they were friends but that's how it was supposed to stay just friends.
'I have to tell him.' She thought resolutely. She wouldn't tell him about Draco or any of that but he needed to know how she felt. She sighed and left her room. Still no sign of Draco. She went back into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She stopped suddenly. Draco was there with a towel over his shoulder. He had on a black t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. He was fiddling with the clasp of the necklace he was trying to get on. He hadn't noticed Hermione so she just stood there watching him. Once he got his necklace on he grabbed a bottle of hair gel and put some in his hands. He ran his hands through his hair a few times before finally looking satisfied and turning for the door. He spotted Hermione and froze. They both stood looking into each other's eyes. Hermione finally broke the silence that had settled.
"I'm sorry, I was just coming to brush my teeth." She said quietly.
"How long were you there?" He asked her suspiciously.
"Just a few minutes."
He nodded and headed for the door as she proceeded into the bathroom. He left without a word and she started to brush her teeth. She finished and was making one last mirror check when she spotted something on the counter. It was a silver ring in the form of a snake.
"Hmm, it must be Draco's." She said to herself holding it in her palm to admire it. She gazed at the bright silver mesmerized by it when suddenly it came to life. It stretched out of its coils on her hand and slithered around finally making it's way around her ring finger where it froze once again. She stared in shock at the ring. She took hold of it and tried to pull it off but it wouldn't budge.
'Oh no,' she thought, 'Draco's going to kill me.' She opened one of the drawers and pulled out some lotion. She smothered it around the ring and gave it another tug but it was useless. It had become apparent that the ring was not coming off. Quickly she rinsed off her hand and went to go find Draco. She stumble out of the bathroom just as Draco was about to leave the common room.
"Draco wait!" She yelled running towards him.
"What do you want now Granger?" He asked turning to face her. He didn't notice the look of hurt that flashed in her eyes when he spoke.
"Um well…" She started, but it was no use stalling. She held up her hand, showing him the ring. His eyes widened and his breathing became ragged.
"No…no no no…" he started muttering.
"Draco what is it? What's wrong?" Hermoine asked she was beginning to get frightened. "Draco?" He took a deep breath and looked down.
"That ring was intended for the person I am to wed." He said slowly. Hermione gazed at him, confusion apparent on her face.
"You have a wedding ring already?" She said with some humor in her voice.
"No you don't understand. This ring has a spell or rather a curse on it." He said taking her hand in his to inspect the ring, seemingly without noticing their contact. Hermione's eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
"What spell or curse is it?" She asked.
"It's called the Cor Unum, Via Una spell." He started.
"One heart, one way."
"Yes exactly. You see there's two pieces of jewelry, one being that ring and the other my necklace." He continued fingering his necklace.
"The two pieces of jewelry bind the two people wearing them through strong emotions, feelings, thoughts and pain."
"But why can't I take it off?" She asked slowly.
"Well like I said it was meant for the person that I marry. It is enchanted so that I will know if they really love me or not and vice versa." He leaned against the wall, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I still don't understand." She said cautiously.
"Well if the person wearing the ring and I were truly in love then we would both be able to take the ring and necklace on and off as we so desired but seeing as that is not the case the jewelry remains on."
"Forever." She said softly.
"Or until we are truly in love." He finished. "So you better get used to wearing that ring."
"Right." She said turning away. "I'd better go." She started to walk down the hall when she heard Draco behind her.
"Granger wait." She turned towards him as he jogged up to her. "Here." He took her hand in his and pulled out his wand.
"Draco I don't know what you're going to do but I would rather wear the ring than have my finger chopped off." She said trying to pull her hand away. He smiled, the first real smile she had seen since 'the trip'.
"Don't worry," he said chuckling slightly. "Amicio." A white haze appeared from the tip of his wand and engulfed Hermione's hand. She held her breath waiting for some kind of pain but it never came. In fact her hand felt cool, not cold but just cool like a breeze on a hot summer day. She looked down to her hand and was surprised to see that the ring was not there. She looked back up to Draco annoyed.
"So why did you make up that load, if you could just take the ring off?" She asked perturbed. He laughed again and Hermione felt herself smile even though she was still mad.
"I didn't take it off. It's still there. See? You can feel it." He said lightly touching the ring. Hermione felt for the ring too realizing it was still there.
"It's a simple concealment spell, we don't want your boyfriend getting suspicious." He said lightly but she noticed his voice lowered when he mentioned Harry.
"Oh Harry!" Hermione said suddenly. Draco's face dropped, as did her hand when he released it.
"Right go run to Potter and tell him the bad Slytherin's been abusing you again." He snapped turning away. Hermione caught his hand and made him turn back to her.
"No Draco it's not that it's just…I'm sorry I have to go." She turned and left him staring down the hall after her. After she had rounded the corner he turned and left for the Great Hall.
"I knew she'd never change."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione ran as fast as she could around the corner but then stopped and leaned up against the wall. She tried to slow her rapidly beating heart and her breathing.
"I have to talk to Harry." She said still gasping for air. She took off at a slight jog towards the Gryffindor Common Room. When the Fat Lady was in sight she lowered her pace to a walk and approached her.
"Password?" The Fat Lady asked.
"Pride and Honor." Hermione stated slowly, she was starting to lose her resolve. She waited as the painting swung open and stepped into the common room. She glanced around and noticed Harry just coming down from the boys dormitory. She quickly walked up to him.
"Hey Hermes what's up?" He asked capturing her in a hug.
"Oh not much." She said letting go of him. "Hey do you want to go for a walk?"
"Sure." He said smiling. Hermione smiled nervously and led him out of the common room. They walked silently until they reached the doors that led to the school grounds.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked.
"To the lake." Hermione answered opening the doors. They walked down the lake and traced a path around its edge suddenly she stopped.
"Hermes?" Harry asked. She frowned; she had always hated that nickname.
"Harry I need to tell you something." She said staring out across the lake.
"What is it?" He asked taking her hand in his. She took a deep breath and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She smiled but pulled her hand away; he gave a confused look but then smiled.
'What does he have to be smiling about?' She thought. 'I'm about to break up with him.'
"It's ok I know what's bothering you." He said still smiling.
"You…you do?" She asked still in disbelief.
"Yeah. It's actually been on my mind lately too."
"It has?" She couldn't believe this. He had wanted to break up with her too.
"I'm so glad you feel that same way though, I mean I knew when we started dating that Ron still liked you and that we would have to try to get through it…" He started but Hermione cut him off.
"Ron?" She asked.
"Well yeah. This is coming between our friendship with Ron right? So maybe we should call it off for a while." He said cautiously. "That is what you were thinking right?"
"Uh yes, yeah. Right, of course." She said. She still couldn't believe that he had wanted to break up with her too. But then a thought clicked into her mind. This was the perfect out. She would just go along, she wouldn't have to say that it would never work. She wouldn't have to break his heart and confess her love, or whatever it was, for another.
"Is everything ok?" Harry asked interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah," she said putting on a bright smile. "I'm just so happy you feel the same way." He picked her up in a big hug.
"Good then it's agreed. We take a break for Ron."
"Right a break." She said unsure.
"You'll always be mine, Hermione." He whispered. He let her back down and offered her his arm. "Shall we go to breakfast?" But Hermione was staring off across the lake.
"No you go ahead. I need some fresh air." She said not looking at him.
"Oh, right." He said lowering his arm and trudging back up to the castle.
Hermione sighed as she sat down on the pebble beach surrounding the lake.
"This is for you Draco."
A/N: Well what did everyone think? I finally got Harry out of the picture and no one got heart broken either! Go me! Um anyway you've already read so now go and REVIEW!!! Ok and here's the answers to some questions:
Princess of Darkness: 1-The Burrow does have a phone remember? Cause Ron called Harry once and got him in trouble. 2-Funny stories, yes I read it all the way through. 3-Sorry I haven't been to Florida in a while, it's just for the story's sake. 4-Um the dreams are just I dunno her subconscious or something. 5-Yes that is a proven fact. Proven by me! 6-Kareoke. 7-The description will be relevant. I don't know when (lol) but it will. 8-Is that sexy Draco evil or bad Lucius evil? 9-Um Harry's PMSing, we'll leave it at that. :p 10-Sometimes I'm confused, this would be one of those times. 11-Yep, yep and yep.
Whew, ok thanks again to all my reviewers. See if next time you can be the Reviewer of the Chapter! Buh bye now. REVIEW
