Chapter Twenty

Blair and Hermione sat together watching Harry battle Danny Sigurdson for the Quidditch. Harry had already taken harsh blows from Danny, but kept going. Blair sniffed at the cold weather. A Quidditch match in the dead of winter?

Yeah right.

Hermione looked around the Pitch and saw Draco sitting with Blaise and Jessie on his sides. Jessie had her head rested on his shoulder. Hermione wasn't envious of Jessie, Hermione was just angry at Draco. A nasty rumor had spread that Draco and his cousin Lisa Reno had made out in an empty class room the night before.

"Did you hear the rumor…about Draco and his cousin?" Hermione asked.

"Who hasn't?" Blair said as she squirmed; Harry had almost caught the snitch.

"I'm thinking of asking him about it."

"Are you sure? Draco might flip out."

"I'd rather have him flip out then watch him disappear with his cousin."

"I guess that's true." Hermione nodded and stared at Draco. He suddenly stood up and started cheering. Hermione looked over and saw that Harry had caught the snitch. Draco wasn't too fond of Harry, but he absolutely hated Danny.

§¤§

Hermione walked down to the locker rooms where she would hopefully find Draco with some of his team members. But she didn't. All she found was Jessie stretching and looking very depressed.

"Hey," she said quietly. Jessie looked up and forced a grin.

"Draco went somewhere with Marissa."

"You sure it wasn't Lisa?"

"No. I think I might know where he is though, so I'll go look for him. If he's with that chick I'll kick her ass." Hermione smirked.

"Thanks." She paused and looked around. "How are things with Ron?" Jessie looked back down and became very gloomy. Hermione wondered what was wrong. How could Jessie Knowlton, one of the hottest in the school, be so depressed about…Ron Weasley in a matter of 3 seconds?

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him sense yesterday. He had Quidditch practice and left me out in the cold."

"Oh," Hermione said. Jessie nodded in pure disappointment.

"I wish I knew. Things weren't made so clear. He admitted he had feelings for me, but all we did was hug after that until he had to go." Hermione sat next to Jessie.

"Welcome to the club," Jessie looked at Hermione and sneered.

"Wanna hang out?" Hermione looked at Jessie and nodded, tears filling her eyes. It had been the first time in a long time anyone had asked her that. Anyone had wanted to actually ask to spend time with her.

§¤§

Hermione sat in her bath tub with a cigarette in one hand and a razor in the other. Jessie was the same but on the opposite side. They sat in bathing suits; Jessie didn't know why she always brought bathing suits to school. Maybe just for fun.

Jessie sniffed the air and Hermione looked at her. She looked sweaty and sick as she rubbed her head. She had complained about a headache earlier and took some aspirin. Maybe smoking and aspirin didn't mix very well. Maybe Jessie and aspirin didn't mix either…

Jessie coughed as she blew out some smoke. "Are you okay?" Hermione asked her. Jessie glared at Hermione. Of course Jessie was okay. Who did she think she was to ask if she wasn't okay? Jessie Knowlton never got sick, and she never made a fool or a ruckus of herself. This was just something that would blow by sooner or later.

"I'm fine," She spat and then took another long puff on her cigarette.

She sniffed again, wondering how she got so sad. Possibly because she was still getting over Draco Malfoy, the boy who told her that he wanted her to have his kids and now she was very confused about her relationship with Ron Weasley. It's not like she had to be with Weasley, but he really did care about her, unlike Draco. Draco didn't even care about his own girlfriend at the time, why would he care about Jessie? Oh yeah, because he always cared about someone other then his girlfriend. That's why his relationships always went sour.

Hermione stared at her new friend. She wasn't even sure if they were friends yet. Jessie and Hermione never really hated each other; it was always Pansy that was there in between them. None the less, Hermione couldn't deny that she cared more about Jessie then she did for Ginny Weasley at the moment. She hadn't seen Ginny Weasley for a while actually. It brought a sad expression to Hermione's face.

The sound of the cold wind battering against the window made the picture of the two girls just sitting there in silence, while smoking in a completely white bathroom made it even more depressing. Although it was like a portrait no one could ever hold. Two beautiful girls sitting in bathing suits, in the dead of winter, in a half filled bath tub, smoking cigarettes. The bathroom was completely white and it looked dirty. Jessie's depressing expression could have brought tears to anyone's eyes. Hermione's sympathetic expression could have brought a race to anyone's heart.

"Can you tell the difference between a shooting star and just a regular star?" Jessie asked out of the blue. Hermione sat up straight and let out a long train of breath, looking at her feet.

"A shooting star is hard to find and doesn't last very long. A regular star is always there and no one can ever pick it out of the rest unless you have a star chart." Hermione explained. Jessie nodded at the answer. She felt like one of those regular stars and Ron had just buffered her up to make himself believe that she was a shooting star…a once in a life time chance. Jessie licked her bottom lip and felt a tear stream down her face. Jessie didn't even consist of a regular star. She was more like a cloud. Like the cloud that no one ever noticed. Never. Because no one ever cared about her.

Hermione looked at Jessie and reached over to wipe away the tear. But Jessie had mistaken the motion for a hug and leaned in, enclosing Hermione in her arms. Hermione felt surprised but didn't take any offense. She returned the hug instead.

§¤§

Draco stepped into the common room, baked as ever. He blinked, straining his ears trying to understand the sobs coming from the bathroom. He then heard the door slam and lock. He nodded knowing that the rumor had gotten to Hermione by now. "Fuck," he whispered to himself.

He walked into her room and saw Jessie's clothes everywhere. Was this a weird enough situation or what? Draco fell onto his girlfriend's bed and picked up Jessie's green turtleneck. He put it on his face and inhaled her scent. She was a pine tree scent. Not like Hermione. Warmth and Evergreen…the two clashed and collided, or it would seem like that. But not today. Warmth was comforting Evergreen, and Evergreen was needing and wanting Warmth to be there.

Draco opened his eyes against the soft turtle neck and could kind of see through it. He could see the designs on the ceiling, all the little bumps and all the swirls. Pictures of Hermione and him fighting were entering his mind and even looked like they were forming on the ceiling.

He threw Jessie's shirt to the side, swung his feet to the ground and walked over to the bathroom door. He turned the knob and walked in quietly to see his ex-girlfriend and his girlfriend crying together in the bathtub. He had never seen anything so depressing at the school, where everything was usually so happy go lucky, so jolly, so dandy, so blissful. He leaned against the wall and watched them cry. They hadn't noticed he was there yet and he didn't expect they would until he left.

"We're in love with the same person, Hermione." Jessie cried into Hermione's shoulder. "And he's an asshole to both of us."

Draco shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed one leg over the other, listening to the girls cry. Listening to the women he only ever cared about besides his mother cry over him.

§¤§

Later that night in the Great Hall (when Draco had entered) everyone looked at him in utter disgust. It's not like he gave a shit anyway. He was too stubborn to care what other people thought of him at the moment.

Just then he saw Blair walking up to him, with sorrowful eyes. "Draco, what's going on? Everywhere I go I hear that you made out with your cousin."

"Thanks, you don't need to remind me." Draco said.

"So it's true?"

"Of course it is. Every fucking rumor you hear about me is true."

"Draco, I didn't mean it-"

"Don't worry, Blair. Don't worry about it, because I still have respect for myself and that's all that matters right? Listen, if you see Hermione, tell her that I'm sorry." He told Blaise, before looking around and leaving. He had to find some weed, something to calm him down.

He found Blaise in the common room totally whacked and stoned. Draco walked up to him and smacked him on the cheek. Blaise sat up straight for an aware reaction and then looked over, tired as fuck. "Hey man,"

"Hey," Draco said biting his lip, hoping he was giving Blaise a hint.

"Need some shit?" He asked. When Draco Malfoy needed something, he never really needed to give off hints, everyone just knew. So why was he started to hint at stuff now? Because he knew this was wrong, but he needed it to calm him down. Draco nodded and Blaise got up, stretched and led him up to the dormitories.

Blaise got down on his hands and knees and rummaged under his bed. Draco stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed, looking around the lonely and cold dorm. Every bed was messed up; clothes were everywhere, condom wrappers as well. He felt like he didn't belong here, like he betrayed his whole house. He looked back down at Blaise as he pulled out a bag of white stuff.

"Crank…its better then pot. I guarantee you'll like it." Draco stuck his hand out but Blaise didn't give it to him right then. "You don't know how to do it."

"All the stuff I need is in the damn bag, Blaise. Just give it to me." Draco said angrily, snatching the bag away from Blaise and shoving it in his pocket.

Draco paced to the bathroom on the second floor, where no one ever went. He stared at himself in the mirror for a few minutes. Why were Jessie and Hermione so in love with him? He was a beast, a scary beast. He hurt every single one of his girlfriends in the same way, by cheating on them. By acting like he didn't care.

He pulled out the bag of the white powder and looked at it. He was so fucked up. He was so screwed. Everything he had except for himself was a souvenir from a better time.

§¤§

Hermione sat on the couch after Jessie had left her. She went back to her own common room to sulk. She looked up as Draco stumbled in.

"Hey babe," He said, walking over to kiss her. She pulled away. "What's wrong? Listen, babe, I'm sorry about Lisa but it was her fault." Draco was acting like he was totally cool with everything and that he didn't mind if Hermione was mad at him.

"Babe, come on." He said leaning in again to kiss her.

"Are you high, Draco?"

"Naw, I'd never do that, babe." He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her off the couch, leading her into his room.

"Draco, let go of me." She said, struggling to get out of his tight grip. He was never aware of his own strength.

"I thought you wanted this, babe." She whipped her wrist back, pulling him around and then slapped him.

"Stop calling me 'babe', Draco. I don't want you when you're high." Tears stung her eyes. He looked at her in anger and then pinned her against the wall.

"Don't you ever touch me again, you whore."

"I won't because I don't want to be with you anymore. I don't want to be your girlfriend, because you seemed to care more when I was the mistress." She told him through gritted teeth and pushed him away. His mouth opened as he watched her.

"So you wanna break up?" He asked.

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Hermione asked.