Saturday couldn't come quickly enough for anyone. Because they were leaving so late, Hermione and Ginny stayed behind in the Gryffindor Common Room. She played wizard games and Muggle games that Hermione had brought. Then they did each other's make-up. Then they read. Finally, when 1.30 came around, Hermione and Ginny started getting ready for their dates. Ginny chose a baby blue knee length skirt with a white blouse and some white flip flops. Hermione went all out. She was going to make Malfoy see what he was really missing. She straightened her hair and put it half up with a spell out of a Hair Styling Spell book Ginny gave to her for her birthday. She put more blush and eyeliner on, and applied shimmer to her eyes, and a bit of mascara. She put on dangly pink and red star earrings Draco had bought, and more a matching pink choker. Hermione chose a pink mini skirt and an attractive black blouse and some black loafers. Once they were ready, the two girls met their dates. Draco and Nate kissed their dates on the cheek.
"Where to ladies?" Nate asked, rather shyly.
"How about Three Broomsticks," Ginny offered. Hermione agreed. So the couples headed to Three Broomsticks.
"I'll order for everyone," Draco offered. He got everyone a butterbeer. Later they got some food.
"So, what's been going on?" Ginny asked Hermione and Nate.
"Nothing much…" they said together. They looked at each other, and Nate quickly looked at the floor.
"You look nice, Granger," Draco commented, reminding her that he bought most of her outfit.
"You look nice yourself, Draco."
Hermione flirted with Draco practically the whole time, but she couldn't see where Ginny and Draco were weak in their relationship. Ugh! There's gotta be something! Nate and Ginny didn't seem to notice though. But Draco did. When they were about to leave, Draco announced, "Excuse, us, you two. I need to have a word with Granger here for a second." When Hermione and Draco were out of earshot, Draco hissed, "What is up with you Granger? We are over. Get it? O-V-E-R. Over. So stop acting like we are going out! We will never go back out again!" Oh yes we will, Hermione thought.
"What makes you so sure about that?"
"This." Draco pulled out a piece of parchment. Plan E. Hermione gasped. "Ha, I knew what you would do. You took it too kindly that me and my Little Red were dating. I've seen you, following us around on our dates, suddenly becoming friends with my girlfriend again. " Hermione gapped at him.
"How- how did you get that?" she choked. "That isn't mine though, but I found it."
"Oh, I sneaked up to the Girl's Dorm with Ginny one night…" Hermione looked bewildered at him. "Don't wet yourself Granger, we didn't do anything. But I was walking around and came across this. I'll have my eye out for you. You better not try anything, or else…" With one more evil look, he turned away and they both walked back to their dates. Merlin, I should have known this was going to happen…
"What did he want?" Ginny asked as the two girls entered the Common Room.
"Er, he just wanted to, er, see what you liked, because, he, er, wanted to get you something."
"Truth "Mione, truth."
"Okay." She sighed. This is going to be hard… A sudden idea popped into her head. "He had this crazy thought that I wanted ya'll two to be broken up, and I told him no, I was over him, and we made a truce."
"Oh." Ginny still sensed her best friend wasn't telling her everything. "Well I'm going to meet Draco downstairs, and we are going on another date. Bye! Oh, and thanks again for coming! It was fun!"
Fun alright… When Ginny left, Hermione ran upstairs and got Harry's invisibility cloak from under her bed. Harry had let her use it one time, and she had never given it back. But he didn't seem to need it. Hermione hurried to catch up with Ginny. She followed her all the way down to the entrance to Hogsmeade. Draco stood there waiting for her. "Hey babe."
"Hey!" she said as they came up to each other and kissed. To Hermione it seemed to last forever. When they finally pulled apart, Draco grabbed Ginny's hand, and they went to their gazebo. Draco knew that Hermione would probably be coming, so he would stop abruptly here and there, trying to catch Granger off guard. A few times he almost did, and twice Hermione swore he smirked right at her, and stared right into her eyes.
"So, what do you want to do tonight Red?" Draco asked as they walked onto the gazebo path. Hermione was in awe. He never took her to places like this just to make out! They always went in an empty classroom or closet and made out. That's it. Little Miss Weasley is getting everything… and I didn't… it's on babe; it's on.
"I don't know. We could just look at the stars like we have been doing."
"Or we could make out all night long!" Draco teased, nibbling at her ear. Ginny giggled.
"We'd have to breathe sometimes though!" she laughed. Draco knew Hermione couldn't stand watching them, and was more relieved when Ginny agreed. "But not all night!"
Hermione somehow managed to find something to do while the couple was busied. She walked around this mysterious place. Sudden memories of her and Draco together came back. Without realizing it, Hermione had tears silently rolling off her cheeks. As she wiped them away, she heard Ginny and Draco stop making out, and went back to them. They were just laying there, looking up at the sky. We never did that… Ginny and Draco were having the time of their lives, and they weren't even doing anything inappropriate. They were laying in the comfort of each other; just in each other's presence. It enraged Hermione. Ugh! She wanted to scream so loud everyone in Britain would wake up. We never did this! She started crying again. I will get him back, and I will show them that I don't have to be kissed to be happy! I will show him, so help me Merlin, I will! She had still not realized how full of flaws her plan was.
Over the next few weeks, Hermione had been spending more time with Ginny, gradually taking her little by little away from Draco during the days. But they would still secretly meet at night, and there wasn't much Hermione could do about that except follow them. They always went to the same place, snuggled up, and sat in each other's arms. Hermione decided tonight wasn't worth her times, so she sneaked back up to the castle. She was working on her homework when Ginny came storming in.
"What happened Gin?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Ugh! Draco was being an ass!"
"Oh." She wasn't sure of what to say. "Me and him have gotten into loads of fights. But we always made up. He always sent me a letter the next day, and we would meet somewhere and make up."
"Oh, okay. I'll see what happens tomorrow… Thanks "Mione." Ginny gave her friend a quick hug and walked upstairs. He will give her the letter, she thought with a sly smile.
The next morning, Ginny received the letter from Draco.
Dear Ginny,
Meet me outside by the Quidditch field after classes today. We have to talk.
Draco
This isn't like him… Ginny thought, rereading the letter. He never calls me Ginny anymore, and he doesn't just sign it with Draco, unless… Ginny gasped. They couldn't be breaking up, they just couldn't!
Hermione looked at Ginny. "What does the letter say?"
"It says to meet him by the Quidditch field after classes." Ginny handed Hermione the letter. Everything is perfect now… "Well just go there after classes, and see what he wants." Ginny nodded. She finished eating her piece of toast, and returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to retrieve her books.
During classes, Ginny wasn't paying attention, and the teachers always picked her when she had no clue about the answer. They were disappointed with her. Right before lunch, Professor McGonagall pulled her aside.
"Miss Weasley? Is there something you would like to speak to me or the Headmaster about?"
"No ma'am."
"Very well. Off you go to lunch then." McGonagall watched her leave the class.
During lunch, Hermione noticed Ginny kept glancing at the Slytherin table.
"Ginny, don't worry about it," Hermione tried to comfort her friend.
"But I'm just so nervous…" Just then a piece of parchment landed softly on the table beside Ginny's plate. She eagerly opened it, and Hermione turned pale. Oh my, oh my, oh my, this is going worse than I planned! Ginny looked happier. The note was from Draco, and it was addressed to "Red" and it was signed "Yours truly". Maybe things would be alright after all. But why did he send me two letters?
Ginny Weasley couldn't concentrate all day, and she almost got detentions in all of her classes but Snape's. She did get detention from him, the slimy evil git. It was supposed to be tonight at 8, and Ginny planned on being there, or she would get a month's worth of cleaning out filthy cauldrons. And she still planned on meeting Draco tonight. Hermione was avoiding her, but Ginny didn't know why. Maybe it had something to do with Draco.
After classes were over with, Ginny went down to the Quidditch field, and Draco was standing there waiting for her. As she approached, he started walking towards her. His hands were behind his back. Ginny felt a shock of fright go through her body. What was he going to do? Just then, however, he pulled his hands out from behind him. He had a bouquet of roses, and Ginny's favorite candy.
"Oh my gosh! Draco!" Ginny ran up and gave him a big kiss.
"I'm sorry about the other night, Red."
"Me too, I shouldn't have blown up like that. But why did you send me two letters?"
"I only sent one." Ginny pulled out both of the letters and gave them to Draco.
"I sent this one, not that one. Even if I was mad at you, I wouldn't call you Ginny or not sign my letters like that." Ginny looked at him. "It's Granger."
"What?" Ginny sounded shocked.
"She is trying to get us separated. But she won't."
"No! Hermione is my best friend! She would never do something like that to me!"
"Oh yes she would." Draco pulled out a piece of parchment. "I found this." As Ginny read it, tears filled her eyes.
"This is a joke. She would never do that," Ginny choked.
"Just try to keep away from her… promise my little Red?" Draco pulled Ginny into his arms.
She looked up into his eyes. "I'll try."
Hermione was standing nearby. And she heard every word. Merlin! This is going to be harder than I thought… She quickly walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room. How did she not see all the flaws that could be happening? That's it. I'm going to take matters into my own hands. Harry and Ron are going to help me, whether they like it or not, and they won't even know it… An evil smile was on Hermione's face. Sometimes it is great to be a know-it-all. She had it all planned out in her head; oh no, she wasn't going to write this one on a piece of paper for Draco to find…
After Transfiguration class the next day, Hermione bravely went up to Prof. McGonagall. "May I help you Miss Granger?" the Professor asked, looking up from her book.
"Er, yes. I was wondering if you could sign this piece of paper for me, because I need more information on the essay.." Hermione bit her lip.
"It is all in the book."
"Yes, well since my handwriting is very little, I need more information, and the only book available is in the Restricted Section."
"Very well," McGonagall replied, reaching for the parchment. "You are my best student; I trust you won't go looking for things you aren't supposed to be looking for." Hermione felt a shot of guilt. She nodded and hurried off to Potions. After Potions, Draco went up to Snape and talked to him.
At the library, Hermione had to get her letter approved. Or, rather, inspected. The librarian looked it thoroughly, as if it was a fake. But it passed the test. Hermione nervously went back towards the Restricted Section. She felt the air grow cold. Or was it her body? With a trembling hand, she opened the door; the other side of the cheery library. Now, where to find that potion? Also, maybe a spell? It only took Hermione about 10 minutes to find what she was looking for. She reached in her pockets for a piece of parchment. Merlin! I used the last one in Potions! So instead, she ripped the page out of the old, dusty book. The page was rather moldy looking, with stains everywhere in it. The potion was rather difficult, but Hermione thought she could manage it. As a backup, she searched for a spell. The library was eerily quiet and musty. Hermione shivered. Hermione wrote the name of the spell on her left arm and went to find information on her essay. Mcgonagall would expect her to have Restricted information, seeing she let Hermione in there. As Hermione was leaving the library, she noticed Draco walk up to the grumpy librarian. What's he doing here?
Draco started panicking when he seen Granger walk out of the Restricted Section. Had she already found the potion? He practically ran into the Restricted Section, the door making a loud eerie bang behind him. He was too worried to notice how strange the library was here. When he found the book, he searched frantically through the Table of Contents. When he found what he was looking for, he flipped to the page number. Or tried. Someone had ripped the page out already! He would bet his life it was Granger. She was originally taking the potion, and without realizing it, she ripped the counter-potion with it. Damn, he thought. Granger took it. Now he could only sit back and wait. A sudden idea popped into his head. Or maybe not..
Hermione was satisfied with the work she had done. Not only did she have the potion, but she had an awesome Transfiguration paper too! She began to read the ingredients, and sighed. I shouldn't be doing this, but I am. Sorry Ron and Harry, you'll be doing the worst thing in the world that any brother or friend could do…
