The Contract
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in anyway, shape, or form (though I wish I did because J. K. Rowling has to be one of the richest people in the world by now).
Special Thanks to: Everyone! I really enjoyed reading your review(s)
Chapter 11
Hermione stared expectantly at Draco, waiting for an answer. He seemed a bit flustered and Hermione, refusing to believe he was doing anything but pulling her leg, did not feel in the least bit sorry for him.
"Look, Malfoy," she said quietly. "I'm going to be honest. I don't trust you and you've never given me a reason to do so." Malfoy looked crushed and Hermione felt the slightest twinge of regret.
"But-"
"No buts. I can't trust that you're not lying to me right now. I can't trust that you aren't setting me up for a prank." She leaned closer towards him. "And I definitely can't trust that you aren't using me to get to Harry." Her eyes flickered to his arm and back to his reddening face. "For Voldemort." She stood and grabbed her things. "All in all, I would prefer it if you would leave me be." She turned and left Draco, who was still too stunned to move.
Draco stared after Hermione as she made a hurried exit. It had backfired. He couldn't believe it had backfired. He knew it would be hard to convince her, but he'd never even thought about half the things she'd just told him. He almost laughed aloud at the thought of him using her to get to Harry.
He flinched when he remembered why she thought that. Her eyes had flickered to his arm for just a second. The place where she was sure the dark mark was burned. He frowned. It was going to be twice as hard now that she already believed him to be a member of the Death Eaters.
He stood and then smiled. No one had ever said love was easy and he sure as hell wasn't going to give up. Not while he could still fight for her. Not when he could be changed.
Oliver twiddled his thumbs anxiously as he awaited Hermione's arrival. He sat in his bed as he was not yet allowed to be up and about. A knock at the door signified what he'd been hoping for and, a second later, Hermione entered the room.
"H-hey," she seemed nervous and Oliver frowned.
"Are you sure you're not breaking up with me?" he asked her. She smiled weakly.
"No, but I do want to talk to you about that." She sighed and went to sit on Oliver's bed next to him. "Look, Oliver-"
"Wait!" Oliver said holding up a his hands with a winning smile. Hermione stared at him and squealed in surprise as she suddenly found her lips on his. Oliver had reached across to her and pulled her to him again. He broke their kiss. "Sorry, I just had to do that. It's unbearable being near you if I haven't kissed you." Hermione just blinked a few times, trying to control herself.
"Okay," she said slowly. She stood and moved to a chair next to the bed believing it was safer. She sighed again. "Look, Oliver, I don't know how I'm going to tell you this so I'm just going to come out with it. I-we-we're not really. Oh for goodness sake, we're not really a couple." She bit her lip and awaited Oliver's reaction. First his face went from dazed, to red, until finally he burst out laughing.
"You're joking, right?" Hermione shook her head and reached into her pack. She pulled out the packet of stapled papers and handed them over.
"I, Oliver Wood, do hereby agree to pretend to be Hermione Granger's spouse until the time that either of us should tire of the others company or find someone else," he read aloud. Hermione could tell by his tone of voice that he was completely astonished. "So, we're not together," he said after a few painful moments of silence. It wasn't even a question.
"I'm afraid not. You see, we both were having troubles with the opposite sex and you came up with the idea and I drew up the contract." Oliver looked up to Hermione with a burning intensity all too familiar.
"So you don't like me at all?" he asked her. Hermione bit her lip a bit harder.
"Of course I do. I mean, we get along well enough." Oliver shook his head.
"You know what I mean." Hermione sighed.
"I don't see what this has to do with anything."
"Answer the question, Hermione," Oliver told her.
"It doesn't matter," she said quietly. "We have an agreement and-"
"Screw the agreement!" Oliver shouted suddenly. He got up from his bed and went to tower over Hermione in her chair. "What I feel every time I see you has nothing to do with the freaking agreement. I really like you, Hermione. I can tell. I may have lost my memory, but I'm sure that even then I felt the same way. This isn't something I can ignore and I know," his eyes bored into hers. "I know that you feel the same way."
