Author's Notes: Thank you all for your patience and your reviews. Had a bit of a delay with work and writer's block.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by JKR. The song "Bent" is from Matchbox20.
Plot: Draco/Hermione. Don't like it? Go somewhere else. This is my story. And I did warn you in the summary. As for the actual plot being original, no one has a copyright on the entire school idea. If so, Hollywood would be in serious trouble
Chapter 14: Meanwhile, in the rest of the school...
"I beg your pardon?" Minerva McGonagall raised an eyebrow and skewered Professor Vector with a pointed look. "Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy? Seriously, I suggest you spend less time looking at numbers and more time with the students."
Professor Vector continued to smile serenely at her fellow professors, which only seemed to incite talk over this particular tidbit of gossip. A few seconds of a pause made all the other teachers reflect on the recent behavior of the two aforementioned students.
"Well, come to think of it, Malfoy has been less intractable and Hermione has been quieter. I think she neglected to raise her hand regarding a question of the Tenebrous Vinca," Professor Sprout mused aloud.
"You don't suppose he's threatened her? Or hexed her, do you?" Professor Flitwick asked, a bit alarmed.
"Utterly ludicrous. Young Malfoy, despite the rumors, is an honorable young man," Snape snapped.
Several professors snorted at the comment. Some exchanged significant looks. Snape, not impervious to them, scowled. Professor Tara merely observed the exchange silently.
"He's not stupid, if that's what you mean. Hard to be a good Seeker and stupid to boot. No match against Harry, of course, but then again Harry should really think about playing professionally. Boy was born to play Quidditch, I tell you," Madame Hooch said.
"I dare say that Mr. Potter has other plans for the future at the moment," Professor McGonagall said, her voice faltering a bit at the end.
A more somber silence settled into the room.
"Right," Madame Hooch said briskly, a little embarrassed at her own thoughtlessness, trying to dispel the awkwardness of the situation. "I think Minny, we're all aware of the situation. But perhaps what Harry needs at this moment is not to be constantly reminded about who he is and be treated like anyone else."
Another silence. Here was the crux of their problem for the last seven years. They were responsible in teaching the Boy that Lived, who isn't necessarily the same as teaching Harry Potter. Their potential leader, leader of the Light Side, was nevertheless a teenage boy. Most of the time they were torn between who Harry had to become for the sake of the entire Wizarding World and who Harry was.
"Why is it so terrible if Draco Malfoy is interested in Hermione Granger or vice-versa?" Professor Tara's clear voice, resounded throughout the entire room.
She bore the scandalized looks of everyone in the room with a calm expression.
Minerva McGonagall exchanged a look with Severus Snape before she spoke first. "Taking into account that you have remained ignorant of the events in the last twenty years because you have not been here, suffice to say that Hermione Granger exemplifies most of the characteristics of House Gryffindor. She is smart, courageous, loyal and dedicated. However, she does not come from a wizarding family. Those in Syltherin have always prided themselves on their history and hold certain beliefs regarding their place in the world and who belongs in it," she said, choosing her words carefully.
"There is also a legendary animosity between Ms. Granger and her friends and Mr. Malfoy. Neither Ms. Granger nor her friends have endeared themselves to Mr. Malfoy. Draco's temperament would be ill-tried with the likes of Ms. Granger," Snape added.
"Both of them are quite brilliant. But they come from different worlds. It's very difficult for either of them to accept the other," Professor Flitwick chimed in.
"Simply stated, she is a Gryffindor and he is a Slytherin," Professor Sprout commented.
Professor Tara looked around the room and finished sipping her tea. "It is no wonder that there is a war going on, if all we continue to teach the children are to see the differences," she finally said with a wry smile.
There is a stunned silence around the room.
"It seems to me that from the description of the situation and your own reactions to it, we have all forgotten that the whole continues to be greater than the sum of its parts. Beyond being a Gryffindor or a Slytherin, or a wizard or a witch, they are people with thoughts and feelings and emotions."
Professor Tara rose from the table and moved toward the door as her words fell on the silence like a thick blanket. The rest of the professors wondered if they had gotten caught up in labels. She stopped to look at the rest of the faculty square in the eye and said, "Would it be so terrible if they actually managed to see past the masks we have imposed on them and the role they have been assigned and established a connection? From one being to another? It seems to me that is what we should all strive for."
With that, she left the room, leaving the rest of the faculty more to chew on than just their food.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore chuckled to himself and reached for another lemon drop. Although of late his time was being consumed more and more by the Order, and he had relegated most of actual work to Minerva, he tried to spend as much time in the school as possible. He loved his children very much, even the wayward ones. And sometimes, he just needed a respite from everything that was going on and just be a headmaster.
He knew that Professor Tara would be an unknown factor in the faculty. Quite a strange one, that one, he thought cheerily. But then again, he had never shied away from taking chances with his faculty appointments. He had wanted to rehire Lupin for this year, but Lupin was needed a little more critically within the Order at the moment.
Dumbledore enjoyed the entire aspect of the students' social lives. He knew about the quarrels, arguments, bets, games and hobbies of his students. He enjoyed the drama as a spectator, watching the students work their way through their opinions and the opinions of others. He liked to watch his children grow. More importantly, he liked to see them make their own decisions for good or for evil.
He petted Fawkes and thought of the newest chapter of the drama in Hogwarts. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, indeed. Oh, the joys of being young!
"You don't suppose she's taking her NEWTS too seriously do you, mate?" Ron asked, a little worried.
"Relax. This is our Hermione. She has been planning on her NEWTS ever since she made it into Hogwarts. I think she also planned on being this year's valedictorian. Even I know that," Ginny said soothingly although the question hadn't been directed at her.
"Ginny is right. This is Hermione. She always takes her studies too seriously. You know how she gets," Harry answered.
"But we rarely see her anymore!" Ron exclaimed.
"You see each other for class, for the Survival Club meeting, you see her for the Prefect's meeting, and there's meals at the Great Hall," Ginny said, counting on her fingers.
"But its not the bloody same!" Ron continued to complain.
Ginny and Harry exchanged a look.
"Well, she's got Head Girl duties and we have Quidditch practice and all of us have studying to do," Harry said with a smile.
"Honestly, if you want to see her more often, why don't you go and visit her or tell her to come see us or ask her if she wants to go to Hogsmeade next weekend. You do have to make an effort, you know," Ginny added with a grin.
Ron fell silent, contemplating Ginny's words.
Harry smiled softly. It made him happy to think that his two bestfriends might get together. Although it made him a little sad too. If they did, they would spend less time with him. If they didn't, he just would feel a little out of place, like a third wheel. But it would be great to have two of the people he cared most be happy together.
Harry was semi-lost in his thoughts that he didn't see Ginny's furtive glance.
"Pansy, just the girl I was looking for," Blaise Zabini said silkily. He was ready to wheedle, flatter and threaten the girl as his smile turned larger, doing his best sales-man and shark impersonation. He tried to look fairly innocuous, but those in Slytherin House knew that Zabini could charm the information out a goblin if need be.
"Sod off, Zabini. I don't want to talk to you," Pansy said with a flip of her blond hair and went back to reading her fashion magazine.
Zabini's grin became even more charming, his eyes twinkling. "But my dear gel, you should know by now that it doesn't matter if you want to talk to me or not. So be a peach and I'll make this as painless as possible."
"No dice. Besides, there's nothing I know that you would be interested in," Pansy said as nonchalantly as possible.
"Tut-tut sweetcakes. Both you and I know that you and Millicent are planning a rather nasty surprise for our favorite bookworm. And I want to know the details," he said with a wink.
"What is it worth it to you?" Pansy said, smelling a deal.
"Not much really. Of course, I can understand if you don't want Draco to find out about your little romance with Percy Weasley," Zabini said while making a great show of picking lint off his shoulder.
Pansy's eyes narrowed. She didn't know how Blaise knew about that. Not that there had been anything going on between Weasley and herself really. Her father wanted to make sure that Fudge remained as clueless as possible and personally, she had enjoyed confusing the young and impressionable Percy. Despite his girlfriend Penelope, she had been able to wreak havoc in his life.
She weighed her options. Draco had been more standoffish these last few days. She doubted that he would be extremely upset at her if he knew. On the other hand, it had been a Weasley and she knew of the extreme dislike that Draco had against all Weasleys. She remembered Percy's rule as a House Boy and she still disliked him. More importantly, it was no skin off her back to tell Blaise about what she and Millicent were planning to do. It wasn't as if Blaise was going to stop them.
"Really love, you should just let me know. You and I know that it's nothing really," Blaise said cajolingly.
"Well, if you insist," Pansy said a little snottily. "It seems to me that the stupid mudblood needs a makeover. She seriously needs to be a little less hideous." With a malicious grin, she added, "I was thinking a makeover. You know help her with that crinkly, bushy mop of hair. Help her with that complexion of hers, she's almost orange. It would be a public service to all of us."
Blaise grinned. If there was one thing he could count on Pansy for, it was to tell him more than he needed to know. Both Pansy and Millicent, but particularly Pansy, were jealous of Hermione's looks. More importantly, both of them had noticed that Draco had noticed Hermione. The only times Pansy thought about giving another girl one of her infamous makeovers was when the unfortunate victim happened to hold Draco's attention for a few more seconds. Most of the time it was another Slytherin girl that thought she could 'replace' Pansy. The results were always effective and never pretty. "I can't wait," he said with a smile.
"But keep it to yourself. I don't want to ruin the surprise," she smiled thinly.
"No problem darling. I will catch you later," Zabini said smoothly, rising up from the sofa he'd been sitting on. He wondered what would happen if he let this piece of gossip land on Malfoy's desk. He decided he'd let Malfoy know... but only with a few days anticipation and see what their esteemed leader did. At the moment, he had other fish to fry. Time to talk to Luna Lovegood.
Pansy watched him leave with guarded eyes. Technically, Zabini had to keep Malfoy abreast of most things that happened in Slytherin House. He didn't always and Malfoy knew that. She didn't want this piece of information to land on Malfoy's lap quite yet. But she knew if she swore Zabini to secrecy he'd go straight to Malfoy. More importantly, she'd give Zabini something else to blackmail her with. So she played it safe saying she wanted it to be a surprise. With a little luck, Zabini would want to see the reaction on Malfoy's face as well. Putting the matter behind her, she went back to her fashion magazine.
Unbeknownst to most Hogwarts students, Luna was considered another information broker. She didn't hold her House affiliation and among the network, she was considered a loose canon, mainly because it was almost impossible to separate the nonsense from the real information. But those in the know knew that she had the most astounding powers of observation and her predictions tended to have an 89 accuracy rating, higher than any of the other information brokers. Granted, the 11 missed were enough to make her considered unreliable.
With her odd quirks and dreamy expression, most people tended to shy away from Luna. Those that actually managed to talk to her either were confused and befuddled about her conversation topics or quickly lost patience with her.
However, Ginny Weasley had not. Even if she wasn't aware of Luna's position within the information network. Ginny liked the other girl for qualities most people tended to miss. She even found her concerns to be a refreshing change from anyone else. More importantly, Luna really listened and her conversation was never boring. As usual, they were sitting in the Astronomy Tower and Luna was making some maps from her notes last night. Ginny was expounding on her usual dilemma.
"I just don't know what to do anymore. I want to tell him but he has so many other important things to deal with. I don't know if telling him will help him or just give him something he shouldn't worry about right now," Ginny said with a sigh, resting on the battered couch in the room.
"Mmmm..." was Luna's response, as she continued to make annotations on her map.
"And I know that he cares. But I don't know how much of it is because I'm just Ron's little sister. Plus, I was such a silly bint my first year that I'm surprised I can still meet him in the eye," Ginny continued bemoaning.
"Ginny, I dare say now that he knows you, he knows you, you're more than just Ron's little sister," Luna responded.
"Fine then, so how do I go about telling him I'd like a date without everyone having a ruddy coronary?" Ginny asked a little flatly, a little annoyed at Luna's serenity.
"I'd say that during an attack of the flying Mimbersnatches you would have a solid chance," Luna answered placidly.
Ginny snorted. "I'd probably have better luck if I clobbered him with a Bludger."
"Who are you plotting against?" Blaise Zabini asked, leaning against the doorway, a very infectious smile on his face.
Ginny, however, had no desire to catch whatever madness Zabini had, so she didn't smile back but instead felt her cheeks color slightly. She didn't know how much the Slytherin had heard but she wasn't going to tell him anything more. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, a little heatedly, at the same time Luna said, rather unruffled, "Hallo, Blaise!"
Ginny just looked startled at Luna. Not that she didn't know who Blaise Zabini was. In retrospect, she knew that most people knew who Blaise was. She, however, had not known that one of her good female friends was in more than friendly speaking terms with the Slytherin. Not that she didn't trust Luna. Even if she didn't trust Luna implicitly, she trusted no one could successfully navigate the vagaries of her speech. Even she had problems following Luna's logic most of the time. If Zabini could decode Luna-speak, she would be more than little frightened. But she doubted that even Zabini's legendary skills could manage to crack Luna-speak.
"Hallo Luna! I decided it was time for my requisite medicine. So I sought you out," Zabini said amiably, and then proceeded to sit on the other side of the couch.
Ginny momentarily thought of standing up but decided that it probably was what Zabini wanted. And the last thing she'd do would be to give the git any satisfaction in knowing he disconcerted her.
"I suppose it is. I take it that you told Pansy that you knew," Luna answered, still writing on her map.
Zabini's eyes twinkled. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. How are the tri-horned baphomets doing this year?"
"Pitifully, I suspect. Russian moss is suffering from a rather dry winter," Luna said warmly.
"More's the pity. So Ms. Weasley, how are those infamous brothers of yours doing? Business going good? Never met a more Slytherin pair, really," Zabini asked as charmingly as possible, turning his attention toward Ginny. Originally, he had come to talk to Luna but thanks to whatever divinity saw fit to give him such tremendous good luck, Virginia Weasley was here too. So he altered his plans. He knew that Luna and Ginny were good friends, but in all his encounters with Luna it had just been by herself. He could talk to Luna privately some other time. Right now, he had a golden opportunity to talk to one Virginia Weasley. He felt his heart rate go a little faster but thought it the consequence of all the flight of stairs up to the Tower.
"They're doing fine," Ginny said a little stiffly.
Luna just looked at her map and smiled.
Hermione's head hurt. She felt like a number of Blast-Ended Skewerets had decided to recreate the 1812 overture in her head and it had ended in one huge exploding moment.
Nevermind that she had done this to herself. She had been going inside her head for the last day.
This was not how she had planned to spend her Saturday.
Ruddy Draco Malfoy. It was all his fault. Since the beginning of this year he had been one gargantuan problem. Not that Hermione was willing to admit that he had become a different sort of problem. But her mind, no, rather her hormones were getting smart mouthed on this account and told her things she rather not think about. Her own denial was not something she was quite ready to accept.
So she had spent most of the morning trying to explain away Malfoy's odd behavior and her own unbelievably stranger reactions. And this, of course, had gotten her nowhere with one heck of a migraine.
Tired, grumpy and resolved not to think anymore she decided she was better off at the Gryffindor Tower.
But life is perverse and the minute she was about to step out the portrait hole was precisely the exact moment that Draco Malfoy would choose to step in.
So Hermione found herself a scant few inches from the one person she had been thinking about and wishing she hadn't been and the one person she had been determined to avoid for the rest of the weekend because she didn't know what to do around him but of course life had to be a sadist and place him close enough to kiss. All she had to do was reach out and pull down on that lovely cashmere sweater and then...
Those were the thoughts that came crashing into Hermione's mind as she sort of stood there and Draco stood there, at an impasse. One of them would have to move to let the other pass. But neither of them seemed to be able to move. Really it was his gaze that held her there. She was perfectly capable of movement, thank you very much.
Malfoy just seemed to be looking at her, and she really couldn't read his expression. Not that she had been particularly adroit at reading his expressions before. But most of the time, he didn't look her way. And if he did, it was with a sneer or a taunt or disgust plainly written on his face. If anyone would have asked her before this year, she would have told them that Malfoy had the emotional range of a newt and the facial expressions of a rabid gorilla.
Now, he simply didn't make sense in her mind. Not that he wasn't an arrogant, egotistic prat. Not that he wasn't horrible, mean and possibly a Death Eater. But he no longer was two-dimensional. Those weren't the only things he was.
And it disturbed her. Greatly.
For all her Gryffindor pride and courage, Hermione Granger did the only thing that she felt safe in doing. "Will you let me pass?" she asked a little tentatively. She hated herself for it. She didn't want to talk to Malfoy. Didn't want to think. But she couldn't bring herself to be rude. Especially after last night. Somehow, she felt vulnerable and didn't know why and hated it. The entire situation was a little too worrisome for her.
In one fluid motion, Draco stepped aside, leaving barely enough room for her to pass by. She knew that she would walk frighteningly close to him. Close enough to brush bodies. Close enough to smell the cologne he wore.
Hermione concentrated on walking.
Left foot.
Right foot.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Just look ahead.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
She had almost made it past him when his hand shot out and grabbed her elbow. She turned around startled.
He just looked at her. Another intense, searing look. Another look that she didn't know what it meant. Or if she did, she wasn't ready to accept what it was. Another look that disturbed her.
He let go of her arm and Hermione turned back around and fled to the safety of the Gryffindor world.
He hadn't meant to touch her.
Draco had been contemplating what to do with the 'Granger situation'. It had progressed to the point it need a proper name. Not that he wasn't hell bent on making her want him. She simply didn't respond in the ways he predicted. Not that he wasn't aware of her confusion. That he had predicted. It was the other turbulent feelings she seemed to show. Or didn't want to show.
It wasn't as if Draco hadn't played this game before. He just never had an opponent like Granger before. Who was a girl but didn't follow any of the patterns that girls normally followed.
Draco didn't bother in analyzing his feelings. He knew he thought her pretty. He knew he wanted to make her want him. But he wasn't about to think about the reasons for all these thoughts.
But he hadn't meant to reach out and touch her. He didn't know why he did it. For a strange reason, he had to stop her. It was like she was slipping away. He knew that she was running away. He was the reason she was running away. He took pride in that. But that didn't explain the strange sense of loss he felt as he watched her go.
Once he touched her, he didn't know what to do.
But it was just a game. Just to prove her wrong. Just to show her that he could make her want him. He liked seeing her discomfort. Liked to look at her and know that he could affect her. Liked to know that he could have her attention. He liked to see her hesitant. She was too fierce and independent. She disregarded the rules. Not that he didn't usually approve of such behavior... but he just liked to see her unsure, tentative.
He went to his room and started to strum his guitar. The words flowed through him.
If I fall along the way
Pick me up and dust me off
And if I get too tired to make it
Be my breath so I can walk
If I couldn't sleep could you sleep
Could you paint me better off
Could you sympathize with my needs
I know you think I need a lot
I started out clean but I'm jaded
Just phoning it in
Just breaking the skin
Can you help me I'm bent
I'm so scared that I'll never
Get put back together
You're breaking me in
And this is how we will end
With you and me bent
Start bending me
It's never enough
I feel all your pieces
Start bending me
Keep bending me until I'm completely broken in
Shouldn't be so complicated
Just touch me and then
Just touch me again...
Author's Note: Comments and Reviews always appreciated. And yeah, I'm having Draco and Hermione go through a conflicting period. If I found myself attracted to a life-long enemy, I'd suffer from some good old fashioned denial and teenage angst. I'd also lie to myself for a while.
One Question: Are my main characters two-dimensional? Since neither Hermione nor Draco are the focus of the JKR's stories, I want to flesh them out a little.
