7th Year
Why?
subtle love-
Startled, Hermione pushed herself away, balancing cautiously as she stared at a grimacing Malfoy. It wasn't that.. "What was that?" She wanted an answer, but he did too.
He shook his head. "I'm not sure. I'll go." He hesitated for a moment before turning, and she, surprising herself, walked up to him quickly, catching hold of his shirt before he swiveled around sharply. "What?"
"I-I just.." She fumbled for words, for once. "Just.. really.. What was that?"
"I told you; I don't know. Sorry." The words seemed forced as he frowned at nothing in particular. He watched as she shook her head feverishly.
"It's not that.. I'm just.. not sure. What this is." Hermione wrung her hands silently, but Draco seemed incapable of doing anything but watching her try to resolve what had happened.
"If you want to forget that, I'm fine." He shook his head, whether in disgust of himself or her she wasn't sure. "I don't know what you want, Hermione. You don't either."
"I-.. but-"
He shook his head again, cutting her off. "It doesn't matter, right now. We only have the rest of the school year to- , whatever. Figure out exactly what's going through your head, Granger, before you try and voice it." With a last shake of his head as he avoided her eyes, he left, and she shrunk against the wall to the floor.
That had been close. If he had actually initiated any sort of relationship with a mudblood that didn't involve being cruel, or mean, or anything of that sort, he would get an earful from his father. He could hear him now: 'Hermione Granger? The one that's beaten you academically since you got in Hogwarts?' Lucious would frown the frown that scared so many of his 'co-workers'. 'That's ridiculous. I'll give you a week to get rid of this, but if you don't..' Threatening glare. Malfoy understood what that meant. "Gods," he muttered to himself, shaking the thought. Why did she have to go and let him kiss her anyhow? Wasn't she supposed to hate him to the point of.. Well, who cared to what extent she hated him, but she was supposed to hate him enough not to dissolve it into some mutated form of love. He froze. 'love. Bloody hell, Granger, what have you done to me?' Glaring at the wall, he felt a sudden urge to kick something. But people were there. His pulse exploding against his chest, he stormed down to where Crabbe and Goyle were. They stared at him dumbly and he turned, pounding a fist into the wall with a silent shattering of his anger.
Slowly Hermione stood up, shakily regaining her balance and walking back down to Harry and Ron. She.. wouldn't tell anyone. Not yet. "Are the two of you done eating?" She seated herself across from the two, who were leaning back into the seats as though too full to sit up properly.
"I'll say. We're not going to have enough room for the feast at Hogwarts." Ron continued to stare at the ceiling, hands at his sides. If the two of them didn't notice anything different, then no one else would.
Harry leaned forward. "Are you okay, Hermione?" Scratch that.
She shook her head. "I'm fine, Harry. Just a bit worried. This is our last year here, you know?" She frowned thoughtfully. "Well.. The two of you should pull on your school stuff now. We'll be there in at most a half-hour." She hadn't realized time went by so fast when you thought for so long. Not that that made any sense, but it was something to contemplate later. The two just sat there for a few moments before what she had said went through their heads. "I'll leave now." She moved over into the next room, where Seamus, Ginny, and Dean were, talking. "I'm just waiting for Harry and Ron to change."
Dean grinned. "They're still changing?" He was already in standard black clothing, a slightly tight-fitting shirt and loose pants, with a long dark robe behind him. He had always been somewhat of a ladies man, with rather charming brown eyes and dark brown hair.
"Yes, Dean." She frowned. "You're not going in there and blackmailing them for anything. Got it?" She turned to face him with a half-smile as she found their faces a few sparse inches apart. Oh well.
He frowned rather playfully. "Well.. Alright.." At least she could still derive a normal response from him of all people. Of course doing that wasn't that hard.
"Wait, I didn't know Harry and Ron were over there," Seamus exclaimed, standing up. "I'm just going to say hi real quick with my camera-"
"Seamus-!" Ginny pulled him back down to the seat beside her where he had been sitting. "Don't- I'm sure you wouldn't want the three of us to come walking in on you while you were changing."
He grinned impishly. "Well, it depends on whether or not-"
"Be quiet!" Ginny shoved him nearly off the seat and he shut up.
"You can come back in, Hermione!" Harry said from the other room. He didn't need to shout to be heard, and he knew that. Unlike Ron, who shouted it a moment after.
"Well, it's unanimous." Smiling with a slight shrug, she got up and went back in looking over the two to make sure they had everything. "Okay,… good." The train came shuddering to a halt while she stood, and she lost her balance, falling backwards into the entering Dean's arms.
"I know you're falling for me, Hermione, but you're going to have to get up now." He looked down at her from her nearly fallen position.
She frowned, smiling. (did that make sense?) "Alright; I'm getting up. While you're there, tell Ginny not to suggest stilettos to any sane person while she's shopping, okay?" Chuckling, he helped her back up and got her suitcase out, handing it to her before grabbing his from the compartment beside it. She didn't know that his stuff had been in there. It didn't matter, but she didn't know. Stepping off of the train, she boarded a boat under Hagrid's supervision, and gently seated herself behind whoever was in front of her.
"Granger. Wonderful."
She frowned slightly as he turned around to face her, but he didn't say anything as Harry and Ron got on, along with Ginny and Seamus, then Dean. He shook his head and turned around again, not wanting to bother speaking with her if he was going to have to put up with her friends as well. It didn't matter to her right now.
They finally reached the main hall, watching as the first-years were sorted. Hannah Bëlle looked especially promising in Gyffindor, for whatever reason. Ron and Harry were both waiting impatiently for the food; they hadn't eaten as much as they had suggested, and had more apparent room, though they clapped at the appropriate times for new Gryffindors. "Harry." Hermione nudged him as he fell into a sort of clapping stupor while Dumbledore was beginning his speech.
"Oh, sorry." He stopped clapping and made sure none of the teachers had noticed, other than Snape, who had been glaring at him as he always did. Dumbledore spoke, but neither Harry nor Ron paid too much attention- they sang, they waited, then they ate. And ate. Hermione was surprised; for a pair of teenagers they ate more than what was conceivable. She shrugged it off though; she could talk to them in classes.
"Hermione Granger?" Professor McGonagall called the Head Girl up to where she was sitting, eating properly. "If you would like to go arrange your room how you'd like it, it's the room with the portrait of on the second floor. The password's Fawkes."
"Thank you, Professor." Nodding goodbye to Harry and Ron, as well as the rest of the Gryffindors, she quickly pulled her suitcase along the hallways, dragging them heavily up the stairs before muttering the password and slipping in, popping the suitcase open and hanging her clothes on the hangers of the closet, as well as folding some into the dresser that sat beside the gilded edged, full-length mirror. She arranged her books on the shelf that sat beside the desk, and set down her writing supplies on the desk, among the other generic school supplies. She sighed when she finished unpacking her suitcase, stuffing it in the closet beside her many shoes. Which reminded her to change out of the ones she was wearing into safer, normally heeled ones that looked almost the same. Minus the stiletto, plus the nice steady heel-platform type support.
Draco had finished unpacking, as well as making sure of the design off his room. He would ask for a softer bed, but this one would do. The one at home was actually a bit too soft. Shaking his head at the trivial thoughts, he wandered out to the balcony; Hermione would be there, and maybe she had sorted out what she wanted to do. Not that it mattered to him. He just wanted to get through his last year, right?
A light cough told him that she was there, and she turned to look at him as he stepped out onto the balcony. A light breeze was playing with her hair, and her eyes glimmered, almost concerned, but mostly confused. "What happened back there, Draco? You tell me."
He glared at nothing in particular. Granted he had initiated it, but.. He had gone over this in his mind. With unfavorable results. "And I did tell you, Granger. I don't know. And I won't know until you tell me what exactly led you to let me."
She frowned slightly, as though she had thought about it. "Because, Malfoy. Just because. Because I thought that maybe you weren't how you had made yourself out to be the past six, seven years. Because maybe I thought.. I don't know." She paused as she caught his amused smile. "What?"
"Nothing. Continue?"
"No, what?"
"You've thought it all out already, but you haven't-... Just-.." He nearly grimaced as he realized what he was doing, leaning over to her, cupping her chin gently to tilt her head upwards. And it was as though he was just watching himself; he didn't know he was doing it. She gave in, as though she didn't know what else she could do, and he slid his lips down over to her ear, nibbling it lightly. "You don't know what you want, Granger. Just.. let it be, for now."
'A girl with less sense would have pulled back,' Hermione thought to herself as she let her body be warmed against his in fervent kisses. 'But not you, Hermione. Not sensible you.'
XxXxX
A/N: I've decided to continue this fic.. Although chapters 1-9 have been finished for.. 2 years now, I'll be attempting to polish the writing, of both those I'm posting now, and posted previously.. It shoudln't change the storyline, however, so..
Review! Please- I update when I get reviews; then I know that people care that I do this.. love!
subtle love-
