Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Please don't hate me! I know I've been horrible making you wait to long for an update. I won't bother with the excuses (though there are several valid reasons why) but I will do my absolute best to make sure that it never happens again. In the meantime, thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! You guys are the greatest! (Oh, sorry to those of you who got bad tasting every-flavor beans, I won't be giving those out anymore!)
TheAngelOfDarkness, HarryPotterFan670, JessicaDracoMalfoy, zuvalupa, Alcapacien, Jaezi, roundrockrules, hotskittles – Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it!!
Hermione Weasley192 – thank you so much! Don't worry, I promise they won't fight every chapter. But in answer to your question, I don't know yet if anyone will die, we'll just have to wait and see where the plot goes!
FalconWing – Thanks, I'm glad to hear that you think the pacing is right so far. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
elektra30 – yay! You saw the subtle points! I'm so glad that they weren't lost because both of the things you mentioned are important. Thanks for the review!
FallenBrokenAngel – Thank you! I'm so happy that you like it so far. And trust me, I hate that I'm having writers block too!
aurora black – Yes it is PG-13 for a reason, and there will be more PG-13 stuff, it will be there when I see it as being appropriate to the story. ;o)
SwTnDrEaMyPnAy03 – Yay! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the last story, and are enjoying this one. And I'm always thrilled to hear that I've earned another faithful reviewer, you guys keep me writing even when I feel like I'll never get the story the way I want it!
Alberta – Wow, it's so awesome when people say that I could write professionally (I'm actually thinking about starting an original story, so maybe someday I will be). Anyway, I know what you mean about liking the mean Draco better, so don't worry, I guarantee you haven't seen the last of him! ;o)
ZippyRox – Wow, I am so happy that you feel my story is that good. And thanks for taking the time to let me know! I hope you continue to like it!
Karma Chameleon – Glad to hear you like the plot. I never thought about how Ginny would feel, right now she's happily crushing on a Ravenclaw boy, so I don't think she's too jealous.
random gal – glad you liked how the chapter ended! Sorry, I can't tell you what happens to Draco or Lucius, it would ruin the rest of the story!
KCGryffindor – thanks, glad you liked it. True, Draco did have the right to be angry, but I think Hermione did too, so really either one of them could have apologized; I just decided to have Draco do it. Sorry about the spinach flavored bean!
AvidPotterFan – Glad that you want to know the end, but don't want me to just tell you what happens, cause I agree, the anticipation is half the fun! I hope you like this chapter!
shadow-n-the-dark – I'm sorry, I know you must be furious with the long wait (I'm rather angry with myself for it as well) Sorry about the bad tasting every-flavor bean too! :o/ But, I am very happy to hear that you liked the last chapter so much, and I hope this one meets your expectations as well.
Sirius-harry-n-remus – Yes Dumbledore knows about Lucius, escape, but he does not know about Harry's scar. Thanks for the review!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 6: Odd Behavior
"He knows," spoke the solemn voice of the Dark Lords messenger. His head, though covered by a black hood, was bowed down. "Narcissa sent him an owl yesterday with the news."
"Yes," responded the icy snakelike voice of Lord Voldemort, "I did not expect her to keep quiet for long. None-the-less, now he will be on the lookout, it is now absolutely imperative that everyone stick to the plan." Lord Voldemort set his eyes directly on the Death Eaters', even though they were covered by a mask, the Dark Lord's stare seem to bore right through it into his servants fearful eyes. "It is especially crucial for you to follow the plan, for if you fail, it will all fall apart, and then all shall be punished more severely than you can even imagine."
The Death Eater gulped, "yes Master, I will not fail you." The Death Eater then bowed deeply before stepping out of the room.
"Lucius!" bellowed the Dark Lord.Lucius Malfoy silently stepped out of the shadows and joined his master in the center of the room. "You heard the messenger, so now we have work to do, for now the time is fast approaching."
"And I eagerly await it my Lord, what is it you wish me to do?"
"Once the time is right, and all is ready, we will need an appropriate and accessible place where we will not be disturbed to carry it out. Your task is to find such a place without being seen.
"Yes my Lord," Lucius bowed, he turned to leave, but stopped before he reached the door. He turned back to the Dark Lord. "My Lord, shall I inform Severus of the plot, he would be able to keep an eye on things."
"No, I am already wary of him. I am sure Dumbledore keeps an extremely close watch over Severus, and I do not want Dumbledore to find out what we are planning" answered Voldemort with hatred dripping from his lips when he spoke of Dumbledore.
"Of course My Lord," Lucius bowed again and swept out of the room leaving the Dark Lord alone.
Lord Voldemort turned his back to the door and let out a cruel chuckle, "Soon you shall see, no one escapes or disobeys Lord Voldemort!"
- - - - - - - - - -
At the same moment, within the safety of Hogwarts, both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy suddenly awoke. Harry's scar was searing with pain, and he felt an inexplicable happiness in the pit of his stomach. "Shit," he muttered as he rubbed his scar trying to dull the pain.
Draco meanwhile was trying to slow his pounding heart. He took several deep breaths, and shut his eyes tight, trying to recall if he had been dreaming. He assumed he must have been, as that was the only explanation he could think of for why he would have awoken so suddenly. His eyes darted around the common room, which was slowly growing brighter due to the rising sun. He wondered what time it was, figuring that it must be earlier than he would normally wake up. He laid still a moment, the light pressure of Hermione's body next to him helped to calm his nerves a bit. She was still sound asleep. Her head rested lightly on his chest, and one of her arms was wrapped around his torso. Draco carefully lifted her arm off him and attempted to slide off the couch without waking her. Unfortunately, he was stopped by the fact that his other arm was stuck underneath her. With his free arm he lifted her as carefully as possible to free his other arm. For a moment he though he had woken her up, but she merely shifted to her other side and continued sleeping. Draco smiled at her, stroked her hair, and gave her a small kiss on the head.
Hoping he might be able to get some more sleep before it was time to get up for the day; Draco retreated to the solitude of his room. But though his bed was soft and comfortable, and the thought of sleep was inviting, all he could do was lie on his back and think. The one thought that refused to leave his mind was 'why had he woken up like that?' Frustrated with his inability to fall back to sleep, he got up and stood by his window, watching the sunrise over the glistening waters of the lake.
Not long after Draco left the common room, Hermione drifted out of her sleep, feeling a slight chill. Without opening her eyes, she moved to snuggle into Draco, but instead she nearly fell off the couch. With a start she jolted up, only just catching herself before she hit the ground. "Draco?" she called.
"Mmmhmm?" he answered, his voice sounding very distant inside his room. Hermione slowly stood, and walked over to his doorway. She curiously eyed Draco standing at his window just staring outward.
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.
"Nothing," he answered, not moving his gaze.
"It felt kind of lonely waking up on the couch without you there," ventured Hermione, attempting to attract Draco's attention. She stood right next to him, still eyeing him with a curious confusion.
He did not look at her, but he did wrap his arm around her waist and drew her closer. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up, I just had a nightmare, and I didn't want to disturb you."
"What was it about?" Hermione asked, though she already had a pretty good idea of what the subject of Draco's nightmare had been.
"I don't remember. I just woke up with my heart racing madly, so I must have been dreaming of something."
"Oh," answered Hermione, turning her attention to the beautifully peaceful landscape outside the window and sighing a bit wishing her life could be as peaceful.
Draco finally turned his head to her. The golden glow of the rising sun was shining against her skin, making the light appear to be radiating from within her. He could see tiny flecks of gold mixed in the brown color of her eyes. In his mind, she was every bit as beautiful as the scene outside. Sure, her hair was frizzier than usual from a nights sleep on the couch, and there was still sleep in her eyes, but she was still beautiful to him.
Hermione could feel Draco's gaze on her, and she could no longer keep her eyes away, she turned to him, wondering what she had done to deserve such a loving gaze from him this morning. Seeing him look at her like that caused an uncommon urge of desire to flutter in the core of her chest. When she looked at him, Draco tightened his grip around her waist and kissed her on the head. A slight smile played across her lips, and she tilted her head upward as he leaned down to kiss her tenderly. She eagerly responded by kissing him back and snaking her hands around his neck. Draco moved his free hand to Hermione's head pressing her closer to him.
Hermione grew weak in the knees from the passion of Draco's kisses, and soon she was using him to hold herself up. Draco felt the change in pressure against him, so he moved his hand from Hermione's head to her waist so he could lift her. Hermione broke the kiss to let out an amused gasp when Draco picked her up. He carried her across the room and placed her delicately on his bed. She lay down and giggled provocatively. Draco leaned on his side next to her, smiling mischievously. He lowered his mouth next to her ear, "now where were we?" he whispered his breath tickled her ear. He began placing sweet kisses on her neck. They were so short and playful that they caused Hermione to giggle with pleasure. She moved her head back and to the side, giving Draco easier access to her neck. Meanwhile she brought her hands to his head, running her fingers through his perfectly silky hair.
Draco was now bored with kissing her neck and was moving his kisses up her chin where he met her at the mouth. She surprised him by eagerly lifting her head up so that she was leaning even more deeply into his kiss than he had anticipated. Excited by her eagerness, his hand, which had simply been holding her side began caressing her skin underneath her shirt. He shifted so he was more on top rather than to the side, a slight moan of desire escaped Hermione's lips encouraging Draco further. His other hand was now also touching her skin, both slowly and steadily sliding her shirt upwards.
Draco leaned in, deepening their kiss further, his tongue ready to venture into Hermione's mouth when suddenly the loud buzzing of his alarm clock shocked them both so much that they bolted apart and were left staring at each other with a look of shocked confusion breathing heavily. Draco grabbed his wand from the bedside table and jabbed it angrily at the alarm. "Bloody fucking annoying alarm," he muttered furiously closing his eyes and lying on his back. He tried hopelessly to recapture the mood, but it was no use, it was long gone now.
Hermione shifted to her side leaning on her arm watching Draco. She could see the frustration in his face even with his eyes closed. She was disappointed that the alarm had rung as well, but didn't seem to be taking the interruption as badly as Draco. She leaned down and kissed him once more before she rolled off the bed to a standing position. She smiled down at him, "come on, we got classes to go to."
Draco groaned and covered his face with his hands while Hermione left his room to prepare for the day. He didn't bother taking a shower, since he had the night before, so he just lounged around attempting to clear his mind, and cursing the 'bloody alarm clock' while he waited for Hermione.
All through her shower and while she was getting ready, Hermione kept closing her eyes and savoring the feeling of Draco's kisses. The bliss she felt when they kissed was the greatest feeling in the world to her. She didn't realize how much she had been craving having him kiss and touch her like that until he had done it, and now she couldn't get enough.
Sure, they kissed a lot, and they would always cuddle up together when they were alone, but this was different. Kissing like they had just done was a different level of their relationship, one of lust and desire, one that she found herself craving more of. Before she left her room, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally telling herself not to give into the desire now, not when she had a full day of responsibilities ahead.
However, the thought of the day ahead was not enough to wipe away the dreamy far-off look that stayed with her throughout the morning. Luckily, her friends didn't notice, as Ginny didn't share any classes with them, Harry was preoccupied thinking about his scar burning, and Ron was just, well unobservant as usual.
Draco on the other hand, found that a whole new set of thoughts invaded his conscience once he stepped out of the common room and into the everyday world of the castle. He couldn't chase the thoughts of his father away. He did his best concentrating in class, but was not entirely successful. He was thankful when the bell for lunch rang, thinking that perhaps some food would somehow clear his head. He was packing up his charms book when Blaise grabbed his robes and yanked him over to a corner of the room. "What are you doing?" Draco spat with a frown.
"Malfoy I need to talk to you, it's urgent, I don't know what to do!" pleaded Blaise.
For a moment Draco just stared at him. This was not like Blaise at all, Blaise never asked for help for any reason. "What is it?" Draco whispered shortly, thinking that it better be something very important.
"It's, well," Blaise inhaled deeply to begin explaining, but never got around to it.
"Blaise darling!" came the shrill voice of Pansy, "what are you doing over here silly, you two are going to miss lunch. You can talk in the Great Hall." Pansy laced her fingers in between Blaise's and smiled sweetly.
Blaise immediately put on a smile, as if nothing was wrong and turned to Pansy, "you're right, we better get going." Blaise turned and led Pansy out of the room, not once looking back at Draco to give him any indication of his thoughts.
Draco sneered, and slowly lifted his bag wondering what Blaise could have wanted to discuss. Whatever it was, he obviously hadn't told Pansy. Draco shrugged and laughed to himself, 'maybe he's trying to dump her' he thought. 'I certainly would if I were him.'
Draco entered the Great Hall to see the tables already filled. Though of course there was a spot open for him in between Crabbe and Goyle, opposite Pansy and Blaise. Draco tried to catch Blaise's eye all through lunch, searching for some indication of anything. Blaise however, seemed determined to never quite meet Draco's eye. Draco quickly gave up trying to make sense of Blaise's odd behavior; he had more important things to think about anyway.
- - - - - - - - - -
Draco left lunch early to return to the common room to get his books for his afternoon classes, which were potions and transfiguration. Hermione met him there, and together they walked down to Snape's classroom.
Draco and Hermione were the first to arrive in the potions classroom. So, since no one was there to see, Draco leaned in and kissed Hermione deeply. Hermione was about to loop her arms around his neck when her conscience kicked in and reminded her where she was. Instead of pulling him closer, she pushed him away. "Draco!" she whispered forcefully, "what if someone walked in and saw us!"
Draco rolled his eyes and smiled slightly, "Hermione, think about it, no one but us ever gets to potions class this early. For some reason, the other houses don't seem to like professor Snape much." Hermione just shook her head, a slight grin playing across her face. "I can imagine why that would be," Draco added as an afterthought, feigning ignorance.
Draco was about to move in closer to kiss Hermione when the door shot open and Blaise practically ran inside. He quickly spotted Draco, and hurried over to him, pushing Hermione out of the way and completely ignoring her presence.
Hermione gave Draco a look that clearly said 'I told you so' before settling herself down into her seat.
Draco rolled his eyes at Hermione before turning his attention to Blaise with a frown. "Is there something you need Zabini? I was in the middle of something."
Blaise nodded, his eyes darting to the door before he spoke. He was breathing heavily, as if he had been rushing to get here. "Malfoy I have to talk to you, you're the only one I can trust and I need your help." Blaise spoke quickly and in a whisper, but Hermione was still close enough to hear. She stopped rummaging through her bag in order to listen more closely.
"What is it?" asked Draco, his voice urgent. He was rather alarmed because Slytherins never asked for help.
But Blaise didn't answer; he suddenly seemed to remember that he and Draco were not alone in the room. He whipped around, glaring at Hermione, who quickly resumed her search for her potions book, unable to hide the color rushing to her cheeks. Draco looked questioning at Blaise, but then led the way to the very front of the room where he usually sat. Blaise instead of sitting behind Draco as usual, sat next to him. "Now," began Draco, calmly and quietly, "what is this all about?"
Blaise opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted and very aware of the other students who were slowly trickling into the classroom. "I'm in trouble, you gotta help me."
Draco narrowed his eyes, and frowned, "help you what?"
But why Blaise was in trouble, Draco did not find out, because just then, Pansy and her gang of Slytherin girls entered the room. "Blaise! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you," said Pansy loudly as she seated herself behind Blaise and Draco. "Why do you keep disappearing?"
Despite himself, Draco snorted with laughter, remembering how he had always tried to escape Pansy when she had been clinging to him. Blaise glanced almost nervously at Draco before turning his attention to Pansy, "I just had some things I needed to do. But we're here together now, so that's all that matters right?"
"Right," Pansy answered happily, before leaning forward to kiss Blaise. He kissed her back and Draco's stomach churned with disgust. He quickly looked away, trying to erase the disturbing memories that were flying through his head.
Hermione was in the back of the room; busy wondering what Blaise had been so desperate to talk about hen Harry and Ron showed up just as it was time for class to start. "Where have you two been?" she snapped as they sat down. But she never got an answer, for just then the door leading to Snape's office burst open and Snape, who was in an inordinately bad temper stormed in. Most of the class shrunk back in their seats, wishing they could just disappear. Even the Slytherin's who usually looked very smug and content in potions viewed Snape warily. They had rarely ever seen Snape in such a bad mood, and everyone was a bit curious as to why Snape was so angry, though none dared to ask him about it.
"Today you will be pairing off and creating a silencing solution. It is meant to temporarily silence the drinker much in the same way that a silencing spell does." Snape's lip curled malevolently at the looks the students were giving him, "and I shall be doing the pairing." The Gryffindors gulped and the Slytherins sneered. They all knew that Snape would be pairing them with a member from the other house, and neither group was all too pleased with that setup. Hermione looked to Draco, who was looking back at her. Both were hoping to be paired together, but considering Snapes bad temper, neither was optimistic.
Snape began pairing the students off; he seemed to be purposely pairing people with their worst nightmare for a potions class project. With each group formed, Snape earned groans and nasty looks from the students. "Potter, you will be with Goyle," Harry shot Snape as exasperated look. "Zabini, you move back there with Granger" Blaise, turned to Pansy, grit his teeth and rolled his eyes at the warning look Draco was giving him. Hermione looked pained, but tried her best not to show it. After all it could have been worse, she could have been unfortunate enough to be paired with Pansy like Neville was.
"Weasley, you come up here with Malfoy." Hermione stared at Draco unblinking, Ron gaped at Snape, and Draco was staring at Snape with disbelief.
"You can't seriously pair me with that git!" cried Ron, causing both Draco and Hermione to turn and scowl at him.
"That will be five points deducted from Gryffindor for your tongue Weasley!" barked Snape.
"But professor that's not fair!" argued Ron, unable to stop himself.
"That will be another five points! Would you like to try for 15?" roared Snape.
Ron opened his mouth to retort, but was silenced by Hermione's foot, which she had stamped down on his. So, with his shoulders sagging in defeat, Ron shuffled up to the front of the room as slowly as possible.
"Professor," began Draco, "You aren't seriously pairing me with Weasley are you? I'd sooner be paired with Potter!"
"That is enough Mr. Malfoy, the pairs will stand as they are, and there shall be no more complaints."
Draco sneered, but fell silent. There was a slight grumbling amongst the Gryffindors because Draco's comment had gone unpunished whereas Ron's had lost 10 points. "Quiet," warned Snape, and instantly the room fell silent except for the scraping of cauldrons and ingredients against the wooden desks.
Ron dropped into the chair that Blaise had vacated scowling at Draco. From the back of the room, Hermione bit her lip as she watched the two of them staring daggers as each other. She hoped against hope that they would make it through the period without killing each other. She only snapped out of her thoughts when Blaise angrily cleared his throat to get her attention, and shoved some of the ingredients in front of her.
"Alright Weasley, I'll slice the boomslang skin while you ground the beetle eyes," ordered Draco.
"Oh no, I'm not letting you mess up this assignment for me!" argued Ron. Although why he was arguing even he could not say since he would rather ground than slice anyway.
"Weasley, I have the highest marks in the year for potions . . . yes, even higher than Hermione," Draco said, correctly interpreting Ron's skeptical look. "So if anyone has any reason to be concerned about their marks for this project, it's me!"
Try as he might, Ron could not argue with that, so furiously he began crushing the beetle eyes, imaging each one to be either Draco's or Snape's head (though mostly Draco's).
Meanwhile, in the back of the room, things were working out surprisingly well between Blaise and Hermione. Although Hermione was positive that he was only being civil to her because he was friends with Draco. He had barely said a word to her, which was definitely a step up from the way most of the other Slytherin's treated her. But still, she was having trouble ignoring the scathing looks he was giving her. She held her head down and directed all her concentration on preparing the ingredients.
The class was going by almost bearably for everyone, until Neville increased the temperature of his and Pansy's potion too much, causing their incomplete mixture to explode. Pansy screamed shrilly as the hot potion washed over her face. They were both sprayed with it, causing, long stringy orange tentacles to sprout all over their skin.
"Longbottom!" roared Snape, his eyes flashing with anger, "10 points from Gryffindor for your incompetence! Now, both of you, get to the hospital wing immediately!"
Pansy dashed out of the room, shrieking with fury and covering her face as best as possible, Neville followed her, whimpering a bit, and knocking into the desks as he passed. On top of his usual clumsiness, the tentacles were greatly impairing his vision.
The Slytherins howled with laughter while the Gryffindors threw them dirty looks. "Ha!" laughed Draco, "leave it to Longbottom to mess up simple instructions."
"Shut up Malfoy!" shouted Ron much louder than he had intended, inadvertently drawing the attention of the other students and professor Snape to them.
Draco noticed all the eyes on them, so managing to suppress his anger, he let the comment go with a smirk as he added the sliced boomslang skin to the potion. Ron however, did not notice the attention he had draw, and was getting increasingly worked up. All his repressed anger and jealousy towards Draco was now boiling inside him hotter than their potion, and there was no stopping it from escaping now.
"Neville," continued Ron, "is ten times better than you or any of your idiot friends are any day!"
Draco snorted with laughter, "sure he is Weasley."
Ron's face was steadily growing redder and his fists were clenched with anger. Hermione was praying that he would keep quiet as she watched her potion simmering. Blaise on the other hand was watching Ron and Draco with amusement hoping one of them would snap and start a fight. Harry was trying to catch Ron's eye so he would calm down, but it was no use.
"You," growled Ron through gritted teeth "are an arrogant, worthless, sleazy, no good git!"
Draco's eyes narrowed into threatening slits, and went dark with anger, like dark threatening clouds swirling during a storm. In the back of the room Blaise was looking positively gleeful, "oh this is gonna be good," he grinned as he anxiously awaited Draco's comeback.
Draco turned when he heard Blaise speak, but rather than look at him, Draco's eyes automatically focused on Hermione. He was pleased to find that she was glaring furiously at Ron. Draco knew that if he retorted with the string of insults he had ready and waiting to throw at Ron she would be angry with him as well. So, biting back the nasty names he had ready to spout out, he turned back to face Ron with a smug look on his face. When he spoke it was in a threatening whisper so that only Ron could hear, "You know that's not true Weasley, and I'm sure I can think of at least one person in this room who agrees with me." Draco's eyes darted to Hermione, then back to Ron.
Ron didn't understand what Draco was talking about, so he looked to here Draco's eyes had flickered. To his horror, he saw Hermione looking positively furious at him. Knowing that the look on Hermione's face would piss off Ron more than anything Draco said could, Draco smirked proudly, turned his back to Ron, and began ladling their perfectly brewed, and very hot potion into a vile to turn into Snape. He was so attentive to the potion, making sure it didn't spill that he didn't see Ron's next move.
But Hermione, Blaise and Harry all saw what Ron was doing, and all at once they reacted. Hermione and Blaise shouted "Draco look out!"
While Harry yelled "Ron don't!"
But Ron did not stop. Draco started to turn to Blaise and Hermione giving them a questioning look, but as he did so Ron dumped the entire cauldron filled with scalding hot ??? solution on Draco's head. Draco cried out in a mixture od pain and fury. The vile he had been so carefully filling dropped and shattered on the floor. "Weasley you're dead!" roared Draco as he rammed into Ron, sending them both crashing to the floor.
"That is enough!" bellowed Snape, before the entire class could join in on the fight. He pulled Draco off of Ron, "Mr. Malfoy, get to the hospital wing, Mr. Zabini you go with him."
"Professor couldn't I . . ." began Hermione.
"Miss Granger you will stay in your seat!" snapped Snape.
Hermione shrank back in her seat and watched worriedly as Blaise led Draco out of the room. Draco needed the guidance because the potion had swelled his eyes nearly shut.
"Now," Snape turned to Ron sneering. Ron's nose was gushing blood, his eye was black and blue and swollen from Draco's attack, but Snape took no notice. "Mr. Weasley, you deliberately assaulted another student, unprovoked I might add. You endangered not only Mr. Malfoy, but everyone around you when you dumped the potion. I believe that deserves 50 points from Gryffindor, and a weeks worth of detention.
"Ron sputtered indignantly, "But . . ."
"Oh yes, and since you failed to turn in a sample of your potion, you shall receive a zero for this assignment," Snape's lip curled with satisfaction at the look on Ron's face. "The rest of you may turn in your potion samples now," Snape said to the rest of the class.
Harry turned in his potion, which was more of a dark purple than brown as it should have been, which caused Snape to sneer. Harry however didn't care, he was just concerned with trying to calm Ron down.
Hermione carefully filled a vile with the solution. She handed it to Snape, and barely even bothered to look towards Ron before rushing out of the classroom. She was a little concerned about his injuries of course, but she wasn't about to comfort him after what he had done to Draco. And at the moment she was too concerned with finding out if Draco was alright, as well as what exactly he had said to Ron that got him so worked up. She knew that Ron was often irrational, but still she couldn't believe that he would have attacked Draco like that if he had not been seriously provoked.
While Hermione was r acing through the halls, Harry was back in the potions classroom trying to calm Ron down. "Ron, come on," he urged "you should go see Madam Pomfrey."
"No!" argued Ron, pushing Harry out of the way and charging forward through the hall. "I refuse to go in there while that arse is in there, and I certainly will not go while she's there comforting the arrogant bastard!"
Harry sighed in defeat and followed Ron to class. He didn't want to gang up on Hermione, but his hatred for Malfoy coupled with how much his scra had been burning recently put him on edge. He could not ignore the feeling, or was it more of an intuition, that her being so close to Malfoy was putting her in grave danger.
Ron's nose was still bleeding when they arrived at transfiguration, so he pulled one of Fred and George's Nosebleed Nougats from his pocket and ate the half that stopped nosebleeds. Sure enough, within a moment his nose was fine. He still had a black eye, but at the moment he was too angry to care.
When Hermione arrived at the hospital wing, slightly out of breath, she saw that Madam Pomfrey was tending to Draco. Neville and Pansy were still there, but the tentacles on their faces were nearly gone, and Blaise had apparently left already. Madame Pomfrey turned when she heard Hermione enter, she gave her a stern look, but nodded, then headed over to see to Neville, who seemed to be having some difficulty getting rid of the last of the tentacles.
Hermione dropped her bag and sat beside Draco's bed. His face was covered with some sort of thick white paste that was apparently mending his burned skin. He opened his eyes when he heard Hermione and smiled slightly when he was her. She smiled momentarily and asked, "how are you?"
Draco sighed a bit overdramatically, "well, thankfully the ??? solution is only effective if you drink it, so I just got burned. Madame Pomfrey says I'll be free to leave once the paste disappears.
Hermione let out a breath of relief and tried to smile again, but it was weak and it was quickly replaced with a stern look. Draco frowned a bit and looked confused. "You know," began Hermione solemnly, "you gave Ron a pretty serious nosebleed, and a black eye when you hit him."
Draco smirked proudly and chuckled, "the git deserved it" he muttered under his breath.
Hermione frowned, "what did you say to him?"
Draco glared at Hemrione with disbelief, "what did I say! Hermione, did you see what he did to me? Did you hear what he said to me?"
"Yes! I heard what he said to, and I saw what he did after you whispered something to him. But I know that Ron would never have gone that far if you hadn't said something to provoke him!"
By now, both Neville and Pansy were listening to the row going on between Draco and Hermione, since neither of them had seen what had happened to Draco, they were both curious to hear more. Draco was scowling, "what the fuck does it matter what I said?" he spat.
"If it doesn't matter, then why won't you tell me?" challenged Hermione.
Draco's eyes narrowed, "fine, you want to know, he called me a sleazy git, so I glanced over to you and said that I could think of someone who would disagree."
Hermione looked furious, "I knew it! I knew you somehow put me in the middle of it! Why do you have to do that? It's hard enough for me without you purposely trying to cause problems between me and my friends!"
Draco sneered, "Oh and you think I'm just having a grand old time dealing with things?" I see the way that weasel looks at you when you're not looking Hermione, I know what he's thinking. Do you think it's easy for me to know that you're always in class with him, eating with him, and hanging around him with the way he feels about you?"
Hermione gasped indignantly, "you're jealous! How can you be jealous?"
"No!" argues Draco, "I'm just noting how things haven't been a walk in the park for me either. I'm sure I don't need to remind out of what my friends attitudes towards you, and out relationship are."
Hermione dropped her head, "no you don't. Just please, I love you, but please don't make things more difficult between me and my friends than they already are."
Draco closed his eyes and took a breath to relieve some anger, he grit his teeth when he spoke, "I'll try, but I'm not promising anything if he starts something."
Hermione looked up into his cool gray eyes and let out a breath, "okay," she whispered," I have to go to class now. She picked up her bag and turned away, but before she left, she turned back. "And Draco, I love you," she blew him a kiss.
"I love you too," he whispered calmly. He watched her until she left the room, and then he sighed, closed his eyes, and lay his head back on his pillow.
"So, looks like there's a bit of trouble in Paradise is there?" said a cruel and gleeful voice from across the room.
"Shut up Pansy," ordered Draco.
I hope this chapter was worth the wait for everyone. Please send me a review and tell me what you think! Now, I'm off to get started on chapter 7!