After the Dance

"Hey Harry, have you seen Hermione?" Ron asked. "I want to get that dance now."

"Haven't seen her," Harry responded.

"Well, I'm going to look for her."

"Wait, I'll come with you."

The two boys began scanning the Hall for Hermione. After looking for minutes without finding her, they stopped.

"I think she's gone," Harry said.

"Yeah…and so is Malfoy…"

"Ok, we've definitely got to find her."

"Neville!" Ron said, spotting the boy and pulling him aside.

"Have you seen Hermione or Malfoy?"

Neville pointed in the direction of the gardens and the two boys immediately headed off.

"I swear, if he lays one hand on her…"

"I'm going to kick his ass anyway."

Harry and Ron turned the corner and Harry's voice trailed off. Sitting in plain view was Draco, doing strangely explicit things to the girl underneath him who seemed to be—Hermione?

"What the hell!" Harry yelled.

Draco turned around and saw Harry and Ron with matching expressions of horror on their face. He sighed and sat up.

"Get your slimy hands off her!" Ron yelled, and Draco reluctantly slid his hand out of Hermione's dress and sat on the bench beside her.

"What do you two want?" Draco asked calmly, though he was far from it.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ron said.

"Hermione, what the hell is going on?" Harry asked.

"Were you kissing this git?"

"Of course she was. And you two are the gits," Draco said.

"Say another word and I'll kick your ass…" Harry said angrily.

"Don't make useless threats, Potter. You don't want another scar. And Weasley," Draco said as Ron moved forward, "don't bother. Your family will go bankrupt trying to pay the hospital bills."

Ron lunged for him and Harry grabbed his arms, just barely holding him back.

"Not right now, Ron," Harry said. The redhead eventually stopped struggling. "Hermione, let's go."

"I think she'll leave when she wants to," Draco said.

"Look Malfoy, I wasn't talking to you. Hermione, let's go."

"I don't care if you were talking to me."

"I will bash your face in if you say one more—"

"Look guys, will you just stop!" Hermione yelled, standing up. "I'm leaving." She rushed out of the gardens, leaving the three very bewildered boys in her wake.

"Hey Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked as Hermione tried to speed-walk past her in the Hall.

"Everything. Look, I'd stop to talk, but I just need to get back to my dorm."

"Can I come with?"

"Yeah, of course." The two girls quickly went back to Hermione's room, where she promptly collapsed on the bed and pulled the sheets over herself.

"Hermione?"

"Ugh. I can't believe what just happened."

"What?"

"I kissed Draco."

"Big surprise."

"And then Harry and Ron saw me."

"So what?"

"Then they started yelling and Draco started yelling."

"Well, guys are stupid."

"Then they started yelling at me. So I left." Hermione's head emerged from the sheets. "How am I going to explain this?"

"You don't have to explain anything to them."

"Yes, I do. Harry's going to ask. And Ron won't leave me alone about this. Or Draco," Hermione said as she sank below the sheets. She was silent for a while.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No, Ginny, but…"

"It's ok, I'll go. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

Ginny left the room and went down the stairs. Just as she was closing the portrait, she saw Harry and Ron running towards her.

"Wait, don't close it," Ron said.

"Is she in there?" Harry asked.

"Where else would she be?" Ginny didn't release the door and remained in front of them, blocking the entrance. "You'd better fix whatever you did," she said before she moved and walked away.

Ron grabbed the portrait and Harry stepped inside. They headed towards the red carpeted staircase and went up the stairs.

"Hermione?"

Inside, Hermione was still hiding underneath her sheets when she heard someone call her name. She got up and walked over to the door.

"Yeah?" she called out.

"It's Harry and Ron. We need to talk."

So soon? She'd thought they would have taken the hint and left her alone at least for tonight. Reluctantly she opened the door and let them inside.

"What do you want?" she asked, taking a seat on the floor. Harry and Ron followed suit.

Draco was quite angered that Harry and Ron had managed to ruin the night for him. He promised himself that the next time he saw the two he would give them the worst beat-down ever. But at the moment finding Hermione was slightly more important. He headed in the direction of the dorm, hoping that she would be there ready continue where they'd left off. Just as he was about to pull the spear belonging to the suit of armor, the staircase appeared and Ginny was walking down it.

"Hey, is Hermione in there?"

Why did they always ask that? "Of course she is. But—"

Draco didn't bother to stay and listen to what the redhead had to say. He quickly entered the dorm and walked over to Hermione's staircase. Seeing the door was slightly open, he was about to walk in when he heard Hermione's voice.

"Look guys, he's just a dumb git."

"Then why were you kissing him?" another voice asked.

"I hadn't planned on it…"

Wait, what? She knew exactly what she was doing…Draco thought. He remained outside to continue listening to what was being said.

"So why didn't you stop him?"

"I wasn't thinking, ok! Just—"

"That's not what it looked like…"

"Don't be ridiculous. Malfoy is still a git. A horny git. There's nothing between us."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. He's still the same cruel, cold-hearted bastard we've all come to know and love to hate."

There was silence.

"So there's nothing going on?"

"Nothing at all. Maybe I made the mistake of letting my guard down around him, but it's not going to happen again."

Hermione began asking them about their experience at the dance, quickly changing the subject. Draco, outside, stared at the portrait in disbelief of what he had just heard. Then after a minute, he turned and walked downstairs to the common room. He lay down on the couch and closed his eyes, trying to think.

So that's what she really thinks of me. And I thought she'd really believed me.

A minute later, Harry and Ron appeared in the common room. They headed for the exit without noticing Draco lying on the couch. Shortly after, Hermione followed and walked over to Draco's staircase.

"It's nice to know that you think I'm a dumb git."

Hermione stopped and turned around. Draco was now sitting up on the couch, and an unreadable expression, one she hadn't seen in a long time, was present on his face.

"What?"

"Yeah, it's nice to know that you think I'm a cruel, cold-hearted bastard. And it's true, you know," Draco said, rising from the couch. He walked over to his staircase where Hermione was still standing. "Except for the dumb git part."

"Wait, Draco, what you heard, I didn't mean—"

"Save it, mudblood." He mounted the staircase and entered his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Damn it, what did I just do? Hermione thought. She also climbed Draco's staircase.

"Draco?"

"Go away. I don't want to hear what you think you need to say."

"Look, I didn't really mean what I said."

She could hear him sigh through the portrait. "Even though I'm an evil bastard, I have to say that I do pride myself on being honest. You, however, do not, and should work on that. I suggest you go to bed now."

"Draco, I'm not going anywhere until we talk about this."

"Whatever. I'm not going to listen." She could hear him as he applied a soundproofing spell to his room.

"Maybe you should leave, dearie," the portrait on the door said.

"I said I wasn't going, and I'm not," Hermione said and sank to the ground. She leaned against a wall and tried to think.

"I'm stupid."

"Young lady, would you mind being quiet?" the portrait asked.

"Sorry."

Maybe you shouldn't have lied in the first place, her conscience stated.

"What else could I do?" she whispered. "If I'd told them I actually enjoyed it, they would've strangled me."

Ok. So now here you are. I guess things went off as expected…

"Well, if he hadn't heard me…"

You'd have to keep lying to Harry and Ron?

"I am going to tell everybody the truth eventually."

Eventually. That's good.

"Ugh. Why am I talking to myself?"

"That's what I want to know," the portrait said.

"Fine, but I'm not going anywhere." Hermione said nothing more for a long time. Then, just before she drifted off to sleep, a mumble escaped her lips. "Eventually…" she said, and closed her eyes.