Hogwarts' Hero
Chapter 7
A/N: : : emerges from the hole she's hidden in for the past 2 weeks : : Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long, but I've been visiting family. Thanks to DracoIsMyLOVER, horseluver13, Solain Rhyo, Melein, beatrix, DracMione, Tacky Socks, that-silent-scream24, bk and Karana Belle for reviewing. I luff you guys!
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After Hermione's abrupt exit from the Great Hall, she was nervous about seeing her friends. Surely her reaction to their accusations could only condemn her further.
She whispered the password to the Fat Lady timidly and entered the Common Room. She braced herself and prepared for the flurry of questions and allegations that were sure to come, but was pleasantly surprised when no one ambushed her. Hermione looked around cautiously, weary for any sudden movement. Flames flickered in the fire place and braches tapped eerily against the windows, but the common room was empty. It was well past curfew, but Hermione had figured her friends wouldn't have let that stop them from bothering her.
When nothing happened, Hermione heaved a sigh of relief and trudged towards the girls' dormitories. That's when they attacked.
A whirlwind of colourful night robes grabbed Hermione and pulled her over to one of the armchairs in front of the fire. Hermione was forced down, and her assailants surrounded her, leaving no room to escape.
Hermione looked up at Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender and screeched, "What is going on?!"
Ginny, who'd noticed Hermione searching for a way out, replied in a menacing tone, "You didn't tell us what happened in library today. Don't think you can get out of it that easy."
'What in Merlin's name has gotten into her?' Hermione thought franticly.
Hermione was scared. These couldn't be the wonderful, thoughtful and caring girls she went to school with. A glance up at their faces told her that they were and there was no way she was getting out of this one.
"Now," smiled Ginny. "Tell us everything."
"Yes," giggled Parvati and Lavender. "Everything!"
"Well, I was in library," began Hermione, "and―"
"Yes, we know," Ginny explained. Her voice took on a more girlish pitch when she whispered, "Get to the good parts."
"Good parts?" Hermione questioned. "You can't be talking about actually kissing the disgusting prat?"
"Oh!" squealed Parvati. "What was it like? Was he gentle, or is he a more take charge kind of guy?"
"Was it dreamy?" breathed Lavender. "Was it the most wonderful thing you've ever experienced? Did he make you melt?"
Ginny, Parvati and Lavender gazed off into the common room and sighed wistfully.
Hermione wished she could stab Malfoy's eyes out with a pencil.
The girls turned back towards Hermione. Apparently, their interrogation wasn't over. Ginny looked at Hermione questioningly, and asked, "Why would you let Malfoy kiss you anyway?"
Hermione was shocked. They couldn't believe that she'd actually kiss Malfoy voluntarily. The idea was absolutely preposterous!
"Ginny! I'd rather have thousands of hungry owls claw away at my face than actually kiss that slimy git," Hermione protested vehemently.
"If you didn't want him to kiss you, then how did it happen?" asked Lavender skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest.
"C'mon Hermione," Parvati smirked knowingly. "Malfoy wouldn't have kissed you unless you were absolutely gagging for it."
What was that supposed to mean?!
"I'll have you know that Malfoy was the one who initiated the whole thing. NOT me!" Hermione protested.
"So, he came on to you?" Ginny asked, surprised.
"What's so surprising about that?" Hermione cried. "I'll have you know that he's been bothering me incessantly for the last couple days! That boy will not give me a moment's peace!"
Ginny, Parvati and Lavender smiled at each other.
"Just wait until Padma hears about this!" Parvati exclaimed.
"Hannah and Susan will just die," agreed Lavender.
"Luna will have a fit," laughed Ginny. "Imagine, Draco Malfoy in love with Hermione!"
Hermione looked up at the girls.
'Have they gone insane?!'
Hermione was about to protest, when a small voice popped up in her head. 'Malfoy won't be happy about this,' it said. 'Everyone will think he's panting after a muggleborn.'
'He definitely won't like that!' Hermione agreed happily.
So Hermione kept quiet, and watched as Ginny, Parvati and Lavender walked up the stairs to the dormitories, whispering madly.
'It serves that bloody ferret right!'
Hermione was happy she would cause Malfoy some grief the next day, but she wasn't going to stop until she exposed Draco Malfoy's secret and made him the laughingstock of the entire school. No one messed with Hermione Granger!
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'I'll kill that bushy haired know it all,' Draco vowed to himself as he sat among his fellow Slytherins at breakfast. Somehow that buck toothed Mudblood had managed to convince the entire student body that he was after her. Imagine! Draco Malfoy after a Mudblood Gryffindor.
Draco scowled as he stabbed his eggs repeatedly with his fork. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Everyone was supposed to acknowledge how much of a charmer he must be to get that prude, Granger. They were supposed to praise him for his devilish ways, and laugh at Hermione for falling for it. Obviously, things weren't going as planned.
He looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw Granger laughing with the female weasel. He narrowed his eyes and returned to murdering his eggs.
"What's wrong with you?" Blaise asked Draco from across the table. "I think you've officially managed to turn your eggs into liquid."
Draco made no move to answer, so Pansy, who was sitting beside him, supplied, "Draco's upset because everyone knows about his crush on the Mudblood."
Draco quickly looked up from his breakfast and protested, "I do not have a crush on―"
"Whoa! Hold on," said Blaise, holding up his hands. "You don't mean Hermione Granger do you?"
Pansy nodded and Malfoy protested once more, "I do not―"
"Now that you mention it," interrupted Blaise, "I can't say I wasn't expecting it."
Draco looked over at his friend and shouted, "What do you mean?!"
Blaise began, "All that fighting, it was just . . ."
"Sexual tension," Pansy finished, pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice.
Draco looked at his friends in alarm. They couldn't actually believe that rubbish.
"It was not sexual tension," Draco growled forcefully.
"Draco," Pansy explained gently. "It was kind of obvious. If you don't like her, then why do you spend so much time talking about her?"
"And why did you stay behind in potions to bother her?" Blaise added.
"I don't talk about her Pansy! I complain about her and come up with ways to torture her," Draco argued, "and Blaise, I only stayed behind to have some fun. Don't you enjoy bothering the occasional Mudblood once in a while?"
Pansy groaned exasperatedly, and asked, "Why don't you just admit it? The whole school knows anyway."
Malfoy jumped up from his seat, and screamed at his two seemingly intelligent friends, "I do not have a crush on Hermione Granger!"
Draco gave them one last menacing glare and stormed out of the Great Hall.
"He's getting good at that," Pansy mused.
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When Hermione saw Malfoy leave the Great Hall, she excused herself from breakfast, saying she had some last minute studying to do. Hermione decided that the best way to begin her investigation was to keep an eye on Malfoy and see if anything came up in regards to Diagon Alley.
She'd helped stop Voldemort for the past five years, plus she'd read all the Nancy Drew books when she was younger. Figuring out Malfoy's secret should be a piece of cake.
She stealthily followed him into the entrance hall and ducked into an alcove below one of the windows when Malfoy spun around suddenly.
Hermione pressed herself as far into the shadows as she could and thought worriedly, 'He couldn't have heard me! We've hardly left the entrance hall.'
"Who's there?" Malfoy demanded, searching for the owner of the footsteps he'd heard following him only moments before.
'Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!' Hermione cursed, praying that Malfoy wouldn't discover her hiding place.
Hermione waited anxiously as Malfoy's footsteps echoed closer and closer to where she was hidden. They stopped suddenly, and Hermione hoped that meant he had given up on finding her.
"Granger?" Malfoy asked, walking over to where Hermione was pressed up against the wall.
Hermione looked at Draco and replied curtly, "Malfoy."
Draco noticed Hermione's awkward position pushed up against the wall and narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"
Hermione franticly looked around for an excuse, any excuse. She glanced up at the window above them, and explained, "I'm, err, I'm checking for . . . for drafts!"
"Drafts?" Malfoy asked, raising an eyebrow. He smirked. She couldn't be serious.
"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed triumphantly, moving away from the wall. "They can be very harmful to students' health. It's important that the windows be checked regularly to insure our safety."
Malfoy's smirk widened. "And is this a particularly drafty window?" He inquired sarcastically.
Hermione chose to ignore his sarcasm and replied with mock enthusiasm, "Oh yes! Very, very drafty. I have to go inform Dumbledore at once."
She quickly side stepped Draco, and walked hurriedly towards the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room. She was anxious to escape Malfoy before he asked why she had been following him.
Her exit, however, was interrupted by Professor McGonagall, who entered the entrance hall, just as she was about to leave.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy! Professor Dumbledore has requested your presence in his office immediately."
Malfoy cocked his head at Hermione as she approached the Professor, and said, "That's perfect Granger. Now you can inform Dumbledore of his drafty windows right away."
Hermione blushed. Malfoy knew she hadn't told the truth, and she knew he wouldn't let it go. Hermione followed Malfoy and Professor McGonagall down the corridor.
The walk to the Headmaster's office was silent. Neither student knew why they had been summoned but Hermione assumed it had something to do with their prefect duties.
They approached the stone gargoyle, and Professor McGonagall whispered, "Sugar Quills."
The gargoyle spiraled away, and revealed a flight of stairs.
Professor McGonagall turned towards the two students and stated, "You two are to go up and greet the Headmaster. He has pressing matters to discuss with both of you. I'm going to leave you here, and trust you can find your way up the stairs on your own. Don't keep the Headmaster waiting."
With a stern look, Professor McGonagall left Hermione and Draco.
Hermione nervously glanced at Malfoy, who was staring silently at the stairs before them.
When Malfoy noticed neither of them moving, he motioned towards the stairs, smiled, and told Hermione, "After you, Mudblood."
Hermione scowled and stomped ahead of Malfoy. 'The nerve of him!' Hermione fumed inwardly. 'Calling me names right before a meeting with the headmaster. The insufferable bastard!'
Hermione was aware of Malfoy's presence behind her as she walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. When they reached the top of the stairs, Hermione took the griffin knocker in her hand and sounded it politely, letting Dumbledore know of their arrival.
Hermione opened the polished door, and saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk glancing over some papers.
When Hermione entered the room, Dumbledore looked up and smiled. "Ah, Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore greeted. He put down his parchments and motioned towards the two chairs in front of him. "Please, sit down. I have something I'd like to discuss with both of you."
Hermione sat down and placed her hands in her lap, and waited for the headmaster to begin. Malfoy didn't have the same kind of patience, because as soon as he dropped into his seat, he asked, "Now, what exactly did you need to tell us?"
Hermione was amazed at the lack of respect Malfoy was showing for their Headmaster. His rudeness didn't seem to trouble Dumbledore though, because his eyes twinkled merrily as he answered, "It has come to my attention that certain events have transpired between the two of you."
Dumbledore looked at each of them pointedly and continued, "I just wanted to let you know how wonderful I find it to have found that you two were able to overcome the prejudices present in the magical world."
"Excuse me, Professor," Hermione interrupted politely. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"Well, Ms. Granger, I'm sure you and Mr. Malfoy are aware that news of your activities has spread throughout Hogwarts. If I could be so bold to say, I believe you two make a very fine match."
"We most certainly do not!" Malfoy bellowed from his seat.
Hermione's mind was spinning. Dumbledore thought they were a couple! Oh! That man had way too much confidence in the both of them. They definitely weren't going to be getting over their dislike for each other anytime soon.
Hermione felt incredibly guilty when she noticed the shocked look on Dumbledore's face and quickly amended, "What Malfoy meant to say, professor, is that he's shocked that news of our, erm, status has gotten out so quickly."
Malfoy quickly turned towards Hermione in shock, but Hermione refused to make eye contact with him.
Dumbledore smiled fondly at them both and said, "Classes are about to start. You may go."
Hermione smiled and got up hurriedly. She exited the room as fast as she could, and as soon as she was on the stairs she began to run. She couldn't deal with Malfoy right now, especially since she had no idea what she would say.
Hermione made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs before Malfoy managed to grab her shoulder and spin her around.
"What exactly were you thinking, Granger?!"
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A/N: So, what did you think? Has my absence made me loose sight of my muse, or am I more in tune with her than ever? . . . And did I just say that? Anyway, I hoped you liked it, and I hope you'll review :P
