Seeds of Seduction
Chapter 26: Chatting and Eavesdropping
Draco pulled off his dripping wet shirt and threw it on the couch in the foyer. He hung his head dejectedly as he filed into his living room. Looking up, he yelped and leapt back.
"Blaise," he said shooting the dark haired boy who was sitting on the sofa a dirty look.
"Malfoy," he returned getting up, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," said Draco quickly throwing himself on his sofa.
"Don't give me that. I've been your best friend since first yea," said Blaise sternly.
"Harry, Hermione, Ron, Severus, and Ginny cornered me today in Diagon Alley," fibbed Draco. "They tried to kill me. But at the last moment, Hermione pushed me aside."
"They wait-what?" asked Blaise, "Severus was there?"
"He was a spy against us," said Draco bitterly.
"We must alert Lord Vol-" said Blaise immediately standing up and making his way towards the fireplace.
"No point, Severus is dead," said Draco emotionlessly staring into the crackling fire.
"Dead?" said Blaise jerking around.
"When Hermione pushed me out of the way, the curse hit him," said Draco tonelessly.
Blaise made his way back wordlessly over to Draco.
"Severus of all people a spy?" said Blaise softly.
Draco didn't answer; he simply stared at his palms.
"What did it feel like when Granger saved you?" asked Blaise finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"It was a plot ok," said Draco turning to look at Blaise for the first time, "Severus was in cahoots with Dumbledore. They sent Hermione to seduce me and divulge information from me about Voldemort's plans. It worked until…"
"Until you fell in love," finished Blaise.
"How did you know?" asked Draco, confusion gracing his handsome features.
"It was obvious," said Blaise rolling his eyes.
"Lucius always told me that love was a weakness," said Draco, 'I grew up believing him. He told me that love makes a man lose his concentration, that love makes a man weak. Even though I hate to agree with him, he was right."
"You just had to fall in love with an Auror didn't you?" asked Blaise a hint of amusement in his voice, "It seems like you have a heart after all."
"Well that makes one of us," returned Draco his silver eyes boring into Blaise's.
"What did you do?" asked Blaise finally.
"I broke it off with her," said Draco sighing heavily, "As much as Hermione matters to me, there's absolutely nothing for us. Potter, and the Weasels surely are against Hermione liking me. As a matter of fact, they're probably fuming at her this moment."
"She liked Weasley though didn't she?" asked Blaise.
"Yeah, but as usual the weasel was too blind to realize what was in front of him," said Draco wryly a derisive laugh escaping his throat.
Blaise smiled.
"Well Draco, I'll be going," said Blaise, "Don't worry, Voldemort will hear nothing of this. It'll remain between the two of us."
"Thank you."
"Oh Blaise," said Draco looking up as Blaise put his hand on the door knob, "Promise me one thing."
"What?"
"When the Final Battle comes, promise me you won't kill Hermione," said Draco his gray eyes pleading silently.
Blaise sighed and nodded
"I promise."
. & .
Meanwhile the trio were back at the Order. As Draco had predicted Harry and Ron were furious with Hermione. On the other hand Ginny was trying her best to defend her best friend.
"I told you that she shouldn't spend that much time with that ferret!" roared Ron, "Now look what happened! She fucking fell in love with him!"
"But I thought she loved Ron," said Harry cautiously.
"What?" gasped Ron. "She..loves…me. Oh, now she's going to come back to good old Ron because Malfoy turned her down. Well things don't work that way!"
"Loved!" snapped Ginny, "Ronald Weasley, you are so daft! You know nothing! You're whining that she's hurt you! Well guess what! A few months of hurt doesn't compare with the years that Hermione gone through. You have no idea what it must have felt when she saw you with all these girls. She knew that she could never be in their place. Sure, she was dependable, reliable Hermione but she was never good enough for you. You have no idea how many nights she came to me crying over you. So excuse her for giving up on you before you finally realize that you could love her too!"
Ron's face had turned stark white. Harry was frozen to the spot.
"But-" he started.
"No BUTS!" Ginny roared, "How can you blame Hermione for turning away from you? If you put a young beautiful woman in the company in the company of a handsome bachelor like Draco Malfoy, no doubt she's going to fall in love!
"Now you think of it," snarled Ron regaining his composure, "Took you a long time!"
"What could I do?" snapped Ginny, "This mission had to be done and everyone was in favor of sending Hermione."
"Ok," said Harry in a strained voice, "Arguing isn't going to solve anything. Malfoy escaped our clutches-"
"Because of Hermione," growled Ron. A look from Ginny silenced him.
"Ok," said Ginny, "Enough. Hermione's gone through a lot of emotional trauma. We need to give her a break."
"How can you say that?" roared Ron, "She killed Severus. He was our BEST spy!"
"Ok fine!" yelled Ginny turning towards Ron, "What do you want to do? Throw her out of the order so she can stray over to Voldemort? She'll do it because Malfoy is there! Or sentence her to death for saving the life of the man she loves? Condemn her for foiling the last part of the plan that she made successful? Yell at her for giving up her soul and her body to make this mission work? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO RON?"
Ron gaped his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"Fine, I'll lay off her," grumbled Ron, "But I am going to be mad. How can you expect me to be happy?"
"I understand that," said Ginny rolling her eyes, "But I don't want you saying something that could hurt her even more. This has already scarred her. We can't make her feel worse."
"Time will smooth it out," consoled Harry, "Until then we have to move on. There's a final battle to prepare for."
"Fine," conceded Ron though he still looked disgruntled.
Outside, the door a figure was listening to the conversation. Tears welled up in her eyes as she heard the exchange. She felt like hugging Ginny. At least she had someone in her favor who would listen to her and try to understand the situation. The noise of the chairs moving away from the table caught her ears. As footsteps approached the door, she nimbly darted up the corridor and into her room. Footsteps passed her door and she could hear Ron muttering angrily. She knew this would be one boy's trust she would have to beg for.
But how was she to blame? Why hadn't Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Severus told her they were planning to kill Draco? Severus! Tears began to flow down her raw and red cheeks as she slid to the floor. It seemed like she couldn't do anything properly these days. Not only had she fallen in love with her enemy but she had inadvertently killed their best spy. Inadvertently that would he only defense. How could, how would she face them tomorrow at breakfast. Or for that matter how would she face them at all? They would constantly be reminded about how she had ruined the climax of their meeting.
Hermione simply lay weak upon the floor until her sobs subsided. Closing her tired eyes, she lay upon the floor until sleep overcame her.
. & .
Ginny waltzed into Hermione's room next morning carrying a plate of toasts, eggs, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Her smile vanished as she haw Hermione huddled on the floor in front of the fireplace. Ginny tiptoed over and sat beside her. Setting down the plate and the glass, she touched Hermione's cheek, which was slightly damp. Gently, she tapped Hermione on the shoulder.
"What?" murmured Hermione looking around her blearily and then falling back down on the fall.
"Hermione," whispered Ginny, "It's me Ginny."
Hermione's eyes snapped open and she quickly sat up. Her eyes wide and fearful, her azel orbs quickly tore up.
"Gin," she whispered, "I'm sorry."
"No," said Ginny quickly.
Hermione sniffled and looked down.
"I brought you breakfast," said Ginny, "I knew that you wouldn't come down."
"Thanks, but I'm to hungry," said Hermione feeling small.
"Please eat, you look like you could use some emery," chuckled Ginny,
Hermione grinned in spite of herself. Relenting, she picked up a piece of bead and tore off a small piece. Brining it to her mouth, she nibbled it silently.
"By the way thank you for standing up for e yesterday," said Hermione shyly.
"It was the only thing I could do," sad Ginny, "I couldn't let them say rubbish and false stuff about you."
"It was all my fault though," said Hermione her eyes tearing up once more.
"No," said Ginny automatically, "We should have you that we were planning to kill Malfoy. Had we told you then Severus would not have been killed."
Hermione bowed her head.
"I'm sorry about what happened wit Malfoy," said Ginny quietly looking at her hands, "What was he like?"
"He was beautiful," breathed Hermione forgetting about the toast she was brining to her mouth, "Every time I was around him, I..I don't know what would come over me. Every tear he shed, every wince of pain, every smile just brought me closer to him. He was nothing like he was in Hogwarts years ago. Everything was so beautiful between us. It was fine at first before," gulped Hermione, "I started to really love him. I tried to deny it. I loved your brother Ginny and I tried to remain faithful the whole time! But my barriers started to break around Draco. But I wouldn't accept it until I didn't become lightheaded, flustered around Ron. Nothing was happening around Ron. I didn't want to break his heart. I felt that maybe, maybe after the mission, we could still be friends. But it didn't happen. I was hoping that he could come over but he won't. He's sunk in too deep into the Dark Arts. Yesterday, I tried to convince Draco that..that we would work. I," tears were now streaming down her face, "I tried so hard for him to realize that we were supposed to be together. I have to move on Ginny. But I don't think I can. I don't think. Gin, tell me how could I have fallen in love with a man who's a Death..a Death .." trailed off Hermione looking helplessly at Ginny as the sobs choked her throat.
Ginny leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Hermione. Tears stunning her eyes, Ginny rubbed Hermione hair.
"It'll be all right," she whispered. "It'll be all right."
A/N: Hey, thanks so much for all the reviews. I must confess I was rather disappointed with the difference of reviews between chapters 24 and 25. I reviewed twice as many reviews or chapter 24 than I did for 25! This story will be done soon; the chapters are winding down. The ending is decided now and I hope that ya'll will like it. I know I can't please each and everyone of you.Please review! They would be much appreciated. Like before, the more reviews the faster you get the next chapter. My finals are done and the faster I get reviews, the faster I'll upload the 4 remaining chapters! They are all finished and ready for uploading!