Oh my goodness you guys, I am so sorry… I know you won't believe this but I have a hell of a disaster story for you… I'll put it at the end, so you can just get straight to the story, and then hear about my awful disaster when you're finished. :-) I hope you enjoy this chapter… I worked extra hard on it because I thought after the wait you deserved an extra special one. Let me know what you think. :-)
OH and I totally didn't realize the anonymous reviews were disabled, so to any of you who don't have an FF account thingy, you can review now too, because I enabled them, because I would love to hear what you think too! Even if you hate me. pout So please review:-)
Disclaimer: Don't own nuthin' but the plot. pout
"Bloody hell," Ron murmured in awe after Hermione had told him about her detention in the forest. "Malfoy… kissed you. And you let him?"
Hermione had hurried to the Gryffindor common room to see her friends after she and Draco had returned from the forest. She needed to see some friendly faces, and Harry and Ron were only too happy to see her.
"I told you already Ron, I don't know exactly why I let him," Hermione sighed. She was already regretting telling Harry and Ron all of what had happened, but she couldn't keep secrets from them, they had been through too much. She knew if they had fought Voldemort and his death eaters together they could get through a simple kiss from Malfoy.
"And there was a wolf?" Harry asked, seemingly unperturbed by the Malfoy situation.
"Harry, she just made out with your worst enemy and all you can think about is the bloody wolf?" Ron demanded, turning to his friend.
"Well I do think that a wolf is more life threatening than a kiss," Harry said with a smile. "And if you think otherwise, I might be forced to wonder if you still think girls have cooties… have you ever kissed a girl, mate?"
"Of course I have," Ron said, blushing furiously. "I just meant that… er… well…"
"Who?" Harry asked with a grin, enjoying his friend's embarrassment. "Who have you kissed, Ron? You never told me about it…"
"It was me, actually," Hermione said calmly.
It was Harry's turn to be embarrassed. "Oh?" he said. Ron grinned broadly at him, feeling better. "Oh I see. Why the bloody hell didn't you two tell me?"
Hermione giggled. "It was a one time thing, really," she said, amused by Harry's reaction. "We were both a bit drunk after the Yule Ball… Viktor had said something to upset me, and Ron found me crying in an empty classroom."
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "I conjured up a bottle of firewhiskey, and we had a little party of our own."
"Things got a bit out of control," Hermione giggled.
"Where the hell was I?" Harry asked, genuinely curious why he hadn't noticed his two best friends missing.
"Oh, you were off moping about Cho," Ron said with a smile.
"Drama, drama, drama…" Hermione teased.
"Wow," Harry said, staring at his two friends in disbelief. "You two… wow. But… that's beside the point… you and Malfoy now…"
"Well it's not like we're an item or anything," Hermione said, biting her lip and looking down at her feet. "He barely said a word to me after that. It was just find the flowers, give them to Professor Sprout, and not so much as a goodnight when we got back to our rooms. Who the hell does that, honestly?"
"Malfoy," Ron muttered under his breath. Hermione gave him a weak smile.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "Look guys, I need to get to bed though. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
She walked back to her room, and stood outside the portrait, looking between hers and Draco's, debating whether or not she should try and talk to him about what had happened earlier. She was still deciding when the portrait opened and Draco walked out, laughing, Pansy Parkinson holding on to his arm. Hermione gasped and put her hand over her mouth.
"Granger?" Draco drawled, looking at her mildly. "What the bloody hell are you doing out here?"
"I… er…" Hermione mumbled, not quite knowing what to say. "Well I sort of wanted to talk to you… about earlier, you know."
"Earlier?" Draco repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Now if you don't mind, Parkinson and I were about to go have a shag in the dungeons, so why don't you go find your little Weasel boyfriend and leave me and the lady the hell alone?"
Hermione fought back tears as she glared at Pansy. "I don't see a lady," she snapped, and returned her gaze to Draco. "And as for you Draco… you are lower than even I thought you could be. Have a wonderful night."
Hermione awoke the next morning and looking in the mirror. Her cheeks were still stained with tears, and her eyes were puffy from crying herself to sleep. She scolded herself yet again for ever having thought that Draco could be a nice person.
After straightening herself up to look presentable, she forced herself to look calm, and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. As she entered, she saw Harry and Ron smile up at her, and she gave them a weak smile back. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a very stressed out Draco sitting next to a frighteningly perky Pansy Parkinson.
"You ok Hermione?" Ron asked as Hermione sat down next to him and Harry.
"Fantastic," Hermione muttered. "Never better… I've finally learned that Malfoy's an asshole just like you two said… all's right in the world, eh?"
"You're awfully bitter, Hermione," Harry said, looking at her with concern.
"Not much of a morning person, hm?" Ron teased. Hermione smiled in spite of herself.
"I guess I just overestimated him," she sighed, casting a glance to the Slytherin table and catching Draco's eye. They stared at each other for a moment before Hermione tore her eyes away from him and looked back at her friends who were now extremely disturbed by Hermione's uncharacteristic behavior.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"I don't really want to talk about it right now, Harry," Hermione sighed. "Let's just go to class and be done with it."
They had Care of Magical Creatures that morning with the Slytherins down by Hagrid's hut. Hermione was not looking forward to spending another class with Draco nearby but as she had no choice, she sucked it up and came up with a plan while she followed Harry and Ron to class.
If Draco was going to be an asshole, she could be a bitch right back to him. And she planned on doing everything in her power to make Draco regret doing what he had done to her.
"Ron, will you do me a huge favor?" she asked, looking up at her handsome red-haired friend. "Will you pretend like you're my boyfriend?"
"Say what?" Ron demanded, completely surprised.
"Just to make Draco jealous," Hermione pleaded. "I'm begging you, I know you hate him, and I know you don't have feelings for me, but please… please pretend, just for a while that you're completely crazy about me."
"Ok," Ron said doubtfully, glancing at Harry who only grinned and winked at him. Ron allowed a little grin of his own and threw his arm gracefully around Hermione's shoulder as they came into view of the Slytherins already gathered at Hagrid's hut.
Hermione caught Draco's eye and smirked at him arrogantly. He stared at her and Ron in surprise for a moment and then turned away to Pansy, kissing her vigorously, much to the female Slytherin's delight.
As Hagrid began to teach the class Hermione leaned over to Ron. "Come on Ron, act like you're crazy about me for fuck's sake," she hissed in his ear.
"Hermione, I love it when you talk dirty," Ron said with a wicked grin, just loud enough to catch Draco's attention. He leaned in and began to nibble at Hermione's neck, causing her to squeal delightedly like a little girl.
Ron had been waiting for a moment like this almost from the day he met Hermione. Regardless of the fact that he knew there could never be a relationship between the two of them, he also knew that an opportunity to explore Hermione's mouth and neck like this would never happen again, and he was by no means going to allow it to pass without enjoying and prolonging it.
He trailed kisses up her neck to her jawbone where he nipped lightly at the thin flesh in that tender area. At that moment Hermione forgot she was in class and lost herself in the moment. She moved her hand up Ron's muscular arms to the back of his neck and pushed him closer to her, letting out a small gasp as his tongue flicked across her jaw.
"Professor, would you mind telling the two lovebirds over there to stop fooling around?" Draco drawled, bringing Hermione back to reality. "They're really beginning to be disgusting."
"Well pardon me, Draco," Hermione snarled, turning angry eyes on the obviously jealous Draco Malfoy. "I'm sorry to hear that it's so disgusting when I do it, but when you do it it's perfectly alright. You are such a bloody hypocrite."
Hermione left class a short time later with the excuse of having a headache. She had just reached her portrait when a hand grabbed her arm roughly and shoved her against the wall.
"We really must stop meeting like this, Draco," Hermione said with a wicked smile. Draco had pressed himself against her, his hands on the stone wall, one on either side of her head, and his nose brushed hers gently as he stared into her eyes with a mixture of emotions, some of which Hermione had never expected to see in those haunting grey eyes of his.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Draco demanded roughly, pressing against her even more, causing her to gasp at the contact.
"Doing what?" Hermione asked softly, her head rolling to the side against the wall, exposing her neck. Draco growled and licked at her neck. Hermione moaned softly and pushed her hips forward into Draco, delighted to hear him gasp and feel his excitement pressing against her.
"This," he snarled, biting and sucking at her neck. He stopped abruptly and forced her to look him in the eye. "And then doing the same bloody thing with the Weasel. What are you playing at?"
"What am I playing at?" Hermione said, astonished. "How dare you accuse me of 'playing at' anything, you bloody idiot, you're the one who went off and shagged Pansy!"
"I didn't shag her you filthy mudblood," Draco almost shouted. "I said that to annoy you, to make you angry."
"But why, Draco?" Hermione asked, almost in tears by this point. "I didn't bloody do anything to you, why the hell did you want to annoy me?"
"Have I ever needed a reason?" Draco asked her seriously. When Hermione didn't respond, he continued. "But if you must know, this time it was because of what happened in the forest. You brought something out in me that no one else has and I was afraid to let it get the best of me."
"Draco, I…" Hermione began not knowing exactly what to say.
"No," Draco cut her off. "Forget it. I hope you and the Weasel are very happy together."
He began to walk off down the hallway away from her. "Draco, wait, please listen to me," Hermione called after him, but he didn't stop.
I want to hold you so hear me out
Tears streamed down her face as Draco walked out of sight. She had been so stupid… but how was she to realize that Draco was only trying to make her jealous, just as she had been trying to do to him? Only now he believed she and Ron were really together, and he wouldn't listen to her explain. How on earth could she get him to listen to her?
(a/n: normally this would be the end of this chapter… a nice cliffy, see :-) but it's been so long since I've been able to update I feel like I owe you one, so I went ahead and wrote a bit extra. Hehe. :-) It's not much but it sets up the next chapter a bit more. I hope. Hehe.)
Draco stormed through the corridors trying to get a grip on himself. How could he have let the mudblood get to him like he had? Now here he was, a pureblood Malfoy, going crazy over a filthy mudblood like Granger. What was the world coming to?
It wasn't long before he ran into the Weasel. He hadn't planned on this, and therefore was unable to control his anger when he saw him.
"What the bloody hell is your problem, Malfoy?" Ron demanded, struggling to his feet after Draco had thrown him to the ground.
"Bloody Weasley, what the hell are you doing with my girl?" Draco demanded, not realizing what he was saying.
Ron stared at Draco in amazement, not fully comprehending what he was saying. "Your girl?" he repeated, confused. "You mean… Hermione?"
"Of course I bloody mean Hermione," Draco shouted. He held Ron against the wall in a manner quite differently than the way he had held Hermione against a similar wall earlier. "Who the hell else would I mean? What the hell are you doing with her, she's mine, I love her!"
Draco loosened his grip on Ron after he said this, amazed at what he had just said. Ron stared at Draco, openmouthed, shocked that the word love could even come out of Draco's mouth at all.
"Draco, you're fucking insane," Ron said in awe. "She's not in love with me, she's bloody crazy about you, now go find her you idiot!"
"What?" Draco demanded, staring at Ron in amazement. "You two... aren't together?"
"Hell no, she was just trying to make you jealous," Ron answered. "Now if you hurt her again, I will rip your lungs out and feed them to you, but in the mean time, go find her!"
Ok well I'm afraid that's all I can write for this chapter, because… as I'm running out of lyrics… there's not much more I can do with this story! I know, I'm sad too, I really rather like it… In the next chapter I plan on finishing up the lyrics with a lovely ending (I'm sure you all know what I mean big grin), and that'll about be the end of it…
I wasn't honestly planning on having Draco proclaim his love so soon, but he kind of did his own thing… ever start writing a story and then all of a sudden the characters kind of take over, and you're not really doing anything anymore except… typing what THEY want you to type? It's a WEIRD feeling. So apparently Draco couldn't wait any longer, he really wants to tell Hermione how he feels, so… there was nothing I could do. I can't refuse darling Draco. :-)
And who knows, maybe they'll have a bit of an argument before the conclusion… OOOH I know, why don't you all tell me what you think! Should I go ahead and end the story, or should I try my hardest to convince Draco to prolong it a bit more? Majority rules. :-)
Ok so let me give you a brief explanation as to why my story took so incredibly long to update. First off… Sunday was my birthday (hooray!). But that wouldn't have stopped me if it hadn't been for the fact that the night before my internet died! We have wireless at my house, and apparently, a fuse blew in the basement or something, so the internet, cable, and a few random lights around the house no longer work. Imagine a birthday without internet, cable, and select lights! Besides the fact that I was forced to work for four hours on my birthday! And I was supposed to go to a baseball game the next day, but I couldn't because they made me work again! This was one hell of a birthday week for me! It was very tragic. A birthday I will most certainly not forget. Grrr.
So anyway, they finally fixed the fuse this morning, which is why I am now updating. So unless any more random accidents happen, a delay this long will not happen again.
And here are the personal thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers! I love you all!
Ayame Ito: Aww I'm so glad you like it, thank you so much! And… hmmm… dodges giant chicken (hahahahahaha a giant chicken? I LOVE it!), grabs Malfoy's ankle and holds on for dear life Now… as soon as you stop dragging me and darling Malfoy… I will… run away with him mwa ha ha ah ha ha! Hm. I'll have to do better than that next time….. :-) Hehe thank you for your review :-D :-D
Psyco Faerie: Hehe thanks for the review! You know someone who looks like Patrick Swayze? I… I… faints
cherbi161: Haha be careful there, those chairs can be dangerous:-) I'm glad you liked that part, I had fun with that hehehe. :-) Ooh and I know what you mean about FF keeping you alive this summer… seriously whenever I get home from work, all I do is get on my computer and read/write fanfiction… it's soooo addicting! gasp a magic cheesecake? How did you know I love cheesecake? You're my hero! Thank you for your review and the incredibly delicious magic cheesecake:-)
elektrikstorm: oh good, I'm glad I didn't do terribly! I'll try to write more of those scenes then. :-) hehe thanks for your review:-)
gothicpagan: hey, I'd be glad to e-mail you! Is my e-mail address on my profile? If not let me know, and I'll get it to you. I read your story though and I think it's really good! So I dunno if you really need any help, but I'll do my best! And of course, believe me, I can always use help from other writers! Thanks for your review:-)
angeliica: I'm glad you liked it! I'll try to keep updating soon, thank you so much for reviewing!
Spike the Dragon: I'm glad you like my story! Hey, you can still write a fic to the song, every author has a different take, right? It's such a fantastic song, and there's so much to do with it! Thank you for your review:-)
MysticalWillow: hahaha rubs cheek that hurt a bit:-) but I'm glad that you like reading my story. :-) Even if it means you smack me when I end with cliffys. :-) Hehe I just can't help it, there's a little devil on my shoulder telling me what to do, I don't know what happened to the angel… maybe he's stuck in traffic… :-) Thanks for your review!
And remember… when you review, let me know if you think I should try and keep the story going a bit longer, or if I should go ahead and let the story end. If I do continue writing, I'm not sure I"ll be able to keep using lyrics, so it might stray off track a bit until the final chapter (whenever that may be). So let me know what I should do:-) Until next time! All my love (and fixed fuses!)