DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS... sadly. :(
I think I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Captain Cheese because she reviewed on every single chapter just to get me to update:)
Chapter 10
Hermione was practically dragged away from Draco by her raging boyfriend.
"Harry, I-" the Gryffindor started but was soon interrupted by the raven-haired boy.
"No," Harry sternly replied while standing very close near the door.
Professor Flitwick and the class watched silently and sat still like stone just to see what would happen to Hermione.
"No, Hermione, I'm not taking any of that shit anymore. At first I believed you, but now what I just saw, I don't know what to believe. How do I know if you and Malfoy are doing something at night at your Common Room? How am I supposed to know if you're just using me!" Harry started to ask hysterically at the teary eyed girl.
Even though Draco knew that if he stood up for Granger, more rumors would start to fly around after the whole kissing scene, but he couldn't stand that she was getting blamed for something that she didn't mean to do.
"Potter," Draco sternly said, "Just so you know, she had nothing to do with this whole... scene. You really shouldn't be jumping to conclusions on your girlfriend like that."
Harry narrowed his eyes dangerously then practically yelled, "I can handle this myself."
Hermione walked slowly towards Harry, placing a gentle hand on his arm, "Harry... he's just a friend, nothing more. Please, just believe me."
"You know what Hermione; I really don't think I give a damn about anything any more. You know what? I don't really think I give a damn about 'us' anymore either. We're through," Harry viciously told the girl through clenched teeth.
It would seem that the relationship that they had between the two of them didn't exist anymore. They broke up, and it would be very hard for them to gain their friendship back later.
The girls that were listening, which included Lavender and Parvarti, gasped. Everyone who knew Harry throughout fifth year knew that he was very temperamental, but now that he thought Hermione was cheating on him would make him ferocious.
Soon enough, the tears that were welling up inside Hermione's eyes began to fall down rapidly. Draco wanted to put a comforting arm around her, but he still remembered that whatever he did to help out Hermione, would really ruin his reputation at Hogwarts as a Muggle-born hater.
Harry didn't even look at Hermione; he just glared at the ground, clenching his fists tight. He raised one of his hands near Hermione, to just tell her that he got out of hand, but Draco stepped in.
'Screw my rep.'
"Potter, I don't think so," Draco coldly told the boy while stepping in front of Hermione.
The Slytherin had thought that Harry was going to hit Hermione, he couldn't stand another person get hit because of him. He had too many experiences in his past to know what it felt like to have his mum being punished in front of his eyes because she accidentally let him go into the forbidden wing because she wanted him to go get his father. And he knew that the guilt inside his conscience would make him insane.
Professor Flitwick wanted to help his students out, but he couldn't really manage too, he was only three feet shorter then the rest of his students. He rushed to his office, to write a quick letter to the Headmaster, to tell him what was going on right now, and then sent it off with his owl. Flitwick didn't know, though, that the Headmaster was already on his way, carrying burdenful news. The short Professor immediately rushed back out to see if his students were causing any damage towards one another. Thankfully, they weren't causing physical damages, but there definately were some internal ones.
"Ma-Malfoy, don't," Hermione weakly whispered to the former blonde.
That made Harry even angrier than he was right now. How dare his ... girlfriend take side with his rival, his enemy? Hermione and Draco were never good friends; it showed this morning when they had their little duel.
"Why the hell are you standing up for that twit!" Harry yelled at Hermione once more.
Ron was standing by, he didn't know what to do, but he soon realized that it was going to get out of hand really soon.
"H-hic-Harry, I to-hic-ld you that we're fri-hic-ends," Hermione managed to get out.
"Yeah, friends with Malfoy my arse. You two never got along, even this morning you were in a stupid duel with him over something so simple. Hermione, have you forgotten that Malfoy teased you mercilessly about you being Muggle-born? How can you forgot all those six long years of taunting and hurting and just stand up for someone who you don't even like. And me, I've been your best friend since first year, and you're going against me, to go be with him?" Harry kept yelling at the quivering Hermione.
The red-head finally walked up to Harry, and placed a stern grip on his shoulder.
"Harry, mate, you're going a bit too far. Just calm down-" Ron tried to cool down his friend.
"NO, don't tell me to calm down right now; did any of your girlfriends EVER kiss a guy in front of your face? I don't think so."
The Slytherin bent down to whisper in Hermione's ear, "Shh, it's going to be okay, I promise I won't let him hurt you."
There was a loud resounding boom of thunder heard in the distance, rain was about to fall down.
Harry stopped yelling at Hermione, but instead he glared at her and Malfoy. He watched Draco carefully placing a strand of hair behind her ear, while Hermione was sniffling. She didn't even flinch when he touched her; it was as if she did forget about all the long years of taunting.
Harry was about to walk up to Hermione, but Ron held him back, shaking his head from side to side. The boy wanted to shake his friend off and go to Hermione and talk some sense into her, but the other side of him realized that he had gone way to far already.
Everything was interrupted when the Headmaster opened the doors of the classroom, his eyes carrying burden along with him.
"Miss Granger, if you would please step outside," Dumbledore told his student, but wouldn't look at her in the eye.
Hermione sniffled and nodded her head; she walked outside without a glancing behind her. Harry, about to go along with Hermione, was stopped once more by Ron.
"Harry, I don't think so," Ron gravely told his friend.
Draco watched Hermione's back walk out of the classroom, then the Headmaster followed Hermione and closed the door. Draco returned to his seat, his face in his hands, thinking of what he had just done. Harry and Ron went back to where they were standing earlier with their partners.
The Gryffindor slowly wiped away her stray tears from her face, while the Headmaster of Hogwarts had a look of bereavement. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and told her news that she wouldn't have expected.
"Miss Granger, I know this news will come as a shock, but please, you must listen to me carefully," Professor Dumbledore started out.
He waited for Hermione to listen to him with full attention, although he didn't really want to say it to her, he finished, "Miss Granger, I am sorry to say this at this time, but you're parents were found murdered early this morning. Your neighbors heard a scream from your house before, and walked in to see if anything was wrong, they found you're parents. I believe their names are-"
"-The McKinnon's..." Hermione finished his sentence remembering the newlywed Irish couple that moved to their neighborhood a few months ago.
Slow tears started to form once more in her eyes, her parents... they were gone?
The Headmaster looked at his student who had tears flowing freely, "They were found with a note etched into their skins. It said, ' You're next. 'The Order believes that it was the work of a death eater. Yes, they were either placed in Azkaban or casted with those Oblivious Charms, but I'm afraid there seems to be one who didn't meet the same fate that his fellow members had. But meanwhile, you will be kept under close watch for precaution, I-" Professor Dumbledore was interrupted by a loud yell. Hermione seemed to have registered the new information that she had just received and now she had a reaction towards it.
"NO! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Hermione yelled at her Headmaster with tears flowing down more fiercely.
As soon as she yelled out, she ran off into the hallways. Hermione needed to get out somewhere, anywhere from Dumbledore and the truth. The Headmaster sighed wearily as he watched the young woman run off into the hallways.
While Professor Dumbledore was talking, this is what the classroom inside was like. As you know that Draco sat back in his seat, while Harry and Ron partnered back up with their former partners.
The rest of the classes were still in shock with what had just happened. Professor Flitwick coughed, then told the class to get back to what they were doing, but asked Draco if he could come up to his desk. Draco nodded once then got up and walked towards his Professor's front desk.
At this point in time outside, Dumbledore is telling about how her parents were found with the note on their skin.
"Mister Malfoy, I thank you that you stood up and helped Miss Granger out earlier. It was very noble of you to do so," the Professor told the boy, then with a flick of his wand, changed Draco back to his former appearance.
The Slytherin looked down, but nodded once more then walked back to his desk, but stopped where Hermione's books lay. Something caught his eye; he took a few steps back to notice that it was a book with golden edged pages. He bent down and looked if Flitwick was watching or not, he wasn't, he grabbed the book and carried it back to his desk. He looked at the title of the book, which was inscribed in gold in the brown leather, Jane Eyre. He raised one questioning eyebrow, the Slytherin never in his life had heard of this book. It looked plain in the outside, but then told himself to not judge a book by its cover. He flipped open the cover, skipped the introduction and started to read a part of Chapter One.
'Chapter One
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.
I was glad of it; I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.
The said Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now clu-'
Draco was interrupted from his reading, by hearing a loud yell of 'NO! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!'
He immediately sat up from his desk and looked at Harry, to see what he would do. Harry was also glancing at Draco, before he ran towards the door. The Slytherin, being taller than the Gryffindor got there first.
"Where did she go?" Draco hurriedly asked Dumbledore.
His long finger pointed to the direction of the entrance of the Hogwarts Grounds, as soon as he had pointed in the direction, Draco ran off.
'What the hell is she thinking, it's bloody raining outside.'
Why are you even chasing her?
'I-... I think like her.'
Draco turned towards a corner and quickly ran towards the entrance. He noticed that the door was now closing slowly; Hermione was there just a few seconds ago. Draco kept on running until he was hit by cold pellets of water falling from the dark sky. The rain hit him like a Cruciatous Curse would have done, it seemed as if a thousand daggers were stabbing him repeatedly.
'Great...'
The blonde tried to see in the rain while holding a hand above his eyes to shield his face from the blowing wind and rain. He noticed something nearby the lake, he immediately ran towards it once more. His legs were slowly losing strength and his face was stinging from getting hit by the rain, but he kept on going. When he reached the lake, he noticed Hermione's figure wading slowly into the lake.
"HERMIONE! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Draco screamed out, not noticing that he had used her first name.
The Gryffindor didn't answer; instead she was getting deeper into the lake.
"Damnit Granger. You're going to first make me chase you out in the rain, and now you're bloody going to make me jump into the lake," Draco muttered to himself.
He kicked off his shoes and took of his robes and flung it at a nearby tree, it would be harder to swim with that heavy thing under water. Draco swam towards Hermione quickly, pulling her arm back to face him.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Hermione yelled to his face, tears no longer shown on her face because of the rain and water.
"Granger, I don't know what happened, but drowning yourself won't do any good!"
"WHY!" Hermione yelled hysterically, "My parents are dead, so why can't I just die like them!"
Draco froze for a second, 'Who would've killed her parent, no, not Voldemort, he couldn't, he's dead. 'His grip on her arm loosened a bit, just enough for Hermione to get away from Draco. She was now struggling on top of the water, but still inched a little bit farther.
"Oh, no you don't," Draco muttered to himself while catching Hermione, and pulling her close to his chest.
"LET ME GO!" Hermione screamed while thrashing around in the Slytherin's grasp.
"Granger, get a hold of yourself!"
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
Draco rolled his eyes and started to swim towards shore, it took a while. When they finally did reach the shore, he laid down on the wet grass in exhaustion; Hermione was still inside Draco's arms. Hermione started to hit Draco on his chest, slowly stopping and ended up crying into the Slytherin's chest, her shoulders shaking violently.
"Shh... I promise I won't let anything happen to you," Draco whispered into Hermione's ear with ragged breaths.
"Why did it have to be me! Why couldn't it be someone else!" Hermione cried miserably into his chest.
Draco didn't know what to say, he pulled her closer into him and near her ear, he said, "I'm sorry, I don't know."
Hermione slowly started to hiccup and sniffle, but the crying did stop. The Slytherin started to get up, pulling her with him, "Come on, you're going to catch a cold."
She shook her head, grabbing on to Draco tighter. He sighed, and then looked at his cloak, it wasn't really wet from the little shelter of the leaves, but it would do. Draco walked up and grabbed his shoes and cloak, Hermione immediately got up and attached herself towards the blonde once more. Draco smiled hesitantly, while draping his cloak around Hermione; at least she would be a little dry. He started to walk forward, while Hermione took an inch forward. Draco swung his head back to see Hermione looking down, he let out an exasperated sigh, then grumbled, "You better not be heavy, Granger."
He wrapped his arms around her waist, then one right behind her knees, and he picked her up. Draco walked a bit quicker, wanting to get inside the warm castle, Hermione burrowed her head into his chest once more, it was as if he was protecting from the horrible world that was around her. The storm slowly grew fiercer, causing Draco to practically run towards the castle. When they finally made it, Draco dropped Hermione not so gently but still able for her to get on her feet, and he knelt down, trying to catch his breath.
"Sorry," Hermione murmured to Draco while placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
His reaction shocked her; he reached over from his right side to his left to hold her hand. She pulled slightly, meaning for Malfoy to let go, but his grasp on her hand was held on tighter.
"Malfoy..." she weakly said as a warning.
He didn't answer, but just looked at her with warm eyes instead of cold ones. She felt uncomfortable in his gaze, especially since he was holding her hand at this moment, so she looked down and noticed that she was still the blonde model-like person that Malfoy had charmed her to look like earlier.
Hermione let out a hesitant laugh, and said, "I think I need to change back to the way I really look like."
She pulled her hand harder away from Draco, he held on tighter.
"Malfoy, that's the hand that I use my wand with, I need it right now," Hermione sternly told the boy.
Suddenly he smirked, letting go of her right hand, he immediately reached over and grabbed her left. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, for a minute, she almost forgot that her parents had died, almost. Hermione's eyes welled up in tears once more, Draco noticed almost immediately, he reached over and wiped her tear away. She muttered the counter-charm, and returned to her brunette form.
"Why are you doing this?" Hermione whispered, she still couldn't look at Draco in the eye.
"You're a smart witch, I thought you would've figured it out by now," Draco teased.
The brunette thought for a second, but was soon replaced with a scowl, she then responded, "Just so you know, I'm not much informed on guys."
Draco was shocked, he thought that either Potter or Weasely would have made a move on her already, I guess not.
"I think you should head up to the Infirmary, you're going to catch a cold," Draco told her while leading her way towards the Hospital Wing.
Just like before, outside in the rain, Hermione stood still on the ground, Draco whipped around his head.
"What now?" Draco whined.
Hermione smiled faintly, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, "Thanks."
Draco brilliantly smiled causing Hermione to completely forget about her parents' death this time. They walked in silence, still holding each other's hands, until Hermione interrupted their little quiet moment.
"You know, Malfoy... I've been thinking about what happened back in the Charms room," she started.
The Slytherin reached up to loosen his tie, he knew this wasn't going to be the best conversation, but then realized he had worse.
"Er-yeah?"
"What was that all about?"
"I-I don't know?" Draco stuttered out.
"Malfoy, you know what? I think I'm going to go up there by myself," Hermione told the Slytherin while slipping her hand out of his.
Draco frowned, but Hermione smiled slightly and then ran off into the hallway. He slowly started to follow her, jogging along the way. Neither of them noticed Harry watching behind a corner of the wall, red in the face and his hand clenched in a fist.
Hermione didn't go to the Infirmary, but back to Professor Flitwick's classroom. It was the class after hers; it was a double with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Professor Flitwick told her that her bags were inside, along with Draco's. She went in and got hers quickly, she thought taking Malfoy's bags, but told herself that he could take them himself. Many of the students in the class room were whispering about how Hermione's parents were murdered, the news of what happened in her class obviously already spread throughout the whole seventh year students. It was yet to come that the whole school would find out by tomorrow that her parents were murdered. She chocked a sob, and ran out the door, she found Draco leaning against the stone wall, looking disappointed.
"And I thought you were going to the Infirmary."
"I can't! There are still the N.E.W.T.S. subjects to cover, and the Professors are supposed to tell us what to expect on the test today! I can't be behind the whole schedule, it's very complicated, and now that parents ... my parents," Hermione dropped down on the floor, her books falling on the ground with her.
The sob that was caught in her throat was released; Draco knelt down and started to rub her back.
A raven-haired boy walked in front of them, and coughed loudly. The blonde headed Slytherin looked up with a scowl on his face.
"What do you want, Potter," Draco asked in a disgusted voice.
"Something you don't need to be in a part of," Harry responded quickly.
"What concerns her right now, concerns me," Draco told him while slowly getting up.
Draco and Harry started to have a menacing staring contest, or it seemed as if they were.
Somewhere between their glowering stares, Hermione strongly told the both of them, "No."
"What Hermione?" Harry asked in a concerned voice, he seemed to forgive Hermione easily enough, but that wasn't enough for her.
"You know what Harry? Just like you said earlier, we're over. So you can just quit caring about what's happening in MY life and start caring about yours instead."
"Hermione, even if we did 'break up' I'm still your friend no matter what," Harry started to explain.
"I don't think so Harry, what you said to me hurt really badly, and I'm not going to be forgiving you that easily," Hermione responded while eyeing him with a scowl appearing on her face.
"Her-"
"NO, on top of you AND my parents death, I'm just going to explode! So just leave me alone!" Hermione cut off Harry, then storming off to her next class.
While walking to her very late Transfiguration class, Hermione wiped away one of her stray tears that fell down her cheeks.
'I don't bloody care if he wants to get back together or not. He can't even trust me, so what's the point in even having a relationship with him, anyways.'
Hermione finally arrived to her Transfiguration class, although Professor McGonagall ushered her inside quickly, the professor told her that she didn't really have to go to all of her classes today. The Gryffindor insisted that she didn't want to be caught behind in all the school work, Professor McGonagall had no choice but to allow her to stay. But before Minerva went back to her teaching, she asked Hermione, "I suppose you haven't seen Mr. Malfoy or Mr. Potter, have you?"
The brunette responded, "They should be somewhere in the hallway near Professor Flitwick's room. Malfoy was helping me out, but I don't know what Harry was doing."
The Gryffindor class gaped at her; did they just hear what they just thought they heard? Hermione Granger was actually taking Draco Malfoy's side and leaving Harry to defend for himself.
Professor McGonagall lowered her glasses and looked at her sympathetically, "Although I'm sure you must have heard many times, but I am truly sorry, Miss Granger, about your parents. Are you sure you don't need a few days rest to get your mind together?"
Hermione stubbornly replied, "Professor, I'm fine, I'm sure my parents would want me to ..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but one tear rolled down her cheek. Minerva, who still looked sympathetic towards her favorite student, patted her on the shoulder in a motherly way, and then went back up to the front of the classroom.
"Class, before Miss Granger came in, we were talking about how to transfigure an object into something that reflects you as a person. It may sound extremely easy, but I assure you, your thoughts must be very organized to complete this task."
The Transfiguration Professor raised her wand towards a book on a student's desk; she flicked her wand and said, "Effor Vestri!"
After the words were spoken out loud, the book transfigured into a cat, it leisurely lay down on top of the student's desk. That student, was Neville Longbottom, he was inching out his hand as if he wanted to touch it. Professor McGonagall told him that he could touch the cat; it wouldn't do him any harm. There were a few low laughters heard around the classroom.
"Professor McGonagall, as an Animaigus, aren't you represented at as cat, also?" Lavender asked.
"Yes, I am a cat when I change into my Animaigus form. This spell, if learned properly, can tell you what best Animaigus form you should be if you do choose to become one. Like I said before, the spell will go into your minds very quickly, but if it is there for to long, you will feel a sharp jab. Now, I will come around and give you assistance if needed."
Everyone in the classroom anticipated in what their animal would look like. The students used their textbooks, quills, ink bottles, or parchment for transfiguring to their animals. Popping sounds were heard around everywhere in the classroom. Soon enough, there were many animal callings heard around the classroom, some of the student's animals ranged from a fish to a tiger. Seamus had a monkey, Lavender, surprisingly a tigress, Ron's was a lion, and Hermione's, an eagle. Neville had a few attempts, but succeeded in the end, his quill transfigured into a dog. Most of the people, though, didn't have what they wanted as an animal, or at least anything other than theirs, take Dean for an example, his was a parrot.
Professor McGonagall made her rounds around the classroom, stopping by Neville for a brief second to assist him with the wand movement. Her next stop was Hermione Granger, the old school teacher knew that she shouldn't show favoritism, but she couldn't help it. Miss Granger was one of the best students that Hogwarts has ever seen, and she was excellent in Transfigurations.
"Miss Granger, I see you have everything right," the professor warmly said to her student.
Hermione smiled faintly, and then started to rummage through her bag. She was done, she finished copying down the notes on the board, she did her spell correctly, and now she was looking for her book. As you remember, Draco was reading the book, and left it on his desk. Hermione grew anxious and emptied the contents of her bag.
"Where is it?" Hermione whispered to herself.
There was a loud knock on the door behind her; she turned around to find Draco Malfoy breathing heavily with bruises and cuts all over his face.
"Mister Malfoy! Explain yourself instantly!" Professor McGonagall asked while rushing over to the injured boy.
Draco didn't answer her question and dodged his professor's hands; instead he walked straight over to Hermione. His eyes were only focused on hers, Hermione looked back into his eyes, and it was until he came in front of her desk that she lowered her eyes back down.
"What happened?" Hermione asked the boy gently but her gaze still towards the floor.
(The time when Hermione was in class.)
Draco watched Hermione's figure vanish into the hallways, Harry, with a scowl on his face, came up to Draco and grabbed him by the Slytherin's green and silver tie. He brought the blonde closer to his face and hissed, "What are your intentions with her, anyways."
"Same as you," Draco coolly replied.
Harry scoffed, "Don't tell me you love her."
Draco still up close into Harry's face didn't answer but challenged him with his eyes. Harry glared right back; his eyes filled with frustration but had a hint of curiosity. The Slytherin noticed, but then abruptly turned around and started to walk towards Professor Flitwick's classroom. The raven-haired boy stopped the boy by grabbing Draco roughly on the shoulder and spinning him around.
"You aren't going anywhere right now. We're going to settle this, Hermione doesn't need any more stress right now," Harry snarled.
Draco laughed quietly, and then replied while brushing off Harry's hand roughly, "I cannot believe you just said that."
The Gryffindor first had a questioning look on his face, Draco noticed and laughed again.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Harry nearly shouted.
"You really want me to tell you? Fine. You're the lousiest EX-boyfriend that I have ever met, she told you that we were just friends, but you just think of the worst and accuse her of cheating on you. You think she wanted to snog with a guy she's known as her enemy for nearly six years? I severely doubt that. But you, you're almost as thicker than Crabbe and Goyle put together! Oh, and one more thing," Draco growled.
The blonde's fist flew in the air and hit Harry's nose, causing a loud sickening sound to fill in the hallway around them. Harry bent over, his hand grabbing his nose tightly.
"God damnit!" Harry swore under his breath.
His nose was obviously broken, but this was a new experience for Harry. Although he's broken his arms, legs, or ribs, he has never broken his nose before. Now he can add this even to his mental list, 'Draco Malfoy, my most hated enemy, broke my nose after explaining to me why I'm such a lousy boyfriend to Mia.'
Draco turned around once more and started to reach over to the Charm's door. The same thing repeated once more, Harry grabbed the blonde's shoulder, but this time with an entirely different approach.
Draco sighed, "Potter, didn't we already go over this already?"
The Slytherin slowly turned around to be met with a fist slamming into his cheek. He stumbled back, nearly falling over, but regained his balance soon. Draco cursed loudly, but then ran over to Harry, tackling him to the ground. Fists were flying everywhere with loud sickening cracks filled the air around them.
"Who are you punch to say that punch I'm a lousy boyfriend, punch, smack when you've never had a constant punch relationship in your LIFE!" Harry asked while obviously on top of the Slytherin.
Draco rolled out underneath Harry, slowly trying to get up from the ground.
"For Merlin's sake, didn't you hear Granger? You're not her boyfriend anymore and do you think I fucking care if I haven't had a long term relationship in the past years?" Draco responded while kicking Harry in the stomach.
The two boys looked like a mess, Draco sported a black eye, a cut on his lip which was bleeding slowly, scrapes on his cheeks and neck, and some of his knuckles cracked. While Harry had a broken nose which was bleeding profusely, he too many scrapes on his face and neck and his knuckles were cracked also.
Draco left Harry, who was curled up into a ball from being hit in the stomach too much, and without bothering to grab his bags in Flitwick's class; he walked towards the Transfiguration Room. He limped and every single part of his body hurt like hell, but he kept on going. When the Slytherin finally reached the Transfiguration Room, he raised his right hand wearily, and clenched it up in a fist. He then hit once on the door of the classroom, Professor McGonagall soon opening it.
"Mister Malfoy! Explain yourself instantly!" she asked while reaching down to steer him towards her office.
Instead, Draco dodged the arm of his teacher, and looked around the room until he found the person who he wanted to look for.
'Hermione...' the blonde thought inside of his head.
The both of them looked at each other, not even glaring, but more like Draco had a tired and weary look in his eyes, while Hermione had fear and curiosity in her eyes. It was until he finally stood in front of her desk that she lowered her eyes down to the floor. He so wanted to lift her face up to look at him, but scolded himself that she wouldn't think of him more than a friend, he hardly even knew if they were even friends to begin with.
"What happened?" Hermione gently asked her gaze still on the floor.
"Look at me," Draco whispered in a low and husky voice.
Hermione resisted although she did want to see the Slytherin's face, she just couldn't bring herself to. Instead she looked up, but averted her eyes to somewhere else besides where Draco was standing.
"Please...?" the Slytherin asked in the same low voice, but with a hint of sadness.
Why won't she look at me? Is she ashamed!
"You didn't answer my question, Malfoy. What happened to you," Hermione reminded the boy.
Draco looked down and muttered, "Potter and I got in a fight."
That definately made Hermione to snap her head towards the blonde.
"You WHAT!" Hermione yelled out, causing everyone in the classroom to look at them. Not that they weren't looking in the first place, but it definately caused other students who weren't looking to be curious and look now.
Dozens of thoughts flitted across Hermione's mind, the major one, of course, was her parent's death, Hermione was in denial. She couldn't stop it either; the Gryffindor told herself that she didn't even see them in their... murdered form. So how could she finally come to her senses about her parents' death? The second major thought, Draco Malfoy actually went after her when she was planning to drown herself. The third, Harry wasn't her boyfriend anymore, so why the hell is he following her around everywhere! She even thought about how he came to her right after Dumbledore told her the grave news.
'Must have heard through the door...Hermione thought to herself, she then rolled her eyes.
The Slytherin looked up from the ground to find Hermione rolling her eyes. He looked around if she was specifically rolling her eyes at him, or the whole damn classroom who was watching their every bloody move.
Draco coughed, and then muttered, "You know, I thought you Gryffindors were brave. So why can't you even look at a Slytherin?"
The brunette finally came back from her thoughts. She was first appalled when he considered her like a group of Gryffindors, but noticed the smile that was very badly concealed on his face. She smiled faintly, and then got up from her chair.
The transfigured animals were still making their animal calls, but the students on the other hand, were as silent as a grave. Although, their eyes were still focused on the pair.
Professor McGonagall didn't know what to do, she had to get Mister Malfoy to the Infirmary, but it seemed as if he was preoccupied. But then Miss Granger is very emotionally damaged from the news that she had heard from Headmaster Dumbledore about her parents, and it seems as if she slightly takes comfort in the boy's presence. The professor sighed, and then muttered something that consisted of 'young adults and their hormones'.
Hermione went around her desk to look at the boy's face, when she told herself that he was hardly that first year boy that she remembered in her mind, but now, more like a full-grown man. She turned back to her desk, grabbed her wand and transfigured some of her extra parchments into a towel and a bowl of water. The Gryffindor quickly had one towel in her hand and started to wet it slightly. Hermione soon looked up, and soon glared at all the students who were looking at them.
"Go take a picture, it'll last longer," Hermione clear voice told her fellow classmates.
Many of the girls and the guys went back to talk to their friends, but a few still gazed at them. Hermione had a vicious look on her face that made the rest of the class to go back to their business. When finally everyone went back to their business, the brunette cautiously reached up towards the blonde's face. Although she soon froze when she noticed that the Slytherin had an amused grin on his face.
"What?" she asked, her other hand reaching up to her face.
Draco chuckled, then lightly grabbed Hermione's hand and said, "Nothing."
The girl frowned, but asked, "Do you mind?"
He shook his head, but his smile was still apparent on his face. Hermione didn't know that he thought it was amusing that she made everyone to mind their own business when she was just going to clean him up, but also that Hermione was taking care of him.
The Gryffindor gently placed her other hand on one side of the Slytherin's face, and dabbed at his face, attempting to clean him up. Draco didn't tell her what had happened and that just made her even more curious.
While she was in the process of cleaning a scrape on his neck, she asked, "Well, you could tell me what happened with Harry."
Draco body grew rigid for a second, Hermione noticed. He had hoped that she wouldn't ask that question, but seriously, who wouldn't by the way he looked right now.
"I told him that he was a lousy boyfriend, and that you deserved better," Draco gave her the gist of what had happened, editing out the more non-important things that she didn't need to hear right this instant, but maybe later.
Hermione gave him a disapproving look, but then admitted, "Yeah... I guess you could say he was a lousy boyfriend. Especially when he thought I was cheating on him with out of all the people you!"
"Ouch, that hurt," Draco playfully added.
Hermione smiled but then was soon replaced with a frown, "Wait, then why did you two get in a fist fight? Not over me, I hope."
"You are too conceited in that smart brain of yours," Draco scolded playfully while tapping her forehead with his fingers.
"No, really Malfoy, did you two fight about me? I'm not really all that special you know," Hermione tried to pry the information out of the Slytherin.
"Fine. Okay, so we did fight, but-" he was interrupted by Hermione.
"Who threw the first hit!" Hermione asked with an edge of hysteria in her voice.
"Anyways..." Draco tried to changing the subject.
"Who threw the first hit, Malfoy!" she repeated.
"Do you really need to know?" he asked.
"What do you think," Hermione sarcastically asked.
"Well... I think you shouldn't give a damn about who threw the first hit."
"Malfoy!"
"Granger."
"Tell me now."
"Fine."
"Well then..."
"It was me," he finally told her and then looked away.
"Are you serious?" Hermione asked for finality.
"Yeah, he was ticking me off, so I hit him," he answered in a normal voice.
"He was ticking you off!" Hermione's voice rose higher.
"Yeah."
"You are...-"
"Handsome? Smart? Undeniably sexy?" Draco filled in.
"No, stupid!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Not the answer I was exactly looking for, but thanks," Draco responded then gave her a mock bow which just infuriated her even more.
"That was completely pointless!" Hermione sighed.
"Are you done?" Draco suddenly asked.
"What?"
"Are you done with what you're doing?" he repeated while his hand gestured towards the towels and the water-filled bowl.
"Oh, right, but yeah, I'm done."
Draco smiled dangerously, "Then I hope you don't mind me doing this."
"Wha- PUT ME DOWN!" Hermione yelled out.
That triggered everyone's head to look towards the two. The girls 'awed' while the guys were partially freaked out that a Slytherin was touching a Gryffindor and the other side of them thought back to the whole 'kiss scene' that the two of them had in Charms.
"Put me down!" Hermione demanded while struggling against Draco's arms that were tightly wrapped around her waist and underneath her knees, also known for appearing in weddings when the groom picks up the bride.
"How much do you weigh? You're practically killing me," Draco teased.
"Then put me down," she demanded, but her face gave away her thoughts, she was bright red.
It wasn't that she was heavy or anything, but just the fact that he mentioned about her weight made her embarrassed. It's not like every girl isn't uncomfortable about how much they weigh, that is, unless they look like Parvarti or Lavender.
Draco noticed how shocked and embarrassed she looked, so he comforted her saying, "I was just kidding, really, you're not heavy."
The Gryffindor tried to pry herself off of the blonde's grasp and then replied, "Like I said before Malfoy, put me down. I can walk by myself you know, and you're leg's hurt. Extra weight while you're walking isn't going to help."
"I know," he smartly replied.
"Well then, put me down. Now," Hermione sternly demanded.
Draco shook his head, "Pick your bags up."
She looked questioningly at him, but did what she was told. Hermione leaned back and tried to gather what she had on her desk inside her bag. When she finally achieved this task, she placed it on her stomach.
Hermione then looked up at Draco expectantly, "What now."
Draco didn't reply, but started to walk towards the back of the classroom, which Professor McGonagall was safely guarding the door.
"Professor, I'm going to have to bring Granger here back to our Common Room, and I need to go to the Infirmary. You wouldn't mind, would you?" he asked and added that with a brilliant smile.
The professor tutted, but moved aside so that the two could get past her. While the two walked past their professor she told them, "Mister Malfoy, take care of Miss Granger."
Hermione heard and had a shocked look on her face, how in Merlin's name would Draco Malfoy help her! Yeah, okay, so he did save her from drowning herself, and possibly standing up for her, but who knows why he did that. Helping her wouldn't exactly qualify him as a mean, cold-hearted, mudblood hater anymore.
'Why does he even care about me? It's not like we've been friends or anything.' she thought to herself.
Draco nodded and left the classroom, he started to walk towards their Common Room. It was silent; neither of them talking to one another, the only sounds that were heard was Draco's feet hitting the stone floor and the rain that was beating against the windows. Hermione sighed loudly, she didn't really want to be here at this moment, scratch that, and she didn't want to be alive for that matter. This was her final year, and if her parents died, then where is she going to stay? She knew that she would have to leave sooner or later, but her parents were her backbone of her life. The though of her parents not being there for her was a bit scary, she wouldn't be able to see them anymore. Hermione knew she should be mourning, but she just couldn't admit that her parents were dead. But right now, in his arms, it seemed as if the world around her was gone, and Draco and she were the only people. The Gryffindor also knew that she shouldn't be thinking that way, but she couldn't help it.
The Slytherin finally stopped in front of their painting that would lead them into their rooms.
"Helios," Draco muttered.
Before the painting swung open, the Moon told the two that two boys were looking for Draco.
"We know," both of them simultaneously answered.
The painting swung open, Hermione still in Draco's arms, rolled her eyes and asked with an exasperated sigh, "When are you going to put me down!"
"You'll see," Draco added with a smirk.
The Gryffindor rolled her eyes once more, but returned to her original position. She noticed before that wrapping an arm around Draco's neck would be a little bit more comfortable then just crossing her arms. It also seemed to help him carry her, although he really didn't have to, but him being stubborn, kept on going.
Draco walked in front of the green couch, the girl's face twisted in disgust.
"Hey!" Draco warned the Gryffindor.
"You know, I can walk to my bedroom," Hermione told the blonde.
"Oh you're not going back to your bedroom," he replied in a matter-in-fact voice while plopping down on the couch, bringing Hermione down with him.
"And why not?" Hermione squeaked.
"Because, you just had something horrible happen to you and you aren't... reacting the way that I thought you would've. Well, besides the fact that you nearly killed yourself," Draco responded.
Hermione untangled herself from the Slytherin's arms and got up; Draco reached out and immediately grabbed her wrist. She looked down at it, but then looked up again.
"Malfoy, Draco, I don't know what's going on right now. Everything in my world is just ... messed up. First, you are completely bi-polar on me, especially when one night we got along perfectly, but then the next morning you're the psycho bastard that I've always known you to be. Second, Harry and I broke up because he thought that I cheated him, and out of all the guys in school he had to pick you because of that bloody kiss in Charms. And standing up for me or whatever, didn't exactly help either. And third is just the worst and I'm not even sure if I can believe it, my parents were murdered. And you know the stupid thing about this all is that all three of those things happened today," Hermione shouted out.
'I've got to hand it to her; she can still be sane under all this pressure.' Draco thought.
The blonde had a few creases in his forehead, "That's exactly the reason why we need to talk."
"Why should I be bloody talking about MY PROBLEMS to you! You don't even know me!" Hermione screamed, and she then pushed away Draco's hand on her wrist. When he finally removed his fingers from her wrist, she ran up to her bedroom. He could hear the loud stomping of her feet; Draco sighed and leaned back into the couch. It was only a few seconds when he heard Hermione's loud piercing scream that resounded everywhere around the room.
So, readers... how was that for a chapter! Yeah, I know, you're probably thinking of what might have happened to Hermione for her to be screaming like that. Well, you'll just have to wait until next chapter! Oh by the way, I was very very very very etc.. happy with all of the reviews that I received:) More new reviewers, but now, my older ones aren't reviewing as much... but that's okay :)
I guess I'll try and clear this up if some of you don't get it. So, Hermione heard that her parents were murdered by this person, supposedly a death eater. And she went and tried to drown herself because she wasn't exactly sure what to believe, but Draco tried to talk some sense into her. Although at the same time, he's starting to develp feelings for her when he doesn't exactly want to. After all that drama, Hermione goes up to her room to find something she wasn't going to forget.. ever. There, did that clear it up somehow?
REViEWS:
Seldom Darlin - Thanks, I think chapter nine was the best chapter also, I'm not so sure about this one. I know that Hermione isn't displaying much emotion right now, she's just really shocked, ... or I hope it seemed as if she was shocked.
heather2006 - OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! THANKS FOR THE REVIEW! Sorry, I couldn't help it, but the oh my gosh thing was pretty funny :) And why thank you for
thinking that this is one of the best you've read. Much love goes to you!
dracoshott28 - well now, you had a boyfriend but a guy kissed you anyways.. hm... drama dramaaa! but wow, your boyfriend and you are still together? Well, I hope your relationship doesn't spiral down just as Hermione and Harry's had. Sorry for not updating all that quick!
rizahawkeye21 - you know, I just noticed, well not really, but yeah the 21 part of your username reminds me of my cousin. She was born on the 21st of July so she'd put 21 on her aim s/ns of anything. ANYWAYS, thank you, I think I did an all rigth job if I think so myself. Did this chapter answer your question about Harry and Draco? Not Hermione and Draco.. I guess. Harry and Hermione are kersplat, zip, nada... you get the picture. Hope this chatper was interesting enough :)
call me brit - yessss! ron and ginny are just... ew.
The Future Mrs. Thomas Andr... - my bad.. the thing won't show me your whole username... :( but otherwise, thanks for the encouragement!
Captain Cheese - wow.. what to say to you.. hm... Lmao, you gave me a lot of reviews, like for almost all of my chapters! I am very very grateful that you like my story :) HBP was horrible, it was like a bad fanfic.. no offense to JK but she made Draco and Harry sound gay, and Ron and Ginny ... ew. I'm not even going to talk about it. I love Draco too... and Tom Felton, and Jared Padelecki, Tom Welling, Orlando Bloom... you get what I'm saying? lol. I know, I wish that I had the three hottest guys in the school to go after me. hehehe, a girl can dream right? Not that I'm ugly or anything, but... yeah, whatever. haha. btw, unconcerned is the right way to spell it ;)
cuteclaws - thank you! I hope you liked this chapter! It took me a while to finish it, it just ended up going on and on and on, until this stopping point. heh
Harleyschick101 - That's very kind of you to say that it's getting better nad better. I updated:)
i take people's whits - sorry, but don't throw things at me for this! ducks
outkasthpfanatic - thanks, wow.. your little fOnT thing was making my head hurt for awhile. haha.. I'm more into like.. hEY wHAt'S uP? Like that.. lmao.
givemeurcash - thank you for the review!
kakashisninjadogs - interesting... lol. I love your little dialouge is that how you spell it? with Harry. I find it very funny :) Just for that I shall give you aone of kind Draco and Hermione holding hands plushie doll:) Should I change Dean's question to Blake who says it? So he could be a little perv that you want him to be?
P.SuedoFiction - thanks, but I think I'm going for a new approach in this chapter. Can you tell? I didn't put that many author notes in here, did I?But yeah, anyways, I'll try and not to put any more a/n's anymore during the story.
Okay! So, I will see you next chapter! BYE! I hope you liked it!
xXx33 Susie