Okay, so it's been a while. I discovered InuYasha, Ranma ½, and Love Hina, some of the best manga series ever, which kinda kept me busy. Sorry about that. And I've pretty much just realized, 'Hey, I haven't updated for AGES', thanks to Moi, who told me it had been about a MONTH. Yeah. But whatever. Today's my birthday, the 23-hold the applause-and I've decided to take time out of MY birthday to spend time to begin this chapter for YOU. Now clap. Thank you, thank you. Okay, I'm done bowing. Let the chapter BEGIN!

Chapter 21

At the Gryffindor dinner table

Hey…uh…you guys?

Hello?

I guess you're not talking to me, huh?

Well, I'll talk AT you then.

Still not gonna respond?

Okay then.

So I just wanted to say…I'm sorry. I was being annoying and anti-social, and I didn't mean to keep things from you guys. I was being stupid, and I want to tell you what I was keeping a secret from you.

Thank GOD! I thought I was going to DIE from curiosity!

So you guys aren't mad?

Well…a little bit…

I only went along cuz Ginny would hurt me!

WHAT?

Um. Nothing.

RONALD WEASLEY!

Yeah?

YOU THOUGHT I WOULD HURT YOU FOR THAT? WELL, I'M SURE AS HELL GONNA HURT YOU NOW!

Meep! Harry, help me!

Harry?

HARRY?

What? Oh.

OUCH! I said HELP, not HIT!

Thank you Harry.

No problem.

Oh god. Now there's TWO problems.

Excuse me? I'M a problem?

Only one. The other's Harry.

Why me?

Cuz you hit me.

Oh. Right.

Wait that's three.

And the third is?

You.

HEY! I thought you guys weren't mad at me anymore!

Well, there's the issue of what you're keeping secret. But that will be cleared up soon, so we will only have two problems.

-stare-

-stare-

-stare-

WHAT'S WITH ALL THE STARING?

-stare-

-stare-

-stare-

STOP IT!

-stare-

-stare-

-stare-

Please?

-stare-

-stare-

-stare-

OKAY! GOD! I'LL TELL YOU!

Good.

So.

Spill it.

Um.

Spit it out!

Uh.

Dish.

Eh.

Goddamn it, woman, just tell us.

After dinner.

WHAT?

WHAT?

WHAT?

No way. You can't do that to us.

I just did.

HERMIONE!

Don't keep us in suspense! I won't eat, and then I'll be hungry tonight!

But you're ALWAYS hungry!

That's besides the point!

You ARE! You could eat three hippos, a tiger, and a lion, and still have room for three cakes and a bowl of pasta.

EWWWWWWWWWWWW!

NO!

Uh, yeah!

That's not the point.

Thank you Harry!

I didn't do that for you.

You wound me. You really do.

Seriously. I actually want to know something this time.

Gee, thanks a TON, Harry!

Everyone's thanking Harry today. He must be popular.

-pretends to preen-

Harry! Stop! Ron! Stop having ADD! Hermione! Tell us now!

What's add?

-groans- We've gone over this before, Ron.

No, we haven't-LOOK! IT'S PUDDING!

-bangs head on table-

As I was saying.

Ron, you scare me.

What do you mean-OH MY GOD IT'S TREACLE TART!

Seriously.

But-MINTS!

Maybe it's just with food?

It's a possibility.

Just might be.

You know what? I'm hungry.

Me too.

Me three.

(Continued in regular form)

Draco entered the Great Hall, and walked over to Pansy and Blaise, who were whispering fervently. They immediately ceased as Draco slid in the seat next them. Silence reigned. Draco licked his lips, which were suddenly dry. He kept his eyes away from his friends. For one of the first times in his life, he was nervous. What if they hate me? What if they decide to shun me? What if I'm kicked out of Slytherin? At that, he felt stupid. That's stupid. They can't kick me out! Luckily, before he could convince himself otherwise, Blaise chose that moment to talk.

"So. I heard you broke up with Cho," he said, taking a bite of a carrot.

Draco winced. "You did? What'd she say?"

"Just some stupid stuff."

"Like?"

Blaise shrugged. "Dunno. Stuff."

Jumping in before Draco could persist, Pansy leaned forward. "So why DID you break up? I thought you guys were doing well together."

Draco shuddered. "It was the farthest from that. She was so ANNOYING. I hate it. And she wouldn't shut up. She's also completely self-centered."

Pansy made a face. "Ugh. Sounds like it sucked."

"Hell yeah. It was horrible. I'm so happy that we're not together anymore," said Draco, a bit relieved.

"She's a liar too," added Blaise, trying to join the conversation.

Pansy made a slashing motion, that Draco caught out of the corner of his eye, but Blaise was getting another biscuit, so he didn't see it.

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? What makes you say that?"

"The shit she was saying a few minutes ago. You should've heard it. It was the stupidest crap I've ever heard." Blaise shook his head.

Pansy heaved a huge sigh. "BLAISE! I thought we weren't going to talk about it!"

"REALLY? You said that?" Blaise frowned in confusion.

"Yeah! But it's too late now, you idiot!" Pansy yelled. "You might as well tell him about the crap about the fight between her and-" She stopped suddenly, and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Fight? What fight?" Draco asked.

"Nothing."

"No, really. What fight?"

"NOTHING!"

"Pansy Jolene Parkinson, you tell me what Cho said right now, or you will regret you were ever born," warned Draco in a dangerous voice.

Pansy sighed again. "Why not? It's too late anyway."

"That's right! You sure messed up," said Blaise happily.

Pansy smacked him across the head, and it made a muffled thumping sound, and Blaise yelped.

"What was THAT for?" he asked, rubbing his skull.

Ignoring him, Pansy continued. "Well, she came around here, and said-and I quote: 'I feel bad for you guys, being friends with Draco Malfoy. He's a really horrible person, and was cheating on me. Hermione Granger-his new girlfriend-did this to me.' And then she pointed to her face, which looked kinda screwed up."

"She DID?" Draco demanded, the fork in his hand dropping to the plate with a loud clattering sound, which earned him a dirty look from the boy he was sitting next, who had gotten splattered with food.

"Yeah. It was so stupid," said Pansy, rolling her eyes.

"You could tell that she had drawn it on her face," added Blaise. "As if you would ever go out with a Mudblood anyway."

"Um." Draco looked away, and started to twist the corner of his napkin.

"Draco? Is something wrong?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah. You look kinda…pale," added Blaise, twisting so he could see Draco's face.

"About that. Cho's right," Draco said quietly.

There was a loud thump as Blaise fell off his chair.

"SHE'S WHAT?" screamed Pansy.

Getting back on the chair, Blaise added, "You've GOT to be kidding me! Please say you're joking."

"He's joking," said Pansy, nodding. "That's the only explanation."

"Yeah. He must be," said Blaise, relaxing. "I was worried there for a sec."

"I wish I could say I was," muttered Draco.

"What do you mean, 'I wish'?" Pansy yelled. "You ARE joking. Remember?"

"Actually, you guys…I'm not," Draco told them, looking them in the eyes.

"He's not," said Blaise finally. "I can tell."

"Me too…" said Pansy, her voice full of wonder.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" they both screamed.

"Shhhhh, you guys, lower your voices!" Draco said urgently.

"NO, WE WILL NOT LOWER OUR-" began Pansy, and then Draco shoved his hand over her and Blaise's mouths.

"Now, we will leave the Great Hall quietly," he whispered, and without waiting for an answer, dragged them out.

Once they were outside, Draco pushed them against the wall, checking to see if anyone was there, and when he was satisfied, he let go. Suddenly he was bombarded with a huge amount of noise.

"OH MY GOD, DRACO-" yelled Pansy.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US-" screamed Blaise.

Draco screwed up his face, trying to block out the noise. When he couldn't, he bellowed, "WILL YOU BOTH JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?"

Surprised, they both shut their mouths.

"Thank God," Draco said, massaging his ears. "I thought that I would never be able to hear again."

"But-" protested Blaise. He was silenced with a look from Draco.

"Now. Who wants to go first?" asked Draco. "Pansy."

"Draco. Seriously. Are you on crack or something? What is wrong with you? Dumping Cho for HERMIONE GRANGER? Please. You've been enemies since forever. As far I could tell, you guys never stopped hating each other. Sure, you were friendly, but I thought that was because you had to share your dorm. It couldn't be more than that when I saw you. Draco, please snap out of this hallucination. It's creeping me out," Pansy finished, and regarded him with a look.

Draco nodded to acknowledge her speech. "Blaise? What do you want to say?"

"Pretty much the same thing as Pansy. You guys had your friendly moments, but when did this sudden change of feeling come around?"

Draco sighed. "Look, I know this is a big surprise for you guys-"

"You're telling me," muttered Pansy.

"-but I'm sorry. It's not a hallucination, or a drug. It's me. Okay? I like her. A lot. Maybe you guys weren't around to see it, but we've been friends for at least a month now, and now it's more than that. Please don't hold it against me. I never meant for this to happen. But it did, and I'm expecting you guys, as my friends, to accept her. And me. Okay?" Draco looked at them seriously.

"Draco. We're your friends," Pansy said finally. "We're not going to desert you. I guess if it's what you want, go for it. But give us some time to think it over. This is a shock."

Draco nodded. "I understand."

"But why HER?" wondered Blaise. "I mean, there are a million girls in this school. And you chose HERMIONE?"

"Yeah. I did," Draco said quietly.

"Why? What's so special about her?"

"I don't know. But there's something about her that makes me happy…that can cheer me up like no one else can. She's funny, pretty, smart. And she understands. I don't know WHAT she understands…but she DOES," Draco said, looking off into the distance.

Blaise whistled. "You really like this girl, don't you?"

"What do YOU think, Blaise?" asked Pansy sarcastically.

"Uh…yeah?"

"You're such an idiot," she muttered.

"Then no?"

"Oh my god," she said, and banged her head against the wall.

"WHAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER?" Blaise yelled. "I'm confused."

"Goddamn it, of COURSE he does!" Pansy shouted. "And now, thanks to you, I have a bump on my head!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who smashed your head against the wall!"

"You might as well have, the way you talk!"

"But it's not my fault!"

"Who moves your mouth then, you idiot?"

"Um…er….I dunno…."

Draco grinned and shook his head. "You guys are taking this well."

They stopped, and Pansy shrugged and looked away. "As I said before, we need some time to think about it. We might even pretend this never happened, okay?"

"I guess."

"But when-I mean, IF-we do accept, we don't want any PDA."

"What?"

"Public display of affection." Pansy explained.

"I agree," added Blaise. "I seriously don't want to see anything like kissing or holding hands. It's bad enough that you two are going out. That's just over the edge."

"Hey!" Draco said indignantly.

"I'm not being offensive-"

"I know, I know," Draco said, smiling. "But how about we forget about this for a while, and just go do something?"

Blaise shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"Yeah. Let's go," agreed Pansy.

And so they left.

…

Okay. So I don't get any reviews saying, 'Is this the end?' NO, it's NOT the end. Hermione has to tell her friends too, remember?

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Anonymous Review Answer Column

Karen- Well, I can say definitely together in my story, but it's not fun without complications!

Moi- YAY YOU GOT A USERNAME! And I would've replied to your review, but I accidentally hit the delete button twice and it deleted your review!

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