Thanks everyone, and I'm sorry I havent updated for a while, but I was on a writing spree for my tom/Hermione. I'll try to get some more chapters out simultaneously. For now, thanks to:
Missindependent1127 (you'll just have to wait to find out…), Mrs Pierre Bouvier, hermionegranger2007, Secret Murderer (haha, thanks!), rizahawkeye21 thank you sooo much as always!), LadyJaye, me, and princess-kristi.
Hermione couldn't help but feel a little pang of guilt in her heart, even though Malfoy deserved every bit of what he got. He had seemed so sincere when he told her he liked her…she was almost thinking he was serious…but he couldn't be. This is Malfoy we are talking about! The cold, heartless, immature jerk that couldn't care less about anything. However, to be truthful, Hermione had that nagging feeling that he was actually being genuine when he had confided in her.
She watched Lavender and Parvati snicker as they walked out the door. Hesitating, Hermione stayed behind for a minute. "Malfoy?" she asked quietly.
He turned to her, giving her a murderous glare. She wasn't frightened, but it unnerved her a little. "What." He spat.
"I—I just wanted to—to know if, you know, if y-you were being honest when you said you had l-l-liked me y-yesterday." She stumbled.
His eyes quickly flashed a look of sincerity and confusion in them, but it was so fast that Hermione very well could have imagined it. "It doesn't really matter now, does it Granger? I'm still cursed, you're still mad, and my reputation that has been upheld for seven years is permanently destroyed. So, when you really look at it, what I said has no effect on anything." He said.
Hermione, however, noticed he never really answered her question. "I suppose not." She said softly. "But would you do me the favor of actually telling me if you do have feelings for me?"
His face turned to a sneer. "Feelings? Of course, Granger." At this, her face both lit up and was embarrassed at the trouble she had caused for no reason. "Feelings of hatred. Like you? Perhaps in your wildest dreams, but not in mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have people to meet to try to salvage any part of my crumbling image. Later, Granger."
She felt a burning sensation at the back of her eyes, but no tears fell, despite the sadness she was feeling. "Yeah. Later." She said, more to herself than to him.
She stared at his retreating body, as she pondered the great mistake she had made. Maybe he was telling the truth when he said he had feelings for her. Well, other than feelings that he hated her very existence, of course. Shaking her head, she followed Lavender and Parvati up the stairs, running to keep up with them.
One out of eye- and earshot of Hermione, Draco sprinted as fast as he could towards the Slytherin dorms. It had taken all his self-restraint to not reach out and kiss Hermione right then and there on the lips. And he had a lot of self-restraint. He could not stand—what're their names? Lavender and Parvati…yes, that was it. All snickering and insulting him. He had gotten so angry at everyone when he was in the room with them—he could not help it.
Yet, he was greatly surprised when Hermione had chosen to stay behind and consult him. He tried his best to be cold and selfish towards her, to keep up his hard and well-kept appearance. It was when he saw hurt, frustration, and sadness reflected in her light, chestnut eyes that had really gotten to him. Which, in all actuality, frightened him more than anything. The fact that he had actually felt something deep down. Seven years and not a glimmer of emotions in his cold heart, yet in one moment he was overcome with it. It was enough to be unsettling to anyone.
"Ignorance." He mumbled quietly to the portrait of the witch.
"Obviously." She said scathingly. He gave her a glare which shut her up, causing her to scramble into another painting.
"Zabini, I am in no mood, so drop it." Malfoy said before Blaise could get even one word out.
"Oh yeah? And why would that be?" Blaise asked.
"Because you exist, to put it simply."
"Wow. Really witty, Malfoy. I can completely see why you were made Head Boy. All intelligence." Zabini said, every word drenched in extreme sarcasm.
"Shove it."
"Granger on your mind? You know, she is rather good-looking, if you know what I mean. Maybe I should go after her…I wonder if she'd like me more than you? Probably."
Malfoy's eyes glittered perilously with rage. "Why not go try it then, Zabini? It'd at least cause me to laugh for one time today. You know what? How about you go right now? If you hurry, you might catch her."
Blaise smirked. "Alright. Thanks for the encouragement, Draco. See you."
He strode out the portrait, with an air of arrogance. "I wasn't serious, Zabini!" Malfoy yelled after him. Unfortunately, Blaise either didn't or chose not to hear him.
"DAMN IT!" Malfoy swore loudly.
He sat in one of the extraordinarily hard green-and-silver armchairs, the smoldering fire doing nothing to help warm up the room. Rather pointless, in his opinion. Running his hands through his blonde hair, he really reflected on his life. When you got right down to it, there was no perks or high points in it. All rules and evilness, no happy moments or sentimental feelings. No forgiveness for small mistakes, and always having to uphold "The Malfoy Name". It was finally getting too much for him.
Reaching behind the stone fireplace, he found a cupboard. Reaching into it, he pulled out a ceramic bowl. His mother had sent it to him in case of emergency. Grabbing a handful of the powder inside, he took a deep breath and threw some in the fire. It immediately turned a bright emerald green, and he abruptly stuck his head in the flames, though keeping his knees planted firmly on the rather hard ground.
"Malfoy Manor!" he yelled clearly. He felt an unpleasant whooshing sensation, and had to close his eyes from the dizziness. Immediately he was met with the living room of his mansion. "Father! I must speak with you!" he shouted into the house. It gave off a supernatural ghostly sound.
With a sharp pop!, his father appeared, looking rather livid. "DRACO! What did I tell you about interrupting me!" Lucius reprimanded.
Draco ignored him. "Father, I cannot do this anymore. It is too much for me to handle." He said firmly.
"Well, Draco, unfortunately you have no choice, my slippery son. You will and you must keep up appearances. I will not have you disgracing the Malfoy name! Do you hear me? Or you will face the consequences!" he threatened hazardously.
Draco downcast his eyes. "Yes, Father." He said softly, pulling his head out of the fire, not wishing to notice his father's smirking, triumphant grin.
"Hermione! The look on his face was absolutely priceless!" Lavender squealed.
"Yeah. It sure was." Hermione said quietly.
"Hey—Granger!" a deep voice called behind Hermione.
She whirled around, excited. Seeing who it was, she rolled her eyes. "It's okay, guys, go on. I'll be a while. But, you know, insulting two Slytherins in one day! This'll be fun…" she said deviously.
Lavender and Parvati waved goodbye as they stepped in the portrait. "Granger! You're one tough girl to catch up with, you know that?" Blaise complimented, catching his breath.
"Great. What do you want, Zabini?" she asked exasperatingly.
"Well, I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to go out sometime. You know, since we've never really gotten to know each other before." He asked casually.
Hermione looked skeptical as she raised an eyebrow. "And what random thought has gone through your thick skull to make you think I would like to go out with you? Perhaps there is a reason we haven't gotten to know each other?"
"Yes, well, to be perfectly honest, I've always wanted to get to know you." he said, rather seductively.
Hermione found herself blushing slightly, the reason completely escaping her. She screwed up her face in consideration. "Alright. I suppose one date couldn't hurt."
They both smiled, as he walked off. Little did they know that someone else was watching.
"Hermione! We overheard you talking to Blaise! I can't believe he just asked you out! You are so lucky!" Parvati and Lavender exclaimed shrilly as Hermione came in.
"Why?" Hermione asked, genuinely perplexed.
"Because he's only the most desirable Slytherin in our year, of course!" Parvati said in an "everyone knows that" voice.
"You mean, apart from Draco Malfoy." Lavender injected, a dreamy look on her face.
"Well, if you want the stuck-up, 'I'm better than you' look, then yeah." Parvati contradicted.
"Yeah? What's special about Blaise Zabini?"
"Please. He's got that whole 'tall, dark, and handsome' thing down in spades!"
"So? Draco has everything down in spades!"
Hermione slipped past the arguing girls undetected. She could not believe that they went from squealing excitedly of how she got asked out by Blaise to quarrelling over who was the cuter guy—Malfoy or Zabini. She sat down on her bed, still listening to the sweet, sultry sounds of a now heated argument from downstairs. Taking a deep breath, she pondered over her life. She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep.
"Hermione, there's something I must tell you." Blaise said seriously.
"Yes, my darling? What is it?" Hermione answered dreamily.
"The only reason I asked you out was so Malfoy would get jealous. He really likes you, you know."
Hermione burst into tears. "MALFOY? He likes me? I—I don't believe you! H—How could you!"
She got up and ran away from him, who was sinisterly smirking in the background. In her teary-eyed confusion, she ran into someone. She looked up to see astonishingly icy-blue eyes, as she backed away from the chest of solid muscle she had collided with. It was Draco Malfoy.
"NOOO! Not Malfoy! Not you!" she yelled as she ran away from him too. He and Blaise exchanged smirks, as Hermione continued to sob.
"Herm? Hermione, are you okay, sweetie?" Lavender rushed over to Hermione's bed.
"Not…not Malfoy…not him…" she moaned.
"Sweetie, you're okay. Come on, Hermione, wake up!" Parvati added, coming over.
Lavender shook her lightly, and Hermione's eyes fluttered open. "W—What? What are you guys doing here?" she asked, still recovering from her nightmare.
Parvati and Lavender exchanged worried glances. "Hermione, you were talking in your sleep. You were saying something about Malfoy?" Lavender asked worriedly.
"I—I was?" Hermione questioned.
"Not again." she thought. "Now they really think I like him. Perfect. And on top of all that, I had a nightmare of my and Zabini's date. Just lovely."
"It was nothing. Sorry." Hermione mumbled apologetically.
"Well, okay, Herm. Just don't scare us like that again, alright?" Parvati said.
"Yeah, I promise. I'm going to go for a walk, you guys. I'll be back in a bit." Hermione stated, getting up.
She walked out of the portrait hole, to the Fat Lady calling after her "You're not supposed to be out of bed this late, young lady!" to which Hermione just spat, "And you're supposed to be asleep!"
But as soon as Hermione turned around, she found her mouth was now occupied with someone's lips. Oddly enough, she didn't squirm, but found herself returning the passionate, sweet embrace.
I'm sure you all know who it is, right? Again, sorry it took so long to write this, but another chapter will be up hopefully by tomorrow or Christmas. xoxoxoxoxo!