A/N: Ahh, this chapter took much longer than expected. I'm sorry for the delay, but things have been kind of hectic, what with school starting and stuff.
Also: I'd like to wish a late Happy Birthday to Camille (beta) who celebrated her birthday yesterday, August 19th. Hope you had a good one, Camille!
Enjoy!
Chapter 29: The Secret's Out
Draco completely forgot about everything that had previously worried him, including the fact that he was already tardy.
"Madame Pomfrey just let me out, so I figured I'd come and see you—" Hermione was not able to finish her sentence, as Draco had dropped all his books, took her by the waist, and attacked her lips with his.
He felt as if he hadn't kissed her in years, and he missed it.
He broke away from their fervent kiss, only to pull her toward him.
"Oh Hermione, I was so worried, you don't know…" he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, lovingly.
"I'm here now, Draco, I'm all better. It was the most horrible thing, Draco…I was so scared, and they say I kept crying out for you…" Hermione trailed off, as he gazed into her large, chocolate eyes.
"I'm so sorry my love, I won't let anything like that ever happen again, I promise you," he told her softly, holding her in his arms.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Draco, it wasn't your fault," she said lightly with a weak smile.
He returned her grin and leaned down to kiss her again when a voice yelled out from the hall.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING, MALFOY?"
It was the angry voice of Ron Weasley, accompanied by the blank and pale face of Harry.
-----
A sniffling Pansy sat beside Seamus in front of an angry-looking Professor McGonagall.
"Now, I am certain you understand the graveness of the situation you both have caused in your attempts to possibly murder one of our students," McGonagall said angrily.
"B-but Professor, it w-was an accident, I s-swear it!" said a blubbering Pansy.
"Oh shut yer trap, Parkinson, you know it wasn't," Seamus said in an annoyed tone.
Pansy shot him a glare and McGonagall cleared her throat.
"And you, Mister Finnigan, attempting to sexually assault Miss Granger? Very unexpected of you, and I am sorry to say that the both of you will be receiving grave punishment," McGonagall continued, sternly looking at the two.
Seamus sighed and Pansy's eyes grew wide.
"Mister Finnigan, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office, so if you will…I'd like a few more private words with Miss Parkinson."
Seamus nodded and stood up, quickly leaving the office.
-----
Within the blink of an eye, both Harry and Ron had their wands out and pointed at Draco.
"Hermione, don't worry, we're here now," Harry said reassuringly.
"Ron, Harry, please, let me explain," Hermione began carefully.
Draco pulled Hermione closed to him and quickly kissed her forehead.
"One moment, love," he whispered.
"MALFOY, YOU STUPID PRAT, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Ron bellowed, at Draco.
"Shut up, Weasel, you have no idea what you're talking about," he said calmly, whipping out his wand as well.
Ron instantly charged at Draco who simply flicked his wand and shouted 'Stupefy!' before Harry could cast an Expelliarmus.
"You bloody git, what the hell are you doing with Hermione!" Harry demanded as he aimed his wand at Draco.
"Harry, don't—" Hermione squeaked pointlessly.
"Well Potter, what does it LOOK like to you? Or are you too much of an imbecile to find out?" Draco answered casually.
Harry returned with a spell, which Draco dodged, only to throw a Locomotor Harry's way.
"THE PAIR OF YOU, STOP IT!" Hermione shouted with all her strength.
Their shouting match silenced as Draco reluctantly put away his wand.
"Draco, let me talk to Harry alone for a moment," she said timidly, as he nodded, picking up his books and disappearing through the portrait.
After Hermione called of Draco's charm, Harry revived Ron who immediately began to yell.
"HERMIONE, YOU BETTER EXPLAIN WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE," Ron shouted.
"Ron, calm down, why don't you let me handle this?" Harry told Ron.
Ron didn't even bother to protest, but narrowed his eyes in anger and stormed off instantly.
Harry then turned to Hermione.
"Hermione, by the looks of it, I reckon there's something you're not telling me," he said, trying to hold back his anger.
Hermione took a deep breath.
"Harry, you're my best friend, and I want you to listen to me, alright?" she said as calmly as possible.
"Well Hermione, what do you want me to say? I've just seen my best friend snogging my worst enemy!" he threw his hands up in frustration.
"The long story short is simply that Draco and I are…well, dating," Hermione said matter-of-factly.
She wouldn't stand to be yelled at for something she wanted, and Harry would just have to deal with it.
Harry seemed bewildered and angered at the same time.
"I don't understand this, 'Mione," Harry said quietly. "I really don't."
With that, Harry turned to walk away, leaving a silent, confused Hermione behind.
---
"Do come in," Dumbledore called as Seamus knocked on his door.
The boy timidly made his way into the office. His eyes wandered toward the many portraits on the walls (who were eying him as well) and the many strange, silver objects on shelves.
"Please, do take a seat," Dumbledore said calmly with a gesture of his hand.
Seamus quickly sat down as the Headmaster began to speak.
"I am sure you are well aware of the consequences of yours and Miss Parkinson's actions," he said; Seamus nodded.
"Unfortunately, these actions cannot go unpunished," he continued.
Seamus flinched at this.
"But do not think I am unaware of your heroic actions. To perform a such task clears your name a fair amount. However, Miss Parkinson will receive major punishment, as this is not the first time an offense has taken place by her," the wise wizard added. "Now, Mister Finnigan, I have reason to believe Miss Parkinson was mostly in charge of this?"
Seamus nodded quickly, too relieved to speak.
"Very well," Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Professor McGonagall should inform you of your punishment at a later time. You may go."
Seamus got up, thanked the Headmaster, and practically ran down the spiraling staircase to his common room.
He was cleared; he knew doing the right thing would reward him.
'Things may not be so well with half the student population, but at least I'm not expelled...' Seamus thought.
-----
Hermione stepped into the common room, a stony expression on her face.
"How did it go?" Draco asked cautiously from his seat.
She began to speak but burst into tears.
"O-oh D-Draco," she managed to say through sobs.
Draco instantly came to her side, taking her in his arms.
"Don't cry my love, don't cry," he whispered, wiping a stray cheer away from her cheek.
Her tears drenched his shirt, but he didn't care.
"Come here Hermione, let's sit down. Calm down, love…" Draco attempted to soothe her, leading her over to a couch.
She took a deep breath, racked by sobs, and sighed.
"It was horrible, Draco," she began, "they didn't even bother to listen! I mean, they're my best friends, I hoped they would at least attempt to understand and try to be happy for me, but no! They don't even listen!"
She sighed in frustration, and put her head in her hands.
Draco wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I honestly could care less about Potter and Weasel," he started (and quickly continued due to the look Hermione was giving him), "but I know they're your friends, and maybe it'd be best if you let them be for a bit. I mean, it is a load to register for the two blokes."
Hermione smiled up at him. "You're probably right," she said, as he kissed her lips gently.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all this right after you came back…but oh Hermione, I missed you so much," Draco pulled her into a squeezing embrace.
"Ginny told me the entire story. Thank you, Draco, for everything," she gazed into his eyes, slightly touching his cheek.
"It was nothing at all, Hermione. Do you think I could bother to lose you? I, of course, had to make sure you were all right again," Draco said somewhat pompously.
Hermione rolled her eyes and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Well, I do believe you have classes to attend to," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "and I need a shower."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother," he said with fake annoyance.
Hermione giggled as he kissed her forehead and began to collect his books.
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A/N: A reader recently told me that it would probably be less annoying to readers if I didn't give personalized shout outs at the end of the chapter (unless I have something in particular I absolutely need to say). I figured this was probably true, seeing as there are often a lot.
If you could give me an opinion on this, that would be great. Just leave it in your review. Thank you!
supafly09: There is no Dark Mark so far..
sweetiepye2332: You mean Polyjuice Potion? That would've been a good idea, but it is a bit overused.
LemoN-X-DroP: Lmao well, thankfully he didn't actually rape her (he tried to though). They may have attempted to attack him, but he had the thing that would save Hermione's life. I don't think they would kick his ass for that haha.
Thank you to everyone else who reviewed!