Hey, I'm back! Actually I was back earlier, but I fell sick so I didn't have time to write. I'm better now, so here you go. Enjoy! )
"I saw this graveyard, see, and Voldermort was there," Hermione explained to Ron and Harry. They were relaxing in the common room the night after Hermione's nightmare. Harry reached out and carefully examined Hermione's forehead.
"What on earth are you doing, Harry?"
"Graveyard… Voldermort… I'm just checking for a scar on your forehead. Something similar to mine maybe?" Harry said.
"No time for lame jokes. Something's happened to Draco. I think he's a…" Hermione trailed off sadly.
"A death eater? No surprise," Ron said calmly. "His father is one; obviously he would want his only son to take his place once he was gone."
Hermione sighed and played with her fingers. "Draco isn't coming back, is he?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't know Hermione… most probably not. But you can't be certain unless you've heard from him. Have you tried sending him a letter?"
"No, of course not. His father might read it," Hermione replied. "Or maybe Lucius wouldn't mind? I have the letter with me now. Take a look at it, and let me know if it'll cross his line." Hermione dug into her robe pocket and took out a neatly folded parchment, handing it to Harry. Harry read it, stifling a chuckle, and passed it to Ron who almost fell out of his chair.
"You're so sweet like the sugar in candy!" Ron exclaimed, reciting the letter. "It's been rather hot these few days. I miss you like I miss the rain!" Ron stomped his feet, his face scrunched and red from all the laughter. "You can't give this to him, even if Lucius doesn't see it."
Hermione snatched the letter away, blushing. "Why not? I was expressing my feelings."
"No, you were just being stupid," Ron muttered. Hermione reached out to smack him on his head but he ducked. Harry watched as his two best friends started hitting each other childishly, rolling on the floor. "I'm gonna go find Ginny," he said quickly, and hurried out of the room, leaving the two idiots behind, pulling each other's hair.
"Stop! Stop!" Hermione said, laughing. They lay on the ground side by side, breathing heavily. It had been a long while since they had laughed together like that, and it felt pretty good. A moment later, she realized how close they were to each other and moved away, feeling uneasy. It was weird lying next to him as if nothing had happened, after all they'd been through.
"Uh, right. So…" Ron said quietly, getting up.
"So… yea," Hermione shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "I'll just head out for some fresh air." She got up and rushed out the room, leaving Ron sitting there alone.
Ron sighed and closed his eyes. You're never gonna get over her, are you? Ron said to himself.
Nope, guess not.
Hermione ran out of the school and ran across the field, down the chipped stone steps, and stopped in front of the Whomping Willow. She eased down on the grass a good distance away from the murderous tree, and let her thoughts run free.
What happened in there? She thought. Does Ron still fancy me? Do I still fancy him! She tugged at a long grass which had been poking her leg annoyingly. What if I do? Or what if I don't…
"Gosh, this is so confusing!" Hermione grumbled out loud. The Whomping Willow's few leaves swayed in the wind, calmly moving as if life was perfect. "Yea, you have nothing to worry about. Life is perfect for you, isn't it? All you have to do is swing your stupid branches and whack anyone who comes in your way."
The old tree danced around as though it was answering Hermione a hell yea.
"Second sign of madness. Talking to an evil tree," a voice behind her said. Hermione turned around and grinned at the boy before her.
"What's the first sign?" she said to Ron.
"That would be talking to yourself, which I'm sure you've already done before starting a conversation with that stupid tree," Ron said. Hermione patted on the grass beside her, inviting him to take a seat.
"I left you for 5 minutes. You really can't live without me, can you?" Hermione joked.
"No, I don't think I can," Ron answered sadly, a serious look on his face. He looked right at Hermione, but she blushed and quickly looked away. She busied herself by tugging on the grass again, and acted like she hadn't heard what Ron said.
"Draco's not coming back, Hermione. Give it up," Ron said.
"How sure are you?" Hermione countered. "He's coming back, okay? He's coming back for me."
"Oh yeah? He hasn't even bothered to send you a letter," he pointed out. "Seems like he doesn't care about you. If I were him, I would send you letters and roses and chocolate frogs every single day, even every hour if you asked it of me."
"But you're not him!" Hermione raised her voice, standing up. "You're just jealous of us." Hermione regretted stating that last sentence the moment it came out of her mouth. Ron's eyes widened and his eyes were fire crazy.
"Don't flatter yourself," Ron spat, getting up as well.
"Ron, I didn't mean it… I take it back," Hermione apologized.
Ron sighed. "Don't you understand? I want you for myself!"
Hermione stared at Ron. "But I want Draco."
"No! Stop saying that! He's not here now, Hermione, I am!" Ron said. Hermione's eyes filled with sadness, but she blinked it away. "Draco has been horrible all these years. Why the sudden change of heart?" Ron asked quietly.
"Because I saw the greater side of him," Hermione whispered, tears racing down her cheeks.
"Can't you see the greater side of me as well? I may be just stupid, annoying, wacky old Ronald to many people, but there's a bigger part in me that has a lot to say. I've been saving that part for you," Ron said, feeling his heart beat fast at the thought of her.
"I can't Ron. You may be saving a part of you for me, but Draco promised the whole of him to me," Hermione whispered, and with that, she turned around and ran away, leaving Ron sitting on the grass, staring after her. He sighed, feeling like he was being crushed under a piano. He stared at the Whomping Willow as she swiped the air with her deadly thorns.
"What are you looking at?" Ron spat at the old tree. It waved its branches at him, as if to mock him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Father, please! STOP!" Draco pleaded.
"Shut up, Draco. Let me do what I have to do," Lucius Malfoy snapped at his son. Draco watched helplessly once again as his father tortured his mother, Narcissa. She coughed out blood and her eyes rolled at the back of her head. Draco sat in the corner, unable to watch his mother suffer.
"You're a death eater now. Why aren't you helping me?" Lucius spat.
"Because that's my MOTHER!" Draco replied angrily. Lucius looked at Draco with fire in his eyes. "She's a useless mother. Too much love in her, she has. Love is what the dark lord loathes most."
"Love is what I have for her," Draco said.
"You are foolish then!" Lucius spat. He kicked Narcissa and aimed his wand at her, ready for another shot of pain. His eyes were gleaming, reflecting a crazy man who considered pain as fun.
"Stop, father! She's had enough for today," Draco pleaded. Lucius stopped and studied Narcissa carefully. "Just a little bit more," he whispered.
He aimed his wand at her and muttered, "Crucio."
Narcissa twitched, the pain too unbearable for her to scream. Her arms swung everywhere, and her eyes turned pearly white. Lucius laughed as he waved his wand left and right, Draco's poor mother being thrown all around the house, wherever the wand waved. Lucius finally stopped after what seemed like forever, and gave Narcissa another hard kick on her stomach.
"Now I am satisfied," Lucius grinned. "Clean her up. Get her ready for tomorrow's beating," he ordered Draco. Draco ran to his mother and turned her around to see if there were any major injuries.
"Draco darling," Narcissa whispered, opening her eyes slightly, weakly smiling as she looked at his grey, sad eyes. "You're not safe. Run away."
"I can't, mother. Father will be sure to find me," Draco said sadly. "I am already a death eater; I can't go back to who I once was."
"Go back to school…" Narcissa said, closing her eyes. She made a soft squeak before fainting again. Draco controlled his tears and slowly dragged her to her room, washing dirt off her face, and cleaned up bruises and cuts that would never heal, as Lucius would surely cut them open again the next day.
When Draco was done, he went downstairs and rested on his dusty sofa. What an awful day, he thought. He considered what his mother had told him to do, which was to go back to school and finish off his last year.
Why did Dumbledore let me go, he thought angrily. He knew I was going to be a death eater… why did he allow it?
Lucius walked down the stairs in his usual style, his nose pointed at the ceiling.
"Father," Draco stood up immediately. "I need to talk to you."
"What is it, Draco? I'm a busy man," Lucius said.
"Let me go back to Hogwarts, father," Draco said hopefully.
"Certainly not! Death eaters can't go to school. Don't be silly," Lucius shrugged him off.
"It's my last year, father. Just let me finish it off. I'll be back right after NEWTS. Please, father. It's important for me to go complete my studies. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would prefer me to go back," Draco pointed out.
"Well… The year is going to end soon. I might as well let you go and finish it off. That'll shut you up," Lucius muttered. Draco grinned, feeling the weight on his shoulders lift. "I'll start packing," he said cheerfully, running up the stairs. He was glad to be going back to Hogwarts, back to his friends, back to his real home.
Back to Hermione.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ginny, is that you?" Hermione whispered. She was hiding out in the girl's bathroom on the 3rd floor, afraid to bump into Ron. It was dinnertime, so she had asked Ginny to go down to the halls and fetch her meal for her.
"Yea, yea," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. Hermione opened the door to the stall and let out her breath. "There's a horrible stench in here. I wonder why I bother hiding out in this disgusting toilet."
"Yeah. Don't worry though, you're not alone. Almost all the girls hide out here because they're running away from boys who love them, and they always get poor innocent girls to go fetch their food, making them walk up and down as if they have nothing to do with their life," Ginny said sarcastically.
"Fine, Ginny. I'm sorry I'm treating you like a house elf. But I really don't need this right now," Hermione whined.
"Okay, okay. If you need me, I'll be at the halls, being someone else's slave 'cause that's just what I do," Ginny muttered, stomping out of the smelly bathroom. Hermione crossed sat on the ground and crossed her legs, munching on her chicken wings.
Chicken wings, she thought, and immediately felt guilty. Ron.
She thought about how she had treated Ron, how she had rejected him so harshly. She suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore, and put her plate aside. Maybe I should give him a chance, she thought. I did fancy him before, so what's the problem in fancying him now?
Hermione stared blankly at the dirty ceiling, deep in thought. Draco isn't coming back… he never even bothered to write me a letter once he got there. Ron is caring, sweet and funny. Why not give it a try?
"Yeah! I'll give it a try!" she said aloud.
She ran out of the bathroom and raced down the staircase to the great hall. Students turned to watch as she ran past them, and stopped right behind Ron. Ron turned around slowly with a confused look on his face, afraid that Hermione would suddenly jump at him and tear him to bits.
"I'll go out with you," she grinned at him. She waited for his response, but he merely stared at her with wide eyes. "Uh, Ron?"
"Seriously?" he finally whispered.
"Yes," Hermione said with total confidence. Ron's look of confusion switched to happiness, and he got up and hugged her.
"I knew you'd figure it out," Ron said. "I knew you'd put Malfoy in the past."
Hermione frowned at the sound of Draco's name, but when she realized that people were still staring at the dramatic scene, she smiled widely and hugged him tight. The whole Gryffindor table cheered and clapped. Some boys made gagging sounds at the thought of romance, and some girls started whispering to one another, making up rumours about the latest couple.
Hermione felt glad that she had finally made Ron happy. But the problem was, was she happy? I made this decision to cut Ron some slack. No turning back, Hermione said to herself, shaking her head.
"C'mon, sit down for dinner. Food's getting cold," Ron grinned, moving aside so Hermione would have enough space to take a seat between Harry and him.
"Listen. You wanna accompany me tonight? Just a quiet walk around the school," Ron invited.
"I'd love it," Hermione smiled brightly, digging into her food. This is absolutely perfect, she thought. Just the way I want my life to be… right?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I had a great time, Hermione," Ron smiled. He and Hermione were strolling in the halls silently, holding hands.
"Um, yeah. Me too," Hermione replied, not quite looking into his eyes.
"What made you change your mind about us, anyway?" Ron asked.
"Um.. I don't know. I just snapped out of my funk and decided to start being more open and take chances," Hermione replied. Ron grinned at her and played with her fingers.
"We'd better get going. Filch and his ugly furball or probably wandering around in another floor right now," he said.
"So I guess that's good night, then," he said when Hermione didn't reply him. He leaned over to kiss Hermione, but she pulled away.
"What's wrong?" Ron said, starting to get angry again.
"Nothing. It's just…" Hermione started.
"Just what, Hermione?" Ron said, raising his voice.
"Forget it… I'm sorry. Let's try again," Hermione leaned closer to Ron and closed her eyes. Ron softened and leaned forward, puckering his lips slightly to kiss her. Hermione waited till she felt his lips on hers, brushing hers gently.
Well, it isn't so bad, Hermione thought. Hermione suddenly felt Ron's lips parting, and something slimy and wet that felt like an eel went into her mouth, sticking into her throat. I take that back. But she realized how Ron would have felt if he found out that she was practically vomiting, and felt guilty again. She decided to let Ron do whatever he wanted to, and be nice to him for once.
They stood there in the entrance hall, Ron kissing her passionately, and Hermione making an effort to kiss back. Just as she started to get used to Ron's tongue going in an out her mouth, Hogwart's main door opened.
There stood a tall, slender boy, dripping wet from the thunderstorm outside. He was soaked and troubled, but he looked absolutely happy. Until he realized who the two people kissing in front of him were, the rain water washing away his grin.
"Oh. My. God," Hermione, Ron and Draco said at the same time, staring at each other blankly.
"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, staring at the wet boy before her.
He's back.
Hey! Sorry I couldn't make it longer. The ending keeps throwing itself at me so I hafta end it quick. REVIEW OKAY! And is that how you spell Whomping Willow? I kinda forgot and I was lazy to go check it out. XD review review review!