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Hermione stumbled her way up to the Astronomy Tower, vision impaired by her tears as she made her trek. Hermione wasn't used to this feeling, this feeling of being punched in the gut. Was this…was this what heartbreak felt like? She wasn't heartbroken, though, so why was she feeling like this?
As the moonlight spread its rays throughout the tower, Hermione slowed down, taking careful steps towards the railing. Her eyes traveled over the school grounds as she leaned her elbows on the railing, the cool night breeze passing through her hair. She sniffled again, determined to pull herself together. She was embarrassing herself, even if there was no one around to witness said embarrassment. At least, that was what she thought.
She had not noticed the dark figure who had been in the Astronomy Tower before her, also gazing out onto the school grounds. He had watched as one-third of the Golden Trio had come stumbling up the stairs, face stricken with tears. Her mind was, no doubt, somewhere else entirely. Hence, her lack of awareness for her surroundings.
"I will be extremely disappointed if all of this is over Weasley," a deep voice sneered.
Hermione spun around, startled, before relaxing slightly at the face that appeared next to her from within the shadows. Blaise Zabini slithered up next to her with his usual aura of indifference. His question and raised eyebrow, however, betrayed that indifference.
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, folding in on herself as she let out a scoff. She was going to throw some smart ass remark at him, no doubt hinting at him to mind his own business before she changed her mind. She suddenly had a thought that Hermione Granger rarely ever had. Who cares?
"Am I that transparent?"
Blaise watched as her face fell at the thought of people seeing right through her. He noted that her response did not deny his original assumption. He exhaled, turning to fully face her before leaning his side against the railing.
"No. A lot of people just seem to have a lot of interest invested into your relationship with him…or lack thereof. Of course, I am not one of those people. I couldn't care less, to tell you the truth, but you know, you hear people talk," was his nonchalant answer as he picked something off of his shirt.
Hermione pursed her lips at this response, trying to decide on how to react.
"…and what do those people say?"
"Nothing that hasn't been said before, just wondering when you two will finally hook up," he answered, turning towards the railing now.
She was quiet for a moment as his dark eyes ran over the expanse of the school grounds, taking note of a couple canoodling by a tree out in the distance. He heard her quiet scoff before she finally responded.
"Of course," she spat.
Blaise couldn't help the humorous smirk that fell over his lips.
"Let me guess… Someone didn't get the memo, huh?"
Hermione shook her head, a humorless chuckle escaping her lips.
"It's a bit more complicated than that. You wouldn't even begin to understand my feelings," she replied.
There was a short, yet not uncomfortable, silence before Blaise surprised them both by saying:
"Try me."
Hermione turned to look at him in shock, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. One of his eyebrows were raised, a Malfoy like smirk gracing his lips, challenging her.
"Did I just hear you say that you actually want to listen to my girl troubles?"
"I've got nothing but time, Granger," he answered.
Hermione shook her head in disbelief, turning to stare outside again. She suddenly heaved a tired sigh, straightening.
"It has been brought to my attention that…Ron seems to really fancy Ms. Lavender Brown," Hermione said with fake bravado.
"Been there, done that. She's nothing special, so don't beat yourself up," he said.
Hermione chuckled, sniffling again.
"No, see, that's the thing. I'm not beating myself up over it. I…that's not the problem," she quietly replied, voice cracking.
Blaise was surprised to hear the tremor in her voice and he turned his head to look at her again. Her eyes looked like two glass orbs, shimmering in the moonlight with unshed tears.
"Then…what is the problem," Blaise found himself asking.
"I don't even really like Ron. It's just…the two of us getting together was what everyone expected. It was what was expected of us. His family, our friends, hell, people I barely even know expected the two of us to end up together. Unfortunately, I am also included in that category…"
Hermione wasn't sure why she was telling Blaise Zabini all of this, but at the moment, she didn't really care.
Blaise's thoughts mirrored her own, almost verbatim. He too wondered what possessed Hermione Granger to spill her guts, but he found that he wasn't exactly complaining.
"Even though I know that he's not exactly my first choice, I also expected that we would be together. It makes sense, it's supposed to be easy…it's supposed to be right. Despite my lack of romantic feelings towards Ron, I was willing to settle for what was expected…"
Hermione swallowed, recalling how not long ago, she had just turned into that corridor, seeing Ron and Lavender tangled around one another.
"Ron…Ron had other ideas. You may not think that Lavender is a catch, but he clearly does. He obviously sees something in her that he likes, that he wants, so he went after it. He saw someone that he wanted, someone outside of who everyone thought he would go after, and he went for it. Ron Weasley was not willing to settle…but Hermione Granger was," she finished, almost questioning herself.
Blaise stared at the confused girl before him and, surprisingly, he understood where she was coming from. Of course, from his end, Weasley wouldn't have exactly been settling, but he kept that to himself.
"So…you, like everyone else, was expecting the Weasley-Granger love affair. Weasley decided that he wasn't going to do what was expected of him. The realization of this new revelation is what lead to this. Correct?"
Hermione nodded, failing to hide her small smile.
"That would be correct," she answered with a small chuckle.
"Well, now you just have to answer one question to solve this dilemma. What do you want? Weasley obviously went after what he wanted, so now it's your turn," Blaise said.
A look of confusion crossed over her features, Blaise noted, and she suddenly looked down.
What did she want? As crazy as it sounded, Hermione had just been waiting for Ron to finally make the first move that she had never even given any thought to anyone else. She supposed McLaggen was good looking. Well, there was no supposing about that. McLaggen was a good looking fellow. She had noticed him looking at her earlier in the Weasley shop.
Hermione suddenly stopped that train of thought. Was she considering McLaggen because she liked him or because he had shown interest in her? She furrowed her eyebrows, realizing that once again, she was going for easy. She suddenly turned to face Blaise, finally answering his question.
"I…I don't know. I don't know what I want."
"Granger? Granger?"
Draco's loud voice reverberated around the room, causing Blaise to wince beneath the scrutiny of his friend. Draco was like a fucking hippogriff, clomping around the room in anger, resembling a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum. Oh…wait, Blaise suddenly chuckled at his own joke.
Draco's head whipped around, eyes zeroing in on his laughing friend. Draco failed to see how any of this was funny.
"Is my…complete bewilderment somehow funny to you, Blaise?"
Blaise looked up at his troubled friend before heaving a sigh. He rose from his bed, walking towards Draco and resting his hand on his arm.
"No, of course not. I understand that this is a bit of a shock to you-."
"A bit? A bit? You're fucking around with the mudblood," Draco hissed.
As soon as that last word left Draco's lips, he found himself shoved into the wall, his best friend's angered face filling his vision. Blaise loved Draco, he did, but he liked Hermione, had grown to respect her and would be damned if he allowed Draco to disrespect her.
"If I ever…hear that word come out of your mouth again…I'll curse you, Draco. I mean it. You won't be able to walk for a month," Blaise threatened.
Draco stared at his friend in a mixture of fury and betrayal. It was Hermione Granger, the insufferable know-it-all, the mudblood. That's all that she had ever been, but now…
"Forgive me, Blaise. I'm just trying to understand when exactly did you start fucking her into next week," Draco sneered.
Blaise threw his hands up.
"Don't…don't talk about her like that. She-."
"Bloody hell. She was right… You do like her," Draco breathed, a sinking feeling in his gut.
"Yes. That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past fifteen minutes. I like her, Draco. She's not so bad. As a matter of fact, I'd say she's the only witch in this entire school with some bloody substance," Blaise said, his shoulders sagging.
"Of course, it doesn't hurt that you're shagging her," Draco scathingly replied.
Blaise sighed, expecting no less from Draco. Of course, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit disappointed in Draco's behavior. Then again, maybe Blaise had been naïve enough to underestimate just how much Draco and Hermione disliked each other.
"Look, Draco, I'm laying it all out. I like her, alright? We don't exactly know what this is, but we know that we like each other and we're having fun…with just each other. She makes this school a little more bearable," Blaise confessed.
Draco felt an unfamiliar emotion rising within his chest and he narrowed his eyes at his friend. Granger must have been one hell of a lay because Blaise was started to sound like a fucking Hufflepuff.
"How long do you think your fun is going to last, Blaise?"
Blaise too narrowed his eyes at Draco's loaded question.
"Draco," he warned.
"No, really. Do you really think that this is going to last? You can't stay neutral forever! You know what side I'm on and everybody knows what side she's on," Draco spat.
Just the thought of Granger coercing Blaise into joining the light side was enough to make his blood boil.
"You're going to have to choose eventually, and when you do, it's not going to be between sides. It's going to be between us. It's either going to be her…or me," Draco said.
Blaise didn't respond, closing his eyes at the truth in Draco's words.
"So you have your fun with the Gryffindor Golden Girl, just remember that we're already in the middle of a war," Draco sneered.
The door slammed with the sound of his exit.
Hermione continue to scribble down her notes, her bottom lip raw from the act of her chewing on it. Every time she tried to stop, she'd get that feeling of being watched, and it would start all over again. She knew it was him. There were no other options as to who it could be. Snape's voice continued to drone on and she could see Ron struggling to stay awake out of the corner of her eye.
Luckily for him, it appeared that Snape was just about finished with notes. She was proven right when he suddenly ordered all pencils to drop, announcing that for the rest of the year, they would be working in pairs. For once, Hermione hoped that she would get paired with Harry or Ron, despite how much they slacked off. It was just that, with her luck lately, Hermione feared that she would be paired with-.
"Malfoy…Granger."
Snape's voices ghosted over her like frost, freezing her in her place as her eyes widened. She faintly noted that a hand had patted her shoulder in sympathy, no doubt Ron. She could only imagine that Harry was too horror stricken at the thought of her sitting next to a possible Death Eater for the rest of the year.
"Ms. Granger…have you suddenly lost all ability to hear?"
Snape's voice pulled her from her pity party and she looked up, wide-eyed.
"No, professor," she answered.
"Have you decided to be a rebel, taking after your company and defying my instructions?"
"No, professor," Hermione quietly replied.
She could hear the Slytherin class snickering to themselves, much to her embarrassment.
"Then I suggest you gather your belongings and move to sit next to Mr. Malfoy," Snape sneered at her before walking away, his robes billowing behind him.
Hermione reluctantly stood as Snape continued to call out the rest of the pairs. She made her way towards the back of the class, avoiding his eyes at all costs while she neared her seat. Just as she passed him to sit down, she tripped, landing on her knees as her things spilled everywhere.
Draco smirked.
A few nearby students chuckled while Snape simply ignored her, continuing on. Hermione's face flushed with anger as she looked up into the cold eyes of Malfoy. His haughty smirk was firmly in place.
"On your knees before a Slytherin. This must be a familiar view for you, Granger," he quietly spat.
Hermione swallowed, face flushing even more in a combination of anger and embarrassment. She would be damned if he made her feel bad for how she felt about Blaise. She was not going to let him turn their relationship into something disgusting and…and shameful!
Hermione reached out, pulling his chair from underneath him and taking satisfaction in the way he landed on the ground. She hurriedly stood, eyes never leaving him as he followed suit, face morphing into something frightening. Hermione took a step back as he approached her, lip curled over his teeth.
"You filthy little-."
"You tripped me!"
"Was simply reminding you of your place," Draco hissed.
"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger, perhaps this altercation can be finished in the Headmaster's office," Snape drawled, eyes flickering between the two of them.
Hermione felt her eyes water and she blinked the tears away, instead opting for grabbing her back and exiting the class in a huff, ignoring her friends' prying eyes. Draco's footsteps could be heard behind her, but she simply ignored him. She reprimanded herself for giving in so easily. Now, she was going to get detention.
She was forcefully pulled from her thoughts by a firm hand, a firm hand that was gripping her arm. She looked up in shock as Draco gently pushed her against the wall, his face nearing hers.
Draco ran his eyes over her, trying to find what was so special about this fucking girl. He had once thought that Blaise had some semblance of taste…
"Don't go and get bold now just because you're boffing my best friend," Draco quietly stated.
Hermione's eyes widened at his crude language. How dare he!
"You-."
"Do well to remember that you have a lot more to lose than he does in this situation," he interrupted, the truth in his words effectively shutting her up.
Hermione clenched her jaw, moving to shove him away when he grabbed her other hand. She shrunk away from his scrutinizing gaze, stormy eyes passing over her as if she were an insect.
"I was here long before you came along and I'll still be here long after you're gone. You're temporary, Granger."
Hermione flinched as he threw those words at her and Draco took great satisfaction in it. He stepped closer, lowering his mouth to her ear.
"I can make your life a living hell."
Hermione shuddered as his lips brushed against her ear, the conviction in his words freezing her in place.
"You have no idea what I'm capable of. Remember that the next time you want to be bold," he hissed against her skin, pulling away from her with a glare.
Hermione swallowed as he walked towards the Headmaster's office, leaving her there in a state of fear and uncertainty.
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