Chapter 37

"It's almost curfew, Hermione will be in the common room by now, I'm sure of it." Harry's voice echoed from the other end of the corridor. Draco and Hermione froze and hurriedly stepped away from each other but not quick enough.

"Hey, 'Mione! What's going on?" Ron asked, looking obviously between Draco and Hermione.

"Dumbledore wanted to speak to me about how well my grades were doing and I was just coming to find you when Malfoy started bugging me as per usual." Hermione sent a false glare at Draco but luckily he saw that it didn't meet her eyes.

He simply raised his eyebrow and turned around walking in the direction of the dungeons. However, not before he sent a smile at Hermione when Ron and Harry were faced the other direction.

"Did he do anything?" Harry asked worriedly as the trio started towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Of course not, Harry." Hermione said with a weak smile and a slightly tired sigh. She was absolutely exhausted and was definitely sure that Draco felt the same way. Hermione let her mind wonder to Draco.

What were they going to do? It would break both of them if they had to pretend to hate each other and they might drift apart. Hermione knew that this absolutely could not happen. Not after all that the two of them had gone through with Tallulah and Titus and the forgiveness house and whatnot. Not after their views on each other had changed so drastically.

Hermione continued pondering on what to do when she realised Harry and Ron were talking.

"Obviously the Chudley Cannons haven't been doing as well as they might usually do but I'm sure that's just a little bit of nerves since it is the beginning of the tournament. I guarantee you that their standards will have picked up by the end of the school year."

Quidditch. Of course. What else would these two be talking about? Nothing that was truly very important or interesting. Nor anything that would mean she could be included in their conversations either. Sometimes Hermione thought they only kept her around and let her hang out with them was because she helped them with their homework.

"Hermione?" Hermione jumped at the sound of Harry's voice. "You just drifted off into your own little dream world then, Hermione."

"Sorry." Hermione apologised quickly. "I was just thinking about some stuff. Nothing the two of you need to concern ourselves with. What was it you were saying?"

"I was just saying," Ron began. "That you would totally help us with the Charms essay, right? You know that I'm dead awful at it and that I have absolutely no clue what the essay was about so...Hermione?"

Hermione was fuming. It seemed that these two really did only keep her around so that she did all of the dirty work for them concerning homework and such.

"No, I will not, Ronald!" Hermione hissed through gritted teeth. "You can bloody well do it yourself or get lost. If I do it for you then you will never learn anything and you will never get a decent job and get paid when you leave school. Not that many places will take you. Most people put a brain on a job description which you sorely lack."

Hermione stormed off towards the portrait of the fat lady and let herself in. She guessed that Draco must have rubbed off on her a little. Hermione gave a smirk that could rival the blond in question's own and made her way up the girls stairs and into the sixth year girls dormitories.

Harry and Ron just stood rooted to the spot in shock. Hermione had refused to do their homework for them in the past, that wasn't what they were shocked about. It was that Hermione had never truly insulted one of them like that. She wasn't like that. It wasn't her thing. It was...Malfoy's thing.

"Is it just me, or did our 'Mione just sound like Malfoy?" Ron was the first to voice the suspicions on both of the boy's minds.

"You aren't alone, mate." Harry agreed while shaking his head in disbelief. "There's something going on. Something Hermione isn't telling us."

Down in the Slytherin common room, things weren't going much better for Draco either. Pansy Parkinson had seen that he looked troubled and a little bit hurt and had tried to 'help him out' as she called it. Draco did not find that she helped in the slightest, though and rather thought she simply gave him an awful headache and doubled his stress.

"Bog off, Pansy." Draco grumbled harshly as he glared and roughly shoved past a rather hurt looking Pansy. "I'm not in the mood for you right at the moment."

"What's got your knickers in a twist then, eh?" Blaise Zabini asked, leaning back into the sofa he was slouched lazily on. "Bee in your bonnet?"

The blond Slytherin simply raised an eyebrow at his friend and slumped next to him on the sofa, staring into the flames ahead of him. "I didn't know you were one for Muggle phrases, Blaise." The Italian shrugged and shifted his calculated gaze to the fire as well. "But, yeah. I am a little pissed off right now."

He heard Blaise tut from beside him. "Language, Draco. There are impressionable first years here." He raised an amused eyebrow when Draco shot an icy glare his way. "I bet it's problems with your little Gryffindor book-worm crush. Am I right?"

Draco let out a deep sigh and got up to go to bed. He was absolutely exhausted. "Whatever you say, Blaise. Whatever you say."

Once Draco was in the sixth year boys dorm he flopped onto his bed and pulled the curtains around him. He felt sleep claim him almost the second his head hit the pillow and he allowed himself to be taken to his dreams where he wouldn't have to worry about Hermione. For now.

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