a/n: Alright, so I might have not uploaded a chapter in half a year... oopsie. I'm super busy with school, and kind of forgot about this fanfic. But here I am, and I've decided to try to upload once a month now. For those of you who are reading this, thanks for still being here :)

Chapter 5

Hermione felt bitter the whole week but tried to ignore it. It wasn't like Draco, or should she say Malfoy, was that important to her. All she could think about was that face of his, his voice echoing in her brain. "Dammit Granger, can you leave me alone?" She was almost sure she had seen tears in his eyes... Ugh great, she was thinking about it again. She looked up from the book she was trying to read and surveyed the common room. Harry and Ron were sitting on the couches with Seamus and Dean, snorting with laughter, probably at some dumb joke. She spotted Ginny quietly walking up the stairs to her dorm and decided that it was time for a girl talk. She and Ginny had always been really good friends but this summer they had become like sisters. They had talked for hours about everything: school, boys and life after Hogwarts. It had been nice to have a girl to talk to. She loved Harry and Ron to death, but sometimes a girl just needs another female that knows what she's going through.

She sprung up from the couch and called out: "Ginny!" The redhead spun around and caught her eyes. She smiled and Hermione caught up with her. "Listen, I really need to talk to you."

"Come up to my room," she said. The girls entered Ginny's dorm and sat on her bed. "What's going on?" Ginny asked warmly. "Boy trouble," Hermione sighed.

"Oh sweetie, bring it out." Hermione laughed. She already felt better. "It's kind of complicated, actually." Ginny waited patiently as Hermione thought of the best way to tell Ginny what was going on. "So... I'm not sure I told you this but... in sixth year Draco and I kissed." Ginny's eyes widened with shock. "We didn't really speak since then because it was right before Dumbledore's death. He left with the Death Eaters and then there was the war. I've been trying to talk to him since the beginning of the year but he always looks angry or sad." Ginny's look of shock hadn't faded. "Wait, you're telling me you like Malfoy?"

"Well, I'm not sure I like him. I sure as hell used to. But I'm just really confused."

Hermione finally looked at Ginny to see her response. She had been staring at her hands till now. "You like Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy? As in the boy who's been mocking my family for years and called you a mudblood in second year." She said the last one as a statement, as if answering her own question. It was then that Hermione realized how that would sound to Ginny. Ginny hadn't known the boy Hermione knew all those years. She didn't know that Draco was Hermione's first friend in Hogwarts. The one who had stayed up late with her studying for exams and had midnight conversations hiding in the library after everyone went to sleep. She tried to think how she could explain this to her friend, the one that's family pride got bruised by the boy Hermione used to have a crush on, and might still have. "You didn't know him like I did. Yeah, he's a jerk most of the time and dislikes some people because of their blood status. But part of that is only because of the way his family taught him. And anyway, you gotta admit he's hot." She added the last one to try to lift the spirit of the conversation, adding a little smile. It didn't do any good. Ginny had her "Ready to Argue" face on and that was not a good sign. Hermione knew her friend, and she knew that she was one of the most stubborn people her age. That girl could argue for hours, and wouldn't stop until everyone agreed with her. "Exactly, he's a jerk that dislikes people because of their blood status. How could you possibly like a person like that? And anyway, how did you get to the situation of kissing him?"

Well, this wasn't going as planned. " We were friends since first year. I guess you guys never saw us together because it was mostly a midnight chat relationship and I never saw a reason to tell you. We mostly talked, I guess. We talked about everything. Not like you and me, more practical. That's him, I suppose, very practical. We needed each other, we both needed a friend that shared each others love for learning." She wasn't ready to tell her exactly what happened that day when they kissed. It was too private and anyway, Ginny didn't need a reminder that Draco was a Death Eater at the moment.

"That's it, I guess. We were talking one day, and he kissed me. We haven't talked since." Hermione was blushing by now. Her face felt hot and she pressed her cold hands to her cheeks to cool them. They were both quiet for a moment, each girl in her own thoughts. Ginny broke the silence. "I had no idea you two were friends." Hermione shrugged. "No one really knew, I think."

"You continued to be friends with him, after everything he did to you and to pretty much all your friends? I mean, he's been harassing Harry for years," Ginny said.

"I think he was always jealous of us. I mean, yeah, he's rich and has a huge house and parents, unlike a lot of us, but he was forced into darkness the minute he was born. He never really had a choice to choose. I mean, hell, Voldemort lived in the Manor for the last year or so. I can only imagine what that feels like, not feeling safe in your own home. He's really smart, once you get to know him. And I saw something in him that others didn't I guess. His stupid remarks and all the horrible things he did? It was mostly because he wanted to feel powerful. He didn't have power over anything else in his life."

Ginny was looking at her intently, a thoughtful look on her face. "You're really smart, you know that Hermione? You think about things all the way, you don't settle for what everyone else thinks." Hermione cracked a smile. "Well, you know me," she joked.

They were quiet for another minute. "So you haven't talked to him at all this year?" Ginny asked. "I mean, I've tried talking to him, but he seems angry all the time. I don't think I've done anything that could possibly anger him. We need to talk, I mean what was that kiss all about?"

"I guess you should catch him sometime you two are alone, and just ask him directly." Ginny's amber eyes stared directly into her own. "Be careful though, I'm not sure being alone with him for too long is such a good idea." Hermione rolled her eyes at that. "I'm serious Hermione, you were friends once, but things have changed."

Hermione smiled at her. "Thanks Ginny, you always have great advice, especially in boy problems."

"That's how I get the best of them,"Ginny flipped her hair jokingly and smiled.

"Don't get the wrong idea though, I still don't like Draco at all."

"Don't worry, I'm not that optimistic."

As they both walked out to the common room, Hermione replayed their conversation in her head. It had been a good one after all, but one thing Ginny had said echoed in her mind. "You were friends once, but things have changed." Too bad that sentence was much too true.