You've been flirting again

--

--

--

--

Hermione didn't come

Hermione didn't come. He knew it. But he just had to keep his hopes up, that she would come meet him for the early morning. But she didn't. And he felt restless, like he knew he should have done something yesterday, some explanation of some sort as to why he didn't bother to come after her after she had seen Pansy and him together in such an awkward moment. Suddenly having Pansy kiss him was awkward. Suddenly, Pansy stroking his hair seemed awkward. Suddenly, lying on a common room couch with his head on Pansy's lap seemed awkward.

He blew into his hands and rubbed them together, the warmth never getting into his blood. He waited for a few more minutes and then he proceeded to trudge back to Hogwarts. He could have frozen to death and still Hermione would not come. The little arse. Of all the lowly things to do…he waited! Waited for her! And she never came. She was in for it, he swore to himself- and yet he was unsure of how he would react if he saw her later on.

He did see her. And all he could maintain was the remorseless face of a callous bastard. And boy, was he bloody excellent at it.

He made Hermione's heart beat in all out hatred. But she proceeded into defense mode and they both passed the corridor not eyeing each other, not spitting or spiting…no words of derision at all.

He had smelled her skin despite her not being close to him. It made his blood run faster, making him dizzy. Damn it, he told himself, Hermione smelled like nothing he had ever smelled before. Was it perfume? He couldn't tell. He just loved it. But he continued walking away, afraid he would turn around to talk and even- he shuddered- apologize!

As Hermione walked towards a corner, he stopped in his tracks to look at her back. She was walking slowly, almost gracefully, except for the large book on one side of her hip. It wasn't easy, this little game they were playing. And daddy would be greatly pissed.

But he couldn't help but linger in that spot, even if Hermione had long gone, even if he had been unable to hear the sounds of her shoes softly clattering on the hall. Perhaps…he could meet with her later, steal some time from her…or, steal her away. He smiled at that thought. He had never kidnapped anyone before just to have conversations (who did?) and he imagined her kicking and beating his chest with both her fists as he-

He shook his head and continued to walk. There was something else far more important to do. Something more important than chasing his current little dirty obsession…

Draco ended up frustrated that day; he didn't even touch Pansy at all.

--

--

Her heart pounded as she leaned against the wall, hoping she was alone and that she could be alone till her knees sufficed for walking again. She had smelled his skin, a faint cologne- or aftershave. It did not matter, as long as she was close to him.

She heard his footsteps fade away in the other side of the wall and she wondered if he even thought of her at all or felt her presence. She was there! She existed! And yet…it seemed she never was and never did. It was hurting her more than she knew. And she didn't want to know the extent of the hurt she was feeling.

"We're not meant, " she muttered under her breath, trying to make some sense into her words, trying to turn it into a song. "We're not meant to be together. "

Of course, it was difficult. She was smart but it was difficult.

And she saw someone familiar, very familiar to her heart and to her lips- coming up to her, alone and serious.

Ronald Billius Weasley. Blood traitor, ex-boyfriend…and a slew of other names people taunted him with.

He paused, standing in front of her, trying to say something. But he said nothing. And Hermione continued to walk past him and just as she had walked past him, he opened his mouth. "I'm sorry, Hermione. "

She stopped in her tracks. "You are? " she said and was amazed at how calm she sounded. She had imagined herself breaking down in that millisecond. She could have been hysterical, but she was not. She could have beaten his chest with hexes only she could conjure, but she didn't.

"I really am, " he finally said with a voice so low, only he could have heard it.

But she heard it and hated it. She was bending towards forgiveness, something she swore she would never do to him. But her heart was telling her to go soft and let the bad past go. Perhaps he and Lavender were meant together and not him and her.

"Why? " she finally said turning around to meet him.

Ron cleared his throat as softly as he could. "It wasn't- I never meant to hurt you, Hermione. It just happened. I just love her. "

It was as simple as that and it hurt more than ever.

"I still felt attached to you…but I loved her then…if you could just understand, Hermione- "

"I understand perfectly, " she said in a perfectly gracious voice and she was horrified by it.

"You- you do? "

She nodded. "It's all in the name of what-do-you-call-it…love? " she finally said, achieving a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

He sighed. "Merlin's balls, do you have to start with that again? "

"Start what? " she said, with eyes widening into innocence. '

"That. Being, being…you! " he finally said, exasperated. "I had to put up with Hermione everyday of my life since I got to know her. "

"You never got used to it? Never loved me? "

"I did, along the way- but…things change. "

"For the worst, " she muttered.

He had not heard it, for he was busy brushing his hair up with one hand, unable to look at her for a fear he might crawl on his knees to ask fro forgiveness and then let Lavender witness the whole humiliating process.

"You want to know what she has that makes her unique? " he asked her.

She shook her head after a few seconds; unable to believe she had not compared herself with the great Gryffindor seductress who had recently announced to the world her triumph on coveting Ronald Weasley as a prized possession.

"Keep it- to yourself. " She said nothing more after that, determined now to slap him and make him pay dearly, cruelly. Such was the sudden hatred she felt in her heart.

His mouth narrowed, pinched actually. It wasn't nice, this whole ordeal, but he just had to come clean, explain to her that this was how it had to be, how he couldn't help but compare how Lavender was just different for him. Then he nodded once, knowing that this would get nowhere and that his apology would just be considered another very stupid mistake.

She went off ahead, knowing her pride and her pattern of stable thinking had been disrupted once more by an arrogant, selfish, cold and head-over-heels-in-love Ronald Weasley.

"That's just the way it is, " she told herself. "People get hurt even if they don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. I'm never going to get hurt this way again. "

It was a simple enough promise to one's self without the slightest bit of hesitancy, there was a rage that refused to quell, a hatred that refused to die. This was malady; this was imprisonment. As long as she felt anger, the wounds would never heal. As long as Ron and Lavender breathed the same Hogwarts air as she did, she would never heal. And perhaps, it was at that moment that Hermione resigned herself to a fate much worse than death.

--

--

She wasn't at the table for dinner, Draco noticed. He smiled smugly to himself, trying to increase his ego for something she truly deserved. She was probably still frustrated as to why she never approached him, as to why she never apologized for not coming to see him like they had agreed near the freezing cold lake. He had waited for her and nobody keeps Draco Malfoy waiting.

He continued eating, suddenly in a good mood, not minding at all that Pansy kept holding his hand as he rested it on the table, or his cronies' terrible taste in jokes. The night was turning out better than he expected.

His expert eye slid over to the Gryffindor table and he saw Ron laughing with his fellow Gryffindor friends as well as Lavender among her female counterparts. Harry's eyes kept darting from Hermione's empty place to the Great Hall's doors, as if waiting for her to arrive- all the while maintaining that look of interest for the conversation at hand. At least Potter seemed like a true friend no matter how much a loser he was….

"Draco, " a deep voice suddenly said.

Draco looked up, as if disturbed by Blaise. "What? " he said trying to look as cross as possible.

"I said that I've been told that you haven't been attending meetings concerning Slytherin's views- prefects meeting. "

"Like the whole lot of you care, " he sniffed, drinking from his goblet.

Theodore Nott eyed him. "I do. "

Draco looked at him intently, as if scrutinizing an earthworm's dying moments. "Pray do tell, " he said, raising a practiced wave into the air.

"We've been excluded from practice pit benefits, " Nott began.

"Like you bloody like Quidditch. "

"I support your team well enough, " Nott said mildly. "Also, there's discrimination in the hallways, if you've been paying attention. We've been called Snape's boogers for a few days now. "

"Let them say whatever they want. Just because we're in Slytherin and they're from other houses doesn't mean they can trample you down, " he said icily. "You're in Slytherin for Merlin's sake, act like one. "

"I'm just concerned for the overall impact this might have in our final days in Hogwarts, if you know what I mean. "

Draco stopped short. It got him into thinking. Despite some of the Slytherins being known only as supporters and not really fanatical loyalists…Nott had thought of his future for him while he was absorbed in his present fantasies. He felt anger simmer in him. He felt incompetent, felt like a fool. Too many distractions led to this. Hermione's presence led him to this. He was veering away from his duties.

"I know my place, " he said, almost hissing. "You should know yours. "

Nott backed away. "Of course you do, " he said in an almost sarcastic voice. "Just reminding you. " He left without another word, confident he had hit home.

Blaise looked at Nott's back, disgusted. He looked at Draco's passive face. "Never liked him. Wonder why he even got into Slytherin…"

Pansy threw her seductive head back for a laugh. "Probably didn't get a shag. "

The others laughed, but Draco didn't. Instead his face remained stony. And she felt she had hit a wrong cord with him. She bit her lower lip as the laughter quickly died.

Draco wanted to say: "is a good shag all you ever think of?" But he decided not to say anything, trying to control his juvenile temper this time. He was tired of seeing Pansy apologize in front of him. The mere thought of it irritated him.

Pansy's eyes turned into kitten ones, mirroring a feline begging for pity. He felt like he wanted to strangle her and throw her into a raging river inside a sack full of stones. He almost smiled. "Maybe he didn't, " he finally said slowly, thinking that this was his only way out for now

Pansy finally breathed in and so did the rest of the group. And they had thought Draco was vexed. They just didn't know he was filled with murderous rage.

--

--

"You're here, " he said in a quiet, nearly dangerous voice. The air was still cold, clinging to his skin like a thousand needles as he stared at her early morning beauty for a few seconds. He looked down again, feeling annoyance rise in him, the fact that he had waited for her for a couple of days without fail. He had still wished deep inside that she would come earlier that morning.

"I'm not here for you, " she said.

It was another day and they were at the lakeside once more.

"You're just in bloody denial. "

"You're an early morning hot head. "

"I most certainly am not! " Draco spat out.

Hermione laughed.

Draco's ears turned pink. Why was it that every time they were together, he would feel this restless antipathy? It wasn't like she did everything to annoy him; she just simply did annoy him. She was the itch that never went away. And yet, when he was away from her, he dreamt mostly about her, thought about her- thoughts he dared not mention to anyone.

"This place seems familiar, doesn't it?" she suddenly said, standing just a few inches away from him, staring at the vast expanse of the dark body of cold water, bathed in a misty haze.

His brows knitted. "Why?"

"It's as if we've stayed here for a long time, just staring at it together. "

He said nothing, a million thoughts now running in his head. Something more alive than silence was swallowing their supposed conversations.

"Do you like it? " he asked her, not looking at her. He was unsure of where his question was leading.

"Yes, " she said simply. "It's comforting. "

He almost smiled, feeling warmth creep into his heart. She found him comforting? It was a bloody sign, wasn't it? And he was afraid to spoil what she had just said, so he remained quiet.

They made quite a picture, the two of them. One clad in a slick looking black wool trench coat and the other in a dark red sweater with tousled wavy hair. Looking far away, one might agree that they looked like a lovely pair. Contrasts that merged beautifully together, of silver and gold, sharp and soft, conniving and smart…

"Do you know why it's comforting? " she continued without him prodding her to share. "It's cause it feels alright. I feel accepted. When you feel accepted, you can be yourself. " I wonder if he's thinking of how I'm thinking…

"Is this about the lake? " he interjected.

She grinned. "No, not really. "

"When I kissed you that other, other day, I meant it. "

"I didn't say anything about kissing. "

"I was being myself. " How's that for some plus points?

"That's the point you're driving for? " she said. "You being your immoral self? " she smiled a bit seeing his initial reaction.

"I am not immoral, " he said in his most convincing voice.

"The stories of your sexual prowess beg to differ. "

"Ah, you've heard of them? " he said in an almost proud voice.

She raised an eyebrow. "And that doesn't just include your current sex cohort? "

"Those are just stories, " he sniggered. "Tell me what you think of it? "

"I think you're at the risk of getting chlamidya, gonorrhea and a host of other STDS. I think you're gross, self-centered, thick, scheming- "

"Thank you, that was about enough. By the way, what is calamidia and gonerea or STD crap for that matter? "

Hermione laughed right out loud. She was turning red in the face, wishing to roll on the snow. Draco looked at her, annoyed, waiting for the explanation to those bizarre mudblood words.

She breathed in, rasping for air while laughing. "It's- it's- " And she laughed again, her eyes nearly pooling with tears. She forced herself to calm down, sputtering once in awhile. "Those were muggle terms for diseases brought about by reckless sex. "

"Diseases? Like dragon pox? "

"Worse. Much worse. Think of dragon pox multiplied a thousand times over added with a bit of a furnunculus hex and Professor Sprout's warts. "

Draco made a face. "That's just plain disgusting. "

"Yeah, so don't have reckless sex. Stick to one partner. "

"Meaning you? "

"You plan to do it with me? "

" I don't plan. It'll just happen. "

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Like I told you before-"

"Oh shut it, " he said rudely. "You women are all bloody the same. You nag and talk and nag and find ways to please us and then nag again. "

"I'm not to be classified as a nagging woman. I just happen to be smarter than you are that's why you're pissed. If I were an ordinary nagger, you wouldn't even bother arguing with me. You men are all bloody the same, " she ended with sarcasm.

Draco's anger rose now. "Don't place me in the same dunce seat as that flaming ex of yours. I don't recommend you degrade me. "

"You don't need to be degraded. You're lower than the serpents that crawl on the earth. "

"Snakes are noble creatures, " he said, as if offended for snakes. "If you want someone lower than a snake, there's that ugly living thing called Ronald Weasley. "

Hermione laughed out again, forgetting her sudden ire. Draco looked at her, bewildered and cross still. She kept laughing until he joined in, mouth twitching first and then full-blown laughter.

She wiped a tear that escaped the corner of her eye as she struggled for breath. Draco was redder than he had ever been in his whole life, probably redder than when he first came out into the world, filling his lungs with precious oxygen.

"You actually found that funny? " he asked, trying to draw his breath in.

"I found it pretty hilarious, " she responded, suppressing another laugh.

"Did you now? "

"Don't push it, " she said grinning, finally feeling the ache in her jaws from all that laughter. She rested herself on a conveniently located boulder and brushed the snow off of it first.

"My face aches, " he complained as she stood beside her seated figure. He prodded fingers all over his face and frowned.

"You've never laughed like that before? "

"I've never been deprived of oxygen like that before, " he told her. "Even the sides of my stomach hurt you know. "

She smiled a little. "How would you like to see the sunrise with me tomorrow? "

"Are you inviting me out on a date? " Draco's face suddenly looked devious.

"No, I'm inviting you to watch a sunrise with me, " she corrected. "Dates are for eating. "

"Are we talking about the same date like you're going to spend some quality time with good loving or are you talking about a fruit? "

"A fruit. "

He grinned. "Sure. So…what time should we meet? "

"How's five-thirty in the morning? "

"Isn't that a bit late? "

"Don't you ever pay attention to astrology? " Hermione said with a huff.

"Fine, five-thirty it is, " he said extending his hand out for a handshake. Hermione eyed it warily. He shook it a bit. "Oh come on, it's not like my hand has fangs. "

She took it and he held it for a few seconds longer than an expected handshake.

"You can let go of my hand, you know. "

"Sorry, " he grinned a sly grin. "I just love shaking hands with people. "

"No you don't. "

"How would you know? " he said laughing. "I think it's about time you should get going. You'll be late for class. "

"Won't you walk together with me? You'll be late too. "

"If I walked with you, it'll attract attention, " he said simply. "Needle up her ass Gryffindor Head Girl should never be seen with spoiled and self-important Slytherin Prefect. "

Hermione laughed. "Alright, seeing you're better with this kind of matter. "

He watched her slowly walk away, not looking back at him, her back looking self assured and calm. The day was starting out right. He never thought that this morning rendezvous would result to him feeling light-hearted and composed.

After a few minutes of staring at the tranquil lake, he started walking back for Hogwarts. So what if he would be thirty minutes late? Potions was a boring subject done with a new and boring professor from Eastern Europe. He wouldn't be missing out on anything. He wrapped his gray colored scarf around his neck tighter as he smiled and he didn't even realize he was smiling.

--

--

--

--

Author's notes: Another overdue update. I'm going kind of slow. Do review? Thank you.

p.s I'm thinking of redoing "The Chemicals Between Us". Should I? I have erratums all over. And since i can't edit it by chapter anymore, it's automatic that i delete it, right? Fill me in? Thanks again!