Malfoy ran, and the students followed him. Turning a corner, he sped up the corridor and back down another, he could hear the angry shouts of the mob. Suddenly he ran into nothing. He got up and shook his head, there was nothing there, and it was giggling. He had heard that laugh somewhere before. "Granger?"
There was a whooshing noise and Hermione appeared in front of him. He was surrounded by a cloak, which he marvelled at. "An invisibility cloak, these are rare. Where did you get it?"
"It's not exactly mine, I'm borrowing it without the owners permission, but I'll give it back. Where they got it from, I'm not going to tell you."
"Fair enough. Now, let's get back to the business at hand. What the hell do you think you are doing? You told a whole load of crazy people that you and me are going steady!"
Hermione looked hurt. "But, it's true, Draco, you and me, we've been going steady for a while, how can you just forget it?"
"What?" Hermione was on the verge of tears; he looked around for somewhere they could talk, the horde was closing in fast. He pulled the girl into an empty classroom.
Pulling the invisibility cloak off of them, he glared at her. "Explain."
Hermione looked at the floor, obstinate tears stayed in her eyes, but only just. "I thought we had something special. I thought we had something beautiful."
"Where did you get this assumption?" His stance a wall of freezing ice.
"Well, you kissed me, remember? You don't just kiss your enemy, I thought that meant something to you!"
"Granger, I was joking around!"
"How can you say that! How can you just brush it aside as if it didn't matter! I thought we had something! I thought you…" She broke down into tears. Hovering uncertainly, he put his arm around her.
"I'm sorry if you thought…" 'Woah,' he thought, what am I saying? Apologising to the Mudblood? Never.' He stood up. "Stupid girl, how could I ever love anyone like you? You're too clingy."
Hermione ran to him and held him. "But Draco, what about all those things you said? About being with me always?"
"You're a psycho. I never said anything like that."
She pulled away from him and wiped her tears away. Draco sat down on a desk and looked up at her. To his immense surprise and relief, she started laughing. "Psyche."
"Granger!"
"Yeah?"
"It was all a joke, why the hell did you do that? Why did you tell them we were going out?"
"Revenge. Now you have to help me."
He stood up and went to the door. "No, you have to tell them that we aren't going out."
"No I don't. I don't have to do anything." She smiled at him and he returned it as a scowl.
"Yes you do, they're gonna kill me when they find me, I mean they're practically killing each other." He gulped and glared at her. She smiled and shook her head. "Fine I'll tell them." He went to open the door, but she grabbed his wrist.
"Because they'll believe you. Sorry, but I think I'll just let them beat you to a pulp. You're stuck with me."
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Well, that's nice Granger, maybe I'll just let them kill me."
"What, don't you like being my boyfriend?" Her eyes lit up with mock hurt.
"No! Plus, why did you kiss me if this was all a set up."
"The question is, why did you kiss me back?" Malfoy looked at her, stunned. He had definitely kissed her back, but he didn't know why. Or did he? He shook his head, it was the shock, and he would have done anything…
"I…" He flustered.
Hermione smiled winningly. Moving a little closer to him, she whispered in his ear. "I think someone likes being my boyfriend."
"Get away from me!" He pushed her off him and she laughed.
"Isn't that what you did to me?"
"Point taken." He picked up the invisibility cloak and threw it over his shoulders. "Come on then."
"Where are we going?" She joined him under the cloak.
"To the library to look for a cure. I hate the fact that hundreds of people think I don't hate you." He opened the door and they headed towards the library.
It was a slow and awkward journey. Neither of them talked much, it took a lot of effort to manoeuvre around the people lining the doors. Hundreds of students had packed themselves into the library, apparently waiting for Hermione to turn up.
"Shit." Malfoy ducked as someone pulled a book down from the shelf behind him.
"Quiet." Hermione pulled him over to the love spells section. "Get as many books as you can, we'll study in my room. It's the closest."
"Fine." He grabbed a pile of books from the shelves, and Hermione did the same. Getting out of the library was near impossible. They were trying to carry heavy books and not touch anyone.
They were almost out, when a fifth year Hufflepuff stepped in their way, causing Hermione to stumble and knock into someone. It was Ron.
"Who's there?" He felt around for the invisible person. Malfoy pulled Hermione into him so that Ron didn't touch her. "Harry?" He squinted into the space. The two were already backing away. "Why would you be und-…Hermione!" His eyes lit up with hope and he groped around to find her. The couple under the cloak hardly dared to breathe.
"What?" About thirty heads turned his way. Malfoy took Hermione's hand and pulled her out of the library, just as another riot started up.
Back at Hermione's rooms, they spread out the books and started searching for the cure. It took a long while to find, and none of the spells even touched on obsessive, violent fans.
"Have you been feeling unloved and left out and wishing people would notice you?" Draco asked uninterestedly as he leafed through the pages.
"Not really."
"Have you just been through a traumatic experience that made you feel as if no one wanted you and that you were a piece of scum."
Hermione pressed her lips together and stared stubbornly at the floor.
"I'll take that as a yes." He sat forward and looked at her, concerned. "What happened?"
"Nothing."
He smiled knowingly. "Hogsmeade, with the crying. You were crying over a boy. That's what set the spell off."
"No."
"Well, what happened? I need to know, otherwise we'll never get this over with."
"It's nothing, really."
"That bad, huh? Come on! I don't want to be hiding under cloaks with you for the rest of my life. Out with it!"
She sighed, then said in one long rush. "I went out with Dean Thomas once or twice, and then he dumped me and on the same day I walked in on him and Padma Patil kissing." She shook herself. "There, I said it, happy?" She knew it wasn't much of an upsetting story, but it had upset her majorly.
"Ok, and were you traumatised by this?" She saw amusement in his eyes, her hatred doubled at his insensitivity.
"Well, I was upset, but not traumatised to the extent of putting a spell on myself to make everyone kill each other."
Malfoy threw the book down. "We'll never find it! It's a lost cause!"
"We have to keep looking! There's got to be something. Look, I bumped into Professor Lupin this afternoon."
"Lupin? The werewolf?" Draco laughed in delight. "What happened? Did he start growling and chasing you on all fours?"
"No." Hermione said. "He was…normal. Just like you." She said. "He wasn't in the castle when the spell was cast. I think it only affected those in the school." She watched him. "So where were you?" She asked.
He shrugged. "I was here. Haven't left since Hogsmeade." He told her. "It's like I said, even magic isn't powerful enough to make me like you."
"Alright, but what spell does that?" She asked, going back to the books. "You would think that a general love spell would be cast on a person, so that everyone they come into contact with falls for them. But we know that isn't true because Lupin met me and didn't fall in love and you didn't either, unless you are really good at hiding your true emotions."
"Sorry, Granger. I'm just not attracted to you." He smirked.
"Then it must have been cast on everyone else. But what spell does that?" At this, there was a loud knocking on the portrait door.
"Hermione! Come out right now! There's no way to escape! We want answers."
"Shit!" Malfoy stood up. "If they find me in here, I'm dead!"
"Err…" Hermione looked around the paintings, and saw one she had never taken any notice to before. It was a lion with a snake in its mouth. "Oh, no, you can't do this to me." She scowled at the ceiling, causing Malfoy to back away.
"Granger…"
"Look, just follow this passage." She swung open the portrait, revealing a dark passage. Scooping up the books and the invisibility cloak, they made their way quickly down the passage. When they found a flight of stairs leading down, they heard the noise that could only be described as Hermione's beautiful painting being ripped in two.
The tunnel downwards was pitch dark, Hermione, despite herself was scared. She moved closer to Malfoy, and could hardly see him in the gloom. "Granger, are you scared?" He whispered into her ear. She nodded; too many bad experiences in the castle had led her to mistrust any passages that appeared behind paintings that weren't there before. He took her hand, "Stay close to me."
He led her down, and she did as he said, and stayed as close as possible to him, jumping at each noise. She marvelled at the stealth of his movements, as if there was hidden power in every muscle. He was the only warm in the otherwise cold tunnel, and she clung to him, as if some force stuck her to him.
After sometime, they came to a door. "Where are we?" Malfoy's voice came as a shock to her, they had been moving silently for over an hour.
"I think, we might be at your rooms." The door opened inwards, and on the other side was a green wall. "Or maybe not."
"Wait a minute, I recognise this." Malfoy poked the wall, and it rippled. Then he walked into it. "It's one of the hangings in my common room." They entered quickly and shut the door behind them.
"Why the hell is there a passage from my room to your room?"
Malfoy smirked. "Maybe a Gryffindor and a Slytherin were secret lovers and made the passageway so that they could have their way with each other in secret."
"Yuck, why would a Gryffindor do a thing like that? No self-respecting Gryffindor would go anywhere near a Slytherin."
"Oh, no?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her.
"No. Now let's find a way to get rid of this, so that I can get back to my real friends." She flopped on his couch and opened a book.
"I love you too Hermione." He flopped down next to her.
An hour later, the two sat back, frustrated. They had exhausted all the books, and found nothing that was powerful enough to make over a hundred people fall in love to the point of committing murder.
"We're doing this wrong…" Hermione frowned at the books.
"Or maybe, everyone really did just fall in love with you."
"Don't be ridiculous." She stared at him pensively. "Why does the spell not affect you?" She got up and started pacing. "Who would make every person in the school except you fall in love with me. Revenge? What did I do?" Her eyes lit up as an idea dawned on her. "Pansy."
"What does my girlfriend have to do with this?"
"This all started happening the day she- Wait. Pansy and you are seriously going out?"
"Not really, she just clings onto me, it's easier to just say we're going out."
Hermione looked at him, and opened her mouth, as if she wanted to ask another question. Then shook her head. "Well, that just proves it."
"Enlighten me, Holmes."
"That's a muggle reference." She smiled at him nastily. "I thought you hated all things muggle."
"I do, Arthur Cohen Doyle happened to be a great wizard."
Hermione crossed her arms. "Well, he must have been evil for you to think he was great."
"Can we just get back to the spell please." Malfoy said impatiently.
"Pansy saw you and me in the three broomsticks, and thought there was something going on. After that she came and threatened me, she must've done the spell on me to get revenge. In the hall earlier she was acting really weirdly. It's got to be her that cast the spell!"
"A spell to make you the most popular girl in school?"
"You know Pansy, she probably did it wrong."
Malfoy nodded. "The reason it didn't work on me is because the last thing she wanted me to do was fall in love with you." He shrugged, "Makes sense."
"Right, so we need to check out Pansy's room, and see what the hell she's done to me."