A.N. Thanks to all my reviewers! I love 'em and you! Sorry this took a lil bit to get up.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or anything that you recognize. I just own my feeble plot...enjoy!
Chapter 5
Hermione woke up well rested. She got up, put on a silky robe and grabbed her stuff for the bathroom when something occurred to her. I don't know where the bathroom is. She was positive the Head dorm had a bathroom in it, but she didn't remember seeing it last night. She went down to the common room and looked around for a door, but then didn't find one. A panicky feeling was starting to rise in her gut. She went back to her room when she noticed another door that she hadn't realized was there. Opening it slowly, she peered out and saw two other doors. Trying the middle one, she was relieved to find a bathtub, a shower, and toilet. She quickly got in the tub and started her bath. She took her time bathing and relaxed for a little bit in the warm water.
Draco POV
Draco woke to the sound of his magical alarm clock. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" it screeched. Turning it off, he slowly got out of bed. He had a slight headache, and his vision was a bit blurry. He made his way to the hallway, stretching as he walked. He was too tired to notice that Granger's door was open. When he opened the bathroom door, something woke him up the rest of the way.
"AHHHHHH!"
Immediately, Draco's vision was clearer and he saw Granger standing in the middle of the bathroom, reaching for a towel on the rack. She was completely naked. He couldn't help but stare at her beautiful form. She was trying fruitlessly to cover herself up with her hands.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" she screamed. That brought Draco out of his trance.
"I'm sorry!" Draco yelled, covering his eyes and turning away. He heard her snatch a towel and waited a few seconds before he slowly turned around again. She was wrapped up, and looking furious.
"Why the hell did you come in here?" she spat.
"To use the bathroom, why else?" Draco was already in a foul mood, and her accusing tone didn't help.
"Yeah right." Her hands were on her hips, and she glared at him. "You just wanted to sneak in and see me naked. You think you can just waltz in here and I won't mind? I'm sorry, but I am not one of your desperate sluts that let you shag them whenever you feel like it. When Ron and Harry find out about this, you better-"
"Did it ever occur to you, mudblood," he raised his voice and mirrored her glare, "that it was an accident?" Her mouth was still open from being cut off, but when he said that one word, she snapped it shut. He saw the hurt in her eyes as he said the nasty insult, but right now, he didn't care. "Did it ever occur to you, you ignorant little Gryffindor, that perhaps it wouldn't have happened had you locked the door?" he said venomously. He saw she had the decency to look embarrassed. But it was too late. He had already lost his temper.
"Obviously not. Let me assure you, I would never want to see you naked. I know that no matter what it looks like, a mudblood will always be the nasty, revolting, and foolish thing it is. So don't get your knickers in a twist because you think that I wanted to see your repulsive body, because I didn't." He stood there and watched her reaction. He could see the tears collecting in her eyes, and he could tell she was trying to keep them back.
"Well, I can see that you haven't changed a bit," she said, her voice quavering. "You needn't worry about me, Malfoy, because I'll stay the hell out of your way from now on." And she rushed past him and exited the bathroom.
Sighing heavily, Draco walked over and turned on the shower. Pretty soon the bathroom was filled with steam. He stood there for a full 5 minutes under the hot water, letting it run over his face and down his back, and finally he had composed himself. How could I say those things to her? Guilt and regret were quickly filling his insides. His infamous temper had shown itself before he could stop it. He might have changed his mind about a lot of things, but some things never change. He didn't mean one thing that he had said, and now he couldn't take them back.
But did she mean what she said? She probably did. How could she not? Draco knew that stories drifted around Hogwarts about his and Blaise's game, and he was seen as someone who could shag any girl he wanted. And he had. For that, a lot of guys admired and respected him. They even feared him. But to others, he was just a man whore, someone to avoid contact with and keep a safe distance from. He needed to change Granger's image of him.
He decided that the best thing to do was to avoid her for a little while. She needed time to cool off, and so did he. He hoped she wouldn't tell Potter and Weasley, though. They would most definitely stand in his way.
He dried himself off, changed into his school robes, and went into the common room. Granger was already gone. He grabbed his bag and headed down to breakfast. He entered the Great Hall and sat down at his usual spot at the Slytherin table, beside Pansy and Blaise, and across from Crabbe and Goyle. He saw Granger at her table, between Potter and Weasley. Weasley had his arm around her waist and looked like he was trying to cheer her up.
"Drakie, is something wrong?" Pansy asked in the sweetest voice she could muster. She scooted closer to him.
"Don't call me that, Pansy. And no, nothing's wrong." He scooted away from her. Not taking the hint, she scooted closer to him again and rested a hand on his thigh.
"Then why aren't you eating? And why are you staring at the Gryffindor table? Was that mudblood bothering you? I'm so sorry you have to share a dorm with her. If only-"
"Listen, Pansy." He removed her hand from his thigh. "I don't need consoling right now, alright? I just didn't get enough sleep. And I'm not staring at the Gryffindor table. In case you can't tell, it just so happens to be right in my line of sight. So, please, just shut up."
Pansy huffed in disappointment but obeyed. Blaise snickered beside him. Draco slowly ate his scrambled eggs and toast until it was time to go to class. He looked at his schedule again. Advanced Potions at 9:00. He knew Granger was in his class. Hopefully, she'd avoid him just as he's avoiding her. Draco left the Great Hall and headed for Snape's dungeon.
Hermione's POV
Hermione was sitting in Snape's classroom, waiting for the rest of the class to file in. She was still in a bad mood; a result of the nasty confrontation that occurred this morning. I'm so stupid, she thought. How could she have thought that Malfoy was even possible of change? Ok, so he apologized on the train, so what? He probably did that just so he could catch her off guard next time he insulted her. Which he did, she added bitterly. She didn't tell Ron or Harry exactly what he said; just that he was a bastard to her. Ron, of course, had tried to comfort her. It worked a little bit, but it didn't fix anything. She couldn't tell Harry and Ron everything, anyway. They would most definitely try to pulverize Malfoy, and that would suggest that she was weak and couldn't take care of herself.
The rest of the class had come into the classroom, and Hannah Abbott came over and sat beside Hermione. When Malfoy entered the doorway, Hermione purposely turned her head and kept her gaze away from him. As Snape entered, everyone quieted down.
"Quiet," he hissed. He had the same greasy hair that hung in front of his pale face, and his black cloak billowed behind him as he walked. He slowly sauntered around to the front of the desk. "You are in Advanced Potions, which means you take potion-making seriously. I do not expect the foolish blunders to be made in this class that are frequently made in my lower classes. Of course, you wouldn't be in this class if you had not gotten exceptional grades in my previous classes, so I am positive that those blunders won't be made." He looked sternly around at the class. Same winning personality, I can see, Hermione thought to herself. Snape flicked his wand and instructions magically appeared on the board.
"Follow these quickly, and when you're done, bring your product to me. Today you can pick your own partner. Go." And he sat at his desk and began reading an old-looking book.
Hermione looked at Hannah. "Want to be my partner?"
"Sure. I'll go get the ingredients."
Hermione and Hannah worked efficiently. They were done well ahead of the others, and when they brought it up to Snape, he didn't even have any snide comments to make. He simply nodded his head and continued reading. The girls talked quietly for the rest of the class. They exchanged summer stories and told their opinions of who got better looking. Hermione didn't tell Hannah about her Malfoy problem, but she was sure if she had, Hannah would understand better than Ron or Harry would. It's nice to have some female input now and then.
When class was ended, Hannah had the same class, Herbology, so they walked together. Ron and Harry were waiting for her in the greenhouse, and they worked with Hannah and Justin Finch-Fletchey. Hermione actually enjoyed herself, goofing around with Harry and Ron, and they put Malfoy out of her mind. Ron kept caressing Hermione's back and touching her ass when Professor Sprout wasn't looking. She would chide him for it, but since she was also giggling at the same time, he didn't take her seriously, and moved on to planting light kisses on her neck. She tried to hide her blushing, but a permanent smile was fixed on her face. For the rest of the day she couldn't help but be in a good mood. She and Ron actually held hands entering the Great Hall, which is a first for them. Conversation was the usual at the Gryffindor table, talk of Quidditch practice, games, or teams. When Hermione announced she was done and leaving, Ron tore himself away from the debate to whisper in her ear, "Can I come to your dorm to, uh, visit?"
Hermione looked at him in the face, which was getting progressively redder, and smiled. "Of course you can. You need me to stick around and show you where it is?"
Ron looked relieved that Hermione had complied. "Yeah, that'd be helpful," and turned around to continue the debate.
Sighing, Hermione looked around and saw that almost everyone was gone. She glanced at the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy talking to Zabini. Then he looked right at her. His grey, captivating eyes wouldn't let her look away. For a second she had forgotten she was mad at him, and almost got up to go over and talk to him, but then Ron tapped her on the shoulder and brought Hermione out of Malfoy's gaze. She shook her head, trying to erase those spell-binding eyes from her head. She dared another look at Malfoy and saw he was back to chatting with Zabini.
"You OK?" Ron looked worried. She smiled reassuringly and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"OK, ready to go?" Again, Hermione nodded. They got up and left for her dorm.
Draco's POV
Draco snapped back to the conversation he was having with Blaise.
"I know Lord Voldemort is out there somewhere, waiting to strike again; I can feel it," Blaise was saying.
"You can't feel anything, Blaise. Lord Voldemort is gone. Face it," Draco said with finality in his voice.
Blaise had a stunned look on his face. "How can you just forget about your master like that? Forget your loyalty, forget your duty?"
"I'm my own master," Draco muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing. Listen, I'm tired. I'm gonna go. See you tomorrow." And he strolled out of the Great Hall. On his way to his room, he reminisced about the events concerning the Dark Lord and Potter.
It had happened during the summer before their sixth year. That was the time Draco was to start his preparations for becoming a Death Eater. Lucius and the other Death Eaters who had been captured during Draco's fifth year easily broke out of Azkaban, since the Dementors had fled. They met up with Voldemort in some scheme to attack Potter. However, when it all went down, Potter was looked after by some team lead by Dumbledore. Most of the Death Eaters were killed right away, but there were enough left to keep everyone on Dumbledore's side occupied, except Potter. Apparently he fought the Dark Lord in some secluded area, so no one knows for sure what happened, save for Potter, but he hasn't gone public with the details. The only thing known is that Potter came back bloody and bruised, collapsed in front of Dumbledore, whispered, "It's finally over," and blacked out.
Everyone assumed Voldemort was destroyed, but there were a handful of unknown Voldemort supporters who thought he was simply gathering strength in order to attack again. But for the rest of the wizarding world, the threat was gone. Fear had eventually vanished, and people seemed generally happier. The Death Eaters who weren't killed that night were sent to some prison that was supposedly far worse than Azkaban. Even though the Dementors had been reinstated, Fudge didn't feel safe enough. The prison was rumored to be in the Middle East where they have all sorts of dark creatures guarding it. That is where Lucius is. That is where he can rot to hell, Draco thought harshly.
He was at the portrait and mumbled the password. He was walking across the common room to his staircase when he heard something coming from Granger's door. It sounded like a giggle. Draco slowly crept up her stairs instead and pressed his ears to her door. Some noises he couldn't decipher, then an unmistakable moan. Realization dawned on him, and he heard, "Oh, Ron. I didn't know you were capable of that," and another moan. Draco couldn't believe it. Granger was in there, probably having sex with Weasley, which meant Weasley was getting some while Draco wasn't.
Disgusted, he walked to his own room. He never thought Granger was that type of girl. He always thought of her as an intellectual prude, and even that didn't hamper his developed feelings for her. But now he didn't know what to think. He was a little motivated because now he knew she wasn't a prude, but on the other hand, a little sickened she was willing to do it with Weasley. Well, he is her boyfriend, and it is her choice, Draco tried to reason with himself. He decided to think about it later. He stripped off his clothes, leaving his expensive boxers, and jumped into bed, succumbing to another disturbed slumber.