On the Differences Between Soulmates and Lifemates
disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters therein belong to J.K. Rowling and are borrowed by the author. Any other, original characters belong to the author. Don't take them they'll run away and come back home to me.
Chapter 3: The Morning After
Hermione woke early the next morning, except for the waking up part: she hadn't slept a wink that night, due to Draco's strange affect on her. She dressed carefully, taking pains to put together a presentable, if muggle, ensemble. She knew that she was bending rules by wearing muggle clothes under her school robes, but after dinner with Draco, she needed the comfort of her other life.
Hermione donned a pair of black velour pants and a silky soft chocolate brown t-shirt. She threw her robes on over the ensemble and was out the door in twenty minutes. On her way down to breakfast, Hermione bumped into a Ravenclaw prefect, who glared at her over rather widely flared nostrils.
"Ugh, muggle on my robes. Don't you have first-years to herd down to the dining hall?" the bigger girl hissed.
"Ugh, don't you belong in Slytherin?" Hermione said just as viciously.
"Now, now, Hermione, be nice to the other prefects. Don't want to spoil your formerly perfect reputation, do we? First a late-night dinner with a Slytherin king, then a run-in with Homuncula Bachwasscher?" Draco Malfoy appeared behind Hermione. "Personally, I think you should have stayed with me last night. We'd not even be out of bed at this point, and this whole ugly scene could have been avoided," Draco smiled and patted her arm in a conciliatory manner while he made his announcement loud enough to catch the attention of all the people coming down from the different House dormitories and the prefects' dorms.
Including Harry, Ginny and Ron. Neville was right behind Ron and hadn't noticed him stopping dead in his tracks, so Neville ended up bouncing off of Ron, into the wall, back towards the dorms, and eventually knocking over and landing on Luna Lovegood, who caught him with arms wide open.
"Neville, dear, you really do need to give the real world more of your attention," Luna said, but even a statement that out of character for the dreamy Ravenclaw couldn't tear the room's attention from Draco, Hermione, and Homuncula.
Harry reached out a hand to restrain his best friend, but Ron shook him off. Ginny shook her head and walked purposefully towards Hermione and Draco (Homuncula having fled the wrath of the hex-genius youngest Weasley), but it was Ron who spoke first.
"Hermione, be careful of snake and dragons," Ron said in a fake cheerful voice. "Dobby said you were upset, but you didn't answer when I knock on your door. I'm just glad I didn't interrupt anything. Alright you lot, time to get to breakfast. The staff'll come looking if no-one shows for food."
Ron left everyone with their jaws hanging open; usually, Ron Weasley never left an opportunity to beat Draco Malfoy or assert his importance to Hermione Granger. Ginny followed her brother, Harry followed his girlfriend, and Hermione was left to hang her head while Malfoy snarled at any who dared to disturb her.
"Why did you do that?" Hermione sobbed.
"It amused me."
"What's that? Why not just kill me? I'm sure that would amuse you for at least ten minutes. Or perhaps you really are failing Potions and you're afraid I'll out you as an imbecile," Hermione grated, turning fiery eyes on Draco.
"I'm his worst enemy. You're his soulmate, and whatever he says, the love of Weasel's life. What could be more amusing than turning the whole situation around on the two of you? Besides, when it comes down to Potions, we do have that project, and if I can keep Weasley from taking up your time and energy, we just may be able to pull a passing mark on said project," Draco said lamely.
"I hate you, but as you said, we both want a passing mark. However, you will make this right. You will apologize to Ron and smooth things over," Hermione said hotly.
"I'll take care of it this weekend. Now, to breakfast," Draco tried to take Hermione's hand to lead her to breakfast, but she whipped her wand out and through a silencing hex on him.
"Fuck that, snake-boy. We're going down to the Great Hall alright, but you are going to rescind what you said this morning, and you will apologize and help me clear up any and all misunderstandings, alright? If you don't, I will have Ginny charm your nuts and bolts so that only she or I can make them rise or fall. And you certainly don't want Pansy or Homuncula to get the wrong idea, do you?"
Draco nodded, and the idea of losing control of his said nuts and bolts paled beside the idea of Hermione and Ginny ganging up on him. They were faculty favorites, so it would take quite a stunt before they were stopped. Hermione was so like him; she just hadn't realized it yet.
Down in the Great Hall, most of the school seemed to have forgotten about the happenings on the way down to breakfast, or perhaps Hermione's sleep-deprived brain had magnified the audience. She marched Draco over to the Gryffindor table and released his silencing charm.
"Look, Weasley, I lied. You see, I was trying to help Hermione. She wants you back so badly she enlisted me to help make you jealous!" Draco shot out before Hermione stomped on his foot.
"Don't lie, Malfoy. I know you were just trying to make trouble. I know my Hermione, and if she spent any time with you last night, it was because you needed some sort of academic help," Ron said, almost cordially.
Ginny visibly relaxed into Harry and Hermione actually sighed her relief. Harry shot Hermione a look; this was so uncharacteristic of both her and Ron.
"But if you ever try to make her sound like a slag again, I'll rip'em off," Ron growled, grabbing Hermione around the waist and pulling her down on his lap. "Now get back to your table or Ginny'll bat-bogey you into next term!"
Harry laughed, realizing that Ron was just trying to live up to Hermione's perfect picture of a prefect when Draco pulled his wand out. Unfortunately for him, Ginny already had hers up and was about to prove her expertise when Professor Slughorn waddled up beside them.
"I don't want to take wands away from members of the Slug Club, but I will if I have to," he warned, waddling on as he winked at Ginny and Hermione. Draco turned on his heal and left the hall, motioning to Crabbe and Goyle violently, so they followed him with Pansy Parkinson not far behind.
Ron kissed Hermione deeply while Harry made gagging sounds and Neville laughed. Ginny elbowed Harry and then Ron.
"How'd you know he was lying?" Ginny asked, digging her fork into a heap of eggs Harry had dumped on her plate.
Hermione righted herself and looked at Ron. "Yeah, how'd you figure?"
"'Cause you're my soulmate, and it's my job to know?" Ron tried not to smirk.
"Eww, you look like Draco when you smirk like that," Hermione said, slapping a hand over her own mouth. Harry shot her another look, but she glared at him quickly before he spoke. Harry smiled and changed what he was going to say.
"Hermione, calm down. Ron was with me when Dobby showed up. Dobby asked what your favorite foods were and Ron asked why. Dobby explained about potions, and Ron took his frustrations up on Ginny's pillows," Harry said over a mouthful of egg and toast.
"My, my, well I guess it's good that I have them, isn't is?" Ginny said, noting how Hermione slid her eyes from Ron's quickly. "Tuck in. We're not eating lunch until we get back to the Burrow, and you don't want to starve on the way there."
"You sound like Hermione when you say stuff like that, Gin," Ron said around a full mouth. The quad laughed as they finished their breakfast before heading to their morning classes. Only morning classes were being held that day, as the scheduled inspection loomed.
The afternoon classes had been cancelled weeks ago thanks to the fact that the inspection that had been scheduled to meet over a break had been moved up. When they found out about the cancelled classes, the quad decided the best thing to do would be to get off campus for the long weekend, and the Burrow was the only place deemed safe enough for them all to go to together. Mrs. Weasley had been more than happy to open her home, and even the twins would be coming to visit.
The quad finished breakfast and headed to their respective classes, Ron caught Hermione's sleeve and pulled her aside.
"We'll talk at the house. But stay clear of Malfoy until we leave," Ron said before running off to Divination.
"I'll try," Hermione said to no-one.
Because they could not Apparate yet, the quad had to use a series of portkeys to get to near the Burrow, and then they would have to walk the rest of the way from the final portkey drop-off site. Hermione had prudently packed food into her weekend bag, forgoing extra school books.
"A very un-Hermione thing to do," Hermione muttered to herself, locking her door up in the prefects' dorm.
"You're doing a lot of those now, aren't you, Hermione?" Draco drawled, stepping into the light of the hall. Hermione looked around for Ron or any of her friends, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"Yup. Or perhaps you and I are not as alike as you would like to believe," Hermione said tartly.
"You do have a sharp tongue. Perhaps I should try it out, see how soft it can be," Draco grabbed Hermione roughly and bent her towards him, slanting his mouth over hers. He forced his tongue into her mouth, and she bit him.
"Don't try that again!" Hermione shouted.
"You bloody bit me. Get out of here, before I do something you'll truly regret, mudblood!" Draco snarled, holding his mouth.
Hermione ran out the door, down into the main corridor and Draco stalked back to his rooms. He threw the door to his bedroom open and flung himself down on the bed, feeling his tongue and his groin throb, and neither was an unpleasant sensation.
"You're doomed, Draco, old boy. Get it under control. She's muggle-born, and you're as good as dead if this gets back to the Manor," Draco said aloud.
Malfoy Manor.