A/N: Oh my goodness. So, there was this one time it took me four years to update. I can't actually imagine that any of my readers are still with me, but out of the clear blue sky, the inspiration hit me and I decided I had to finish this story. If you re-read this story, God bless your heart. There's more love for you than I actually have to give. That is all.

Disclaimer: JKR still owns this everything but the plot. Brilliant fucking woman.

**Chapter Seven- Daddy Issues**

The next day when Hermione awoke, Draco and Pansy had gone. Hermione couldn't really explain the raging jealously that had coursed through her at the sight of them together, but she knew it was a problem. Draco was a player and it wouldn't be the last time she would see him with a girl.

She was on her way down to breakfast to meet Harry, Ginny, and Ron when she passed Draco and a group of Slytherins in the hallway. She nodded curtly and continued down the hall.

She hadn't got far before Draco yelled, "Hey, Granger!" Sigh. She slowly turned around and asked, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

He turned to his friends who stood waiting and said, "Go ahead, guys. I'll catch up with you later."

One of his friends, whom Hermione didn't know said, "Don't stay with her too long, Draco. You'll get dirty and I don't think you have time to shower."

Hermione rolled her eyes but she was completely taken aback when Draco snapped, "Hey! Watch your mouth. Get the hell out of here, guys." He turned back to Hermione and said, "Sorry. Something he must have picked up from me."

"I'm not surprised."

He smiled. "So, listen. I was wondering if you could cover my shift patrolling the halls tonight. I can't go. I'm going to be…. You know…. Umm, busy."

"Uh, no."

"What? Why?"

"Well, for starters, I don't feel like covering for you when you don't have a valid excuse, but more importantly, we have detention tonight, remember?"

"So?"

"So, I don't want to be out until one o'clock in the morning again while you're going to be… you know… um, busy…tonight. No. Go screw Pansy some other time."

"Fine. Whatever, but we both know you're just refusing to do this because you're jealous."

She scoffed. "That's so not true. I had to patrol the halls last night after our detention and you got to go fuck around… Now it's my turn."

He snorted. "Like you have anyone to fuck around with."

"Well you sure as hell didn't turn me down either time the opportunity presented itself."

"Yeah. That's my point. I won't be there to 'not turn you down when the opportunity presents itself', so my question is, now who're you going to do it with?"

She glared at him.

"That's what I thought. So, since it's pretty clear that only one of us is going to be having sex tonight, why don't you just drop the attitude and patrol the bloody hallways for me."

She hung her head in defeat. "Fine… you're an asshole, by the way."

"Well, I have to go to dinners with your parents every week… I have the right to be an asshole."

She huffed, "No one's forcing you to come, Malfoy!"

"Um, yeah, you are!"

"Well if you don't want to go so badly then why don't you just owl my parents and tell them the truth?"

He smirked. "Fine. I think I'll do that."

Hermione shook her head. "No, no, no. Wait, I didn't mean that."

"Of course you didn't." He said flatly. "Doesn't mean I'm not still going to do it."

"Draco!" she whined, "You've only been to one!"

"Well, Merlin, Hermione! It's like the most ridiculous thing in the world. Your lie to your parents is making me have to pretend that I'm in love with you. It's stupid. A sane person would tell the truth." She was about to respond, but he cut her off. "And do you know what's even more ridiculous than that?"

"What?" she seethed.

"The fact that I'm playing along! I should never have agreed to it at all, whether or not Dumbledore forced me into it!"

Hermione was ready to cry. It sounded stupid to her, too, but the thought of disappointing her parents was too much.

"But, my parents…" she sniffed.

Draco's eyes softened. He certainly knew what it was like to behave rather stupidly just to avoid disappointing your parents. Still, this was too stupid.

"Nope. I'm not going anymore. Go on your own." He stormed off and as he rounded the corner he shouted, "And you better patrol the damned hallways for me tonight!"

She watched him disappear around the corner. Hermione was livid, and terrified. If Draco didn't show up to dinner that Friday, she'd have to explain the whole ridiculous situation to her parents and they would know she had lied to them. However, the more she thought about it, the more appealing it sounded to her. She wouldn't have to be watching her ass all the time and she knew Draco would be happy. Still, having to deal with the humiliation it would cause her for having made up such an idiotic story was too much. She would just have to hope he would come and if not, well, she'd cross that bridge when she got there.

She headed down to meet Harry and Ron. Maybe they would have some helpful advice on the subject.

She got to the Great Hall and spotted them toward the front of the Gryffindor table. Ron saw her coming and waved her over.

She sat down next to Ron and caught a glimpse of Harry's expression. She asked, "Harry, are you okay?"

Ron looked at her and shook his head as if to say 'don't bother'.

"Oh, should I not have asked him that?"

Harry snapped, "No. You shouldn't have."

"Excuse me. Did I do something to offend you in some way?"

"No," said Ron, before Harry could respond, "He's just having some relationship problems and he's not handling it too well."

Hermione was a little stunned. "What's going on?" she asked Harry.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. She's been distant and really moody. Every time I try to find out what's wrong, she just gets angry. You haven't noticed her acting weird, have you?"

Hermione shook her head 'no' and swallowed hard. Truth be told, she had been so wrapped up in her life and things involving Draco, that she had completely let the important people in her life go unnoticed.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I guess I've kind of been MIA lately and I shouldn't have been."

He smiled, happy to hear her genuine apology. "It's okay, Herms. You know I love you, no matter what."

She smiled back and hugged him from across the table. Mid-hug, she gasped, scaring the living daylights out of Harry and Ron.

"Oh my God, Hermione! What's wrong?"

Hermione pulled out of the hug and was saying, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god."

Ron punched her arm playfully and said, "Hermione, what is wrong with you?"

She looked at him and said, "Pregnant."

"What?" came the simultaneous voices of Ron and Harry.

Hermione repeated, "Pregnant."

"Oh, gross, Hermione. How many times did you do it with Malfoy?"

"No." Hermione finally found her tongue, "Ginny has been moody and distant. Do you think she might be pregnant?"

Harry dropped his fork. "No." He said flatly. "It's not possible. We're careful about it so that doesn't happen … and you can stop looking at me like that, Ron. You knew we were sleeping together."

Hermione elbowed Ron in the ribs and then asked, "Well, is it a contraceptive spell or are you just being careful?"

Harry swallowed. "She's not pregnant! Just… no. Oh my god, Ginny!" He stood up and was out of the Great Hall before Hermione could even blink.

Hermione turned to Ron who simply said, "He better not have knocked up my sister."

She smiled. "Well, I hope then, for Harry's sake, that she's not pregnant."

"I don't know. Something tells me that she isn't. It's something else that's bothering her."

"How long has this been going on, Ron? This is making me realize how seriously self-centered I've been lately."

He looked thoughtful for a second, and then answered, "Only about a week and a half. It really hasn't been going on that long. Besides, just because you didn't find out about it right away doesn't mean we weren't going to tell you eventually. I mean, you still talk to us… you just haven't been as involved."

"I know." She put her hands on either side of her face. "It's this stupid lie I made up. All of my time has just gone towards keeping my bum covered. Lying is a lot of work. Why people do it is completely beyond me."

"Exactly. So tell your parents the truth. It's really not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. Your parents will be mad for a little bit and then they'll move on from it. It's what families do."

Hermione shrugged. "I guess. It's just, it's such a stupid lie that it's embarrassing to admit the truth."

Ron sighed, "Okay, then don't complain about what you permit."

Hermione smirked at him and he smiled.

"So, did you ever get back at him for writing that essay? Harry and I saw you drag him down the hall, but I don't know what happened after that."

"Well, I took him upstairs, tricked him into thinking we were going to have sex, and then right when he was actually about to… you know… go in… I went upstairs to my room and told him there was no way in hell I'd actually sleep with him after he wrote that essay."

Ron was shocked, to say the least. "Well, bloody hell, Hermione. I bet Malfoy was mad."

"Livid. The next day he wouldn't even look at me. Then we had our detentions to go to and he told me that the only reason we aren't friends is because he can't stand Harry. This was last night, by the way. Then, I came home from patrolling the hallways and found him on the couch with Pansy. To explain himself, he said that he had a hard time tolerating me and friendship wouldn't be anytime in the near future. Then, this morning he asked if I would take his shift to patrol the halls so he could hook up with that wench again. Can you believe that?"

Ron sighed. "Wow. That was a lot to take in all at once."

"I was just trying to catch you up."

"Sure. Hermione, do you think… nevermind."

"No. What?"

He groaned. "Don't get mad at me when I say this. Do you think maybe you like him? Like like like him?"

"What? No. That's ridiculous. I mean… at least I don't think I do."

"Well, you know what they say… actions speak louder than words, and you're definitely acting like you like him."

"I don't act like I like him, do I?"

"Well, think about it, Herms. He's all you ever talk about, which means he's all you ever think about and you're sitting here telling me that you're upset he keeps doing Pansy. Sounds like you like him to me."

"I don't, though. I just want to be his friend."

Ron shrugged. "Clearly he's not there yet, so stop trying for now."

She sighed. "You're probably right, but if we were friends, it would just make life so much easier, you know?"

"Yes, I know, but he doesn't want to be friends yet, so don't force it."

"Alright. I won't."

Ron chuckled. "Wow. You're actually taking my advice."

She smiled, "Well, you know me. I'm stubborn so we'll see how long it lasts."

"I give it two days."

Hermione laughed and Ron said, "I wonder what he's going to do to you to get back for the sex thing."

"Well, this morning he told me he wasn't going to go to dinner this Friday. That wouldn't be a prank, though. That would just be screwing me over."

Ron shrugged and asked, "Would it really be so bad if he didn't go? He probably just really wants you to tell them the truth. I know I would."

Hermione sighed, "I know it's stupid, and I know that the truth would be easier, but you know my relationship with my parents, Ron. It would be too hard."

"I guess."

Just then, Ginny marched up to the table. "Harry just asked me if I was pregnant." She announced. "Why the hell would you put an idea like that into his head, Hermione?"

She swallowed hard. Ginny was intimidating when she was upset. "Well, with the way he was describing your behavior lately, it just kind of sounded like you might be."

"Well, I'm not!" she snapped. "Just butt out, Hermione. You haven't been around enough lately to be involved." Ginny turned on her heel and stalked away.

Hermione was hurt, to say the least. Ron gave her an apologetic look as she stood up and ran after Ginny.

"Gin!" Hermione called loudly. "Slow down!"

Ginny rounded on her. "You've done enough damage. Go away!"

Hermione looked at her with bewilderment and asked, "What's wrong with you? Both you and Harry are really cross with me right now. Why?"

Ginny glared at her and then dissolved into tears.

Hermione quickly embraced her friend. "Oh my goodness, Ginny. What's wrong?"

Ginny sobbed into her chest, "Harry, he, he asked me to, to marry him, and I haven't, I haven't answered him yet. I've been wanting to, to talk to you, but you've been so, so preoccupied. He's really getting irritated that I haven't, I haven't answered him yet. It's been two weeks. He probably thinks I hate him!"

You could have knocked Hermione over with a quill. Why hadn't Harry told her and Ron about this?

Arms still around Ginny she said, "That's so strange. Harry was acting like he was completely oblivious as to why you were upset."

"That's because I was afraid you guys would scold me for doing it." Harry said from behind.

Hermione gently released her friend and turned to Harry. "Harry. You know better than that. You can trust Ron and I with anything."

"Well, of course I know that, Herms. I just didn't think you'd understand me doing something like this."

Hermione's cheeks flushed. She didn't understand. Harry was only seventeen and Ginny was even younger. This was absurd. No wonder Harry was so stressed.

She swallowed hard and said, "That might be true, Harry, but you're my best friend. I'll always support you."

Harry grinned. "So, you think it's ridiculous, then?"

Hermione scooted the still crying Ginny into his arms. "I think you two need to talk it out."

Harry smiled and silently mouthed her a thank you.

She smiled back and turned to go back to the Great Hall. She had to tell Ron what was going on. Halfway there, she stopped and realized she should take her own advice. She needed to talk to Draco about everything. She did a complete 180 and headed the opposite direction, down to the dungeons.

At first, she thought she was being paranoid, but after seeing six or seven students look at a piece of paper, look at her, and then double over with laughter, she was sure Draco had pulled his prank on her.

She surveyed the area, trying to decide which pack of students was most likely to show her the parchment. Just when she had decided on the small group of third year Ravenclaws that looked like they could easily be intimidated, did a voice behind her say, "You really don't want to see what's on that bit of paper."

Hermione turned around and asked Blaise, "Is that so?"

He nodded. "It absolutely is. Draco was being a complete naffer when he decided on this one. I really suggest you just leave it alone."

Now Hermione's interests were completely piqued. "Well, I can't simply not look at it now. You've got me curious."

"Honestly, Hermione. I'm not joking. Don't do it. Draco was way out of line."

She positively ignored him and made a beeline straight for the group of Ravenclaw girls. When she had successfully acquired the parchment she stepped aside to read it and felt tears prick her eyes.

The paper was formatted as if it were an article in the Daily Prophet. A headline that read, "Hermione Granger: The Buck-Toothed Beast from Hades" was stamped across the top. Upon reading the nickname she had only revealed to Draco, her stomach dropped.

Below the headline was a photograph of her in her fourth year. It was of when Draco had sent the Densuago jinx at Harry, but had missed and hit her instead. The jinx had made her teeth begin to grow and continue growing until soon, her two front teeth were past her chin. She'd had to go up to the hospital wing and have Madame Pomfrey correct them for her. This picture repeatedly displayed her teeth growing, Draco pointing and laughing, and Snape pretending absolutely nothing about her appearance had changed.

Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to read the rest but she forced herself to continue.

Hermione Granger, now Head Girl at Hogwarts, was not always the perfect girl we know and love today. Surprised? Well, 'The Buck-Toothed Beast from Hades' was a cruel nickname given to her by muggles unaware of her dirty (yet undeniable) magical blood. Little did she know that the nickname she thought she had escaped forever would not only return, but would actually come true! Life's ironic, isn't it?

Angry tears were spilling out of her eyes. She turned around and gave Blaise a piercing look.

He recoiled just a bit and said, "I told you he was out of line..."

She sniffed. "Do you know where he is?"

Blaise shrugged, "Sorry, mate."

She smiled slightly. "It's fine. You aren't the bloody arse who wrote it, are you?"

He shook his head, "Not a chance."

She smiled again. "Then it's not your fault. I'm going to go now."

The walk back to her dormitory was not fun at all. It certainly seemed that at Hogwarts, maturity did not come with age. The only students who didn't seem to be making beaver faces and laughing as she walked by were those who couldn't be older than second years.

She put on her sternest Head Girl expression and practically sprinted the remaining distance to her dormitory. She cautiously opened the door, hoping to Merlin that Draco wouldn't be there. She sighed with relief when she saw that he wasn't and marched up to her room. She closed the door behind her and immediately broke down.

How could Draco do this to her? When she had told him that story in Paris, she had only shared it to show him how mean people were to her before Hogwarts and to explain why she was so close to her parents. She hadn't even shared that secret with her best friends. It was nobody's fault but her own now. He had used it against her and spread the nickname into her world where it hadn't previously existed.

A quiet knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. "Go away!" she shouted, thinking it was Draco.

The door slowly opened and Harry and Ron sidled in. They sat down on the floor next to her and let her cry for a bit.

After a while, Harry asked, "So… what happened?"

She explained to them the story she'd told Draco about herself in Paris and that she had told him that kids in her primary school used to call her that. She finished, "I know it doesn't really seem that mean, but when I was a child it really hurt my feelings, you know."

Ron said, "Yes, I do, but you know what, Hermione?"

"What?"

Ron then pulled a wooden log out of nowhere, handed it to her and said, "Use your skills as a beaver to gnaw yourself a bridge and get over it."

At the same moment that Hermione's jaw dropped, Harry emitted a very strange sound that sounded like a cough trying to cover up a snort that was followed by muffled giggles.

Hermione was still searching for words when Ron continued, "This is one of those moments that I wish George was here. I think he'd be proud of me right now."

Hermione still couldn't form a full sentence so she settled for a word. "Rude."

Harry had rolled a few feet away because Hermione had tried to punch him for laughing but he sat up and said, "No, it's funny… and kind of true."

Hermione huffed, "Seriously? You think I'm overreacting?"

Ron shook his head, "No. I didn't say that. Look, what Draco did was awful, but reacting like this is just letting him win. It's not like your teeth still look like that so just move past it."

Harry nodded and said, "Precisely. Better now?"

Hermione stood, wiped her face and nodded.

"Good." Said Harry, as he and Ron stood as well. "Brilliant joke with the log, Ron. Just smashing."

Ron grinned. "Yeah, I quite liked that one myself."

Hermione glared at them, "Sod off, you numpties."

Hermione took a deep breath and lifted her fist, paused for a second, and put it back down. All she needed to do was knock… just knock. She had been standing on the front steps to her home for the past 12 minutes trying to muster up the courage to go to her dinner alone and confess the whole story to her parents.

She hadn't talked to Draco since the morning he had sent that humiliating flyer around the school. In fact, the only interactions she'd had with him were during their detentions, but they had been assigned different tasks each time, causing them to work separately.

They had never discussed whether or not he was actually coming so she felt it was safe to assume that, it being Draco and all, he wasn't coming.

'Alright,' she thought to herself, 'I had better just take a deep breath and get it over with.'

Knock, knock, knock. No answer. Knock, knock. Again, no answer.

That was odd. Maybe they weren't home. She fished around in the little turtle next to the door for the spare key and let herself in.

As soon as she stepped into the entryway, she heard laughter coming from her father's office. That seemed odd. Perhaps they had forgotten about the evening plans. Hermione headed down the hallway and subtly peeked in to the study. In the office was Draco animatedly telling a story to her parents while they laughed.

"…and she was standing there in tears screaming 'but I failed! I failed! Professor McGonagall told me I failed!' and Professor Lupin was completely dumbfounded that that was her boggart."

"That most definitely sounds like our Hermione!" her father said.

Hermione stepped the rest of the way into the study and quietly cleared her throat. All three of them looked up at her.

"Hermione, Darling! We were just waiting for you. Draco told us you'd be a bit late but you seem to be quite on time. Did you finish that assignment?"

Hermione looked at Draco and he gave her an encouraging smirk.

"Erm, yes." She stuttered. "It turns out it didn't take me quite as long as I thought it would. Mum, Dad, would you mind if I spoke to Draco alone for a moment?"

They nodded their approval and left, closing the study door behind them.

"I thought you weren't coming." She said, quietly.

"I know. I wasn't going to, but then I thought perhaps I might owe you an apology. The last prank I pulled was extremely, erm, what's the word I'm searching for?"

"Oh, I could think of a fair few."

He grinned, "Why don't we settle for 'low'?"

"Well, that's an understatement if I ever heard one, but fine, 'low'."

He chuckled and then they just stood in awkward silence for a minute or two.

Hermione crossed her arms and then asked, "Right. Is there actually an apology coming or have you just done it?"

"Give me a moment. I don't often apologize. It bruises my ego."

Hermione snorted and he gave her a harsh glare.

"Right, sorry." She said.

"Hermione, I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me."

"I do, Draco. In all seriousness, I appreciate you apologizing and coming tonight, as well. I just wish it hadn't happened. I hated that name when I was a child. It hurt me and now my whole world knows and there's a photograph attached."

"You know how Hogwarts is. Give it a few weeks and everyone will have forgot that I ever printed it."

"Have you ever not made excuses for your actions? Draco, I'm well aware that our schoolmates probably won't remember it or even bring it up, but that doesn't excuse what you did or how I feel about it!"

Frustration crossed Draco's handsome features.

"What more do you expect from me, Granger? You're completely mental if ideas start popping about in your head of me becoming suddenly emotional and sentimental. I've apologized and you should be quite thankful that it's happened at all."

Hermione crossed her arms and huffed loudly. "Fine."

Draco stared at her. "You're still angry with me. I can tell."

"It's just that I don't think you understand how affected I was by that article, Draco."

"Sweet Merlin!" He exclaimed. "What is the big deal? It's not like your teeth look like that anymore! Calm down, woman!"

"That's not the point! You keep justifying your actions. Draco, I know my teeth don't look like that anymore. I get that no one will remember this in two weeks. The point is that you're the only person I've ever told that story. You were the only one I ever shared that with. You knew how alienated I felt and how much I thought something was actually wrong with me. Even so, you still used that information to humiliate me. It hurt, Draco."

He quietly said, "I didn't know I was the first person you'd ever told and I didn't realize it would affect you so much. Again, I'm sorry."

"Thanks. Don't worry, I won't make the mistake of telling you deep things about my past ever again."

He chuckled. "Right. Now that's all sorted, shall we join your mum and dad for tea, then? I expect they're wondering what we're doing."

She nodded and Draco crossed the distance of the study and reached out for her hand. She took it willingly, the action starting to become natural for them, despite their recurring spats.

They entered the small sitting room and were greeted by Hermione's smiling parents and the smell of freshly baked biscuits.

"Those smell wonderful, mum."

"Thank you, darling. Come and sit. Last time we spent so much time embarrassing Hermione, we hardly got to know Draco. Let's remedy that, shall we?"

Draco shot a wary glance at Hermione as they sat and Jean poured them both a steaming cup of tea, added milk and sugar and shoved the tray of biscuits their way. Theodore was sitting a in a large armchair in the corner of the room and reading the paper, not quite engaged in the conversation.

"So, your parents are wizards, Draco?" began Jean.

"Yes. They both come from full wizard families. With pureblood status, often large fortunes are kept in the families, but my father still holds a position at the Ministry."

"What do you mean by pureblood?"

Draco glanced at Hermione and slowly answered, "It means that you are born into a family that has all magic blood."

Jean sipped her tea. "Is there a problem if you come from a family of no magical blood? Hermione was the first in our family."

Hermione answered, "There's some debate in the wizarding community about how a person's blood status should be regarded. Some people look down on you and some people find no problem with it."

Jean shrugged, "Forgive me, but I don't quite understand. How can a person be judged by something like that? You can't control what kind of family you're born into."

"Of course you can't, mum. I guess it just depends on the family and how you're raised. Ron comes from a family of purebloods and they have no negative inclinations towards different blood statuses. It's a little like when society was separated by class, I suppose." She chuckled and tried to make light of the topic. "See, even in the wizarding world there's these odd little problems in society."

Theodore piped in from his corner. "Where does your family stand on this topic, Draco?"

Draco fidgeted with his cup and saucer. "Well, my parents have a rather traditional view regarding blood status. They hold a great deal of value in being purebloods and I think they'd be hard pressed to change."

Ted's face flushed in anger. "So, what are their thoughts on your dating my daughter?"

Draco swallowed hard. "They don't know, sir."

Ted put down his paper and loudly asked, "Are you ashamed of dating my daughter, young man?"

"Theodore!" Jean scolded.

"No, Jean. I want him to answer me. Answer the question, Mr. Malfoy."

"Of course I'm not ashamed of dating her, but you don't understand my parents. I can't just casually tell them I'm in a relationship with a mudblood."

"What does that mean?" asked Jean.

"Nothing, mum." Interjected Hermione. "Let's please just talk about something else. Draco, what does your dad do at the Ministry?"

Draco ignored Hermione and stupidly answered Jean's question instead. "Mrs. Granger, a mudblood is just a name for people who come from non-magical bloodlines. It's a really foul name that insinuates that one's blood is dirty. That's the view my parent's have towards your family. That's why I can't just tell them I'm dating Hermione. Get it?"

Hermione looked at Draco incredulously and he just rolled his eyes at her as if to say, 'well, it's true.'

However true Draco's statement was, though, it had infuriated Hermione's father.

He stood up and boomed, "It sounds to me like you are ashamed of our Hermione! A real man would tell his parents how he really feels and deal with the consequences!"

Hermione squeezed Draco's hand to try to calm him down, but he yanked it away and stood to face Ted.

"I'm really trying hard to not disrespect you, sir, but tell me, why the hell would I go through the hassle of telling my parents when Hermione and I haven't even been dating long enough for me to be sure of the stability of this relationship? To me, that seems foolish. Trust me, very few things in this world are actually worth dealing with the consequences that come along with defying my parents."

Ted scoffed. "If you say so. I still think it's a copout. It's not like they're going to beat you to death or anything."

At his ending comment, Hermione watched the hurt and anger cross Draco's face.

She stood up quickly and screeched, "Daddy, that's enough! I can't believe how you're acting right now. Not everyone has a relationship with his or her parents like I have with you and mum. I certainly never expected this from you, and now, if you don't mind, I think Draco and I will just skip out on dinner this evening."

She kissed her mum on the forehead, nodded at her father, grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him out of the door.

As soon as the front door closed, Draco pulled his hand away from hers and before she could say anything, he disapparated. She stood on her front lawn for a few moments trying to figure out how the night had gone so wrong before turning on the spot and disapparating.

Although the night was still young and she hadn't yet eaten, Hermione decided to return to her dormitory. She said the password and entered to see Draco sitting on the sofa, head in his hands.

She slowly approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He whispered, "I'm not going back."

"Fine."

"Really? That's all it took?" he joked quietly.

She replied, "We'll come back to that later. Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen."

"It's fine. They don't know we're in a fake relationship and those are normal questions to ask. They weren't necessarily phrased well but there's no way he could have known about my dad."

She sat down next to him and said, "No, I should have warned them or something."

"What do you mean 'warn them'? You don't know anything about it so how could you have warned them?" he snapped at her.

"You know, I've learned that you never like to hear this, but it doesn't stop what I'm about to say from being true. You really need to talk to someone about this. It isn't healthy to hold it in. You have to let it out. It's not normal for him to treat you the way he does."

Draco glared at her and sarcastically said, "Wow. That was so profound. Apparently all I needed was for someone to tell me that the way my father treats me isn't normal, and just like that," he snapped his fingers, "it doesn't hurt to talk about it anymore! What a miracle."

"Well, excuse me for trying to help!"

"Help? Did you actually think that you telling me something I'd already figured out on my own was going to help? I've put up with my dad for seventeen years and to be quite honest, I don't need some also-seventeen-year-old-that-got-more-love-from-her-parents-than-anyone-deserves-and-therefore-has-no-idea-where-I'm-coming-from telling me that I need a different way of handling my emotions for my father when the only emotion I've ever tried to convey towards him was love so that I could gain his respect, but in Malfoy families, you don't gain respect by showing love, you gain it by being jerks to people like you and Weasley and anyone in Gryffindor House and then you grow up thinking that maybe this isn't the way to go so you try doing something that will make the rest of the world think you're a decent person but when you do, you get your ass kicked by the one person whose respect you wanted the most in the world and then you end up getting counseled by curly-haired, brown-eyed Gryffindor girls that don't know anything about the situation."

Hermione smiled.

Draco looked taken aback before asking, "What are you smiling about?"

She cockily said, "See. I got you to open up. Now, didn't that feel good?"

Draco's right eye was twitching. "I hate you, Hermione."

She sighed, "I know. I hate you, too."

A/N 2: Because, beginning and ending author's notes are just something I do. If you'd care to review, please do... but I'm really not expecting anything. I am determined to finish this story, though, so I promise, it won't take me another four years to update. Maybe a month or so (now that I'm a full-swing adult with a full-time job and life time is scarce) but my goal is to finish this story by the end of 2015... and there's still about 10 more chapters to come. Anyway, I'm done. Bye!