I think this only has a few more chapters to go before I finish it, and maybe either a prologue or a sequel, since I love those types of things. I want to get this finished, since I'm kind of losing my motivation for this (seeing a whole lot of flaws in it now, especially in the later chapters), so I want to finish it before I abandon it completely.

Sorry for the cliffy in the chapter before last, I just couldn't help myself.

Recap: "Invito Aranea" she cast. Thousands of little hairy spiders flew out of her wand, heading for the red-headed idiot. His eyes widened as they scuttled for him, and he ran out of the room. The spiders followed him, a huge hoard.

There was only Harry, Ginny and Hermione in the room now.

Hermione collapsed into an armchair that had been too heavy for her to throw, exhausted. She was still furious at the both of them, but those spell had taken a lot out of her, especially with her emotional state.

Chapter 14

For a few moments, Draco was speechless. He had read the same thing in her diary, of course, but some part of him still believed it was a mistake, or a lie. To hear her say it now…

He was snapped out of his stupor, however, when the brunette tore herself out of the dungeon, running like a bat out of hell. His immediate reaction was to run after her, but he was stalled by the other students. They rose up like a tide, asking questions and speculating answers in the same breath. They blocked his access to Hermione.

He brandished his wand, and they all stumbled back a few paces, as if hit by an invisible force field. He ran through the clear path it made, hurrying to get to the Common Room.

He opened the door, blurting out the password. He stepped in the doorway, but froze immediately at the sight that awaited him.

She was obviously angry. Her hair cackled with electricity, and though tears glittered on her face, her eyes were cold, harsh, and narrowed in fury. At him.

His eyes darted to behind her, where he spotted two horribly familiar books in her clenched hands

"You!" she hissed.

She strode forward and shoved the books at him. He made no move to take them, and they fell on the floor, the leather-bound cover hitting the hardwood floor with an ominous thump.

"You read my diary!" she accused, her eyes flashing.

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but she was already on him, attacking, kicking and scratching any part of him she could reach. He tried to fight her off, knowing that he needed to calm her down to be able to talk to her and explain himself. Her rage must've given her more determination, though, because she held stubbornly on, digging into his flesh. Finally, he grabbed his wand and muttered a quick spell. She stumbled back a few feet, just like those annoying students had.

That seemed to make her even angrier, and she started throwing random objects at him. She seemed to completely have forgotten about her magic, and he was grateful for that. He waved his wand at each incoming projectile, causing it to veer off course and miss him.

"You! I thought you had changed, you snotty lying little ferret boy!" she screeched at him, hurling her last pieces of ammunition at him to punctuate her point.

There was nothing else she could hurl at him, short of lifting the furniture up. He hoped it meant she would calm down so he could talk to her, but before he could try, she took out her wand and brandished it at him, her hand shaking with rage.

He heard the sound of running footsteps, and he turned his head in time to see the Weaselette, the Weasel, and Potter all stumble through the doorway. He paid them one glance, and then turned his attention back to the violate witch pointing a wand at him.

"My diary! You bigoted bastard!" she screamed, and he wanted to plead for her to just calm down and let him explain. The other students began filling the room, and one of them asked something, but Draco didn't pay her any attention.

"Hermione, it's not what you think—" he began, but evidently it wasn't the best thing to say, as she uttered a curse, and then all the items that had previously been thrown at him picked themselves off the floor and had another shot.

He ducked instinctively, and then made a beeline for his bedroom, waving his wand so it opened before him, and slammed it shut as soon as he was inside. They started banging at the door, and he began to worry if it would hold. Still, he could hear Hermione's voice over the thumping of the flying objects.

"Come out you coward!"

"Hermione, please listen to me!" he pleaded.

"Why should I? You've tormented me ever since I came here! I finally thought you'd changed, and then you do this!"

He couldn't reply. He whirled around as he heard a sound, to find that the items had found their way to his window. He cursed and used the repelling spell to push them out the window, and then shut it and strengthen it so he was sure they wouldn't break in.

He could hear Hermione's voice while he worked.

What are you staring at?" she asked the others in the room. There was the thunderous sound of almost the entire 7th year Potions class running away, and then a relative silence.

The first voice to speak was smug and confident. The Weasel. "So you've come to your senses and decided to go with me after all?" he asked smugly.

"No, you idiot!" she said, and he imagined her glaring at him. "You're even worse than him!" she said.

"Invito Aranea" the voice uttered. He recognized the curse; it was one that he had taught her, specifically to use on the Weasel. He was happy that she still remembered it.

There was silence for a while, and he imagined her glaring at Potter and the Weaselette, who he assumed were still in the room. Or ignoring their presence entirely as she brooded.

Potter broke the silence first. "Hermione?" he asked hesitantly.

There was no reply for a while, before a small sound was heard. A muffled sob, and then the quiet sounds of her crying. His heart clenched, and he didn't even notice that the battering of the flying things had stopped. "Hey, it's alright". Potter was comforting her. He was comforting her, when Draco was hiding in his room, eavesdropping on them. They all seemed to have forgotten that he was there, or thought that he couldn't hear them.

At this, the sobs stopped for a moment. "Alright?" Hermione asked incredulously, and Draco imagined her staring at him. "How on earth is it alright? You know that I'm in love with…" she trailed off.

"Draco? You thought that I would hate you for that?" Harry said.

"You're not?" she asked.

The Weaselette chimed in. "Of course not, Hermione. You're still our friend."

"Yeah" Harry agreed. "You could have chosen better than Malfoy, but neither of us could ever hate you"

There was a small sound, like a rustling of cloth, and Draco imagined she had hugged him. A small, unexpected shock of jealousy wormed its way into him. He had no right to her, and no right to be jealous.

"But he doesn't love me" said Hermione's quiet voice.

He couldn't take it anymore. His hand twisted on the doorknob and quietly opened to door to the sight of Potter and Hermione hugging, Potter's face turned to him. They were separating as he entered, but Potter froze as he saw him.

"Mal—Draco" he acknowledged, barely keeping himself from using Draco's last name. He drew back, but still held Hermione's hand as she froze.

"Harry. Ginny" Draco said, his face twisting a little as he said their first names, but he was more concerned about Hermione, who looked like she wanted to run. "Hermione" he said in a much softer tone.

"Harry, why don't we go to lunch?" said Ginny, tugging the boy out the door and swinging it shut behind her.

The door shut with an ominous noise, and Hermione still hadn't moved.

"You're wrong" he said.

"What?" she said, her lips barely moving, still not looking at her. He didn't like the way her voice sounded; dead, detached.

"You're wrong," he repeated, moving forward to stand before her. She stood up as well, but she still looked blank and expressionless. "I do love you"

Maybe a little hint of something in her eyes. Just a glimmer of feeling. "I don't believe you" she said.

He was speechless. Of all the responses he expected, this was not one of them. "I do" he said earnestly, the only thing he could think of right now.

She shook her head. "No, you don't. You're just being nice, because you know that I love you"

She sounded so firm in her belief. It was horrible. "What do I have to do to convince you?" he asked desperately.

"Nothing. You can't. You can't love me" she said firmly, a little bit of emotion entering her voice.

"Why?" he asked, trying a different tactic. "Why won't you believe me?"

A small amount of vulnerability showed on her face. "Because you'll hurt me" she said.

He didn't know what to do. "What if we just date?" he suggested, desperate for her not to hate him.

Hermione hesitated, then that cool mask slipped over her face again. He knew what was coming, but he spoke again before it could. "Please? Just one date, let me prove it to you" he said.

"I—okay" she said.

You're eeeeeeeevil!