Presenting to you…The Longest Chapter Ever! Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Hermione sat in the vast Gryffindor common room, empty, except for them three. She missed this. This. Just the three of them hanging out and breaking rules. She laughed out loud as memories of the past years in Hogwarts came rushing through her head.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, breaking into Hermione's thoughts, annoyed that she had broken his train of thought in wizard's chess.

"Nothing." Hermione replied with a slightly dazed expression. She had spent the entire day with her two best friends, not even giving the slightest thought about Draco who? Well, technically, she wasn't thinking about him because she was talking about him the entire time. She had confessed to Harry and Ron about everything. Though she had never planned to, her friends knew something was wrong by the sullen expression she was wearing. It took Hermione a lot of courage to even admit to everything that happened with Draco because saying it out loud made it even harder to face. Harry and Ron were furious, and by the time she finished telling them the entire story. They simultaneously jumped off their armchair and headed toward the Slytherin common room. Well, she stopped them before they did anything too irrational. Too bad.

As Hermione watched Ron checkmate Harry, she felt at home. She missed the familiar rush to smack them across the head and yell at them for not doing their Transfiguration homework, or reprimand them for not studying for their Potion's exam. She smiled as she watched Harry accuse Ron of cheating, and vice versa.

"Harry, why would I cheat!" Ron exclaimed "I've been winning wizard's chess since we began playing first year."

"I just know you did." Harry said confidently, then proceeding to give Hermione a look that said tell-Ron-he-cheated. "Here, ask 'Mione."

Hermione looked hesitantly between the two of them, and nervously replied, "How about we go to dinner? I'm starved."

They reluctantly agreed at the mention of food, and the two boys started towards the common room entrance, forgetting all about wizard's chess, and eager to eat. Boys will be boys.

-:-

Draco Malfoy was sitting in the Great Hall, silently and slowly eating his dinner. He looked over at the Gryffindor table every two seconds looking for Hermione. He hadn't seen her since this morning's mishap, and was hoping to get to talk to her after dinner, but it was nearly 7:30 and she hadn't even gone to dinner yet. Draco depressingly cut up his chicken, well; he was technically stabbing it with his fork. But no matter, because at that moment, Hermione entered the Great Hall with Harry and Ron at her side. She was laughing at a joke that Ron had told, and Draco's face fell at the smiling face.

"She seems happy to have ridden of me." Draco thought cynically.

He began eating his dinner as fast as possible. He didn't want to sit there and watch Hermione have fun with her two skunk-faced immature friends.

Like calling someone skunk-faced makes him mature?

Hermione quickly glanced over at the Slytherin table, out of habit and curiosity, to see if Ferret Face was there, but quietly cursed herself as she met Draco's eyes, for they were boring into hers.

"What's wrong 'Mione?" Ron asked as he stuffed a biscuit and a block of butter into his mouth, all at once.

Hermione wasn't in the mood to discuss Malfoy, so she just stared at Ron with a look of disgust. "Ron, couldn't you just have spread the butter on the biscuit instead of swallowing them both whole?"

Ron made a huge gulping sound like he'd just swallowed a tank of water. "What's the point? All food ends in the same place. In the same way"

Hermione gave a Ron a look that read thanks-for-the-visual. She had suddenly lost her appetite after hearing Ron's little comment. She waited with Harry and Ron to finish their dinner, and tried her best to ignore the two eyes from the Slytherin table that was watching her every move. She wasn't the only one who noticed the staring eyes. Harry had also noticed.

"Hey 'Mione, he's looking at you." Harry said observantly with anger clear in his voice.

"Um-hm" Hermione replied, her face turning red. She didn't want to look up.

"Is he making you uncomfortable? Because I could just hex him right now. If you want me to, that is." Harry said giddily, as he reached for his wand in the pocket of his robes.

"Put your wand away!" she scolded. "Do you want to join us in detention tonight?"

Harry lowered his wand and went back to his dinner, a bit defeated.

-:-

As dinner ended, exhausted students began to head back to their rooms to rest. Harry, Hermione, and Ron exited the Great Hall, careful to avoid Malfoy. The Golden Trio once again walked the corridors to the Gryffindor common room like before.

It was already late, and Hermione suddenly remembered her detention that night. She took at deep breath at the thought, and said her good-byes to Harry and Ron before changing directions, and walking towards Hagrid's Hut as slowly as possible.

When she had finally arrived at Hagrid's, she realized Draco wasn't even there yet. Dolt. She headed towards the Dark Forest and began picking for the leaves without him. The faster I start, the sooner I finish, so I don't have to see that insufferable, snot-nosed idiot.

She was gathering leaves at such a fast pace, that she had already filled up half the bag within ten minutes. She had a new technique of quickening her leaf-picking. It was simple, yet satisfying. Hermione had so much anger towards Draco that she decided to release it in a healthy and nonviolent way. She simply pretended the bag was Draco's open mouth, and the leaves were slugs. She kept picking the leaves/slugs and shoving into his filthy mouth, err… bag. It was quite successful, seeing as she was almost done, and Draco hadn't even arrived yet.

Just as she finished stuffing her bag with leaves, she heard a rustle behind a tall tree next to her, causing her to drop her bag of leaves. She jumped at the sound, and pulled out her wand, her heart rate increasing. She slowly began backing away from the tree as she heard someone breathing heavily come near her. Her heart was pounding so fast and loud, she could almost hear it thumping. The forest was too dark for her to see anything, and she was trying to not trip over a tree root, as she backed away from the… person/thing.

"Lumos." Hermione whispered with obvious fear in her voice, as her wand tip lighted, revealing the figure in front of her. She screamed excruciating loud as she noticed that she was in fact face to face with, none other then, Draco Malfoy.

Draco rubbed his ear hoping he didn't suddenly become deaf. "Geez, Hermione, calm down."

Hermione was ruffled and annoyed and pissed off and the list goes on. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down." She seethed with anger. "Why in hell are you sneaking around in the forest? Do you think it's funny to scare the living daylights out of me?"

Draco bit his tongue hoping he wouldn't laugh. He knew laughing would tick Hermione off even more. "No, it wasn't funny…well, just a little bit."

Hermione smacked him hard across his forearm. So much for handling my anger in a healthy and nonviolent way.

"Oww. 'Mione that hurt." He said, rubbing his arm.

"Good... I hope it swells." Hermione said while she turned to leave.

"Wait! 'Mione, I'm sorry. I know I've said it before, but I won't stop apologizing until you forgive me."

Hermione stopped walking and turned to face him. She could see him clearly, for they were standing under the moonlight. The sad smile on his face almost made Hermione give into him, but she knew she couldn't forgive him that easily. So she scoffed loudly at his pathetic comment. "You could apologize all you want, I, frankly, don't care. Words are easy to say, but meaning them is the part you don't seem to understand."

Draco looked at Hermione disbelievingly. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her into a hug. Hermione was startled by this movement, and after moments of dawning comprehension, she began to kick and shove him off her with all her effort, but he wasn't budging. Damn Quidditch Seeker. "Geroff me, you perverted, pathetic sorry excuse for a wizard."

Draco unexpectedly pulled Hermione away into arm's length, and looked at her. She stopped kicking and screaming at him once she noticed that he had let go of her. They were standing two feet apart, and their eyes were locked. Her sweet light brown eyes softened as she noticed that the usual storm in his steel grey eyes had lightened. There was no longer a raging storm in his eyes, but a light sprinkle of rain.

Hermione couldn't stand that he could be so sweet when she was trying to be mad at him. She turned from him before her emotions began to show in her translucent eyes, but she felt a light pull at her waist. It gave her goose bumps as she felt both his hands placed on both sides of her waist, willing her to face him. She didn't push him away, nor did she pull him in. She ignored him completely and looked at her shoes.

"Hermione," Draco said in a soft and vulnerable voice that he didn't even know existed in him. "I honestly do mean that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ever even letting those words come out of my mouth. I'm sorry for hurting you, so badly. I'm sorry for everything. I'm just...so, so sorry. I need you 'Mione. I haven't seen you for a few hours, and I'm already dying to be with you. I'm truly sorry. I want you. I need you."

Hermione had been silently crying. Hot tears warmed her face on the cool autumn night, and she curiously looked up into his eyes. He wasn't crying, but she could definitely see the hurt. She watched as he lowered his lips lower and lower, hoping to match hers. They were centimeters apart, and then she snapped.

Hermione pulled away from him; desperately trying to dry her tears as new ones came falling. "What are you doing!" she said spitefully as her face was positively stained with wet tears.

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. None. His throat was dry.

"I know what you're doing. You're putting on another pathetic act, and I'm not falling for it this time. How could you possibly want me! Do you remember who you are! Do you remember who I am! We are socially unfit to even be within a ten foot radius from each other. You and I are opposites. Polar opposites." She stopped to wipe the incessant tears from her face, not even feeling them fall. "We could never be together. Even if we liked each other the slightest bit…… We were only together for one night…… and look how great that turned out." Hermione took in a deep breath of the forest pine air. The tears had stopped coming, and she was regaining some strength she had temporarily lost. Then, she said in the most spiteful and bitter voice she could muster. "We can never be. No matter how sorry you are. Never."

With that, she walked away from him. She could tell by his eyes that he was near tears, but the look on his face was worse than if he actually cried. She didn't care. She was giving him a taste of his own medicine, and left him to watch her go, like she had many times before. But this time was different. This time, she left a mutual understanding that Draco and her shall never be more than friends, or friends at all, for that matter. It was closure for Hermione, and she was relieved.

An open end always leaves messy tangles, and with a closed knot, there'll be no tangles to deal with.

Anymore, that is.

-:-

Okay. Like it? If you don't, be nice and lie to me, kay? Just Review! For some reason I can't put in a ruler. Help!

Btw…I wrote a one-shot called Nobody There. So...check that out.

Thank you for the reviews! Phantom of a Rose, bethygirl94, sweetlyevil, sasmith, Queen of Serpents, shortperson, felicitousmomento, GalaxyStorme, and many others who reviewed for other chapters.