A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting for quite some time, folks. Kinda lost for inspiration. I dedicate this to my friend, Dana, who has been bugging me since FOREVER to update. Thank you, lemurqueen247, for reviewing! Anyways, CONTINUE READING!

Can't Have Me – Chapter 9: Fifty-Fifty

Hermione's POV

I couldn't sleep that night.

Two more weeks, and he's gone, the nagging voice at the back of my head whispered. It's actually a week and four days, so not exactly a week, until Draco leaves.

I groaned.

"It's all my fault," I whispered as quietly as I could to myself. "If I hadn't been such a know-it-all, he wouldn't leave."

Then something unexpected happened. I felt something warm going down my cheeks, and my vision was getting misty...I was crying. Why the hell was I crying? There's no reason for me to be such a baby at that moment, but I couldn't stop. The tears continued to roll down, and soon enough, my breathing was uneven too.

Why was I crying for someone who treated me like garbage since I was ten?

I took a deep breath, and in a few moments, I had cried myself into a deep, dreamless sleep.

...

"Ms. Granger?"

I suddenly jumped. I was in Charms, and I didn't realize Professor Flitwick was asking me a question. Not wanting to look like an idiot, I smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, professor, but will you please repeat the question?"

The puny professor's expression softened. "I didn't actually ask a question, Hermione. I said I think it would be best for you to go to Madame Pomfrey; you don't look so well today.

Do I really look that bad? I thought. "All right, professor."

I stood up, grabbed my satchel, and stalked out of the room.

The corridors were deserted, with only a few fourth years strolling around during their free period. I sighed, and continued on to head to the infirmary. I had to cross those bloody moving stairs, which took me fifteen minutes to cross. When I did, I was panting, and felt irritated that I still had to pass a lot of corridors.

"If only Hogwarts wasn't this big," I muttered.

"Talking to yourself, Granger?"

I turned around quickly, and felt my anger arise when I saw it was Pansy Parkinson. She was wearing a sour face, and had her slender arms crossed.

"Now's not the time, Parkinson," I replied.

She smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just caring for your sanity, Mudblood. You see, I really think it would be best for you to go to an asylum. Believe me, it's where you belong."

I clenched my fists. "Leave me alone, Pansy. Or should I say...pug-faced Pansy?"

She widened her eyes. "Ah, look who's talking, horse-faced Mudblood! You're nothing but a—"

"Shut up, Pansy."

Pansy looked behind me, and I whirled around. It was Draco.

It was Draco?

Pansy gasped behind me. "Draco, defending a Mudblood? Am I dreaming?"

"Just...Just shut up, okay?" he replied solemnly. "I don't want a catfight happening in the corridors."

Our eyes met, and electricity jolted down to my fingertips. Brown meeting silver.

I quickly looked away, turning around to face Pansy.

"Pssh!" Pansy exclaimed, waving her hand. "As if Granger here could stand a catfight."

"I said stop it, Pansy," Draco said in a dangerous volume of whisper. "You're just making a fool of yourself. If I will compare you to everyone else in this world, you'd still be the ugliest one. And I'm not saying I'm not trying to offend you."

Pansy took a sharp intake of breath. "How dare you, Draco! What, you think the Mudblood is better than me? Because if you do, you'd be absurd!"

Draco didn't change his expression. "Well, if I had to, I would."

Pansy looked extremely furious. "What's going on, Draco? It is definitely not like you to defend a girl...a girl like her! I mean, a Muggleborn? Are you serious?"

I didn't dare look behind me. Draco...was defending me? But why? It's extremely odd...No, he was just doing it because he didn't like catfights...Yes, that's right; there wasn't any other reason for it...

"...Again, as I said, if I had to, I would." Draco sounded very calm when saying this.

Pansy, opening and closing her mouth trying to get out words, gave up, curtly turning around and marched away.

Silence.

"I think I'll just leave now," I said quietly, walking towards the direction Pansy did.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, and I froze. He was...apologizing? What the hell was happening?

I didn't dare turn around to look at him. I had a feeling that if I did, my legs would fail me.

"You..." I started to whisper. "You don't have to apologize."

Draco heaved a sigh. "Of course I do. After all that I've done...since our first year...I've never apologized to you, moreover to our buddies Potter and Weasley."

I bit my lip. Oh Merlin, he's being nice, I thought.

"Well...Aren't you going to say anything, Hermione?"

I froze. "You called me by my first name," I blurted out.

There was a short pause. "Am I forbidden from calling you that?" he asked quietly.

I breathed in, and turned around. It wasn't the Draco I thought I would see. I expected to see the smirking Malfoy, with his arms crossed and his chin up, but I saw a completely different person. He wasn't smiling, but his eyes were twinkling knowingly. His arms were not crossed; instead, his hands are in his pockets. I wasn't used to seeing him like this.

"No, you aren't, actually," I replied timidly.

"Are you going to say anything else?" he asked.

I bit my lip. "If you think I have never forgiven you, why do you think I'm not insulting you right now? Draco"—I saw him twitch for a second—"I never ever held a grudge on you, not even when you called me a Mudblood more than once."

He didn't drop his gaze. "You know I'm leaving next week, right?"

Here it goes, I thought.

"And you don't want to say anything about it? Hermione, you even told me that you knew you'd feel terrible when I leave."

"I know," I muttered.

Draco stared at me, waiting for an answer.

I sighed. "Look...It's really hard to explain. I don't want you to leave, but at the same time, I do. I want you to leave because you make Hogwarts a mess. You bully fourth years, insult everyone you bump into, and look like you run the whole school. But at the same time, if you leave, those things will never ever happen again. You see...we all got used to your absurd attitudes. But if those things you do stop happening, I don't think we'll ever get used to that. I mean, you're the only one who acts like the way you do."

Draco didn't speak at first, taking my long explanation in. "So...Do you want me to leave or not? Because that's all I'm asking."

I got a little irritated with his tone. "Yes...and no. Fifty-fifty. Get it?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

I looked at my watch. "Oh shit. I can't believe I'm late for my next class!"

Draco smirked, and something tingled inside of me. "Wow, Hermione Granger swears? This should be posted in the Daily Prophet!"

I stared at him.

"I didn't mean it, I swear," he replied sulkily.

"If that's even considered an apology, I forgive you," I said quietly.

I turned around to leave, and the last thing I heard was him muttering something like "She actually swears." I smirked to myself and headed for my next class.

A/N: WELL? Please review, my friends. MWAH!