I am so sorry I haven't updated in a really long time... its testing time at my school, so I've been really busy studying... and I realized I have been making a really idiotic mistake: I have been spelling Colin's last name wrong, its Creevey, not Creevy. So I will be spelling it correctly from now on.
But the chapter is here now, so we mustn't dwell on the past!
Hermione didn't know what to do. She had purposely avoided Colin at breakfast, but he had found her. Before she could answer Harry, Colin had taken a seat on the ground close to Hermione.
A bit too close for my liking.
Hermione awkwardly scooted away.
"Colin," Harry asked, baffled, "Not to sound rude or anything, but er- why are you here?"
Colin smiled at Harry as though he were a toddler.
"To see Hermione, of course."
"What? Why would you want to see Hermione?"
Colin turned to Hermione. "You didn't tell them?"
Hermione, whose face was scarlet, didn't say anything. Colin took her embarrassment for something else. He smiled.
"Well, I suppose Hermione's too shy to say anything... but, we're going out!"
The small crowd which had gathered around their tree let out a gasp.
"Granger, going out with him?"
"-what an odd pairing-"
"-ugh that's gross!"
Everything seemed as though it were going in slow motion. All of what Colin had just said was slowly sinking in. Hermione could faintly hear Harry and Ron arguing with Colin. She didn't say anything, and she didn't move a muscle. She didn't do anything, not until she heard Colin say, "Well, I sent her an owl asking if she would be my girlfriend, and she said yes!"
Now wait just one second. First he thinks I visited him at the Hospital Wing... then he says I accept to be his girlfriend from an imaginary owl? What is this bullocks??
"No." She said, breaking from her thoughts.
The crowd turned their attention to her. Colin, looking quite smug asked her, "What did you say Hermione?" He put his arm around her shoulder.
"I said NO!" She stood up quickly and shoved Colin's arm off her.
"Colin, don't you dare lie. You never sent me an owl, I never agreed to be your girlfriend, and I never visited you in the Hospital Wing! Where are you getting all of these lies from? Have I ever gave the slightest hint that I ever liked you?" She took a breath, waiting for Colin to say something. When he didn't, she continued. "So now that you know I do not share the feelings you have for me, won't you please, please for Merlin's sake, leave me alone?"
For a moment, Colin looked as thought he were to burst into tears, but when he stood up, his face remained blank. The large crowd parted itself so Colin could pass. Hermione sighed.
"Hermione," Harry asked, his face pale, "Why didn't you tell us? We could've helped you."
She rubbed her temples tiredly. "I don't know... I didn't think it would become such a big deal..."
The crowd left in small groups, whispering about what they had just witnessed.
Harry didn't know what to say to make Hermione feel better. He looked at Ron for help, but Ron merely shrugged.
"Er-Hermione, do you want to go to Hagrid's? We haven't visited him in a while." She nodded, and they made their way to Hagrid's cabin.
They found Hagrid outside, holding several shiny items, including a few gold Galleons.
"Hey Hagrid!" Ron said, eyeing what Hagrid had in his hand with interest.
"Hello!" He said as he looked down at them.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked.
"Oh, I'm jus' abou' to go in ter the forest," he replied, putting all the shiny objects in a small bag.
"Why?" Ron was now on tiptoe, trying to see the objects Hagrid had just put in the bag.
"Well, I took yer sister's advice, and I had a lesson with nifflers. But some ruddy kids let them all loose, and they've escaped in ter the forest!"
"Can we help you?" Harry asked, glancing over at Hermione to see if she looked interested.
"Er- I suppose so," He said. "Here, take a few of these each-" He opened the small bag and fished out a few shiny objects for each of them, "and come in ter the forest with me."
Ron looked extremely excited; he had received a Galleon.
"Hagrid, why are you using Galleons? You might lose them!" Ron said holding the Galleon as though it were his first born son. Hagrid chuckled.
"They're not real o' course! Its leprechaun gold!" Ron looked crestfallen, but he still held the gold coin close to him.
"How're you doin' Ermione?" Hagrid asked, looking at her. " You haven't said anythin' this whole time."
She shrugged.
"I don't feel much like talking, that's all." They were now walking through the forest. Hagrid looked at her suspiciously, but didn't say anything.
"Alrigh' now, watch yer heads!" Hagrid indicated a low branch. He stepped over it easily, while Harry and Ron ducked to avoid it. Hermione, who wasn't nearly as tall as Harry and Ron didn't duck.
"Ow!" she yelped, holding the side of her head.
"What is it?" Harry said sharply, turning and grabbing his wand.
"Its nothing," Hermione said, "My hair just got tangled in the branch." She looked at the branch, which now contained a lot of brown hair.
After her episode with Colin, the whole school knew about it. Many people – mainly Slytherins – made snide comments about her "love affair", while others just looked at her with pity. Hermione had never gotten so much attention from the school before; Harry was usually the one that people were focused on.
"Hermione, you're taking all this very well," Harry told her as they sat down in the Great Hall for dinner the next day. "Most people wouldn't show their face in a situation like this." He snuck a quick glance at Ron, who had not seemed to hear what he had just said.
"I suppose..." She said distractedly, as she began to eat.
The reason why Hermione was taking this very well was that Draco Malfoy hadn't said anything about it. She was beginning to like him, and the prospect of him being nice to her made her heart soar.
Malfoy then entered the Great Hall, and sat at the Slytherin table. He began talking to Crabbe and Goyle, and whatever he had told them made them laugh. She stared at Malfoy, wishing that he was telling her something funny. He looked up and caught Hermione's eye. He winked. Hermione blushed, and pretended to drop her fork on the floor, so people at the table wouldn't see her red face.
"Here, I'll get that-" Ron said, bending over to get her fork. Hermione was already under the table, and was desperately trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.
"Hermione, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?" His comment made her blush even more, and she stood up.
"Er- I think your right, I do feel a bit under the weather. I - I think I'll go see Madame Pomfrey for something." Ron nodded his head in agreement, and scooted over so she could get out of her seat.
Once out of the Great Hall, Hermione made her way to her dorm room. She mentally slapped herself for being foolish.
Way to go Hermione,... Malfoy just winks at you, and you become a life-sized tomato. Good thing Ron's not bright enough to figure out what was going on...
"Why did I do that? Now he knows I like him!" She muttered quietly to herself.
She heard some footsteps behind her and abruptly stopped. She whipped her wand out and stood, listening for the footsteps. She turned around, and saw Draco Malfoy leaning against a wall, smirking at her. Hermione sighed, and stowed her wand away.
"I didn't know that a wink could make one so agitated." He drawled, walking towards Hermione. She felt her face getting hot, and refused to meet his eyes. "If I didn't know any better Granger, I would say..." He didn't finish.
Hermione looked up at him, waiting to hear what he would say. When he didn't reply, she asked him, "You would say what?"
"Oh, its nothing," He said, waving his hand as though he were shooing a particularly pesky fly. "Just thinking out loud." He smirked, and walked towards their dorms. Hermione stood there, absolutely embarrassed. He had heard her muttering to herself.
When she entered the portrait hole to her common room, Malfoy was sitting on the couch with a letter in his hands. He looked troubled, but she didn't say anything. She quickly went to her dorm, not looking at him.
After showering, she lay in bed reading a book assigned for Charms. She felt her lips, which were dry, and went over to her robe to find her lip balm. She groaned as she realised it had fallen out of her robe when she took her wand out.
After a week, Hermione's tale with Colin was old news. All the talk in the corridors were now about Pansy Parkinson. She had been removed from school because she had found out she was pregnant. This really didn't interest Hermione as much as Colin's absence from, well, everything. Although she did feel that the 'talk' she had with him was essential, she felt bad; maybe she embarrassed him so much that he couldn't show his face any more.
She now spent a lot of time in the library, since Harry and Ron were practising for Quidditch almost every night. Hermione had been having a strange feeling every time she walked around the castle by herself, as though she were being watched. She didn't think into it, and occupied herself with Malfoy instead. He was becoming increasingly more flirty and open with her, and she enjoyed every minute of it. She was also making the patrol schedules so that they would patrol together at least once a week.
That Friday, they would be patrolling together. Right after dinner, Hermione rushed to her room to shower, and get dressed to patrol. Although she would be wearing her robes, she left them open, and she wore a skirt a bit above her knee. Her shirt was also just a tad more revealing than her other shirts. She looked in the mirror to make sure she looked nice, but not too obvious.
After leaving their dorms, she and Malfoy walked together to meet the prefects to decide which routes they would be taking. After telling the prefects who they would be patrolling with, and what floors they would be patrolling, Hermione made her way with Malfoy to the dungeons.
"I haven't been here in a while," Malfoy said, looking around at the dungeons.
"Don't you go to the Slytherin common room in your spare time?" Hermione asked, thinking about how many times she had been to the Gryffindor common room so far.
"Not really," He said shrugging, "The only people I would actually talk to is Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini, but I see them during mealtimes. And besides, I like having my own room. Its nice not hearing Crabbe's horrendous snores and Goyle's nonsense muttering during the night." Hermione laughed, and Malfoy smiled.
After walking for a while, they heard some shouts. They made their way around a corner, and opened a tapestry to find two sixth-year Slytherin boys tackling each other on the ground. They were swearing loudly, and throwing jinxes and hexes at each other.
"Hermione, watch out!" Malfoy yelled as he grabbed her and pulled her out of the way of a hex. He pinned Hermione against the wall, and his arms were around her. Hermione looked up at him, and saw him looking back down at her. His eyes weren't the cold gray she was used to. They were oddly warm looking, and inviting. She suddenly had a very strong desire to kiss him. She was about to lean up, and Malfoy began to lean down when the two boys rolled out of the tapestry still fighting and yelling. Malfoy seemed to gather his thoughts and pulled away, turning his attention to the boys.
"I'll go for this one-" He indicated the brown haired boy "-and you go for that one." he pointed at the black haired boy. Hermione nodded.
"Petrificus Totalus." They chanted together. The two boys were frozen stiff, and the one on top toppled over onto the ground. Malfoy dragged one of them away from the other. He and Hermione muttered the counter curse.
"Nelson, Hicks," Malfoy said sharply, his voice suddenly stern. "Twenty points from Slytherin. I could care less what you were bickering about, but if I catch you at it again, not only will I deduct points, but you'll receive a week's worth of detentions as well. Understood?"
The boys nodded glumly, and limped slowly back to their common room. Malfoy sighed, and checked his watch.
"Its been two hours." He said turning around and making his way to the Head's common room. Hermione walked slowly to the common room, absorbed in what had just happened. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not see the figure stooped behind a statue glaring at her.