Chapter 4 has arrived! Yay! So I'm going to be putting my story back down to a T rating because I finally found out that alerts are a good thing. I was mixed up and thought that if I got too many alerts that my story would be taken down and this and that, kind of like red flagging it. But thanks to darbythomas, I now understand. Enjoy and please R&R! Thanks!

THE SWEETEST THING Ch. 4

Hermione's POV

Emotions ripple around me

I'm scared, excited, free

This is what I've been waiting for

A storm upon the calm sea

And I'm the strong, trusty sea

You're the storm, trying to harm me

'Till the sun rises up to greet us

And shines everlastingly

We'll fight to the death, us three

The sun on the side of the sea

So your storm will lose and die out

And the sea will always be

Krista Everett

What had just happened? Hermione closed her eyes and remembered each detail about the conversation she had had with Draco-no, Malfoy-no...Draco...was right. If they were going to pretend to go out they had to make it look real. Draco. Hermione sighed in comfort but suddenly snapped her eyes open. She had to be dreaming. There was no way she could go out with him. It would be betraying Harry and Ron. Ron. That slimy, good-for-nothing weasel. She gasped. Now that was crossing the line. She would never think anything like that about Ronald, would she?

Hermione let her mind drift back to the discussion she'd had after Mal-...Draco...had "asked her out." No one knew that they were "dating" yet and they had been talking about how to slowly, let people know. One of Hermione's concerns was what people would say about Draco and why he was going against his muggle-born-hating ways. Draco's answer had been simple. He would slip a rumour that someone had dared him to seduce her and he just wanted to see how far he could go with it.

Hearing that had led her to ponder if he was actually telling the truth and he was taking advantage of her situation to seduce her like he'd said. She remembered the sincere look in his eyes as he said he would treat her right and they way he'd been...almost shy...when he was hinting to her that he would be a good candidate for the pretend boyfriend job.

She had to admit that she didn't mind having to be in a "relationship" with Draco Malfoy of all guys. He was incredibly handsome and well-built. Through his robes she (and anyone else who was looking) could see that his muscles were toned from his position as the Seeker on the Slytherin quiddich team. He carried himself well, head help up high and confident, not slinking around anymore as he had during their 1st and 2nd years at Hogwarts.

In fact, if it hadn't been for the fact that they were blood enemies, she might have taken an interest in him earlier on in their school years. She couldn't forget that he was intelligent as well. But not in a nerdy way. He passed all of his tests with the same grade or only a few points below her.

And, from what she could see so far, he seemed like a gentleman. If she didn't know him any better she might have thought he actually liked her from the way he gazed into her eyes and how he acted like he was trying to protect her. And he had finally smiled! It wasn't the sneer that was usually plastered across his face but a genuine smile that felt so natural, so right for her to like.

Sheesh! She was reading too much into the whole "treat you right" thing. Maybe she was being seduced. Well, it served her purposes too, so she figured she could go along with it for a while. Just until she was over trying to make Ron jealous. But even as she thought about it, Hermione knew deep down that she believed he was being sincere and honest. And as much as she didn't want to think about how she felt about that, she was happy. It was the first time in months that she finally felt secure and not always worried about what Ron would say or do. She was excited about being Draco Malfoy's "girlfriend." Even if it was pretend.

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Hermione walked into the Gryffindor common room. Her thoughts had shifted from thinking about Draco and their plan, to homework, and then back to Draco. But now she was mulling over the way they had decided to break the news to everyone. Part of her wanted to shout out to everyone in the common room right now but she knew that the only way to make Ron truly jealous was by following through with the plan.

So when she broke away from her thoughts to find the common room pitch black, she was confused. The fire never went out and who had blown out all of the candles? The lack of light and heat made the large room cold and Hermione shivered.

Before she could take another step with her hand stretched out to feel for objects blocking her path to the stairs, the lights all blazed on at once and Hermione fell backward onto the red and gold rug. She held her arm above her eyes to see who had played such a bad joke on her but it was no use. All the 

candles being lighted at once had blinded her and the only thing she could see were little black and white dots jumping out at her.

"I'm really sorry, Hermione," a voice said from somewhere above her. "Wait! Where'd she go?"

Hermione could feel a bump growing on the back of her head where she had hit it on the ground and she groaned slightly.

"Oh, 'Mione! What're you doing on the ground, love?" Whoever belonged to that same voice was bending over her and helping to lift her up.

"She must have been shocked by the all the lights shining on, Ronald," it was a girl's voice this time. She sounded exasperated. "I told you it was a bad idea. Have you gone mad?"

Suddenly the arms holding Hermione up vanished and she crashed back down to the floor, hitting her head in the same spot. Her eyes were closed and she kept them that way, not needing to see the black and white dots spinning now too.

"Now, listen here, Ginny! You stay out of it, eh? She doesn't need you to be carrying on about what else I'm doing wrong and it's not helping my case right now either."

Hermione moaned louder this time and the person who had just been yelling at Ginny turned his attention back to her.

"I'm so, so sorry, Hermione. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen." The arms lifted her up again.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes. "Ron?" She was looking straight at his long freckled nose and she involuntarily flinched away at the closeness. Her brain struggled to catch up with everything that had just happened. "How what was supposed to happen? And...did you just call me love?"

She tried to get out of the grasp of Ron's arms, but he held her tightly. And then she saw everything. Hanging on the far wall was a banner saying "I'M SRRY HERMINE" and many of their fellow Gryffindors were gathered in the room around them. A few people were whispering but for the most part, everyone was silent, waiting for her reaction.

"Hermione, I made a really big mistake and I'm really sorry. Please forgive me and take me back." Ron's eyes pleaded with her as she looked at him.

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond. The number of people and the fact that there were people here to witness an apology that should have been private made her suspicious that Ron was trying to trick her into going out with him again. She wouldn't really say no to him in front of everyone, would she? Well, he was about to get an earful.

"Well, Ronald, judging by the fact that you a) just blinded me, causing me to fall and hit my head, b) dropped me so I hit my head again, c) think that I won't still turn you down with all of these 

people here, d) don't even know how to spell my name-" Hermione paused for a breath in which Ron interjected.

"But, they didn't have the letter 'O' at the shop-"

She cut him off, "e) cheated on me in the first place, and f) are a selfish prick, I'm going to have to deny your apology and not waste my breath or time forgiving you or giving you a second chance." She ripped herself out of his clutch and made her way to the girl's dormitory.

With his long arms though, Ron grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around to face him. "Please, Hermione. I love you. I need you."

Hermione was shocked that he could lie so easily. "How dare you say that you love me? Let go of me this instant!"

"But, why won't you go out with me again, 'Mione?"

"Because you are an arrogant jerk and..." Hermione stopped herself before she completely gave away her plans, but the look on Ron's face, trying to be sorry, angered her even more and she wanted to hurt him right then and there. "Because I'm with someone else right now!"

Hermione watched as Ron's eyes widened in surprised but she ignored him as he shouted back at her, "WHO? OI! WHO ELSE WOULD ASK YOU OUT?" She slammed the door behind her and sat on her bed. His last line had hurt her a little bit but a smile spread across her face. Ron was definitely jealous already and he didn't even know who her "boyfriend" was yet.

Hermione decided to write Draco a quick message telling him what had just happened so he would be up-to-date and know the right buttons to push tomorrow when Part 1 was initiated. She was satisfied with Ron's reaction and, honestly, she couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to see Draco and to put their plan into action because that was when the real fun and games would begin.

Whoa! That was really fun to write and I hope you all find it fun to read too! Don't forget to R&R!