Hey everybody!
Thank you for reviewing, faving this story etc. :)!
It means a lot to me, and it keeps me going!
I'm sorry that it took so long to update, but it's been busy, and for a while there was just no inspiration!
Please keep reviewing! Even if it's just one small word, it means a lot :)!
Thanks again to my dear friend, Megan 3 :)!
She makes this all possible people!
Enjoy!
Chapter 10
Hermione
Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table, she just couldn't hide her smile as she looked around the Great Hall.
She wanted to wait for Ron & Harry, but she was so hungry that she just couldn't wait any longer. So after one last look around, she started loading all sorts of food on her plate.
By the time she finished the main course, and was about to start on her strawberry pudding, she saw them walking towards the Gryffindor table, completely soaked.
Ron, Harry, Ginny & Delilah all looked concerned.
They were probably thinking very deeply, because they walked by Hermione without even noticing her.
'Hey guys! I'm here!' Hermione yelled.
All of them turned slowly, and looked at her as if they've seen a ghost.
Ginny was the first to move. She ran to Hermione and hugged her so tightly that Hermione could hardly breathe.
'Don't you ever do that to me again!' she said, still holding Hermione tightly. 'To us…' she added.
Hermione tried to free herself from Ginny's grip, but the younger girl was still holding tight.
'Can't breathe.' Hermione said weakly.
'Oh, sorry.' Ginny let go of Hermione a bit, but still held her.
Hermione took a deep breath in, and out.
'Do what?' she asked. 'What did I do!'
'Disappear like that! Is what she means.' Harry said as he sat down at the other side of Hermione. 'We were worried sick! We didn't know where you were.'
In the mean time Delilah and Ron had walked around the table and sat down together opposite Hermione.
'Where were you actually?' Ron asked as he took some chicken from the plates that had just re-appeared.
'I..uhm… well…' Hermione's eyes flashed to the Slytherin table. Draco was sitting there, smiling vaguely. When he saw Hermione looking at him he smiled at her. Hermione sighed, a slight blush rising her cheeks as she felt butterflies in her stomach.
Ginny followed her gaze and gasped.
Hermione turned and saw Ginny's eyes flashing from Draco to her.
'Him?' she mouthed. Hermione looked at her with a silencing look.
'Not now, later' she mouthed back.
Ginny nodded slightly and turned her attention back to her plate with mashed potatoes.
'I, uh, walked around the school bounds for a bit, reading, enjoying nature…'
Delilah looked at her in disbelieve. 'But it rained!' she said. 'Is that why you're so wet? Maybe you should go to Madame Pomfrey. You don't want to get sick.'
Oh bugger Hermione thought. She forgot to change. She had been stuck on cloud 9 after entering the castle.
'Well, yes. I was close to the Quidditch field, so I hid in the broom closet till it was dry.' Hermione said. With Draco Malfoy she added in her head.
'What did you do?' Harry asked.
'Uhm, well, I read of course, what else?' Hermione said, as she turned red. She always found it hard to lie to Harry.
Harry opened his mouth to say something again but Ginny was first.
'Oh!' she said. 'Did you read that book you had with you this morning?' Ginny thought for a second. 'I believe it was called: Pride and Prejudice?'
Hermione didn't get the hint at first.
'What…Oh yes!' Hermione said. 'This one!'
Hermione looked under the table, but the bag with the book & her quill wasn't there. All she saw were Ron & Delilah's legs touching. Hermione got up then, the fact that Delilah & Ron were touching, wasn't as shocking as it would have been three weeks ago.
'I must have left it at the broom closet.' Hermione got up. 'I'll go and get it.'
She looked at Ginny. Who had just ate the last bit of her chocolate pudding. 'Anyone want to come with me?' Hermione asked, still looking at Ginny.
Harry tried to get up, but Ginny got the hint and was faster.
She pushed Harry down again, and said: 'You'll stay here Harry, I will accompany Hermione.'
Harry was so startled by the strength with which Ginny pushed him down, that he didn't respond.
'Let's go, before Harry realizes what just happened.' Ginny whispered to Hermione.
Hermione laughed, she hadn't felt this happy since her arrival at Hogwarts.
Draco
Draco watched Hermione & Ginny walk away and Draco had the feeling that Hermione was going to tell Ginny what happened in the broom closet.
Strange enough he didn't care, though he was worried about how the Weasley girl was going to react to this news.
He knew how his own 'friends' would react. They wouldn't be happy for him, but Draco couldn't care less. Two more years and he'd be done with school, and he would never have to see the people from his house again. And he wasn't planning on doing so either.
He wanted to see some of the world, backpacking through Europe, maybe even live in France. Draco had always been fond of France, and the language was just beautiful.
But after this day, after spending the afternoon with Hermione, he wasn't that sure anymore.
All Draco knew was that he wanted Hermione, for himself, no sharing. He didn't want to leave her either.
But a small voice in the back of his mind was nagging him. Saying this wasn't right and it would all end terribly wrong. That it would get him into a lot of trouble.
The voice sounded uncomfortably familiar. Too familiar.
Draco shook his head, trying to get rid of the voice.
As Draco got up he noticed something. Pansy hadn't returned yet, nor had Blaise.
Maybe they had a date. Draco snorted, Pansy & Blaise. He knew that Blaise had liked Pansy since the beginning, but Pansy had only eyes for Draco.
Draco shook his head again. Two first years from Ravenclaw where watching him, looking at him as if he'd gone mad.
He ignored it and walked out of the Great Hall.
Draco had just passed the girls bathroom when he heard loud voices.
'No! You can't do that Lav! It's spying, it's wrong!' one girl voice said.
'I don't care! Lying is wrong too, and I want to know the truth about this girl.' A different girl said. 'She just comes out of nowhere and claims him like he's hers to claim! I was here first!'
Draco turned on his heels and walked slowly and quietly towards the bathroom door. He shot a glance through the open doorway and realized there were two girls arguing. Both Gryffindors, and both where in his his year. One of the girls was blond, and annoying. And the other one was one part of a twin.
Draco stood closely to the wall and listened to the conversation.
'He wasn't yours Lavender. You've never 'had' him! I wonder if he even knows your name.'
Draco chuckled softly. He asked himself the same thing. It would surprise him if Weasley had ever kissed a girl before, left alone touch one.
'How can you say that?' Lavender cried out. 'Of course he does! We've had classes together for more than 4 years now!'
The other girl muttered something Draco could not hear.
'Parvati!'
That's her name! Draco thought, he could never remember her name.
'Hermione has never dated Ron! You know as well as I do that she dated Viktor Krum last year. We caught them snogging in the bushes, remember?'
What! Hermione kissed Krum? Draco's fist hit the wall, forgetting he was supposed to be quiet.
'What was that?' Lavender said.
Draco cursed as he heard footsteps approaching. The only hiding place near was the suit of Armor next to him. Draco slid in next to it just in time.
'I think it was Peeves throwing something on the first floor or something.' Parvati said, standing less than two feet away from Draco.
Go inside again! Draco thought with all his power.
Parvati turned slowly and walked inside again.
Draco appeared from his hiding place and decided he had heard enough.
'I'm going to the Astronomy Tower tonight. I don't give a damn about what you think or what you're going to do. You can't stop me.'
That was the last thing he heard from the girls. Draco wondered why they were talking about Delilah hiding something.
Hermione
Ginny stared at Hermione, her eyes the size of a snitch.
'Wow, Hermione. I hadn't expected this.'
Hermione blushed. She had just told Ginny about what happened in the broom closet.
Ginny was taking it rather well, considering that Draco had been a prick for years.
'I know.' Hermione said. She hesitated before she continued.
'You are OK with this?'
Ginny shrugged. 'As long he is good for you, good to you, I can't see reason why I shouldn't be.'
Ginny thought for a while before speaking again.
'Unless you don't want you family-in-law to be Dark Wizards. Plus Draco has been awful to you ever since the day you first met.'
Hermione nodded.
'I know. I don't know what has changed. What changed in me, what changed in him.' Hermione stopped walking. They had reached the broom closet.
'It started the day we arrived this year. It couldn't be a spell, I've searched every book we had in the library for possible spells, enchantments or potions. None of them sound possible.'
'But still, be careful 'Mione. I don't want to see you ending up getting hurt.' Ginny said.
Hermione nodded. 'Wait here, I will get my things.'
Hermione entered the closet and appeared just a few seconds later with her bag and two pillows in her arms.
'What are those?' Ginny asked while pointing at the pillows.
'Draco made them out of old Quidditch robes.' Hermione said proudly.
Ginny smiled.
'How are you going to explain this to Harry and Ron?' she said, her voice sounding serious.
'That I made them myself?' Hermione said unsure but joking.
'Hermione! You know what I mean! The 'Hermione-is-together-with-Draco-Malfoy-thing!'"
Hermione shrugged. 'I don't know.' She was silent for a while.
'Not yet? At least not for a while.'
Ginny started walking back to the castle again.
'You should tell them. I don't think they will like it when they hear it from somebody else.' Hermione looked at Ginny with a silencing look.
'Don't worry. I won't say a thing to Ron and Harry.'
'I know you won't.' Hermione hugged her.
'Speaking of Harry! Did anything happen between you two?'
'No.' Ginny said sadly. 'But something else did happen when I was in the bathroom with Delilah!'
Ginny looked around to check if there was anyone near.
'Do you remember what we talked about this morning? About Delilah and her brother?'
Hermione nodded.
'Well, listen...' Ginny told Hermione about what Delilah said and about that evening.
By the time she was finished, they had reached the castle.
'Are you going?' Hermione asked.
'Yes.' Ginny answered. 'I want to know why she's hiding that she has a brother.'
Delilah
When Delilah had finished her dinner she wanted to go the library to just sit and read a bit but Ron wanted to come so she said she had to take a shower too.
Ron turned red, because it reminded him of his clumsiness this afternoon, and said it was OK that he would do something for school. He and Harry had got up and walked towards the staircases.
Delilah didn't get up to take a shower in the following 5 minutes, nor did she in the next 30 minutes.
But eventually the Great Hall was starting to get empty and Delilah couldn't stay there any longer or Filch would think she'd been up to something.
Slowly she got up and walked to the bathrooms. She would take a long hot shower to calm her.
Though she wanted to take her time, her skin was getting red after 15 minutes of showering and she was forced to leave, if she didn't want to end up like a Blast-ended Skrewt.
Delilah returned to the Gryffindor common room. She couldn't put it off any longer.
Why didn't she want to go there? Was it because of the homework she has to finish, or was it because of Ginny? That she had to tell her the truth and that she was afraid about how Ginny was going to react?
Delilah had been around for long enough to know that Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione didn't like the Malfoy family. Harry and Ron seemed to like her, even Ginny was pleasant, but Hermione still wasn't too nice to her.
'Auro Aquila' Delilah said with a sigh.
'Correct' the fat lady said as she swung open.
Delilah couldn't see Ginny or Hermione anywhere, but Harry and Ron were sitting in the corner, working on their Divination homework.
'Hi guys! Still working on that Divination work Trelawney gave us last week?' Delilah asked.
The both nodded, still looking at their pieces of parchment, spread across the table.
'It's horrible! How could she expect us foretell the future using the constellations? It's just mental!' Ron said as he pulled his book towards him.
'It's quite easy actually' Delilah said. 'I've finished mine already. Let me help you.'
Delilah loved Divination. She was best of her class in France; everything she predicted was correct or almost correct.
'Let's use my sign for an example. Mine is Gemini.'
Ron browsed through his book.
'Well, according to the stars and this book you're going to get some good news. About a loved one, one that doesn't particularly likes you, and you'll get some good results.'
'Very good Ron!' Delilah complimented. 'You just forgot one thing.' She said while moving closer to him.
'Here it says that ''love will turn around''' Delilah winked at him.
'Good luck with that than Ron!' Harry said as he pat Ron on the back while laughing silently.
'Oh bugger off'
Harry still chuckled. 'Let's try Hermione's! I want to know what will happen to her, maybe "love will turn around'' for her too.'
Harry opened his book and searched for the right page.
'Virgo right?' he asked Ron.
Ron shrugged.
'How should I know? I can barely remember my own birthday! Let alone hers!'
Harry rolled his eyes.
'Well, I think that Hermione love life will be perfectly fine! According to this book she will have some good times with her partner, but she will have to be careful.'
Ron laughed.
'What partner? I didn't know that books were considered partners now too!'
Delilah hit Ron, though Hermione didn't like her that much, Delilah did like Hermione.
'Stop it Ron! That's just low; I think Hermione knows what to do!'
Ron turned red.
'By the way, have you seen Ginny somewhere? I'd like to talk to her.' Harry asked them.
Delilah shook her head.
'I think I will go for a walk. Haven't been to the library yet!'
Delilah got up from her chair.
'See you guys later! And if I see Ginny I'll let her know that you're looking for her Harry!'