A/N: Hello there readers of fanfiction, welcome to chapter eleven. I don't really have much to say here, uhm, hmmm. Odd. Nothing to rant about. Fish are cannibals and that is quite creepy. And when you can see them swimming in the water *shudders*.
Hermione's P.O.V:
I woke up at six thirty in the morning to a quiet dormitory; the only noises were breathing and Lavender's snores. I sat up and stretched my arms over my head and stared out the window to see it was getting closer to winter.
Sliding out of bed, I walked over to my dresser and picked out an outfit fitting to the weather and tried my best not to wake anyone up. But of course Lavender wakes up and starts going off on me, "Merlin, Hermione! You're so loud! Why can't you just stay in your bed until the rest of us are awake? I need my sleep! Why can't you even walk quietly? Is it your large feet that stop that? You don't even need to pick out an outfit! It doesn't matter what you wear because you're always ugly!" She kept going, picking at me and I just stood there like I always do when she goes off.
Except this time, something in me snapped as I listened to her and I just didn't want to take it anymore, "Shut up, Lavender! I don't care if you think I'm ugly and unworthy to live! You're not so great yourself! I don't even see why Ron loves you! You and him are horrible for each other and you don't deserve him! So. Fuck. Off," I gave her a smirk then turned on heel and left the dormitory feeling great.
I practically skipped down to the Great Hall, replaying Lavender's expression in my head. When I got inside the Great Hall I saw Draco sitting by himself at the Slytherins table. With a grin I walked over to him and plopped down, "Going to Hogsmeade?"
His head snapped up and he looked at me in disbelief, "Are you asking me out, Granger?"
"Why yes, Malfoy, I believe I am. Would you care to answer?" I tapped my fingers on the table and waited for his answer.
His eyebrow shot up and he stared at me suspiciously, "Are you alright, you know, mentally?"
"Never better, I feel great."
He thought it over and then sighed, "Where are we going and who are we going to be with?"
"Harry and Seamus, it will be a double date so I expect you to be on your very best behavior," I smirked at him.
"With Potter and Seamus? You're kidding right?"
"No, I promised Harry I'd find someone to go with and you're just so conveniently sitting here," He started to say something but I cut him off, "If you say no I'll cry."
"You won't seriously cry will you?" Malfoy's expression was a mix of anger and concern, which made quite the pretty face.
"Oh, I will."
"Right."
My eyes watered up and I started to cry loudly and obnoxiously, "Please Malfoy! Please! I just need you to help me out this once? I can't find anyone and Harry won't go if I don't because he's nervous and I don't want to be a third wheel!" He was biting his bottom lip nervously and I continued, "It's not like I could find any other guy to go considering they all think I'm an ugly know it all! It will all be ruined if you don't help me! Please!" Tears were pouring down my face and I watched him through blurred vision.
"Fine!" He yelled as he slammed his hand down, "Just stop crying!"
"Thank you," I smirked as I stopped crying and wiped the tears off my face.
"Sure you weren't supposed to be in Slytherin?" Malfoy crossed his arms and grumbled.
"Quite sure."
"And you aren't the ugliest girl at Hogwarts, Granger," He mumbled.
My eyes widened, "Is that a compliment, Malfoy?"
"No."
"But it was close to one?"
"Close as you're going to get."
"Close enough for me," I tapped my fingers on the table for a moment before I thought of something else to talk about, "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," He told me, a little too quickly.
I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him, "Then show me."
His eyes widened innocently, "Don't you trust me?"
"No, now show me your arm."
With a long, drawn out sigh, he lifted up his sleeve revealing the new cuts in different stages of healing, "Draco…"
He glared at me and rolled his sleeve back down, "I can't help it, so just leave me alone about it."
"Fine…" We sat there in an awkward silence, neither of us able to figure out something to say to break it.
"So… Hershey's chocolate…" I muttered, attempting to talk again.
"Who's chocolate?" Malfoy asked, sounding baffled.
"You've never had it?" I was astonished, even wizards must've had muggle chocolate at some point in their lives. Without another thought, I stood on top of the table and then jumped off onto the other side, grabbed Malfoy's hand, and started pulling him out of the Great Hall.
"Where the hell are we going, Granger?" He demanded, digging his heels into the ground, stopping our progress.
I grabbed his hand with both of mine and started pulling, "Come. On. Malfoy!"
He started leaning the other way, attempting to loosen my grip on his hand, "Tell me where we're going first!"
"Up to Gryffindor tower so I can get some Hershey's Chocolate!" I was using all of my strength to pull him away, yet still failing, "What the hell? Are you like super duper extra strong or something?"
"Of course, I'm a Malfoy," He answered arrogantly.
I laughed quietly, "Your father's beer gut begs to differ."
His eyebrows kitted together, "His beer what?"
"It's a muggle term, you wouldn't understand. It means he's got a large stomach."
"No he doesn't."
"How do you know? Does your dad walk around the house without a shirt often, Malfoy?"
He looked at me, disgusted, "No, Granger, but I'm sure you'd like that."
I shook my head, "I'm not really attracted to long, luscious, girl hair."
His mouth opened like he was going to argue that it wasn't girl hair, but obviously decided that I was right and stayed quiet. I seized my opportunity grasping back onto his hand and started running, pulling him behind me.
I skidded to a stop in front of the Fat Lady's picture and took out my wand, casting a muffling charm on Draco so he wouldn't hear the password, "Merlin's Beard," and then took it off, telling him to wait there. I silently snuck up to my dormitory, rifled through my trunk, found the candy, then walked back out and to the portrait hole to find Draco's expectant face there.
"Here. It's not that great, but it's pretty okay," I told him as I handed the chocolate bar to him.
Gingerly, he unwrapped it and reluctantly took a bite, "If you poisoned this, I'm going to kill you," He started chewing it, looking surprised, "This is actually pretty good…"
"Muggles did something right, huh?" I asked him, feeling quite smug.
He let out a snort of laugher, still eating it, "You wish, Mudblood."
"I don't have to wish anything, Pureblood," I said his blood status as if it was an insult, just like he with Mudblood towards me.
"I'm proud of it," He mumbled around the chocolate.
"So if muggles didn't get something right then why are you still eating it?"
He averted his eyes down and mumbled, "Because it tastes good…"
The portrait hole started to open and my eyes widened; A Slytherin anywhere near our common room would be trouble. I grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him around the nearest corner, pressing him against the wall by his shoulders. He looked confused and like he was about to ask something so I took one of my arms back, putting my pointer finger over my lips and shaking my head.
The chatter of a group of girls and footsteps faded after a few minutes and I looked up at Malfoy, just realizing how close we were at the moment. A slight blush crept into my cheeks and I took a step back, my eyes averted down as he cleared his throat, "Well, thanks for the chocolate bar, I should probably get going…"
He started walking away so I called after him, "Just remember to meet me outside before Hogsmeade!"
::::::::::
I was sitting down on a tree stump, Harry and I waiting for Seamus. Malfoy hadn't yet arrived but I wasn't keen on him getting here before Seamus anyway since I still had to talk to them both about it. We made some small talk, nothing important but as soon as Seamus came into view Harry got nervous, "Maybe this isn't a good idea, maybe I should just pretend to be sick and cancel. Merlin, Hermione, why'd you talk me into this?"
I stared at him for a few seconds before slapping him across the face calmly then going back to my book, "Stop freaking out, Harry."
Harry looked stunned and then shook his head, "I needed that, thank you."
"I know," I closed my book with a loud thud as Seamus walked up, "Hello, Seamus, how are you?"
"I'm alright, you?" Seamus asked as he took a seat next to Harry.
"Pretty alright," I replied as I scooted over for him.
Seamus looked at Harry, "What about you?"
"Like I'm going to puke…" Harry mumbled, holding his stomach.
"It's just nerves, you're going to be okay," I told him, getting a little aggregated. He'd agreed to this, so it's not like it's my fault.
Seamus deiced not to even try to comfort Harry, most likely an attempt to not make him even more uncomfortable so instead asked me with humor in his voice, "So are you our chaperone today, Hermione?"
I laughed quietly, "No, I'm coming because Harry asked me to. My "date" for the day is supposed to be coming but he probably stood me up." Everyone was already getting into the carriages and he still wasn't here.
Seamus furrowed his eyebrows together, "Who's the ass?"
"Well, I was meaning to talk to you about that. It's –"
Harry's anger-ridden voice cut me off, "What do you want, Malfoy?"
Draco looked over at me with mild interest, "I see you didn't tell them."
"Tell us what?" Harry and Seamus asked at the same time. Awh, I thought, that's so cute.
"Weelllllll…." I started, kicking at the ground awkwardly, "Malfoy is my so-called date for today."
"Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed, his voice now quite squeaky, "Can I talk to you for a second, Hermione? You know, over there?" Without waiting for my answer, he jerked me up by the arm and pulled me away, "Malfoy! Of all the people you could've asked, Malfoy is your choice!"
"He's not as bad as you think he is," I told him in an appalling attempt to defend Malfoy.
"That ferret has tormented you since first year!" His face was starting to get red and I tried to suppress my laughter, "What's so funny?"
A giggle escaped my lips, "Your face…"
"What about it?"
"It's so… red…." I started to laugh but he grabbed me by the shoulders roughly.
"Stop! Can we talk about this without you laughing?"
I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, "I'd appreciate if you'd take your hands off my shoulders seeing as how that is painful," Harry looked down, just realizing what he was doing, and let go, "Thank you and I'd also appreciate if you'd listen to my side of the story before you go and accuse me of being out of my mind for inviting him along. Draco isn't as bad as we think he is Harry, he's had a rough life."
Harry snorted, "Right."
"He has and if you knew about it you wouldn't mind him anymore. So please, do this for me," My voice started to get an edge to it, my temper rising.
Harry rolled his eyes, "He lied. He's a spoiled little git, there's nothing hard about his life."
Something in me snapped and I grabbed his face, pulling it so I looked him in the eye, "Harry James Potter, I'm the brightest fucking witch of our age, do you think I would have asked Malfoy to come if I didn't thoroughly believe that he isn't as bad as he seems?"
"I guess not," He mumbled.
"Good, now might we go back over to them?" I asked slowly and he nodded as I let go of his face. We turned and went back over to them, a confused look on my face, "Where's Draco?"
Seamus looked at me a sorry half smile on his face, "He left. I'm sorry, Hermione."
I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, "Did he saw why?"
Seamus shifted awkwardly under my gaze, "He said that he 'wasn't going to take any shit from Scarhead and Granger can just go fuck herself for asking me to come'."
With newfound force I grabbed one of Harry and Seamus' arms then started walking, "Come on, I need to find that whore."
It took us about half an hour to reach Hogsmeade and I stopped off the second we arrived, off to find that Slytherin who must've had a death wish.
Draco's P.O.V:
"Please, don't do it!" I screamed, tears flooding my eyes, making my vision go fuzzy.
"Now, now, Draco, Death Eaters don't beg," Voldemort's cold voice informed me calmly.
"Please…" My voice came out as a whisper.
"Don't. Beg," My father's voice rung sharply through my ears.
I stood up on unsteady legs, looking around the white mist, "Don't hurt her," I whispered, my voice shaking.
"Louder, Draco," The voice turned to Snape's familiar monotone.
"Don't hurt her," I said louder this time, more stable than before.
"Louder!"
"Don't hurt her!" I screamed shrilly, starting to cry now.
"Have a little crush on the filth, do you, Draco?" Bellatrix's voice hissed in my ear.
"No," I told her firmly, "I love her," My cheek exploded in pain and I fell to the floor, staring up at nothing.
"She's filth!" Father's voice screamed.
"She's not," I screamed right back as two hands yanked me into a standing position; "I love her!"
"You love her until the day she's dead?" The voice asked, once again Voldemort's.
"Even after she's dead, even after I am, always!" I told him firmly, glaring at where he could possibly be.
"To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be the one destroyed," My own voice whisper over and over in my ear.
Over my own voice, Voldemort's laugh echoed, "Time to see if that love will last, my dear boy!"
I understood exactly what he meant and felt my panic rising, "No! She doesn't deserve to die!" I struggled feebly against the strong hands painfully restraining me.
"She is your weakness, with her you can be destroyed, without her you have nothing they can use against you, just let her go," Father's voice hissed forcefully.
"She's the only thing that makes me want to live!" I screamed, tears no longer wanting to overcome me, only pure rage engulfing me.
"Tsk, tsk, Draco, you shouldn't talk back. There are consciences for that," Bellatrix jeered, the smile that must've been on her face obvious in her voice.
Granger's screams filled the area around me and the hands let me go. I frantically searched, all of the voices screamed things at me, telling me I'd never find her, it was worthless, give up, stop loving her, just enjoy the show, ect. Slowly the floor was beginning to become a river of blood and I was sliding in it. Hermione was screaming for me to help her but I just couldn't find her and once the river of blood reached my waist her screams stopped.
"Oops," Bellatrix said, "Looks like we played a little too rough with our toy."
"Hermione!" I screamed, fighting to current in vain as I was pulled under the blood. It filled my lungs, my eyes, my ears, everything. I couldn't feel anything at all; Hermione was dead and I couldn't save her. She yelled for me, trusted me, and I let her down when it mattered. Slowly I closed my eyes, letting the blood drown me, seeing Hermione's mutilated body before I faded into blackness.
I jerked awake, my heart racing, lungs screaming in need for air that my panting couldn't seem to satisfy, face wet from tears, a distinct taste of blood in my mouth, and a pain in my gut. Thank Merlin it was only a dream.
Once I had my breathing under control I looked at the clock with told me it was five in the morning. With no way I was getting back to sleep I swung my legs to the other side of my bed and plucked my wand off of the nightstand. A halfhearted glance around the dormitory showed that everyone else was asleep peacefully without their dreams filled with horror. I murmured the spell I'd come to know so well and drug it across my skin; the pain making me forget the feeling in my gut and making me forget the dream, if only for a while.
After I cleaned myself up I put my clothes on then headed down to the Great Hall for a few hours of time to myself.
:::
I trudged slowly outside towards where I was expecting Granger to be waiting for me and when I saw her relief flooding over me, the sight of her proving once and for all it was just a dream. Repressing the urge to run over there and hug her, I put a mask of indifference on my face and walked calmly over to them, my heart racing.
Harry's glared at me as I walked up, "What do you want, Malfoy?"
Of course. I looked at Granger, feigning calm, "I see you didn't tell them."
"Tell us what?" Harry and Seamus asked her at the same time.
"Weelllllll…." Hermione started, kicking at the ground awkwardly, "Malfoy is my so-called date for today." Date? It's all I could do not to start grinning like an idiot.
"Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed, his voice now quite squeaky in way that made me want to laugh, "Can I talk to you for a second, Hermione? You know, over there?" Without waiting for her answer, he jerked her up by the arm and pulled her away. The violent way he grabbed her made me want to kick his ass to make sure he wouldn't even possibly hurt her, but had to keep my temper in control.
After standing there awkwardly for a few minutes I looked at Seamus and snapped, "I'm not going to take any shit from Scarhead and Granger can just go fuck herself for asking me to come," With that turned on heel and walked after the carriages, pulling myself into the closest one, pushing some first years over.
The rest of the ride I formed a plan to kill Dumbledore, one that I knew wasn't too great. He jumped out of the carriage once it stopped (A/N: If they walk to Hogsmeade, then I effed up and I'm sorry :P) and walked to the Three Broomsticks, once there I secretly Imperio'd Madam Rosmerta. Next trip I'd have the necklace ready for her to give to a Hogwarts student to give to Dumbledore.
Once I left the Three Broomsticks, Granger grabbed my arm and stomped away, pulling me with her, looking pissed, until she stopped in a deserted alley.
"Why did you leave?" She asked, getting right to it.
I started at her eyes for a while before wrapping my arms around her in a hug, "I'm sorry, Hermione…" I mumbled into the top of her head.
Shocked and angry, she stood there with her arms down before she understood what was going on and hugged me back, burying her head in my chest, "You're an ass," Her voice came out slightly muffled, but still understandable.
"I know and I'm sorry."
"Sure you are."
I hugged her tighter, "I am," I loved how much better I felt when I hugged her.
"Alright, I'll believe you, just because you're so warm," I pulled away from her a little while she was talking and saw that she had a slight smile on her lips. I unzipped my jacket and she hugged me again, this time her arms inside my jacket to keep warm as I wrapped my own arms back around her.
We stood there like that in silence for a while and it made me realize how much I really did love Hermione Granger.
A/N: Awwww! How adorable! I left you with a happy ending to this chapter since the next one is going to be really depressing :) and you know, I was listening to Lifehouse songs while I was writing this so they kind of got to me ;) I'm sorry for such a late update, like I said horrible writers block. I'm not giving up on this story though. I've worked too damn hard on it to just give up, so you don't have to worry about that. Thanks for reading and favoriting/story alerting this story, I appreciate that you like it. I think I need to inform you that *bites knuckle* my fish is suicidal. And my updates are either going to be every two weeks to every month.