Forbidden
By: Leah
Chapter 8
Run
Hermione Granger was not an impulsive person; she seldom did the unexpected. She abided by the rules, did everything by the book, and did everything morally correct.
So when she graced the doorstep of Draco Malfoy late one November night the Slytherin was shocked to say the least, as to why the predictable little Gryffindor was doing something so unusual. But when her hand hands lifted to his bare chest, and her lips placed themselves on his, Draco Malfoy was almost one hundred percent sure that the world was to come to a fiery end soon.
But he held onto her anyway, he ran his hands through her hair despite the fact that she was "rule abiding Hermione Granger." He kissed her back, despite the fact that she was forbidden.
The kiss; it was so unlike anything either had felt before. It was strong and passionate, fierce but perfect. They poured every feeling into the kiss. Their hatred, lust, confusion, anger, and uncertainty. It lit a flame deep in their bodies, a flame that threatened to engulf them both.
His hands ran up her sides, tracing her gentle curves and pulling her closer. He needed this; he needed to feel her. He needed to know this was all real, he needed to know she wasn't going to disappear.
Her fingers were entwined in his platinum hair. Their lips danced over each other's feverishly, their tongues battled for dominance while their minds screamed for them to stop this act of pure madness.
His tongue ran through her mouth with the skill of a practiced master, getting drunk off her taste and the feel of her small body pressed so intimately against his. Her breathy moans and low whimpers were more than enough encouragement and he removed his lips from her now red ones. He dipped his head and trailed hot kisses down the creamy flesh of her neck, gently nipping and sucking on the exposed skin.
Her knees felt more and more like they would give out with his every nip, she found herself grasping onto him for support.
Her breathing turned into an erratic panting as her mind dipped more into the fog that threatened to engulf her. Slowly his lips returned to hers, a husky whisper escaped him before his lips covered hers.
"Hermione."
'Stop!' Her mind cry broke through the haze that seemed surrounded her thoughts and her eyes shot open. Her senses came back to her, crashing down with excruciating force.
Her name on his lips.
It sounded so perfect, but Merlin it was so wrong.
She pushed him off of her, not even pausing to see the expression of shock and confusion on his perfect features. Instead she ran.
She left the head dorms, not caring that it was nearly two in the morning, or that she was only clad in her pajamas. She just needed to be out of that place and away from him.
Hot tears slid down her pink cheeks as her bare feet hit the cold castle floor. There was only one place she could think of going, only one person who wouldn't question but already understand.
She stopped in front of the painting of the Fat Lady who opened one bleary, sleep filled eye to gaze at her.
"My word child, what on earth –"
"Ch-Choco-late frogs." She stuttered out and ran into the common room as soon as the portrait swung open ignoring the Fat lady's parting grumble.
("Children these days, waking a person at this hour for nonsense I'm sure.")
Hermione ran as best as one could with tears pouring from their reddened eyes up the stairs to the girls dormitories and into Ginny's room, not caring if she woke up any of the other four girls in the room. Hastily she pulled aside the curtain of her friend's bed.
"Ginny, please, please wake up." Her hand shook the younger girls shoulder slightly, thankful that she was a light sleeper.
"Hmmm...Merlin Hermione it's two-" Hermione launched herself at Ginny, (cutting off her sentence) and sobbed openly into the younger girls shoulder. Ginny sighed wisely before looking down at her best friend who she was sure made a huge mistake.
But to Ginny that error was leaving the arms of her enemy.
"Don't worry Hermione, it's going to be fine."
Draco stared at the spot that Hermione stood in only minutes before her hasty departure. For a moment he believed it was all just a product of his over active and sleep-deprived mind, made to taunt him and throw what he couldn't have in his face.
But his body still burned from where her dainty fingers trailed with virginal shyness along his skin. He could still feel how perfectly her body was pressed against his. He could still smell her shampoo lingering in the air, and taste her on his lips.
He shook his head slightly and closed the door with an exasperated sigh; it wasn't long before he found himself on his bed with his face pressed into the pillow and his mind muddled with thought.
She had a boyfriend, and if he knew her as well as he thought he did, he knew she would not leave the weasel. Oh no, she would never dare disappoint him or Potter, or prove to the world that she wasn't as predictable as they all thought she was.
But the events that transpired only a few moments ago was very unlike her, so perhaps hope was still alive...albeit he didn't exactly know what that hope was for.
He didn't do relationships; that much was widely known. So would Hermione Granger give up the love of her red headed, overly freckled Prince Charming, for a few good rounds of sex with him? ("A few bloody magnificent rounds of sex I'd like to add!") The answer to that question was a reverberating "No" and he knew it.
But this was something he couldn't ignore; the feelings that stirred in him were terrifying and new to him. Love was definitely out of the question. He may be one of the last living Malfoy's but he was still a Malfoy. And though most of their old beliefs and customs died with his parents, one thing still lived on: Malfoy's don't love. Despite that he had only really known the girl for three months or so; the past six years could not be considered as time spent getting to know each other.
Back then she was just the mudblood, bookworm, and Potter's friend. But now...gods he didn't even know what she was now. He guessed all you could say was that she was simply Hermione. No other words could describe her and he had come to know that in their short time together. (He cringed at the thought, this girl made him sound soft.)
But Draco Malfoy was no believer in fairy tales and he knew that things like love at first sight didn't exist, neither did love between enemies. So love -or in their case passion- would not conquer all.
"Oh god Ginny!" Hermione wailed into her best friend's shoulder. The other girl merely nodded and patted her friend's back, waiting patiently until Hermione was back to normal and able to tell her the story. The older girl let out another loud sob and Ginny was grateful she cast a silencing charm over her bed long ago, she was also fairly sure that Hermione wouldn't like any of the sixth year Gryffindor girls to get their hands on this juicy bit of gossip.
"Gin what did I do?"
'That's what I would like to know.' Ginny sighed and mumbled comforting words to Hermione whose tears were finally beginning to ebb.
"Feeling better?" Ginny asked in her most motherly voice when Hermione's sobs slowly turned into the occasional hiccup.
"Not really." Hermione mumbled and pulled herself away from her friend. "Ginny, I-Merlin I'm an idiot!" Hermione groaned and dropped herself onto Ginny's goose-feather pillow. If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation Ginny would have laughed at the rather drama queen like behavior from her bookish friend.
"So now can you tell me what happened?" The red head knew there was a limit to the amount of times she could ask that question without having Hermione's temper act up. But as of yet Hermione seemed too distraught to be angry, and so she pressed on with her inquisition.
For a long while Hermione didn't respond and Ginny was opening her mouth to ask her again when jumbled words muffled by the pillow escaped her friends lips.
"Um... didn't quite catch that last bit, care to restate that?" Ginny arched an eyebrow and leaned closer to her friend, almost knocking her skull against Hermione's when the girl unexpectedly sat up before dropping back into the pillow.
"IkissedDracoMalfoy." Ginny stared at her clearly anguished friend for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh."
Hermione shot up and nearly threw herself off the bed with all the force she used in the movement. Her eyes were livid as she glared down upon the redhead who regarded her so calmly.
"Oh? I tell you that I kissed Harry's biggest enemy; the boy who tormented me for 7 years, and more over I cheated on my boyfriend -your brother- and all you have to say is oh?" Her voice had reached near banshee worthy levels in her tirade causing Ginny to wince in a few places.
Ginny still gave her a level look before nodding her head and saying, "Yes, oh."
Hermione let out a loud noise that sounded like something caught between a scream and a groan and dropped back into the pillow. "You know what this means don't you?" Ginny asked thoughtfully, breaking the silence.
"That I'm an utterly horrid person and that my life and chances of a good future with Ron have all been shot down because of my stupidity?"
Ginny let out a snort before responding. "No. It means that Ron was right and I was wrong...bugger." She let out a small laugh that nearly drove Hermione mad.
Hermione fixed her friend with a level glare before speaking. "Will you be serious for one moment Ginerva! What am I going to do? When Ron finds out-"
Ginny held up one hand, which surprisingly silenced her friend who she feared was minutes away from another tirade. "For now, you sleep. This won't be gone by morning, but at least you'll have had a few hours of restful sleep and your mind will be much clearer."
Hermione let out a stifled groan; how on earth did Ginny think she could get a minute of restful sleep after what happened not even an hour ago. "Would you please do me a favor and stop being so bloody calm about this!" The ginger haired teen hissed at one of her best friends who gave her a sleepy smile in return.
"I think I have to be. Both of us can't be acting like chickens who got their heads cut off now can we. That wouldn't solve a thing...and I figured something like this was bound to happen sooner or later, so I was pretty prepared for it...didn't think it would happen at 2 in the morning though." Ginny said, mumbling the last bit more to herself than to Hermione. "But even I don't exactly know what you're going to do from here."
"What do you mean what am I going to do?" Hermione asked curiously. She thought it would have been obvious to Ginny what she was going to do. The same thing she did every time she and Malfoy had a dispute or hit an awkward spot: run.
"Well you can't just spend your time here and avoid him for the rest of the year." Hermione gave her a look that clearly said 'Why not?' Ginny rolled her eyes at her friend's cluelessness.
"Well you're both Heads, and you have meetings to go to together, and such things. Also, you have quite a few classes with the Slytherins. And honestly, don't you think the running and hiding thing is getting a bit old?" Hermione sent the younger girl a harsh look, but the red head remained unfazed and kept her calm exterior.
"Then what do you propose I do?" She asked with an air of false sweetness.
"Um...well," A small smile flickered across Ginny's face and Hermione knew the girl's next words would not quell her growing anger. "I was thinking along the lines of running into his arms and confessing your undying love and devotion to him, then riding off into the sunset on his white steed."
Hermione gave her a dry look. "Goodnight Ginny."
"Um...Hermione, that's my bed..."
Something had happened, and it didn't take long the next morning for Pansy Parkinson to figure that much out. Though the signs were subtle, if one looked they could definitely tell something was amiss between the Gryffindor Bookworm and the Slytherin Prince.
She began to notice the small telltale signs during breakfast. As she slowly sipped her goblet of pumpkin juice and listened to the conversations around her she noticed that every few moments Zabini or whomever was speaking to Draco would have to call his name to bring his attention back to them. She had known Draco nearly her entire life and knew that he was not one to be unfocused unless there was something wrong.
Out of sheer curiosity her eyes skimmed across the great hall landing on the Gryffindor table, where after minutes of silent spectating she noticed that Granger too was a bit out of it. She also realized that the girl's appearance -though, she thought with a grimace, it wasn't ever anything spectacular before- was haggard, worn. She had bags from lack of sleep under her eyes and her skin looked paler. All in all, Pansy thought, she looked more like filth than ever.
And then the mudblood did something that made Pansy's eyebrows nearly shoot into her hairline. The pauper put his arm around her shoulder and a look of pure horror, disgust and most importantly guilt flashed across Granger's face, all before she promptly shrugged off the arm.
'Oh yes,' Pansy thought, 'Something definitely happened last night.'
Pansy's keen gaze followed Draco and Granger through the day. Carefully she watched their interactions and made note of their behaviors.
She had witnessed, on more than one occasion, Granger ducking out of her boyfriend's grasp or leaving the room entirely if he were to enter, or making someone fill a seat beside her before he could.
Of course the actions of the -and she used the term loosely- couple, did prove to be her bit of amusement for the day, she also noticed Granger trying her hardest to also avoid Draco. Her efforts weren't as visible as they were towards the red head but Pansy did notice every time that Draco entered a room Granger would get a panicked look in her eyes, sometimes she would even stop speaking mid-sentence or she became extremely fidgety.
And then there was Draco. He wasn't as obvious as Granger, he was afterall a Malfoy, masters at hiding anything closely related to emotions. But then again she was also a master at reading him like a book.
She noticed what no one else did, like how every time he walked into a room his eyes would scan the area. At first she didn't think much of it, but then she noticed that he would stop his search once his eyes landed on -as expected- Granger. And of course every time he would find her he'd give her an odd look. One that would be categorized as intrigue...that is if it weren't directed to something so below him. She also noticed that every few moments in class or the great hall his eyes would find their way to Granger when she wasn't looking. Also when Draco wasn't looking Granger's eyes would be on him, it sometimes appeared as if they planned their little visual romance for the exact moment one wasn't looking. But there were a few moments when one would be caught staring at the other and either Granger would blush and look away or Draco would raise an eyebrow in question.
There were millions of ill-concealed signs that Pansy picked up on throughout the day and by dinner she was furious. She needed to find Draco and speak to him. He needed to know that he was hers and no one else's.
Especially not a mudblood's.
With her new resolve Pansy glanced up and down the Slytherin table, but a head of blonde hair did not stand out to her. "Zabini!"
The Italian boy hung his head and let out a long sigh before turning to Pansy with a smile as fake as they got plastered on his face. It was no secret among the Slytherin House that she annoyed him half to death, but that didn't matter to her. If anyone knew where Draco was, it would be Zabini.
"What is it Parkinson." His smooth as silk voice did little to hide the ice in his words, not that Pansy took time to notice or care.
"Where is Draco?"
Blaise rolled his eyes and shrugged. "If he were half as smart as he thinks he is, he would be avoiding you." The boy was about to turn away from Pansy and back to his meal until he felt her hand pulling his arm.
"I am in no mood to joke with you Zabini," Pansy said dangerously, "Now where is Draco?"
Blaise harshly brushed off her hand and turned a glare dark enough to match Malfoy's on the girl. "I. Don't. Know." He began, speaking as if he were talking to a slow child. "And if you ever lay a hand on me again Parkinson, I assure you, you won't be getting it back." Blaise's threat fell on deaf ears as his first words processed.
She knew for a fact that Draco had come into the Great Hall for dinner, but now where could he be. Of their own accord her eyes traveled to the Gryffindor table, where one member was missing.
'Something is definitely going on.' With that final thought Pansy got up and dashed out of the Hall in search of Draco and the mudblood he was undoubtedly with.
Blaise watched the priss princess dash out of the room and shook his head. 'Bloody nutters that one.'
Hermione walked aimlessly around the snow blanketed grounds of the castle, having no spot in particular to go to. She dared not go to the Great Hall. She had no appetite and they were there. Ron and Draco.
Throughout the day she had been shrugging off Ron's advances, every time he would touch her, her mind would scream that she was betraying such an innocent man. And for what?
For Draco sodding Malfoy that's what.
On more than one occasion during the day she felt herself ogling him, strangely sometimes she would actually catch him staring at her also. Of course whenever that happened he would give her one of his Malfoy perfected condescending smirks and then raise his eyebrow in what she guessed he thought was a sexy manner.
Unfortunately her mind did admit that he looked rather dashing when doing that. Bloody traitorous mind.
"You know," A cool drawl that she knew all to well broke into her thoughts. "One like yourself shouldn't be wandering about the grounds at such a late hour in such a frigid month."
Hermione dared not turn around, she already knew that he would be standing there, leaning casually on a wall in his thick winter cloak with his Malfoy-esque smirk already on his face.
At the moment he appeared to be acting civil and she didn't want to upset him, knowing fully how his temper made him act. For now she would try to have a civil talk with him.
"What do you want Malfoy." Her words were clipped and harsh. So much for civil talk.
But her ice queen tone would not deter Draco, instead he chuckled and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on, having taken on the pose Hermione envisioned to a tee.
The rustling of moving clothing caused Hermione to gasp and spin around quickly, skidding on a sheet of ice that caked that part of the grounds. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced for a fall that never came.
Instead she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and pull her to an equally strong body. Opening her eyes she came face to face with Malfoy. Their faces were centimeters apart, their noses barely touching each other's.
Her eyes ran over his face that was now devoid of its normal smirk and cruelty. He looked so much like he did the night before, he was unguarded now and it appealed to her. This wasn't the condescending prick she had known for years. This was the Malfoy that was hidden to the world, the one that she kissed. The one that she hoped was the real Malfoy.
Her fingers itched to trail along his strong jaw or run through his unfairly silky hair. Her body ached to feel so near to him again. Her entire being wanted him, but something in her mind still whispered that it was wrong.
But right then, she didn't care about wrong from right.
He was the first to make a move. Of their own accord his fingers trailed to the side of her cheek, which his hand cupped. His other hand stayed firmly placed on her waist with no intention of moving.
His stormy eyes pierced into her brown ones, stopping her breath for a moment, Merlin they were beautiful.
"What spell do you cast that pulls me to you like this Granger?" His voice was the barest of whispers and his cold breath came out in smoky puffs in front of their faces.
Hermione opened her mouth when a loud cry filled the still night air, followed by the sounds of the doors to the entrance hall closing.
"Draco!"
Pansy.
Hermione's thoughts came back to her and she pushed herself away from Malfoy using strength she didn't know she had, skidding a little on the ice that covered the ground but regaining her balance before she fell.
"Your bride to be is calling you." Her soft words spoke volumes. With one last saddened look in his direction she turned and left just in time to see Pansy running to Draco, throwing her arms over him in a hug.
"Haven't been in here before." Blaise let out a low whistle as his eyes looked over the Heads' dormitories. "You're a lucky bastard Drake."
Draco nodded, not really taking in his friend's words, and dropped onto one of the black couches in the common room. Seconds later Blaise also dropped onto the couch with aristocratic grace, his family like the Malfoy's were also filthy rich, thought their mountains of galleons fell short in comparison to the Malfoys's.
Sensing Draco wasn't going to speak first, Blaise began speaking. "So where exactly where you at dinner today? You left me with Parkinson, I owe you for that one by the way." Blaise's mock threat was shrugged off by Draco.
The boy in question let out a rugged sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Parkinson?" The word dropped from Blaise's mouth as if it were poison for him to speak it.
"And Granger."
"Ah," The Italian boy flicked his wand and two glasses and a bottle of Firewhiskey appeared on the table in front of them. Draco gratefully accepted the glass of orange liquid offered to him. "Let me guess. You planned to bed the bookworm," (Blaise unlike many Slytherins rarely called anyone a mudblood) "since your ego is ever expanding and a conquest like that would surely make it reach earth consuming proportions."
If Blaise bothered to look up during his speech he would have noted the steely glare Draco sent to him. Instead he stared at his glass of Firewhiskey -the liquid lolling from side to side in the glass- and continued with his assumption. "And as all great plans of mice and men go, I'm sure that backfired, and now you have feelings for the girl." Here he paused to send a smug look to Draco before bringing his glass to his lips.
"But that's just a guess." He placed his glass on the table with a flourish and sent Draco a look, daring him to say he was wrong.
And of course, Draco dared to differ. "I do not have feelings for her." His words sounded weak to his own ears. "She only intrigues me."
"Of course," Blaise filled both his and his friends glasses. "Because she won't let you have her."
Draco took the glass and emptied its contents in one gulp, wincing slightly at the burning feeling that followed. "Exactly." He let out a deep sigh and ran his hand over his face. "But last night, she- I don't really know what happened to her, but she just...came to me."
Blaise arched and eyebrow and sent his friend a curious look. Draco's forehead creased in thought as he replayed the night in his head, focusing on every detail, trying to figure out when it all went wrong.
"So you-"
"No." He blinked away the memory and returned his focus to Blaise. "Nothing like that happened. She just ran off when I said her name." He leaned back into the couch and let out a low groan. "And then what just happened; god this girl confuses me."
"What exactly did just happen?"
"You know I skipped dinner, Pansy's been staring at me all day and I didn't feel like risking an ambush." Blaise interrupted him with a grumble that sounded like: "Thanks for getting me ambushed instead...mate." Which Draco ignored. "So I went for a stroll on the grounds, and there she was, of all bloody places in this castle, she had to be outside on the sodding grounds the same time I was. Then we were back to where we were last night, and then bloody Pansy shows up. Granger practically flew away from me, but not before reminding me of my impending future of marital bliss with Pansy."
"Which you forgot?"
"Which I forgot." Draco's face took on a dark scowl and Blaise felt a pang of pity for the poor bastard. A marriage to Pansy was enough to make any normal man go off his rocker, but here Draco was...trying to get someone else in bed. Maybe pity wasn't exactly the right word for what he felt.
'Shocked disbelief sounds more fitting.' Then Blaise thought of something, this was the Heads' common room, and Draco was not the only Head.
"Where is Granger anyway?" Draco seemed unfazed by the question and rubbed his temples with his index and middle fingers.
"Same place she always goes when she's hiding from me: Gryffindor tower. Probably telling those two idiots that I assaulted her or something."
Blaise shook his head slightly, "I doubt it. If there's one thing Granger is, it's predictable. She would never tell Potter or Weasley what happened. It's probably eating away at her seeing as she wouldn't trust a soul."
Draco let out a grunt and Blaise took it as a sign of agreement. "Actually," Draco sat up a bit and looked over to his long time friend. "There is the Weaselette. I'm pretty sure that one is telling Granger that she should forget about the weasel. Only one in the family with brains, that one."
Blaise chuckled before turning serious again. "So what are you going to do about Pansy?"
Draco groaned again. "Oh hell, I forgot about that again. Guess there isn't anything I can do about it. If I don't marry her I risk loosing my inheritance. Speaking of which, what are you doing for the Christmas vacation?"
"Not much, probably go back to Italy, mum's told me countless times how she's been missing me since father's not there any longer. Why?"
"Wanted someone to keep me company at the manor. I have to go see about mother's will and sort through father's effects; not something I look forward to."
Blaise stood and pat his friend on the shoulder giving him a sympathetic look, he heard about his mother's death, he was one of the few people Draco actually told; actually he was the only person Draco told. Granger only found it out because of her snooping. "Sorry but I can't be there mate, and I really have to go, it's past curfew and all." Draco nodded in understanding and Blaise let himself out.
Left alone in the room Draco's thoughts wandered to his most prominent problem, his growing feelings for the bushy haired brunette.
"Yes Granger, what spell indeed."
Pansy stared at the fading embers of the fire in the Slytherin common room.
Moments ago she found Draco outside and with another girl in his arms. Of course after seeing that she practically ran to Draco and threw her arms around him. But the other girl was gone long before she could catch a glimpse of her. It was after all nearly 8 'o clock on a November night, the sky was as dark as it would be at midnight.
She didn't need to see who it was though to figure it out.
"Granger." Pansy scowled darkly at the fire while remembering what happened after the other girl's departure.
The bookworm was long gone before she could see how harshly Draco shoved her off of him. He looked positively livid and Pansy was sure it had something to do with the few words Granger muttered before she left.
Unfortunately the words were to quiet for Pansy to catch. But Draco got the full meaning.
After Draco had roughly shoved her off of him, causing her to stumble back a few feet, he sent her a glare that even made her want to back away in fear.
"Drakie, what's the matter with you," she recalled her words. "Is there something going on between you and the mu-"
But he cut her off, controlled fury seeping through his every pore. "You will never be my wife!" Then he stalked off, back to the castle leaving a very confused Pansy behind.
She was snapped out of the memory by the sound of the common room entrance closing, seconds later Blaise walked by, sending her a half hearted glare, and went into the boys dormitories.
Pansy looked into the dying flame and pushed herself off of the chair.
"Oh but Draco, you will be my husband."
For the second time in not even twenty-four hours, Ginny Weasley found herself holding onto a sobbing Hermione Granger and whispering comforting words to her, all the while not knowing exactly what was wrong.
She guessed that like last night it had something to do with Draco Malfoy. In fact she was more than certain it had to do with Draco Malfoy, especially since neither of them happened to be at dinner tonight.
She had silently watched them the entire day, following the movements of Draco and Hermione in the few times she saw them. And though she knew neither would admit it she could tell that they had feelings for each other. Feelings that stretched beyond conventional lust.
But maybe she thought that because she still held onto her romance novel dream of Draco and Hermione, two enemies, finding love in the arms of one another.
One thing she did notice that seemed a little off was Parkinson. Every time Ginny would look at Draco or Hermione in the halls or in the Great Hall, she would also see Parkinson glaring at Hermione or watching Draco closely.
Ginny knew the other girl was on to the whole thing. No good could come of that. After a bit of studying Parkinson she knew that she didn't have an obsession with Draco as most people thought. No, the girl was much smarter than that, Ginny doubted she would be one to give her heart to any man. Instead Ginny knew that Pansy was only with Draco for his money and status. She also knew that little dumb blonde routine of Pansy's was all a sham.
That girl was smarter than most.
But she would worry about Pansy later, now she had to take care of her best friend.
"Hermione, what happened at dinner?" Thankfully unlike last night Hermione relayed the story to Ginny, only stopping a few times to let out a sob or hiccup.
"Hermione, it's ok, you can deal with this." The girl shook off her friend's words of reassurance and pushed herself off of the younger witch, looking at her with watery chocolate eyes.
"Ginny I can't!" Her words were choked and thick with tears, but she continued. "This- this wasn't supposed to happen! I h-have Ron! It's expected, I mean it's you and Harry, m-me and Ron! It's safe...it's what's supposed to happen!"
Ginny shook her head and put a comforting hand on her friend's arm, only to have it shrugged off. "Hermione-"
"No! No! This thing with him, these feelings...it has to end! I- He's Malfoy." Her voice softened to a near whisper, a stark difference to her loud ranting. "He-He'll break my heart Gin." She sent Ginny a look that reflected so much sadness it almost broke Ginny's heart. "I'm...I'm scared."
Ginny's gaze turned sympathetic and she pulled her friend back to her, letting Hermione sob into her should yet again.