A/N: As promised, I'm here with another chapter. Here's number 16! Enjoy.
JK Rowling... Harry Potter... not me...
By lunch, it was easy to tell that Hermione was worried. That was the simple part. Her hands were always moving and fiddling, and she didn't even touch her food when they got to canteen. She didn't speak up as she normally did, and her mind was obviously preoccupied. So, Draco immediately knew that something was making her anxious, he just had to find out what.
"Hey," he said gently, bringing a hand to her shoulder. She looked at him as if she had only been half aware that he was there. "What is it?"
"What's what? I don't know what you mean." she replied, her voice squeakily high.
"The fiddling and the silence and that look in your eyes – you think I haven't noticed?" She sighed shortly.
"Ok. It's about Harry." Hermione admitted.
"Oh, poor Harry."
"You asked!" Hermione snapped.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm still unused to not hating him." Draco muttered darkly. "What about Harry?"
"I haven't seen him since break, and nor has Ron – I asked him just now, and he wasn't in his lessons either." Draco opened his mouth to mention Ginny, but Hermione beat him to it. "At first, I thought he'd be with Ginny, but…" she tailed off, pointing off to a table close to them. Draco looked, and saw Ginny sitting with a group of girls, looking glum.
"So… what?" Draco asked, turning back to Hermione. A crease had formed between her eyebrows as she thought, and then shook her head.
"I don't know. I really don't."
"Well, he's got to be somewhere. Come on." They got up, and as they did so, Ginny's eyes darted up and met Hermione's. She looked away quickly, shifting in her seat so that her red locks covered her face.
They had tried every corridor, every corner of the courtyards, every inch of the canteen, and Harry was nowhere to be seen. They had recruited a group of Draco's rather reluctant friends, but to no avail. But there was one last place to look.
"Seriously?" Draco questioned, as they stood outside the toilets. "You think he's in there?" Hermione shrugged.
"That's the only place left, Draco." she pointed out.
"Fine. You guys stay out here." he ordered Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle, who were the only three who had stayed that long to help. Hermione nodded encouragingly and Draco pushed open the door. It shut behind him slowly, and he paused just inside. A small boy was washing his hands, and he squeaked comically when he saw Draco. Amused, Draco approached him and murmured, in his most threatening voice,
"Is anyone else in here?" The boy was practically trembling as he shook his head.
"No one. All the cubicles are empty, and that one's out of order." he said, and Draco wasn't sure if his voice was that high naturally. He dashed away, his hands still covered in soap suds and dripping wet.
Draco looked at the cubicle the boy had mentioned, and he chuckled. The sign, written on plain paper, did say 'out of order' in thick, black pen, but was scruffy, and was jammed into the side of the door instead of stuck there. Draco walked up to it and knocked twice.
"Potter, come on out. The game's up – I know you're in there." he said strongly. There was a pause, and some shuffling from inside, and then the door opened slightly. Round glasses poked around the side, and the boy spoke.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here? Leave me alone, I'm really not in the mood." His eyes weren't red, so he hadn't been crying, but his hair was sticking up more than usual and his glasses were smudged.
"Why does everyone think I'm going to give up as soon as they tell me to? I'm far too stubborn for that!" he cried, sticking a foot in front of the door so the Harry couldn't close it on him. "Hermione's worried sick. She wants to know what happened, and so does Weasley, apparently." Harry looked guiltily around.
"There's nothing they can do to help." he said decidedly.
"This is Hermione we're talking about, she'll find something." Draco pressed, and finally, Harry gave in. He opened the door and stepped out, and Draco followed him out of the bathroom. Hermione leapt at Harry and hugged him, questions streaming out of her mouth. Draco saw that in his absence, his three friends had disappeared, and Ron had arrived and was waiting to hear the story.
"Hermione, give him a second." Ron chuckled weakly.
"Sorry, Harry." she apologised. She stepped back, and Harry looked around at them all. Three expectant faces stared back.
"So, what did Ginny say?" Ron offered helpfully.
"She said… no." Harry revealed dejectedly.
"What!" Hermione and Ron both shouted.
"I don't understand, she does like you Harry, I swear!" Ron insisted.
"No, she doesn't. When I asked her she was so embarrassed and I felt so bad for humiliating her. I don't think I can ever talk to her again, and she'll never talk to me." Harry grumbled.
"Harry. There is an explanation for this, there must be –" Hermione stopped talking as Harry turned pale. Slowly, colour filled his face until he was bright red. They all followed his eyes to see Ginny walking past, her face an equally obvious scarlet.
"Harry, wait here." Hermione said quickly, turning and running after Ginny the next second.
"Ginny! Ginny!" she called over the sea of students. "GINEVRA!" she roared, so that half of the crowd moved to the edge of the corridor in fright. Ginny turned around at the sound of her full name.
"Hermione, I don't need to hear it. I know what you're going to say." she said quietly, ignoring the stares coming from all around her.
"Why, Ginny?" Hermione pleaded anyway, desperate to get an answer.
"I don't like Harry Potter!" she whispered harshly.
"Don't lie to me. You've almost admitted it so many times, let alone how frequently you admit it with your actions. Why did you say no, Ginny?" Hermione persisted. Ginny bit her lip.
"Think of what I'd be if I were his girlfriend. Think of the talk, the gossip. I don't want that. I don't want to be known for who my boyfriend is, or hated for it either. He's a year older than me, and that's enough scandal to begin with! I don't think I could cope." she allowed and Hermione smiled kindly.
"You forget who you're talking to, and who her boyfriend is. Trust me, after the initial onslaught of talk, it's not so bad. And with Harry, it'll be worth it. He really cares about you, you know, Ginny? So you need to stop caring about what people think and follow your heart. What does it tell you to do right now?"
"Jump into his arms and do something I'll regret." She smiled, and her eyes were suddenly light again.
"So go do it." Hermione whispered, beaming. Ginny hugged her and walked back in the direction she had come. Hermione followed at a distance, and watched as Ginny tapped Harry on the shoulder. The boy had a moment for surprise and confusion to flash across his face before Ginny had kissed him. Hermione laughed joyously as Ron turned his head in mild disgust. The couple parted, grinning like Cheshire cats. Soon, Harry came over to her.
"Thanks, Hermione. You really are the best, you know that?" he said. She took his hand and squeezed it.
"You deserve it, Harry. All of it. You may not think so, but you do." Hermione replied gently. Harry grinned at her and she grinned back, in the way they would have done when they were younger and in their first years at high school. As Harry returned to Ginny, Draco approached.
"You really would do anything for him, wouldn't you?" He spoke coldly, dully.
"Yes. He means a lot to me." Hermione replied honestly, conscious of the change in his conduct.
"I doubt you'd do the same for anyone else." Draco commented, still emotionless.
"What are you suggesting?" Hermione cried, backing away slightly. "You think, after all that's happened, that I care about someone else more than I care about you?"
"How can I know?" he spat. He may as well have shouted, his voice was so sharp, and the sound of it cut through her like a knife. Suddenly, it seemed to Hermione that she was in a dream. This couldn't be happening. But it was.
"How can you know?" she repeated. "My word isn't enough?"
"How can I know, Hermione? Or is there no way of knowing?"
"Have you not been here the whole time? Harry adores Ginny, and I adore you. No one else! Draco, you're letting the old you take control, the fake you. Bring the real Malfoy back." she begged.
"How can I know?" he insisted again, unrelenting. The whole group was staring at them both now, shocked and confused.
"Maybe the fact I'm in love with you!" she screamed. All was silence, apart from Ron, spluttering uncontrollably.
"Oh." Draco said simply. And suddenly, he was back. Heartbreakingly beautiful, impossibly gracious, and still afraid.
"Oh, indeed." she muttered. "Take some time, Draco. Sort yourself out. I'll still be here, when you work out if you can trust me or not."
"So that's it. That's the end." Draco stated, desperately hoping for her to disagree.
"No, we've not stopped yet. We're just on pause, until you can unjam the disk, and let the story continue." she told him, not ready to let go, but still knowing that he needed to trust her. She thought he had, but now, everything had changed.
So, as he walked one way, she, and her three friends, went the other.
Don't worry! That's not the end - I wouldn't be so mean. Only a few chapters left, though, maybe 3 (?) so we are very very close. Review... pretty please? Updates will be normal again now. See you soon! Mwah!