Hey, hope you guys have enjoyed the past chapters. I've been really pumping them out, and they haven't been forced, so I hope they flow ok and make sense. I had a song called "Run, Devil, Run" by Ke$ha, though the original was done by the Korean group Girls' Generation, which might have influenced part of this chapter, lol. Again hope ya like it!
Own Harry Potter I don't….lol, a little Yoda for y'all….:)
The pair made their way down from the tower, and held hands as they walked to the Great Hall. As Hermione was about to step through the entry, she was yanked back.
"What's wrong?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"Well, everyone in the school still thinks we're enemies, so what do you think is gonna happen when we waltz in there hand in hand?" Draco asked, "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be hexed to death by Potter and the Weasel?"
"Hey, they still are my friends you know, and I can see what you mean, so what do we do? It will still be kinda suspicious if you come in right after me and we don't fight about anything," Hermione pointed out.
"Well, how about I go in first and you "accidentally" run into me, and then we can pretend to bicker like we used to?"
"Yea, that could work for now, at least until I break the news to Harry and Ron," Hermione replied.
"Ready for the debut of your acting career, remember we have to be convincing, think ya can handle it?" Draco smirked.
"Oh you bet I can, I bet I have more acting skills in my pinky finger than you do," Hermione responded back sassily.
"Retract your claws, little kitten," Draco retorted, chuckling.
"Let's get this over with, I'm getting hungry," Hermione said, pushing Draco forward a bit. A few seconds after Draco had disappeared through the doors, Hermione rushed through, running into Draco's back as planned.
"Watch where you're going, Granger! Gosh, what is this school coming to, where Mudbloods are let loose to run over poor, unsuspecting students?" Draco sneered.
Hermione stood there stunned, had he really called her that. Her anger kicking in, she retorted sharply, "Well I think its ok to run over said students when they're bloody Death Eaters!" making her way angrily over to the Gryffindor table.
Draco, having seen the pain and then anger flashing in her eyes, realized she had been hurt by his words. He hadn't meant to go that far, but since he was so practiced at hiding his true feelings behind insults, it had just slipped out. Wearily he made his way to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Blaise.
"Hey mate, that was great, you should have seen the rage in her eyes," Blaise congratulated Draco.
Draco shot a glare at his best friend, "Oh shut it…"
"Testy, aren't we? Do you have a thing for the know-it-all or something?"
"What if I did? It doesn't matter anyway," Draco said glumly.
"Wait, really? You have a thing for her? I was joking, but hey its cool with me, I mean once you get past the annoying know-it-all attitude, she is actually kinda cute," Blaise responded.
"Yea, but like I said it doesn't matter, I called her a Mudblood."
"So what, haven't you been doing that since you met her?"
"Yea, well that was before we snogged and I called her all sorts of pet names, she was beginning to see me different, and now I've ruined it," Draco responded, dropping his head in his arms.
"Wow, didn't expect to hear that coming out of your mouth, but I'm confused, why did you call her Mudblood then?"
"Because we didn't want her friends to know we were together, and so we staged that little act, but I took it too far," Draco explained.
"Ah, I see, well I'm sure you'll be able to patch things up. You seem to really care for her, which is something I haven't seen since you were five and your puppy died."
Gazing at the back of her head, Draco whispered, "I hope so."
Hermione was furious, with herself, with Draco, and with her food, which she was in the process of trying to eat, but it couldn't seem to stay on her fork. She set her fork down, her hand shaking slightly, she was that mad.
Harry hesitated, before asking, "You ok, 'Mione?"
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine," Hermione asked, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.
"Um…" Ron started.
"Yes Ronald, what dumb thing do you have to say now?" Hermione asked meanly, her anger causing her to lash out at the nearest outlet. Hermione stormed out of the Hall, leaving her two best friends shell-shocked and hurt.
Leaving the castle, Hermione made her way to the edge of the lake. Sitting down she let the cold water lap onto her toes as she tried to calm down. She couldn't believe him, she had trusted him, and had started to admit she might be falling for him and he went and called her a 'Mudblood'. She was furious at him for it, but she was also furious at herself for believing it so readily. Dropping her head onto her knees, she admitted to herself that she was ashamed as well, she had let him kiss her, and even now she longed for the comfort that being in his arms had brought. Exhaustion washed over her, and a lone tear streaked down her cheek as she fell asleep.
Draco paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, waiting for Hermione to show up. It was well past curfew, and he was starting to get worried, when the portrait creaked open, and an exhausted and slightly muddy Hermione stepped inside.
"Hermione, thank Merlin you're ok," Draco cried out, trying to grabbing her hands to pull her to him.
"Leave me alone," she mumbled softly, jerking her hands away, "haven't you done enough already?"
"Hermione please let me explain…..please?"
Looking up through the sheen of tears, she saw the desperate look on his face, "Fine, you have five minutes."
"Earlier when we were acting and pretending to hate each other, that's exactly what I was doing, pretending," Hermione snorted in disbelief, but Draco continued, "I've gotten very good at it, because I've been doing it for the past two years. And I've been doing it because I like you Hermione, well at least at first, but now I think I've fallen in love with you this past year. I know I've been a prat, but Hermione, I was miserable knowing you were mad at me and then you ran off and I was terrified. I'll shout my feelings for you from the Headmaster's podium if you want me to, I'll even let Potter and Weasel do what they may to me, just please forgive me. Please…"
Hermione stood still, her head down, her eyes trained on her feet, as she whispered, "You don't have to shout it from anywhere, but I'm not in the condition to forgive you right now. I need to sleep on it and clear my head, and decide if this is what I really want. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Moving to her bedroom door, she turned right before she entered, and told him, "And thanks for being worried, but I was fine, I had just fallen asleep."
Draco closed his eyes, hope and anxiety warring inside him. The fact that she was thinking on it gave him hope, but the idea that she might not forgive him and give up on their fragile relationship, scared the living daylights out of him. Sighing, Draco entered his room, preparing himself for a long, sleepless night.
I can't believe chapter 11 is done, its mind boggling, especially since I've never written more than 4 chapters of a fanfiction. Its really hard to keep up with this story, but I'm trying, so I'm sorry if things are a bit muddled. Btw, sorry about the fight, but they do get back together. Hope ya like it, and stay tuned for chapter 12.