ADMIRE YOU
CHAPTER 7
By: hermioneeeeeee
Hermione walked to the library by herself to check out some books. She paced through the shelves...and then bumped into someone.
"I'm so sorry I didn't-" she began.
"Draco. What are you doing here?" she finished.
"I knew you would be here." he said casually. He took her hand as she tried to walk away from him.
"Draco..."
"I know but, could we just talk?"
"Fine, we can talk." Hermione said as she selected her final book. Draco waited for her to check it out and sit at a table.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked.
"Oh, I don't know." he replied unhelpfully.
"Well, there's got to be something."
"Okay. Um..."
"I've got something. Daphne said that you had 'liked me from the start' even in first year. Is that true?"
"Sort of. I only really teased you because I was jealous of how smart you were. My parents were always pushing me to be the best and that was the only way that I could feel more in power. So, I envied you."
"Really?"
"Yep, true story."
The two talked late into the night but finally, they ran out of things to say and both retired to their separate common rooms.
"What did you do last night?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Went to the library and talked. With Draco." Hermione said.
"That's all?"
"Yes, Ginny."
"I still think you should dump him."
"Dump who?" Cormac asked, giving Hermione a peck on the head.
"Talking about someone else." Ginny recovered quickly. Hermione sighed in relief.
Hermione was out with Cormac and Draco had decided to do something he thought he would never do before.
"Ginny?" he shouted through the portrait hole. Ginny got up from the armchair.
"Who is it?" she shouted back.
"Draco."
"Oh, okay." she said, opening the door.
"Can I talk to you about Hermione?" he asked.
"Sure. I guess I am officially a love advisor, then!" she replied happily. She motioned for Draco to come in.
"So, what about Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"I really love her and I know she feels the same way but, I get why she wouldn't just dump Cormac. He needs her."
"Well, so do you."
"True. So, how do I win her over?"
"You can't. You've done everything in your power. If you really wanted to, you could ask her to break up with him. The results could be good or bad but, it's worth a try."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Knowing her, honesty is a fairly important quality."
"Thanks." Draco said, getting up to leave.
A month had passed since Draco had asked Hermione to break up with Cormac and the reply had been negative. Everyone was getting dismissed from their final class for the weekend and it was madness.
"WILL CORMAC MCLAGGEN REPORT TO PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE'S OFFICE?" a booming voice spoke. Cormac walked uneasily and beckoned for Hermione to come. She followed him quickly and soon, they were in Dumbledore's office.
"Ah, perfect." Dumbledore said as he clasped his hands.
"Your parents should be here any minute." he continued. Cormac looked astonished but, sure enough, they were there just a few minutes later.
"Cormac! Oh, and who might this be?" Mrs. McLaggen exclaimed.
"Hermione. She's my girlfriend." he answered. The McLaggen parents shared a sad look.
"Why? What's the matter? Why are you even here?" Cormac demanded.
"I'm afraid we have to move to Switzerland." Mr. McLaggen said.
"What? I don't want to go to Switzerland! I'm staying here with Hermione!" Cormac shouted.
"No, that's not possible, son."
"Please!"
"We can't. We have to leave next week."
"Next week?"
"Yes. We'll be here to pick you up next Friday afternoon."
Cormac felt tears welling up in his eyes. He tugged on Hermione's sleeve and the two walked to the Room of Requirement.
"Didn't think that he would take that well." Mrs. McLaggen frowned. Mr. McLaggen thanked Dumbledore and the two McLaggens were off.
"We'll just have to make the most of our time together." Cormac said as his fingers went through her hair. Hermione shifted her position on the bean bag that they were lying on. He leant forward and kissed her tenderly.
Draco was confused by how many times he saw Cormac and Hermione snogging during the week. She hadn't spoken to him much; had he done something wrong? He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and headed to the Slytherin Common room.
Hermione and Cormac were making out for the fourteenth time that week in a dark corridor. It was early Friday morning and they were the only students awake. Cormac had started to cry liquid sadness and Hermione didn't know what to do except keep kissing him. Cormac broke the kiss for a minute to breath.
"I don't want to leave you." Cormac whispered.
"I'm going to miss you." Hermione whispered back. She felt guilty about having Draco to go to next when Cormac had absolutely nobody. It was finally the time for Cormac to leave and the two held hands on the way to the office. Cormac's parents and Professor Dumbledore were waiting for him.
"Come on, son. It's time to go." Mr. McLaggen said. Cormac walked over to his parents and looked at Hermione sadly. She looked back at him and then he was gone. Disapparated. Disappeared from the room. Disappeared from her life.
Hermione walked slowly back to the Gryffindor Common room, each step feeling a little higher than before and each foot feeling a little heavier. She walked through the portrait hole and was surprised to see Ginny awake on the couch.
"Ginny, I didn't know you were up." Hermione noted.
"What's wrong? You're crying!" Ginny said quietly.
"No I'm not."
"Yes, you are! Come here, let's talk."
"Cormac's gone."
"What? That was sudden!"
"No, I knew for a week."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"He didn't want anyone else to know."
"Oh, I'm so sorry! That must be why we barely ever saw you this past week."
"Yeah, we wanted to spend as much time as possible with each other."
"That makes sense."
"I didn't realize that I would be that sad."
"Why not?"
Hermione felt a fresh wave of guilty tears coming on.
"Because of Draco. I still have him."
"That's great!"
"No, it's not. I feel so bad! I cheated on Cormac with Draco and he didn't even mind!"
"That's all in the past."
"That doesn't help."
"Okay, well having Draco would make you feel better."
"I'm not sure if I want to jump back in so quickly. It would make it seem like I'm desperate."
"Whenever you're ready."
"Alright. Thanks, Ginny."
"Anytime." she said as Hermione cried more onto her shoulder.