An Innocence Restored

Thank you very much to anyone who read the previous chapter! It really means a lot to me! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this update and please review!

Lyrics: I swear I'll never let you die

Chapter Eight

Once Hermione finally got back to the castle, her mind was reeling. Absolutely whirring with thoughts of what had happened and what they could mean. Perhaps Draco was just a little touchy feely when it came to his friends. Perhaps it was common knowledge that he kissed and hugged his friends whenever he was in a good mood. Even with this perfectly plausible explanation for what happened, Hermione couldn't relax. That just didn't sound like the kind of thing Draco would do…never mind take it lightly.

"Did you enjoy your date?" A voice spat from the common room sofa as Hermione trudged through the portrait hole. Oh, she simply couldn't put up with his behaviour right now. She was already tired and angry enough as it was. Did she really have to put up with Ron asking questions about what happened? She didn't even want to face the truth of it herself.

"It wasn't a date" Hermione replied in a tone that sounded oddly like a growl. Yes, that was completely unexpected coming from her. Even so, she was reluctant to say anything more to Ron on the matter. Some things were to be left private and shouldn't be meddled in.

"Well, it seemed that way to me" Ron pointed out as he lay back on the sofa casually. Oh, why could he not understand that he should just leave things alone? It was clearly obvious that Hermione didn't want to talk about it! Perhaps Ron really was just one of the most clueless people Hermione had ever known. She wouldn't put it past him.

"It would seem like that to you" Hermione muttered under her breath as she made her way towards the girls' dormitories. It was probably one of her bad ideas to say something like that to Ron when they were in this situation. It was clearly obvious that he wasn't going to let it go.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked as he launched off the sofa and jammed his hands onto his hips, trying desperately to summon an offensive demeanour. He failed straight away. Hermione could never be scared of Ron. After all, she knew him too well…knew all of his tricks as well as his weaknesses.

"You know exactly what I mean" Hermione accused, pointing a finger straight at him as her eyes narrowed into incredibly thin slits, so that Ron could barely even see them anymore. Yes, he had annoyed her beyond recognition.

"Trust me, I really don't have a clue what you're going on about anymore" Ron assured, ignoring the few stares from the other Gryffindor students who were watching the argument from around the room. There was always gossip going around Hogwarts, this would fade rather quickly. "I barely even know you anymore."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic" Hermione scoffed as she held back a laugh, knowing that it would only betray her in angering Ron even more than he was. As if that was even possible. After all, his face was reddening even more than his hair. Yes, he must be very angry with Hermione for that to be happening. "I'm exactly the same person as I've always been. I'm just friends with Draco now. That is quite literally the only change. If you can't handle me being friends with him then I guess that means that we can no longer be friends. Ron, he's not out to get you."

"It's not just that you're friends with Malfoy!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his arms out to emphasise his point. Well, this was getting very heated very fast. She had not expected Ron to be so blunt, outright and bold with her. Especially not with a topic as explosive as Draco. This was certainly coming as a surprise to her. "You have no idea what's going on around you, do you? Oh my, you're completely oblivious to all of this. Well, Hermione…if you're so smart, figure it out."

"Ronald Weasley, just tell me before I march out of here and never talk to you again" Hermione threatened, her foot tapping in impatience as she turned a bright red. Why couldn't all of these people watching them just leave them alone to have some privacy for five minutes? Is that really too much to ask? Apparently it is for they were still stood around the outskirts of the common room even after Hermione wished for all of this.

"Ever since you've been talking to him, your whole personality has changed" Ron answered, looking as though this whole conversation was literally painful for him. At least he was being honest with her now. She had asked for this. "It's like you don't care about how you treat people anymore. It's like…it's like you've been a Slytherin since first year."

Now that hurt. That hurt more than anything Hermione could ever imagine. It was as though he had just stabbed her brutally with a poisonous blade. How could he ever say something so dastardly and offensive to her? How could those words leave his mouth without making him feel physically sick?

Before Hermione could even stop them, tears brimmed in her eyes. Just in time, she managed to stop them from falling. No, she couldn't let Ron know that he had forced her to cry.

"Well, I think you've made it abundantly clear where your loyalties lie" She said with a voice so eerily calm it managed to fill the room despite how quietly she was speaking. "Just know that if the roles had been reversed, I would have never said something like that to you."

With that said, she flicked her hair over her shoulder, turned on her heel and marched up the steps towards her dormitory. Only then did she allow any tears to slip out and spill over her cheeks.

…

Once Draco arrived back at the common room, he was greeted by a much different scene than the one that Hermione had to face. Blaise sat on the sofa, his eyes trained on Draco as though he was trying to stare straight through him.

"How did it go?" Blaise finally asked, crossing one leg over the other like they do in the movies. He may as well have just placed a kitten on his lap and began stroking it in a way that out everyone on the edge of their seats.

"Better than I thought it was going to go" Draco answered as he edged into the seat opposite Blaise. For a moment, he didn't feel right talking about his private business with Hermione to Blaise. Oh God, he wasn't turning soppy now, was he?

"Feel free to elaborate at any given moment" Blaise sighed impatiently. Yes, he was looking like an evil tyrant right now. This was possibly one of the most awkward and uncomfortable conversations Draco had ever had with Blaise.

"There isn't really much to elaborate on" Draco lied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. He would give anything to just lie in his bed right about now and avoid these awful questions from Blaise. Hmm, lying in bed sounded like a very relaxing plan. "I'm beat. I might go for a lie down."

"I'm not stupid, Mr Malfoy" Blaise grinned as he tapped rhythmically on his thigh. The beat was off-putting. Was he deliberately trying to freak Draco out? If he was, it was working.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Draco lied once more. They just seemed to be spilling out of his mouth tonight.

"Yes, you do" Blaise countered with yet another of his grins that looked ever so creepy. Oh, Draco's bed wasn't far away. That was all he wanted. "Don't try and avoid my questions about Hermione. Did something happen between you two at Hogsmeade?"

"Oh, you're ever so persistent. It's positively ridiculous!" Draco grumbled with an exasperated gesture of his hands before relaxing into the sofa. Something told him he wasn't going to get to go to bed for a while now that Blaise was all interested in his life and the Hogsmeade trip.

"Whatever you say, Draco" Blaise said delicately, once again crossing his legs once more and continuing with the rhythmic tapping. "Please don't make me ask you again. What happened?"

"Nothing much. I just gave her a kiss before we left" Draco admitted. For the first time in his life, he felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Oh goodness, what on Earth was happening to him lately? This was not the kind of feeling he was expecting or wanting. In fact, he rather despised this feeling. Yes, he would give anything to be rid of it.

"Now that doesn't sound like not much to me" Blaise grinned, showing all of his pearly white teeth off as he leaned forward in his chair, ever so intrigued by this new piece of information. "What sort of kiss was it?"

"Why do you have to ask such awkward questions!?" Draco demanded, adamant that he wasn't going to answer this one. No, that question was going just a little too far for his liking. Blaise didn't have to know that one. "You don't need to know that!"

"Answer it" Blaise countered, a voice so calm and pleasant it sounded almost deadly.

"It was just a peck" Draco caved. "Nothing more. Nothing less. Are you quite done interrogating me now?"

"I only have two more questions. Well, one depending on what you answer." Blaise answered with a smug smirk. God, Draco was beginning to like Blaise less and less these days.

"Do you have to be so cryptic all the time?" Draco grumbled. "What are they?"

"Have you fulfilled the points of the bet?" Blaise asked, already digging into his pocket to get the money that he believed Draco had already earned. It would be so easy for Draco to just lie and say he had. Then he could take the money and stop this silly game he was playing with Hermione. The idea sounded ever so tempting.

"No, I haven't" Draco blurted before he had a chance to stop himself. Blaise's hand released the money back into his pocket and then went straight back to tapping once more. That was probably one of the biggest mistakes Draco had ever made in his life.

"So, now I get to ask you my next question" Blaise sighed, an impatient air in his voice once more. "When will you fulfil the points of the bet?"

"Soon" Draco answered with complete faith. Yes, he would have Hermione head over heels for him very soon. That was if she wasn't already head over heels for him. She was acting very weird after their kiss. She couldn't wait to get back to the castle. Perhaps it was to tell her friends. After all, most of them were attracted to him. "Yes, I'll be done very soon. You can count on that."

"Thank you" Blaise replied, barely even making eye contact. "I've been growing very bored of all of this waiting. You can go to bed now."

Draco couldn't leave the common room fast enough. What had he just done? It was right within his grasp. He could have won the bet and then not have to spend any more time with Hermione, but he let that slip right through his fingers and now he was stuck needing to talk to her once more after the awkwardness of their kiss. Oh, he was ever so angry with himself for doing that. He just wished that he could explain to himself why he would throw all of that away when the end was so close and in sight for him. He made no sense to himself anymore.

Well, at least I managed to get this update in quicker than the previous one. I hope you have all enjoyed this update and please drop a review off on your way out! Thanks for reading!