Just A Dream- Chapter 5
As soon as Hermione walked into the Great Hall for dinner, everyone looked from her to the Slytherin table. She ignored everyone and sat down next to Ginny and Harry who just stared at her. "What?" she asked them. "Everyone's talking about you and Malfoy." Said Ginny as they waited for dinner to start. "And what have they been saying?" she asked them both. "That you're both going out." Said harry immediately. "Hermione is it true?" whispered Harry so that they wouldn't be heard. "I mean, you started hanging out with Malfoy the day after Ron and Lavender got back together and everyone can't help but wonder about whether you two are dating or not." He told her. "If I was dating him, I think you would all know before the whole school knew about it." She told them, trying not to get annoyed. Ginny looked over at the Slytherin table and then back at Hermione. "It's just…you can't trust Malfoy. He's a-"
"WAS a Death Eater- I know." Hermione cut her off. "I'm not stupid, ok. But not everyone stays the same forever. Some people could change if they want to." She surprised herself by saying to both of them. Harry and Ginny didn't have a chance to reply since dinner had started and they just looked at each other. Hermione couldn't believe that she had just defended Malfoy, the person who had always called her a Mudblood and always tried to cause problems with them. She helped herself to some food and hoped that dinner went by fast so that she could just go up to her dormitory and read something to take her mind off of this conversation. Just when I'm having a good day, everyone has to go ahead and spread rumors. How great is that? She thought to herself.
As soon as dinner finished, Hermione quickly rushed out of the Great Hall and up the stairs. She was on the second floor when someone grabbed her wrist to stop her. She turned around and saw that it was Malfoy. "What are you doing? Let me go." She told him as she tried to pull free from him but with no success. "I'm not going to let you go until you tell me what happened and why you're so upset." He told her. She looked down at his hand still holding on to her wrist and gave up on trying to pull free. "My friends were giving me a hard time about us hanging out and even thought we were going out." She told him at last. He let go of her wrist and sat down on the stairs. "I don't get why you're so upset, Granger. Obviously your friends are going to say crap about us hanging out so I don't see why it's such a surprise." He told her. She sat down next to him and sighed. "Yeah. You're right. Maybe cause I was hoping that they would ignore the rumors, but I guess that's not happening." She told him.
Malfoy looked over at her and then looked away. "My friends did the same thing." He told her after a few minutes. "They told me that my family would be disappointed in me and things like that, but I just ignored them. If my parents get upset, then fine. Not like I care what they have to say anymore." He told her. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and looked at her nails, not so sure what to say. They stayed like that for a while and watched as students walked by them on their way to their common rooms or to meet up with their friends before it was time to sleep. "We should probably get going to sleep before it gets late." He told her at last. Hermione yawned and nodded. "Yeah. That's probably a good idea before I fall asleep here." She told him and they laughed. He stood up and offered her his hand to stand up, which she took. "Thanks for talking to me." She thanked him. Malfoy smiled. "No problem. I couldn't stand seeing you so upset as you left and I wanted to make sure that whatever was bothering you wasn't so serious." He said as he looked at her brown eyes. Hermione smiled and hugged him. "Thank you." She said again, glad that he had gone after her. He hugged her back and they stayed like that for a few minutes and then they let go. "I'll see you tomorrow in class…or if you want, we can meet up after breakfast before class starts." He suggested. "Sure. Sounds like fun to me." She told him. They both said good night and went to their dormitory to get some sleep.
As soon as she walked into the Gryffindor common room, she saw that it was pretty empty, except for a few younger kids and surprisingly, Ron, Harry, and Ginny who were sitting by the fireplace and had looked over at her when she walked in. "What are you all doing up? I thought you guys would be sleeping." She said as she walked over to them. "Actually, I was just on my way to sleep." Said Ginny as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "Lost track of the time and barely realized how late its getting." She told her. "Yeah, same here." Said Harry who also stood up and gave Ginny a good night kiss on her cheek before going upstairs. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Night." He said. Ginny told them good night too and then they were both left alone. Dammit, thought Hermione. I really don't want to be alone with him.
"So I heard about you and Malfoy." Said Ron when she didn't say anything. "Really?" she said in mock surprise. "Which part did you hear? The one where we were hanging out or the one where we're suddenly going out?" she asked him. Ron looked uncomfortable as he said, "Both."
Hermione laughed. "And you believe them?" she asked him. "Actually, it shouldn't matter to you, Ron." She said before he could answer. "You've got a girlfriend and shouldn't worry about who I talk to or date." She told him as she sat down on the chair Ginny was in. "Yeah I know that, but I'm your friend, Hermione. Malfoy's not a good person to hang out with. He's just going to make your life a living hell like before. Or have you forgotten about all those times he called you names and tried to get us all into trouble?" he asked her upset. "No I haven't forgotten what he did and said back then, but I guess it's hard for everyone to believe that people can change, right?" she asked him. Ron rolled his eyes. "Of course not, but Malfoy is a Death Eater and you can't trust people like him. He's never going to change!" he almost yelled.
By this time, they were the only ones in the Common Room and she was just annoyed at everything coming out of his mouth. "This is getting us nowhere. I'm going to bed." She told him as she stood up from her chair. Ron sighed. "Look, I'm sorry ok. Everyone's just worried about you and him hanging out. None of us want anything bad to happen to you." He told her softly. Hermione looked at his face and knew he meant it, but the things he had said really upset her and she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to any of them for a while, especially since they had planned the whole thing.
"Why do you now defend him?" he asked her suddenly. She looked over at the fireplace in front of them and sighed. "I don't need to answer that." She told him and then she walked upstairs to the girls dormitory, leaving Ron alone downstairs by himself.
[Leave a review please! :) Oh and I'm working on Chapter 6 and 7, but since the 7th one is giving me trouble, it might take me a while to upload on here . Just thought I'd let you guys know.]
