GabzHaug, Burnitmyprince, Kitty1517, twatskidoo, VendingCasanota, bookworm191, Vellmy, emiwat14, Quirky74747, Trillen17, bgks0811, Esmeralda2134, ItCouldBeLikeADream, CAM369487, Krystal Alspaugh, thebeebeegun, GabzHaug, StarGirlPotter, and Guest (you know who you are!)
Thanks for following, favoriting, and reviewing!
Both Draco and Hermione were able to sleep in their own beds in the days following. They had ignored each other for the rest of that Sunday, and since they weren't fighting, the spell remained dormant, and they each had their space.
Thank Merlin.
Their day went regularly, breakfast with the blokes, smacking said blokes (mostly Blaise for his snarky attitude), and then to the library! It was actually the last day they were to be in the library for their project. Slughorn figured that a month was enough time to gather information. Idiot. Draco and Hermione had managed to get most of their information within the first week of the project really. The rest was just double checking. Hell, most of the time in the library, Draco and Blaise had fooled around and annoyed people. Pansy had thrown several books at the two boys' shenanigans. Hermione had dutifully ignored it, instead choosing to focus on her studies, while Valerie looked on in amusement at the entire scene.
At this particular moment, Hermione was reading something about the wizard who had developed her potion when Luna came over and sat in Zabini's open chair.
"Hullo Hermione, Valerie, Draco," the blond said with a cheery smile.
"Hey Luna," Hermione smiled back. "What are you doing in the library?"
"Oh, I was following a trail of Snorklebees. They leave a particular trail of lines on the wall
that can be easy to miss if one isn't paying attention."
Malfoy sniggered and there was a loud thunk and Malfoy doubled over in pain and glared at Valerie. She was looking at Luna.
"Interesting, Luna," Hermione said. Of course Hermione loved Luna and her willowy, cheery behavior. But Luna still kept her rather delusional way of thinking when it came to magical creatures. Hermione preferred to keep to the facts and what she could read.
"Snorklebees, huh?" Valerie asked. "Aren't they the ones that eat paperwork because of the ink on them?"
Luna's eyes lit up. "Yes. They're said to like a particular kind of ink, but I haven't been able to find what it is."
Valerie chuckled. "Try Ink Blotts. The red ink. They like the color."
Luna beamed. Blaise came over from asking Pansy a question about Charms homework.
"I'm sorry, am I in your seat Blaise Zabini?" Luna cocked her head to the side.
"Erm, no it's fine. I'll go grab a chair." There was a rather confused look on Zabini's face as he walked off to get another seat.
"So how have you been Luna? Do you like all of your classes?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, yes. They're quite alright. Although Professor Vector often has Nargles floating around his head."
Malfoy dropped his head into his hand and shook it. Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement.
"Nargles?" Blaise asked, pulling up a chair.
Hermione and Malfoy gave him a strange look. Blaise just shrugged his shoulders.
"So are you and Draco still dating, Hermione? I haven't seen you sit next to each other in a few days." Luna said.
There was silence at the table and all parties were staring at the waify blonde.
"Did I say something wrong?"
Valerie burst out laughing. "Oh that's great, that's really great." Blaise joined in on the laughter with a light chuckle and even high fived Valerie. Draco smacked Blaise upside the head.
"Um...no Luna. Me and Malfoy were never dating," Hermione said awkwardly.
"Oh, that's really too bad. You and Draco made such a great pair. And you gave hope to other couples as well."
"What?!" Hermione and Malfoy asked at the same time.
"Wait wait waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait. People think that me and Granger-
"Granger and I," Valerie corrected.
"-have been going out!? That's ridiculous!"
"Not really. I mean, you two are kind of a perfect fit," Valerie said.
"Not to mention," Blaise added, "you've been spending time together recently."
"That's because of Potions class and Valerie's stupid curse!" Malfoy exclaimed.
"Well people don't really know about that stuff, so they think that you two have become friendlier."
Malfoy's eye started twitching and Hermione's cheeks turned red.
"Why haven't we noticed this?" Malfoy asked, gesturing to him and Hermione.
"You're going through the newlywed phase, and you don't notice anyone but each other," Valerie said with a mocking swooning attitude.
A look of pure murder passed over Malfoy's face. "Valerie-"
"Mate, take a joke," Blaise said calmly.
Malfoy whipped his head around to Blaise and sent him a glare. "Oh, yes take a joke. Because it's so funny that I'm stuck to Granger, and people think that we're an item!"
They heard a book slam on a desk and looked over at Hermione. Her hair was ruffled in anger and she was wearing a glare much akin to Malfoy's earlier one.
"Oh because the thought of being with you is so appealing?!" Hermione screeched.
"Please Granger! If any other girl was in your position they'd be ecstatic!"
"HA! That just shows how empty minded the girls in this school are!"
As the two argued on, Valerie and Blaise shared a look. Valerie looked at Luna and gave her a small, wicked smile. "Three...two...one..."
"You are such a-" Malfoy didn't get to finish his rant. Instead, his head collided with Hermione. Literally. During their argument, they had kept leaning toward one another unconsciously. But now they were stuck to each other by the forehead.
"Oh, for fucks sake!"
Malfoy pulled Granger around the table so they were standing side by side. This allowed them to be now stuck by the arm. Malfoy was done dealing with this, this...gah!
He strode away from the group of people at the table, not caring that Granger was being dragged with him. It was her fault for this! If the stupid bint wouldn't get offended by everything, life would be so much better! He strode through the book shelves, past the tables with other students (who looked on curiously, as one could imagine) and out of the library.
Valerie shared another look with Blaise and Luna looked after the departed pair with curiosity.
"Well that escalated quickly," Valerie muttered.
"What?" Blaise asked.
Valerie waved her hand. "Internet thing."
"Enter net?" Blaise gave her a weird look.
Valerie looked at him for a minute. "Wow. You guys really live under a rock here, don't you?"
She got up to go after the stuck pair so they wouldn't kill each other.
Malfoy was most of the way down the hall when he felt a tug on his arm and was pulled back in a rather rough manner.
"Would you stop acting like such a spoiled prat?!"
He looked down at the angry Gryffindor and sneered.
"I'm not acting like a prat. And I'm not spoiled!"
Granger snorted. "Oh, don't hand me such bullshit Malfoy!"
Draco sucked in a breath. Granger cursing was something else entirely. He had never heard her use such coarse language, because Malfoy did not consider arse as a coarse word, and to be honest it was rather hot.
NO! No no nononononono. No.
Granger was not hot. Granger was annoying and a know it all and...Yelling at him.
"-mean, I've never met such an immature, ignorant, short tempered, annoying, person on this planet!"
Draco needed to get himself back to normal. He needed to insult Granger.
"Well, then go back to your original planet!"
Granger gave an outraged gasp. Oh, she was done dealing with ferret boy. She swung her arm back and brought it forward to slap him, but Draco caught it before it could land. Hey, he may not catch the snitch against Potter, but he still had reflexes dammit!
She tried prying her wrist out of Malfoy's grip, but gave up. Instead she tried smacking him with her other arm, but he caught that one as well. He pulled her arms behind her back.
This particular stance, however, left her chestal area thrusted toward him. They also disregarded the fact that the spell had taken affect and they were stuck together. They were pressed chest to chest, abdomen to abdomen.
Hermione became aware of their closeness, and tried to take a step back, but their curse prevented her from doing so. They were stuck gazing into each other's eyes.
How disturbing.
Draco was not focusing on the fact that they were too close for being appropriate. He was looking at Granger's face. Her eyes specifically were really captivating. They were a lovely shade of brown. Really they were hazel, but they had golden flecks in them that he had never noticed before, which were accented by her long eyelashes.
Hermione in turn was looking at Malfoy's eyes. Even when Malfoy was being an utter prat and making fun of her, she always noticed his eyes. They were a grey color, silver really, but with a slight blue tint. Hermione had thought on multiple occasions that his eyes were really beautiful. They brought his sharp, angular features together in her opinion and made him handsome.
Hermione wasn't an idiot. She had always thought that Malfoy was handsome. More than handsome really. But with his attitude, beliefs, and overall prat-ness - not to mention the fact that he knew he was good looking - well it was easy for Hermione to overlook his attractiveness.
All these thoughts, events, everything around them - the world, the birds, everything - came to a halting stop the moment Draco crashed his lips to Hermione's.
Now, lucky for these two there wasn't anyone in the halls leading to the library, or they would have a tremendous amount of explaining to do.
For Draco, he would never know why he did what he just did.
Of course not.
Sigh.
But he wouldn't regret it either.
Hermione had jumped and made a squeak of surprise at the action. This was NO WHERE near what Hermione was expecting.
Malfoy's lips were surprisingly soft and warm. She had expected a sharp and cold kind of kiss that would match his personality. But Hermione found herself rather enjoying it.
Hermione would deny liking it, and she would blame Malfoy for causing her brain to fritz, the smug bastard. Any logical thought flew out the window however, and Hermione found herself kissing him as well.
Draco was equally as surprised by the kiss as Hermione. He expected her to shove him away, spit fire, claw at his eyes. Not, in any way shape or form, kiss him back.
It was actually a PG-13 kiss, without any tongue you pervs.
But to Draco and Hermione it was a kiss that lasted forever. This was getting far too cheesy.
Malfoy pulled back and looked at Hermione. She had a dreamy expression on her face and she looked rather out of it. She looked at Malfoy with wide eyes and neither said a word.
The full extent of what just happened crashed into Draco, and he panicked. He walked away. Not a word. Hermione stood there staring at the wall for a moment trying to decipher what the hell just happened. Nothing. Hermione eventually remembered she was standing in a hall when she was supposed to be in Potions, so she walked back to the library.
"Now that's cheating." A girl materialized from behind a tapestry that was in the hall and looked at a spot by a statue.
"It's not cheating, and you know it," a boy said in response.
The girl raised a brow. "Using pheromones? I can't do that. So it's cheating."
He chuckled. "Oh please. You and I both know that if anyone cheated, it was you."
"So I used a spell, big whoop. That just punishes them for being so..."
"Fighty?"
She gave him a look. "I was going to say conflicting. But we can go your ineloquent route. Yes. 'Fighty'. My spell doesn't manipulate them."
"Well, neither do the pheromones. You know I can only 'manipulate' feelings and emotions that are already there. I can't create lust out of thin air; it has to have already existed. And the amount of lust these two have..."
She sighed. "You do make a point. But at least I'm not almost outing your secret."
He gave her a questioning look.
"At lunch, when you found out about my spell. I could tell it was you, not him. He doesn't get pissed like that."
"Aw, you sound in love, V."
She snorted. "More like I actually hold respect for Felix. Not you."
"You wound me."
She gave him a sharp smile. "If you don't watch yourself, I really will wound you."
He inhaled through his teeth. "I didn't know you were so kinky, V. I'll keep that in mind when I need to recharge again."
She rolled her eyes. "We need to get back. I don't want anyone to get suspicious."
They walked back to their class, and the hallway was once again silent.
XXXXX
"Malfoy, shouldn't you be with Granger?" Blaise walked over and plopped down into the couch next to Draco.
"Granger?"
"Yeah, Granger. Poofy hair, annoying Gryffindor qualities...You're currently stuck to her magically. Well, not at this moment currently. More like this general time frame, but not this exact time frame-"
"Blaise!"
Blaise stopped mid-sentence and looked at his friend. "Sorry."
Draco sighed and put his Charms book down.
"Now why should I be with Granger?"
Blaise gave him an exasperated look. "Well, you were chosen for Head Boy, and you have patrol tonight, so one would think..."
"Dammit!" Draco had forgotten all about that.
As far as his head duties went, Draco had rather ignored them. Too many bloody things were going on, and dealing with a bunch of younger years and people who hated him was not something Draco wanted to do. Besides, everyone reported to Granger anyway. Every week on Saturday since his little instatement, Draco had seen the prefects report to Granger in the hallway and the Great Hall. Granger said something to him about holding meetings, but Draco didn't go. Again, he didn't want to deal with people.
Draco actually felt bad about it. He didn't want to pile all the work and responsibility on Granger, especially since McGonagall gave him the damned position.
"Do you know what time I'm supposed to be patrolling? Or where?"
Blaise raised a brow. "Shouldn't you know that?"
"If I did, would I be asking you?"
"I suppose not," Blaise said thoughtfully.
"You should meet Granger by the Great Hall in about ten minutes," Pansy called as she left out the Slytherin Common Room portrait.
"Where the hell is she going?" Draco asked.
"No idea." Blaise gave a very small smirk. Draco narrowed his eyes. Zabini knew something, and he wasn't sharing.
Draco gathered up his things and chucked them to Blaise.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this crap?" Blaise asked.
"Take it up to the room, you idiot. I have to patrol."
Blaise rolled his eyes.
Draco headed out of the portrait and up to the Great Hall. When he got there, Granger was pacing back and forth talking to herself.
"Have you finally lost it Granger?"
She stopped mid stride and stared at him. There was something in her expression that Draco couldn't read, but she shook it off.
This. This was the other reason. Or rather, she was the other reason. He had tried his hardest to stay away from the girl ever since that moment in the hallway where they kissed. He did not want to think about how pleasant it was, or how soft her lips were NO!
Draco was trying to get back to normal from that fiasco, and staying away from Granger, again, did the trick. He was surprised that he was able to walk away from her actually. He figured that since they had been fighting like a snake and a lion, that they would still be glued together. But maybe kissing her got the point across to the spell that they weren't fighting.
What bugged Draco was the fact that he wanted to kiss her again. He was stuck on the thought of Granger and her soft, pouty lips. They fit his perfectly.
Ugh. Great. He was turning into a woman.
Granger was a great kisser though. He couldn't deny that.
Amazing skills aside, that didn't erase the history between the two, or the feelings of loathing that Draco had for her. Because that's all he felt for her.
She hadn't said anything about the kiss though, and Draco didn't know whether to be relieved or worried. Did she think he was a good kisser? Was she as breathless or affected? She hadn't done anything when he pulled back except look into space. She had kissed him, so maybe he wasn't too bad.
"No...I'm fine." She sounded guarded, and Draco wasn't surprised.
"Shall we then?" He asked.
They patrolled in silence. It was a Wednesday night, so there were not any people out and about. They stumbled onto a fourth year trying to sneak to the kitchen, and a couple of second years who were playing some ridiculous game involving a dark hallway and a broom. Granger confiscated the broom and Draco took off points. The situation got more awkward when they found a sixth year couple attempting to go at it in one of the indentured windows, behind the curtains. The young boy and girl sputtered and righted their clothes, both faces blazing red. The boy was a Slytherin and the girl was a Ravenclaw, which was surprising. Draco noticed Granger's face was almost as red as the other two, having seen something like that. Draco couldn't help it. He lived to torture her.
"Right. 50 points to Slytherin."
Granger whipped her head around to face him. "What? You are not going to reward this, this...depraved behavior! 100 points from Slytherin and 50 from Ravenclaw."
"Oh, that's not fair Granger. You took more from my house than hers," he said gesturing to the boy and girl.
"It's the exact same amount you idiot. The 50 points for the one's you granted, and then 50 for...this! Learn basic math!"
Draco rolled his eyes. The girl and boy shared a knowing look and smiled. "You two are so cute together."
"WHAT?!" Granger yelled.
"Not this again," Draco muttered.
"Yeah. To tell the truth, we always kind of thought you two would end up together. At least we were hoping. If it wasn't for you two outing your relationship then I would have never asked out Jamie. Heck, we aren't the only ones." The boy gave the girl a dazzling smile and grabbed her hand.
"We didn't out any relationship. We sat together at lunch one time. That does not constitute for anything. And what the bloody fuck are you talking about, not being the only ones?" Draco asked.
"Malfoy, watch your language," Granger scolded.
"Well, several inner house relationships have come together. You guys paved the way, so to speak. Gave others confidence to go public." The boy shrugged, kissed the girl goodnight, and both younger students went back to their separate houses.
The older students stood there, dumbfounded and trying to process what just happened. Neither came to any conclusion, at least not a sane one, and looked at each other.
"If another person says we're a couple, I'm going to Avada them," Draco said with an irritated tone.
He felt Granger bristle next to him and she snorted. "Right. Because Draco Malfoy would never be with a Mudblood. Heaven forbid they associate him with one." She started walking off.
"Granger! That is not what I meant, and you know it. Stop twisting my words," he called after her, catching up. "If you haven't noticed, I haven't said anything about your heritage. The only thing that ticks me off is being associated with you!"
She rounded on him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I would never go out with some know-it-all, bleeding heart, Gryffindor! I have standards!"
"Oh, like I want to be called the girlfriend of an obnoxious, bigoted, pigheaded, ferrety prat!"
"That ferret thing gets really old, Granger."
"So does the know it all and Gryffindor insult. Come up with something more original!"
"Oh, ok. How about I start calling you a stingy prude!"
"Better a prude than a slut!"
"I am not a slut!"
"That's not what I heard."
Oh, enough.
Draco grabbed Granger by the shoulder and pinned her to the wall.
"Maybe it has escaped your notice, but I haven't called you Mudblood, not since the first time in the library. My problem with this entire situation is being stuck to YOU. Your overall swotty attitude because you think you're better than people, simply because you're friends with scar-head."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest but he slapped his other hand over her mouth.
"You and I know it's true Granger. You act all high and pristine and you wouldn't want that image tainted by a Death Eater, now would you. So don't give me the little-miss-innocent act, Granger."
She glared at him over his hand and something in her eyes sparked. Next thing Draco knew, she had bitten him.
"OW! Dammit Granger!"
"You deserved it!"
"Oh like-"
These two never learned. The spell reacted to their bickering. Someone needed to smack them with a frying pan.
As it was, in their current position, with Draco pinning Hermione to the wall, he was jerked forward. He boxed her in, unintentionally. Hermione was caught between the wall and Malfoy, and she couldn't move. Malfoy was pressed to her, much like they were when they had kissed. Hermione wanted to shake the image out, but that's all she could remember. Malfoy pressed against her, his hard and toned body. She was surprised that something like Quidditch would be so beneficial. She tried to push him back somewhat, grasping his biceps. She had never felt his biceps, and they were spectacular. She felt...warm.
Bad thoughts, bad thoughts!
Malfoy couldn't seem to move or he just wasn't attempting. Hermione did not want a repeat of the hallway incident. To her, staring at one another and noticing each other's eyes had been a factor for their kiss, so she stared at his shirt.
Draco looked down at Granger, who had taken a great interest in his shirt.
Ok, pretty boy, think. How to use this to his advantage?
Hell, at this point he would be satisfied with step by step instructions.
And then a thought occurred to him. When the two kissed, they were allowed space. The spell was dormant. It gave them more space than saying sorry or complimenting each other did.
Malfoy took one of Granger's hands in his and simply held it.
To say Granger was irked was an enormous understatement.
"Malfoy, let go of my hand." Her voice was devoid of emotion. Curious.
He let go of her hand though, and took a step back. And then another.
"It works," he said simply.
"What are you talking about Malfoy?"
"Well, I had a theory, and I needed to test it. About the spell. I figured being all lovey dovey would convince the spell that we weren't fighting."
She had a slightly confused look on her face. "Wait, so...Is that why you...kissed me?"
"Yes," he lied.
Wait, a lie? It wasn't a lie! Draco would never want to kiss her, never never never never!
Clearly he doesn't listen to Justin Bieber.
"Oh," she said lamely.
Was it just wishful thinking on his part, or did she sound disappointed?
"Well, good. I had the same thought. I just didn't know how to ask you to try," she said certainly.
Wait, what?
"You had the same idea?" Draco asked.
She nodded. "Yes. It was just as I said, though. I couldn't very well ask you to randomly start snogging me."
No wonder she was disappointed. She wasn't the one to 'discover' this little bit of information. Odd enough however, Draco found he rather disappointed himself. The only clear reason for all this that Draco could think of was that it was the spell. If the spell was supposed to activate when they were bickering, then it was probably messing with Draco's thoughts and emotions. His attraction to Granger only flared when they were fighting, he was sure of it.
"Well, Granger you sure didn't say anything to me after the fact. Are you sure you weren't just falling for my charm?"
A disgusted look passed her face. "Malfoy if you have charm, then I'm one of those Snorklebees that Luna was talking about. And besides, I'm not the one who ran away."
"I didn't run away," he said, affronted.
"Could have fooled me," she smirked.
Draco had never seen her smirk. Wait yes he had. But that was after she had attacked his face with her hand and he had run, er, tried to diffuse the situation by leaving. It didn't really have the desired effect that happened when Draco smirked. On Granger, it was cute. He shook his head.
"I was trying to see if my theory worked or not."
"Well you could have explained so instead of running away like a frightened little girl."
Draco started to feel a pull. He really did not want to be stuck to Granger again and have to end up hugging her or something. Instead he backed up and gave her a calm look.
"Alright fine, Granger. Have it your way." He walked off.
The irony of that action was not lost on him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get away from Granger and the strange feeling that her presence brought. They were almost done with patrol anyway, and Draco figured Granger could handle things on her own.
'Or, you know, she could get attacked in the hallway,' his mind thought. He stopped. It was a chastising voice and it kind of sounded like Valerie.
'Are you really going to leave her in a dark hallway in the middle of the night, all by herself? Come on Malfoy. There are scary creatures that go bump in the night, and you don't want anything to happen to her do you?'
Yep, definitely Valerie's voice. Strange that his conscience sounded like her. Regardless, his hallucination of Valerie's voice did have a point. Sighing in irritation, he turned back around and went back to Granger.
She was sitting on the window's ledge with a deep look of concentration on her face. When he came back she looked up at him in surprise.
"Come on Granger, we have patrol."
She got up and brushed off her jeans and walked ahead of him in complete silence. They stayed that way, silent, for the rest of patrol. Until they came to a door.
Draco stopped dead in his tracks.
Hermione looked over at Malfoy to see his face had gone ashen and his breathing was becoming deeper. She turned to the wall in front of them and saw a door.
Shit.
Hermione had not really thought about this part of the patrol. Her mind was too caught up in the events that surrounded their kiss to really think about anything else.
The truth was that Hermione was sad about why Malfoy had kissed her. For two reasons. First, and the most obvious reason, why hadn't she thought of that? It never occurred to her that kissing and holding hands could deactivate the spell. Then again, maybe that was a good thing. She didn't really want to think about snogging Malfoy, no matter how much of a great kisser he was.
Secondly, however, was because that was the only reason Malfoy seemed to have kissed her. Hermione was a girl after all. She would like to think the reason Malfoy kissed her was because he liked her or at least found her attractive. Even if she would never reciprocate those feelings, it would still help with her self-confidence.
That was one of the reasons she and Ron had broken up.
In truth, the biggest reason they had broken up was because of their friendship. After being around each other all the years, their romantic relationship just felt weird. She had had a crush on him, yes, but Hermione had come to realize that they were better as friends. They didn't really mesh well together. They were ill suited. Ron wanted a woman like his mother: stay at home, cook, clean, give him children, all that hash. But Hermione wanted to go out and make her own way in the world. She didn't blame Ron for the things that he wanted in a woman. People had their own tastes. Hermione particularly would like to have an intelligent conversation once in a while. Not that Ron was stupid or anything, but Ron was...Ron.
But her self-confidence had held her back as well. Hermione knew she could have been a better girlfriend, but when Ron tried to kiss her or hold her hand or spoiled her with nice gifts, she rebuked it all. She had done that on the basis that she always thought, 'Do I deserve to? Does he really want to be seen with me?'
She wasn't clueless. People saw her as the prudish bookworm. Granted she was a prudish bookworm, but that didn't mean that she would want to be alone all her life. She would like the company of someone who could understand her and would love her for the way she was.
She looked back over to Malfoy.
Malfoy himself had confidence. Too much confidence frankly, but it was better than nothing.
Right now though he looked like a frightened little Billy goat. Strange comparison, but it worked.
"Malfoy..." she whispered.
He looked over at her a raised his brows. It was like he forgot she was there.
"What, Granger?"
She looked down at the ground. "We don't have to-"
"Yeah we do. It's part of the patrol."
He walked forward and grasped the handle on the door. He didn't open it for a minute, but he took a deep breath and opened it.
Hermione stayed standing in her spot for a moment, watching him climb the steps. She was conflicted. She really didn't have the right to intrude on Malfoy's inner turmoil. And he did have inner turmoil. One just had to look at him and they would see it. But she also didn't think that he needed to be alone.
She climbed the stairs after him. They were creaky and old and they made her think of a horror movie where she was climbing the stairs to meet a masked killer. But she got over that brief moment of fear.
He was just standing there in the center of the room. The moon was shining bright tonight and it made him seem ethereal. His bright skin was shining as was his hair. His hands were in his pockets and he seemed relaxed.
Hermione knew he wasn't though. If anything, he looked numb, like it couldn't process. She moved a few steps toward him slowly.
"There's no one here, Malfoy. We can go back-"
"I killed a man here Granger." He said it like he was talking about the weather. She almost got angry at how he blew it off, but she realized he was just trying to keep from breaking down. She knew, because she had done the same thing.
"You didn't kill him. Snape did. They planned it, Malfoy. It wasn't your fault," she said softly.
He snorted. "That doesn't mean shit Granger, and you know it. I let fucking Death Eaters into the school, and the result was Dumbledore's death." He said darkly.
She hugged herself with her arms. "He was already dying."
He whirled around to face her. "Does that make it better? Does that make it right? It sure as fuck doesn't help me sleep at night."
"I-"
"You know what's really twisted though, Granger? The worst part? I'd do it all again. Given the same choice and the same circumstances, I'd do it all over the same way."
She didn't know what the hell to say to that.
"Yes, it's really fucked up. But it was either that I did what I did, or my parents would be killed, and I wasn't going to let that happen."
She breathed in and out slowly.
"What nothing to say? Realizing what a complete monster I am?" He seethed.
"No."
He was not expecting that.
"I don't...I don't agree with what you did Malfoy. I would have tried to find out a way to protect my parents while still fight against Voldemort. I DID find a way to protect my parents and I still fought against Voldemort. But I can't blame...I can't stand here and call you a monster. You were a kid. We were all kids, and we had to make choices. Not all of which are good."
She took a small step closer to him.
"The thing I've realized with everything that happened, the war, people dying...there are shades of grey. People do bad things for good reasons, and good things for bad reasons."
He was silent. They were both silent. It was a quiet night and there was a nice breeze that blew the night air into the Astronomy Tower. It was a nice night actually. Peaceful.
"So you don't hate me?" He asked.
She sighed and closed her eyes. "No, Malfoy. I don't hate you. I never did."
She never did. Even after all the insults, the bigotry, and all the evil things he had done to her and her friends, she could never truly come to hate him. She had tried, but she noticed that it wasn't worth it, hating someone. It took far too much energy, energy that could otherwise be focused elsewhere.
His face was rather comical. It was the wrong kind of thought for a moment like this, but Hermione had never seen Malfoy look so...happy or relieved and yet confused.
She turned back toward the staircase and started to descend. She heard him follow her down and out of the Astronomy Tower and back into the hallway.
As they were walking back to their dorms, Hermione turned to him.
"If you need to talk Malfoy..."
He chuckled. "I don't need to play Hufflepuff with a bleeding heart Gryffindor. That being said..."
He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
It was an awkward hug, to say the least. One of those 'stick your butt out so certain parts aren't touching' hugs. But it was a hug nonetheless.
Hermione found herself enveloped in warmth as he held her with tight embrace. She heard him murmur a soft, "Thank you," before he pulled back and went his own direction, toward the Slytherin Common Room.
XXXXX
She strode down the hallway. It was dark and the shadows were being creepy, but she was too pissed off to notice anything but her destination.
It figured. It figured that just when things started to go great, they would end, and all hell would break loose.
She took several twists and turns to find him. She still wasn't that familiar with the castle, and for the most part Pansy had needed to guide her or draw her a map for directions. But it was always easy to find him.
She yanked back the drapes that hid the little alcove. Ignoring his partners astonished "Hey!" she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"Sorry skank I just need to borrow him for a few moments," she said, pulling him away.
She let the drapes fall back to their original spot, leaving the angered girl behind them. She didn't let go of his collar as she made her way down the hallways again, out the Entrance Hall, through the courtyard, and into the tree line. Once they were concealed by the shadows enough, she let go.
"We have a major problem."