(A/N: Hey, guys! I'm SOOOO sorry that I haven't updated. Severe writers block. Anyway, I just graduated high school and I've been looking for jobs for a month now, but no one wants to hire me and it makes me sad bc I desperately need a source of income so I can start saving money so I can pay for stupid student loans. I hate everything.
Today, I went to Warner Bros for the studio tour and I got to sit on the Central Perk couch from Friends, ride a fucking Nimbus 2000 + a complimentary picture of me riding it, and I went to the studio's Harry Potter museum ugh it was cool.
Anyway, thank you to the readers who are so fucking patient with these slow ass updates and this slow ass story line. It'll move faster soon I promise. I'm also going to edit the chapters for mistakes when I'm finished with the next chapter. I really hope you guys are liking this story so far. Remember to favorite, follow, and leave a review! Enjoy ^_^)
Chapter 16: Social Pariah
The next morning, Draco woke up with a splitting headache, and as each second passed, he grew more and more agitated. The scene of Weasel kissing Hermione hungrily on the couch kept replaying in his mind. How is it that he caught the two Gryffindors sucking face when he was sharing a bath with Hermione a few hours before?
Eager to get the day over with, Draco hastily threw on his uniform and made his way towards the Great Hall. Upon entering through the gargantuan double-doors, he turned his head towards the Gryffindor table without thinking. After searching the table for a few seconds, he finally caught sight of the girl who was responsible for his confusion, sitting with Harry and Ginny. Despite the events that transpired the night before, he still couldn't help but feel euphoric when he saw her smile.
Draco sat down in between Blaise and Theo at the Slytherin table. As he helped himself to a serving of pancakes and sausages, Theo greeted him happily. "Morning, mate!"
Inaudibly, Draco mumbled a good morning to his two best friends.
"So, how's living with Granger," Blaise questioned, stirring his oatmeal absentmindedly.
Without responding, Draco took a bite of a mouthful of his pancakes. His grip on his fork and knife tightened, making his knuckles become more prominent.
Theo smirked mischievously, gently elbowing his blonde friend in his side. "Have you two done the no-pants-dance yet?"
Draco gagged as he was in the middle of chewing his food. "Is sex all you two think about," he asked, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah," the two other Slytherins answered.
"Honestly, it's like you don't know us at all, Draco," Blaise chuckled, taking a sip of his morning pumpkin juice. After he swallowed his drink, he steered the conversation back. "You still haven't answered either of our questions."
Draco threw his utensils on his plate, creating a clanging noise. "It's fucking confusing and I hate it," he spat.
"Shit," Blaise exclaimed. "What the hell happened?"
Theo leaned in closer to his friends.
Malfoy ruffled his blonde hair in frustration. "Last night, as I was about to take a bath, I had an encounter with her in our shared bathtub."
"What," Theo asked loudly, his eyes growing wide. "How did that happen?"
"I don't know, mate. I just wanted to take a bath and she just happened to be using the tub. I was going to leave before she noticed me, but then I thought to myself, 'This is my bathroom, too. I can use it whenever I want.' I must have grown balls the size of Texas, because I got in with her."
"Nice," Blaise nodded approvingly, fist-bumping Nott.
"I felt so relaxed, but then my leg accidentally brushed against hers underneath the water and then she kinda freaked out. I got her to calm down, and before I knew it, I was running my hands along her sides and on her hip bones. She seemed to have enjoyed it, because she was biting her lip," Draco continued. He chuckled to himself at the mere memory of taming the feisty lioness, Hermione Granger.
"There's the Draco I know," Theo pointed out. "I guess you still haven't totally lived down that weird nicknames these girls give you."
"Oh, but that's not the end of it," Draco informed.
His two friends urged him to continue. "A few hours later, I caught Granger pinned underneath that wanking meathead Weasley."
"Bloody hell," Theo commented astoundingly. "That's rough."
"It was disturbing. I mean the prat was about to do it on the sofa!"
Suddenly, the normally chaotic chatter of the Great Hall died down significantly. All at once, everyone turned their attention towards the entrance to the hall. Ron Weasley, with the corners of his mouth quirked upward in an ecstatic demeanor, strutted toward the Gryffindor table with a bounce in his step, a bouquet of red roses in one hand.
Eyes trailed the red-haired boy, no one daring to blink. The only sounds that were heard were the echos of his footsteps reverberating off the ancient castle walls.
Once again, Draco's anger had awakened. His jaw muscles tensed and relaxed as he gritted his teeth. As he crossed his arms, he rhythmically tapped his middle three fingers against his upper arm. Underneath the table, Draco shook his leg frantically, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. It didn't take much effort for Draco to put two and two together. Hell, even Crabbe and Goyle could easily figure out what Ron was trying to do, and they can't even distinguish a woodchip from a woodchuck!
A cacophony of whispers erupted as Ron stopped in front of a bewildered Hermione Granger.
Ron cleared his throat as he locked eyes with the Head Girl. "Hermione," he began. "I know I haven't been a good friend to you lately, but I just wanted you to know that although you may not believe it, you mean the absolute world to me." He began rubbing the back of his neck as he giggled nervously. His weight continually shifted as his feet fidgeted.
Hermione watched Ron intently, the corners of her mouth slowly turning upward.
Chewing his bottom lip, Ron continued. "I-I-I, uh, um, wanted to, uh…ask you something if that's okay?"
With a small, assuring smile, Hermione nodded.
"Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?"
This is it, Draco thought. I've lost my chance. And suddenly, as if he had been stabbed, Draco felt a sharp pain in his chest. He clutched at his chest, as if trying to hold on to his breaking heart. The girl he had fallen in love with, the girl to whom he felt was in his reach, was slowly drifting away.
With a grin that crinkled her eyes, Hermione leaped up from her seat, and wrapped her arms around Ron. The pair nearly toppled over as Hermione latched herself onto Ron, causing the two to giggle. Finally, and to Draco's dismay, she replied with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"
Rounds of applause and a multitude of cheers broke out all throughout the Great Hall, causing a ringing noise in Malfoy's ear.
"Fuck this shit," Malfoy muttered to himself as he stormed out of the Great Hall.
The Head Boy mostly kept to himself, only talking to other people when absolutely necessary. To say that Ron's public display annoyed him was an understatement. How he was supposed to remain composed when he saw the Weasel he didn't know, but he would have to during the prefect meetings if he wanted to maintain his Head Boy title.
Draco opened the door to the empty classroom on the third floor where the Prefect meeting was being held. He ignored the prefects as he made his way to his seat in the front of the room. As soon as he sat down, the noise level increased slightly.
The number of individuals in the empty classroom gradually increased as the clock neared 6:15. When it was time for the meeting to officially start, Draco internally panicked as he noticed that Hermione wasn't in the designated Head Girl seat. Ten minutes rolled by, and Hermione has yet to show up.
"Anyone seen the Head Girl," he asked, directing his question at no one in particular.
The prefects answered his question by shaking their heads and shrugging.
Finally, the door to the classroom swung open, revealing Hermione and Ron, both wearing lovesick grins as they held hands. The Head Boy rolled his eyes as he noticed the pair's inter-locking fingers. Walking hand-in-hand, they entered the room and walked to their respective seats.
Deciding to speak with Hermione later, he started the meeting. "Okay, now that the Head Girl is here, we can start the meeting."
"First, we need everyone here to sign up for the patrol schedule for this month," Hermione informed. "There are twenty-six of us, so that means everyone has to sign up at least once."
"And don't be a lazy shit and only sign up for one night," Draco drawled, a hint of boredom in his voice. "And please remember which nights you signed up for."
Hermione enchanted a makeshift schedule on the large, rectangular chalkboard behind her. One by one, the prefects scribbled their names under the dates. After every prefect's name was on the schedule, Hermione and Draco signed up for the remaining dates. Draco grumbled as he was forced to sign up on the same nights as Pansy Parkinson. Despite having the short end of the stick, he still managed to secure two nights with Hermione.
"Okay, now that that's done, we'll move on to the next item on the agenda," Hermione announced. "Professor Dumbledore visited me in my common room yesterday and we had a discussion on inter-house unity, specifically between Gryffindor and Slytherin. This year Professor Dumbledore would like us to find ways to promote better relationships among the houses, and I fully support this idea. I'm sick and tired of this petty feud."
Pansy stood up from her seat, a look of annoyance gracing her features. "You do realize that it's not going to work, right," she commented. "These Gryffindors are too damn stubborn."
The Gryffindors prefects' jaws dropped at Pansy's outburst, all looking like they wanted to strangle her.
A very pissed off Lavender Brown stood up, feeling the need to stand up for her house. "I wouldn't be talking shit if I were you, Parkinson. If I remember clearly, it was your house that was founded on pure-blood supremacist beliefs. It was your founder that made you believe that associating with muggle-borns is an atrocity," she yelled at Pansy, pointing her finger at her for emphasis.
The Gryffindor prefects utter "oh's" in sync.
A smug look found its way on Pansy's face. "You're just upset because your boyfriend dumped you," she giggled.
"Parkinson, Brown," Draco boomed. "Sit your asses down!"
Before sitting down, Lavender narrowed her eyes and huffed.
"You see, this is what Hermione was talking about," Draco began. "Yeah, Gryffindors and Slytherins have had bad blood, but we are the leaders of this school, and it is our job as a whole to make this school come together and live in harmony, regardless of house. Now, if any of you guys have a problem with that, Hermione and I can speak with Dumbledore and explain to him how the group of prefects that he selected are unwilling to cooperate with each other to make this school the best that it can be." He paused as he looked at the prefects' faces for any signs of objection. His tone shifted to a light one. "Seriously, guys, imagine how much better off this school would be if we all at least tried to get along."
Every single person in the room was shocked to hear that Draco Malfoy, the spoiled Slytherin who stood for blood purity, the boy who called the Head Girl a mudblood during his second year, was preaching inter-house cooperation between Slytherin and Gryffindor.
After hearing his speech, Hermione began to think that he did take his role as Head Boy seriously. "It will take time, but it's possible," she concluded, quickly glancing at Draco with an impressed smile. "Now, do we have any suggestions that will help improve house relationships," she questioned, standing up and walking over to the chalkboard.
A fifth year Gryffindor named Caitlin spoke out confidently. "Well, we all know that each house has their own designated table, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"Instead of segregating the houses we could try sitting at different tables with people from different houses," she continued, making her statement sound like a question.
"That sounds like a great idea," Hermione agreed. She turned her back for a few seconds to write Caitlin's suggestion down on the board.
"It's brilliant! We'll start doing that tomorrow at breakfast," Draco declared. "Hopefully, once everyone sees that you guys are sitting at different tables, they'll follow suit." He carefully eyed the Slytherin prefects. "And I expect everyone to be sitting at a different table other than their own, got it?"
The prefects muttered a "yes" in unison.
"Any other ideas," Draco asked, scanning the room.
A shy Hufflepuff girl named Jonah raised her hand cautiously. When Draco gestured to her, she spoke with a soft voice. "Maybe we could plan an informal party in the Great Hall, where the students can socialize and stuff."
"It sounds great, but we need to run that by Professor Dumbledore first, because that takes a lot of planning," Hermione indicated. "If we were to throw a party, we need to reserve a date, decide on food, hire musicians, and stuff like that, but I'll keep it in mind, and I'll let you guys know what he says."
"I actually have an idea," Draco admitted. He licked his lips, and rubbed the back of his neck. "We can have an intramural Quidditch league, and the teams can be composed of people from different houses. It also gives the students who don't play on the school teams a chance to play, as well."
"That's also a good idea, but it also requires planning," Hermione stated. "I trust that you'll talk to Professor Dumbledore and Madame Hooch about that?"
"Of course," Draco grinned radiantly.
The next morning, Hermione woke up with a smile on face, her mood still elevated from yesterday's events: Ron had finally asked her out! During her show, she was sure that she didn't see him as more than a best friend, however she was unaware that those repressed feelings had a way of coming back later on.
He had finally stood up to Lavender, and even defended her in the process. Everything happened pretty quickly, now that Hermione thought about it, but she was too happy to care; she was now in a blossoming relationship!
When she was done getting ready, she headed towards the Great Hall. On the second floor of the Grand Staircase, however, she unexpectedly met with Harry and Ginny, whose faces held a look of worry and concern. Worry lines grazed on both of their foreheads. Underneath the worry lines, their eyes shot Hermione a pitiful stare.
Hermione tightly grasped her book-bag strap. "What's going on, guys," Hermione asked uneasily as she eyed her two friends.
Harry and Ginny exchanged glances at each other, both uncertain of how to tell her.
"You're scaring me a bit guys."
Finally, Harry spoke up. "Hermione, it might not be a good idea to head over to the Great Hall right now."
Disbelief washed across her face as she shook her head. "Why not? I'm starving! And where's Ron?"
"He's still sleeping. Please don't go in there," Ginny implored.
"Guys, I need to eat," Hermione retorted. "If I don't eat something, my stomach will eat itself!" She proceeded to the Great Hall, not knowing what was going to happen.
The noise in the Great Hall grew louder as she got closer. When she was just past the doorway, the students ceased talking for a few seconds to laugh as she passed by.
The floor was covered with crumpled up paper airplanes and balled up wads of paper, making Hermione grumble at how inconsiderate the students were for littering. Harry and Ginny quickly followed her as she walked briskly towards Luna and Neville at what used to be the Ravenclaw table. A group of sixth year girls sitting right next to Hermione turned to look at her, and snickered to themselves.
"What's going on," Hermione questioned cautiously, looking around the hall suspiciously.
As if on cue, hundreds of enchanted paper airplanes began flying around the Great Hall and performing nosedives in front of random students. While some of the students caught the planes with their hands, others got hit in the face by the flying menaces.
Hermione ducked as the front of a paper airplane narrowly missed hitting the side of her face. Curious, she picked up the paper airplane that nearly hit her and opened it. The students around Hermione kept quiet as they watched her unfold the paper plane. Once she opened it, the occupants of the hall roared with taunting laughter.
Inside, a moving picture of Hermione took up a sizable amount of the paper, but the part of the paper that was the most noticeable was the word "slut," written diagonally on the bottom half of her picture in large, bold, shimmery, red ink.
Humiliated, she crumpled the paper with her two hands and tossed it behind her, quickly finding another paper plane next to her.
Opening it, Hermione saw that this paper contained a different picture of her, which contained the word "easy."
"Don't listen to what those papers say, Hermione," Harry urged. "Whoever is doing this is obviously just trying to get a reaction out of you. Don't give them the satisfaction."
"These people must have cheese for brains if they actually believe this rubbish," Ginny spat.
"I don't believe any of it," Neville comforted. "I know you aren't like that." He reached out and gently squeezed her hand.
"Me too," Luna chirped.
Hermione chuckled. "You guys, this is nothing," she assured confidently. "I can handle this."
Ginny and Harry eyed her warily as she continued to assure them that she was fine.
"Honestly," Hermione continued. "It's nothing I can't handle." She quickly reached out, took a gulp of the untouched pumpkin juice in front of her, and took snatched a piece of toast. "I actually, uh, have to go to the library," she lied. "I'll see you guys in class," she finished speedily as she took long strides away from her friends and out of the Great Hall.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she kept her head down. Her steps became longer and her speed became faster, hoping to reach the broom closet near the Charms class sooner. Hermione opened the door to the closet, and shut it as fast as she could.
Once the door was shut, comfortable darkness surrounded her. With her back pressed against the furthest wall, she slid down until her bottom hit the hard ground. Her tears fell from her long eyelashes as she broke out into small sobs. Feeling defeated, Hermione hugged her knees closer to her chest, and placed her head into her arms.
For a few minutes, Hermione lifted her head up to eat the piece of toast she took from the Great Hall. A few tears fell down her face as she chewed her food. Once she was done eating, she assumed her original position, and continued crying. She remained in that position for the next hour, dreading the moment she would have to open the door and face the students.
Normally, Hermione wouldn't let petty insults get the better of her, but she had bottled up many years' worth of hurt from her father and her peers, and all of her pent-up emotions had finally let themselves go.