They have been seeing each other for the remainder of the year they have gone through. In secret though, her wish to stay a secret, they had fights, fights about Neil getting flirted with, about Ron trying to hit on Hermione and sometimes, Neil saw these flashes in her eyes and he'd suspect something.
But he trusted her, he wanted to trust her.
They were in the library, Neil was buckling his belt while Hermione was tying his tie around his neck, having used it for something else. "What a nice surprise, love." He whispered against her lips.
Her hands had been playing with his hair from the back. She just hummed and kissed him back, feverishly.
"What the fuck are you doing?" A voice came, and deja vu washed over Neil. She had pulled away from Neil immediately.
She looked between Ron and Neil let out a breath, his heart ached up until his throat. Hermione was trying to explain herself to Ron now, and all Neil was thinking was why she wasn't explaining anything to him. Why was Ron so mad? Why didn't he just walk away?
"Looks like I'm interrupting." Neil said harshly as he realized what was going on. All the secret glances, the whispering and the touches that he had so called, 'imagined'. Hermione had been cheating on him, and nobody said anything because nobody knew they were dating.
Hermione immediately stopped talking to Ron and turned to Neil, "Neil, I-"
"Save it for someone who cares." Neil had put his mask back on, the reason why his reputation as a womanizer came back to life again. It had happened before and now it is happening again.
Just as he thought he could leave that life behind, it followed him to Hogwarts in the form of Hermione Granger.
He walked out of the library, leaving Hermione and Ron behind on their own.
– – – – –
Time had passed and now it was morning, which meant that it was breakfast time in the great hall. She sat down by Harry and at the first question that he asked her, "Are you okay?" she bursted out in tears.
"I fucked up Harry." She said, not hearing the sound of a chair being pulled back next to her, "Neil broke up with me."
"Bloody Slytherin is a dead man." Ron seethed and stormed over to the Slytherin table. Hermione and Harry shared a look before scrambling up and over after Ron. But they were paces behind while Ron tapped Neil's shoulder.
Neil turned around and scowled once he realized it's Ron. "What is it, Weasley?" He sneered, "Didn't have enough of your fill?" He saw the boy winding up his arm to punch him and Neil ducked forward, his food and drink spilling over the whole table.
Neil stood up from the chair and towered over Ron. "The fuck." He exclaimed loudly, gaining the attention of the people in the back. Heads turning as a ruckus was made. Neil managed to push away a wild punch from Ron and kick him against the Ravenclaw table.
Hermione covered her mouth in shock as she saw the fight starting right in front of her eyes. Harry was quick to pull his adoptive brother away from his best friend, Draco was on the other arm, pulling the Slytherin back.
"You're pulling me away? The fucking idiot attacked me!" Neil was seething as he pushed his brother and cousin away. "Get away!" He shouted.
"Calm down, Neil. Everyone can relax right now. No one needs to fight." Hermione called out.
"Oh please." Neil let out a breath, "String me along and then have your Weasley attack me like some watchdog." Neil reached out for Ron's collar. "Put another finger on me like that, and you're done for, Wealsey." He spit out and let go of the collar.
"Ron didn't mean for that to happen." Hermione quickly said in defense of Ron, while she saw Neil spit out those words to Ron.
"Clearly." Neil muttered sarcastically and Ron spit on his shoes. He clenched his jaw and was held back by two other Slytherins.
"Neil, don't fight right now." Harry said calmly to Neil. The Slyterin wanted to laugh in his face.
"Oh shut it, Harry." Neil said as he turned to his brother. "I was defending myself from this idiot." He pointed to Ron. A few of the other Slytherin's had stood up and were flanking Neil's side now. "If you plan to attack someone you throw the first punch, that's premeditated."
"Neil, Ron didn't mean for this fight to happen. He wasn't thinking and... He wanted to defend me. That's all." Hermione said in a concerned voice.
"Defend you from what? Me?" Neil frowned at her and scoffed, "Go play with your boy toy and leave me alone, Granger." He said, coldly anger seeping through.
"Neil, you didn't let me explain..." Hermione tried to explain once again, while she felt like Neil just didn't want to hear her out.
"You can't love two people." He said and straightened his back.
Ron stood back up and punched Neil, leaving him a bloody nose. "You bastard, hurting Hermione like that."
Neil wiped away his blood and glared at Ron. "You better leave me alone after this Weasley." Neil then nodded at Draco who stood by his side. "I'm going to the infirmary now."
When he walked away he walked past Harry, where he paused for a second. "Tell father that I am spending my Christmas with the Malfoy's. Not with you and the Weasleys." He said quietly before leaving the Great Hall. The group of slytherin's stood still, watching the trio's every move.
"N-Neil.. Please, wait." Hermione said in a quiet tone, while she felt like Neil was going to completely leave now.