Chapter 38- Pushing the Right Buttons
The hallways of Hogwarts were deserted by the time Hermione and Draco left the library one Friday night. Hermione had insisted on going to the library to read up on some Potions textbooks even though Draco had wanted to spend their time in Heads’ common room. It was more difficult to take study breaks when they were not in the common room you see. And breaks were something that Draco always seemed to look forward to, for various reasons.
“Did you get what you wanted from the library?” Draco asked, casting the brown-haired witch next to him a glance. Her arms were piled with books stacked up to her nose. “You sure you didn’t miss a shelf or two? I mean, it seems like you have half the library there with you, but you never know.”
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. “Ha, ha, very funny,” she said dryly.
Without her asking, Draco grabbed half of Hermione's stack. “Honestly Granger, how are you going to manage to read through all of these before the exams? Shouldn’t you just be concentrating on the textbooks we have?”
“Oh I’ve been through all our textbooks already,” Hermione informed the blonde. “Twice. So I thought these textbooks would be excellent for some extra reading.”
Draco rolled his eyes. “You’re a freak, you know that?”
“Well it takes one to know one, isn’t it?” Hermione retorted with an innocent smile.
“I don’t quite like what you’re implying, Granger,” Draco countered, the tease in his voice obvious.
“Then you’re dafter than I initially thought,” Hermione retorted boldly.
Before Draco could reply however, someone called Hermione from behind.
“Hermione!”
The Head Girl turned around to see that Harry had been the source of the call. He was jogging towards her, with Ron trudging sulkily behind.
Great, Draco thought inwardly, grimacing. That’s what I need. Pottyface and Weasel-breath, who looks like someone just died.
“Hello Harry, hello Ron,” Hermione greeted with a smile. “What are two you doing here?”
Harry did not respond with a smile. “Hermione, we need to talk,” he said solemnly. He threw Draco a glance. “Alone.”
Hermione gazed from Harry to Ron, who merely jammed his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground. He seemed particularly moody. “What going on?” she asked, her voice etched with concern. “Did something happen?”
Harry ran a hand through his hair. “We just really need to talk to you privately Hermione,” he replied, this time throwing Draco a pointed stare.
“She can’t do that Potter,” Draco hissed, gesturing towards the Love-Knot.
“Unfortunately, he’s right Harry,” Hermione concurred. “You know getting me alone is almost impossible.”
“Ron and I have a way,” Harry told Hermione. “Come on.”
Harry and Ron led Hermione toward a deserted classroom, with Draco trailing behind. They instructed Draco to wait right outside the door (the Head Boy wanted to protest but gave in when Hermione said please, to Harry’s amazement and Ron’s disgust). Entering the classroom, Harry told Hermione to stand in front of the door, so that she would not be more than three and a half feet away from Draco on the other side. The Love-Knot stretched between the two, passing nicely through the heavy classroom door.
Then, Harry muttered a spell to ensure that their conversation in the room would not be heard by anyone on the outside. Once all that was settled, Ron slinked away into a nearby corner and Harry leant against the teacher’s desk. For a while, neither of them said anything.
Finally, Hermione spoke. “All right you two, I’m starting to get worried here. I don’t appreciate the suspense.”
“Go on Harry,” Ron beckoned his friend. “I think it’s about time we get on with it.”
“Hey, how long is it going to take in there?” Draco yelled from the outside, knocking on the door. “I don’t have all night you know, Potter!”
To his dismay, there was no reply from the other side.
“I wonder what the hell they could be talking about,” Draco murmured under his breath. “Better not be about me.” Cursing, Draco placed his ear on the door and tried his best to pick up on bits of the conversation, but he heard nothing.
“What, are they talking in bloody sign language?” he said quietly, clearly annoyed.
“There you are!” Pansy cried when she spotted Draco standing outside the classroom. “I have been looking all over for you!” That was a lie of course. Harry and Ron had informed Pansy exactly where they were going to be.
“Hello Pansy,” Draco drawled, pulling his ear away from the door. He was not particularly in the mood to deal with Pansy right now, but realized he was more or less cornered.
“What are you doing here anyways? Why did you have your ear to the door?” Pansy inquired nosily. “And where’s Granger?”
Draco pointed to the classroom. “She’s in there with Potty and Weasel-breath. They’re probably begging for help with studying I reckon. The dunderheads that they are.”
Pansy giggled girlishly. “Good thing then, we’ll let them be. Perfect opportunity for us to talk.”
“Talk? What about?”
“There have been a few things that I have been meaning to discuss with you Draco,” Pansy said, her voice suddenly business-like. “Things that have been troubling me. Things concerning you. And maybe someone else.”
“Will you stop beating around the bush and get to the point?”
“How have you been Hermione?” Harry asked carefully.
“You saw me this morning at lunch,” Hermione responded. “From then and now, I have been fine.”
“We missed you at dinner though,” Harry pointed out.
“Oh yes, I was in the library,” Hermione told him, indicating the mound of books on the floor beside her. “With Malfoy.”
“With Malfoy.” Ron repeated under his breath.
“What was that, Ron?” Hermione queried, frowning in his direction.
“Nothing.”
“What has gotten into you, Draco?” Pansy demanded. “Do you have any idea what the whole school is saying?”
“About Granger and I being a couple? They have been at that for months,” Draco chortled. “It hardly bothers us anymore.”
It doesn’t bother him anymore!! Pansy thought wildly. He used to get so irked knowing that the whole school was talking about him and Granger. And now he doesn’t even remotely care!
“Maybe that’s the problem,” Pansy sighed. It was time for her to put her four part plan into action.
“What’s going on Harry? Is something the matter?” Hermione asked, staring from one friend to the next. “Is it the studying? Do you need my help? Ron?”
Ron simply stared at her.
“No Hermione, the study is coming along great,” Harry replied. Then he frowned. “Well not great, but we’re all right.”
“Oh,” Hermione frowned. “So what’s the problem then?”
Part 1 - The Exaggeration of Facts.
“The problem is, the whole school’s talking. Everyone,” Pansy emphasized. “And they are saying the most horrible things. About how close the two of you have become.”
Draco lifted his arm and showed Pansy the Love-Knot. “We don’t have a choice Pansy.”
“I don’t mean literally,” Pansy huffed. “They are saying bad things about you and Granger being alone in the dorm, doing…” She forced herself to look pained. “Doing all sorts of nasty things I rather not mention!”
“That’s rubbish,” Draco snorted. “It’s Granger we’re talking about here. All we do in the dorm is study.” And play chess. And talk to each other for hours sometimes. And go for broom-rides. And sit on the Quidditch stands. And there was that time we ki… Draco quickly silenced his thoughts.
Pansy placed her hands on her hips and exhaled noisily. This was not going to be as easy as she expected.
“I don’t care if the school’s gossiping behind our backs,” Hermione said. “You know how this school is like. They like the excitement. It doesn’t bother me and Malfoy.”
From the corner of the room, Ron grunted. “Still calling him Malfoy? I’m surprised it hasn’t progressed to Draco or Drakie-poo yet.”
Hermione shot her red-haired friend a look. “What are you talking about Ron?”
It was Harry who replied for Ron. “Look Hermione, it’s not just about the other students in the school. We… we have been noticing it too.”
“Noticing what?” Hermione demanded, though somewhere at the back of her mind, she has a strange feeling she knew exactly what Harry was talking about.
“You and that blonde-haired bast””
“You and Malfoy,” Harry interjected, casting Ron a warning look. He, Harry, was feeling angry too, but he definitely had more control over his emotions than Ron did at the moment. But Harry could not blame him. Ron’s emotion had always been a little more unruly when it came to Hermione.
“You and Malfoy,” Harry went on, “have been… unusually close these last few weeks. And I don’t mean the Love-Knot,” he quickly added upon seeing Hermione make a move to raise her hand.
Hermione looked puzzled. “Then what do you mean?”
Part 2- Accusations Galore
“Granger and I? Closer? Have you gone off your rocker, Pansy?” Draco turned away from the fellow Slytherin, afraid that his eyes may betray some wayward emotion.
“Don’t pretend, Draco,” Pansy seethed. She had dropped the desperation in her voice. There was no more feigned concern or pain. All that had been replaced by anger. It was not so hard to fake her emotions anymore.
“I’m not pretending Pansy!” Draco exclaimed, spinning on his heel to face Pansy once again. “And I don’t think I know what you’re talking about anymore.”
“Oh really?” Pansy narrowed her eyes. “So there’s nothing going on between you and Granger then?”
“Hell no!”
Pansy was now circling Draco like a vulture. “Then how would you explain letting her ride on the broomstick with you during the Quiddtich match?”
“She volunteered! Besides, you know what Quiddtich means to me.”
“And what about all the giggling and laughing during meals?”
“When is the last time you saw me giggle?”
“And how would you explain shutting me up when I called her a Mudblood?” Pansy’s voice was several octaves lower.
Draco remained silent.
“How would you explain standing up for her?” Pansy went on, her voice dripping with malice.
Again, Draco said nothing.
Pansy’s pacing came to a halt right in front of Draco. She stared at him long and hard. “The Draco Malfoy I know would never, never ever stand up for someone like her. So do tell, how is it that you defended her by shutting me up?”
“Pansy, this is ridiculous. I feel like I’m being””
“Do you like her, Draco?”
“What?!”
“DO YOU LIKE HER, DRACO!” Pansy screamed.
“It’s a simple question, Hermione,” Ron said through gritted teeth. “We want to know what’s going on between the two of you.”
Hermione’s frown deepened. She turned to Harry. “Harry, what’s wrong””
“Is not possible for you to give a straight answer, Hermione?” Harry asked coldly.
It did not take Hermione long to realize that he was starting to lose his patience as well. “If it’s a straight answer you want,” she said, the coolness in her tone matching Harry’s, “then I can honestly say that it is none of your business.”
“What do you mean that it’s none of our business?!” Ron exploded. He stomped towards Hermione, backing her up against the door. “Since when have you kept things from us! Ever since you’ve gotten that bloody thing around your arm, you’ve been acting like you’re married to that useless excuse of a wizard! Do you honestly think we’re blind?! Do you think we don’t notice the way you act around him?!”
“Married?? The way I act around him? I””
“You seemed more concerned about him than about any of us! Agreeing to fly with him when he was playing against us? Getting drunk and being carried by him during Valentine’s Day? And mind you, don’t think we haven’t notice the eagerness to rush off with him into the Heads’ dorm!”
“Ron, calm down,” Harry finally spoke, backing Ron away from Hermione.
Hermione glared at Ron, her brown eyes hard with anger. “I’m not going to stand here and let you””
But Ron was not in the mood to listen to anyone. “And don’t you dare act all innocent about it!” he yelled.
Harry’s grip around Ron’s shoulders tightened. “Ron, you need to take it easy,” he said, his tone soft but firm. He pushed the redhead away from Hermione.
Ron shrugged off Harry’s hands and broke eye-contact with Hermione. Turning away from her, he ran his hands through his hair and sighed heavily. He did not want to look at her. He was too afraid of what he might see in her eyes when he asked her his next question. For a long time, there was no sound from him. “Do you fancy him, Hermione?” he finally questioned, his voice barely a whisper.
“What?”
Ron faced her again. “Do you fancy him, Hermione?”
Hermione fidgeted uneasily. “Ron, I think you should””
“Just answer the bloody question.”
“Honestly, Ron, you should really””
“DO YOU LIKE HIM DAMMIT?!”
“YES I DO!”
The stunned silence that filled the room was piercing. There was no movement, no sound. It was as if time had frozen.
Once again, the silence was shattered by Ron. “Does he like you too?” he croaked.
“I… don’t know.”
It seemed that it was all Ron needed to hear. He looked at her for the longest time, his eyes darting all over her face, examining every expression. Then, without another word, he stormed out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Hermione.
“You hurt him Hermione,” Harry said to her once Ron’s footsteps had faded away. “Very badly.”
“I didn’t expect this to happen, Harry,” Hermione tried to explain. “It just did.”
The Gryffindor before her shook his head. “How could you Hermione? After all he did to you for the past seven years?”
Hermione looked away defiantly.
“He’s our worse enemy. Have you forgotten what he thinks about muggle-borns?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Harry that Draco no longer uses the derogatory term “Mudblood” on her, but she held her tongue.
“And his father…” There was a fire in Harry’s eyes that Hermione recognized all too well. “Do you not remember that he was, that he is a Death-Eater?”
Hermione shook her head. “I don’t care about his father, Harry. Malfoy wasn’t even involved in the war.”
“So you’re defending him now?” Harry accused.
“I’m not defending anybody. I’m just saying that he’s not like his father.”
“He’s his father’s son,” Harry said harshly.
“That doesn’t mean anything Harry, and you know it.”
“Don’t you realize that this is exactly what his father wants?”
“I’m not agreeing to marry him Harry,” Hermione attempted to explain. “I’m not even saying that he’s a saint, that he’s a wonderful and perfect human being. All I’m saying is that I have seen facets of Draco Malfoy that I never realized existed. And all these facets, including the nastiness that he has always shown us, make up a person I don’t… I don’t exactly hate.”
The raven-haired boy looked at Hermione as if she ought to be admitted to St. Mungo’s. Then he proceeded to stare at the Love-Knot accusingly. “This is all the Love-Knot’s fault,” he muttered. “You sure it doesn’t have the power to make two people fall in love whether they like it or not?”
“It doesn’t,” Hermione assured. “The Love-Knot does not have the capability or power to do so. The creator of the Love-Knot, the Goddess of Love, Venus, would not have wanted to force two people into love. The person sending the Knot only has the power to enchant with a specific purpose and hope that the wearers will eventually accomplish that purpose whole-heartedly in order for it to come off. Trust me, I have done my research.”
“This is all the Love-Knot’s fault,” Harry repeated again.
“Maybe it is,” Hermione said with a shrug, “maybe it’s not. Whatever the case may be Harry, it doesn’t change the fact that I like him.”
Harry glowered at Hermione, his incredulity slowly being replaced by anger.
“And I’m not sorry about it,” she added, sounding almost defiant.
Harry stared after her as she made her way out of the classroom. He wanted to tell her that she was being stupid, that she was making the most impractical, irrational decision ever. He wanted to tell her that this was the biggest mistake in her life. But as he watched her leave, he knew it was too late.
Part 3- Trampling the Malfoy Ego.
“Of course not!” Draco shouted back, fuming. It took him a long while to reply, but the answer finally flowed from his lips without him faltering, without him thinking about kissing her, without him thinking about the way she felt in his arms.
“You don’t fancy Granger?” Pansy asked again, inching closer towards Draco.
“You heard me the first time, Pansy.”
Pansy smiled inwardly. There was still hope.
“Listen to me Draco,” she said slowly, choosing her words very carefully, “you may not care much of what the school thinks of you, but I’m certain you wouldn’t be too pleased with what the Slytherins think.”
Draco visibly stiffened. “What do you mean?” he asked. “The Slytherins know very well that there is nothing going on between me and Granger.”
“You honestly think so, Draco?” Pansy snorted. “They are starting to find that very hard to believe. They think you have become rather… pathetic, especially around Granger.”
The look on Draco face quite clearly told Pansy that she had hit the mark. Draco has always, and probably will always, care about what his friends thought of him. And “pathetic” is not exactly one of his favorite words.
“They think you have become soft,” Pansy went on, thoroughly enjoying the taunting, but not making too obvious that she was. “They think that you may become… muggle-loving.”
Draco’s face became a shade paler than it already was. Pathetic? Soft? Muggle-loving?? These were not the words associated with Draco Malfoy! His mind was reeling and all he could think about was how to make the Slytherins realize that he was none of the things they said he was. Certainly not muggle-loving!
Pansy tried not to suppress the smile forming on her lips. She let the silence between them stretch on for a while more, letting it poke and jab all the right spots” spots where it hurt the most for Draco Malfoy…
Finally, after deriving as much satisfaction as possible from the flustered expression on Draco’s face, Pansy decided to add the finishing touch while thoughts were still reeling through his head: Part 4- Blame Granger for Everything.
“Do you not see the state to which Granger has reduced you to?” Pansy said, trying her best to be comforting. “And can you imagine how smug she must be feeling knowing that she has reduced you to such a state of pathetic-ness in front of your closest friends? Why she must be boasting about it to that bloody Potter and Weasley at this very moment, as we speak.” She paused dramatically to let the words sink in. “I even think it’s a conspiracy. The three of them must be rejoicing at how she has you wrapped around her little finger…”
“Think about it Malfoy. It’s a wonderful plan on their part, isn’t it? Using Hermione Granger to get to you. To make you seem pathetic. Imagine the laugh they must be having. And having you stand up for her in front of all the Slytherins the other day must have bee the icing on the cake…”
And the rage in Draco’s eyes was all Pansy needed to see to ensure that things were going to go exactly a planned. Now, all Harry and Ron needed to do was to keep their end of the bargain.
“What do you mean that you could not do it?!” Pansy screeched an hour later. She was standing with Harry in a deserted classroom on top of the Astronomy Tower. “You were supposed to get her mad! Push her buttons, remember?”
“Things just started going in a different direction. It was not something we expected,” Harry explained, his voice terse. “There were certain things that were said that caught us completely off-guard and we could not steer the conversation back to the path we intended.”
Pansy stared at Harry, her arms folded across her chest. “And what exactly were these certain things that were said?” she asked curiously.
“That’s none of your business, Parkinson,” Harry snapped.
“It is my business if it means that the plan is going to fail,” Pansy said irritably. “Merlin Potter, can’t you and that idiotic friend of yours do anything right? Where is he anyway?”
“What is it to you?” Harry scowled. “I haven’t got the time to stand here and listen to your rubbish.” He was about to turn and leave when Pansy stopped him.
“Wait, Potter, listen,” Pansy said. “All’s not lost.”
Harry paused mid-stride, but made no move to turn. “What do you mean?’
“I managed to get to Draco,” Pansy explained, a triumphant smile appearing on her lips. “He was pretty much furious before I left him. So I’m banking on that fact to hope that something will still happen between them.”
“You think there’s a chance?” Harry asked, his head slightly tilted in Pansy’s direction.
“Certainly Potter,” Pansy’s smile stretched even wider, “I know Draco. There is definitely still a chance.”
The walk back to the Heads’ dorm had been unusually long and quiet. As the two Heads entered the common room, thoughts were racing through their minds, but both of entirely different content.
As they sat at the study table to get down to work, Hermione wondered when Draco was going to ask what had been going on between her and her two friends. Instead, he quietly opened his Arithmancy textbook and began reading it.
It did not take Hermione very long to realize that something was not right with Draco. He was turning the pages rather roughly, and the delicate pages threatened to tear under his handling. “Is something the matter, Malfoy?” she asked carefully.
He grunted in response.
“Finding Arithmancy a little too hard to handle again?” she teased with a small chuckle.
“I’m fine,” he growled, his voice rigid.
Feeling slightly taken aback, Hermione kept quiet and pulled her own books towards herself. After a while however, she focused her attention back on Draco. “I’m surprised you haven’t been your usual busybody self and ask me what I was doing in that room with Harry and Ron,” she commented cheekily, trying once again to lighten the mood.
In response, Draco slammed his book shut. He turned his head to face Hermione. “What is it that you and your friends were talking about in the classroom, Granger?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm and feigned concern. “Pray do tell.”
Hermione glared. “If you don’t want to know, there is no need to be so sarcastic about it.”
“Oh no, no, please do tell, Granger, please do,” Draco went on in a sardonic tone. “I do want to hear all about the part where you boast to your little friends how you have Draco Malfoy taking you out for broomstick rides in the middle of the night and playing chess with you.”
“Malfoy, what in the world””
“Oh, oh, and you must tell me about the bit where you gloat to them about how you have me wrapped around your little finger. They must be thrilled to know that the Dream Team finally has some control over Draco Malfoy through Hermione Granger.”
“You’re insane!
“Of course, not forgetting the bit about where you proudly tell your friends that thanks to you, I have become a pathetic loser. You must tell me about the laugh you three were having in there!”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
“You can stop pretending now!” Draco exclaimed, his face red with anger this time. “I know what has been going on behind my back with you and your three friends.”
“And what exactly do you think is going on behind your back??” Hermione shouted, her anger matching his.
“You and your stupid friends were planning to bring me down! It’s part of your plan to get back at me after all these years of rivalry! For me to be ridiculed by all my friends, showing them that you have Draco Malfoy under your control! That’s how you’re using the Love-Knot to your advantage!”
“Oh my goodness! What in the world is wrong with you Malfoy? Do you want to know what I was doing in there with my friends, Malfoy?!” Hermione hollered. “I was standing there like a fool while they were accusing me of a being a bad friend! I stood there, letting them interrogate me about you! I stood there, watching my two best friends become utterly disappointed as I admitted to them that I like their mortal enemy!”
The admission sent shock waves radiating throughout the empty room.
“Why would you do something like that?” Draco asked, staring straight at Hermione.
“Because I like you, you idiot!” Hermione yelled in frustration. A tiny gasp escaped her lips when she realized what she had done, twice.
For a moment, there was an expression on Draco’s face that Hermione had never seen before and she was certain that he was going to say the exact same thing she had. But in the blink of an eye, the expression disappeared, and it had been replaced by an aloofness that Hermione was unknown to.
“What in Merlin’s name are you talking about woman?” Draco said stiffly, turning his face away from Hermione. “What did you expect me to say? Did you think I was actually going to reciprocate? You must be off your bloody rocker.”
Hermione frowned. “So none of it meant anything to you?”
“What are you talking about?”
What was she talking about? What was she talking about? Hermione did not know where to begin! “Everything Malfoy,” she tried to articulate the thoughts racing through her mind. “From the moment we were stuck together… The time I tried to fix the button of your pants in the toilet and gave the entire school the wrong idea, the time you dropped in on me in the shower, the times we patrolled Hogsmeade together, the time I got drunk, the times we talk…” Her voice trailed off. “You mean to tell me all that, all that and more, it meant nothing to you?”
Draco stared at the glowing embers in the fireplace. “It was supposed to mean something?” he retorted, allowing himself a casual shrug.
Hermione was starting to feel stupider by the moment. “Why did you save me during the Quidditch match, Malfoy?”
“I didn’t. The Love-Knot did.”
“You’re right, it did. But there was no need for you to shield me with your own body and promise that nothing would happen to me. So why did you?”
“Oh come on Granger, I thought I was dying. Do you honestly think I was keep track of all my movements at that point in time? I barely remember any of it.”
“And what about all those times we spent chatting and talking with each other?” Hermione asked, her tone almost accusing. “Why did you open up to me, Malfoy?”
Hermione was certain that she had caught Draco off-guard, but the Head Boy continued to maintain his cool demeanor. “Well, it was the only way I was going to get you to talk about yourself, wasn’t it? And if I didn’t get you to talk about yourself, how else would I have killed my time with you? I would have rotted with boredom otherwise, isn’t it? Mind you, some of your stories were such a bore that I would have rather rotted away…”
The brown-haired Gryffindor tried to ignore the slight stab of sadness she felt at Draco’s words. But she was not about to give up as of yet. “And what about that kiss, Malfoy?” she asked, her voice low. “And not once, but twice. The first time on Valentine’s day…”
“That was to shut you up,” came Draco’s hasty reply.
“and the second time was hardly two weeks ago…”
“That was to shut you up as well.”
“Don’t lie, Malfoy. If you wanted to shut me up, why did you say ‘And neither of us are drunk now’. Why? Why did you kiss me then, Malfoy? Why?” Hermione demanded. She needed to know it meant something. She had to. She had felt it. And she knew he did too. She just needed him to say it…
Draco glanced at Hermione, who was staring at him intently with those questioning brown eyes.
“Why Malfoy?” she asked again, this time her voice in a whisper. Those honey-colored frantically searched for something in his silver ones, almost pleading to find something and for a moment or two, Draco wanted to let her find it…
“It was pity,” Draco’s voice finally stated matter-of-factly, not once wavering his gaze from her eyes.
It was as if someone had repeatedly kicked her in the stomach. Hermione felt the wind being knocked out of her. “PITY?” she roared. “PITY?!”
Draco stood his ground, looking at the brunette defiantly. “Yes, pity.” He spat the last word as if it were merely dirt in his mouth. “That’s all you deserve.
“I took pity on you. I played along. Let you think that we could be,” Draco laughed snidely, “friends. A couple of kisses here and there didn’t hurt either. I benefited from them as well,” he smirked. “I felt sorry for you.”
The rage that was boiling within Hermione’s heart was insurmountable. “How…Dare…You,” she seethed, her fists clenched so tightly at her sides that her knuckles shone white and her nails drew blood from her palms. “HOW…DARE…YOU! HOW DARE YOU PITY ME?!”
She wanted to slap him, she wanted to hit him, physically hurt him in any way possible to make him feel what she was feeling on the inside. She had never felt so furious in her life before. Never had the urge to hurt someone been so intense.
“HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OUT OF MY FEELINGS, OUT OF ME?!” Hermione screamed, her eyes wild with fury.
Draco simply stared, his face void of any emotion or expression. As if to ridicule her further, he smirked.
And that was when Hermione lost it. Before she knew it, her hand landed on his cheek with as much force as she could muster. The slap resonated throughout the common room, its echo bouncing off the walls, reverberating off the glass windows.
In the hush that followed, Hermione allowed Draco to feel the full impact of her slap before very quietly saying, “I hate you, Draco Malfoy. I hate you.” And never before had she meant those words more than she did in this instance.
Draco felt the smarting sensation of where Hermione’s hand landed on his cheek. Immediately, his own hand flew to the spot on his cheek that was now bright red against his pale skin. He tried to calm the throbbing of his cheek, but the throb of anger that was within him was inconsolable.
“For your information,” Draco said through gritted teeth, his gray eyes livid with fury, “I hate you too, you nasty little brat. I have never hated you more in my life than I do at this very moment.”
There was silence as tears swam in Hermione's eyes.
And then something happened.
The Unseemly Proposal by sparx
Chapter Notes: Once again, a reminder that this story is NOT HBP or DH compatible! I also wanted to say that I love you guys. =) Thanks for EVERYTHING so far!