Hello! Sorry for the erm... was it a long non-updating period? Anyway, characters belong to JKR etc etc (and if you were really hoping for it to be posted, it's longer than the others!)
Previously on Crossing Over
“Being evil is like being forced to take a part of yourself away from what you already know. It’s one of the worst feelings you could experience, but at the same time, I guess it’s one of the best. Just that feeling of power… it’s great. You feel like you’re on top of the world, like you’re flying, like you’re free; even though you’re being, so to say, controlled. Please, Granger, stop giving me that look.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who looks like a little boy describing his favourite toy.”
“Do not.”
“Do to.”
“Do not.”
“Shut up. You did. Carry on.”
Chapter 4
“Impatient. Where was I? Oh, evilness. I guess sometimes you can get bored of it, but once you become evil, it’s your life. You can’t live for anything else, but you can do what you want with it. You can abuse your power to the highest, like kill muggles. Or you can just kill people for the fun of it!”
He grinned wickedly. I rolled my eyes at him, just barely managing to prevent myself from diving at him and violently attacking him for being so casual about death and evilness.
“No, really, Granger! Don’t you see? You could be so much more than you already are!”
“And what exactly am I? I’ve always been Hermione Granger, mudblooded know-it-all witch. Scrap that, not even a witch… to people like you, anyway. You think you have nothing to live for? What do I have? No family, no friends, and here I am talking to Draco Malfoy, of all people.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to know I’m appreciated. You know, they’re only your parents…”
“What do you mean ‘they’re only my parents’?! They’re dead, Malfoy, dead! And your father killed them! Harry and Ron don’t understand me; the only friends I’ve talked to about it don’t understand me! They ask why I didn’t tell them, but they don’t care about how I feel…”
“Granger, you really shouldn’t bog yourself down so much. I mean, whatever if they don’t know what you’re going through. It’s like knowing that you exist but not knowing why.”
“That is a bad analogy, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, never been a deep thinker kinda person myself…”
“To be honest, I’d rather if you didn’t talk right now.”
“… Right then.”
I think there was something with Malfoy, me, and silences. They seemed to follow us wherever we went.
“Okay, I take it back. Why didn’t they understand, Malfoy? Why does everything happen to me? It’s not fair!”
“Nothing’s fair. If life was fair you wouldn’t exist and this world would be pleasantly muggle-free!”
“If life was fair, ferret, all of us would be living harmoniously together like respectable human beings. And, if you hadn’t noticed, that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Merlin, hope it doesn’t!”
“Oh shut up. What do you know?”
“A lot more than you, that’s for sure! Besides, shouldn’t you be like… sulking or something? Your parents just died, you know?”
A tear slid down my face. He just had to put it as bluntly as possible.
“I didn’t need you to remind me,” I said as quietly as possible.
He didn’t say anything. He seemed to be contemplating the next feasible outcome of this conversation. That is, if it was even remotely possible to have a conversation with Draco Malfoy. Then again, I didn’t ever think it remotely possible for Draco Malfoy to come and sit near a Mudblood, let alone next to one.
That was exactly what he did.
More than shocked, I turned to face him, looking through my bushy strands of hair. He was lounged leisurely on the other half of the sofa, and waited several minutes before looking at me, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. Immediately he frowned, making me panic.
“What? I have something on my face, don’t I? Oh God, what is it? Get it off! Unless it’s a spot in which case don’t even think about coming near me, ‘cause spotty Hermione’s don’t normally go near boys, and””
I stopped abruptly when a hand covered my mouth. My eyes widened in surprise at actually having Draco Malfoy in such close proximity to me. There was laughter in his eyes, and it sent shivers down my spine. When he spoke, it was in barely more than a whisper.
“You talk too much.”
Still he hadn’t moved his hand. Not that I didn’t want him to, of course; it just felt so warm though. It was soft, much unlike Harry’s or Ron’s, and it smelt vaguely of cologne. Skin grazed against skin as his thumb brushed my cheek, and, having found that my mouth was free to breathe again, I let go of the breath that had caught in my throat.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“Doing what you told me to,” he smiled. “Getting rid of the thing on your face. A tear.”
“Oh… Thanks, I guess. Erm… could you kinda move now? You do realise you’re touching a Mudblood, right?” It was against my own will that I said this, but it was, I thought, for his benefit.
“Yeah… I do. I just don’t like it when Mudbloods touch me.” His voice was husky and still quiet, as if he wanted to keep the peaceful mood that had been set. He smirked. I hated it when he did that; quite annoying really. I don’t know how long we were there for, just looking into each other’s eyes, but I didn’t want it to end. I think we were so lost in each other that we didn’t notice the loud crack that resounded in the air.
“Hem hem.”
Our heads literally banged into the other to find out who the Umbridge-impersonator was. Having felt the bump that was forming on my head, I found Fred, George and Ginny sporting smirks which were quite worthy of Malfoy himself. Without hesitation I flew backwards and upwards, trying to get as far from Malfoy as possible.
“This isn’t… we weren’t… I… It’s Malfoy, and… Fred, George and Ginny Weasley stop laughing!”
For some reason or another all three of the siblings had cracked up laughing, and I assumed that the look on my face had made them laugh even more. I looked to Malfoy for support; he, like me, was completely dumbfounded as to why they were all laughing.
“O-Oh, Merlin, Her-Her-Hermione!! Pr-Pr-Priceless!! It was just priceless!!”
“I agree!! Nothing could be better than seeing “”
““ Draco Malfoy “”
““ and Hermione Granger “”
““ so bloody close to each other!”
Again all three burst out laughing. I couldn’t help but smirk at them, since they found such a small thing amusing. The twins started whispering and pointing, and I distinctly heard the words: ‘Malfoy smirk’.
“Right, well, business is business. Let’s get down to it.”
“Hermione, darling, take a seat. A little birdie told us that you’re not feeling that well at the moment, and we’d like to know how you are.”
“Erm… I’m… I guess I’m all right…”
“No, you’re not. I don’t believe you at all. All we want do is help, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, I appreciate it, but you didn’t have to come all the way from The Burrow…”
“Now, see, there’s this little thing…”
“…called Side-Along Apparition…”
“Fred, George, shut up. ‘Mione, how are you feeling, really?”
“I told you, Gin, I’m fine!”
“Bu””
“I do believe she wants you to shut up, Weaslette.” I shot a contemptuous look at Malfoy before turning back to Ginny, who was gaping at Malfoy as if he had no right to speak.
“I do believe she wasn’t talking to you. Besides, what are you doing here?” George shot a look at me. “Hermione, you wouldn’t care to explain, would you?”
“No, I’d rather not…”
“Hermione…”
“George, just leave her alone. So what if the ferret’s here?”
“Fred! That thing over there almost killed our little brother, and one of his mates has given us a half-werewolf for one!”
“Oh, yeah. That. Well, Hermione’s choice, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about? This is Malfoy!”
“Fred, George!! Please, stop…” This entire ruckus was very much getting on my nerves, and their heated argument wasn’t helping. I went to sit back down next to Malfoy, who looked quite sullen. I mouthed ‘sorry’ at him, before turning towards the three redheads.
“Sit, he doesn’t bite…” They moved around the sofa we were sitting on to the other one opposite. All three looked seemingly worried at Malfoy’s presence; George seemed to be restraining himself from having another angry outburst. My head whipped back and forth between the two sides, waiting impatiently for one of them to say something.
“Guys, please, just relax. It’s not like you’ve never been in each other’s company before. Just pretend like you’re friends, for my sake.”
“Now why, Granger, would I do anything for you?”
“Shut up, unless you want me to tell them.” He was momentarily stunned by my ‘threat’. Of course, I would never tell them that his mother had died; whether it was out of pity or something else, I didn’t know.
“Tell us what?”
“Nothing. So, what are you still doing here? You’ve got what you wanted to know “ I’m fine.”
“Yes, Hermione””
“”but there’s an added problem””
“”of him,” finished Ginny, pointing at the boy next to me. I stared at her, quite surprised that she had completed a ‘Fred and George sentence’, as I liked to call them. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this, and she smiled.
“That’s what you get, growing up with them…”
“What’s it like?” Four heads turned to the quietly seated Malfoy. “To have a family; I never… I’d always wondered…” His eyes were again studying empty space, and he seemed to be trying his hardest not to blush. I temporarily thought it an odd question, until remembering that I no longer knew that feeling anymore; there were only memories to fill that gap.
“Wouldn’t you already know? I think your parents spoil you enough as it is “ isn’t that enough for you?” George asked. He was being extremely spiteful, and although he had good reason, I had asked him to get along with Malfoy for my sake.
“George, please, stop it…”
“HERMIONE! HE NEARLY KILLED RON!” he bellowed.
“I know!! So what? Please stop shouting or leave!”
“I’M NOT SHOU”oh. Sorry…”
“It’s lovely, Malfoy,” Ginny interrupted. She had said it so quietly that the silence that followed seemed deafening. “Having a family is great; it’s fun. And when anything happens to them…”
I glanced at Malfoy; he seemed to be harbouring the same feelings that I was. Sadness and grief was written across his face, reflecting the pain that I had suffered for the past week.
“Erm… guys? You wouldn’t mind leaving us, would you? I mean, Harry and Ron are probably””
“Yeah, it’s no problem. Fred, George, c’mon. Don’t argue, let’s go.”
“Thanks, Gin.” I smiled up at her as she stood to leave. She grabbed Fred’s arm tightly as they Apparated away, allowing Malfoy and me some time to think. At least, I was thinking. It was difficult. It was true; I missed them, but what good was it to maintain those feelings if there was nothing you could do about them? I looked at him with watery eyes; amazingly, he did the same.
Suddenly, another loud crack filled the air. I didn’t bother to look up.
“Guys, I thought I told you to””
And I looked up. I saw who it was, and it wasn’t them.
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