Lucius did know one thing: Draco liked Hermione. He'd accidentally found out before Draco had gone to Hogwarts, which was also when Draco had basically been kicked out of the house by his father. If Lucius had been mad then, Draco didn't even want to imagine how mad he'd be now.
"You're going to have to tell him sometime, you know," Hermione said. She had a point.
"I know, I know... but he's probably still mad at me, so I'm not going to tell him quite yet," Draco replied.
Hermione nodded. "That's fine, Draco. But if he finds out some other way... well, I'll stick by you, okay?" Draco smiled and nodded. No one had ever stuck up for him before.
"And thanks, Hermione. For everything, you know?" Draco said, kissing her on the cheek.
"Anytime, Draco. Anytime you need me. But you know, I am getting kind of hungry!" she replied.
"Then let's go eat," Draco said as he and Hermione both got up from the chair and walked down to the Great Hall.
* * *
Draco took his usual seat at the Slytherin table when he entered the Great Hall. Samantha and Brianna still weren't there, which was strange, since they were always at dinner or any other meal before he was.
"Draco, Samantha wanted me to tell you she might be a little late today. She also said she'd tell you why when she and Brianna got back," Pansy said to him without even looking him directly in the eye. She was still mad at him. Pathetic.
"Alright. And stop being mad at me. It's not working," Draco said with a smirk on his face.
She crossed her arms and turned away from him. "I'm not trying to accomplish anything by not looking at you. I just can't stand to look at you, since you kissed a Mudblood," she said.
Draco rolled his eyes. That was a pretty pathetic excuse.
* * *
A few minutes later, Samantha and Brianna came into the Great Hall, both looking very excited about something or another. They sat down next to Draco.
"Draco! Guess what? We caught Harry and Sapphire kissing in the corridor!" Brianna said with a giggle.
"It's so cute!" Samantha agreed, also giggling.
Draco rolled his eyes. Of course, he realized, it had to be something "girly" like that. What else would they be looking excited about?
"That's nice. But I don't really care," Draco said as he continued eating.
"Oh, that's right... you only care about kissing Hermione, I forgot!" Brianna teased. She and Samantha had made a habit out of somehow brining up how often he and Hermione kissed into every single one of their conversations. It was really starting to get annoying.
"Do you really have to bring that up every single time you talk to me?" Draco asked in an annoyed tone.
Samantha nodded. "Yes. It's absolutely necessary." Brianna giggled again as Draco rolled his eyes.
"Speaking of... Hermione's coming," Brianna said, her voice getting suddenly quiet as though she was keeping a secret.
"Draco, Dumbledore wants to talk to us," Hermione said with a sad look in her eyes. Uh-oh. What could Dumbledore want from them now? He'd already given them enough things to do.
Draco got up and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall, where Dumbledore was waiting for them with a sad expression in his eyes. This obviously wasn't about more duties; that was for sure.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked, confused. A few tears rolled down Hermione's cheeks.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this... but... there was another sighting of Voldemort this morning. He killed three innocent Muggles in the area, and he said that he was going to 'kill that traitor and his Mudblood girlfriend' soon. So... I'm afraid I must ask you and Hermione to stop seeing each other," Dumbledore said gravely.
Draco froze. He didn't know how to feel. Or what to think, for that matter. First, Dumbledore tells him and Hermione they have to date, and now he was saying they couldn't? What was he doing?
"I'm sure you're both wondering why I had the two of you date in the first place, are you not?" they both nodded at him, curious to know his mysterious reasoning.
"Yeah, that would be nice..." Draco said.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well, you see... at first, I had my doubts. I thought of all the consequences of what could happen to the two of you if I went through with what Cornelius Fudge had requested..." he paused for a minute.
"Continue, please," Hermione urged.
He smiled. "Ah, well, you see... Cornelius and I knew Voldemort would be indeed rising very soon. So, what we had planned was to show Voldemort that Muggle-borns and purebloods can get along, and that there is nothing wrong with Muggle-borns. Of course, we should've known better. As you may have already known... he's now after the two of you, as well as Harry." Draco and Hermione were completely silent for a moment.
"So... so, what you're saying is that you were using us as pawns in your experiment?" Hermione asked, looking shocked.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, that isn't it at all. There are other reasons, but those reasons are what you must figure out for yourselves. Have a nice school year, both of you." And with that, he went back into the Great Hall.
Draco and Hermione stood staring at each other for a few moments, trying not to cry. They really were in love. They really, really were, and now Voldemort had to go and ruin it.
"Well... I guess this is it then..." Draco said, smiling weakly at her.
She smiled weakly back at him. "Just one last kiss?" she asked hopefully. He nodded, stepping towards her and putting his hands on her hips as she put her arms around his neck.
"I'll miss you..." Hermione mumbled as their lips met in what seemed to be their very last kiss.
Unfortunately, they didn't notice a certain blonde-haired man watching them.
"Ahem," they heard him say as they immediately separated.
They both looked shocked. "What are you doing here?" he said coldly, glaring at his father, who was glaring at Hermione.
"Draco. What were you doing just now?" Lucius asked, still glaring at Hermione. Hermione looked a little scared, so she grabbed Draco's arm on impulse. Not exactly the best move, but Draco didn't care.
"What did it look like I was doing? Killing someone?" Draco replied sarcastically. Lucius's eyes narrowed.
"Trust me, the Dark Lord will find out about this, and you both will die. Now, if you excuse me, I have business to attend to," Lucius said, quickly walking away from them.
Hermione looked up at Draco. "Well... we better get going..." Draco nodded. He never wanted to go, however.
"I love you, Hermione," Draco whispered as he tried to hold back his tears. And he really, truly meant it.
Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes. "I love you, too, Draco... bye for now..." And, separately, the two walked into the Great Hall and went back to their house tables, trying not to cry in front of their classmates.
* * *
Draco sat down in between Samantha and Brianna, slouching in his chair and not touching his food. Samantha and Brianna obviously sensed something was wrong with their friend.
"Hey, are you okay? You look kind of sad," Samantha said.
"Yeah, you do... what's wrong?" Brianna asked.
Draco sighed. "I'll tell you after dinner when there aren't as many people around," he replied, noticing the large amount of Slytherins trying to listen in on their conversation.
Both girls nodded and went back to eating their dinner, occasionally glancing at Draco to make sure he didn't suddenly start crying in front of everyone.
Once they finished eating, or sulking as Draco was doing, Samantha and Brianna literally pushed Draco into the wall to get the truth out of him.
"Alright, tell us what's going on," Brianna demanded.
He sighed. "Alright, fine. Dumbledore forbid Hermione and I to ever see each other again," Draco said miserably. He'd never, ever, felt this way before.
"Aw... Draco... I'm sorry," Samantha said, giving Draco a big hug.
Brianna hugged Draco, too. "You'll be okay. We'll help you out. Don't worry about it." she said, winking as Samantha grinned and nodded.