Responsibilities

9. Conflicted

DPOV:

Hermione Granger.

What the bloody hell?

Seriously, what the fuck was going on?

Hermione Granger.

Draco was still not able to comprehend what the fuck had happened in that class.

His father would...actually, his father couldn't hear about this because he was rotting away in fucking Azkaban.

Lucius did deserve to be there, Draco did agree.

But his father could have gotten Draco out of a situation like this if he had been here.

Now, there was no way Draco could be exempt from living in a random Muggle place.

"Shit." he mumbled.

              He glared down at his mashed potatoes, and slammed his hand against the table. A couple of the Slytherins glanced up at him, but the majority of them ignored him.

"Blaise!"

Blaise looked up from his pudding.

"What?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do about Granger?"

Blaise smirked. "Not my problem."

Theo piped in. "You know, you could just...ignore her."

Pansy patted Draco's back reassuringly, not wanting him to throw something at Blaise.

              Draco groaned, and smushed his face in his hands. "Why my fucking life?" It's easy for you all to be like this. Theo, you got Weaslette. At least she's better than Granger. And Blaise and Pansy, you both got each other."

Pansy smirked. Draco knew she was more than happy with the arrangement.

Theo stood up suddenly. "Draco, don't we have Parenting class tomorrow?"

"What? Again?" Draco yelled.

Theo sat down again. "I looked at my schedule before lunch. I totally forgot. "

Draco groaned again. "I thought we didn't have the class tomorrow."

Blaise joined the conversation. "Me, too."

Pansy wiped her mouth off with a napkin, and then proceeded to speak.

"Well, I overheard the teachers talking about how they had to send us off to the muggle world by the end of this week. Apparently, there's something important happening a little later in the year that the teachers need us, the students, for."

Draco looked up, hopeful. "Does this mean our 12 months gets cut short?"

              Pansy shook her head, sympathetic. "Sorry, Draco. Remember the project, or whatever, only lasts for 10 weeks. After that, there'll be plenty of time 'til the end of the school year."

Theo gave a tired yawn. Blaise noticing this, said, "Hey, guys, maybe it's time to call it a night. We've had a long day."

Draco grunted. "Pansy, I'm sure, is just fine."

Blaise looked at Pansy. She smirked back.

Blaise shrugged. " I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, Draco."

Draco stood up suddenly. " I have to talk to McGonagall."

Theo stood up as well. "What? Why?"

Blaise tried to push Draco back into his seat, but Draco resisted. "I need to show her that Granger and I aren't a good pairing for this. We don't match."

"Oh my God." Pansy groaned into her hands, knowing where this was going. She'd been on the receiving end of it many times.

               "How could McGonagall have put me in for Head Boy, huh? Why would she do that? She must be absolutely mental! And all the while knowing that Granger was going to be Head Girl! And then these teachers put us together for a parenting class! I have to talk to McGonagall."

Pansy raised her hand to keep Theo and Blaise from interfering. The look she gave them said, I'll deal with it.

"Look, Draco," Pansy said gently, "I'm sure a lot of the students are unhappy with their pairings. But do you think McGonagall will give us preference out of all the other people who complain?"

"As always, you're right, Pansy." Draco slumped down into his seat.

Pansy smirked at Blaise and Theo over Draco's shoulder.

"Evil woman," Theo muttered.

Pansy rolled her eyes, then scooched over next to Blaise.

"I think we all need a nice, long break."

HPOV:

Hermione always had thought that one of the main problems in society was prejudice.

How could she not, when she had been subject to it so much?

Not only from Malfoy and the Death Eaters, but also from friends.

Ron and Harry always expected her to do the right thing, and be there for them.

Ron was the worst, though. He was super protective, annoying, and had disgusting table manners.

And yet...

Hermione still liked him. Loved him, even. She would love to be in a relationship with him. She could feel it in her heart that they were meant to be.

Why couldn't Ron?