Hermione sobbed as the picture of Ron and Lavender kissing filled her mind. It already sucked that she didn't even know what she felt for Ron, let alone when she suddenly felt like this when he kissed another girl.
A loud shifting noise against a wall caught her attention, and Hermione stared straight at Malfoy who just came out of the Room of Requirement. He wasn't surprised to see her there at all, let alone see her tear stained cheeks.
No, if anything, it seemed like he purposely left the room. Not that he needed to hide the fact he was using it, since she already knew. Why he was using it, though, was unknown to her.
His eyes were empty, his face ice cold. But there was something missing about him. Something she couldn't quite place. Perhaps it was the way he had been looking so tired all these weeks. Or the way he didn't seem to be his arrogant, snarky self.
Came to laugh at me? Hermione asked, not trusting her voice enough to speak aloud. Malfoy remained silent, looking her over with a slight discomfort. She raised a challenging eyebrow, daring him to say something, but he just looked down at the ground.
The high pitched laughter of Lavender caught both their attention, and soon enough Ron and Lavender appeared in sight. "Oops. I think this room is taken." Lavender said, practically hanging onto Ron's arm for dear life.
"What's with the birds?" Ron asked, smiling half heartedly as he nodded to the birds flying above her. Only then did he seem to notice Malfoy standing there near her. "What is he doing here?" Ron asked as he frowned, seeming to find that more important than what he had just done to her.
"Oppugno." Hermione said softly as she got up, and watched as the birds aggressively made their way to Ron, who hurriedly ran away and shot a back glance at her, looking at her like she had gone mad before running after Lavender.
Hermione let out a choked sob, trying not to break in front of Malfoy, but finding it difficult to hold back her tears. No, I came here to compliment you on your wise use of the bird-conjuring charm. Malfoy answered to her previous question, as well as referring to her former studying of the bird-conjuring charm.
And without one last look at her, he walked away, through the same hall Ron just left through. Allowing her to finally completely break down – and promising herself, that this would be the last time she'd cry over Ron Weasley.
As distracting as the studying might have been to her thoughts, the constant physical reminder of Lavender and Ron didn't really help. Sure, she had a good cry two days ago, but she was still just a human. She couldn't make that emotional switch so fast.
And to make herself feel better, just to get back at Ron, she did something she wouldn't have thought she would do. Hermione had been looking all over the school, and eventually came across him in the hallway where she had asked him to go to the Christmas party from Slughorn with her that night.
Cormac, had gladly accepted and even though Hermione disliked the boy greatly, she was very pleased if it meant it would make Ron jealous. After she had arranged that, she met up with Harry in the library, desperately trying to avoid Ron and Lavender.
Hermione warned Harry that he couldn't just take any girl to the party, because she heard enough girls talking about ways to lure Harry – and none would end up pretty.
When everything was taken care of, she had retreated to the girls' dormitory where she got into a salmon pink dress and did some of her makeup and her hair. If she was going with Cormac, she might as well look at her best to create more jealousy. Or at least, that's what she hoped to achieve.
Taking a deep breath, she met up with Cormac near the library, where they would together walk to the party. And oh my, did Hermione regret asking him. Ron's jealousy wasn't even worth it if it meant having to put up with him all night.
From the minute she saw him, he had been constantly talking about himself. And even more precisely, about his Quidditch abilities.
I need a place where no one will find me. A place where everything shall be hidden. Hermione's attention was suddenly wavering, as she was slowly disappearing into her thoughts. He was at the Room of Requirement again. Why was he at the Room of Requirement?
Allowing her mind to open up, she felt pleasantly surprised as the heavy weight in her mind got less severe, and the head aches were more bearable than before. Harmonia Nectere Passus. The charm flooded around in her head.
His thoughts were highly subtle, and she only caught a few keywords. There was something about an apple – it had successfully vanished. Harmonia Nectere Passus.
Harmonia Nectere Passus. Whatever Malfoy was thinking, he was not happy. Whatever thing was supposed to vanish the apple, did not return it in good shape.
But the charm, 'Harmonia Nectere Passus', it wasn't one she heard often. Of course she knew it. She read it in her Charms book last summer vacation. It is used for repairing vanishing cabinets. But what in the world could Malfoy need with a vanishing cabinet?
Stay out out it, Granger. The voice rang clear through her head, and Hermione gave a small cough, silently cursing herself for letting her thoughts be dominant enough for Malfoy to hear.
She gave a minor jump as Cormac suddenly let his hand glide over her arm, making her realize that she in fact was still with him. And if it wasn't for the fact he was getting so close to her, that she realized they were standing underneath a mistletoe.
Acting quick, she hurriedly moved away before he had a chance to connect his lips with hers. Seeing the draped curtains as a perfect escape, she lifted them up and went behind them. She might have wanted to make Ron jealous, but she wasn't going to be the victim of Cormac's kiss. Absolutely no way.
"Hermione. What are you doing? What happened to you?" Hermione watched as Harry suddenly came up in front of her, neatly dressed in his black dress robes.
"I've just escaped. I mean, I left Cormac under the mistletoe." Hermione admitted, peeking through the curtains to make sure Cormac wasn't coming. Perhaps this hadn't been one of her smartest plans.
"Cormac? That's who you invited?" Harry whispered in stunned surprise. "I thought it would annoy Ron the most." Hermione said, disappointed that her plan now backfired to her.
A waiter came up to them, lifting the curtains up and offering them dragon balls. Upon learning they gave horrible breath, she gladly accepted them and stuffed them in her mouth, in hopes that this would keep Cormac away.
However, upon seeing the shadow approach the curtains, she hurriedly shoved the plate with dragon balls into Harry's hand and slipped away through the other end of the curtains, mingling herself with some group that was standing near the side.
"Get your hands off me, you filthy Squib!" The unmistakable voice of Malfoy said, and she watched as he was brought in by Filch.
Malfoy claimed to be gatecrashing, but knowing he was just at the Room of Requirement, she knew this to not be true. Snape offered to escort him out, and Hermione wanted to take no chance of missing valuable information on what he was doing.
And so she retreated from the chatting group, to a more empty place as she cleared her mind of all thoughts, and opened it up once more that evening.
His thoughts were short. But she managed to get snips of their conversation. He was uncertain to admit something. But she had no idea what he was neither denying nor admitting to Professor Snape. Whatever it was, it got her professor angry.
The Unbreakable Vow? Who do they think I am? I am perfectly capable of handling my own. Hermione seemed at total loss. Obviously, whatever they were talking about was worse than she had thought about Malfoy. But she had no clue on what he was referring to.
Did this mean that Snape made the Unbreakable Vow? But if he did, what did he do it for? It was I that was chosen. No one shall take that away from me.
But what if I fail? No. I am this close to succeeding already. I can do this on my own.
Hermione could feel her heartbeat quicken as she released a shaky breath. What in the world was Malfoy on about?
Hearing no other important thoughts, she decided to cut the connection loose and practically ran away from the party. She couldn't bear all the happily chatting people. She needed to be alone. If Malfoy knew what she just heard, well, she wasn't quite sure what Malfoy was capable of anymore.
Next morning she was very displeased to see that Malfoy was not at the breakfast table. This was their last morning before they'd leave on the Hogwarts train to celebrate Christmas break at home, and she really needed to talk to him before they left.
She had searched every part of the castle so far, even went as far as to wait a good hour outside the Room of Requirement, yet, she couldn't find him anywhere.
But then she saw it – the hurried steps of a black dressed boy, the blonde locks catching her attention as he walked around the corner. Not wasting any time, she practically ran after him and panted slightly when she was just a few feet away from him.
"Malfoy." Hermione said, but he just continued walking, ignoring her voice just like he had been ignoring her thoughts all morning when she tried to ask him where he was.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she hurried up her pace again and grabbed his left arm, feeling the soft fabric underneath her fingers from his suit. This caught his attention, as he forcibly yanked his arm away from her grip. "Keep your hands off me, you filthy-"
But he didn't get to finish that sentence, as Hermione made an instant dive to her wand with her hand, and raised it up to his chest before he could finish his sentence. "I dare you, Malfoy." She said through gritted teeth, more than sick of hearing him throwing around those nasty insults at her.
Malfoy swallowed, knowing very well that she would not hesitate to hex him any way she'd like if he would. "What do you want from me?" He spat in a hushed voice. The corridor they were in might have been empty, but anyone could walk in on them at any given moment.
"I want to know what you're up to." Hermione said, deciding to not ask about Snape just yet, not having enough information about it to be able to confidently confront him. "I don't know what you're talking about." Malfoy hissed, glancing at her wand once in a while.
Deciding she wanted a slightly more civilized conversation, or at least not where she would be pointing her wand at him, she lowered it and raised a challenging eyebrow, daring him to doubt her knowledge.
"I know you're repairing a vanishing cabinet, Malfoy. And I want to know what you're using it for." Hermione said, but all Malfoy did was cock a lopsided smirk. "You honestly think I'll let you know what I'm doing? I thought you were smarter than that, Granger."
Hermione let out a tired sigh, not wanting to play this game. "Malfoy, just.. let me help you." He scoffed at that, looking her over with disgust. "I don't need your help." He spat, and started to walk away, but Hermione couldn't let him go just yet.
"Why did Professor Snape make the Unbreakable Vow?" Hermione bit on her lower lip, uncertain about saying this for various reasons. Not only did she know if she had perhaps crossed a line, but also because she had very little knowledge on what she was talking about. And she hated it when she couldn't support her statements with arguments.
Malfoy stopped in the middle of the corridor, turning to look at her. "How much did you hear?" He almost seemed afraid, and she knew she was slipping into a deep secret of his. Hermione swallowed, hating this question for she knew nothing.
"Enough to know he made the Unbreakable Vow to protect you." Hermione said, playing safe with the little knowledge she did have.
He remained silent for a minute, contemplating on whether her knowledge was threatening or not. It seemed like he didn't find it concerning, as he wordlessly turned around again. But Hermione was not satisfied. She did not search the entire school since early in the morning to get this little information out of him.
"I know you were chosen." A low growl was heard from Malfoy, and with big strides he turned around and walked over to her, pushing her into a wall in the process. "You know nothing, Granger. I can read it in your mind. You have no idea what's going on."
Hermione hissed in pain as his fingers were digging into her arms. Noticing what he was doing, he immediately let his arms drop. A sneer was firmly planted on his face, but the voice that come out was softer than she had expected. "Don't be stupid, Granger. Stay out of it while you can."
It wasn't a threat. It was more a warning – almost in a caring way. "Or what?" Hermione asked, her voice small and her breathing ragged. Only now that she was this close to his face, did she notice how incredibly tired he looked.
He chose not to answer this, and once more did he turn around and left. And this time she let him. There was no reason to stop him again. It was pretty plain what would happen if she would mingle with things that weren't her business.
But just because she had been warned, did not mean she would stop. No, she wouldn't be Hermione Granger if she wouldn't get all the answers to her questions.