The following days Hermione had tried to get Draco to talk to her to no avail, whenever she tried to talk to him about what had happened he would either walk away or change the topic
She wasn't going to deny the fact that it hurt
After her last training session she turned to Draco who was still brooding
"Draco, can I talk to you?" She begged him
"I'm busy"
"Liar" she scoffed and walked up to him "Malfoy why are you being so cold to me?" She asked him
Draco wasn't looking at her
"I'm busy Granger" he brushed past her
She reached out for him, taking his hand in hers
"Malfoy please tell me, did I do something?"
"No" he spat and pulled his hand away from her
"You're just going to the dance with an idiot" he muttered under his breath
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, she wasn't going with anyone to the dance, before she could ask him what he meant, he had left the studio
Hermione slowly grabbed her bag and made her way to her room
"La mia bellezza" she heard someone say
Hermione groaned and crossed her arms
"Emilio I said no, I don't want to go to the gala with you and I definitely don't want anything else to do you with, now leave me the hell alone"
She tried to sidestep him but he blocked her
"Emilio, move" she ordered
He bent down and kissed her, she fought him and managed to push him away, there was a tingling sensation on her lips and she suddenly felt really dizzy
"W-what did you do to me?" She whispered, holding her head
"Look at me Bella" he orders
Hermione raised her head and smiled lovingly at him
"Emilio"
Emilio smirked and kissed her again, this time she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her
He pushed her against the wall and began kissing her deeper, she moaned against his lips and he began trailing kissing down her neck, his hands were everywhere, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist
A flash of grey eyes flashed behind her eyelids, she pulled away and gasped
"What's wrong, il mio amore?" Emilio whispered huskily, trailing kisses down her neck
This felt wrong, something wasn't right, a strong smell of expensive cologne, green apples, and mint
"Draco" she breathed softly and shoved Emilio away from her
He growled and shoved past her extended hand and kissed her rough, she whimpered in pain and fought him back
"Allontanati da lei!"
Emilio was blasted away from her and Hermione fell to the floor
"Gisella" Emilio growled
A girl made her way to the two, she grabbed Hermione's wrist and looked into her eyes, she swore under her breath and summoned the anti poison for the potion
"Drink this" she ordered, Hermione turned to Emilio and smiled, the pink fog fell over her again
"Come here my love" he ordered, Hermione took a step towards him but the girl didn't let her do
"Come osi?" The girl spat
"Please, I love him" Hermione begged and tried to make the girl let go of her wrist
"Lasciala andare sorella, lei appartiene a me" Emilio ordered
"Drink this" she ordered again, Hermione fought
"N-no, I want Emilio" she told her
The girl growled and forced Hermione's jaw open before forcing the drink into her mouth
The bitterness of the potion managed to remove the mist and she shook her head
"W-What?" She whispered "What happened Gis?" She asked
Gisella was a girl she had clicked with, the other girls that had attended all looked down on Hermione
"Come on" the girl ordered and dragged Hermione away
"Gisella, how do you know Emilio?" Hermione asked
Gisella took a deep breath and dropped her head
"He is my brother, my real name is Gisella Alexandra Ardito" she explained
Hermione froze
"What?!" She exclaimed "why didn't you tell me?!"
"Why do you think? The bastardo has been hiting on you all week, I wanted to be your friend but I knew your wouldn't have if you found out I'm Emilio's twin sister" she said, she looked at Hermione and the brunette witch could see the pain in her eyes "I'm sorry about my brother, but if I'm being completely honest with you, I'm rather surprised that you were able to resist the potion" Gisella confessed "how did you?" She asked
Hermione blushed
"Ah...the potion wasn't strong enough because you're already in love with someone" she said "is it Draco?" She smirked
"I-no...It's complicated" she whispered
"Not really, the potion didn't work because you're already in love with someone, you smelled them" she told her "it nulled the effects"
They reached Hermione's dorm and entered her room
"La biancheria intima rosa di Circe la tua stanza è più carina della mia"
This was the first time Gisella had entered her room and she didn't expect that sort of reaction Hermione burst out laughing before she could stop herself
"You're different from your brother, why?" She asked "oh gods that was rude, I'm sorry—"
"It's okay Hermione, Emilio was the golden child for my parents, he got everything he wanted and could do no harm, whereas I was the reject and the scrape goat, when I started showing Veela traits my parents wanted to maintain the Ardito line pure so they kicked me out of the family" she finished
"I'm sorry" Hermione apologized
"Don't be, either way it was a long time coming, now I'm free"
"Wait...you're a Veela?" Hermione asked surprised, Gisella sighed and nodded, that was another thing she didn't tell her, not that Hermione was going to get angry, it was Gisella's secret to tell whoever she wanted
"I'm a quarter Veela, my aunt on my mother's side is a half Veela, she has taken me in and has taught me how to control myself" Gisella explained
"Have you found your mate?" Hermione asked, remembering back to her readings from when Bill Weasley started dating Fleur
"Not yet, But I'm not in a big rush, as long as my mate isn't a jerk, I'm good for life"
Hermione nodded in thought
"So what are the laws for a Veela? My best friend oldest brother is mated to a Veela and she had to register, I don't know the full extent of the laws—" Hermione began
Gisella laughed slightly
"And that's the Hermione Granger that had become so famous in the creatures world, it was because of your S.P.E.W campaign that I was able to free half of the elves that worked for my parents before I got disowned"
Hermione blushed slightly and scratched the back of her neck, a habit she unknowingly picked up from Draco
"But to answer your question, the laws established for Veela's aren't that bad unlike werewolves, but we're still under close observation and we have to name ever person we've had a sexual relationship with, so that they could be tested and see if we used our 'Veela magic' to manipulate and take advantage of them, and then as soon as I find my mate they must go under a series of tests to know I haven't manipulated their feeling for me" she explained
Hermione nodded
"Is it common for Veela's to use their looks to manipulate?"
"More often than not, that's why I have to manipulate some of my looks, it's required until I find my mate"
"And if you forget?"
"Then I risk Azkaban without a trial" she shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed "That's not fair, they cannot require you to change your looks all the time, the drain that it takes on your magic—" she began rambling
There was a pop in the middle of the room and Hermione yelped
An elf with a purple silk pillowcases and brown eyes looked at Hermione
"Who are you?" Hermione asked her gently
"Willow" the elf squeaked "master Draco wanted Willow to give Miss Granger present" the elf said and extended her hands
Hermione took the box and opened it, she gasped when she saw the necklace and trailed the emeralds and diamonds gently
"Oh mio dio è bellissimo!" Gisella gasped beside her "that boy is whipped beyond compare"
Hermione quickly recalled Draco's cold behaviour towards her, she pushed the gift back into the elf's hands
"Please tell Malfoy that I don't want it" she said
The elf blinked in confused, so did Gisella
"I thought you were going with Draco?" Gisella asked her
"He has a date" Hermione spat with jealousy
"Wait...who?"
"Sofia Newman" Hermione told her
"Wait...oh gods I think what happened" Gisella groaned
"What?"
"Newman is my brother's girlfriend, I'll bet you good money that Draco Malfoy fell for their con"
"What con?" Hermione asked
Gisella told her everything that her brother and his girlfriend do, apparently it wasn't the first time they've done something like that
Hermione was furious at them, but more than that she was furious with Draco because he never told her that she had fallen victim to the con
"Willow, go tell Malfoy that next time someone says I'm going on a date to confirm with me before pouting like a spoiled little brat" she ordered, too angry to care about anything but the fact that Draco didn't trust her
The elf disappeared with a pop and Hermione began pacing
"I can't believe him! I would think that by now he would talk to me instead of acting like a spoiled brat that was told 'no', am I always attracted to thick idiots who can't see that I love them?" She yelled, freezing when she realized what she had confessed
Gisella looked at her with a smile on her face
"So you do love him" she smirked
"That was...I didn't mean...you didn't understand...I'm screwed" Hermione groaned
Gisella stood up and put an arm over Hermione's shoulders
"I don't know about you...but I have a grand idea" she smirked
"You have the same look of mischief just like my friend Ginny" Hermione said
Gisella wiggled her eyebrows in mischief and sat Hermione down
"What if we make him eat his heart out?"
"No"
"Come on, let's show him what he's been missing"
Hermione quickly realized that she wasn't going to let it go
"I'm going to regret this aren't I?" Hermione sighed
"If we play our cards right, you'll shag by the end of the night"