When Hermione woke up the next morning she felt great. Because it was weekend she could stay in bed for a little longer. She closed her eyes for a few minutes before pushing herself out of bed and walking into the common room. She sat herself down in front of the fireplace, which they had forgotten to put out the night before. She stared at the flames, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. After a few moments sitting alone she heard a door opening behind her, making her turn around in her chair, only to see Draco walking out of his room. She gave him a smile before her eyes travelled down to his pyjamas.
'Good morning.' she said.
'Good morning.' he smiled as he walked up to her.
'Nice pyjamas.'
'Thanks, same for you.' Draco chuckled, looking her up and down.
Hermione turned to look at Draco and bit down on her bottom lip. She had never really looked at him, but he was quite handsome, especially since he'd dropped those horrible characteristic ways of his. His muscles stood out, not only on his arms and surely his back, but also his stomach was toned. Her eyes lingered a little too long on his stomach and when her eyes travelled back up to his face she saw him stare at her, an amused look plastered on his face. How had she never seen he was handsome before? Handsome.... what was she thinking? She shouldn't even be thinking of him. She's still in a relationship with Ron, she should first figure out what to do with that situation before jumping into anything else.... but why was she even considering jumping into something else? Especially with Draco Malfoy. Hermione scrunched her nose up at the thought and shuddered, shaking her head, trying to get her thoughts straight again..... she still loved Ron, right?
'Do you want to go to breakfast?' Draco suggested.
'Sure.' Hermione shrugged.
'Do you want to go first?' Draco asked.
'Go first?' Hermione asked confused, looking over at Draco next to her in the other seat.
'To get dressed?' he replied.
'Oh, yes sure.' Hermione nodded, getting up from her seat and walking over to her bedroom to grab her things before making her way into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around her body before walking back into her room.
'You can go.' Hermione let Draco know through the closed bedroom door but she didn't get an answer. Hermione sighed and turned to grab her bathrobe, wrapping it tight around her before opening her bedroom door. Draco turned around in his chair and look up at her, but when he saw what she was wearing his cheeks flushed and he quickly fixed his eyes on her face. 'Okay.' he said, getting up from his seat.
Hermione closed her door and opened her wardrobe. She ran her fingers along a blouse and pulled it out of her closet, only to shake her head and mutter a "No, not this." before placing it back. After pulling a few different outfits out of her closet and still not feeling like it was the right thing to wear she sat down on her bed with a sigh. She stared at her clothes in her closet, only to let out a groan. Why was she trying to look "great"? Why was she trying so hard? Her clothes were okay and comfortable. Normally she'd just look for clothing items that'd look good together and pull it on, but why does she feel the urge to look better at this moment? She shook her head and got up from her bed, pulling a pair of jeans and a Gryffindor-red knitted jumper out of her closet and pulling them on. When she was done applying some mascara she made her way out of her room and into the common room, only to see Draco waiting for her there.
'That took you long.' he chuckled.
'Sorry.' she muttered.
'You look nice.' Draco said, checking her from head to toe.
'Thanks.' she said, giving him a small smile. 'Ready to go?'
Draco nodded and walked alongside Hermione out of the common room. When they arrived in the Great Hall they went their separate ways and Draco walked to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Blaise and opposite Goyle. Hermione made her way over to the Gryffindor table and sat herself down next to Harry, opposite Ginny and Ron.
'Took you long, didn't it?' Harry chuckled, bumping his elbow playfully against her arm.
'Sorry.' she smiled, grabbing a slice of toast.
'You're in a good mood today.' Ginny remarks with a smile, looking at her best friend.
'I guess.' Hermione shrugs smiling.
Ron stared at Hermione and gave her a smile. He felt like it had been a long time since he'd seen her smile like that, happy like that. He was glad to see her this way, he loved her and he wanted the best for her.
'What about we'd go to Hogsmeade today?' Ginny suggested.
'Sure, that'd be fun.' Harry nodded.
'Count me in.' Ron grinned.
The three of them turned their eyes on Hermione, waiting for a response.
'Sorry, I have so much to do, I honestly don't have time.' Hermione said.
'Ahw come on!' Ron said pouting.
'Are you sure? I'll pay your butterbeer.' Harry tried.
'Yes I'm sure, I'm sorry guys.'
'Alright then, but next time you're going with us.' Ginny told her sternly, pointing her finger at Hermione, narrowing her eyes.
Hermione nodded, granting Ginny a smile as she took a sip of her tea. After breakfast Harry, Ron and Ginny joined the other students to Hogsmeade and Hermione made her way over to the library. She took the book she needed from the bookshelf and made herself comfortable at one of the tables there.
Draco got up from his seat next to Blaise whenhe saw Hermione leave the Great Hall.
'Where are you going mate?' Blaise asked.
'To the library.' Draco told him.
'Alright, see you later.' Blaise shrugged.
Draco nodded and made his way out of the Great Hall and towards the stairs togo up to the library. When he entered the library he immediately spotted Hermione sitting at a table, her head bent over a book.
'Busy?' Draco asked, stopping next to her.
'Not necessarily.' Hermione said, giving him a smile after looking up at him.
'What would you think of the idea to go to Hogsmeade.... with me?' Draco asked.
'Uh yes sure.' Hermione shrugged.
Draco smiled, trying to contain the excitement he felt.
'Oh wait, I'm sorry but I can't. I just told my friends I had a lot to do.'Hermione told him.
'Oh, well in that case, are you up for a walk?'
'Sure, why not.' Hermione smiled, getting up from her chair and picking her book up from the table. She followed Draco out of the library, through the corridors and out of the school.
'You know, I was thinking-' Draco started, trailing off.
'About what?' Hermione asked, turning to look up at him.
'I thought we could suggest some sort of party to McGonagall. Like the ball we had during our fourth year?' Draco said.
'That's actually a wonderful idea!' Hermione exclaimed.
'Really?'
'Yes! What kind of ball were you thinking off?'
Draco looked at her and tried to think of something.
'I don't know, but we could ask the prefects for idea inputs.'
'Great idea.' Hermione smiled.
'We'll be meeting up with them tonight, right?'
'Yep.'
'We could pitch the idea to them then.'
Hermione nodded with a small smile. 'Don't you think it'd be a good idea totell McGonagall first?'
'I guess, do you want to go to her office now?' Draco asked.
'I think she's in the Transfiguration classroom, I heard her tell professor Flitwick she would have a few detention cases for this morning.'
Professor McGonagall got the job as Headmistress of Hogwarts, but she wasn't keen on giving up her position as Transfiguration teacher, so she took bothjobs.
Draco nodded and they made their way back into the castle. When they arrived at the Transfiguration classroom Draco knocked on the door. Within a few seconds McGonagall was facing them, raising her eyebrows at her unexpected visitors. 'I can't remember giving you detention hours?' she noted.
'You haven't, professor.' Hermione smiled.
McGonagall looked over her shoulder and gave the three students in the classroom a stern look before taking a step forward and closing the door behind her. 'We came to ask you something, professor.' Draco said.
'Go on.' McGonagall nodded.
'We had an idea-' Draco started.
'No, Draco had a great idea.' Hermione corrected him.
Draco rolled his eyes, stifling a laugh.
'I was saying, we-' Draco started again, feeling Hermione's eyes burn at theside of his face. He could see her raising one eyebrow at him. 'were thinking,'he continued, mentally blocking Hermione's stare. 'wouldn't it be fun to have aball?' Draco finished.
'A ball?' McGonagall asked. 'What kind of ball?'
'We don't know yet, we're planning on asking the prefects tonight if they have ideas for themes.'
'Good idea. I'm alright with it as long as you give me further details when you have them.' McGonagall nodded.
Hermione and Draco nodded and said goodbye and thanks to McGonagall.
'Oh Mr. Malfoy, could I have a moment of your time?' McGonagall asked just when they were about to turn around.
'Yes, of course.' Draco nodded.
'I'll wait around the corner.' Hermione told him before walking off.
'I see you and Miss Granger are getting on alright.' McGonagall noted.
Draco nodded with a smile.
'It's good to see you like this Mr. Malfoy.' McGonagall said.
'Thank you and thank you for giving me a second chance.' Draco said.
'People make mistakes and I knew you didn't do what you did because you wanted to. I also knew Miss Granger would be able to open your eyes and help you through this tough process.' McGonagall said.
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, not entirely sure what she was on about.
'You can go now, have a good weekend.' McGonagall said.
'Thank you, you too, professor.' Draco said, giving her a nod before walking inthe direction Hermione disappeared in.
'Ready?' Hermione asked when Draco appeared in view.
Draco nodded and walked alongside Hermione to their dormitory on the seventh floor. 'Time turner.' Hermione and Draco said in unison when they arrived infront of the portrait. Snape rolled his eyes at them with a bored look and the portrait swung open. 'What's up?' Hermione asked, looking up at Draco when they arrived in the common room.
'Hmm? Oh nothing.' Draco said, looking back at her and giving her a small smile.
Hermione nodded and sat down on the couch. She opened her book and started to read. When it was dinner time they made their way down to the Great Hall and when dinner finally ended they gathered, along with the prefects, in a reservedclassroom for the meeting. It took a few minutes for all the prefects to arrive. 'Good evening and welcome to already the second meeting.' Hermione smiled. 'We've got a few things on the planning for this meeting, but first there's an idea that will be pitched.'
'Okay, so we had an idea-' Draco started.
'Not again, Draco had an idea.' Hermione corrected grinning, placing her hand on Draco's arm as an encouragement to go on with his explanation.
The prefects around them shared a look when they heard Hermione say Draco's surname. Especially Ginny and Harry were rather surprised at the mention of Draco's name by Hermione. They turned to look at each other before turning to look up at Hermione, who's hand was still on Draco's arm, waiting for him to go on, and back at each other.
'I thought it might be fun to have a ball.'
'What kind of ball?' the Ravenclaw girl prefect asked.
'We figured we could discuss that now.' Draco said.
'So does anyone have an idea?'
Everyone fell silent, trying to think of a great theme for the ball.
'Perhaps a masquerade ball?' Harry suggested.
'That's actually a really good idea.' Hermione nodded. 'Everyone will wear amask and dress up fancy.'
They all started to talk about the new concept for the ball excitedly, throwing in ideas for the decoration and food. When the meeting was finished everyone left the classroom, calling out a good night before disappearing from view.
'This is going to be amazing.' Hermione smiled when she and Draco left the classroom after Harry and Ginny had left as the last ones.
'I'm sure it's going to be great.' Draco nodded smiling.
Draco and Hermione walked down the hallway and up the stairs. 'I'll go and tellMcGonagall about the masquerade ball.' Hermione said.
'Do you want me to go with you?' Draco asked.
'I'll be fine on my own, if you could make a fire in the fireplace to warm the room up a bit? It's freezing.' Hermione said.
'Will do.' Draco nodded before walking further up the stairs towards their dormitory. Hermione made a detour and walked towards McGonagall's office.
'That's a great idea.' McGonagall agreed when Hermione had told her about the meeting from just a few minutes ago.
'Harry came up with the idea.' Hermione told her.
'I think the other students will be thrilled to hear about the upcoming ball.'McGonagall smiled. 'Now, I saw you and Mr. Malfoy are getting on with eachother?'
'Oh yes, he's nice.'
'I knew you'd be able to get him to change his ways.' McGonagall smiled.
Hermione felt the blood rush up to her cheeks and she turned her head away, trying to hide the blush on her face.
'It's good to see him enjoy himself, and of course not to forget you.'McGonagall said. 'Well, I've got some last things to sort out, thank you for stopping by to tell me your further plans.'
'No problem, good night, professor.'
'Good night.'
Hermione nodded and made her way out of the Headmistress' office. She was just making her way towards the Head Dormitory when she heard her name called behind her. She turned around, only to see Ron coming up to her.
'Hey, what's up?' Hermione asked.
'Shall I walk with you?' Ron asked.
'Oh sure.' Hermione shrugged, looking at him. She furrowed her eyebrows, feeling something was off when she looked into his eyes, he seemed to be faraway.
Ron walked along with Hermione through the corridors to the stairs and up tothe seventh floor.
'I forgive you.' Ron said bluntly all of a sudden.
'Forgive me? For what?' Hermione asked.
'For last time, you know, about you being around Malfoy.' Ron said.
Hermione raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes. Had he gone mad.
'You forgive me?' Hermione repeated.
Ron nodded with a small smile.
'You are un-be-lie-va-ble!' Hermione exclaimed, wanting to walk away from him, but Ron was quick and grabbed her arm tightly.
'Let me go Ron!' Hermione hissed.
Ron pulled her away from the middle of the hallway and pinned her against the wall, his face inches away from hers.
'Don't walk away from me.' he hissed through gritted teeth.
Hermione tried to push him off and get her wrists free from his grip, but Ron was too strong and his eyes stared blankly at her face as if no one was even there.'Ron, you're hurting me! Let me go!' Hermione snapped. Ron crashed his lips against hers, making her head collide hard against the stone wall behind her. Hermione tried to pull her arms away from his grip, but even with his lips against hers he was stronger and didn't seem to budge. Hermione tried to kick him, but he then pushed his own body against hers and she could barely move. He pulled away seconds later and he looked into her eyes. His pupils were extremely big and the Ron she once knew him to be seemed so far away. 'Let mego!' she said, feeling tears prickle in her eyes.
'Why? You're my girlfriend!' Ron hissed.
'Because you're hurting me!' Hermione whimpered. 'Please let me go!'
His hands tightened around her wrists as he looked at her. Hermione felt her whole body shaking, not sure what he was about to do next. Ron pressed another kiss to her lips before letting her go. Hermione fell to the ground, when she wasn't being pressed tightly against the wall anymore. 'I'll see you tomorrow. 'Ron said before walking off.
Tears rolled down her cheeks rapidly as she tried to recollect herself. Why did he do this? Why was he acting so weird? Hermione heard footsteps running up toher, but she couldn't get herself to turn and look who it was.
'Hermione?' a familiar voice spoke up behind her.
'Hermione! What happened?' Draco asked, kneeling down next to her. Hermione couldn't move, she was in some kind of shock, her whole body was still shaking from the situation she had just been in. She felt Draco's warm touch on her back before he felt his other arm under her knees before she was lifted off the ground. 'Put your arms around my neck.' Draco said quietly. Hermione did as he told her with the little strength she had left in her arms and Draco started to quickly walk towards the portrait.
'Time Turner.' Draco said.
'What happened?' Snape asked.
'I'll tell you later.' Draco said.
Snape nodded and quickly swung the portrait open, revealing the portrait hole. Draco quickly walked into the common room and carefully opened the door to Hermione's bedroom, where he placed her down on the bed. She felt the tearsroll over her cheek and down her neck and she tried to stop, but somehow she couldn't.
'What happened?' Draco asked worried.
'Ron-' she started between sobs.
'What did he do?' Draco ushered.
'He- he-' she tried to say, but somehow she couldn't form the words.
'Hermione, talk to me. What did he do?' Draco asked.
Draco placed his hand gently on her cheek and to her surprise his skin felt really warm. Hermione sat up straight and pulled her sleeve up and showed him her arm. Dark purple handprints were already showing on the skin of her right wrist.
'The other one?' Draco asked.
'I think it'll- it'll look the same.' she whispered.
'I'm going to kill him.' Draco said getting up from the bed next to Hermione.
'What?' Hermione asked.
'He's not going to get away with this! Look at you!' Draco exclaimed, wanting to walk away.
'No, please, don't leave.' Hermione pleaded, grabbing his wrist.
Draco turned his head and looked down at her.
'I don't want to be alone.' she whispered.
Draco took the few steps back and nodded. 'Do you want me to stay here?' he asked, the anger subsiding as he looked at her completely taken aback by this request.
Hermione slightly nodded, but Draco wanted to walk away again, making Hermione softly squeeze his wrist.
'Please!' she said.
'I was just going to walk to the other side of the bed.' Draco said, giving hera small smile.
'Oh.' she muttered, quickly letting go of his wrist.
Draco did as he had said and walked around the bed towards the other side and laid down next to her. He pulled the duvet up over them and turned to look at her as Hermione slowly closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.