'Oh. My. Gosh! Draco! I did totally not expect to see you here!' Pansy giggled as Hermione and Draco went to leave Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. 'And look, you brought Granger! How nice of you Draco, taking mudbloods for lunch.'
Hermione gripped her wand tight inside her coat pocket, but Draco had already reacted.
His wand was pressed tip-first against Pansy's tiny throat. Her head shot up and Daphne Greengrass gave a small gasp from beside her friend. 'Don't call her that.' Draco spat.
'What, mudblood? Oh but you call it her all the time!' Pansy shrieked, 'You know, liars never get the girl!'
Hermione gave a disgusted look at Draco. 'Is this true, Malfoy?'
Draco opened his mouth but no words came out. He wanted to tell her it was a lie, that he would never dream about calling Hermione a mudblood. But the mixture of Pansy's triumphant glares, Hermione's disbelieving stare and Daphne's, well, Daphne looked like she was watching a chick flick, her face practically screaming Draco, tell her how you feel! The last time he'd called Hermione a mudblood out loud was in the common room with Daphne's younger sister, Astoria Greengrass. It was ages ago, Draco thought quickly. He hadn't said the word since then, and Pansy knew that. But he'd said it to himself. He'd thought about what his father would say about dating a mudblood, or whatever he was doing. He'd thought about it before he went to sleep, whenever he'd heard her name from a crowd of Gryffindors, or when she was congratulated by a teacher, which, was a lot. He could tell he'd stopped saying it out loud. But he'd said it inside his head, just by accident. And that was enough. 'Hermione, I'm-'
Hermione stared at hatefully. She didnt need to hear what he was about to say to know what exactly he would say. 'Bye, Draco.' She held back the icy tears and ran. Ran, through the confused gazes of students. Ran, past Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. She ran all the way back.
'Tut tut, Draco,' Pansy continued, her throat still being dented by the tip of Draco's 10" Hawthorn wand, 'your girlfriend sure is gullible. I bet she's crying her way to her dormitory right now.'
'What do you want, Pansy? To make me unhappy? To make her unhappy?!' Draco yelled, attracting attention from passers-by.
'Hm, bit of both, really.'
'You know, you-'
'You dumped me. The night of the Yule Ball. Don't you remember?' Pansy snapped.
'So? Lots of people get dumped.'
'Not on the night of the Yule Ball. I came looking for you with drinks, you were off playing tongue tennis with some girl.' She hissed, and hit Draco's wand away from her throat. 'I liked you. You lead me on.'
Draco shrugged, remembering exactly the moment she was talking about. Pansy had gone to get drinks, like she said, but she'd missed out the part where she'd first swapped saliva with Blaise Zabini, a tall, dark-skinned Slytherin, friends with Draco and Pansy at the time. It was the evening of the Yule Ball, when Pansy happened to see Blaise Zabini. It was undoubted he was beautiful for a boy, with high, elegant cheekbones and long, slanting eyes that pierced the air around him. Pansy was obviously stunned by his clouded beauty, and upon seeing him standing quite alone at the bar, felt her heartbeat quicken, as it did at least every time she saw him. He looking quite handsome in his dress robes, and a smirk tugged on the corners of his lips when he saw Pansy. The ruffles and frills of her pink ballgown framed her body, from the thin waist to the thick bust.. She looked quite beautiful, but any girl who had previously witnessed her cruel remarks would say she looked like the vomit of someone who had eaten far too much candyfloss. 'Blaise.' She spoke, smiling slyly at Blaise. 'Who are you with?' He had said straight away, his face now serious. 'Draco. But he's not here right now..' She hinted, and Blaise laughed a boyish, hearty laugh. The two were very still for a moment, before quickly partaking in an exchange of lips and, sorrowfully, tongue. Draco looked on from afar, and anger engulfed his body, filling him with heated rage. He ran over to the first girl he saw; a disgruntled Hufflepuff, and kissed her. Well, it was more like a projection of temper through the lips, but it was enough to release a night's worth of bitterness from Draco, and happened to be caught by the searching glances from Pansy, who had just returned, giggling, with drinks. It was fair to say she stopped giggling straight away. Pansy projected all her anger onto Draco, who didn't happen to mention what he'd seen.
'I remember.' Draco's body became rigid, either from the cold or the conversation. 'I remember it vividly.'
Pansy's gloominess turned to anger. 'Daphne, lets go. Draco obviously has no sympathy.'
Daphne sighed sadly. 'Bye, Draco.' She fluttered her eyelashes quickly and got a stern look from Pansy, before the two of them left, trudging through the snow.
****
Back in the Gryffindor Common Room, Ron was sat having an argument with Ginny, probably about Ginny's choice in men. If only he knew, thought Hermione grimly.
'Hermione! Where the bloody hell have you been?! Listen, will you tell Ginny-'
'Sorry, I have to..' Hermione's voice broke off, and she sped into the girls dormitory. Ginny followed.
Hermione slumped onto her bed weeping.
'Hermione?' Ginny asked warily. Hermione made no attempt to speak. After a pause, Ginny added, 'Is it about him?' Hermione's head shook sadly in a way that was presumably a nod.
'Tell me everything.'
Hermione sat upright slowly, and began from the date in Madam Puddifoot's. She included everything this time, including Draco's name.
'Draco Malfoy?' Ginny asked skeptically.
'Unfortunately.'
'What did he say about calling you.. it?'
'Well... I mean, he didn't..'
'Let me get this straight. You didn't ask him whether it was true?! The bitch was probably lying! Hermione?' Ginny almost laughed.
'It didn't seem necessary at the time to ask. And I was a bit, emotional. You would be!' Hermione shrieked in her defence.
'Go talk to him. It's necessary.' Smiled Ginny. 'Oh, and go wash your face. You're a bit.. Teary.' She patted her friend on the shoulder.
*****
'You look like hell.' Ron said as Hermione left the common room. Hermione greeted this remark with a curse that made his nostrils the size of large cherries. 'Hey-'
'Busy.' She muttered.
'Hermione!' Draco shouted as he saw her bushy head bob from behind a bunch of Ravenclaws. A few of them gave him strange looks. 'Hermione!' He shouted again when she didn't hear him.
Hermione swore she could hear someone calling her name, but when she turned around, only a few Ravenclaws were there, laughing and talking. 'Hermione!' She definitely heard it that time. Draco emerged from the group of Ravenclaws, stumbling through the pack.
'Hermione!' He called again. Hermione stood quite still, waiting for whatever he was about to say. Draco looked guiltily at Hermione. 'I never said that, you know. I know how it would hurt your feelings.' Draco said stiffly. He held back, preparing to not be forgiven.
She paused. 'How do I know you're not lying?' Hermione's voice wavered involuntarily.
'You don't.' Draco said quietly.
Hermione paused again, this time they didn't break eye contact. 'Okay,' She replied just as quietly, and took a minute to look at Draco. Really look. His hair was ruffled from running through the harsh winter wind, as were his cheeks were red from the sting of the icy air. His breaths were uneaven from running. 'I don't care.' She said, a near whisper.
They were both very quiet then. Right until a Ravenclaw got fed up with the silence and shouted 'Kiss, for God's sake!'
Hermione chuckled and Draco sighed, knowing he was forgiven. Hermione was about to say so herself when he leant in and kissed her. She was so surprised at the feel that she almost staggered back, and had to hold onto Draco's back to support herself. Draco held her head, and deepened the kiss, and Hermione parted her lips in excitement. It was softer than the kiss in Madam Puddifoot's, and felt gentle and subtle, as if he was trying not to give the Ravenclaws something to stare at. She closed her eyes, ignoring the whispers of the Ravenclaws nearby, only to hear them stop abruptly. She could almost feel them tense from where they stood, and forced her eyes open. Draco seemed to have felt it too, because he slowly pulled away from her.
'And what do you think you two are doing?' Came a horrifyingly familiar voice. Hermione spun around, and Draco looked awe-struck. Hermione couldn't believe herself. The first time they'd been caught kissing was by Pansy and Daphne, and however fierce they seemed, they were nothing, nothing compared to the stout little woman stood in front of them.
Dolores Umbridge was smiling. The smile wasn't of success, of triumph. It was conquering.
****