Chapter 4: Think twice before jumping to the conclusion (or not)
I found myself outside the Slytherin common room, not knowing how I ended up here. The last thing I remembered is getting away from Ron when he was trying to stop me from leaving.
"I know you are going to go find Malfoy, don't do it." Ron said, he was grabbing onto my wrist and pulling me toward him.
"Let me go." I struggled to get out of his tight grip, "You no longer have anything to do with me and you cannot control me. So, stop making a scene and let me go. Now."
Ginny put her arm on her brother's and said quietly, "Set her loose, Ron. You need to trust her, I'm sure she knows what she's doing."
"She clearly doesn't!" Ron said angrily, but he finally loosened his grip, "I hope you are happy, Hermione. For the sake of everybody, I really hope you do."
"Likewise!" I squeezed the word out in between my teeth and left the Gryffindor's common room without looking back.
I felt bad for yelling at Ron. After all, we had been friends for seven years and I couldn't see myself losing him. That was the reason after he left me, I suggested we stay friends. It had been harder than I thought. And the whole Malfoy situation certainly didn't help. I felt alone. It had been a delicate dynamic after Ron and I split, everyone acted very carefully when Ron and I were in the same room. Everything had changed. Ron, Harry, and Ginny were closer than ever. And I, I didn't know where I stood.
Now I was actually one wall away from Malfoy. I became hesitant. I could just ask a passing Slytherin to get Malfoy so I could talk to him. However, why on earth would I care about him? That punch was probably well-deserved. I could imagine precisely how he looked like when he said the word 'mudblood' and how Ron threw his fist at him before he could realize what was happening.
I was weighing my options. I could just go back to the Gryffindor tower, tell everyone I went to talk to Malfoy, how everything was just a harmless joke and Ron was overreacting. Or I could find Malfoy, confront him and give him a talk about how he should stop being a bully. It was a lose-lose situation, what was I supposed to gain from it? I already had no dignity left, and I certainly didn't want to make it a negative number. I sighed and decided to just go back and not talk about it.
"Granger." As I was walking away, I heard a voice lazily calling my name, "You are leaving already?
"Can I help you?" I turned around, facing him. Standing near the Slytherin common room entrance was Draco Malfoy. Seeing I stopped, he walked up to me.
As he moved closer, I could see his face more clearly. He definitely had a bruise on his cheekbone.
"I should be asking you the same question." He smirked, "A first-year told me that you were lurking around here, so I figured I'd come to see what the fuss is about. I presume Weasley told you what happened?"
I nodded.
"And you are worried about me, so you had to come to see if I was ok?" He still had that devilish smirk on.
"I was not worried about you." I sneered, "I don't know, I just somehow found myself here. Anyway, goodnight."
What was that? I quietly cursed myself. Malfoy must think it was hilarious and this was going to become something he would pick me on. I could hear him saying 'oh Granger, falling too fast, aren't you?' Even though I had no feelings for him. Heading down there to see him was not because I was concerned about him. And I was sure of that.
"Well, that's boring." Malfoy pouted, then he grabbed me by my shoulder. Against my will, he put his arm around me, "I'm not sure if you realized, it's almost curfew time, and I don't think you want to be caught. I'm not tired, so how about we go on an adventure?"
"Are you out of your mind?" I protested, "I don't want to get into trouble, now, let me go."
"Come on, Granger, stop living your perfect life and not be boring for once." Malfoy held me tighter, he grinned, "Let's go to the observatory, I know a secret path."
Part of me was screaming I needed to leave for good, but the other part of me was curious. For years, I've resented Malfoy and the feeling was mutual. I never got to spend time to get to know him, not that I'd want to, it was more like my morbid curiosity. Mumbling 'you are going to get us in trouble', I let Draco Malfoy drag me to the observatory.
On our way there, we didn't talk. I found myself staring at him and deep in thoughts. I wondered how his childhood was, how he grew up to be who he was. Had he ever showed his true emotions to anybody?
"Don't stare at me like what Parkinson does." Malfoy said, annoyed, "it quite frankly scares me."
"I was not staring at you," I didn't know why I lied, "I was just thinking about something."
"Sure, if you say so." Malfoy grinned, "Granger, do you know you are terrible at lying?"
"I have no clue what you are talking about." I curled my lips, and he shrugged.
We finally got to the top of the observatory. Sitting against the wall, Malfoy finally set me free. The night breeze was fresh and calm. The stars decorated the ink blue night sky, the world was quiet and peaceful.
"I don't envy Potter, just so you know. In fact, I could care less of who gets chosen to be the Head Boy." Malfoy said, caught me by surprise. He turned to look at, there was a shine in his grey eyes, "But I'd be concerned if it was Weasley, he's got a lot of work to do so he can get himself together first before he's able to take on serious responsibilities."
"Well, I guess you have a point." As per usual, I was about to defend Ron, but today, it didn't feel right after that heated argument.
"Strange," Malfoy squinted, he moved a bit closer, "You are not defending him. Maybe you've finally realized how extremely incompetent he is, or, he hurt your feelings again, didn't he?"
I didn't respond.
"I was right, wasn't I?" He was staring into my eyes and I couldn't look away, "Granger, I don't even like you, but I must say, you should move on. "
"I'm not at the point that I need advice from you yet." Though his voice was gentle and sounded sincere, I refused to let my guard down.
"You are acting like an angry hedgehog, just won't let your quills down." Malfoy laughed and shook his head, "I don't know what it was between you and Weasley, and it doesn't interest me one bit. However, you'll be fine, Granger, there are plenty of suitable wizards out there for you. Maybe next time, you can even find someone who's less poor."
"Malfoy, why are you telling me all this?" I didn't acknowledge what he said and I was grateful for him trying to help, whether it was out of good intentions or not.
"I don't know. I guess I just feel like talking today." He sighed and turned away to look at the sky, "It's fine, you don't have to understand."
"Understand what?" I asked. He didn't seem like the Draco Malfoy I knew of. He changed, something happened to him that made him become more of a human. I found myself pitying him, to which I never thought I could.
"You talk too much." He said impatiently. I was confused, not knowing what was this about. Just in the last second, he was telling me how he felt like talking, "I don't know you."
"You are very confusing." I frowned, and continued on sincerely, "You are not making any sense. I never thought I'd say this, but if you want to talk about something, I'm here to listen. We've been spending a lot of time together these days, you might as well start opening up a bit so perhaps we can actually be friends."
"Oh now I see where this is going," Malfoy shed off that slight hint of melancholy in his eyes and returned to his old cunning self, "Granger, you said you want to be friends with me because you are afraid you'll fall in love with me by the end of this?"
It sounded more like a statement than a question.
"Stop being so narcissistic, would you?" I sneered, watching that handsome creature with a smile on his thin lips, "Listen, you coerced me into signing a contract with you and that was why I'm here right now. I was nothing but being nice and you just had to…"
Before I could finish my sentence, his lips were pressed against mine.
But it was just a stupid contract, wasn't it?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone