7:03 am, Monday
12 Grimmauld place

Hermione and Ginny surprisingly got out of bed fast. Considering that they were up almost all night. They were packing quietly until...

'I'm gonna miss them,' said Ginny as both she and Hermione were packing last minute things.
Hermione knew that Ginny was talking about her parents. She herself was going to miss them. From Mrs. Weasley's cooking to her funny attitude to Mr. Weasley's kind and caring state, along with a funny obsession to the muggle world. He often asked her and Harry things like: "what are the magical attributes of erasers?" and stuff like that.

'Don't worry, you'll see them in no time,' Hermione said, giving a reassuring smile, 'Plus, they'll write to you.'
Ginny seemed too caught up in thought so just nodded her head respectively.
'I'm also gonna miss Harry. I won't be able to see him as much during school hours.'
She sighed.
-
'To be honest, girls utterly suck.' Ron groaned loudly. 'And swallow,' he said under his breath.

'What do you mean?' Asked Harry.
Ron and Harry were both up in the attic room getting ready for their departure of Grimmauld place to the Hogwarts Express.

'Well, I've been wanting to get with this girl all summer-' Ron started, 'but I don't think she realizes my existence!' He cried, falling backwards on his bed, so he faced the ceiling.

Harry didn't have much experience with women, but he just knew that Ron was talking about Hermione. He smiled slightly. Ron was flirting with her ever since she stepped foot into 12 Grimmauld Place. After each compliment, wink, or hug he gave her, she seemed too have just laugh every time, or ignore it completely.

'I've been practicing my flirting skills with Hermione, but they seem really cheesy,' Ron said with a sigh.

'Wait.. what? What do you mean you've been practicing,' Harry said with a confused look.

'I have to make a move on Lavender at school before anyone else gets her, so I've been practicing some moves on Hermione, to see if they would work,' Ron said causally. "BUT DON'T WORRY!!! I told Hermione ever since she stepped foot into Grimmauld Place that I would be "experimenting" on her, so it's not like she feels anything about me.'

Harry was thinking hard to himself. Ron didn't like Hermione? Since when? He exquisitely remembers all those nights Ron would go on about how beautiful, intelligent, and bright she was. But never admitting he liked her as girlfriend material. Now that Harry's come to think of it, he's never told him he'd had a crush on Hermione ever. But Ron did slip a few notches of Lavender every so often.

'You never told me you liked her. Lavender, I mean,' Harry said flatly.

'Di'in think it was that important,' Ron shrugged. 'Hey, by the way, what time does the express leave?'

'Nine, I think' said Harry glumly. He was really shipping Ron and Hermione's relationship. He was most upset that Heron was not gonna happen anytime soon. But as long as his friends are happy, he is.

'So you really think you have a chance with lavender? I mean, from what I've heard of, she's a total snob.'

'Yes but I heard she snogs well,' laughed Ron. 'And yes, I do think I have a chance with her, thank you very much,' he said, throwing a pillow at Harry. 'Rude.'

'Oh, I'm the rude one? You're the one throwing pillows at me!' Harry said throwing it right back.

'Mmmhhhhmmmm.'

They both laughed and headed downstairs.

-

8:52 am Monday
Hogwarts Express
Platform nine and three quarters

'We have to go, mom!' Yelled Ron. 'The train will be leaving soon!'

'Oh, don't get too excited to be without me sweetheart, your still gonna be with us during Christmas,' Mrs. Weasley said, tussling up Ron's hair. 'The train will be leaving in more than 5 minutes, you have enough time to give me a proper goodbye.'

Ron gave a heavy sigh and hugged his mum and pulled away quickly.
'Bye then.' He kissed her cheek quickly and went on the bus.

Mrs. Weasley then hugged Harry and they exchanged their farewells while he was boarding the train. She then turned to Ginny and Hermione. 'Take care of them for me,' she said with a smile on her face and she hugged them goodbye too.

'Haha, we will Mrs. Weasley. Not to worry,' Hermione promised while boarding with Ginny behind her.

'Bye mom, I love you.'

-

8:56 am Monday
Hogwarts express
Platform nine and three quarters

'Now listen here,' said Lucious Malfoy said in a hushed tone. He grabbed his son's arm before he could board the bus. 'I just saw that nasty Potter boy with his Weasley friends and mudblood board the train a couple entrances down.'

Draco smiled. He knew where this conversation was going. 'Don't worry, I won't bite the mud blood,' he laughed yanking his arm free and attempting to get on the train a second time but was stopped again by his stubborn father. This time, he was gripping so hard on his left arm, that Draco knew that there would be bruises later.

'DO NOT ruin the plan we agreed too. But even worse if you ruin our name. Do not let me down.' He told him looking stern. 'We have to please the Dark Lord as much as possible. He is still weak right now.'

He let go.

'Goodbye to you too,' Draco said glumly, not looking at Lucius, but rather boarding the train with his trunk, which he was heaving up with one arm. His left was hurting too much but he didn't wince or show pain while his father was around.

-

The train just started to move as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny found a compartment that was occupied by Neville and Luna. Neville was petting his pet toad, Trevor and Luna were reading the Quibbler. They looked up and smiled.

'Luna, how have you been?!' Ginny rushed in, throwing her trunk in the storage space and giving her a hug.

'I've been good. Growing some Niky-Wikers all holiday! But for some reason, they all like to bite...'

Ginny laughed and sat next to her.

'What are niny-winys?' Ron said walking in next. Then sitting next to Ginny.

'Niky-Wikers,' Luna started to say, as Harry and Hermione squeezed in to load their bags, 'are tiny creatures that can help capture evil. My father is an expert of them! He wrote all about them in last weeks edition of the quibbler'

'I'm sure he is,' Ron said, rolling his eyes.

-

'Please sit in front of me, sit in front of me, I wanna see your face,' Ginny thought to herself as Harry and Hermione were piling in.

They were both busy putting their trunks in the storage space while Luna was talking about something called niny-winers or something, until Hermione said, standing still, 'Why doesn't your dad use that to stop You-Know-Who?'

'I asked him that. But he said that it's only for magic objects that are evil. Dark magic. Not dark people,' she said, looking at nothing.

Harry gave a small cough and stepped in front of Hermione, holding out his hand saying 'Neville, how were your holidays?'

Neville shook it and Harry sat down.

'Yesss, he's sitting in front of me, 'Ginny thought to herself, trying hard not to smile as Hermione sat next to Harry.

'It was fine. How was yours?' Neville said.

-

'I just wanna see Lavender,' thought Ron. He had no intention of being with his 3 best friends and sister, who he'd seen almost all summer when Lavender was just a few compartments away.
He saw her just walking in her compartment while he was saying hey. But she had not noticed. Harry laughed, Ginny said 'classic,' and Hermione ignored it.

'Then, when it gets close to a-,'

'I'll be back,' Ron said getting up from the stiff seat, completely interrupting Luna's explanation of Nikey-Wikers .

'Where are you going?' Asked Hermione, putting her hand on the handle, since she was closest.

'To the bathroom, chill,' Ron said taking Hermione's hand and placing it on her lap, 'I'll be right back.' And he left.

Hermione looked at the closing compartment door and watching Ron walk away. she gave a sigh and turned her head towards her friends. they were all staring at her.

'What?' she asked defensively. nobody answered, but instead, looked away and resumed to their nothingness. Luna quickly looked back in her Quibbler magazine which was now sideways, Neville was playing with Trevor, Harry was observing the window, and Ginny went through her rucksack as if she were to find something that she did not notice from before.

Hermione gave a HUMPH, crossing her arms and knees, grimacing.

'I don't like him.' thought Hermione, 'I just care about him... nothing serious. I think. plus, even if I DID like him, which I don't, he would never like me back...' She glanced at the now-closed compartment door and gave another little sigh and looked forward to where Ron would be sitting. she noticed at the corner of her eyes that Ginny and Harry were glancing at her from time to time. She chose to ignore this. Because nothing that her best friends would say would be true. She knows her feeling s towards Ron. Or does she?

-

'Hey babe, how was your summer?' Asked Pansy Parkinson to Draco, who was now entering the compartment, with Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise .

'Don't bother, it was the same like last year. And you know how that is.' Draco said with a sigh as he plumped next to Pansy. 'And don't babe me.'

'Aren't you going to ask me how my summer holidays were?' Pansy asked innocently, stroking Draco's hair.

'No because I don't care.' Draco said.

Pansy gave an ugh noise and hit Draco on the head.

'What the bloody hell was that for?!?!?' Draco said, rubbing his head.

'For being an arrogant jerk obviously,' Blaise said laughing, 'Does that surprise you?'

'Shut up,' Draco said punching him lightly in the arm.

'Anyway,' Blaise said holding his arm, 'Who are this years prefects?'

'Who cares?' Pansy said, 'I doubt Dumbledore even wants prefects this year... I owled my friends over the summer and nobody got a letter saying that they were prefects.'

-

Ron was never this excited to see a girl. Unless it was his mom, if she had food. Or Hermione, if she offered to do his homework.

He was going through almost every compartment, opening and closing the sliding door, saying things like, 'sorry,' or 'pardon me,' when he saw that Lavender wasn't in there.

Finally, when he was almost at the end of the train, he saw her sitting next to the Patil sisters.

'Oh, um, hey Lavender. Can I talk to you outside? Alone...'

-

'Does he even realize how much I want him? He can be so naive sometimes.' Ginny thought to herself. 'To be honest, I don't even know why I like him. is it the fame? Popularity? Or simply because I have an emotional connection to him ever since he saved me from the chamber of secrets?'

Ginny decided not to think about Harry too much. She tried extra hard not to look at him every 20 seconds, so she kept her focus on Hermione, who was exceeding in multitasking in reading and looking pissed off.

'Why do you look so pissed?' Ginny asked Hermione, smiling a bit because she already knew why.

'Shut up Ginny,' Hermione said, still looking pissed.

'Haha. Don't make me hex you.' Ginny said with a laugh. Harry also gave a small chuckle, making Ginny stop laughing, but rather, blushing.

Hermione seemed to have noticed because now she was smiling. As if she knew something she didn't know before.

'Whatchu lookin at?' Ginny said, in an intimidating way, making Hermione look back at her book again. Ginny looked at Harry, but he was back to looking at nothingness.

10 minutes later

Neville, Luna, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were playing a game of Exploding Snap until one of the snaps exploded in Neville's eye.

'GAA!!!'

'Are you alright, Neville?' Luna asked, patting his back.

'Does it look like I'm alright???' Neville removed his hand from his eye. it was swollen and pink.

'That's gross.'

'Thank you Ginny, for your kind words.' Neville said, covering his eye again. 'I'm going to the bathroom.' He walked towards the sliding door, but ended up walking into the wall unit just beside it.

'I'll help you,' Luna said, quickly getting up from her seat and grabbing his hand and shoulder and helping him through the doors.

'I hope he's alright,' Hermione said, watching them leave.

'Neville will be fine, hes a tough guy,' Harry said reassuringly, and they quickly finished their game of Exploding Snap.

-

While they were finishing their game, Hermione had a few thoughts.

'Are there even any prefects this year? there is usually a compartment at the back of the train, just for the prefects. Maybe I can go check it out?'

When they finally finished their long game, there was quietness.

'I'll be right back,' she said, getting up.

'Where are you going?' Harry asked, shocked at the sudden sound, breaking the quietness.

'I'm going to check out the back of the train. There would usually be a prefects start-of-the-year meeting around this time and I wanna be sure that there are prefects this year.'

She left. It was only Harry and Ginny in the compartment.

-

Hermione was on her way towards the back of the train. She knew it was going to take a while to get there since she was all the way in the front of the train. She walked passed 5 compartment rows... 10... 15...

'this is taking way to long,' she thought. it has been 6 minutes and she seems that the back of the train is a day away.
She kept on bumping into people coming out of their compartments, or exchanging 'hellos' to friends until she bumped into someone coming out of their compartment yet again.

'BLOODY HELL, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!' An unfamiliar voice said.

'I'm sorry!' Hermione cried, backing away to see who she bumped into.

'Filthy mudblood. I've heard things of you, Granger. Not good.'

Hermione recognized his face to be Blaise Zabini.

'It was an accident, Zabini. now move out of my way, I need to get through.' Hermione said, as she tried to push him away.

'Not so fast Granger,' he said holding her back. 'Not until I hear a please.'

'I'm not here to please a Slytherin,' Hermione said, finally breaking free of his grasp.

'Oohooo, you're a feisty one, mudblood,' he said, watching her leave.

'Don't call me mudblood,' Hermione said making her way towards the back of the train again.

-

What seemed like 100 millennia later, she found the sliding door labeled PREFECTS.

She noticed through the cracks of the door that there was a dim light. So there must've been someone there. Right? I mean, who else would turn on the light?
She slid the door open and she saw long blonde hair. And short red hair. Snogging.

'RON?!?'

-

'I just bumped into that mudblood, Granger. Nasty girl she is,' Blaise said, walking back into his compartment.

'Congrats for you, you know what a mudblood looks like,' Pansy said casually. 'Why did you even leave in the first place?' She asked.

'I was wondering when the trolley would come, I'm starving,' Blaise said, sitting next to Crabbe.

'You must've lost your appetite touching her,' Pansy said with a smirk.

She was caressing Draco's hair again with slow, even paces. He was laying down on her lap.
He knew that she was enjoying his comfort. He simply wanted to lay down and elevate his head.
Yes, it's true, Pansy and him would go to quiet, abandoned places to hang out... Or shag, but he felt no emotional connection to her and he realized that he didn't want her to feel anything for him. So he quickly got up from her lap.

'What's wrong?' Pansy asked, surprised by the sudden movement of Draco's departure of her cozy lap.

'I need to take a walk,' Draco said without thinking. He didn't want to stay in the room with Pansy's needy face being annoying.

'I'll come with-' she said getting up.

'No. Stay here,' he said and was pleased to see her fall back into her seat quickly. He liked how he had that control.

'Well at least tell me where you're goin-'

'So you can follow me? I don't need that thanks. But unless you want to go to the boy's bathroom be my guest,' he said closing the door behind him.

...

He washed his face with cold water. He didn't want to cope with the responsibilities of being in his fifth year, he wanted to drop out of school completely... to get away from the stress of schoolwork, Pansy, and the mission his father gave him personally for Voldemort. But naturally, he was forced to come.

He shuddered when he thought of his mission. It would make everyone in the school, including some Slytherin's, to hate him.
He washed his face again.

He suddenly heard a girl laugh. In the boys bathroom. It was coming from one of the closed stall doors. Draco was sure that there was no one in the bathroom when he walked in. Apparently he didn't check well enough.

'Who's there?' His demanding voice asked, 'show yourself!'
He heard the girl's giggle again and a shush noise from another.

Draco walked hesitantly towards the stalls. He kicked the first door open with a loud CLANG. But there was nobody there. He did the same with the second one and heard the girl say, 'he's coming closer...shhh.'
He arrived to the third and last bathroom stall. He opened it slowly with his palm and saw Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom both covering each others mouths, as if to prevent one another from laughing their butts off. Suddenly, as if they couldn't hold in their laughter, they gave away and created a room full of their echoes of their joy.

'This is quite disturbing,' Draco said, still holding the door ajar.

It was as if Luna and Neville only just realized that Draco was there, was when the stopped laughing.

'Draco Malfoy, Slytherin,' Luna said in a dreamy voice.

'Lets go Luna. He means trouble,' Neville said grabbing her hand and leading her out the stall.

'No please continue, I do love a hopeless romantic,' Draco said with disgust in his voice. 'You and Loony deserve each other.'

'Do not call her Loony,' Neville said, letting go of Luna's arm and walking towards Draco with his chest heaved.

'And what are you going to do about it, hmm? A hex or jinx would be nice... if you knew how.'

'Lets go Neville, he's not worth it,' Luna said, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away.

'You're lucky you're girlfriend is here to stop you from humiliating yourself,' he said as they left.

He felt much better. But not good enough. He walked back up to the sinks and gave his face another rinse.

Now what? He washed his face, three times now. He made fun of Neville, AND Loony, which he was now certain that they were snogging seconds before he walked in; But he didn't want to go back to his compartment. He got out of the bathroom, which was placed in the splat middle of the express train, and started to head towards the beginning of the train. He thought walking back and forth a couple times would help him become tired. Maybe he can substitute all of his sleepless nights with this train ride...

---

'RON?'

'Ron how could you???' Hermione cried.

The redhead broke away from his kiss with Lavender. She was against the wall and her legs were around his waist
'What do you mean?' He asked, as he was starting to place Lavender carefully down.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She just stood there at the entrance of the prefects compartment room, watching Lavender unravel herself from Ron's body.

Ron broke the awkward silence by saying, 'Hermione, I think we should talk... alone.' When he said alone he looked at Lavender and she gave a sigh and walked out the door, fixing her hair.

'Hermione, what's wrong?' Ron asked, smoothing out his shirt, but not looking at her. He stopped suddenly, now he was looking at her, with a stern look on his face, 'you don't have a problem with me being with Lav, right?'

Hermione didn't know what to say. Mainly because she didn't know how she felt about the whole situation.

'N-no, of course you could be with her,' she finally said, 'I was just quite surprised, that's all.'

The day Hermione first walked in Grimmauld Place, Ron practically begged Hermione to use her to see if his flirting game was strong. Hermione finally agreed when Ron said that she could ignore him when he would be practicing on her. Hermione merely agreed due to his constant annoyance.

Hermione never wanted to admit it out loud, but sometimes Ron was a little too good at his practice rounds, that at some points, she thought were real...

Flashback
Grimmauld Place
She was descending the rocky staircase and tripped on a shoe. She couldn't keep her balance, so she fell. She closed her eyes because she thought she was going to die, even though she was about 4 steps away from the ground. It seemed as though she were flying, in slow motion.

She was falling, faster now, and was just about to hit the floor when a pair of firm arms caught her.

She opened her eyes.

'It's a good thing I caught you before you fell for anybody else,' Ron said in a dreamy tone.

Hermione couldn't stop looking at him, 'wha?' was all she could muster. She was being held from him, princess style, her arms around his neck.

Ron gave an unexpected smile. 'So, how did I do?'

'How do you mean?' Hermione said, with confusion in her voice and facial expressions.

'I put the shoe there to purposely trip you.. And catch you! But do you think that it would work on Lavender?'

Hermione was speechless for a while.

'You wanted to trip me off the stairs?' Hermione asked quietly.

'Well, yeah...' Ron said.

'Oh,' Hermione said quietly, but just enough for Ron to hear.

'Yeah, haha, sorry, should've told you' Ron said nervously.

'RON YOU BAFOON, YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!' Hermione said swinging her legs from Ron's arms, and unbuckling her own from his neck.

'Horrible strategy, but cheesy-yet-cute pickup line,' Hermione thought, but would not confess out loud.

'Yes but I caught you before any real damage happened! Even if you did break a nail or something, you could easily poof yourself back to health, right?' He said, backing away slightly.

'Whatever,' Hermione said, flipping her hair into his face as she walked away.

-

Back to present

Draco got to the front of the bus, not thinking about anything. But still felt as if he needed to lift a great weight off his shoulders. he started walking towards the back of the train. Walking back and forth used to always calm his nerves when he was little. He was hoping the strategy still worked.

-

Ron was waiting for an answer.
'Well?'

Hermione didn't realize that Ron was still standing there.

'Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, what did you ask?' She asked honestly.

'I asked why you came here in the first place... I'm not spooked out or anything, but you kind of just showed up. Out of the blue...'

'Oh, I was just looking if there were any prefects. Apparently not.'

'Now that you say that, it's getting quite fishy. There aren't any prefects...'

'Yeah, well, I'll just leave now... Do you want me to talk to Lavender; tell her that were cool?' Hermione asked, heading towards the door.

'Oh, uh, yeah-yeah, sure,' Ron said, but his tone said it as if he were nervous. 'She doesn't have feelings for me, right?' He thought to himself.

'Okay, well, seeya!' Hermione said, with a wave, as she left the prefect's compartment.

'Yeah, she doesn't like me. Not a chance.' Ron told himself.

-

Draco was halfway down the train... Passing the bathrooms, once more. Trying to take even breaths and not think about anything.

He was in an even worse mood now, itching waiting for the perfect moment to let his anger out. It was just building up... and up... and up.

-

Hermione departed from the prefects room and looked up the walk way but couldn't find Lavender anywhere.
She shrugged it off and started walking up the train, towards her compartment until she heard a door open from somewhere; a hand covered her eyes and mouth, dragging her backwards.

She struggled to be free as she felt as she was being dragged backwards.

When her eyes were uncovered, she found herself in an empty compartment. But she knew that she wasn't alone. She turned around in one swift move, drawing out her wand from inside her jacket.

'Don't panic,' Lavender said, 'I just wanna talk. Girl to girl.' She smiled and sat in the nearest seat. 'Please, sit down.'

Instead of sitting, Hermione asked, 'what the hell are you doing?' Her wand in front of Lavender's face. 'If you wanted to talk, all you had to do was ask! Not try and rip my face off!' Hermione was worried that Lavender was about to do something dangerous, like duel her, or even slap her.
But instead, she calmly got up from her seat and walked towards Hermione, nudging her wand away. 'My bad. I didn't think you'd want to talk to me, so I thought this would be the way.'

'Psycho'
'Why wouldn't I talk to you?' Hermione questioned, putting her wand down.

'I'm not one to gloat, I'm usually very humble, but I saw the way you looked at Ron in the prefects room. I saw the way you looked at us... well you know.' She told Hermione innocently, but Hermione could hear the hate it her voice. Bitch.

'And how was I looking, hmm? Was my hair alright? I'd say quite amazing as always.' Hermione said sarcastically, taking a step forward.

'You. Want. Him.' Lavender made sure that she pronounced every syllable clearly. 'I can see it in your ugly face right now. You need him. Maybe even love him. Well don't bother cause he loves me. And only me. You're nothing compared to his Lav-Lav. And plus, he's not into stuck up know-it-alls like you. He's into quiet, humble, yet hot individuals like me.'

They were now almost an inch from each other's faces.

'You're disgusting. What does Ron see in you?' Hermione asked. Hurt in her voice. It was absolutely no reason for Lavender to talk to her like that. Is she just that obnoxious for fun? Her eyes started to tear up. 'What will he think of you when he hears about this?'

-

Draco was getting nearer to the end of the train, lost in thought about nothing in particular.
But it was still there, growing as ever.
-

'Ohohoho, you're not telling him anything about this conversation. But even if you do, I'll tell him it's all a lie and that you're just jealous.'

'I'm going to tell him. And it's not because I'm jealous. Because I don't have girlfriend-material-type-thingy, with him or for him. I just feel bad that he's blinded from the truth.'

'And what truth is that?" Lavender mocked. 'That I'm a meanie that's protecting what I claim mine?' She smirked.

'You're delirious and enjoy you're life Lavender. I don't care what you do just don't talk to me ever again'
Hermione said walking out the door. She was now quietly crying.
She couldn't see anything. Her eyes were too soppy.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone.

-
It's just getting so bad now that he could just snap at any momen-

'WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOIN- ahhh well if it isn't the mudblood,' Draco said with a shove. 'Great, now I'll have to burn my outfit, you've ruined it.'

'Get out of my way,' croaked Hermione after she regained her balance. Her head was low, so he couldn't see her cry. But he could hear it from her voice.

'Aww is Granger crying?' Malloy asked, lifting her chin with his finger, 'Why because mummy and daddy finally gotten rid of their little rodent?'

'I said get out of my way, Malfoy.' She slapped his hand away and tried to pass him but he grabbed her arm and spun her around. Making her inches from his face.

'And where do you think you're going, hmm? The party just started,' he said laughing.
Aside from his laughter, they could here a door open and close. Blonde hair exited the compartment.
Hermione focused her eyes on her. Draco turned around and saw what Hermione was looking at. His hand still grasping her arm.

Lavender just noticed Hermione and Malfoy and their position they were in and said, 'Well, well. My apologies Hermione but I've mistaken you! You don't need Ron! You already have Malfoy!' She said with joy. 'Well that makes my life much easier.' She said going back into the prefects room. 'I'm back Won-Won! Missed me?' And the door closed behind her.

Hermione realized that her arm was throbbing under Malfoy's skin. He was holding her too tight. She tried to push him away with her free hand but he only tightened his grip.

'Ohhh Hermione had a little crush on the Weasel? I should've seen it sooner. Two rodents are made for each other.' Malfoy said smiling hysterically at Hermione.

Hermione realized that her hand was on his chest and they were very close. She didn't feel comfortable. At all.

'But the Weasel went for somebody else, bummer.'

'Let go of my arm Malfoy,' Hermione said quietly. She tried not to cry anymore, blinking her tears away. She attempted one last time of pushing him away but no use.

'Poor Granger, can't even get a guy she's known for, like what? Five years now? Pathetic. I'm even sure that Shortbottom and Loony were having a sesh in the bathroom and even you can't get with anyone. What a loser.'

He pulled her closer to him so that he was able to whisper in her ear. His cheek was grazing hers. 'I bet you've never even touched a boy or been this close.' Although Hermione couldn't see his face, she could feel the smirk he gave.

Hermione was speechless. She was hurt and disgusted by what she was hearing.
Technically, she has been this close to a boy. Victor Krum was her date to the Yule ball last year.

'I-umm-' Hermione started.

'Speechless huh? I bet, that you've never kissed a boy.'
It was not like her to not think of a witty answer almost immediately, but in that moment, it was like time had stopped.
He was still whispering in her ear. Almost in a seductive way.
Yes it's true, she has never kissed a guy. Not even Krum. But at that moment, she wanted to lie and say that she has, just to get out of this situation.

At this point, anger welled in her and she grabbed him arm, attempting to take his strong hold off her own.
It was like fate that she would grab his bruised arm, the one Malfoy had gotten from his father. This made him flinch.

'Just let me go. Draco. I've dealt with enough fucked up blondes today to last the school year.'

He was surprised at the sudden outburst of his name. Other than Pansy and his parents, anyone hardly used it anymore and he hated it when they did. Draco.

He let go and watched her walk away, wiping her wet face. And not looking back.

'It's Malfoy.' Was all he could muster, rubbing his throbbing arm.

-

Hey guys!!! I hoped you liked this chapter. Please let me know if you did.

By the way Dracos mission has nothing to do with the cabinet (from the half blood prince). -sorry if I ruined/ spoiled something that you haven't read yet- It's something completely different and unexpected.
Hope you guys enjoy!!!