f i v e

---

“Do you think I was a bit harsh last night?” Hermione asked her friend curiously as she took small glances at the Slytherin table, looking at Malfoy. She kept looking back and forth from Malfoy to Ginny.

“I’m sure Malfoy is forming a plan to humiliate you right now. He’s not the type to back down over some insult. He’s a stubborn ass but that’s what makes him . . . him.” Ginny explained with a small chuckle.

“Gee, that makes me feel a lot better. Now, Malfoy is planning to humiliate me, great!” Hermione said with fake happiness as she clasped her hands together. “I can’t wait.”

“Oh, come off it. I was just giving you an example. Malfoy is probably fine.” Ginny told her with a small grin.

“Yeah . . . how did your talk with Zabini go?” Hermione eagerly asked as she stared her friend down.

“Well, uhm . . . I wasn’t able to bring Malfoy up yet. I’m still working on that, first I just want to look friendly, you know?” Ginny asked as she looked away from Hermione, taking a liking at her plate.

“Oh . . . okay.” Hermione said as she slightly furrowed her eyebrows at her friend looking at her plate. “Do you like the plate or something? Why are you staring at it?”

“No reason.” Ginny dismissed it quickly and took a bite out of her toast.

“Right.” Hermione slightly puffed her cheeks and looked over at her friends with a small grin. “Do you guys need something? Why are you all staring at me like that?” She questioned Harry and Ron nervously.

“Hermione, I heard from Neville that you and Malfoy sat next to each other yesterday night during Astronomy.” Ron stated as he slightly glared over at Malfoy.

“Oh, that’s right. Why were you sitting with him?” Harry asked curiously as he stared at Hermione.

Hermione slightly gulped and pressed her lips into a straight line. “Uhm . . .”

---

“Is she staring at me?” Malfoy asked with a smirk as he continued to eat his breakfast.

“Yes, she’s looking back and forth from you to She-Weasel. Did something happen last night? You looked a bit upset when you came in last night.” Blaise said as he stared at his friend, waiting for an answer.

“Granger has an attitude and she has a lot of confidence . . .” Draco said quietly as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. “I’m going to crush her and that big confidence of hers until she’s left with nothing but insecurity.” He stated with a smirk as he stared at Granger speaking with her friends.

“That seems really harsh.” Blaise said after a while.

“So did you talk to She-Weasel?” Draco asked, completely ignoring his friend’s comment.

“Uhm, no . . . not yet. I’m working on it. She has a bad temper so I’m planning on befriending her first before bringing Granger up.” Blaise stated.

“Okay, good.” Draco replied and suddenly felt someone’s hand on his thigh. He turned his head over to Pansy with a scowl. “What do you want?”

“You know, I heard something so funny last night. I heard you and Granger were getting close last night after Astronomy class.” Pansy stated with a soft giggle as she stared at Draco.

“Who told you that?”

“I’m not the only who knows, you know. There’s a rumor flying around that you and Granger are . . . dating. Everyone knows about it.” Pansy said with disgust as she pulled her hand back from his thigh. “You didn’t seem to deny anything, is it true, then?”

Draco smirked and stared at Blaise, Granger, then at Pansy. “Maybe I am dating her, maybe I’m not.”

---

Lavender looked at Ron and then at Hermione, immediately throwing daggers at her. “You must be over Won-Won then, seeing you’ve already found yourself another guy to drool over.” She stated with venom dripping from her voice.

“Excuse me?” Hermione asked with a small laugh. “You think I like Malfoy?” She asked with another incredulous laugh. “Malfoy sat down next to me because there were no more seats available so against his own will, he sat with me. All we did was fight so don’t get any wrong ideas.” She said and let her eyes pierce into Lavender’s blue orbs.

“Are you sure? There’s a rumor flying around that you and Draco Malfoy are dating.” Lavender said with a smirk.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest when a shriek cut her off. All heads turned over to Pansy and Draco.

“You’re dating that mudblood?! It’s true?!” Pansy yelled with outrage as she stood up from her seat, glaring at Draco.

Draco looked around the room to see everyone looking at them. He suddenly locked eyes with Hermione and a smirk started to crawl its way onto his lips. “Yes, I’m dating Hermione Granger.” He stated, announcing it to the whole room as he stood up. “Oh, and Pansy, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call my girlfriend a you-know-what. I thought we had this talk earlier.” Whispers and gasps filled the whole room as every student pointed and stared.  Hermione Granger stared at Malfoy with wide, shocked eyes and her jaw dropped wide open. Malfoy winked at her as he started to walk towards her. She felt a blush bloom across her face as everyone stared at her. She turned around and saw the shocked faces on Ron, Harry, and Lavender’s face. “Guys, he’s joking. It’s not true.” She told her whole Gryffindor table with a nervous chuckle. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her arm and turned around.

“We should get going, right love?” Malfoy asked her with a smirk as he stared at her, pulling her up.

Hermione glared at him as she got pulled up. “What are you trying to pull, Malfoy? It’s not very funny.” She told him sternly in a whisper.

“I’m laughing.” Draco said and grabbed her backpack, swinging it around his shoulder and winking at Hermione one last time before pulling her out of the Great Hall.