t h i r t y
---
“Hermione, it’s not what you think, we—“ Harry began as he took a step forward toward his friend.
“Ginny cleared everything up for me. You two have nothing to do with any of this so please just leave.” Hermione said sternly as she stared at Harry and Ron with pleading eyes. “If you two get into this mess, everything will just get—“
“Well, we’re already in this mess anyways. We might as well end the whole confusion together.” Ron interjected as he looked at her. “We’re part of all of this, too, you know.”
“No, you two got sucked into all of this—there’s a distinct difference between being in it and being sucked into it. You two had no choice because you were both captured by Parkinson. Please, this is for Malfoy and I to discuss.” She said sharply, gazing over at Draco just as she addressed him by his last name.
Draco and Blaise looked over at the two guys and nodded, telling them to leave. Ron and Harry sighed simultaneously as they agreed. “Okay, we’ll leave, but Hermione, whatever Parkinson told you, it’s not true. She twisted everything and . . . just hear them out.” Harry asked Hermione as they silently left the room.
Hermione watched the portrait door close and sighed, looking over to the side. “For once, I don’t know what to say.” She glanced over at the fire and clenched her teeth together. “Zabini, could you leave us alone? Perhaps, you can go over to Ginny’s room and talk for a bit.” Her face hardened as she said her friend’s name and waited for him to leave until it was just the two of them. “Do you want to go first, or should I?”
“What are you talking about?” Draco asked quietly, looking over at her.
---
Pansy looked over at Lavender and grinned. “You left it there, right?” She asked, walking into her bedroom.
“Yes,”
“Okay, then let’s start listening.” She said as she walked over to her bed, pulling some sort of headphones out, receiving a weird look from Lavender. “You don’t actually think I came here unprepared? Muggles have quite interesting devices . . . one we’re going to use to eavesdrop of their conversation. A muggle’s device and a little bit a magic can do wonders.” Pansy explained with a smirk. “Just stay over there while I listen and make sure to be quiet so I can hear.” She put the earphones in her ear and started listening to their conversation.
---
“Just drop the act, we both know everything. There’s no point in trying to act innocent.” She told him as she finally looked at him. “I’ll be honest and I’m positive you already know this . . . I used you this winter break to get back at Ron for leaving me for Lavender. And I would feel bad right now, but you used me to make Parkinson jealous—or well, from Ginny, to get rid of her.” She told him and licked her dry lips. “So which one is it?”
“I only approached you because I wanted to get rid of Parkinson, and that’s the truth.”
“Okay, I’ll believe you but this is the last time. And this should probably be the last time you trust me, too. Everyone is coming back tomorrow night and honestly, I want to go back to normal. When all we exchanged were scowls with each other . . . that’s the normal I want.” She looked down at her wand in her hand. “Didn’t you say your favorite spell was obliviate?” She asked with wonder, looking up at him. “Just as I obliviated my parents and sent them off elsewhere . . . I want to obliviate myself from all of this. I want to forget the emotions, the words, the things we did together the past few weeks. But, a part of me still wants to remember the emotions, the words, and things we shared together.” Hermione told Draco and sighed. “I honestly don’t know what I’m goin—“
She suddenly got cut off when Draco flew over, pulling her into his warm embrace and holding her tightly, never wanting to let her go. “Whatever Pansy may have told you, it’s not true. I was trying to make you fall for me to get rid of her, but I ended up falling for you. And I’m positive the same happened to you, too. I forgot about the whole plan, I just enjoyed spending time with you.” He explained, continuing to hold onto her. “I love you, Hermione Granger, and I mean it.”
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows as she felt tears form in her eyes. “I love you, too . . . I love you, Draco Malfoy.” She told him as she hugged him back, closing her eyes and capturing the moment as a tear rolled down her face.
“Do you trust me?” Draco asked her softly.
“Yes,” She replied back just as gently without hesitating.
“Pansy won’t stop until she breaks us up, so whatever she might say to you, it isn’t true. I promise you that I will protect you from her. I’ll always be here for you, Hermione. And I’ll always love you,”
---
Blaise and Ginny had their ears stuck to the door, trying to listen. “Damn, I can’t hear anything!” Blaise whispered angrily as he walked back over to Ginny’s bed, falling down angrily on it.
“I’m sure they made up, I made sure everything was clear between them.” Ginny explained as she walked over to Blaise, sitting down next to him.
“Why was she crying?” Blaise asked awkwardly, looking up at the ceiling.
“It wasn’t because of what Malfoy did or Parkinson’s doings . . . it was because of me. I couldn’t tell her, she heard all of it from Parkinson. More than feeling betrayal from Malfoy, she felt it from me. She couldn’t believe how I kept such a huge secret from her and how I still continued to help her. I understand where she’s coming from, we already talked about this before. I just . . . didn’t realize it would hurt this much, for both her and me.” Ginny said softly, holding back her tears. “She probably hates me right now.” She said, lifting up her head and looking at Blaise with big wet eyes. “She probably hates me more than she hated Ron . . . and that’s a lot.”
Blaise instantly sat up, completely alarmed by her tears. “Ginny, you don’t have to cry. Don’t you see Granger and Weasley? They seemed to be okay with each other again. You’re her best friend, aren’t you?” He asked in a hurry, trying to comfort her.
“Was,” Ginny corrected him, sniffling as she wiped away her tears with her hands.