Inamorato

A/N: Awww...poor Harry just can't win...

To all my reviewers: Thank you so much! I love reading them. I'm going camping next week, so I'll try to write on paper while I'm out there. That way I can just type it up and post more when I get back. So, sorry if I have some slow updates, kay?

To my readers...please review! I love hearing from you guys and if you leave your e-mail, I'll alert you to my updates!

Enjoy! ~ FA

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Harry stormed into the Gryffindor Common Room, his wings twitching in agitation. Several younger students cowered away from him as he stomped through the room and flung himself down on an ottoman near Ron and Hermione. "I really fucking hate that arrogant prick!" Harry spat out, fuming from the fight he'd just had with Draco.

Hermione nodded, not bothering to look up from her book. "Of course you do, Harry." Her voice was sympathetic, but tinged with an annoying edge of 'I'm-smart-and-you're-dumb' that Harry tried really hard to pretend wasn't there. "I knew you'd come to your senses eventually."

"Hermione!" Ron said, his mouth falling open in shock. "That's completely rude of you." He shook his head, truly surprised at the slightly-older witch. "What are you thinking? Malfoy is Harry's mate."

"No, he's not!" Hermione replied heatedly, slamming her book down on the coffee table to glare at the redhead. "I told you, Ron, Peris don't HAVE mates! Draco is merely a powerful Wizard and, as a Peri, Harry finds that enticing. He doesn't have to be with the stupid git, though!"

Harry stared incredulously between his two friends. He hesitated to get between them; this seemed like a continuation of a previous argument that he hadn't been around for. "Merlin, Hermione, stop being so selfish!" Ron's face was tight with anger; obviously he wasn't any happier to be involved in this fight than Harry would have been.

"Selfish?" She whispered, then her eyes narrowed and she yelled. "How dare you call me selfish! Malfoy has been tormenting me for SIX YEARS! He's a stuck-up, arrogant, nasty little bastard and Harry deserves a million times better than that disgusting blonde menace!"

"When was the last time he even bothered us?" Ron demanded reasonably, which Harry found quite surprising. Ron wasn't exactly known for being reasonable. "It was, like, halfway through last year, Hermione, let it go! We've all grown out of torturing each other. He's just kind of been background noise since, like, Christmas break of last year!"

Hermione's face was nearly as red as Ron's at this point. She clenched her teeth, growling her next words out from between them. "A few months of him behaving doesn't change all of the horrible things he's said and done over the years, Ron! How can you just let it all go?"

"Um, gee, 'Mione, I don't know...because I'm not twelve anymore?" Ron snarled back sarcastically. "And so what if, once upon a time, he called you a Mudblood? It's not like you never did anything back to him! For Merlin's sake, you slapped him across the face! If Harry's happy, you need to grow up and let it go!"

"Ooooh!" Before Harry realized what was going to happen, Hermione slapped Ron across his face. Breathing heavily, she glared at him. "Don't you EVER speak to me like that again, Ronald Weasley!" She told him coldly, tears in her eyes. She dramatically pointed towards the stairs to the boys dorm. "Just go away!"

Ron stood up, touching his fingers lightly to the stinging hand print on his left cheek. His eyes were cold and he looked like he was coming to a very unpleasant realization. He turned to Harry and said softly. "I support whatever you decide to do, mate. I'll be upstairs if you need to talk." He turned and walked away, saying nothing more.

"Hermione...I can't believe you just did that." Harry's eyes were wide as he stared at his best friend's retreating back, then turned to look at the girl beside him. "I really can't." He tried to keep his voice gentle, despite his anger, because he'd seen the tears in Hermione's eyes. She was obviously quite hurt by Ron's words and Harry had no desire to upset his friend more.

"I can't believe he said those things!" Hermione retorted sharply, turning her hard stare on Harry. "He's as big of a jerk as Malfoy!"

It was in that moment that Harry realized Hermione's tears were tears of anger, not hurt. "You know," Harry told her quietly, surprised at her attitude. "I never thought I'd say this, but you're completely wrong. About everything."

Hermione pouted a bit. "I am not, Harry!" She insisted stubbornly. "You don't have to be with Malfoy and you shouldn't. He isn't worth a fraction of you and there are plenty of other people you could be with, who would treat you much better than that obnoxious Slytherin!"

Harry shook his head and reminded her softly. "No, Hermione, there aren't plenty of other people I could be with. Remember what Dumbledore said; the chances of a creature like me finding a Witch or Wizard powerful enough to attract me is incredibly rare. I can't just throw away what could be my only chance at a family."

"Oh please!" Hermione laughed and Harry was shocked to realize it was a mean, ugly sound. "Malfoy doesn't want you, Harry, not at all!"

Harry started to say something, but she cut him off. "No, I'm right, Harry. I know I am. He's a Slytherin, and the son of a Death Eater. His prized Malfoy name isn't worth the breath it takes to say it anymore and he knows it. He's lost his father, he's lost the respect and power he's lived his whole life with...he's lost EVERYTHING and he sees you as a ticket to getting it all back!"

"He wants to link his name to yours so that he'll have the respect and power he craves and nothing more!" She continued, her eyes bright and her face flushed. "He's using you and he's using your instincts to trap you. Once you've bound yourself to him legally, he'll go back to being the same scum he's always been and you'll be stuck with him for the rest of your life with no way out! And don't be stupid enough to think he'll give you a family, Harry! The Malfoy's don't have big, happy families. If you haven't figured that out by now, you're stupider than Ron!"

"And," She finished triumphantly. "If you honestly think Draco's got anything on his mind other than the power and respect you can offer him, then you're being incredibly naive! The only other thing he could possibly want from you is sex! Signing over your life to him is incredibly stupid, since you'll get nothing out of the bargain while he gets the stigma of fucking The-Boy-Who-Lived attached to his name!"

"It's nice to know you think so little of me, that apparently the only things I have to offer someone are the power and fame of my name and sex." He snapped this out and was relieved to see that Hermione at least had the good-grace to blush, which at least saved her from getting hexed. Harry stood up very slowly, struggling to control his temper. "You have a very nasty mouth, Hermione." He said calmly, his gaze focused on the brunette girl before him. "I never realized it before, but it's true. Don't ever let me hear you talk about Draco or Ron that way again." He flared his wings out and was pleased to see Hermione swallow hard. "I am quite capable of judging people by myself. NEVER forget that."

"But, Harry..." Hermione said, a bit desperately in Harry's opinion. "He's always been mean and he's tormented us and he's..."

"He's human." Harry retorted sharply. "My own father tormented people while he was at school, up until his seventh year when he finally grew up. Shit, Sirius and Remus did to. Being obnoxious at 14 doesn't make someone a bad person, Hermione, but judging someone you won't even take the time to get to know does!"

Without another word, he left the stunned, silent witch sitting by herself in the Common Room. He debated about going up to the dorm to talk to Ron, but decided against it. He needed to speak with Draco. He left the Common Room and headed back towards his new, private quarters. And the whole way there, an annoying little voice in the back of his mind kept whispering, over and over, "What if she's right?". He tried to shut it off. He really did. But a part of him couldn't help wondering...what if she was?

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A/N: Hope you liked it! Sorry it's a bit short. ^_^ Please review; pretty please? ~ FA