Repercussions

As the end of the week approached, Hermione was both relieved and apprehensive. She was completely exhausted from the grueling week of classes, and being sick didn’t help the situation. Each morning was the same; she awoke feeling nauseated, rushed to the wastepaper basket in the corner of her bedroom, and puked her guts out. She even tried not eating dinner the night before, but somehow her body found what little food she had in her and evacuated it forcibly. After the fourth day of it, she decided to see Madame Pomfrey, who told her she probably just had a nervous stomach, and gave her a calming draught. She also said she looked a little pale, and gave her some vitamins to take as well. Hermione took note of the differences in the school nurse on her visit. Formerly, she was sure she would never have gotten out of the infirmary without so much as a test, physical, or order that she was to stay overnight. Not that the potions didn’t help, but she was still left feeling worn out and sluggish. She felt a little let down, seeing as the school nurse could cure anything from regrowing bones to broken skulls, and Hermione probably just had the flu. It seemed as if ‘Poppy’ was taking the loss of the Headmaster very hard, which just added more merit to Hermione’s hypothesis that the two had been an item. She didn’t have the heart to return to the infirmary and tell the old woman her treatment wasn’t entirely effective.

Ginny had apologized for her rudeness the day after the match, and after the demanding week of classes, even Harry and Ron had recovered from the loss. Well almost, Harry’s face turned to stone and his fists automatically clenched whenever Malfoy was in the vicinity, his already strong hatred of the blonde Slytherin increasing tenfold.

Hermione’s three best friends, along with the rest of the school, were all excitedly chatting about the Halloween party, while her stomach churned every time it was mentioned. She couldn’t even bring herself to open the package that arrived by owl at breakfast two days after the match. She had grabbed it and left the Great Hall, ignoring the questioning looks she was getting from the Gryffindors, to stash the small box in her room. There it lay, thrown unceremoniously into the corner of her dorm, now covered with books that accumulated over the week.

The last class of the week arrived all too soon. Hermione sat and stared at the clock, dreading the ring of the final bell, as she watched the minute hand tick ever nearer to the 12 with drooping eyelids. Malfoy was humming to himself next to her as he finished up his work, in an uncharacteristically good mood that couldn’t even be broken by the difficult potions assignment. The final bell rang, rousing Hermione from her stupor, and the class packed up their things to start the weekend. Malfoy stood up, still humming in a sickeningly happy fashion, but didn’t head for the door right away.

“Better get a move on Granger, you don’t want to keep your incredibly good looking, intelligent, good looking date waiting.” He said, smirking at her more with his eyes than his lips, as he watched her pack up in slow motion. The rest of the students had jumped out of their seats at the sound of the bell, eager to get ready for the Halloween party.

“That’s funny, last I checked my date was a complete horse’s ass,” she retorted, shuffling her feet towards the door and stifling a yawn. She was hugging her books to her chest and leaning on them as if they were keeping her head on straight. Draco had to chuckle at her childish posture, while the gears in his brain worked overtime to think of a clever comeback.

“Sorry I couldn’t hear that over the sound of your hair getting bushier.” ‘That was original… not’ he thought to himself.

“That’s because horses’ asses don’t have ears,” she replied coolly, in a know-it-all air reminiscent of their first few years at school.

“Ooo, someone sure knows a lot about horses’ asses, spend some time in one recently? Personally I prefer Barcelona or Majorca for vacation spots, but to each his own.” ‘Much better.’ Although that one earned him a swift kick to the shins, and Hermione turned on her heels to head for her common room, leaving Malfoy at the door to the classroom, shaking his finger at her in a reprimanding fashion. She hurried off to her room, hoping to have time to relax before Ginny showed up and they got ready for the party together. Unfortunately, the littlest Weasley was already waiting for her, carrying a huge bag full of makeup and a large grin. It was going to be a long night…

***

“I look so bloody fucking ridiculous. I can’t do this Gin.” Hermione groaned while pulling at the short skirt of her Halloween costume and fussing with the corset.

“Oh shush you look hot! I swear my brother will be forever in debt to Malfoy after this, I just can’t believe he convinced you to wear it.”

“Like I said, I didn’t order anything because I couldn’t pick one out, and this one came with Malfoy’s pirate costume. I just didn’t realize that it was so revealing.” The Head Girl replied, nervously adjusting herself, and hoping Ginny fell for her little white lie.

“That isn’t very like you Hermione, the party was your idea. Why wouldn’t you order your own costume, and since when do you listen to Malfoy?” Ginny was shooting her a penetrating and suspicious gaze, and Hermione was quickly caving. She hated lying to her friends and figured she should have at least come up with a better excuse if she was going to convince the fiery redhead.

“Errr… if I tell you the real reason will you promise to not make a big deal about it?”

“Yes… unless it is a big deal. Spill.” Ginny ordered, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

“Well… me and Malfoy kind of made a bet on the outcome of the match… and Gryffindor lost so… “

“You can’t be serious! Since when are you on good enough terms to be making bets with that scum?”

“I didn’t think I could lose! Malfoy was going to dress up as the scarecrow if I won, it was too good to pass up. It doesn’t mean we are friends or anything, he’s still a prat most of the time.”

“Most of the time? Last I checked Malfoy was a prat ALL of the time.”

“Please… don’t make this worse for me than it already is. I just want tonight to go as smoothly as possible. Which means… do you think you could tell Ron and Harry you helped me pick this out?”

“On one condition… you have to let me do your makeup, and you have to stop fidgeting. You look really pretty, don’t be so self conscious.”

“But I am going to look like a fool. I might as well just show up in my undergarments for all the good this thing is doing me.”

“Oh just you wait until you see the other girls. You will fit right in don’t worry.”

“Well that just makes it all worthwhile, doesn’t it? I’m finally going to fit in… whipdi-freakin-do! ERR this stupid costume doesn’t fit right, half my boobs are falling out the top, and I hardly have boobs!” Hermione was hastily attempting to stuff herself into the tight fitting top, but she wasn’t accomplishing anything except making herself even more frustrated.

“If by hardly you mean huge! Look at those things ‘Mione. If I didn’t know you, I’d think you gave yourself an engorgement charm. Over summer you weren’t even half my size... no offense or anything. Now you could easily share my bras and then some.” Ginny was eyeing Hermione, her eyes scanning up and down her body, and it was making the brunette slightly uncomfortable.

“Maybe that’s why they’ve been so sore lately. I’ve been having to hug my books to my chest when I walk down stairs to keep them from bouncing because it hurts so much.” She was now checking out her reflection with interest, trying to decide if Ginny was right or not. She could definitely see some difference, but it was exaggerated by the bustier, which made them appear to be spilling out and over the top. If Gryffindor would have just won the match, she would be happily putting on her conservative Dorothy costume, looking forward to how ridiculous Malfoy was going to look dressed as the scarecrow. Instead she was seriously considering throwing herself down a flight of stairs and spending the night in the infirmary.

“Yeah, could be.” Ginny replied offhandedly, not thinking too much of it. “Let me change real quick, then we can start the makeover. You better be here when I get out of that bathroom!”

“Oh you know me… I would never miss a makeover.” Ginny just rolled her eyes in a very Hermione-ish way at the clearly sarcastic comment, and grabbed her costume to change.

“Just for that, your eyebrows are getting it too.”

***


When Ginny was finally satisfied with her work, or just afraid that if she did anything else Hermione would curse her into the next century, she went back to her own common room to meet Harry and Ron. After Hermione insisted that Ron also have a date, he had asked Padma Patil to go as friends, and surprisingly she had said yes. Technically Ginny was going to the party with Ernie Macmillan, and Harry with Susan Bones if anyone said anything. The two Hufflepuffs were also a couple, so they could just switch dates easily if it was necessary. However, with the Head Girl as their best friend Ginny figured they’d be in the clear, so she walked down to the dungeons with her boyfriend and brother in tow, excited for the night to begin.

Hermione had to go down to the dungeons early with the rest of the prefects and the Head Boy, for some last minute party preparations. She was almost out the door when nerves got the best of her, and she grabbed her cloak and fastened it securely around her neck.

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” a drawling voice spoke lazily from the couch. Hermione stopped dead halfway down the stairs, wondering how he could see what she was wearing, when only the top of a feathered hat was visible to her over the back edge of the sofa. She watched as he turned around in his seat to meet her eyes, which were shooting daggers at him.

“It wasn’t not a part of the deal,” she replied coyly. “I am wearing the costume, and it will probably be cold down in the dungeons. I don’t see why I can’t wear a cloak,” she said, crossing her arms as she glared down at him, only making his grin widen as the gesture pushed up her breasts that were already overflowing out the top.

“Well I do, and I won the bet. If you don’t want me to take serious advantage of the other part of our deal I would remove the cloak like a good little wench.” They stood in silence, Malfoy grinning and Granger scowling. It seemed as if neither was about to back down, until Hermione threw her hands up in defeat and huffed up the stairs back to her room. When she returned to the common room she was without cloak, but in a foul mood, and Draco almost wished he didn’t say anything.

“After you,” Draco said in a mock gentlemanly tone, holding the portrait open for her, as she angrily stalked past him. With each step she took, her skirt bounced just high enough for Malfoy to get a glimpse of her black satin knickers, which were unusually covering, like skintight shorts. He figured he would get more than a dirty look if he asked her to take those off as well, and subconsciously covered his manhood, keeping his mouth shut.

All the way down to the dungeons Hermione wrung his ear with complaints and instructions for his behavior at the party. Malfoy wasn’t really paying attention. He was too busy staring at her lips, looking like sweet candy from the hint of sheer pink tinted lip-gloss. Her eyes looked more open than he recalled them being, showing off their perfect almond shape and deep brown depths, and accented with her thick black lashes. Her hair was hanging down in messy waves, giving her a windswept appearance, but it suited her. Draco didn’t know if slick perfectly done up hair would be fitting on her; he actually found the full volume and carefree ‘just rolled out of bed’ look to be quite sexy. She didn’t wear the thigh high stockings he knew came with her costume. Instead she left her legs bare, but they were so smooth it almost appeared as if she were wearing nude nylons. She wasn’t wearing stiletto heels like most girls would with that sort of costume, but Mary Jane style, black flats. With her long slender legs she was able to pull it off without looking stubby or frumpy. She looked like Hermione, just decked out in Draco’s fantasy world. Well a small part of his fantasy world, as she was naked in most of his better dreams.

Hermione immediately took charge once they arrived at the party site, making sure everything was perfect, right down to the last tiny detail. With help from the professors, they had created a ‘haunted’ maze from the deepest part of the dungeons, which were already creepy enough to be an attraction in themselves. They had one room dedicated to witches and wizards that were of age, where they were allowed to serve alcoholic punch, and socialize with other students in their year. They also had a room for the younger students to play games and just have a good time with each other, in a much more controlled and supervised area. They were going to have a costume contest and then send the first through fourth years to bed, while the older students were allowed to stay at the party until it died out, which they figured would be around 3am.

When the rest of the student body arrived, Hermione’s nerves that had momentarily took a backseat to her Head Girl duties, started to get the best of her. She hung off to the side, waiting for her friends to arrive, covering herself as much as she could with her arms. She felt the stares of the costume clad arrivals, but was relieved to see that most of the girls were sporting outfits very similar to her own. Finally spotting the luminous red hair of the two Weasleys and the disheveled locks of the Boy Who Lived, she left her spot against the wall with the other anti-socialites, to try to make the best of the party. After all, she had put a lot of work into it, and she liked to think of herself as mature enough to not let something like a silly Halloween costume that wasn’t exactly her style, ruin her night.

“Wow Hermione, you look erm… nice,” Ron sputtered out, his eyes wide, clearly shocked at her appearance.

“Thanks, you look nice too. Err… what are you exactly?” She asked, staring at his oddly shaped silver ensemble.

“I’m supposed to be a chick magnet, it was Padma’s idea. She is the chick. I thought it was stupid,” he trailed off, staring at the floor and blushing.

“Where is Padma anyways?” She said trying to change the conversation before Ron’s face started on fire from embarrassment, or she burst out laughing, whichever came first.

“I dunno I was supposed to meet her here, but I think she’s seeking revenge on me for the Yule Ball.”

“She’s probably just running late, c’mon, I’ll give you a tour of the other rooms.” Hermione led Ron, Harry and Ginny around the dungeons, showing off the decorations she had been working on for the past month. Somewhere around the punch bowl, she lost Harry and Ginny, and she and Ron were left alone. They managed to make small talk for a while, even though Hermione did most of the talking.

Everything was going smoothly, and she was actually enjoying herself in spite of being out in public with less on than what she wore to bed. She was dancing with her friends on a fog strewn dance floor/cleared out classroom covered in enchanted smoke. Malfoy hadn’t really said anything to her all night, or even ordered her to retrieve his drinks, although she could feel his eyes on her from time to time. At the moment it was her watching him over the shoulder of her boyfriend as they danced to a slow tune she didn’t recognize. He was whispering into Victoria’s ear, and the pretty but overdone girl was giggling and blushing at his words. Hermione’s eyes were narrowed and fists were clenching around Ron’s shoulders as she watched the exchange.

“Is something wrong?” Ron had stopped dancing when he felt her tense up, and was now looking down at her with concern in his eyes. Hermione snapped her gaze away from the blonde to look up at the man in front of her.

“Err… no not at all. It’s just that I was supposed to go check on the maze 10 minutes ago to make sure no one is lost inside. It shouldn’t take long.” She thought that was a pretty good excuse, seeing as they really did have to take a walk through to maze to make sure no one was lost or snogging in the dark corridors.

“Alright, I’ll probably be by the punch bowl, trying to drag Harry away from it. He’s going to be wasted before I even get my first drink, he hasn’t left the bowl since we got here.”

“I’m sure Ginny won’t let him, and if she does I will definitely stop him. McGonagall let us drink as a privilege for being of age, and I don’t think we should be taking advantage of it.”

“Calm down, I’m sure Harry’s behaving. Just be quick.”

“I will,” Hermione told him, hurrying away to go interrupt Malfoy and Victoria’s little chat. Draco saw her coming out of the corner of his eye, and flipped his hair back and combed his fingers through it, before returning the black pirate hat to his head. He quickly glanced at her to see her expression. She was rolling her eyes at him… not exactly the reaction he was going for.

“Ah, Granger… Come to fulfill your wenchly duties?” he asked her with a sneer, leaning back in his seat casually.

“No, I’ve come to tell you to do yours. It’s about time we did our walk through the maze.” She was trying to look only at Draco while she spoke, and ignore the makeup queen beside him. She couldn’t help but to notice the skimpily clad wannabe Hawaiian girl when the girl was placing her flowered leis around Malfoy’s neck. She saw little love bites and hickies along the girl’s collarbone that could have easily been covered with a concealment charm or just some makeup. It seemed as if Victoria wanted to show them off, and Hermione couldn’t figure out if that was why she was gritting her teeth in anger, or because of whom she figured made those marks.

“Well I think you should get me a drink first… and make it snappy.”

“And what if I don’t?” she asked testily. He was not going to make her look like his little slave, especially not in front of the slut of Slytherin.

“It’s your funeral… bad things happen to people who back out on a wizard’s bet,” he said with an evil smirk on his face, getting up to stand in front of her. She didn’t say anything, just glared at him, and headed off to get him his bloody drink.

When she returned she had two drinks in hand. She gave one to Malfoy, and raised the other one to her lips, before it was rudely snatched from her grasp.

“How nice of you to get me two,” he said as he downed them both in succession. “That was really refreshing, seriously hit the spot, you should have gotten one for yourself.” There was no way he was going to let her drink their child into the next Neville Longbottom, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t taunt her about it.

“Ugh… you’re such a pig. I think I can check the maze by myself thanks.”

“You really think I’d let you go by yourself, when going along will give me all that alone time to annoy the hell out of you?”

“Why waste your time with me when it could be spent snogging Victoria? Or could she not fit you in her busy schedule tonight? Aww poor little ferret,” she said patting his shoulder, with an over exaggerated pouty lip and an attempt at sad puppy dog eyes. She then wiped away an invisible tear, and started to laugh.

“Oh shut up,” was all he could say, and he playfully punched her in the arm to end the little quarrel.

“Ok, so here’s the map, all the dots are people in it. We just have to follow the red line to the end. So err… we’ll go right at the first intersection, or maybe left will be better?” She was holding the map like a steering wheel in front of her, and turning it every which way. It didn’t have even a small portion of the information that the Marauder’s Map had, so she didn’t understand why she was having such difficulty reading it.

“Oh give me that, map reading is a man’s job after all.”

“Actually, real men don’t need maps, they keep it all up here,” she stated knowingly, tapping her finger to her head.

“Don’t pretend to know what real men are like, last I checked you were dating the Weasel King.”

“Weasel King or not, his real manliness wipes the floor with you. You probably cry just from getting dirt under your fingernails.”

“Don’t talk about what you don’t understand Granger… If you don’t want to use the bloody map.” He ripped it in half. “We won’t,” in quarters “Use,” into eighths, “The bloody,” in sixteenths, “Map.” He threw the pieces over his head and proceeded to the entrance of the maze, Hermione on his heels, scolding him for ruining her map.

Over half an hour later, they were still wandering around aimlessly in the darkness, broken only by the thin strips of light issuing from the tips of their wands. The maze should have only taken twenty minutes to get through for the average student, and the two Heads helped build the damn thing. Hermione was repetitively blaming Draco for being lost, while he stood his ground with the fact that she was the one who said they didn’t need a map. They hadn’t met anyone except a boggart in an enchanted glass case that couldn’t be broken except by the one who created it, A.K.A professor McGonagall. The boggart turned into a tall figure with long glistening white-blonde hair, but Malfoy grabbed Hermione’s wrist and quickly led her away before she could catch more than a glimpse of it.

“You know if I was a regular old student, and there was a party with a dark maze like this, I would be snogging the shit out of some girl in it. It’s so creepy; it’s kind of hot actually. Like if you didn’t have a little halo around your head and a chastity belt covering your knickers, you would totally want me right now.”

“You disgust me, besides, isn’t it Victoria’s chastity belt that you want in? Well actually, I highly doubt she has one, or that she even wears underwear at all to be honest. She might be the one person in this school who has slept with more people than you have. Does that make you jealous, or just turn you on? I always found the mind of a whore very fascinating.” She was trying to cram as many hurtful things as she could think of about Victoria into one breath. She didn’t know why the girl was bothering her so much at the moment. She had never really done anything to personally hurt Hermione, and yet the Head Girl wanted to pluck out every fake eyelash off the girl’s face just thinking about her.

“Jealousy isn’t a pretty color on you. Just because you can’t even get your own boyfriend to touch you doesn’t mean you can go around bad mouthing the ones who can.”

“You don’t know what goes on between us. For all you know me and Ronald do it three times a day.”

“Yeah right, keep dreaming Granger.”

“Humph” was all she could bring herself to say, as she moodily walked alongside the Slytherin pirate. They continued on in silence, stealing quick glances at each other occasionally, just to check if the other was still annoyed. They came upon an all too familiar fork in the road, and stopped.

“Ok we were definitely here already, last time we went right, so this time we should go left instead. Don’t you think so? Malfoy?” She spun around on the spot, shining the dim light of her wand down each dark passageway. She was met with nothing but black wall. Starting to panic she took a few steps down the path to her left, before she heard muffled sounds coming from behind her.

“Granger run! It’s a trap, get out of here! Get help!” Malfoy’s voice cut the silent air like a knife. Hermione didn’t need telling twice. Her wand held high, she ran full speed down the pathway, without a thought in her mind except finding McGonagall and having her get rid of the maze so they could save Malfoy. If something happened to him she didn’t know what she would do. She blamed herself for them getting lost; if she hadn’t made fun of Malfoy’s manliness they would still have a map. She just hoped she could get out in time, but the maze seemed to be endless. She felt like she ran around in a circle five times before she finally saw the light at the end.

***

“Ron! There you are I’ve been looking everywhere for you! I guess your magnet finally worked,” Padma Patil said winking at him. She was dressed in a feathery yellow dress, that was skin-tight and cut off high on her thigh. The bright yellow contrasted perfectly with her bronzed skin and dark hair, and Ron couldn’t help but notice how attractive she was.

“Err.. Yeah I guess so, do you want a drink?” She nodded her head, and he poured the red punch into two cups and handed one to her. The two hung out in the room designated for the older students with Harry and Ginny, talking about whom they thought would win the costume contest. Ron didn’t even realize how long they had been there, until Ginny asked about Hermione. Looking at his watch, he saw that she had already been gone over half and hour, and he left the group to go see if she was in another room. He walked around the dungeons for ten minutes without any luck. He was just about to give up when he saw a small group of Slytherins standing near the exit to the maze. Something about the way they were standing, as if they were waiting for something, made him suspicious that they were up to something. He casually stood off to the side to try and listen in on their conversation, without drawing attention to himself, since he was clearly outnumbered.

“Here she comes, that it one fast moving dot. Seriously genius idea, by the way,” came the deep voice Ron knew was Blaise Zabini.

“I had to do something, it is Halloween after all.”

“Shh! She’s almost out, now get in front so she sees you before she can scream for a teacher.” Ron watched as the Slytherins situated themselves, pushing one of their own to the front of the group. All he was able to make out was the top of a feathered hat, but he had a feeling he knew whom it belonged to, and he was cracking his knuckles in anger. Who cares if he would lose the fight, as long as he could get a few punches in, it would be worth it. His anger getting the best of him, he started to storm towards the group, but paused when he saw Hermione emerge from the maze.

“PROFESS-“ She shouted once she reached the exit, panting heavily, and a light sweat beading on her forehead. She paused mid word and had to do a double take when her eyes adjusted to the light. Then she was able to comprehend who was in front of her. Draco Malfoy was laughing hysterically with his friends, holding a second map of the maze in his hands. Hermione was so incredibly pissed off at him, she couldn’t even think of what to say. Her body was shaking in anger, like the tremors before a volcanic eruption.

“McGonagall gave us both maps of the maze, didn’t you know?” He choked out between his laughter, leaning his hands on his knees for support. “You should have seen your face when you got out, it was priceless. Seriously I’ll never forget this moment.” He was happily taking in the pats on the back and applause from his friends. Part of him felt bad for the little stunt he pulled, but he hated that his friends knew his feelings about the Head Girl. He thought that if they could see him pull a prank on her, he might be able to regain some of his dignity.

Hermione was outside herself with anger. She noticed Ron standing off to the side to the Slytherins. All reason forgotten, she purposefully walked towards him, grabbed his face in her hands, and kissed him. Hard. It completely threw him off guard, but he recovered nicely and kissed her back, reaching his hands around her to pull her close to him. The room quieted as they watched the two, waiting in anticipation for when they would need to come up for air. They broke apart and stared at each other, utterly shocked by their actions.

“Come on Ronald, let’s go back to my common room for some privacy.” Her head held high, she stomped past the Head Boy, taking Ron’s hand in hers as she led them out of the party. She would show Malfoy who couldn’t get someone to touch them. She was so seething mad at him for his little trick, and not the least bit amused by it. In her opinion he had gone way too far, and made her seriously worry about his safety. That was not the kind of joke that should be played on someone, especially with the current situation of the war. She could not believe he could be so heartless, and she would find a way to seek revenge on him eventually. It would probably take some planning, since she couldn’t do it in an obvious way and risk getting in trouble as well. For the time being, she decided to push him from her thoughts, and turn her attention to more pressing matters, like what she was going to do with her boyfriend once they got through the portrait hole.

****


“Ouch, that’s rotten luck, mate.” Blaise said, patting his friend on the back, trying to console Malfoy’s quickly inflated then deflated ego.

“I.. I don’t care. I still got her good. I need a drink.”

“Your wench just left, but I guess I can get you one, in honor of your wicked burn on her.” Blaise poured Malfoy a cup of punch, adding a little extra something from his pocket that he thought could help sooth the blonde a little quicker. The group of Slytherins hung around the alcohol bowl, reminiscing about all the times Malfoy got the best of one of the Gryffindors. It was helping him take the edge off a little, although flashes of Hermione’s lips on the Weasel’s kept popping up in his head, making him feel sick. He tried to ignore it as best he could, but as the party started to die down, he wanted nothing more than to leave it. Blaise and Victoria left early, and the company of Bullstrode, Goyle, and Pansy wasn’t exactly thrilling him. Eventually, he shook off the pug-faced girl, to head back to his room, thinking of curses to use on Ron if he hadn’t left yet.

****



Hermione led Ron to the couch by his freckled hand without saying a word. They sat down next to each other, and he moved to lean over her. He lightly kissed her cheek, before moving his wet lips closer to hers, and entering into another deep kiss. Their tongues explored each other’s mouths as Hermione fell back against the smooth leather, laying underneath Ron’s long and heavy body. His hand was on her hip, but he was slowly moving it upwards cautiously, as to not overstep any boundaries. He softly grazed the peak of her breast, and then gently laid his hand on it.

“You know.. we can stop if you want, do you?” he whispered. She shook her head in response, wanting him to quit with the small talk and get down to business. She was longing to feel that spark, that passion she had always heard about. She didn’t know at what point she would start to feel it, but decided in her head that they needed to continue. She wanted to prove to herself that Malfoy didn’t know her at all. She took in a deep breath and moaned softly, like she knew she was supposed to, when Ron started to caress her breast through her costume. He placed soft kisses down her neck, stopping when he reached the swell of her bosom.

“Is… Is that ok?” he looked up at her and asked. She opened her eyes to meet his, Ginny’s words swimming through her mind. She saw letters start to materialize on her boyfriend’s forehead, spelling out “Beware of virgin” on his light skin. She snorted in laughter, but tried to cover it up with a cough. Ron wasn’t fooled.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.. Well not exactly. It’s just that, well… I just don’t think I can do this. I want to more than you know; I just can’t seem to get past us being friends. I really love you Ron, you and Harry are my family and you mean the world to me. Honestly, you don’t know how hard this is for me to say.” She immediately felt horrible once she saw the look in his face. She was hoping he felt the same way as she did, but his sad eyes were telling her otherwise.

“Oh… ok…. “

“Ron… please understand, I wanted this to work as bad as you did. I really care about you, I just think we were better off as friends,” she said, pleading with him to grasp her feelings.

“So you led me on for two months because you care about me?!” He shouted at her, getting up from the couch and looking down at her with heated emotions on his now red face.

“Ron, we should talk about this. Just calm down, I am really sorry.”

“Leave it.” He glared at her one last time before stomping off towards the portrait hole, and slamming it shut behind him. Hermione just stared in his wake, as wet hot tears began to well up in her eyes. She was angry with herself, at her emotions, and her heart. She knew her and Ron were supposed to be the perfect couple. He was nice and funny, and had almost always stood by her side since the battle with the mountain troll, exactly seven years before. Why then did she feel nothing while kissing him? No butterflies in her stomach or shortness of breath; nothing. She let the tears flow freely down her cheeks and into her hands while she tried to make sense of her emotions. She heard the click of the portrait opening, and soft footsteps coming towards her, so she looked up eagerly, hoping Ron had returned to work things out. Instead her gaze fell upon the man she was completely livid with.

“This is not a good time. If I were you I would haul ass to your room right this instant before I curse you into the ugly ferret you are.”

“I am so not ugly. Have you looked at this bone structure recently?” He saw her reach for her wand, and felt in his pocket for his, just in case. He noticed her tear stained cheeks, and immediately softened his tone. “What happened to you?” he asked her in what he thought was a very concerned sounding voice.

“None of your business, now leave!” She yelled at him, fighting to stem the fresh stream of tears that were threatening to surface.

“Just tell me what happened between you and Weaselface, and I’ll be on my way.”

“Fine, we broke up. End of story. Now get the fuck out of my line of sight before I hurt you. Seriously, I don’t even care about being Head Girl right now. To see you festering on the floor in agony would make losing my position all worth it. That was the most heartless, inhumane attempt at a prank I have ever heard of, and I will get you back for it.”

“Honestly, it was just a joke; a little harmless Halloween fun. Now, you say you broke up with Weasel? Did you shake on it? You know, to make it official. Nothing in the wizarding world is official unless you shake on it. I guess you can get away with a break-up, I was talking more about bets and such. Night.” He tipsily skipped towards the staircase that would lead him to his room, his body feeling light as air. He had gotten everything he wanted for Halloween. Granger and the poor boy were no more, he looked macho in front of his friends again, and now Hermione was sitting on the couch, trying to put his words together to discover the second brilliant prank he had pulled.

“MALFOY!!”

“Yes?” He spun around and looked down at her from the balcony, a look of feigned innocence on his face.

“You… how could you? The bet wasn’t real!? You mean to tell me I dressed up in this ruddy costume and served you drinks, when it wasn’t even a real bet!? You are seriously the biggest ASSHOLE EVER!”

“You act so surprised! Did you really think I would ever dress up as the your little sidekick in that costume that looked fit for a hobo? I take pride in my appearance thank you very much. Not shaking on it just insured that should I not catch the snitch, I would still win. You can tell me what a genius I am tomorrow, I need my beauty sleep.”

“You... are so.... DEAD!”

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I hope this nice long chapter made up for the very long wait for it, at least a little bit. I am getting much better at one handed typing, so the next one will hopefully not take so long. Thanks for all your support, it really helped cheer me up a lot. I have been so bored since I can’t work, although they are letting me stay on as cheerleading coach assistant. I guess since I’m not the actual coach I can still do it, even though I feel completely useless. It’s better than just sitting around all day. OOO Seriously important reminder…. Deathly Hallows is only 30 days away!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!! I don’t know if I am ready for it to end… oh wait… yes I am! Anywho Please read and review! I really hope you liked this chapter, and thanks for sticking with it. I know Draco totally got the best of Hermione, but I think he deserves a little Malfoy mischief. I couldn’t help myself. I don’t want the drama to end just yet, it’s more fun to write.