Halloween Mix-Up

Halloween Mix-Up

by: Tassana Burrfoot







Chapter Nineteen: Take A Break





As November rolled into December with a blanket of snow, many of the students of Hogwarts found themselves anxious for two things: their last Hogsmeade trip before the holidays and, of course, the holidays. There was a lot of excited chatter amongst them. Hogwarts was decorated beautifully, as always, and students were constantly found under the mistletoe.



In fact, there was only one girl who was adamantly avoiding mistletoe. She looked around every corner at ever banister. Her eyes flew from post to post to ensure there wasn\'t any of the dreadful plant around. And when she did see it, she took another corridor.



It wasn\'t that she didn\'t enjoy the holidays. On the contrary, she loved them. She even loved mistletoe. She loved the idea of lovers sneaking kisses and having excuses to give them in public. But not this year.



She gave an agitated sigh as she plopped into a chair next to her "boyfriend", if one could call him that. "I am so annoyed I could scream," she growled.



He looked up from his book and gave her a smirk. "Then why don\'t you?" he suggested slyly.



"Oh, yeah, wouldn’t that be lovely? As if I\'m not talked about enough as it is. Let\'s just hear me scream, then we could really give people something to talk about," she snapped sarcastically. His chuckle made her want to ring his neck, until she noticed what he had in his hands. "What are you reading?"



He closed the book and shrugged. "That fairytale book," he answered. "I thought I might be able to find something in there worth while.”



She rolled her eyes. "We\'ve read that book through and through. We\'ve studied it. I\'ve even checked out other books about the subject that we\'ve studied. There\'s nothing there," she told him.



He shrugged again. "And yet, I feel as though we are missing something. How odd," he jested.



"Oh, look! Bitch alert at three o\'clock," she commented, glancing to their left.



He laughed as he saw Patil and Brown walk passed them. "You know, Hermione, for a girl who\'s normally so polite, you don’t have very good language skills,” he teased.



"What\'s got you in such a good mood?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.



Were she not in such a horrid mood, his smile would have been infectious. "My mum\'s going to be home for the holidays," he told her. "Since my father\'s been in Azkaban, she\'s been staying at our summer home in France. I received an owl this morning informing me that she would return home to spend Christmas with me."



Hermione watched as Parvarti and Lavender walked by them. The two girls whom Hermione had always thought as friends were now staring at her with contempt and whispering behind their hands. No doubt they were whispering about her. Stupid, envious slags.



"That\'s great, Draco," she replied to him. "I\'m glad to hear you\'ll have a nice time for the holidays."



He nodded and slipped his foot out slightly from his chair. Both Hermione and Lavender moved to grab Parvarti as the girl tripped over his foot. Draco snickered as the three girls shot him dirty looks.



"Are you alright?" Hermione asked Parvarti as the girl straightened herself.



She rolled her eyes. "No thanks to your rotten boyfriend," she sneered. "I\'d suggest putting him on a tighter leash."



"No, Parvarti," Lavender corrected, "More like the opposite, don\'t you think? At least, that\'s what\'s happened, is it not? So, Hermione, are you enjoying sharing an apartment with him? Personally, I think it\'s great that Dumbledore is allowing it."



Draco looked at the girl in confusion. "Allowing what?" he asked.



Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for it. Then, Parvarti, with a smile that would remind one of a crocodile, said, "Oh, you know. Allow her to continue school with a boyfriend and a baby on the way."



"Are you two going to get married?" Lavender asked, not really trying to control her snicker.



Draco was shocked at first at the mention of Hermione being pregnant. Then, he smiled. Well, if that was the rumour... "Yes, actually. We were thinking about it," he told the girls. "Sometime after school, though. Perhaps during the summer. I mean, you haven\'t forgotten that I am sixteen and not quite old enough for matrimony? But, I believe every child should have a proper name."



The girls\' eyes widened. Parvarti stared at Hermione. "So, it\'s true? You are pregnant?"



Draco burst out laughing while Hermione seethed. "No, Parvarti," she answered through clenched teeth. "I\'m not pregnant and Draco and I are not getting married. He\'s just being an egotistical bastard as always."



"But, then why..."



"If you\'re so ready to believe rumours, why not have fun at your expense?" Draco asked, still reclined in a relaxed position in his chair. "Next thing you know, you\'ll be claiming that Professor Snape is giving Hermione an easy time in class in exchange for sexual favours."



"Draco Malfoy!" Hermione squealed, popping him in the arm. "Don\'t put that thought in their heads!"



He just shrugged. "That is the rumour," he told her. He turned to the two girls. "Is that not true? Do you really think Hermione needs to prostitute her way through Potions? And here I thought everyone knew she had real brains and talent. Then again, last I heard, it was Patil here who was trying to whore her way through classes. Though, I hate to inform you, small guys do not equal large penises, so I\'d stop flirting with Professor Flitwick, were I you."



Hermione clapped her hand to her mouth as the other two girls stared at him in shock. Then, it was like Hermione was watching things in slow motion. Parvarti raised her hand to slap Draco and Hermione pulled out her wand with one hand while grabbing the girl’s wrist with the other. Lavender grabbed Parvarti\'s shoulders as the girl lunged at Draco.



"You self-centered, egotistical, self-righteous, mother fucking arse!" the girl shouted, straining against her friend\'s hold. "I\'m going to kill you!"



Hermione pointed her wand at the girl. "Touch him and you\'ll wish you\'ve never been born," she sneered.



Parvarti\'s head snapped towards Hermione. "How dare you point that thing at me, you little hussy! You think that just because you shag him and half the school that you can get whatever you want? You\'re nothing but a slag, Granger! And your little prick boyfriend is a fucking blood traitor. How dare you act all righteous when you are nothing but..."



"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Harry asked as he and Ron approached. He glanced from the two angry girls to Hermione and a bemused Draco.



Draco shrugged. "I think this girl has some anger issues. One minute she\'s insulting Hermione, next she\'s insulting both of us."



"Draco, you stared it," Hermione snapped, glaring at him.



The Slytherin raised an eyebrow. "By stretching? I didn\'t know I wasn\'t allowed to stretch. Can\'t help it if she doesn\'t watch where she\'s walking."



"You just stay away from us," Lavender growled. "And you, too, Granger. I\'m glad you\'ve got your own apartment. That way, I don\'t have to look at you every night."



With that, Lavender pulled Parvarti away from the small group. The two Gryffindor girls, as brave as they were, knew they were no match for three Gryffindors and a Slytherin. They were brave, but not stupid.



The four companions watched as the two girls leave with heated stares. Then, Hermione felt the heat of unshed tears wash over her face. She sat down on her chair, unable to process everything that had just happened. And when she felt an arm circle around her shoulders, she just lost it. She fell into a warm embrace and just started crying.



"They were my friends," she sobbed, unable to comprehend how her life had gotten so fucked up.



"Apparently not," a voice vibrated against her cheek.



Draco. Draco was the one holding her, comforting her.



"What happened?" Ron asked, as he watched the woman he loved being comforted by his enemy. He wanted to hex the bastard.



Draco shook his head in warning. Now was not the time to discuss things. He had seen this kind of cruelty before. Girls were always so much more vicious than guys. Grant it, guys had quicker tempers, but girls were just... vicious.



He bent his head down to Hermione ear and whispered into it, "Would you like me to help you to your room?"



She nodded against his chest and he helped her stand up. Then, with Harry and Ron walking close behind, Draco helped her walk to her room.



(II) (II)



Draco watched as she walked about the room, tending to the fire and organizing her room. Thankfully, upon approaching her room, Potter and Weasley had agreed to come back later and check on her. They believed she needed this time alone.



Draco knew better. He knew she needed someone to vent her frustrations to. Girls somehow always knew which buttons to push and when they would hurt the most. And those girls were horrid banshees.



"Hermione, darling," Draco said, calling to her from the couch. "Why don\'t you take a break? Come and sit with me."



She whirled on him. "Why? You want a shag?" she snapped, before turning her attention back to what she was doing.



He stopped himself from retorting angrily. He knew she didn\'t mean it. "Actually, no. I do not want a shag," he said calmly. "I just want you to relax. You\'ve had a rough day today and it was highly unfair."



"Oh, because guys know what it\'s like to be called a slag and a whore?" she retorted, practically throwing a book at her bookshelf.



He rolled his eyes and piped sarcastically, "No, because being called a blood traitor is so much better."



She turned on him. "Well, that\'s what you are, right?" she asked, her eyes red with tears, both shed and unshed. "What did you think they were going to start calling you? It\'s not like you hide the fact that you\'re \'dating\' a Mudblood."



"You\'re being irrational," he told her, trying hard to keep his blood from boiling. "Just the mere fact that you talk about our dating as if it were some sort of disguise..."



"Well, it is!" she snapped. "We aren\'t dating, Draco! I\'m not dating anyone. I can\'t date anyone. I can\'t have a real relationship with a real guy because I\'m too busy fucking everybody else! I\'ve got five guys, Draco. Five guys. Not to mention six guys that I have to steer clear from lest they try to rape me again! All my girlfriends have abandoned me because they think I\'m stealing their boyfriends. Did you know that Parvarti and Seamus were actually a steady couple until I touched him? Even Ginny! She and Harry were getting so close! Now, she won\'t even look at me.



"I\'ve got a fucking teacher who wants to set me on his desk in the middle of class and fuck me in front of everybody. I have a best friend, who\'s like a brother to me, who thinks that he\'s my true love and won\'t stop until he can prove it to me. Not to mention, a bloody pureblood Slytherin, who\'s supposed to be my enemy, worshipping my every step! And then, to top it all off, the guy who\'s as close to my brother as I could ever possibly get, is trying his damnedest to remain my brother all the while fantasizing about things that fill him with dread and horror.



"I have never felt more alone in my entire life! And before you start going off telling me how much you love me and care for me, consider this: You\'re not the only one to claim that. Snape told me yesterday how much he loved me the entire time he was balls deep inside of me. Ron confessed his undying love to me as well. So has Seamus. In fact, the only one who hasn\'t claimed to have fallen for me is Harry! And I have a dreadful feeling that once I sleep with him, he\'ll be claiming it as well.



"I don\'t know who to believe anymore, Draco. Who to trust. Worst of all, I have no where to go for Christmas. I can\'t stay here because Zabini and that little band are staying here. I can\'t go home because I don\'t want to accidentally touch my father. I can\'t go to the Burrow because there are way too many males there. I can\'t go to Harry\'s place, because, again, too many males. I can\'t even find an abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere!”



Finally, something Draco could work with. He already knew about her sense of loneliness and what the other guys had said to her. He knew because she told him all the time. And while he hated hearing about other guys\' feelings, it just confirmed his own all the more. At least, in his mind it did. To him, none of those other guys could feel what he felt for her. None of them, not even Potter, would have been able to deal with the verbal lashing he endured just about every night he walked through that apartment door.



And somehow, he knew he was the only one she talked to. The only one she shared her feelings with. He could only guess it was because she felt safe with him. Like she could trust him not to throw it back into her face. And he didn\'t even understand how.



For five years, he had treated her like shit. He had called her far worse names than slag and whore. And yet, here she was, pouring her aching heart out to him. And he cared. Not that she would believe him.



He still remembered the exact moment when he had fallen in love with her. It was during second year. He had become part of the Slytherin Quidditch team and was showing off the new brooms his father had bought for the team. It was really the first time he had had any real contact with the know-it-all Muggle-born. She had actually questioned his ability to play, claiming he had bought his way onto the team.



And, surprisingly, he had wanted to prove her wrong. He had wanted so badly to show her just how good of a Quidditch player he was. It was that look in her eyes. That determined "just try to bullshit me" look.



He regretted not showing her his interest sooner. He had been so bloody prideful. Pureblood must be maintained. It cannot be soiled or tainted by dirty blood.



He couldn\'t be in love with her. He just couldn\'t.



And then, this past summer, he had realized that he couldn\'t hide it any longer. The Dark Lord was growing more powerful. His servants were getting ready for a full out war against the Wizarding World.



Draco had had every intention of approaching Hermione this year. He was finally going to tell her how he felt, consequences be damned.



But, then she had made herself so easy to tease. He couldn\'t help himself. As much as he loved her, he also enjoyed annoying her. He loved the way her eyes narrowed when she got angry. How her colourful wit spilled out of her mouth as quick and nasty as honey from a honeycomb.



"Why don\'t you come home with me?" he finally asked, when he saw she wasn\'t going to bite his head off anymore.



She looked at him curiously. "Excuse me?"



He shrugged. "You said it yourself. You have no where else to go. It\'s only going to be my mum and me. And unless you\'ve suddenly taken a fancy to females, which I know you haven\'t, you have nothing to fear."



"Wouldn\'t your mum be angry that a Mudblood is in her house?" she asked as she contemplated his offer.



He gave her a half smile. "I\'m a spoiled snob, Hermione. My mum will give me anything I want because I\'m her only child and the best son in the world. She might not like you, but she\'ll accept the circumstances for what they are."



She raised an eyebrow. "And what circumstances are those?"



He gave her a smirk that could only be described as his trademark. "Simple. I\'m in love with a Muggle-born and I\'m bringing her home to meet my mum."