Dance Floor Jealousy

Disclaimer: NOT MINE!!!



A/N: Hey everybody, yes, I am back. I thought I'd try to find out where the story goes. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Hopefully I shall update more frequently from now on!







Hermione's P.O.V.





Jessica was pulling me down the street until she pushed me down on a bench near the river. I was shaking all over, numb with long gone emotions, memories, and fear of what would happen next. Then I felt Jessica's hands on my knees, she'd knelt before me and worriedly tried to catch my eye.



"Hermione", she said, much firmer than she usually would, "I need to know the whole story. What on earth was that about? You are both so obviously taken with each other, yet neither of you has the guts to make the first move? Is the world suddenly turning backwards?"





I tried to smile, but it was rather lopsided. Of course, Jessica wouldn't understand. Usually, when we go out and party, I am all over the guys, flirting, kissing, enjoying myself. The fact that I had simply frozen and fled from the room tonight could have already told her all she needed to know...



Where should I start? I was still confused, my head was spinning, and I absentmindedly started digging in my bag for a cigarette. Bad habit, yes, I know, but this was one of the situations where smoking should be absolutely legal.





After taking a deep drag, I looked back into Jessica's blue eyes that were wide with worry.



"Thank you so much for taking me out of there", I whispered, and I was surprised how shaky my voice was. If there was one thing I could usually count on, it was my ability to always express everything very clearly. Well, apparently, that was a thing from the past.



"I haven't been honest with you, Jessica", I confessed, and I patted the spot on the bench next to me so she could sit down. She raised her eyebrows as she did so, and I knew why - honesty had always been the base of our friendship. Well, had been - there you go...



"You know how I told you about being in love with Ron, and deeply devastated when he left?" She nodded.



I took a deep breath, and another drag from my cigarette before I continued.





"That wasn't quite true. Ron and I dated, yes. Ron and I were happy, yes, but I think most of that was due to the fact that we had been friends for six years before we started going out."



I searched for her eyes, and went on after she gave me a reassuring smile.



"There was this one kid in my school..." I paused again. How do you describe Draco Malfoy's past self???



"He was what you would normally call a self-centered prat. A real asshole, if you get my point. He... he came from an old Wizarding family, pureblood for centuries. Many purebloods back then believed they were... superior to half-bloods, let alone Muggle-borns, like me..."





The pain of all the long forgotten memories resurfaced with them. I had to wipe my eyes with the back of my hand before I could continue.



"This one kid... he was enemies with Harry since the first train ride to Hogwarts. Being Harry's best friends, Ron and I chose to be enemies with him as well. Things got pretty nasty between us... we suspected him of a lot of evil things. And he was evil - well, not evil, but really, really mean. He... he called me names and made me look like a fool. I think the only reason he never got to me was because... because I was better than him in every class..."



My voice trailed off as I remembered Draco's anger, magnified year after year, at finding out that I had beaten him, again, and my lips curved into an unusual smile, almost a smirk.



I pulled myself out of my dream-like state when I realised that Jessica was still next to me, waiting for me to continue the story. I caught her eye before I did.



"You know how they say it's a thin line between love and hate? I swear when I first realised that I had feelings other than hatred, other than pity, for this guy, I thought I was losing my mind. First, I tried to push it off as teenage hormones - we were in fourth year, I was about to turn fourteen, it was as good an explanation as any. But it didn't work. He had this horrible attitude that kept me drawn to him like a moth to the flame. And he never avoided me, which you'd think he would have done if I disgusted him so much..."



There it was again, the old question. Why did he never avoid me? He found me in the halls almost every day for a quick exchange of "niceties". He frequently smirked over at our table at mealtimes and more than once I caught him looking at me in classes, lost in thought. What did that mean?





"In our sixth year, he was given a task by Voldemort... or so they said. Harry and Ron were sure of it. I still don't think he worked for that moron, ever. I mean, he was a smart kid, second best only because of my incessant studying, don't you agree he would have known better than to risk all his life for a power-hungry lunatic???"



I looked at Jessica with fire in my eyes, and she must have noticed, for she raised her eyebrows quizzically before nodding her head slowly.





"I don't think anyone except Professor Dumbledore knows the full story behind his death. Apparently..." I took a deep breath. "Apparently Draco was up on the tower with Dumbledore and had just lowered his wand, ready to accept the offer for protection by the Order, when Snape, our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher at that time, raced up there himself and... and cast the Killing Curse", I added in a hoarse whisper. The memory of Dumbledore falling, defeated, broken, from that tower, still haunts me. Jessica reached out and softly patted my arm.





"So... what happened to him, to Draco, after that?" she asked, kindly. I shook my head and sniffed, wiping my face again and searching for a tissue in my bag.



"I don't know... I wish I could ask him... there are so many things I don't understand..." I swallowed the tears that obstructed my throat.





"You see, Ron and I got together at Dumbledore's funeral, but I never stopped thinking about Draco. I always followed the papers, trying to catch a glimpse of what had happened to him. But there was nothing... ever. I thought..."



I took a deep breath.



"I thought he was one of the war casualties that couldn't be identified. Or I thought he'd fled, gone abroad, trying to get away from all of this. I have been trying to believe that for years now. To see him like this, tonight, with some other woman..."



Jessica came to hug me as I broke off, crying. I hate it when that happens. I hate feeling weak, it always makes me so vulnerable. 'Unbelievable', I thought while I was sobbing in Jessica's arms, 'it's been so long and still Draco Malfoy can reduce me to tears...'



"Shhh", Jessica whispered gently, stroking my hair and holding me tight, "Hermione, dear, listen. Thank you for finally confiding in me and telling me the whole story. He told me you were friends from school, but I'd always thought you were only friends with Ron and Harry.



"Stop crying, dear", she added, "the girl he was with is his little cousin. Apparently, seeing you there struck him just as dumb as it did you. She basically dragged him over to me and forced him to give me his number so that you could contact him. And I really think you should... apparently, there's loads of unresolved tension between the two of you. Shall we go back to my flat?"





Wiping my eyes and cursing the stupid Muggle make-up I had used, I nodded.



"Yeah, let's go. I might... I might actually call him, you know. Or just text him. I'm... to tell you the truth, I'm terrified of what might happen now. But I think... I've missed him all the time the past years. I can't just let him walk away again."





"That's my girl", Jessica laughed and clapped me on the back.



"Now, dear, come on and let's get you home. Try to get some sleep and figure out where to go next when you wake..."





With that, we both stood, smoothed our clothes and went to find some secluded bushes from which we could Apparate back to Jessica's place.







A/N: Another cliffy, yes, I know. I'm sorry. I thought I might make the next chapter an excursion into both Hermione's and Draco's dreams that night, what do you think?