Sometimes It's Good to be Bad

Chapter 30 Meetings

After a moment of dumbfoundedness, Blaise finally spoke. "Draco, what are you doing here?"

"That's besides the point."

"No, I really don't think it is. After all, if it's okay for you to bed Granger, then what's wrong with Pansy going elsewhere, especially when you can't be here."

Malfoy was getting more and more angry as time went by, largely because he could see the logic that was being said to him. He stalked across the small room and grabbed his naked girlfriend by the arm, dragging her into Zabini's room and slamming the door shut.

"So, have a good night so far?" Hermione asked conversationally.

"Yeah. You?" Zabini responded.

"Yup." An uncomfortable silence fell between the two as they heard Malfoy and Pansy fighting in the other room, though the words were all unintelligable.

After about five minutes of this, Hermione turned to Zabini. "I'm going to bed. Have fun waiting for them." She then went into her room and closed the door before sinking into her bed. Twenty minutes later Malfoy reappeared in the room. He came over to the bed and kissed her forehead, waking her up out of the light sleep she had fallen in to. "Everything okay with you and Pugface?" she mumbled.

"Things could be better, but we now have an understanding." He bent down and rested his head against hers. "I have to go back and get some sleep. I hope I'll get to see you again."

At this, her eyes opened all the way. "Malfoy, you make it sound like that might not be an option."

He stood back up and shrugged his shoulders. "It's a dangerous world out there," he answered cryptically before leaving to the bathroom and disappearing with a pop.

This time it took much longer for her to fall asleep, as she was worrying about whatever it was Malfoy would be doing.

The next morning at breakfast, Ron was seated down the table a bit with Seamus and Dean, pointedly ignoring Harry and Hermione. Ginny was sitting with the two like nothing had ever happened, despite the rumours that were heard everywhere about what had happened in the Head common room last night. Most of them were far out of proportion, but Hermin had actually heard some that were rather close to the truth. The only thing that was consistant was that after Ron's outburt, the two had got together only to have Ginny walk in on them. In fact, the interactions between the boy who lived (whose face got redder and redder the more he heard people talk) and the two girls (who made him stay to eat breakfast) were already starting new rumours.

Hermione recieved an owl from Professor Davis to meet him in his office at nine. Somehow, she thought that it had more to do with all the gossip than to check on her progress. As soon as she had finished reading it, though, Headmistress McGonagall came over to the table, and told Hermione that she was to follow her to her office right away.

When Hermione seated in the office, the Headmistress sat dow, and started to talk. "Miss Granger, I would like to hear what happened to start the current gossip that is spreading through the school." Her lips were very thin, and one could see that she was in a position that she did not care for.

Hermione worded her answer very carefully, as she could not betray Harry's trust to the woman. "Harry and I were in my room working on the project that he had started with Professor Dumbledore. We ended up falling asleep on top of my bed, and Ginny found us that way and became very upset. Absolutely nothing happened, and I'm sure you must believe me on that point because we were able to fix everything with Ginny, and if anything had happened, I think I would already be in the hospital wing at her hands."

"First off, there are to be no boys in your room, and it is interesting that he was even able to get there to begin with. I will believe that nothing happened between the two of you, as it was not something that I had believed to begin with. But you say you were working on the project that Professor Dumbledore had started with Harry last year." By now the portrait of said Headmaster was watching the conversation, enraptured. "I must impress upon you the importance of telling me what this project was, as it is obvoiusly something of a dangerous nature."

"Headmistress, I respect you greatly, but that is not something that I can divulge. If the Headmaster chose to not tell anyone other than Harry, telling him that he could only tell Ron and myself, I cannot break that trust."

"And if I were to take away the title of Head Girl, Miss Granger?"

"I would not say anything, and more people would be in danger because we wouldn't have the safety of a single living quarters to work on the project, and it would be putting more people into danger other than just the three of us."

By the time Hermione had finished her proclamation, the Headmistress' lips were barely visible. "Alright, I will not take away your position, but I expect that the three of you will come to realize that you cannot keep a secret of such a magnitude for much longer."

"Oh, I'm sure we can," Hermione replied curtly.

"You may leave now, Miss Granger."

As Hermione was getting out of the seat, the portrait of Professor Dumbledore spoke. "Miss, Granger, that is a very nice necklace."

She grinned at the portrait as she responded. "Yes, it is, Professor. Thank you." With that, she left the room and went directly to the office of her Head of House. "Professor, it's Hermione," she called out as she knocked on the door.

A moment later it was opened for her to come in and locked and silenced behind her. When he asked, she told him the entire story of what had happened, including how far they had come in destroying the fake horcrux, as well the parts of her 'talk' with Ginny and what had happened with Malfoy and Pansy. She then told of how the Headmistress had threatened her if she didn't tell about the horcruxes, (while he was slightly impressed by the tactic, he was bothered at such insistance) as well as what painting Dumbledore had said.

Only after that talk did he ask on her progress with the rest of the wards and was happy with her response that they had all been taken down and she would have the new ones up by the end of the day. By the time she was done with her report to Professor Davis it was time for her rounds around the castle. She spent the next three hours dealing with hyper kids who were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade, or sullen ones who were not old enough. Her shift could not be over with soon enough.

She stopped in at the Gryffindor common room to check on everyone before they left. Ron quickly found a reason to go up to his dorm the minute she entered. Soon enough she was able to make her exit and went to her own common room, where Harry was waiting for her, seated on the loveseat, actually reading one of the books she had given him for his birthday. When she entered, Zabini gave her a dirty look from his desk for having to deal with the Gryffindor for any amount of time at all.