Beautiful Disaster

Disclaimer: The characters held within are not mine but belong to warner brothers and jk rowling. I\'m only playing with them for a few minutes and will give them back virtually unharmed. There is also no profit being made off of this, so please don\'t sue.

*~*

After careful deliberation about certain things in her life, she\'d come to the conclusion that using Ron wasn\'t a good way to get back at Malfoy. In the end the only real person she\'d be hurting would be Ron, and that wasn\'t fair to him. She just wished that Malfoy would stop looking so smug about the whole thing. She\'d finally managed to be near Ron without being in physical pain, which she couldn\'t understand.

She\'d told no one about the stunt that Malfoy had pulled. She could just see Harry and Ron\'s reactions now. He did what? We\'ll kill him!. Worst part of it all was she couldn\'t stop thinking about it. She could feel his lips on hers and it had been weeks. Things inside of her had opened up in ways they hadn\'t when she was with Ron. She shook her head, feeling horrible for knowing that had he only kissed her a bit longer, she would have allowed him to take her right there against that wall.

For days after that she\'d planned in her head how she could seduce Ron where Malfoy would find them, thinking that it would be the ultimate revenge against the boy who wanted her to stay away from him for some reason. He hated Ron, this was true, but he also wasn\'t overly fond of her. His new decision to make nice with her wasn\'t helping either.

She thought that he\'d tell everyone that he kissed her and she didn\'t slap him or push him away. But every time he\'d seen her after that, there was a small, casual smile sent her way. It was almost as if he was reminding her that they shared a secret. It made her uneasy, feeling things for a boy she had so recently been sure she despised.

He hated her friends, and in the past seemed to hate her. His behavior towards her now left her completely confused and angry. She didn\'t like this new side of him. His obvious staring was beginning to drive her mad, but most disconcerting of all was how he was acting rather polite to her. Two days ago he\'d done something completely unexpected. Crabbe and Goyle were tormenting her; having taken several books out of her bag and were holding them out of her reach. When, out of nowhere, Draco walked up, plucked the books out of their hands and handed them back to her. His glare at them had them backing away. She distinctly remembered hearing him say, \"Leave her alone,\" before they walked away. She put the books back into her bag and looked up at him. The soft smile he gave her before he left was enough to put her on edge for the rest of the week.

It was these thoughts that she was constantly plagued with. In so many ways he was still the same arrogant prat he\'d always been. Taking unnecessary points from her house whenever he saw fit, tormenting her friends, and just being nasty to others in general. It was his behavior towards her that changed. He took up for her, he opened doors for her, he stared at her, and not to mention the kiss he\'d planted on her weeks ago. He was almost nice towards her. On occasion he still showed that he was an arrogant git, even in situations where she was involved, but overall his demeanor towards her became much lighter.

It was these thoughts that beleaguered her mind as he lightly elbowed her in the side, effectively getting her attention as Snape approached her cauldron. The sneer on his lips was obvious, his dissatisfaction at finding she had produced a perfect potion not something he wanted to see, \"Tell me, Ms. Granger, does showing off for the rest of the class give you some sort of pleasure?\"

\"But I didn\'t...\"

\"Talking back to a professor? That\'s ten points from Gryffindor.\"

Her lips formed a tight line, trying to reign in the tears that only this professor seemed able to conjure.

\"Sir,\" she looked over at Draco as he spoke, \"taking ten points from Gryffindor because she did something right hardly seems like a wise decision.\"

\"Indeed,“ Snape narrowed his eyes, “Mr. Malfoy, see me after class. The rest of you are dismissed.\"

Draco waved his wand and cleared away the contents of his cauldron as he waited for everyone else to leave the room. Hermione took her time and gave him a rather curious smile before she departed. He leaned back in his chair, obviously pleased with himself as the Potions Master slammed his hand down onto one of the other desks, \"Pleased with yourself?\"

\"Quite.\"

\"Then perhaps you could explain to me what the bloody hell you think you\'re doing defending Ms. Granger in a class of your peers. Should anyone see anything into your actions it could bode very badly for you, Mr. Malfoy.\"

Draco felt his anger at the boiling point. He wanted so very much to punch his professor in the jaw, \"If you are repulsed by her so much, why allow her to take your class?\"

\"Because of all the Gryffindors in this school she\'s the only one with a lick of talent.\"

\"Then why not praise her, instead of insulting her?\"

\"My teaching methods are none of your concern.\"

Draco stood and narrowed his eyes, \"They are where she\'s concerned. If she\'s unhappy, I\'m unhappy.\"

\"And putting yourself in the position for someone to figure things out and tell your father bothers you not?\"

Draco sighed heavily, \"If you don\'t want me defending her, don\'t put me in a position where I have to.\"

Snape crossed his arms over his chest, resembling a giant bat as he did so, \"Very well, but if she steps out of line...I\'ll tend to it as I see fit.\"

Draco nodded, \"Fair enough.\"

\"You\'re dismissed.\"

Draco gathered his things and made his way up the stairs and found Hermione waiting for something. She stepped in front of him as he stood two steps below her, \"Yes, Granger.\"

\"Why did you do that?\"

He furrowed his brow, \"Do what?\"

\"Defend me?\"

He shook his head, \"Think nothing of it. I was just doing my job as head boy.\"

\"Meaning?\"

He sighed, \"I think it would be best if you wouldn\'t read so much into things.\"

\"What do you mean?\"

\"I mean that you would be better off going to your tower now and not asking questions that I just don\'t have answers to.\"

She sighed, \"Well, whatever your reasons, thank you,\" she gave him a slight smile before she turned.

He watched her walk away and sighed, \"Anytime.\"

*~*

\"I bet you that you\'re wrong.\"

Draco heard the voices, but wasn\'t sure who it was speaking or what exactly it was they were talking about. He really had no intention on eavesdropping into a conversation that had nothing to do with him, especially when things with Hermione were on the right track.

It had been two weeks since that potions class and he caught her giving him small smiles, almost in secret, as her friends would ramble along beside her. He\'d been continuing with sending her vivid images of taking her in her dreams, and every time she reacted differently towards his touch. Sometimes she\'d just take deep breaths, almost as if she was trying to get it back to normal. Sometimes she would let out soft little moans, as he\'d allow his fingers to investigate her body. And then on the rare occasion she\'d scream for more, almost begging him to storm through the castle and make good on the dreams.

But he hadn\'t. As much as he wished it were possible, he hadn\'t done any such thing, and the effect of being pleasured only by his hand was begging to wear on his nerves. He needed her, knowing that only her body, her touch could placate his need. He realized that was a long way off. She didn\'t trust him or know him, which were things she would need to do before she\'d even consider sleeping with him.

\"I\'m telling you, she felt horrible for ignoring me. Just yesterday she was telling me how much she treasured our friendship and enjoyed just being around me.\"

\"Face it mate, she sees you as nothing more than a friend.\"

\"Not true. I bet you I can get her to sleep with me.\"

Draco stopped; realizing whom was talking and moved into the shadows, wanting to hear more. His own father has always said \'knowledge is power\'. At that moment, Dean Thomas and Ron Weasley moved into his view, \"I\'m telling you, you\'re out of your mind. Hermione isn\'t going to sleep with you. Her knickers are firmly in place and no one, not even her best friend is going to remove them.\"

Ron smirked, \"I said we could place money on it, Thomas. Hermione is just like any other girl. Tell them what they want to hear and they will melt in your hands.\"

Dean shook his head, \"Whatever you say.\" He smiled, \"You coming to the tower?\"

\"Nah...I\'m going to the library.\"

\"What for?\"

\"Hermione\'s there,\" he said giving a smile. He waved off the other boy, \"See you in a bit.\" As Dean walked off, Draco came out of the shadows, his grey eyes almost black as he stared down Ron, who nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned and found him. His eyes narrowed at Draco, \"What the bloody hell are you doing lurking in the shadows?\"

His fists were clenched at his sides, his eyes focused solely on how easy it would be to tear his arms from his body, \"Take back what you said.\"

\"About what?\" he snapped.

\"Hermione.\"

Ron raised an eyebrow, \"So you do fancy her! I knew it!\" He stood straighter; thinking he had the upper hand against the Slytherin, \"Give it up. She\'d never be interested in you.\"

\"Take back what you said,\" he breathed out, barely able to hold on to his rage.

Ron sighed and smiled; unaware of the danger he was in, \"No.\"

Draco took two strides, and was eye level with Ron, \"Take. It. Back.\"

\"I. Said. No.\"

And before Ron could do anything to stop him, Draco threw him back against the wall and his fist connected with his jaw.

*~*

To Be Continued...

*~*

I didn\'t realize that the parts seemed to be getting shorter, but they do. Alas...don\'t worry...some of the upcoming chapters are much longer.