What I\'ve Always Known

Disclaimer: I don\'t own anything but the plot. And my new manicure.

A/N: thank you to those who continue to review!


A Different Kind of Quidditch Match


Hermione jerked away from Draco, thankfully not hitting teeth with him. Draco span around in his seat, looking poised for flight. They both breathed an audible sigh of relief when Luna Lovegood strolled closer to their table, not an ounce of shock on her features. Draco relaxed in his seat and no longer looked as if he was about to bolt. Hermione didn’t blame him; if it had been Harry or Ron that had walked in on them, he would probably never see the light of day again, unless he was fast on his feet. Acting as if she walked in on two mortal enemies kissing everyday, Luna pulled out a chair and sat herself down at their table. She pulled out her homework and looked back up at Hermione and Draco.

“Oh, don’t let me bother you, please. I know as well as anyone that kissing is the only cure for Rimple-Knicks.” She said, and waved them on.

Not even bothering to present the solid evidence arguing against the existence of Rimple-Knicks, Hermione immediately set about the task of convincing Luna to keep her silence. As it turned out, she didn’t need much convincing at all.

“Look Loon-Luna, I know this is really unusual, but if you could not tell anyone about this, we would really appreciate it.“ Hermione said, glancing at Draco.

“No of course not!” Luna brushed away Hermione’s plea with a wave of her hand and went back to her homework without another word. Trying not to shake her head at the peculiar girl, Hermione decided she had had enough of the library for tonight, and promptly gathered up her things, heading for the door. After an awkward nod to Luna, Draco followed Hermione with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched. Just as Hermione was just starting to think of something clever to say to avoid a silence, Draco shocked her with a very bald question.

“Did you see me in your Acies Draught?” He asked her glancing sideways to study her reaction. Hermione felt her cheeks burn scarlet and she merely nodded, her throat too tight for coherent speech. “Hm” Draco grunted, once again staring straight ahead.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Only a Malfoy would greet such a confession with a primitive grunt. As they made their way to the Entrance Hall, where they would part ways, Hermione’s thoughts drifted back to the kiss. She could still feel the fiery imprint of Draco’s lips on hers, and just the thoughts of him holding her close made her skin tingle all over her body. Draco must have noticed the lingering flush in Hermione’s cheeks despite the dark corridor; he glanced sideways at her and smirked possessively. Hermione blushed even deeper and thought the Entrance Hall couldn’t come soon enough.

When they finally did reach the cavernous hall, Hermione made directly for the marble staircase, trying to hurry as much as possible without making it obvious. However, she wasn’t quick enough for Draco, who reached out and seized her arm, spinning her back against his body.

“I don’t regret what happened Hermione. And I know you don’t either” Draco whispered against her ear, his breath making goose bumps rise on her arms.

“How do you know I don’t hate you and myself for doing that?” Hermione said, not sure why she was challenging him. Draco
smirked and lifted his head so that he was eye level with her.

He leaned in again and pressed his lips over hers briefly.

“Because you surely would have hexed me into oblivion just then, if you hadn’t been too busy enjoying yourself” and with that, Draco squeezed her arm lightly, and strode off towards the Slytherin common room.


~*~*~*~*~*~


The next day after lessons at dinner, Hermione was careful not to let her gaze stray over to the Slytherin table. She forced herself to seem calm and collected. And it might have even worked; she almost made it all the way through breakfast without Ron or Harry perceiving any unusual behavior. Hermione was just herding Ron and Harry out of the Great Hall back to the Gryffindor common room, when Luna passed them on her way to the Ravenclaw table and stopped Hermione.

“I must confess Hermione,” She said, as though merely commenting on the weather. “I forgot myself and admitted to Ginny Weasley that I saw you kissing-“

Time seemed to slow down. Hermione’s brain raced and she did the first thing she could think of to stop Luna before she could finish her sentence; she dove for her and clapped a hand over Luna’s mouth.

“Hermione!” Harry gasped, and Ron took a determined step forwards, looking as though he hadn’t the faintest idea what to do. They evidently thought Hermione was attacking Luna. Hermione looked down at the girl, expecting to see her mirroring Ron’s look of horror, or Harry’s expression of shock, but Luna merely gazed back at Hermione over her fingers apathetically.

“Uh…” Hermione had no idea how to get out of this one. She had just silenced Luna too forcefully to go unnoticed and it would be wishing far too much to hope that Harry and Ron hadn’t heard the words Luna had managed to utter before being slammed on the mouth by Hermione’s fingers.

Hermione cast wildly around for an excuse, and her eyes fell on the Quidditch pitch, where Harry and Ron would be playing in half an hour.

“So” Hermione murmured, turning back to Luna “Are you going to the Quidditch game today?” She lifted her fingers from Luna’s mouth as she began to speak.

“Oh yes, Ravenclaw’s playing, aren’t they?” Luna said airily, and then continued onto her table.

Hermione turned towards Harry and Ron, bracing herself for a tidal wave of accusations. Harry had just opened his mouth when a stern voice rang out.

“Potter!” Angelina Johnson came storming out of the Great Hall, staring at Harry angrily. “Today’s Quidditch and I asked you to be there EARLY! Weasley, you don’t have to be there for another ten minutes but I suggest you change.” And with that she seized Harry’s arm and half dragged him out across the lawn to the Quidditch pitch. Ron shifted uncomfortably and started walked after them. Hermione sighed and followed Ron, studying the grass underfoot closely, trying to avoid the moment when she would have to look up at Ron. Just then, a tide of students burst forth from the doors behind them as the rest of the students headed down towards the Quidditch pitch. Hermione and Ron we’re swallowed up by the chattering voices and Hermione thanked the presented excuse to not talk to Ron.

She was almost safely at the entrance of the pitch where Ron would have to join the rest of the team, when Ron suddenly seized
her arm and span her to face him.

“Is he here? Can he see us?” He asked quietly, his eyes boring into Hermione’s.

Hermione, having no idea what Ron was going on about, continued to stare.

“The guy from the library, who you were…” It seemed too painful for Ron to continue so he gestured uselessly at Hermione’s lips. Hermione’s eyes widened and she understood Ron meant whom Hermione had been kissing last night. Hermione glanced around and spotted Draco some twenty feet away heading towards the pitch and looking right at her. She turned back to Ron and nodded, before turning to keep walking.

Behind her, she heard Ron take a deep breath before in one swift movement, he was right in front of her. He laid his hands on her shoulders and made such a show of himself that several people turned to watch, including Draco. Ron closed his eyes and leaned down to Hermione, who was frozen to the spot, too shocked to move. Then, in front of the eyes of the whole student body, Ron was kissing Hermione. In the middle of a field, he was pulling her closer to him. In front of Draco, he was kissing her with such passion it drew gasps from many of the girls. In spite of the awkward situation and the countless eyes, Hermione couldn’t help but think that, Ron wasn’t bad. More out of reaction than anything else, Hermione kissed him back, though her arms stayed unresponsive at her sides. Soon, Ron broke apart and took Hermione’s hand, leading her towards the stands. Hermione blinked at Ron’s back, her brain working hard to absorb what had just happened. Ron lead her right to the beginning of the Gryffindor stands and lifted her up by her waist before she could so much as blink. Hermione turned to say something to him, demand to know what just happened, but he was already halfway to the change rooms. Instead she was facing Draco, who looked livid. Hermione closed her mouth out of shock, as Draco glared at her, hurt and anger in his eyes. Pansy Parkinson gave him a sharp poke in the back and he kept walking, throwing Hermione a scowl over his shoulder.

Hermione dragged her feet up the stairs, her stomach clenched in an iron fist of guilt. But, it’s not like she chose to kiss Ron. She was caught off-guard, and the whole school must have seen that. She should have shoved him away, but Ron was still one of her best friends, and she didn’t want to humiliate him like that. Hermione tried to justify why she hadn’t pushed him off as she reached the top of the stands.

As she took a seat next to Lavender Brown, she noticed many students turned to point at her and then whisper to their neighbors before turning their attention to the match. Hermione sunk low in her seat and silently willed time to speed up.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle to signal the start of the match, and Harry circled the pitch, watching Cho Chang much more often that he was looking for the Snitch. Hermione eyed Ron as he flew out to defend the Gryffindor goalposts. Anger suddenly boiled in Hermione’s stomach as she watched him sway slightly in front of the middle hoop.

‘He had no right to do that’ She raged silently. She found her eyes searching the Slytherin stands for a familiar silver-blonde head and she soon spotted it easily. She needed to talk to him, to explain what had happened. They betrayal in his eyes was apparent when he had glared at her at the bottom of the stands. Hermione’s stomach twisted with guilt as she imagined how it would feel to have the situation reversed. Coming to a decision, Hermione excused herself from the match early and made her way past the grumbling students to the lawn. She was going to write a letter to Draco and have a school owl deliver it to his dorm that night. Hermione sprinted to Gryffindor tower and retrieved her bag, already writing the letter in her head. By the time she reached the security of the owlery, the letter was mentally completed and she had started to copy it out onto a roll of parchment, when a voice rendered her written words quite unnecessary.

“Well, that certainly was an original way of letting me know”. Hermione gasped and jumped, consequently marking a large ink streak across the entire parchment. She turned and spotted Draco, hands behind his back, leisurely inspecting the owls’ overhead.

“You move like a bloody cat.” Hermione said, laying a hand on her chest, trying to slow her pounding heartbeat. Draco continued to inspect the flapping mass of brown and white as he spoke.

“ Yes, well, it helps my actions go unnoticed. Wish I could say the same about you and Weasley.” Despite his casual air, his face tightened into a frown.

“Draco, please, I didn’t mean for that to happen. And it’s not what it seems. I didn’t even want to kiss Ron, it just…happened” Hermione said, trying to ignore the burning feeling in her throat.

“Well, it didn’t seem like you were fighting him very hard, Granger” Hermione’s eyes stung with tears at the harsh edge in his voice, but she shook her head and fought to make him understand.

“Did it look like I had much of a choice Draco?”

“Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t.” Draco moved to look out of a window that overlooked the greenhouses, and Hermione heard a distant cheer that meant the game must have ended. With her time running out, Hermione tried one last time to explain to Draco.

“Please, Draco listen to me. I never wanted to kiss Ron. I never meant for it to happen. He heard Luna accidentally mention she saw me kissing someone in the library, and he wanted to make the person I was kissing jealous. I never meant to hurt you, I just-“

“Who said I was hurt? Maybe it was a relief to know that I wouldn’t have to deal with you anymore, now that you have the Weasel for a boyfriend.” Draco spat, still facing out the window.

Hermione gazed at his back through tear blurred eyes. His words had stung like a slap to the face. Hermione squeezed her jaw so tight it hurt, trying to suppress the sob that threatened to wrack through her entire body.

“I…I didn’t mean that Hermione” Draco suddenly whispered, his tone no longer snappy. He turned to face her, his expression soft and confused. “I-I think I’m jealous” Hermione cursed herself as she felt a hot tear slide down her cheek and she raised a hand to wipe it away forcefully. Draco sighed softly and made his way to Hermione across the dropping strewn floor.

He gently took her face in-between his palms and wiped away a second tear with his thumb before taking her gently in his arms. Hermione tensed for a second, thrown off guard by this sudden show of gentleness from one of the most hardened people she knew. She took a deep breath; inhaling Draco’s clean, tantalizing scent, and let herself to melt into his arms. He tightened his right arm around her waist and lifted her chin with his left hand. Smiling lightly, Draco leaned in and took her lips in a stunning kiss.

A feeling of recklessness overtook Hermione, and she boldly ran her tongue over Draco’s, who froze in surprise, and then met her halfway. Draco kissed her for breath-robbing minutes, before a warning bell in Hermione’s brain sounded, and she realized how suspicious it would be if she was not at dinner. Not wanting to heighten Ron and Harry’s already mounting suspicions, she reluctantly broke away from Draco and apologized.

“I’m sorry Ron kissed me, and I’m even sorrier that I have to leave, but Ron and Harry will rip me apart if I don’t make an appearance at dinner.” Draco merely nodded and smiled. Hermione gathered up her parchment and quill and stuffed them into her bag, turning to smile at Draco at the door before re-entering the bustle of school.