Stylistic Harmony

Chapter Six
A week has passed since her last conversation with Malfoy, since she had argued with Harry and Ron. She kept out of the way of all of them, sticking to the library, McGonagall had found her on the second day,
"Miss. Granger, it appears that you have been neglecting your duty, has there been some sort of altercation between yourself and Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione shook her head,
"No, Professor, erm, I fell behind slightly in a couple of my subjects and Blaise offered to watch Malfoy this week to let me catch up. Did he not tell you?" Luckily McGonagall accepted her lie and left her to it, now here she was five days later, alone. Fortunately the time alone had given her ample opportunity to ponder the meaning of Draco's declaration. He had changed, she knew that for sure, he had grown up and the boy who contributed to the horror of last term was gone. However, her dreams of him told her that the darkness in him was not quelled by this change, it frightened her and excited her. In her mind she knew it was absurd, all these years fighting alongside Harry and Ron and all of a sudden it was changing, she felt herself becoming something else, something unreal. Was Malfoy right? Were they the same, always searching for more from the world? She was distracted from this trail of thought by Ginny sitting down next to her.
"What do you want?" Ginny looked taken aback, as if she was surprised by Hermione's reaction,
"I came to talk to you. Harry and Ron have been nightmares all week, they can't seem to hold it together without you. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have let them treat you like that. Please, please let them talk to you, they really want to make amends." Although Hermione was still hurt by the argument, she did miss them and wanted to make up.
"Ok, i'll talk to them," Ginny nodded and got up to leave, Hermione felt she should say something else, "Gin? I'm sorry to, I've been a bit of a nightmare recently. I don't know what's come over me. I haven't been sleeping well, I am barely keeping up with my work. I've been....anyway tell Harry and Ron I will come to Gryffindor common room for seven tonight. See you later yeah?" Hermione looked back down at her book, Ginny made to say something else but bit back her words, whatever was bothering Hermione had really got to her, she was different and Ginny wasn't sure if it was a good thing.

He had overheard the whole conversation, and it troubled him, if she went back to them now they would lose her forever. She had almost told Ginny about him, he could feel his name about to roll off her tongue, but she had hesitated, that was at least a glimmer of hope. She hadn't been near him since last week in the common room. He had tried to explain to her where he was coming from, it wasn't an easy thing especially given their history, He wasn't sure he could explain it himself, but it had happened, he had fallen hard and deep for the Gryffindor Princess and he wasn't going to give up. He suspected that the feelings had always been there, but because of his Father and his Master, Draco never had the chance to be who he was; true he was as ambitious as Lucius but he wasn't a neo-facist psychopath, he didn't hold to all this Pureblood shite, not anymore. Last summer destroyed any trace of the boy his Father had brought up. Draco was his own man, and had his own views on the world. He had come to realize that Hermione was as much a part of his world as his best friends, without her he would never have had anyone to spar with as he had her; she had always treated him differently to everyone else, most people were afraid of him, or wanted to fight him but she treated him like he was just another face in the crowd. At first it had pissed him off, now he knew that he admired it in her, it made him crave her more. Most people wouldn't believe the 180 his view of her had taken, but it had happened and she wanted it to. Draco sat and watched her for a long time, the way her hair fell around her shoulders in perfect ringlets, the curve of her lips as she sucked the end of her quill, the intensity in her eyes as she fathomed out what to write next. She was enthralling. He had to act, to make her see that she could be more without Potter and Weasley. He stepped out of the shadows, she looked up, and gasped,
"You've been avoiding me," he said. She was taken aback by his appearance, he looked incredible, his blond hair slightly messed, falling into his stormy grey eyes, she took a huge breath to stop herself from fainting. He spoke again, "My God Granger, are you okay? You look kind of flushed?" He walked towards her chair, she got up quickly and scooted back,
"I'm fine Malfoy, why, why would I be not fine? I'm not flushed. I am perfectly unflushed. How long have you been there? Were you listening in on my conversations? You were! Great way to earn my trust!" He laughed, he was laughing at her, she burnt with anger, "Now you're laughing at me, thanks ferret, now I know where I stand with you!" He stopped laughing, grabbing her arm as she went to leave, trapping her between him and the desk,
"Sorry Granger, I didn't mean to make fun. For your information I was listening to your conversation, but only because I happened to be in the aisle next to here. You going to forgive those two idiots, aren't you?"
"They're my best friends Malfoy, I can't live without them. What, did you think that you make one heartfelt confession to me and everything changes? You're still evil and so is your little friend. The thought of us, me, you and him together makes me want to vomit," her voice wavered, "You can't change the past Malfoy, and you can't change. Now let me go, I have to meet Harry and Ron." She wanted to get away from him, but found herself reluctant to move from her position, Draco noticed this,
"I am not stopping you from leaving Hermione, I don't want to stop you from doing anything. But know this, what I said to you the other night is the truth. I am not the person you knew. I know every bone in your body is telling you to run and never look back but I implore you to stay. I don't care if you make up with the wonder idiots," she made a scoffing sound at the nickname, "As I was saying I don't care about that, but I care about you and they will just use you the same as always. You know they will. They will make you feel small and pathetic until you start believing it. We can give you the world, make you feel strong and powerful and loved. Just give us, me the chance to prove it to you." She looked at him with big brown eyes, she knew he was right, he was always right. He knew her mind better then she did, she could see that he needed her, wanted her, but she couldn't betray her friends, she just couldn't,
"I can't. I can't betray them. No matter what I feel. Please let me go. Draco. Please." The use of him first name shocked him, the plea in her voice shooting straight through his heart. He released her, she leant up and kissed him on the cheek, she whispered in his ear, "Thank-you. For caring. But I can't be with you." He simply nodded, as she left he said in a stern voice,
"You may think that this is it, but we'll always be here, waiting. I will never give up." He brushed past her almost knocking her to the ground, he made his way to the Head's rooms, he needed to talk to Blaise. He found the Head Boy leaning on the windowsill smoking. He smiled wearily at his friend, Draco was buzzing,
"She's giving in to it." The two Slytherins, smiled, it had begun.

Hermione curled up in front of the fire in her old common room, the confrontation with Draco in the library had knocked the energy out of her. She knew now that her feelings towards him had completely changed, the dreams and his proposition had made her realize that what she had been searching for had been in front of her all the time. The spark, the missing thing in her life was him, but she could never allow him to fill that void in her life; it would have to remain empty for the rest of her life. The situation with Blaise was somewhat different, she didn't see him as she saw Draco. Blaise was an enigma, she couldn't work him out, but she wanted to, she wanted that so much. It all felt new to her, these feelings of lust for not one but two people. They had awakened in her a new not entirely unwelcome feeling. The temptation of the forbidden, let Harry and Ron protect her from that. She stopped, thinking of Harry and Ron in the same train as Draco and Blaise made her feel like a disloyal tramp, she couldn't have the two Slytherins not without the consequences. She had Ron, he was her priority, and Harry, helping Harry destroy Voldemort. Speaking of the two of them, it was already a quarter past seven and they hadn't shown up, she clicked her knuckles impatiently. This was typical, they had probably gotten sidetracked talking about bloody Quidditch. Half past came and went, at seven forty five the portrait opened and in they walked, laughing and joking. They stopped dead when they saw her. Harry swore under his breath, Ron garbled an apology,
"Hermione, we're so sorry, we got sidetracked, but we're here now, we want to talk. The other day we acted stupid and ignorant, we should have realized that we were smothering you, but its just we don't trust the ferret, he's evil and cruel and we didn't want you to get hurt. We know that it was bad of us to talk to you how we did, but just want to protect you."
"Yeah, Ron's right Hermione. I'm sorry to. These past few months have been really tough, but I am trying to be positive about this. I have to be. I was being overprotective because I don't want to lose anyone else to this stupid selfish war. You can understand that right?" She took a while to reply,
"I'm sorry, I did say some horrible things. You know I appreciate you helping me, and looking out for me but you have to understand that I am capable of looking after myself." Harry looked at Ron, they both looked entirely unconvinced, Harry came and put his arm around her,
"Hermione, you are an amazing witch, but we are not about to leave you to be alone with Malfoy twenty four seven. He is more dangerous then we ever imagined. Last year proved that. He can't be trusted and I am not losing you to Death Eaters." Ron came to the other side of her,
"You're my girlfriend Hermione and I, I love you. You can't handle Malfoy alone, he's to powerful now. Tell her what the Order discovered Harry." She was beginning to get a bit peeved with them, they still weren't listening to her, Harry continued,
"During the summer, he was initiated. He's a Death Eater Hermione, the Order confirmed it last week. Zabini is to, as well as a bunch of others. We've been to McGonagall, we don't want you in a dorm with him, who knows what he'll try. We can't expose them though, so we're stuck with them. Now do you see why you need our protection?" She shrugged them off of her, she knew this already, Malfoy had told her as much himself, now she had made up her mind, they couldn't give her what she wanted most of all, independence, freedom, respect. Damn them both, the lines had been blurred for her. Good and evil, it meant nothing to her, not anymore.
"Neither of you have any idea do you?! You haven't learnt! I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF! I understand that its your instinct to protect me, but you are treating me like a child! Like a weak, pathetic child who can't do anything for herself! Its nauseating!" They couldn't believe her,
"For fuck's sake Hermione! If you stop acting like such a child, we'll stop treating you like one! We don't want to lose you, can't you see that?! Stupid woman!" Ron knew that he had overstepped the mark, she shook her head and walked out, what they didn't realize was that now they had truly lost her, to the enemy they were so keen on protecting her from and there wasn't a damn thing they could do. Draco and Blaise had promised her the world, and she was bursting with the need for it. Her anger surged through her, seeping into her veins like a parasite. They only cure lay in the room that her legs had carried her to. She raised her hand to knock...................................

Ginny knew it had gone badly the moment she entered the Gryffindor common room, she stood in front of the two of them, hands on her hips,
"What happened? Where's Hermione?" Harry looked up at her, the light from the fire coupled with her flaming red hair made her look as though she had set the room ablaze, he got up and gathered her in his arms,
"I don't know what happened Ginny. She's different, I feel like I don't know her anymore. She doesn't understand that all we are doing is trying to keep her out of harms way." Ron hadn't moved, his jaw was set and his gaze was cold,
"Somethings wrong with her, I've never seen her like that before. Its like she didn't want to be here with us. I don't recognize her anymore." Ginny heaved a huge sigh, boys would never learn,
"You two idiots! Of course she's changed, she's grown up! She's just as frightened by all this, like you. She's afraid that she'll lose the two of you, so she's trying to keep you out of trouble! You need to let up on her, let her be her own person. She'll come around eventually." Harry and Ron hoped to Merlin that Ginny was right, Hermione was one of them and they didn't want to lose her.

She knocked twice, there was no answer, she began to turn away, this was a bad idea. At the last moment the door opened, she spun back, there wasn't anyone behind it, before she could change her mind she tentatively entered Blaises dorm. It was dark, the only light was from the sliver of moon, illuminating the area by the window. On first look it appeared to be empty, she peered around, she was having a case of major deja vu, was this a dream? It felt like it was, she had been here before. She heard a movement behind her, spinning on her heel, she came face to face with Blaise, he smelt of cigarettes and cologne, she squeaked,
"Blaise! I..I, the door it just opened, I'm sorry I shouldn't be here!" She started towards the door, but he was too fast, blocking her path the moment she moved, she panicked; why had she come here? He sensed her discomfort, and moved, to stand right next to her, leaning to whisper in her ear,
"The door is there, Cara, you're free to walk out of it, but ask yourself this-something bought you here tonight, and my prediction is that it won't go away anytime soon." She became aware of another person in the room, tall and sexy, Draco Malfoy stood in front of her, stroking her cheek he said,
"Come back when you really mean it. Till then think seriously about this Hermione, are you willing to give up anything for us? Willing to give yourself to us completely? Are you ready to let us teach you the ways of our world? Can you honestly say this is what you want?" She looked up at him, he was heart breakingly beautiful, the intensity in his grey eyes drove deep into her soul, she so desperately wanted what they were offering but right now she was too confused to think straight. So she left the two gorgeous, sexy Slytherins, standing there aching for her. Retreating for the comfort of her room she couldn't believe what she had almost done. However, they had been there for her, when she had needed them most. Harry and Ron had demeaned her, insulted her, and she had been angry, in spite of all that she still couldn't imagine them not being there for her. Would she have ruined all of that, a six year long friendship for one night giving into her lust? Would it have been fair on Draco and Blaise? No, feeling awful and hateful she tossed and turned all night, her sleep punctured with nightmares of fire and blood, the walls of the castle closing in on her, waking only to dwell on the memory of Blaise standing there wanting her and Draco's eyes driving right through her.

Saturday dawned clean and crisp. A faint red glow punctured the skyline, the sun rose bleeding light over the vast grounds of the castle. She awoke almost as soon as she had fallen asleep, the dawn chorus waking rousing her. She yawned and stretched out, padding over to the window she took in the view. From her vantage point she could see over the lake, and the forest, the early sunlight piercing everything; the scene was so breathtaking that she almost forgot her troubles. Her gaze travelled to the tree by the lake, where it had all started, a figure stood under that tree. Draco. He was leaning against the trunk, dressed in dark jeans, a black t-shirt and a pair of dark sunglasses, the morning air was chilly but it seemed as if he didn't feel it. He was smoking a cigarette, she could see the smoke curling around him partially obscuring him from sight. How could someone that perfect looking be so unbelievably tainted? She sighed. Today was a Hogsmeade visit, she wasn't' sure if she was going to go, no doubt Harry and Ron wouldn't let her go on her own, maybe it was a good thing, maybe they could work it out. With this illuminating thought in her head she tore herself away from the tantalizing view of Draco leant up against a tree, and went to get ready, it was early but it would give her time to prepare herself.
An hour later she made her way down to breakfast, dressed in jeans, a band tee and her jacket, she spied Harry, Ron and Ginny, avoiding looking at the Slytherin table, she sat herself next to Ron. They looked somewhat surprised that she had sat with them,
"Hey. Look I was wondering if you wanted to come to Hogsmeade with me? I wouldn't feel safe on my own." Ron put his arm around her,
"Of course you can Hermione. Don't worry we won't smother you. We had a chat with Ginny and she put us in our place." Harry put his hand on top of hers,
"I've been selfish, thinking that I was the only one affected by last year. I realize now that its had an effect on us all. We will try to take a step back, let you breathe. It doesn't mean that I won't worry about you, or that Ron won't want to protect you to within an inch of his life, but we will let you take care of yourself." She couldn't quite believe that they had grown-up by about ten years in the space of ten hours but they had. She hugged Ron and squeezed Harry's hand,
"Thank-you guys, that really means a lot. I appreciate you finally letting me look after me. Its been shit without you guys around. And thank-you Ginny, for making these idiots see sense! Let's get going we'll be late." She looped her arm around Ron's and kissed him on the lips, as she withdrew her eyes locked with Draco's, anger and jealousy flashed behind them. She felt a pang in her heart, and quickly uncoupled from Ron, following behind him out of the Great Hall and on to the village.

He watched her follow the Weasel out of the Great Hall, he had seen the sorrow in her eyes as she had kissed him, the disappointment. Blaise was scowling into his breakfast, he had hated seeing that blood traitor touch his girl. Not that she was, yet. However angry and jealous Draco was, his faith in her had not crumbled. She had tasted the smallest tang of what they could give her and no matter what happened with those cretins she would eventually chose him, and Blaise. Suddenly, a stabbing pain shot through his arm, he looked at his best friend, Blaise was clutching his forearm. They had to get out of there before one of the teacher's twigged what was going on. He motioned for Blaise to follow him outside, lifting up his sleeve, the ugly mark burned in his skin was writhing, turning darker and darker with each second.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, they got to the front gates of the castle and passed through, the wards now lifted, they apparated out to Voldemort's hiding place.