A/N: So... I realized I didnt update in like... forever. So, I wrote this chapter on New Year's, since my resolution is to update sooner. I guess that means I better start writing again. Anyhow, here's the chapter; enjoy. And Happy New Year's!

Jealous

{Chapter 24}

Winter snows slowly faded into spring showers. Outside, on the Hogwarts grounds, flowers began to bloom; and the trees grew green leaves once again. The school buzzed with activity; since Theo always had something for us to do. From skiing days to picnics and everything in between, the students of Hogwarts never seemed happier.

But with everyone's happiness, came my distress. My Gryffindor friends started acting awkwardly familiar with me. A greeting and smiles as we passed each other in the halls turned into constant talks and 'hanging out'. It got really hard to keep up with my act; and I wondered why my friends were doing this to me. They already knew I was pretending; they knew and promised to not expose me, so why were they doing this?

Ginny said it would promote inner-house amity; and would get everyone to realize that the whole Gryffindor vs. Slytherin thing was just lame. I didn't know why she was mentioning this now, and why Ginny really cared; she was never fond of the Slytherins herself.

My other friends, the Slytherins, began to notice the fact that I was spending more and more time with the Gryffindors; and let me admit; no one was very happy with that. I told them it was okay, that the Gryffindors were really nice and all; and though they backed off; I could tell they were still worried.

So on Saturday, when I was talking to Pansy, the whole conflict popped up into the conversation.

"What's up with you spending so much time with the Gryffindors?" Pansy asked.

"They're just… friends." I replied, slightly nervous.

"You know, Draco doesn't like it. He thinks you're being weird."

"What?" I felt like she slapped me across the face. Draco was calling me weird? After all we've been through? After months of dating, and what happened on Valentine's day?

"Well, you've got to know where he's coming from." Pansy insisted. "He and Potter were never friends."

I almost shouted at her that if Draco wasn't such a jerk all the time, maybe Harry would have been his friend. Instead, I just nodded, saying "I just don't know why he's calling me weird."

"Oh…" Pansy was silent for a minute; probably weighing her options here. She could lie to me about what was going on, which would hurt me when I found out; and she could just tell me straight on, which would still hurt my feelings.

"Just tell me the truth, Pansy." I said, finally.

She sighed, "You won't like it."

"I've got that feeling," I leaned back in my seat.

We were sitting in the library, supposedly doing homework; but you know friends. Girls especially; a homework session always turns into gossip-time. I don't know what was wrong with me lately; I think all that acting made me turn into someone else, but I didn't really mind gossip. Who knew Slytherins had such interesting stories to tell.

"Well; you know how you talk to that Weasley girl a lot?" Pansy started.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Well, the thing is; Draco thinks she's bad influence or something."

I choked on a laugh. "Bad influence?"

"Okay! I don't know the whole story, I really only heard it from Blaise; who didn't tell me the whole thing. But that's the simplest it gets. Draco isn't happy with your Gryffindor friends. Blaise thinks if you don't stop hanging around them; Draco will do something stupid."

I thought for a moment, "He's jealous." I concluded.

Pansy shrugged, "I can't really say. But I think so."

"It does make sense." I said; then decided what I would do next, "I should go talk to him."

"Maybe not now; 'cause he's got his Quidditch practice, remember?"

"Didn't they just have a practice yesterday?"

"The big game is tomorrow," Pansy said, "that's why they're practicing extra hard."

"Oh!" I slapped my forehead. What kind of a girlfriend was I, forgetting about Draco's game and all?

"What do I do now?" I asked.

She merely shrugged, "I don't really know. I think talking to him is a good idea. Maybe talk to those Gryffindors, tell them to back off for a while, you know?"

"Makes sense," I nodded.

"Oh, just make sure when you talk to Draco;" She hesitated for a minute, "make sure he's in a good mood."

"I will," I smiled. I haven't exactly seen Draco in a bad mood. That didn't mean I wanted to get to know his dark side.

I packed up my stuff, said goodbye to Pansy and headed out of the library. It was time I talked with a few people.

"You guys know that you're causing me a lot of trouble," I began.

"Trouble?" Harry echoed, clueless.

"Yes. You're acting so familiar and all. It's messing up my act." I said.

"So? What's the problem with a few dents in your act?" Ginny asked, "It's not like your plan is so perfect."

Sitting in the Room of Requirement, Harry, Ginny, Ron and I were talking about the problems I was facing. They didn't seem to get it. Ginny got really offended, I could tell.

"It was perfect," I retorted, "until you guys decided to ruin it for me."

"We didn't ruin it for you." Ron said.

"Yeah, he's right." Ginny nodded, "You should stop being paranoid. So what if Malfoy doesn't like you hanging out with us? You're gonna let your weirdo boyfriend boss you around?"

My face turned tomato red; she was not calling my boyfriend weird. "First of all, Ginny;" I started, angrily. "As you mentioned it, Draco is my boyfriend. Second of all, he's not weird."

Ginny and Harry exchanged a knowing glance, one that I found insulting.

"Okay!" I practically shouted, "even if he is weird; he's my boyfriend. And the guy I love, for that matter. You can label him weird if you want, that doesn't mean I'll hate him or anything. I love Draco just the way he is."

"Ah, Hermione, honey. When did you turn into such a cheesy romantic—" Ginny started, but I cut her off.

"I'm not turning into a freaking cheesy romantic anything!" I snapped. "Just leave me alone, already."

"When you say leave me alone…" Ron started.

"Yeah, I mean stop talking to me in the halls. I said I was okay with a wave and a hello every now and then. But going up to me in the middle of class? Talking to me at dinner? No, I'm not okay with that." I said.

"You're being such a Slytherin." Harry stated.

"Well, it's where I belong after all," I stomped my foot.

"No it isn't. You're trying to change who you are," Ginny shot at me.

"If you guys weren't such losers, I wouldn't have to change myself. I'd already be popular." I blurted, hotly.

Silently, I cursed myself as a new silence stretched around us. I had just called my friends losers. I called my real friends, the ones I'd gone through everything with, the ones who were there for me during the war; I called them losers.

"If you weren't such a bitch, you'd have been popular." Harry snapped, breaking the silence.

"If you hated us, why were you our friend, anyways?" Ginny added.

I knew I should have apologized, but I was too offended to do so. Harry just called me a bitch. Me? A bitch?

"I'm not a bitch, Potter," I snarled, using last names to get my point across, "and whatever, Weasley. I don't need you guys to be my friends anymore."

"So you were using us?" Ron asked, stupidly.

"You used me!" I screamed at him furiously.

Before he could reply, or anyone else could say add to that, I stomped out of the Room of Requirements. I realized I needed sometime to cool off. Maybe I'd look for Astoria. She always knew how to get me back to my senses. Astoria was my new best-friend anyways. She understood me more.

"I need to re-think the definition of friend," I moaned.

"What happened?" Astoria asked.

"I had a fight with Potter and the Weasleys." I answered.

"So you're back to calling them with last names?"

"I guess I'm not their friend anymore." I said.

"I think you're just going through a lot." Astoria smiled empathetically.

"They're causing me a lot of trouble;" I told her.

"They probably don't understand your situation."

"I tried explaining. They insulted me."

She raised an eyebrow, "and what did you do?"

"I threw a few insults their way."

"A few?" she scoffed.

"Okay, okay!" I admitted, "a couple."

She eyed me.

"A couple of really offending ones," I said.

"That's more like you," She laughed.

I was appalled. That's all she was going to do? Laugh?

"Why are you laughing?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"You're something else, Harmony." She said, "I did expect you to insult them back."

"So you're happy I did that?"

"No," She shook her head, "I think you should apologize to them."

"They insulted me," I huffed.

"And you insulted them." She retorted, "Anyways, sometimes you need to get off your high horse down and apologize. With friends, it doesn't matter who did the wrong thing. It matters more who fixes it."

"When did you turn into a wise person?" I moaned.

"I'm always wise." She grinned.

"No you're not." I threw a pillow at her.

She dodged, "sure I am. You never had the time to listen to me though."

I grinned at her, "sorry kiddo."

"Hey! I'm not a kid." She threw the pillow back at me.

I laughed, as it hit me square in the face, "so much for reflexes."

"Your boyfriend is captain of the Quidditch team. Tell him to teach you a few tricks." She laughed along.

"Talk about my boyfriend. I think he's jealous," I said, remembering. "Pansy said I should talk to Draco."

"I think it is time you work things out with him. You two have been very tense lately." Astoria smiled.

I sighed and threw myself back on my bed, "Yeah. I think I need to do something to get him to realize I didn't change."

"His game's tomorrow. Be there for him, cheer him on." Astoria suggested, "If he wins, spend the after-party with him."

"If he looses?" I asked.

"You spend the rest of the day with him. Comfort him about the situation; make sure you're there for him and all." Astoria told me.

I smiled, imagining both situations, "Alright." I said. "Sounds like a plan."

That night I sat in the common room reading a book; when Draco walked in and made his way towards me.

"Hey," I said, looking up from my book.

He smiled, then sat on the couch in front of me, he looked bothered; and I got a creepy feeling that said it had to do with what Pansy and I talked about.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he shook his head.

I knew better than to believe him, but I didn't pressure Draco into talking.

After some a while, he asked "do you have something to tell me?"

"What?" his question took me by surprise. What was he talking about? I had no idea.

"Anything you want to tell me?" He repeated.

I considered telling him not to worry about me; to stop acting like an overprotective freak and leave my friends—Harry, Ron, and Ginny—alone. I could take care of myself, I didn't need his help. I decided against it. I didn't want to cause more trouble.

"No, nothing." I finally said; then on another note, "Your game is tomorrow."

"Don't change the subject," His voice was calm, yet it had an edge to it. An edge that said he was getting angry.

"I wasn't… It's just that I don't know what you're talking about."

He sighed, "You're hanging around Potter too much." He said, "I don't like it."

Didn't I tell you that was coming? I thought.

"It's alright, really. He's nice and everything and he's got his own girl—" Draco interrupted me.

"I know, okay?" He snapped. "You keep telling me that."

Whoa; where was his temper coming from? "You're jealous." I gasped.

"I just want you to stay away from him."

"Like I was saying, before you rudely interrupted me," I said with a role of my eyes, "Harry has a girlfriend already. And so does Ron."

"Weasley?" Draco blinked, then a mischievous smile broke out on his face, "he doesn't have a girlfriend. He and Brown broke up. Ages ago; when Granger burst into school and exposed him."

"What?" I gasped, despite myself. "I thought… they're still sleeping together." I said, stubbornly.

"Yeah, just because they're hooking up doesn't mean they're dating." He said.

"Well, just because they're not dating doesn't mean I have to stop hanging out with them." I replied, "What's the matter, Draco? You don't trust me around Ron? You think I'm going to cheat?"

I felt like a hypocrite. I was the one fighting with Ron, Harry and Ginny, and here I was telling Draco to stop bossing me around. I was telling him they were my friends, when I called them losers earlier today. But hey, I was going to listen to Astoria and apologize. Just not right now.

An awkward silence stretched out between us, Draco toyed with the hem of his sleeve; something he did when he was nervous. "It's just that… Potter and I were never really friends."

"I noticed," I said, somewhat sarcastically.

He smiled slightly, "I lost a lot of things to Potter. Friends and family especially." He took a breath, "there used to be this girl; who I cared about, but she was Potter's friend, so she never gave me so much as a glance. I really liked this girl. She never knew that, but I did. I loved her." He went on. "That didn't mean anything though; I lost the girl to Potter."

"What was she like?" I asked; wanting to know more.

"She was the kind of person everyone seemed to like; even if she never knew it. She doubted herself a lot, I guess. She questioned herself about her own identity. I think she was too self-conscious to notice she was perfect the ways she was. She never really knew herself; what she was capable of. That was her biggest problem, her flaw. She tended to blame everything on herself. When she was cheated, she blamed herself. When her friends betrayed her, she took the blame." He got a faraway look in his eyes, and I knew he was longing to see that girl.

I had a feeling I knew the girl he was talking about. Was Draco referring to me or was it my imagination. Though I wondered why he was talking about her in past tense.

"What happened to her?" I asked when he stopped talking.

"She's gone now," he replied.

I blinked. What did he mean gone? "Is she… dead?"

He shrugged, and for a moment, I had the feeling she really was. I guessed he wasn't talking about me after all.

"What did she look like?"

He shook his head, "Not a beauty queen. She was simple, a lot simpler than anyone in school. No makeup, no sense of fashion, her hair always messy." He laughed, "I think that's why everyone liked her."

"Because she was different?"

"Yeah," He replied, "That's why."

He sounded so sincere, I felt jealous; though I was the one accusing him of jealousy a few minutes ago.

"What was her name?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter," he replied, getting up to leave. "I'm going to my room."

"Wait," I said, marking the page in the book, and standing up. "I'll come with you."

And hopefully, we can work this out; because I still didn't like this girl he was talking about.

Draco shook his head, "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

I had a feeling that I was unwanted; that Draco was just trying to get away from me. I didn't say anything though, I guessed it was my fault our relationship was suffering; and I wanted it to last.

Draco wished me good night and walked away; no kiss no nothing. No sign of us being in an intimate relationship. Again, I blamed myself for it. Then realized something.

That girl Draco was talking about; she did sound a lot like me. It wasn't a problem really; I was actually happy. It meant he loved me for who I really was.

On the other hand, it was going to cause a conflict. What will happen when he found out the truth? But I figured that didn't matter. Something told me he already knew the truth. And that was what he was asking me about.

"Do you have something to tell me?" he had asked.

He wanted me to tell him the truth; tell him who I really was. He suspected, at least. And who knows, maybe he was already sure Harmony Evans was just a fraud.

I sank back into the couch. My perfect plan was quickly falling apart. And I was quickly falling down the ladder.

Somehow, I had to pull this whole thing back together; before it was too late.

A/N: so here it is! Tell me what you think.