"It's hard, isn't it?"
She turned to face him and stared. Then, after one moment, she said in her coldest voice, "Excuse me?"
"It's hard. Being perfect."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you do, Granger. This act you have, that you're perfect. As fearless as your friends. I can see it on your face. You're scared."
"Malfoy, listen-"
"This act of yours. That you're a Gryffindor 'till the end. Who are you kidding?"
She didn't respond.
"Who are you kidding, Granger?"
"Everyone," she turned away from him. "I'm kidding everyone."
"Except yourself?"
"Yes."
"And me."
"Yes, and you, Malfoy."
She stared down at him, and couldn't quite believe it.
"Malfoy! Damn it, Malfoy, stop kidding around!"
"Why are you doing this to me, Malfoy?" she whispered. He pulled her legs apart, breathing heavily, his lips on her neck.
"Do you know, Granger, I'm not exactly sure."
She pulled back and looked at him. His pupils were wide and he was flushed. "C'mon, Granger, let's not talk about stuff now." He tried to dive back to her.
She avoided him. "Do I actually mean anything to you?"
"Sure you do, Granger. I'm just not quite sure what yet."
She continued to look at him but she knew he had no more answers for her. She let him kiss her and tried not to think of her life anymore, her life that had become her cage.
"Malfoy, please… wake up!" She shook him hard and his head snapped from side to side but he did not move by himself.
"It's coming, Malfoy."
"I know."
"Have you decided what side that you are on yet? The war isn't exactly going to wait."
"No, I haven't. How about you, Granger? What side are you going to be on?"
She looked at him scornfully. She was in no mood to listen to him and his stupid jokes. Worry was ebbing away at her.
Because she knew she would be upset if he went to the other side and that upset her. She wasn't supposed to feel anything for him.
And yet she did.
"He's… gone, Miss Granger." Dumbledore's hand was on her shoulder. The world had stopped spinning for her. She felt as if she was covered in darkness. After one still moment, her shoulders dropped in defeat and she said, "I know."
"I haven't seen you in so long," she yelled. She was fighting an unidentified Death Eater and there was noise all around her.
He wasn't wearing a Death Eaters cloak but his Hogwarts uniform, his Slytherin page glinting noticeably.
He cast a charm her Death Eater's way and he fell. She didn't care about the Death Eater's status, she couldn't have cared less even if he was dead. She had changed. She was no longer perfect. Malfoy had made sure of that.
He was gone when she looked for him again. She didn't see him again, until she saw him fighting off an Auror from his father. She ran over and cast the Auror to the ground, temporally, bellowing at him, "Which side are you on, Malfoy? Which SIDE are you on?!"
"Which side are you on, Granger?" he returned, with a smirk.
She opened her mouth to answer but uncertainty suddenly filled her. She'd been sleeping with Malfoy and she'd just cast an Auror to the ground. If he was on the Dark Side, could she really go against him?
Damn him, this was all his fault. By the time a word had come out of her mouth, he was gone.
"Who killed him, Professor?" she asked.
Dumbledore shook his head gently. "I do not know, Miss Granger."
She stared down at Draco Malfoy and, although her eyes were on him, asked her Headmaster, "Which side was he on, Professor?"
"I… I do not know, Miss Granger."
She stared at him, kneeling beside him, close. There he lay, in his Slytherin uniform, a uniform which made him part of the Good Side and part of the Bad Side. He was neither white nor black, but grey. Grey, just like her.
She didn't understand. He was an enigma in himself. She didn't know if she loved him or not. All she could do now was hold him and let herself cry.
But she wouldn't. There was a war to fight.
Dumbledore watched as the child picked herself up. The war had quietened for a few minutes but things were stirring again.
Which side had Draco Malfoy been on?
Dumbledore did not know. Perhaps the boy had not known himself.
Had Dumbledore done the right thing?
He watched the girl. Too much relied on her. She was one of Harry's best friend. Harry's eyes followed her everywhere. Dumbledore had always been a good person studier. Miss Granger may not have loved him, but Harry most definitely had feelings for her.
The loss of Hermione Granger could have ruined everything. Draco Malfoy was too much a threat. Too much of a threat for Dumbledore.
Dumbledore looked at the young Malfoy, lying there on the ground, and slowly inclined his head into a bow. Then he raised his wand to fight.
He had to continue fighting.
Just a little piece. What did you think?