Chapter thirteen

''Hermione! Hermione, wait! Hermione, don't just run away!''

Draco Malfoy walked briskly across the lawns of Hogwarts, whilst Hermione ran. She was running but not entirely fast due to it being busy in the grounds, and his brisk, long strides were steadily gaining on her. A few students were looking round at Draco's disruptive display, but shrugged it off and went back to enjoying the sunshine with their classmates. Ginny and Luna watched in the distance, whilst Harry and Ron just stared at each other, stunned. Hermione continued to run, until she reached the castle and pushed her way through the doors. Draco soon caught up, and as she was heading for the staircase, he grabbed onto her arm.

''Don't just run away from me, Hermione.'' He hissed, looking around. A few students walked past, curious looks upon their faces but he simply sneered at them. They hurried off, glancing over their shoulders and putting their heads together to discuss what they had just seen. Hermione halted, before turning to look at Draco, a sullen look on her face, her eyes brimmed with tears.

''What happens now? Harry must have caught on.'' She whispered, before ducking her face in her hands. Draco stood motionless, watching her shoulders shake slightly and listened to her small gasps for air. He didn't know how to react to this, he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He glanced around once more, the entrance hall was too crowded for this. Several students had stopped to watch the scene, and didn't seem phased by Draco Malfoy's glares. A group of Slytherins watched interested, sure that Draco had simply tormented the muggle-born to tears. He became uneasy, unsure of how to deal with all the attention they were both gaining from their peers.

''Hermione, please. Everyone is watching us.'' Draco whispered, trying to keep his lips still and his voice quiet. Hermione looked up from her hands, her eyes slightly pink and her cheeks flushes. Glancing around the hall, she noticed that all chatter around them seemed to be about them. Lavender stood with two older Ravenclaw girls, shrugging her shoulders and grinning slightly at the prospect of some gossip. Hermione shook her head slightly, and tried to keep the tears back, before rushing up the staircase. Draco groaned slightly, knowing that following her was going to cause even more chatter, but followed. He felt slightly relieved once he escaped the view of the gossiping students, but his stomach twisted in a strange way when he spotted Hermione further down the corridor, sobbing into the sleeve of her robe. Usually the sight of a girl crying simply irritated him, for Pansy and the rest of her clique often sobbed in the Common Room after hours when their dates had gone wrong or their owl had not been returned. But there was something different about Hermione, something that drew him in and it pulled at his heart to see her in such emotional distress. He hurried down the corridor, and stood in front of her. His hands reached out, and stroked her hair. She looked up for a moment, before pushing herself into his chest were she continued to sob gently. He wrapped his arms around her, running one hand down her back in a soothing manner, and one hand gently stroked her hair.

''Hermione, Hermione. Please, don't cry.'' He begged gently, unsure of what to say to her. All he knew was that seeing her in such distress because of him, was near unbearable. A few more minutes passed, and Draco simply held her gently, whispering his begs of her tears to stop. Her shoulders soon stopped shaking as much, but her breathe remained erratic and strained. Her sobs quietened and soon she just nestled against the warmth of Draco's chest, hiding her face and catching her breathe. Draco stopped whispering to her, and glanced around. They were on the north end of the second floor, which was rarely used anymore. The only people who usually came to this end of the second floor were students who were keen to practice forbidden prank-spells, and couples who wanted some privacy outside the Common Room. He sighed slightly, and tilted Hermione's face up towards his by tucking his fingers under her chin, making her look at him. Her eyes were pink, her lips slightly swollen and her cheeks flushed, but despite this – Draco thought she was breathtaking.

''Are you that afraid of what your friends may think of you, Hermione?'' He asked gently, and Hermione ducked her head down once again, burying her face into his rich robes. She sulked against his chest for a few moments, before shaking her head.

''I'm just so .. overwhelmed.'' She muttered against his chest, and Draco smiled slightly.

''Then what brought this on?'' Draco shook his head, dropping his hand from the back of her head to her waist. He trailed his fingers up and down her hips slightly, barely touching her, but to Hermione it felt like his touch was electric. She stared down at the clasps on his robes, before looking up at him seriously.

''I'm confused, okay? I don't know what is going on with us, and I'm not sure what I want to happen. I don't want people getting involved in something I don't even quite understand yet.'' Hermione sighed, and closed her eyes for a brief moment, catching herself in the moment. She looked up into his steel-like grey eyes, before blushing. Draco raised an eyebrow at her blush, and then smirked.

''Well, what do you want to happen?'' He asked tauntingly, and Hermione ducked her head once again. She ran her hands up his chest for a moment, and gripped the material of his robes. Draco felt his throat tighten for a brief moment, before he groaned slightly. He lifted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. He brought his face down to hers, and caught her lips in a gentle kiss. Hermione whimpered slightly, trying to resist him. She gave in easily, and pushed her face closer to his, opening her lips, allowing him access. His gentle kiss became fierce, so strong that she almost became frightened of it. But she craved more, and fiercely gripped onto the front of his robes, pulling slightly. Draco raised his hand behind her head, twisting his hand in her hair gently, giving it a slight pull every so often. Whilst Hermione was indeed an extremely gentle girl, she could not deny that Draco's ruthless passion thrilled her. She could have kissed him for the rest of the evening, but found herself pulling away when she heard a noise somewhere further down the corridor. Both Hermione and Draco glanced down the hall to see a fourth year Ravenclaw girl rushing down the hall, tugging a fifth year Gryffindor with her, both smiling and flushed. They disappeared into a room further down the hall, and Draco turned back to face Hermione. He kissed her gently, then ran his thumb down her cheek.

''You should make up your mind, Hermione.'' He murmured as he pressed his cheek against hers for a moment, then pulled away from her entirely. She lifted her hands up slightly to hold onto his robes, but he moved away too quickly. He exited down the corridor without a backwards glance, and Hermione smiled slightly. Pushing her hair behind her ears, she sighed and exited in the opposite direction, not noticing the jealous eyes of Pansy Parkinson behind one of the statues in the shadows.

''What the heck was that all about today, Hermione?'' Ron asked, as she sat down on the large armchair opposite Ron and Harry in the common room. Ginny was flicking through another one of her magazines which she had received by owl that morning, and Neville was watering some strange plant on the nearby table. Ron was opening endless bags of Every Flavoured Beans, and pulling out every red one he could see. He would pop a few in his mouth, and shake his head. Harry was simply staring at Hermione with a blank expression on his face, the fire causing shadows to dance on his face.

''I don't know what you mean, Ron.'' Hermione shrugged as she picked up her Potions books, and buried her nose in it quickly. She was attempting to avoid looking at Harry, but she could feel his eyes burning into her.

''You were defending Malfoy. Don't tell me he's blackmailing you, because if he is-'' Ron said through a mouthful of red beans, before coughing and choking. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, and looked back in her potions book.

''I just think that it's trivial for you all to be fighting like children all the time.'' Hermione lied, and Ginny looked at her for a moment over her magazine.

''While I do think he's a complete tosser, I do think it's pathetic that you all still fight like first years.'' Ginny nodded, and Hermione smiled at her friend. She was thankful that Ginny usually could see sense in the situations she seemed to be in the middle of, and Hermione thought for a brief moment that she should tell Ginny. That thought was cut off by Harry.

''His father is one of the reasons your parents are in hiding, Hermione.'' He spat, and Hermione winced. She had forgotten about Draco's father, and for a moment she felt resentment. This vanished when she remembered that Draco is not his father, but it put some doubt in her mind. What if he was simply using her to find out where her parents were, what if he was simply trying to trap her? Her stomach twisted at the idea that she had been kissing the son of a Death Eater a few hours ago.

''Well, Harry, I know that. But does that I mean I should simply piss him off constantly, and risk endangering myself?'' Hermione snapped back, and Harry threw himself back in the red sofa. He glared at Hermione for a moment, before relaxing slightly.

''I don't know what's up with you lately.'' He sighed, and Ron looked at him in slight shock for a moment, before pushing another red bean in his mouth.

''Harry, just drop it.'' Ron shook his head, then grinned. ''Finally! Blood! I knew you could get it! And Charlie didn't believe me!''

''Congratulations, Ron.'' Ginny rolled her eyes without looking up, and Hermione smiled slightly.

''I think I'll send him an owl about it in the morning.'' Ron nodded, triumphantly. But Harry did not join in the laughter, he glared at the fire.

''So that's it? You're quite happy to teach a potential Death Eater how to succeed in battle, and not even bat an eye at the fact your parents might be getting tortured in his father's dungeons?!'' Harry almost yelled, causing all four of his friends to become silent. Ginny and Ron exchanged a glance, and Neville put down his small watering can on the table, throwing a concerned look at Hermione.

''Harry .. that was really uncalled for.'' Ginny said, as she stood up from the floor to put her arm around Hermione, who stood up with tears brimming in her eyes.

''Yeah, mate, seriously. You're tired, exhausted. Go to bed, think this over.'' Ron said, forgetting about his triumph. Harry glared at the pair of them, before standing up and heading towards the staircase. Hermione shrugged Ginny away from her, and clenched her fists as she glared at Harry's back. He stopped at the staircase, and turned to look at his shocked friends.

''Just because you blatantly fancy the arse off him, doesn't make him any less of an evil bastard.'' Harry stated simply, and climbed up the staircase. Ron's mouth dropped open, and he stood up quickly. He looked at Hermione for a moment, and then shook his head angrily.

''The Chosen One or not, he can't bloody well speak to you like that, Mione.'' Ron blurted out, before heading towards the staircase to chase after Harry. Neville sat awkwardly, and smiled sadly at Hermione. He then went back to his plant, obviously uncomfortable with what had just happened.

''Hermione, he doesn't know what he's talking about. He's exhausted, Dumbledore has been really hard on him this year with all that's going on, and he's been having weird dreams. He's just taking it out on you because you don't feel the same way about him as he does about you.'' Ginny tried to comfort Hermione, but she shook her head.

''It's okay, Ginny. You don't need to defend his vile behaviour.'' Hermione sighed, allowing a tear to slip down her cheek. Ginny hugged Hermione for a moment, and offered her one of Ron's many secret stashes of sweets, but Hermione declined.

''I think I need to sleep.'' Hermione decided, and Ginny nodded. Hermione quickly packed up her things, and headed for the staircase. Once in her dorm, she changed into her night dress, ignoring Lavender who promptly asked about Draco Malfoy.

''Hermione? Are you even listening? You and Draco Malfoy made such a scene! Everyone is talking about it. What happened?'' Lavender nagged, and Hermione finally snapped.

''Why don't you concern yourself with your own business for once, Lavender.'' She said quietly, but loudly enough for Lavender to hear. She climbed into her bed, and closed her eyes. She ignored the small murmur of apology from Lavender, and drifted off to sleep.

Harry lay in his bed, wide awake. He and Ron had argued about what he had said to Hermione, and he finally gave in by saying he would apologise to Hermione in the morning. Ron seemed satisfied with this, and had gone to sleep a few hours ago. Harry couldn't sleep, so he decided that he would have a midnight stroll. He quickly pulled on his robes, and exited the dorm. The Common Room was dark and still, and he easily exited through the portrait hole. Unsure of where to go, he stole down the staircase and down the corridor. Finally, he decided he would send an owl to Lupin, about his concerns about Draco Malfoy. He headed for the tower, avoiding two prefects along the way who were more interested in each other than monitoring the corridors. Finally, he reached the damp tower where the owls were awake and enjoying their feed. As Harry pulled out an odd piece of parchment from his robe pocket, he noticed somebody else in the tower. He glared for a moment, sure it must be Draco Malfoy sending suspicious letters in the dead of night, and then realised he was wrong.

''Potter. What, I wonder, is Golden Boy doing out of bed so late?'' Blaise Zabini smirked in the shadows, as he stroked one of the hawk-like owls. He was, of course, an extremely attractive boy, but he was also insanely arrogant and unbearable to be around.

''Zabini. Returning fan mail to those desperate fan girls of yours?'' Harry snapped back, feeling vulnerable yet vicious. Blaise simply chuckled at this, and moved across the tower to another one of the owls, which seemed to recognise him. He stroked the owl absent-mindedly, and shrugged.

''Perhaps. Does Dumbledore know his favourite student is out of bed after hours?'' He said in a bored tone, and Harry moved closer to him, ready to pull his wand out.

''That doesn't really concern you, does it?'' Harry snapped back, and Blaise laughed once again.

''Now, now. Potter, you really shouldn't get so agitated. It's not attractive, you know.'' He smirked, and then tied a small note onto the owls foot. It set off out the window, and Harry's eyes followed it, before setting them back of Blaise who had drawn closer.

''Such a pity, you know.'' Blaise commented, before walking towards the door of the tower.

''What is?'' Harry blurted out, then cursed himself for sounding so interested. Blaise turned and looked at Harry again, and laughed.

''You're such a good looking boy, it's a pity you're not in Slytherin.'' Blaise commented, shrugging.

''What does that matter?'' Harry asked again, then cursed himself once again for sounding so eager. There was something about Blaise though, despite him being an arrogant Slytherin who could barely see past his own reflection.

''If you had been in Slytherin, I probably would have you.'' Blaise smirked, and exited the tower swiftly. Harry stood stunned for a moment, and felt his face burning. His heartbeat swelled at the strange, sexual compliment from the Slytherin, before he mentally kicked himself. He was not interested in males, and he was definitely not interested in Blaise. Glancing around the tower, he had forgotten what he had gone there for. He waited a few moments, then quickly exited through the door, glancing around hopefully to see Blaise, before catching himself and cursing under his breathe.

Sorry it took so long to update~ but this chapter was rather difficult to write. I'm actually super proud of this chapter, because I feel like I've established a little more on everything. Also, I love Blaise so much! I don't care if everyone thinks he's super evil/arrogant, he's such an awesome character. So yeah, you better be looking out for him a little more in the story, because I'm hopefully going to add a lot of him in this. I'd really been wanting to, but I didn't know when/where I would do it, but I think it's perfect for Harry to stumble across him the way he did. It's such a Blaise thing to do, be somewhere in the middle of the night, and be sexy. Haha. I also think the sexual compliment was so him~. I've always imagined him as somebody who would be attracted to either sex. So yeah. Yay Blaise!

Happy reading.

- Amy.