Chapter 19: The Mistake

I could feel her emotions; she was more disappointed, not angry. I shouldn't have said what I did, and I shouldn't have assumed what I had, either. I followed her up to her room to her closed door. I knocked on it softly. There was no response, but I wasn't surprised.

"Hermione," I called again, quietly, knocking again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have thought that you didn't care. I just... I can't stand to see you like this, so you have to come out of there so I can see you. Please?"

There was a few seconds of dead silence, and I wasn't sure what happened next, but then the door flew open. She was standing there, and her eyes were red. She must have been holding back tears. I thought, "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I shouldn't have been so dramatic."

She chuckled softly, and I had to resist the temptation to embrace her. I stood there, a few inches from her, but after few seconds of silence she hugged me softly. "Don't worry about it," I tried to console her.

She let go of me, and returned into her doorway. She mustered a small smile, and looked up at me. Her emotions were returning to normal, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Are you ready to go down to dinner?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Let's go." I said, daring to wrap my hand around hers.

I let out another breath when I felt her hand grasp mine back. I felt a small smile appear on my face as we walked down to dinner, hand in hand. It might have just been the Veela part of me, but I almost felt... complete.

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I can't believe that Draco had thought that I would be cruel enough to fool him into thinking I liked him only out of pity. I was disappointed, but I have to say I understood where he was coming from. I might have thought the same thing if I were in his shoes, but I didn't regret getting a little upset at him.

When he came up to talk to me, he said he couldn't stand to see me like this. I don't think anyone had ever cared enough about me to do something like that. If it was Harry and Ron, I think they would have just let me go to go 'cool off' and get over it.

"Watch it, Hermione!" Draco warned me, and I felt an arm go across my chest.

I snapped out of my thought, and looked. I was at the top of a staircase, and Draco had stopped me. "Woah," I breathed, "Thanks."

He laughed. "Where would you be without me?" He joked.

"At the bottom of the stairs," I answered, chuckling.

I had finally let go of his hand, and we descended the staircase and stopped at the entrance of the hall. People had stopped watching us when we came into the Great Hall together, except for my friends and his. Out of curiosity or hatred for their friend's partner, I don't know, they just always looked and watched, but I never felt uncomfortable. "Bye," I said goodbye to him, and he did the same.

I joined my friends at our table, and it wasn't long until they noticed something was up. "You've been crying," Ginny said with concern.

I looked down, my eyes must still be red. I really wasn't crying, though. Before I could deny anything, Harry joined the conversation. "Was it Malfoy?" Harry asked, anger forming in his words.

It Draco, but it's not like he had hit me or anything. I was thinking about how to word my next sentence, but my hesitation had obviously made the truth clear to them. "It was!" Ron exclaimed, about to stand up in his seat, and Harry spit out some of his pumpkin juice accidentally.

"Wait!" I tried to explain, but was cut off again.

"That slithering git," Harry scowled, "I'm gonna-"

"Shut it!" Ginny exclaimed to both of them, "He would never hurt her, right Mione? So why don't you two just and let her explain!"

There was a silence after that, and I sighed. "You're right, it was Malfoy," but I continued quickly, "I don't want to talk about it, but don't worry."

I couldn't think of how to explain that it wasn't that big of a deal, and Ron and Harry loved trying to find any fault in Malfoy. Ginny continued to look at me. "We'll talk about it later," she whispered across the table, smiling slightly.

Meanwhile, Ron and Harry looked at her angrily because she would get to know the whole story. Seeing their expressions, I added, "Guys, seriously, everything's fine."

They seemed to relax a bit, and Harry put his hand on my shoulder. "If he ever messes with you, Mione," he said quietly, "You know where to find us."

I mustered a weak smile and returned to my meal. "He doesn't deserve her..." Ron mumbled, along with some other things you wouldn't repeat in civilized conversation.

I didn't answer to any of them, but continued to eat. When it seemed that Ginny noticed that Harry and Ron were thoroughly distracted, she nudged me. "What happened?" She whispered.

"Why does it matter?" I hissed back.

"Because you're my friend, and I care." she replied.

I raised my eyebrows and she huffed. "And I'm bored," she added truthfully, "Harry and me have our first date tomorrow in Hogsmeade and I literally need to take my mind off it. But you also know that I care."

I sighed. "He thought that I was only agreeing to be his girlfriend out pity," I explained, and Ginny frowned but nodded with understanding.

"I was upset-- briefly. But," I continued, "Like I said, it was pretty much a misunderstanding, and it's fine now."

She nodded again. "That's good," she said, "I hate hearing about drama."

I raised my eyebrows, and we both laughed.

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After dinner, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and I were walking back to the Gryffindor common room. Ginny and Harry were flirting in front of us, and me and Ron were walking a few feet behind them in silence. Once in a while Ron would growl something along the lines of "That's my sister..." absentmindedly to Harry. I was observing some of the paintings on the wall as we passed them, enjoying Ron's brief silence, when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me aside.

"What is it Ron?" I asked, "Did you see something?"

I was looking around for whatever it was when I felt Ron grab my chin and turn my face towards him. I barely had the chance to register what had happened when I felt a pair of lips crash against mine. I tried to push him away, but he wouldn't let me. We had probably been pressed together for a good number of seconds when I finally mustered the strength to push him off. "Ron!" I hissed, "You can't do that! He'll- you have to go, now!"

But it was too late.

"Please back away from her," a cold voice sounded from behind me, in a very strained but frighteningly calm tone.

Ron finally let go of me, and I pushed him off, backing away several feet. "Draco," I recognized the voice, but didn't take my eyes off of Ron who had taken a step back.