Chapter
9
Confrontation
"Ron!" Hermione
exclaimed in shock and horror. Ron's jaw hung slackly open, his face
turning death
white. Meanwhile, Hermione turned beet red as she racked her brains for
a logical
explanation for all of this. As she stammered a nervous, "I...uh...we...",
Draco
calmly got
to his feet. Straightening his robes up, he sneered nastily at Ron, his
icey blue
eyes burning
with a fierce intensity.
"Weasley, where
are your manners? Honestly, barging in on us, it really is very rude.
But," Draco
continued, "Perhaps you can't afford to buy yourself any."
Ron didn't
even hear the crude comment about his family's financial situation. He'd
only
heard one
part of what Draco had said, and it had filled him with a sense of dread
and
heart- break.
"Us?" He choked out. "Since when were you and Hermione an 'us'?"
At this, Draco's
cheshire cat-like grin widened. He turned around slightly and lazily
beckoned to
Hermione, who was still sitting on the loveseat, her hands wringing
themselves
nervously. Much to Ron's surprise, and to her own, Hermione stood up
and moved
beside Draco, taking his outstretched hand in her's.
"I think you've
lost your woman Weasley, although you couldn't afford to keep her in
the first
place." Draco's cold laugh rang through the darkness.
*
Ron's mouth moved, as though he was trying to say something, but no sound came out.
Draco sneered at him.
"Do you want to say something to me Weasley?"
"Ron..." Hermioned
started, her voice apologetic. However, when Ron's eyes fastened
on her's she
couldn't utter another word. Betrayal, hurt, anger. All were reflected
in
his eyes.
Then his eyes fastened on something on the floor, and then he looked back
at Hermione,
his eyes now accusing her of goodness-knows-what. Then Ron dashed
forwards,
startling both Draco and Hermione. He grabbed the invisibility cloak from
the floor,
threw it around his shoulders, and disappeared from their view.
"Oh, little
Weasley couldn't take it! He has to disappear! Awwwww, poor thing!"
Draco jeered
at the invisible boy. All was silent, no-one answered his statement.
Hermione and
Draco concluded that he must have left.
"We'd better get back, Draco." Hermione whispered.
Draco's narrowed
eyes softened, and once more Hermione saw under his normally
harsh exterior,
the caring boy the he could be if he tried. Draco turned and pulled her
in
closer. His
soft lips pressed lightly on her's, and those steel blue eyes gazed into
her's.
Suddenly, Draco
flew backwards, as though pushed. He clutched at his jaw and yelled
out. Hermione
stood, looking down at his sprawled figure, completely bewildered. Then,
suddenly,
she understood, and looking around her, she tried to spot the invisible
figure
she knew was
very much present.
"RON!" She
screamed, furious at his interfering. Then she ran to Draco, and crouched
next to him.
"Are you all right?"
"Just wait
'til I get my hands on you Weasley!" He yelled. Hermione sighed. Once more
Draco Malfoy
became the arrogant Slytherin she was used to hating.
"C'mon, we'd
better go." He told her. She followed him out into the hall, still seething
with fury
at what Ron had just done. She and Draco stormed into the castle's main
hallway, and
with a quick goodbye, they parted and both walked to their common rooms.
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