tell me you love me (cedric and draco)

twenty

a/n: while i originally planned on this book being around 35 chapters, i've decided to make it much longer to include years 5-7 in detail.

We don't always need to talk.

"Of course Pansy would say something like that. Please don't worry, it's obviously not true."

Hermione just sighs. We've just walked into potions class where Pansy threw a magazine at Hermione. It was an interview with Rita Skeeter (ew) and Pansy Parkinson (ew again). Pansy accused Hermione of conjuring a love potion to have Krum like her. And though Hermione knows it isn't true, she still seems upset.

"There's something about you in here too," she says, frowning.

"What?" I grab the magazine from her hands and read through the interview.

"Tell me about that handsome lad Cedric's girl," Rita says.

"Oh Lauren Miller? She's a Gryffindor, in Harry's year, which is kind of disturbing, if you ask me. Not only do they have an age gap, he's also much more attractive than her. I have no idea how they ended up together," Pansy tells Rita.

"Would you suggest that she too used a love potion?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. They probably teamed up together to make one!"

I shut the magazine, livid. "Maybe I should tell everyone what I saw that night of the Yule Ball, she's such a bitch."

"Don't sink to her level," Hermione insists. Snape walks into the classroom then and she hides the magazine underneath our desk. He walks behind us, slowing as he does.

"What is this?" he muses, pulling the magazine from beneath the table. "10 points from Gryffindor for activities that should be done outside of school." He punctuates each word when he speaks, making himself very clear. "And 10 more for gossiping," he adds, turning back to his own desk. "Actually, Ms. Granger sit next to Ms. Parkinson, Mr. Weasley to that desk over there, and Mr. Potter and Ms. Miller to this desk right next to mine."

The Slytherins were howling with laughter. I glance at Draco as I pick up my materials to move. He's not laughing like the other students in his house, his smile seems more forced. I divert my gaze from him, my cheeks blazing. He has to know what Pansy wrote.

I sit next to Harry, who is angry. We set our materials out and wait for Snape to patrol the room before we say anything. "You read the article?" I ask.

He sighs. "I heard some of the things, I'm not giving anyone the satisfaction of reading it."

"How can Rita even be approved to post those lies?"

He laughs. "Rita Skeeter's career is based on lies, Lauren. Trust me, I've been the source of those lies for quite a while now."

"Gossiping again, are we?

Snape's cool voice sends shivers across my entire body. "We were discussing the armadillo bile, professor."

He looks into my cauldron, then Harry's. "Yours is passable, Ms. Miller, though I can not say the same for Mr. Harry Potter, here."

That was an understatement. I am excellent in potions, but Snape would never go as far as to compliment a Gryffindor, let alone one of Harry's friends.

Then Karkaroff came into the room, needing to speak to Snape. Harry purposely spills the bile so we have to stay longer and clean it up. We hear everything about his dark mark and convey the information to Hermione and Ron after class.

Though Ron was worried that the food at breakfast would be shitty because Hermione talked off the house elves in the kitchen, it was actually just as good as usual. Once mail came, Hermione told us all that she had taken out a subscription for the Daily Prophet, which is probably better than hearing everything from the Pansy Parkinson and her gang.

"What the-"

Hermione did not receive only the newspaper, but also many letters.

"How many subscriptions did you take out?" Ron asks in amazement.

"What are these?" I ask, filing through some of the letters. Hermione opens one and shows it to me.

"They're because of Harry, say she's leading Harry on and more lies..."

"I told you not to piss off Rita Skeeter!" Ron says, eyes eyes wide. "Her readers are terrible!"

Hermione rolls her eyes, seemingly unbothered by the whole thing. Until she opens an envelope and her hands start to blister. "Undiluted bubotuber pus!" Ron exclaims, grabbing the envelope and giving it a sniff. Hermione's eyes fill will tears and she holds her hands gingerly in front of her.

"Lets go see Madam Pomfrey," I say standing up, gently guiding Hermione from the hall. She starts really crying once we're out of sight from everyone.

"How can people be so terrible?" She cries.

"Shh, everything will be okay, Mione."

I leave her in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey after she insists I go to class. I walk to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical creatures, not in a good mood at all. I'm late, of course, Draco giving me a concerned look. I ignore him and try to fill Ron and Harry in on everything instead. Luckily, we have a fairly easy day of finding leprechaun gold with Nifflers. We're each assigned one, and only when there is one extra does Hagrid notice Hermione's absence.

"Well, of yer go, then!" he says to the rest of class, then turns to us. "Where's 'Ermione?"

"Hate mail from the fans of Rita Skeeter," I sigh. "Made her fingers blister."

"Er, I wish I'd er known that Rita Skeeter had been givin' 'er trouble," Hargrid says sadly. " 'ad my own go with 'er about me mum bein' a giant and all. Could'a helped 'er 'nore it."

"Kind of hard to ignore it when it's spilling out of your fingers though." A few girls snicker and I look behind me and Pansy Parkinson.

"Ignore her," Harry says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No, fuck that," I mutter, pulling myself from his hand.

"You think you're so good, Pansy? Like you're better than everyone? Is that what you thought when I walked in on you and Draco having sex in a closet?"

Pansy stands there, her mouth gaping. "I think that's 'nough," Hagrid says, stepping closer.

"Just one more thing," I say. I walk up to Pansy quickly, just so I can slap the look off of her face.