Enemy Seduction: Dramione

Strangers

Two weeks have passed since Draco decided it best now to talk to Hermione anymore. 

Hermione, at first, had considered every possible why this could be. Perhaps he didn't like being associated with her? But if that were the case, he wouldn't have accepted her help. Perhaps he just didn't like being around her anymore. But if that were the case, why did they always have such a good time together?

She decided that it didn't matter. Zack and her were becoming closer and closer every day and that helped her distract her from a feeling of a missing piece that would be Draco. 

Even Hermione didn't know why she cared so much. At the beginning of the school year, there would be no way she could picture this happening to her. They just had a real, er, friendship connection. 

Hermione looked out the window of the Great Hall. The sky  was a blazing blue and there were hardly any clouds in sight. It was the perfect almost-summer sky. 

"I got you some Pumpkin Juice," Zack said as he took the seat next to her and placed a cup above her plate. 

She smiled. "Thanks!"

Before he could say anything else, Harry and Ron took a seat opposite Hermione and Zack. 

"Hi, 'Mione!" They greeted in unison. 

"How was Quidditch?" Hermione asked while finishing up her meal. She had gotten there earlier than the boys. 

Ron and Harry exchanged a grin and Hermione's curiosity deepened. Normally, they gave her a simple answer in return. 

"It was good," Harry started and then in a different voice, he added, "to say the least."

Ron snorted and Zack looked like he wanted to join in but glanced sideways towards Hermione. 

"Care to explain?" She asked and stared at them, waiting. 

"It was great, Mione. You should've been there." Ron took a drink of his Pumpkin Juice and then continued, "The Slytherins were fighting us for the whole field again. We're like 'No, you guys can't have the field,' and they were trying to force us off."

Hermione nodded, wondering how this was good. She was never very patient with these sort of things. 

"And then," Harry joined in, allowing Ron to eat, "Zack here," the boys look at Zack and he keeps his head down, "says that he would take care of it. So he goes to the captain of Slytherin and they starting talking. Well, anyways, Malfoy sees this and goes bonkers out of nowhere and then, bam, a fight broke out. No magic!"

Hermione gasped and looked at Zack's strong arms. Draco is probably hurt. There were only a couple bruises on Zack's face, but they were small. 

"Someone could have gotten hurt!" Hermione went wide eyed and boys went silent. 

"Well, did anyone get hurt?" She waited for an answer. Ron and Harry exchanged another look. 

"Draco looks pretty bad," Zack broke the tension with a nonchalant answer. 

Hermione, although, was certainly not nonchalant. She tried not to show it, though. 

"How bad?" She asked.

"Geez, Hermione. Give the questions a break, it's like you only care about what happened to Malfoy," Ron said and rolled his eyes.

Hermione's cheeks slightly heated up but nobody noticed.  "I'm just worried that this could happen again. And next time it could be worse!"

The boys started talking about the next Quidditch match and Hermione turned around and scanned the Slytherin table. No Draco. Pansy looked at her for a second and then went back to sneering. Whatever. 

Should she try to find him? Of course not. Draco had make it perfectly clear that he didn't want to talk to her anymore, let alone see her. 

Nonetheless, Hermione left dinner anyways and went up to the hospital wing. She just wanted to see if he was okay. 

Madam Pomfrey saw her and asked what she was doing here. 

"Um, just wanted to visit a, er, friend." She forced a smile. 

Madam Pomfrey shrugged and told her it was the second door on the left. After the corner, Hermione sped walked and saw him. 

Wait, why was she here again? It didn't matter. Hermione was already here and she figured there was no going back now. Well, she could leave now since he didn't see her yet and pretend like nothing happened. But she really had a feeling that they needed to talk. 

Slowly, Hermione entered the room and took in the sight before her. Laying down, was Draco. He looked more pale than usual which brought out all the scratches and bruises on his face. Hermione held her breath while she was examining the marks all over him. Zack really did go rough on him.

"Granger," Draco let out in a low, raspy voice and Hermione startlingly looked towards him.

"Draco! What exactly happened? Oh, when Harry and Ron told me what happened, I just had to come here and see it for myself. Are you okay? Are you cold? Do you need me to ask for another blanket? Should I-"

"Granger," Draco repeated in the same raspy voice and made Hermione inwardly cringe. He got beaten up so badly even his voice sounded different. 

"Leave," he breathed out and Hermione leaned closer. Leave? Did he say leave?

"Okay..." Hermione stared at his pale face. "I'll come back at a more convenient time, then?"  

Draco shook his head once and then winced slightly in pain. Hermione wanted to call a nurse in but knew Draco would get annoyed. 

"Granger, nothing has changed." Draco scowled. 

Hermione stared at him. "I-I know that. I only wanted to see if you were doing okay! Excuse me for being considerate!"

Her cheeks were flaming and Draco knew how she got when she was in her defensive mode. Nonstop. 

He sighed and wanted to turn his head to face her, but couldn't because of the pain. Where were the meds? He was already in enough pain here. Not just physically speaking, too. 

"Thanks for wasting your time here and everything, Granger, but you can go now. And don't come back," Draco let out a huge breath. It needed to be said. 

Granger stared, wide-eyed, in disbelief. She wanted to let him have it, but she was scared that if she opened her mouth she wouldn't be able to close it. Tears were threatening to come out of her hurt eyes. There was no way she would allow him to see her like this. Then he would know how much of an effect his words had on her. 

She walked out of the room and told herself she didn't care anymore. That's what she told herself a week ago, though. 

This time she meant it. 

Hermione would not let Draco play with her any longer. 

"Hermione, are you okay?" Zack asked once she came to the now empty Gryffindor Common Room. 

"Fine." She faked a smile and sat down next to him. 

Then, without thinking, Hermione grabbed Zack's face and pulled his lips towards hers. Zack, surprised at first, reacted quickly and brought his hands to her cheeks to cup her face. They kissed passionately and Hermione's mind went blank. She liked it better when her mind was off. 

A noise was heard from the pair of them and they both backed away, not ready to explain this to whomever could be there. Luckily, nobody was. 

Hermione smiled and Zack muttered something under his breath.

What had she done?