Painful Things

23|I Hate You

23|I Hate You

The next morning, Hermione woke up early and got dressed only to remember afterwards that it was Saturday. And they have no class.She mentally slapped herself for that.

Since she realised that she has nothing better to do in the Gryffindor tower other than listening to the snores of her fellow Gryffindors, she headed towards the Great Hall to have an early breakfast.

There were already a few students and after giving some of them good morning greetings, she sat at the Gryffindor table and started eating.

She was about to finish with her last bite when someone called her from behide.

“Hermione.”

She turned around and replied,”What is it you want, Draco. Can’t you see I’m eating?”

“This is important. Much more important than your food.” He said and Hermione raised an eyebrow on him.

“Ginny needs your help. She’s in a secret room in the third floor.” He said when Hermione didn’t reply.

“What?!?” She exclaimed earning her looks from a few people.

“Come on.” And he dragged her literally out of the Great Hall.
***
“Here, through this portrait.” Draco told her.

“Albus Dumbledore.”he muttered the password and the portrait gladly let them in.

It wasn’t until she saw nothing in the room other than a pair of comfy chairs that she realised that he fooled her.

“Draco!” She shouted
.
“What?” He acted innocently.

“How could you lie to me?” She exclaimed while walking towards him.

“Why would I lie to you?” He ask.

“You said Ginny was here and she needed my help!”She exclaimed.

“Woah, hang in there, Hermione. I’m not lying. Turn around.”

And then she saw Ginny sitting at one of the chairs, grinning.

Hermione was sure she wasn’t there when she looked earlier, but right now she is.

She quickly went straight to her friend.

“Ginny, what’s wrong? How can I help you?” She asked.

“Nothing. I just need your help to return a favour to a friend.” Ginny said still grinning.

“Oh, so you’re friends with Malfoy, now?” Clearly she knows where this is going.

Girls surely can’t keep secrets.

“You’re gonna thank me later, Hermione.” She said quickly and before she even realised it, Ginny went out the room leaving her and Draco alone. She took a deep breath and faced Draco.

“What’s all that about?” She asked.

“You see, I found your weakness. And I decided to use it against you.” He smirked.

“Whatever, Malfoy.” She said and quickly headed towards the door, desperate to leave so that she wouldn’t humiliate herself even further.

“So it’s Malfoy now huh?” She heard him say but she didn’t turn around.

Not until she realised that the portrait was gone. And she was trapped inside a room with no other than Draco Malfoy.

“Leaving?” He asked.

Since it was the best thing to do, she sat down at the chair opposite Draco. She blushed a little when he was smirking at her as she walked.

“What’s gotten into you?” She asked as soon as the awkward silence embraced the two of them.

“I just need some time with you.” He answered silently and it made Hermione blushed a little more.

“Thus, I asked Ginny if she could get you to hang out for a bit.” He added.”Since I did something for her last time, she said she would help me also.”

“Wait, you did something for Ginny?” She asked curiously.

“Well, yeah. But it’s a different story.”

“Were you with Ginny, last night?”

“Yeah. She thought I already told you but I didn’t tell you, yet. And she attacked me last night at my dormitory. But it’s more like she woke me up.” He explained and Hermione laughed.

“Wait, I simply cannot understand you. First, how did Ginny enter the Slytherin Dormitory?” She asked.

“Blaise Zabini. We share the same room and  he let her in when he saw her trying different passwords to enter the common room.” He said and Hermione laughed again.

“And what is the thing she thought you told me but you actually didn’t told me-What?” Hermione said confused and it was Draco’s time to laugh.

“Well, you do know I love you, right? I mean, how can you not know? You’re the brightest student here in Hogwarts and I left obvious hints for the past few weeks.Come on, I didn’t say the exact words but actions speak louder than words, right?”

Hermione’s face was the color of tomato but she didn’t reply. She just smiled. And that’s all that Draco needs to continue.

“At first, it was nice teasing you around.But then, before I noticed it, I realised I had a small-what do they call it?-crush on you. I was afraid because I never felt anything like it before. I wanted to be mean to you again but my guards are down when I’m with you.I just wanted you to be happy and next thing I know, I was helping you win Weasel’s heart. To be honest, I really didn’t feel pain at all. I knew you were happy and that made me happy too. But then, he cheated on you when you weren’t supposed to be treated like that. You felt many painful things and I knew I shouldn’t leave especially on a time like that so I continued making you happy with every idea my mind could come up. Hermione, I really want to be your boyfriend. But I don’t want to pressure you to love me back. But you know, school’s gonna end soon and I don’t know what future will be waiting for us when we leave Hogwarts and I’m not sure whether I’m gonna be seeing you or not anymore so let  me ask you one thing. Do you think we have a chance? Because I’m thinking of just giving up but my heart would not let me. Could there be an us?”Draco confessed.

Hermione tried to register it all to her mind. That was quite a long speech and she didn’t know Draco felt all those things. She tried to say something but she was rendered speechless.

However, Draco stood up and walked towards the door. She knew she needed to say something, Quick!

Don’t give up.

There is an us.

I love you too.

“Yes.” She finally blurted out instead.

“Yes?” He turned around and asked.

“You said you wanted to be my boyfriend, right? Well, I want to be your girlfriend, Draco. I never appreciated what you did for me that much until now.

Until I finally understood why you did all those things.I might be the smartest student here but that doesn’t make me truly understand what true love means.”

“After my very long speech, you gave me a short one.”He joked.

“I’m not a drama queen like you.”She teased back.

And they both laughed.

“Oh, I hate you, Hermione.” He said.

“Hate? But I thought you just said you love me?”

“Well, people say that the more you hate someone, the more you love them.”

“In that case, I hate you more.”She said.

“I hate you most.”