In Between The Lines

Chapter 9

In Between The Lines: Chapter Nine

Hermione's POV:

Professor McGonagall briskly walked away from the group of first years with Harry following behind, looking like he was contemplating whether or not a silly ball of gas was worth getting thrown out of Hogwarts after two weeks. Draco and his gang of Slytherins were cheering at their good luck, Draco basking in the glory of winning and not getting caught at the same time. The Gryffindors were grumbling about how it was Draco that should have been caught, not Harry, but both of them should have been caught and disciplined for their careless actions. All the angry grumbles and boastful talking was making me flustered, so with a "humph" I walked away from the ruined flying lesson and back into the castle, hoping to find solitude in the library for a few hours before Draco came to find me.

All day I had seen Draco, watched him when he didn't take notice to me, and I was starting to see what Ron and Harry liked to complain about. He wasn't very nice to them, albeit Ron wasn't very nice to him either, and at least Draco was nice to me while Harry and Ron spent their time acting as though I didn't exist. Still, it wasn't right how Draco was treating the Gryffindors, picking on Neville, and ignoring the rules. Rules are put in place to be followed, not to be used when it benefits yourself and bent when you want to have fun. Neville and Draco were the only friends I had made in the wizarding world and Draco being my favorite friend of the two because him and I had more to talk about than Neville and I, but all the rules Draco liked to break and the taunting he kept doing with Harry wasn't something I wanted to be a part of.

I spent most of the afternoon in the library muling over my relationship with Draco. He didn't come looking for me until it was almost dinner time, it turned out he used the canceled lessons to continue boasting to the Slytherins about his success and he only came to find me to continue the boasting with a new audience.

"I think you should go to dinner now, Draco." I told him in the middle of his retelling of events that I had witnessed.

"I'm about to get to the best part!" He argued, earning a dirty look thrown at him from Madam Pince.

"I don't care about how you got Harry in trouble, or how you managed to break a dozen rules without getting punished for it. Honestly, you act as though what you did was more than two boys trying to be impressive." I huffed, placing my book down on the table and meeting Draco's red face with a stern one. "You both broke the rules, the only thing you should be celebrating was you had more brain cells than Harry and knew to get back down to the ground before a teacher could see you."

Draco narrowed his eyes and stood up from his chair across from me, grabbing his bag. "You're just a silly, rule following, know-it-all. I only came up here because I knew you would be alone because I'm you're only friend, but I have plenty of friends who like to talk about more than just stupid facts out of stupid books." With a scowl and a swish of his robes, Draco left the library.

Stunned by his harsh words, I leaned down on the table and covered my face in my arms to calm down and stop from crying. I wasn't use to direct insults like the ones Draco used, Ron always resulted to petty comebacks, or just ignoring me. He had called me a know-it-all under his breath a few times, but I had always been called a know-it-all. To shove the fact that no one liked me in my face, that hurt differently.

I convinced myself after a few calming breaths that Draco only said those things because I hurt his ego too, he just wanted to hurt me like I had even though I hadn't meant to hurt him. I left for dinner not long after Draco had, but kept my eyes fixed on the Gryffindor table instead of letting them drift to the Slytherin table to see what Draco was doing. When I sat down a few people away from Harry and Ron, across from Seamus and Dean, I was dismayed to see that Harry was not sulking from a punishment but rejoicing from a reward for his rule breaking. Apparently Professor Snape was not the only one who played favorites, but Gryffindors were just better at hiding it and more liked by Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. As Harry and Ron celebrated their good fortune, Ron's twin brothers, two known rule breakers also, came by to congratulate Harry. Apparently Harry being on the team was suppose to be a secret but they weren't trying to keep their voices down.

As Fred and George were leaving, I saw Draco and his two friends walk towards Harry and Ron, no doubt hoping to gloat further. I turned away from my food to watch the exchange, hoping Harry would let his fortune slip so Draco would stop his annoying act.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you." Harry cooly replied, looking between Crabbe and Goyle who could only crack their knuckles with the teachers sitting a few meters away at the High Table. They were scary eleven year olds, but I didn't understand what Harry was talking about, in a one on one match between Draco and Harry, I would put my money on Draco. Harry was only starting to gain some weight on his unusually small body that was a result to spending eleven years with his horrid aunt and uncle I heard him complain about to Ron, Draco on the other hand had been well taken care of, spoiled actually, and seemed capable of holding Harry down.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," Draco said as though he had been reading my thoughts. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact." It wasn't exactly what I had been picturing a moment ago, what Draco was picturing was much darker and riskier. Ron and Harry seemed to agree with me by their faces. "What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has," Ron wheeled around in defense for his friends. "I'm his second, who's yours."

For the fastest moment, fast enough that I could have imagined it, Draco glanced my way in consideration, but his eyes landed on Crabbe and Goyle. He seemed to be sizing them up, brute strength-wise they had an excess but from the past two weeks I knew they were lacking in smarts. "Crabbe. Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; thats always unlocked." The boys all nodded in agreement, then Draco and his friends walked away. I stood up to follow but couldn't help myself from stopping to speak to Harry and Ron.

"Excuse me." Both boys looked up to look at me, Harry looking curious while Ron looking extremely annoyed.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" I ignored the red head and looked directly at Harry.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying-"

"Bet you could," Ron muttered.

"- and you mustn't go wandering the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you," I pleaded with Harry, aiming at his House pride to make him see sense.

"And it's really none of your business," Harry replied curtly.

"Good-bye." Ron rudely dismissed me.

I huffed and exited the Great Hall, hoping to track down Draco and at least talk sense into him. I saw him ahead of me, walking with Crabbe and Goyle, whispering to them.

"Draco!" I called out to him.

"What is it, Granger?" He asked, turning around with a sneer, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him.

"It's against the rules for students to duel."

"It's also against the rules for students to be out at midnight, but I plan to do that too."

"You're acting ridiculous, breaking all these rules to prove you're better than Harry. All it is going to result in is both of you getting each other into trouble or hurting one another. Besides, I don't think I want to be friends with someone who breaks the rules all the time."

"It's a good thing we aren't friends then, isn't it?" He smirked at my shocked expression, then turned and walked away.