promises // dramione

chapter five

Hermione continued to stare at her hands, unsure of what to say next. Should she tell them the whole truth? Or should she wait until something actually happens with Draco? They held hands and both confessed to having some feelings for each other, but she still wasn't sure what that meant. It had only been a couple of days since the day in the bathroom, and she was still trying to sort out whether or not she actually liked him enough to possibly want to date him. She didn't even know how he felt, come to think of it. She had just been trying to comfort him in the beginning; she was never expecting to actually start to feeling something for him. And now, her head was swirling with millions of questions and confusing thoughts, as one's head might be after realizing that their childhood bully wasn't who they thought he was.

Plus the fact that puberty had been wonderful to him.

She could feel the boys' eyes on her, practically burning into her head. Finally, she made a choice.

Even if I'm not sure where Draco and I stand now, I know that I want to continue to get to know him. And I just can't lie to my best friends.

"I...I was."

Slowly, Hermione raised her eyes up to Ron and Harry, who hadn't made a sound. In fact, they were practically paralyzed in their spots on the couch. Ron's face was what she had expected, a mix between absolute fury and utter disbelief, eyes wide and mouth handing open slightly. Harry's face however, sent an uncomfortable chill down her spine. His eyes had the coldest stare she had ever seen, as if he was trying to freeze her with his eyes. His mouth was set in a firm line, and there wasn't even the slightest trace of friendliness in his features.

Something was very wrong. Ron had reacted as expected, and Hermione knew that he was about to start yelling in a few seconds. But, she also knew that if she explained it well enough, he would eventually calm down and might even begin to grudgingly accept the idea of Draco being able to have changed. And to be quite honest, she had presumed that Harry would do the same, even be a bit more understanding. But he just sat there, looking down at her like a gargoyle on top of a castle.

"YOU WERE HOLDING HANDS WITH MALFOY?! WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU THINKING? HOW CAN YOU EVEN LIKE THAT SLIMY GIT?!" Ron suddenly erupted, and she jumped slightly.

Harry said nothing.

Hermione tried to ignore his green eyes piercing her as she put a confident face on. "In the past few days, some events have happened that showed me who Draco really was. And while I know that he has done some terrible things, I also know that it wasn't really him who did them. It was the person he was pretending to be, so he could please his father. And before you say anything, I just want you to realize that he had just been doing what every other person has ever done as a kid. Tried to make their parents happy. It's not his fault that his parents' beliefs just happened to be how they are. But, I also now know that he no longer follows his father, and I have realized that he can actually be a very nice person."

"NICE?!?"

She gave Ron a stern look. "You have not spent as much time with him as I have. And although you may not like it at first, I do want to continue to get to know him. But, please understand that I don't want to lose you guys either. I'm just hoping that you can be at least civil, and you might begin to notice that Draco really has changed."

Her mind flashed back to the image of Draco's Dark Mark, bloody and battered with slashes and she shuddered a bit.

She looked at Ron and Harry and sighed. Ron was still considerably angry, but she could tell that he was calming down a little. Harry, on the other hand, was not looking at her at all anymore.