But... She's a Malfoy (A Hermione Granger GxG Fanfic)

Chapter 8

Feel what you need to feel. Then let it go.

That was what Samantha was trying to do after the awful encounter with the Gryffindor girl.

She found a perfect hiding spot just to do that. Outside the castle beyond the garden patch and Hagrid's hut, Sam finally reached the place her brother had mention awhile back after walking for what seemed like half an hour. She knew students were not supposed to be this far away from the castle. But she needed to breathe. She needed some space to think. Away from people. Away from Hermione.

It was no longer raining but the sky didn't look that good. It was as if it knew what the girl was troubling about. The ground was still moist and the air was only filled with birds singing, probably finding good nests to spend the night after the storm destroyed them.

Sam looked at the Hogwarts castle from afar and thought about what Hermione said this morning.

Why does she have to like someone from another house, especially from Gryffindor? Why can't she just like someone from Slytherin?

All of a sudden, the hairs at the back of Sam's neck pricked. Her body heated up like there's an incoming danger or threat. She cautiously looked behind her back, knowing someone or something was looking at her, observing her, ready to pounce any moment knowing she's vulnerable.

And then the odd feeling was gone, just like magic. She felt light again, as if it didn't happen. The feeling she felt seemed familiar. It was after she moved to England, just outside the Malfoy Manor, when she was leisurely scanning the streets for spare time. It was the same feeling when she turned to an empty alleyway, seeing a lost kitten cowering under a broken table. Like someone was following her and they had managed.

Sam shrugged at the thought. It was just a coincidence, nothing more than that. Her thoughts eventually drifted back to Hermione.

Maybe, I liked her for the wrong reason, Sam  thought. Maybe, she's no different than others. She only sees me as a Malfoy, as a bored Slytherin student looking ways to have fun with muggle borns. But I'm not like that. I'm just me... and Hermione will never see that.

Sam winced from the pain in her hands. It was from the game yesterday. Apparently, Gryffindor Chasers were serious about the game and started throwing bludgers hard towards her. They must have changed their tactics because she was able to block almost every Quaffle shot her way.

"Thought I'd found you here," Draco said, giving Sam a jolt of surprise. Sam  looked at him and smiled.

She had been trying to avoid her brother since the incident. She knew she'd probably get lectured, remembering the disagreement they had about Sam proposing that one should never judge a book with its cover and Draco interjecting that it doesn't really apply to Hogwarts students. Nevertheless, she had seen it coming.

"Sup," Sam replied.

Draco took a seat beside her, sighing. "I heard what that Granger girl said to you. I guess everyone heard it."

And the fact that other else heard it made Samantha frustrate about her own actions. Why is she insisting to become friends with someone who doesn't even want her?

"I know...."

"It was quite the drama," Draco continued as he stared at the castle before them. "Well. You couldn't blame someone like her to not trust someone like us."

Sam only sighed. "I just thought..."

"That she would see through you?" Draco sneered. "That she wouldn't mind you bearing that last name."

"Draco..." He was right.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about... I know I had made some reputations that couldn't be fixed with them. I was a menace, a threat... I was unstoppable. It started during my first year here in Hogwarts and it hasn't stopped since... I guess if it would have stopped then things would get more awkward, you know... I thought, we thought it's just the way things are. We co-exist with other houses but not in harmony."

Sam didn't respond so he went on, "That's why they're taking all my wrongdoings and maybe my Father's too against you."

Seeing her confused expression, Draco quickly added. "Father sometimes visits Professor Dumbledore's office and on the way, he'd always throw a sneer or insult to other houses."

Sam groaned, knowing that she had no chance to become anything other than a dreaded Malfoy. "I really thought she was real to me, like she actually wanted me to be her friend... I mean, we had this moment where she invited me to lunch. Then out of nowhere, it was back to square one."

Draco only grinned and sighed. They must have stared silently before them for a good minute until her brother broke the silence.

"Let me give you an advice, sis, and this is pretty helpful when you're only here to graduate..."

Cold wind blew past them. Sam could tell another storm was brewing.

"Whatever good you do, they will always see you as a Slytherin, or as a Malfoy... and that being a Slytherin or a Malfoy is nothing but bad."

What Draco said immediately confirmed her thoughts inside her head. He was right. And the more Sam tried to insist that it could be different, the more she'd get herself hurt.

"I know..... I know," Sam answered. Then another moment of silence passed though them. Lightning suddenly flashed in the sky, making Sam flinch. Then thunder followed.

"Why Hermione, though?" Draco asked, now smiling. "There are others, you know..."

"I mean... she's... I don't know.... there's just something about her..."

And she couldn't explain why because she couldn't even figure out herself. She just knew she liked her and that there's something about the girl that made her feel that way. It was something at first sight that she couldn't put her finger on what. Like she had to get to know Hermione or she'd grow mad.

"So you've gotten over Roo, then?"

Roo. Short for Rooney. Her ex girlfriend from Ilvermony. She forgot her father told her brother about her.

Sam only rolled her eyes at Draco as he started laughing. Then he stood up as the rain began to slowly drizzle towards them.

"Just remember what I said, Sam, just avoid other houses if you don't want to get hurt, especially Gryffindor.

"And you should definitely get those hands to Madam Pomfrey, she treats everything in just a minute," Draco added.

And as Draco was about to leave, he suddenly remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Oh, and this came for you," Draco said as he handed Samantha a small brown envelope.

Sam stared at the letter before her, turning it in her hands.

To Samantha. She immediately knew who it was from based on the handwriting.