Let me address a few of the things from the reviews. First of all- NO, HARRY WILL NOT BE
NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Harry Potter will never ever in way at all EVER be connected romantically with
Hermione Granger in any story that I write! The thought of Harry and Hermione makes me want
to throw up! Second of all, I got one review that said my story was sick b/c Draco viciously raped
Hermione, and now she's playing Ron. Let me clarify this if it's not clear- DRACO DID NOT
RAPE HERMIONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought it was clear that it was completely consensual. If that
was confusing, please let me know, so I can rewrite those bits to show that.

Lastly, this is the last chapter I'll have up for a week. I'm off to Cancun this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll try not to get arrested, so you guys won't have to wait so long, okay? Good.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes Hate Is a Good Thing

by Hermione-G-Weasley
 
 

Chapter 13
What To Do Now?
 

Well, he didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. He certainly didn't
expect Granger to shove him into an empty broom closet and start ripping his clothes off with
no warning whatsoever. He certainly didn't expect her to start kissing him with every ounce
of passion in her body.

And he certainly didn't expect to find himself so immediately aroused.

Obviously, she had decided upon the tactic of surprise. She wanted to shock him before he
could even think properly and proceed to torture him until he was the one at her mercy.

No way. Not a chance in hell.

He pushed her away as quickly as she had pushed him against the wall. "What the hell are
you playing at, Granger?"

She glared at him, obviously more than a bit upset at being put off like such. "Don't be stupid,
Malfoy," she said angrily. "You know exactly what I'm playing at."

Well, wasn't she just the pushy little thing today? Bossy and demanding, too. Normally, he
would have found this particular trait a bit amusing and even a tad arousing, but he did not
appreciate being tricked into anything. And that's exactly what she had done; she had tricked
him into the closet. That wasn't playing fair, and Malfoys were the only ones allowed to cheat.

"Thought you'd get the upper-hand, did you?" he raised a querying eyebrow at her.

Granger just proceeded to roll her eyes. "What is it with you and the power-hungry shit? Is
that a trait that all Slytherins possess; you know, the whole ambition thing? Or is it just a trait
that only the most evil and snobbish and cocky and vile and disgusting Slytherins possess?"

Draco laughed. She could be rather amusing when she wanted to be. "Well, I could ask the
same of the Gryffindor house. Do all of its members possess enough bravery to out and out
try and seduce their greatest enemy? Or is it just the most annoying and bossy and stuck-up
and wretched Gryffindors?"

Granger surprised him by saying, "It's just me."

He laughed again; he couldn't help it. She was just so... so... Damnit, he couldn't even think
of the correct word he was searching for! So, he just said, "You are really something else."

She grinned wickedly at him. "And is that a good thing?" She was staring at him intently and
slowly but surely inching her way closer and closer to him.

"It would be a good thing if I didn't hate you so much," he told her evenly. She took another
step toward him, coming so close that he could feel her breath on his neck; he took a step
backward to ward her off.

"Well," she said, taking yet another step and backing him once again the same wall she had
previously had him against, "it's good to know that the feeling is mutual."

And with that she raised a finger to the side of his head and slowly pulled it down the length
of his neck. Leaning so close that she could whisper into his ear, she said, "But even though
I might hate you, I really, really want you right now." Her words tickled his ear, and then she
proceeded to let her tongue dart out and follow the same path her fingers had just taken,
slowly, sensually, and causing him to shiver. He stood quietly as her mouth closed over his
neck and began a soft suckling movement that eventually turned into her nicking his skin with
her teeth and then soothing the spot with her tongue.

"Granger, what are you doing?" he asked, although his voice was far more breathless than
he would have chosen.

"I would think it would be obvious," she said, momentarily releasing his neck so she could
once again whisper in his ear. "Mr. Malfoy, I am seducing you."

He pulled back from her just enough to look at her. He immediately realized that he should
not have done this because she also pulled back from him, though not nearly as far away as
she needed to be for him to get himself under control. And when her hands moved to the
bottom of her own shirt, he knew she was gaining ground he was not willing to let her get.
She slowly and seductively pulled the shirt up her abdomen and over her head, revealing
her left only in a pair of tight black pants and a lacy black bra.

He tried to say something, but no words came to his mouth, unsurprisingly. She smiled at
him before leaning toward him and placing an open mouthed kiss against his bare chest and
allowing her tongue to wreak even more havoc on his already heightened senses. He was
just starting to enjoy her torture when she suddenly pulled away and smiled once again at
him.

She quickly kicked off the shoes she was wearing and moved her hands to the button of
her pants which she undid and then followed suit with the zipper. He wasn't very well going
to stop her from proceeding in her little strip show because no matter how much power it
might have been losing him at the moment, it was extremely arousing, and he was enjoying
it immensely.

He was shocked to find that the cotton white panties were no longer in existence. She was
dressed in a terribly tiny pair of lacy black panties that matched her bra perfectly. Draco had
to admit that she was quite stunning, dressed only in her underwear and standing before him
with her long brown hair falling loosely down her back.

Anticipating what she was going to do next, Draco stood perfectly still, not daring to move
an inch. She stepped to him and pressed her body tightly against his. Their bare stomachs
were in direct contact with each other, and he could feel her breasts pressed roughly against
his own chest. But neither of those things was what caused his breath to leave his body. She
slowly and deliberately began moving her hips against his in a way that was all too painfully
arousing for him to ignore. Her hands moved to his silvery-blonde hair and began to twirl
little strands of it between her fingers as the tips of those fingers lightly rubbed the back of
his head. She stared him in the eyes, daring him to tell her to stop.

"Stop it," he said suddenly, surprising even himself at the way he was able to control his
hormones.

She looked at him shocked and actually smirked at his daringness. "What's the matter,
Malfoy? Can't take the heat?"

She reached for him again, but Draco grabbed her hands and stepped away from the wall,
quickly turning to pin her against the wall instead. "No, Granger. I can deal just fine with the
heat, as you call it. But you seem to be forgetting that you're dealing with a Malfoy here,
and Malfoys always call the shots. Do you get that?" He raised both of her hands above
her head and held them there tightly with one of his own. He then proceeded to use the
other hand to cup her rear and jerk her into direct contact with his own self. He let his
fingers slip into the back of the black lace panties, and he was pleased when she gasped
at the shock.

However, she seemed to find her ground quickly enough because she simply glared at him.
"One of these days you're going to find someone who will knock you off of your high horse."

He smiled evilly. "Yes, well, at least we know that person won't be you." And with that he
gave her a quick squeeze to the ass.

He could tell that the Mudblood bitch was about to speak yet again, and he was beginning
to realize that her running that damn mouth of hers did nothing except make him want her
more, and he wasn't prepared to allow her to do that at this moment. So, he shut her up
before she could even utter a word. He pressed his mouth tightly against hers, taking great
pleasure in the way she moaned into his mouth as he pressed their bodies as closely together
as was humanly possible with him still in his pants and her still in her own underwear.

When they pulled away, he grinned triumphantly at her. "And you'll just have to get your
little craving under control because Malfoys do not, under any circumstances, use broom
closets for any reason whatsoever. I'll see you later tonight for our study date." And with
that, he released his hold on her and marched from the closet, smiling.

She was not going to win this little war.

*****************************************

There was absolutely no way in hell that had really just happened!

He had actually walked out on her! God, he was so hard; she could tell he wanted her
desperately! And he had just walked out! With the both of them half naked!

Hermione groaned in what was mostly due to her own sexual frustration. First Ron had
walked out on her! And now Malfoy had! This was definitely not her night.

Okay. She took a deep breath; she could figure this out.

But not here and not like this.

She quickly reached for her recently discarded clothes and pulled them back on. She
was sweating, so she pulled a ponytail holder off of her wrist and swung her hair up into
it. And with that, she started her journey back to Gryffindor Tower, dinner forgotten.

After giving the Fat Lady the password, she entered the deserted Common Room. All
of her housemates were in the Great Hall enjoying dinner, and she was glad. She didn't
want to talk to anyone; all she wanted to do was sit in her room by herself and sort out
all of the deranged feelings flowing through her body.

However, a voice from a high-backed chair by the fire killed that plan. "Hey."

Hermione whipped around to see none other than Ron Weasley staring back at her, his
Potions homework open on his lap.

"Ron, why aren't you at dinner?" she asked, choosing not to state how odd he looked
actually studying.

He shrugged as he placed his work on the table beside him. "Wasn't hungry, I guess."

She stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say next. "Yeah, me either," was all
she could manage.

She was about to bid him goodnight and retire to her room, but he stopped her. "Hey,
Hermione..."

"Hmm?" She raised her eyebrows at him curiously.

"Um..." he glanced down quickly and then back up at her. "Uh, I was wondering if
maybe we could talk."

She wanted to tell him that they had nothing to talk about, but she knew that this statement
would have been a complete lie, so she simply shrugged and nodded a bit. "Um, yeah, sure."

She was about to sit down across from him when they were both met with the sounds of
several returning Gryffindors.

"Do you care if we go to your room?" he asked warily.

Hermione honestly didn't want to be alone in her bedroom with Ron again because, quite
honestly, she did not trust herself. But she couldn't very well voice this concern, so she
simply nodded and motioned for him to follow her.

Once they were alone in the Head Girl's room, Hermione shut her door and sat down on
her bed. "You can sit down," she said, motioning for him to join her.

It was more than bit obvious that Ron was a little put off by the thought of being anywhere
near that bed, but he reluctantly sat down anyway.

"So, you wanted to talk?" she met his eyes.

Ron swallowed nervously and nodded. "Uh, yeah. Um..." He couldn't seem to form any
complete thoughts.

Hermione watched him curiously. "Ron, what did you want to talk about?"

Ron frowned a bit; it was obvious that he was trying to find the best way to approach the
subject with her. Though, it wasn't as if she didn't already know why he wanted to talk.
"Well, I thought... I though we might need to talk about what happened... earlier..."

She had known it, of course, but hearing him admit that he wanted to talk about it was
still a bit unnerving. "Well, okay then," she said in the most nonchalant voice she could
manage.

Ron looked down at his hands and then, after taking a huge breath, managed to speak.
"Hermione, I'm sorry that I let things get as far as they did... I mean, I know that you didn't
want that to happen, so I totally blame myself."

She studied him for a moment before saying, "Do you regret it?"

Ron glanced up at her, then back down at his hands, and then once again back up to her.
"Do I regret pulling away? No. I don't because I know you were just all caught up in your
hormones, and I would never let you do something like that when I know that you'd just
end up wishing it hadn't happened." His voice was quiet, but he maintained eye contact
the entire time.

Hermione just shook her head. "No, Ron. I mean do you regret it happening in the first
place?"

Ron suddenly turned bright red, but, to her surprise, he managed to still look her in the eye
as he answered her question. "Um... Well..." he screwed his face up just a bit. "No. Hermione,
no, I don't." He shook his head slightly.

Hermione was shocked to say the least. She had expected him to tell her that he did regret
it, but he had surprised her by obviously being quite honest with her. "Why not?"

Ron looked as though he were ready to make a run for it, but he held his ground and stayed
put. He did, however, look away from her eyes before very quietly saying, "Because I've
wanted to do that forever."

Hermione was stunned. Had he really just said that? "Uh... Ron... What did you just say?"

Ron finally looked up at her and said in a much clearer voice, "I said I didn't regret it because
I've wanted to do it forever."

"With me?" she asked in obvious disbelief.

Ron was looking extremely uncomfortable, but he had obviously made up his mind to be
completely honest because he nodded slowly. "Hermione, I've wanted to kiss you since I
was twelve years old."

She was in shock. Whatever she had expected, it had not been this. She had certainly not
expected him to start pouring his heart out to her, but she couldn't turn away from the fact
that he was. "But... why?" she wrinkled her nose just a bit and studied him.

"Because the moment I saw you lying petrified in the infirmary... I don't know, Hermione.
I've just wanted to kiss you ever since then..." His voice trailed off, and Hermione suddenly
felt a wave of an unfamiliar emotion rush over her. Ron looked at her for a short moment
before once again averting his eyes to the other side of the room.

She wasn't at all sure how to respond to this. "So, you saw me petrified and all of a sudden
you just wanted to kiss me?" She was way too confused for her liking.

Ron shrugged and did not look up. "I don't know. I guess I just realized how important you
really were to me, and I just..." He shook his head and finally turned to meet her eyes again.
"I really don't know."

Hermione felt a small smile cover her lips. "That's so sweet..."

He suddenly appeared just a teeny bit hopeful. "Really?"

She nodded. "You're really important to me, too. You know that, right?"

He frowned just a bit. "Yeah. Best friends and all..."

Hermione didn't know how to reply to that, so she ignored it. "Ron, did you just want to
kiss me? Or did you really like me?"

She could tell that he was more than a bit uncomfortable, but he was obviously being
totally honest. "I wanted to kiss you... But it was so much more than that. I mean, you're
the smartest person I've ever known. And you know me better than I know myself. And...
and you're one of the very few people who can hold their own in an argument against me."
He grinned just a bit. "And, Hermione, you're just so focused and passionate about
everything that you do. Just like when you were all on about spew," he continued before
she could correct him, "You held true to your feelings even though everyone else told you
they were outrageous." He bit his lower lip suddenly, and Hermione heard his voice waver
slightly. "And... and I've never known anyone else who cared so much for the people
around them. And you're so brave... No matter how dangerous things get, you always
stick it out." Hermione suddenly saw the distinct glistening of tears in the corners of his
eyes, although it was more than obvious that he was trying his best to hide them. "And..."
his breathing was growing a bit ragged as he struggled to control his emotions, "and
you're just so perfect..."

Hermione felt her own tears threatening to fall. She couldn't quite believe that Ron Weasley
had actually just poured his heart out to her. Quietly, so as not to encourage her tears, she
asked, "Why haven't you ever said anything?"

"Think about it, Hermione. You are the most beautiful girl at this school, and there's not a
guy here who wouldn't kill for the chance to go out with you." He quickly wiped away the
remnants of the tears from his eyes. "And all those other guys always ask you out, but you
always say no. And if you said no to them, then I just always knew you would say no to me."

She studied him carefully. "Why do you think that?"

"Because look at me! I'm the biggest nobody this school's ever seen!" His voice had
suddenly gotten quite a bit louder than he had meant for it to. "I'm just 'the youngest
Weasley boy' or 'Fred and George's less funny little brother' or 'that cute little Ginny
Weasley's older brother' or, as I'm so commonly referred to, "that kid that tags around
with Famous Harry Potter." Ron's voice had taken on a very bitter tone at these labels,
and he looked as though he might start crying yet again. "And all those guys that ask
you out all have way more money than me, and you still turn them down. I mean, I have
nothing at all to give you; I can't even afford to properly take a girl out! And you said
no to them. Why the hell would you say yes to me?"

Hermione felt tears burning in her eyes. "Ron, I don't think of you as any of those things."

"You don't?" he looked at her sheepishly.

She shook her head. "No, I don't. I think of you as 'the boy that made me cry and almost
got me killed by but then saved me from a mountain troll.' Or I think of you as 'the boy who
ended up burping up slugs because his wand malfunctioned when he was trying to defend
me the first time I'd ever heard the word Mudblood.' Or maybe 'the boy who tried to kill
my cat because he was so upset over the loss of his pet rat.'" Ron and Hermione both rolled
their eyes at that one. "Or I think of you as 'the boy who took care of me when my teeth
got so huge they fell past my collar.' Or 'the boy who held my hand and assured me that
everything would be alright when I was worried to death over Harry's disappearance at the
final event of the Triwizard Tournament.' Or 'the boy who gave up his own bed, so that I
could have my own room the summer after fifth year when I had to stay at the Burrow for
six weeks hiding from Voldemort.' Or 'the boy who risked his own life to hide me from a
group of Death Eaters.'" She smiled shyly at him. "Ron, that's how I think of you."

Ron didn't say anything for a long moment, and Hermione watched him curiously. Finally,
he just said, "Really?"

She nodded slowly. "Ron, you've been through so much with me. More than any other
person in the world. Well, there's Harry, of course, but it's different with us. We've been
the ones that have had to work together whenever Harry's been singled out. We've
shared more than most people can claim to sharing."

He grinned ever-so-slightly at her. "We have, haven't we?"

She nodded again. "Yes, Ron. And you're my best friend."

His smile faded just a bit. "Yeah, I know. That's why I had to stop earlier. Because I would
never ever do anything to hurt you like that. I mean, I know, or at least I think, that you've
never been with a guy like that before." He looked at her curiously. "You haven't, right?"

Hermione felt her inner self go into an immediate battle with itself. What the hell was she
supposed to say? Ron could never find out about her and Malfoy! "No," she lied quietly,
"I haven't." Then she bit her lip and studied him. "Have you ever been with a girl like that?"
She knew that he had because she had overheard him telling Harry, but she just wanted
to see if he would be honest with her.

He was silent for only a second before nodding slowly and darting his eyes to her wall.
"Yeah. Once. With Hannah Abbott." He met her eyes again. "But I never meant for it to
happen."

"What?" she screwed up her forehead in confusion.

"Well... I mean, I didn't want my first time to be with her," he swallowed slightly. "You
know... I mean, I had always kinda thought that maybe it would be you and I."

She was so overtaken with emotions that all she could do was say, "You and me. Not
you and I."

Ron just stared at her as though in shock until she grinned sheepishly and whispered,
"Sorry. Habit."

He laughed lightly before turning solemn again. "But I'm serious... I always wanted it to
be you. Always. But then I was with Hannah... and things went so fast... And I just couldn't
stop myself..." Tears were once again undeniably welling in the corners of his eyes as he
looked at her and said, "I'm so sorry."

She felt her own tears starting to well again, too. Wave after wave of guilt was pouring
over her as he sat there and spoke to her with such unwavering honesty. And she had out
and out lied to him! She noticed that the tears in her eyes were burning, more than eager
to fall.

"Please don't cry, Hermione," he begged her quietly. "I just had to stop earlier because I
know what hormones can do to a person. And I didn't want you to be rushed into something
that serious like I was because you're the most important thing in the world to me. And I
never ever want to hurt you."

"Oh, Ron..." She didn't know what to say. What to think. What to feel.

He just looked at her silently for a brief moment before saying, "But I just have to know.
Do you think... could you ever feel the same way?" His voice was quavering with
suppressed tears and nervousness.

Hermione looked down. Could she ever feel that way about him? It was Ron Weasley-
her best friend. They were as close as two people could possibly be, but could they be
something more?

She looked back up and quietly said, "I don't know, Ron. I need to think."

He looked crushed, but he didn't voice his disappointment. Instead, he just nodded
soundlessly and stood up. "Well, when you figure it out, I'll be around."

She nodded silently and watched as he left her room for the second time that day.

And when he left, she finally cried.
 
 
 

So? That's it for now! PLEASE review!!!!! I really need feedback on where you guys want this story
to go! I have it mapped out, but I'm still unsure about the ending. Please give me your opinions!!!!
 

Back to Chapter 12
Chapter 14