Author's Note: SOrry it took so long guys, but here it is, Part V

Unrequited Love

by indigo
 
 

Chapter 5
 

Draco was standing on the cliff-face of a mountain, looking down at the village of Hogsmeade.
Suddenly, he heard shouting and screams behind him, and a shrill voice saying "I'm going to finish
you once and for all!!" He whirled around and saw...Hermione?? She seemed to be duelling with
PansyParkinson, their wands emitting showers of gold, red, and green sparks. They rushed at each
other, and at the same moment Draco ran forward, hoping to intervene, yelling "Stooopppp!!!!"

"AAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Draco sat up in bed, screaming. He was drenched in sweat, and
shaking uncontrollably.

He glanced over at his roommates, amazed to see that they were still snoring in their four-posters. He
mopped his forehead with his sleeve and tried to remember the dream he'd been having...Pansy had
been in it, and Hermione too...with a flood of horror he suddenly felt the reality of the situation he was
in. Tomorrow he would have to face two very high-strung girls and tell them what was going on...or
else they would find out for themselves. He couldn't let that happen.

With a sigh and an involuntary shudder, he lay down again and tried to get some sleep.
 

***

Hermione woke up that morning, the sun filtering in through the windows and onto her comforter. She
felt extremely light-headed, as one would expect a 14-year-old to feel if she'd just found out her crush
liked her back. She got up, dressed quickly, and made her way down to the Common Room.

"Hey, you'd better hurry up, Hermione, we have just enough time to get some breakfast before our
History of Magic lesson," Harry called to her as she neared the place where he and Ron were sitting.

"Oh, horror of horrors, Ms. Early Bird herself is the last to get up, for once!" Ron said, smirking. "What,
were you having a good dream or something?"

Hermione blushed and said nothing. She HAD, in fact, been having a dream, about Draco. But she
would flunk her Charms exam before she mentioned THAT to either Harry OR Ron.

After breakfast, the three of them walked the short length from the Great Hall to Professor Binns'
classroom. On the way, however, they passed a smug-looking Draco Malfoy and his two lackeys,
who sniggered stupidly as Malfoy called out, "Hey Potter, Weasel, you better hurry or you'll be late
for Professor Binns! Wouldn't want Gryffindor to lose any MORE points, would you?" To Hermione
he said nothing, just gave her a small wink that she was sure nobody else had noticed. She frowned
slightly at him, as if to say Don't pick on my friends, and he shut up quickly, motioning for Crabbe
and Goyle to follow him.

"Come on, let's get to class," she said to Ron and Harry, who were silently fuming.
 

***

It was with profound eagerness that Draco awaited the end of lessons that day. He and Hermione had
promised to meet at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a good way away from the castle, to talk and tell
each other about their day.

As the bell rang, signalling the end of Transfiguration, Draco grabbed his bag, mumbled a hurried excuse
to Crabbe and Goyle, and headed off in the direction of the Forest. He crossed the castle grounds, all the
way glancing wearily about him, and then, satisfied that no one was trailing him, picked up his pace. He
spotted Hermione at their specified meeting place and gave her a wave and a huge grin as he hurried over
to her. "Hey," he said cheerfully.

"Draco, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about our meeting," she said just as cheerfully.

"Nah, just got held up a bit at Transfiguration. So, how was your day?"

"Fine, really. Nothing special. How about you?" she asked him.

"Same here. Hey, sorry about insulting Potter and Weasley in the corridor back there. I mean, it's a hard
habit to break, right?"

"It's okay, Draco, it's just that, now that we're together, it just feels weird to have you hating my best
friends so much."

She looked kind of sad now, as if it broke her heart that they couldn't get along.

"Yeah, I guess. I'll try to stop it. So, any news about---"

But Draco never got the chance to finish that sentence, for at that moment, Pansy Parkinson jumped out
from where she had been hiding behind a tree on the edge of the Forest. "So it's true!" she shrieked tearfully.
"Draco! How could you do this to me!?"

"Do what?" Hermione said, confused, as she gazed at him with a questioning look on her face.

Draco would've given anything to disappear into the ground right then, but there was nothing he could do.
He hadn't had the chance to tell Hermione, and now she was going to find out like THIS.

Pansy, still sobbing,  continued, "I thought we had something going! Crabbe and Goyle told me, but I didn't
want to believe it! And now I find out it's true! You've been sneaking behind my back with a Gryffindor, a
MUDBLOOD no less!!" Her shrieks could probably be heard all the way to the castle, Draco thought idly,
then opened his mouth to protest.

But now Hermione had wheeled on him, a look of fury on her face. "Draco? Is this true?? You and Pansy
have been...have been..." she almost choked on the words in her anger, "SEEING each other? I should've
KNOWN you were no good! So much for trying to trust you! You're nothing but a slimy Slytherin snake
after all!" She turned on her heel and left him with a still-weeping Pansy.

"HERMIONE! Come BACK!" he yelled desperately, but she had already stomped off towards the castle.
 
 
 

Back to Chapter 4
Chapter 6