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Old 07-30-2009, 05:27 PM   #28 (permalink)
Paintbrush
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Join Date: Jun 2008
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Hogwarts RPG Name:
Harvey Jarvis
Second Year

Ministry RPG Name:
Eleonora Bloom
International Cooperation
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Horses Forever! l l Writer for Life l Yearbook alumnus

Here's another bit!

I'm not sure when I'll be able to post next as I'm leaving tomorrow for a week or so, and I don't know how often I'll be able to get my hands on an internet connection. I shall do my best, however


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Chapter 6

“I can’t believe he set us an essay on top of that other essay!” Ron exclaimed, causing Hermione to roll her eyes.

“Very articulate you are, Ron,” Ginny observed, helping herself to some baked potatoes for lunch. “Harry, when is our next Quidditch match?”

“Not for a few weeks,” the black-haired boy replied. “I can’t wait to face Malfoy again…”

Hermione pretended to be fully engrossed in eating her steak, but she could not ignore the sudden attention she was paying the conversation now that it had turned to Draco.

…since when had she begun thinking of him as Draco, anyway?

“I bet you that git cursed the bludger just so you couldn’t win,” Ron proclaimed.

Ginny looked at her brother with mild disbelief. “Do you really think he’s that thick? Don’t you think the teachers would have looked into the matter?”

“I’d have to agree with my girlfriend on this one, Ron,” Harry smiled. “But I’m sure he has something up his sleeve, the way he never seems to pay attention in class, it’s almost like last year when he was planning Dumbledore’s death…”

“I bet you he’s spying on us for…”

“He has nothing up his sleeve and he’s definitely not spying,” Hermione dropped her cutlery down with a clatter. She felt inexplicably angry at her friends for bad-mouthing Draco as they were, making groundless assumptions sound like facts and suspecting him of all that’s bad.

“How do you know?” Ron asked her, preparing for a fight.

Hermione realized she’d have to explain what she overheard that summer to them, now, seeing the curiosity and even slight suspicion the three Gryffindors were regarding her with. She sighed before leaning forward and motioning for them to do the same, so that they would not be overheard.

“I heard McGonagall and Lupin discussing his safety this summer,” she revealed. “Draco and his mother passed onto our side almost as soon as last year ended, he spied for us secretly for a few months before Lucius found out and both Draco and his mother had to go into hiding.”

Harry and the two Weasleys just stared at her for a moment, before Ron burst out laughing.

“That’s a good one, Hermione, I almost believed you there,” he guffawed.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed angrily at his flippant attitude. “I was perfectly serious.”

Ginny looked at her friend a moment longer before turning to Harry and her brother. “You know, that does sort of make sense. I mean, you never see him hanging out with his own cronies – or anyone, for that matter. He doesn’t get mail at breakfast, and besides, if he really were with Voldemort, do you really think McGonagall would have let him come back?”

“But it’s… Malfoy,” Harry shook his head, processing what he’d just learned, and Hermione groaned in frustration at how narrow-minded he could be sometimes.

“However unbelievable it might seem to you, it’s the truth, get used to it,” Hermione told them, gathering her things and heading for the door. She was almost there when Ginny caught up with her and joined her on the elder girl’s excursion to the Library.

“All right, suppose what you told us is a fact, that still doesn’t explain why you suddenly called him by his first name,” the red-haired girl noticed, glancing up at her friend to see her blush.

“I… well… it’s his name, right? Malfoy just make same think of his father, and I don’t think the two can be associated together any longer,” Hermione explained lamely.

“Right. So there’s nothing that you’re hiding, is there?” Ginny asked, suspecting that something had in fact changed between Hermione and Draco but wanting the girl to reveal this herself.

“No! No, of course not,” the Muggleborn denied, almost too vehemently. “I just feel sorry for him, that’s all. There’s nothing more to it.”

Hermione wondered why she suddenly felt that particular unease which invaded her senses every time she lied.
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