Dramione - Hate Is A Strong Word

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

~Hermione's POV~

    "Are you sure you're ready?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question? It's you whose reputation is going to be ruined; the Gryffindor Golden Girl dating a big bad Slytherin."

"Ha!" I laughed and tenderly stroked back a stray hair that had fallen loose from his swept-to-the-side look, "Yeah. You are pure evil."

He arched an eyebrow at my sarcasm, "I promise you, I could make you afraid of me if I wanted." He growled, flashing a quick smirk.

Laughing again, I responded "Well then Mr Big Bad Slytherin, let's go show the entire Great Hall the most outrageous couple to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts. That's scary enough." We had discussed announcing that we were together ever since Harry and Ginny caught us kissing a few days previous. Harry and Ginny took the news extremely well, so we figured we could handle the rest of the Wizarding World. Besides, we were both tired of hiding; I wanted to hold Draco's hand in public, I wanted to freely dance with him at the next party, I wanted to talk to him in the corridors. We both wanted to be free to show our affections and feelings for each other.

Taking a deep breath, we turned the corner into the Great Hall. Stepping through the magnificent doors, with our hands boldly entwined, blatantly displaying our relationship, we deified the ancient rivalry between the houses.

It started with a few glances in our direction and some double takes when people thought their eyes had deceived them. More and more people noticed us at the entrance and hundreds of jaws dropped and eyebrows raised in response. People whispered and nudged each other, until every pair of eyes in the room were glued to us. The teachers hadn't even attempted to mask their shock, paused mid-action, and staring. Professor McGonagall had dropped her glass in surprise, but made no attempt to fix it, she hadn't even noticed. All attention was on us.

Uneasily I turned to Draco, whose face mirrored my thoughts. He looked into my eyes when an infamous Malfoy smirk appeared. I didn't have chance to wonder what he was planning, as he tugged on my hand in his, pulling me closer to him, until our faces were inches apart. His hand left mine and cupped my face. Gently, he leaned down to capture my lips in a passionate, yet soft kiss. My mind was consumed by him, all I could think about was Draco and his kiss. It caught me off guard, we had not shared something so delicate. It meant something more this time. I wasn't sure what. There was a silent message of understanding passed between us through the kiss, but I couldn't make sense of what that understanding was exactly. It was very bewildering. Even though the kiss didn't last long, it lingered on my lips, pulsing waves of electricity through me.

"That should give them something to stare about." He commented, more to himself than anyone else. That was when I remembered the massive crowd before us.

If I thought they were shocked when we walked in, it was nothing compared to this. The silence was eerie. It was never quiet in the Great Hall. Even at night there was a certain degree of noise, due to the ghosts. But now, the ghosts were floating, eyes bulging, and silent.

On deciding the best thing to do after our entrance was to try to act normal, I grabbed Draco and steered him towards the Gryffindor table.

"Morning Ginny, morning Harry." I greeted the two, who were grinning,

"Morning Hermione, morning Draco." They said simultaneously. Draco nodded in reply, as he sat down, grabbing a piece of toast.

"Lovely day isn't it." Draco said happily, before biting into his toast. We nodded, trying not to laugh, as the Great Hall hung to every word of our friendly conversation. "Bit quiet though, wouldn't you agree, even the birds aren't tweeting." He grinned, as he talked out of character, just to confuse the rest of the Hogwarts students and staff.

"It certainly is strange." Harry replied, his lips twitching. "I wonder what has caused it."

We all looked around, ignoring the stares, in an act of searching for something unusual or different.

"No idea." Ginny concluded and we made noises of agreement as we tucked into breakfast.

It took several minutes until the first conversations broke out. But even those conversations were held in hushed voices, as they so obviously discussed our bizarre behaviour. By the time we had finished breakfast there was some light chatter across the hall, but most eyes were still trained on us, following until out of sight.

   This continued the whole day, whenever Draco and I passed anyone in the corridor, they would stop whatever they were doing (gossiping, no doubt) to watch us walk by. Being analysed so closely was uncomfortable, but it was highly amusing to have everyone on edge and riled up, so much so conspiracy theories were passed around about me being under the influence of a curse, or something of that sort. Draco loved it. He loved the attention. He loved having people so confused. He also loved being able to kiss me whenever he wanted. Today he seemed to have that urge often, I know he did it just to shut people up and shove our relationship in their faces, but I didn't mind in the least.

   Everyone was babbling as we walked into potions, but when they caught sight of us, the speech quickly died down. I walked up to my place next to Neville, and Draco sidled into the row behind me, near Blaise.

"Hi Neville." I smiled.

"H-Hi Hermione." He looked confused, as if unsure if I was the real me. "Are you okay?"

"Never better Neville." I grinned. "You?"

"Good, I'm good." He said, still looking at me uncertainly, but then finally saying what he had been dying to say the whole day. "So you and Draco, huh?"

"Yeah, not the most obvious pair." I winked.

He nodded. "Do you like him?" He asked me, his cheeks tinged slightly at the question.

"Yes I do Neville." I smiled up at him.

"And does he treat you right?"

"Of course Neville."

"Well then, that's good enough for me." He grinned and turned around to Draco behind us, "look after her, she's precious, okay?"

Draco responded instantly, "I know and don't worry I will."