Love and Hate: A Dramione

Chapter 20

"What?!" Draco yelled in surprise. Seeing Hermione cringe, he lowered his voice, though his tone was still incredulous. "What do you mean you're leaving?"

Hermione handed him the letter now wrinkled and smudged with her tears. Draco let go of her and stood up as he read the letter.

"This is insane!" Draco stated, his tone furious. He started pacing as he read the letter. "You can't just leave! Not now, not when – They can't do this!"

"They can and they will. You read it yourself. My mother has it all set up. If I want to be able to write the GCSEs next year, I have to get into that school. It's a wonder they even agreed to let me go there for my last year. I guess my mother was able to pull some strings. She even hired a private tutor for me so I can catch up to the other students and ace the entrance exam."

"But you have a school – Hogwarts is your school. It's where you belong."

"But Hogwarts won't help me get into the top universities for dentistry. St. Trinian's will."

"You know as well as I do that you're as much a dentist as I'm a muggle. You're a witch Hermione. And an exceptional one at that. It's in your blood. You can't just walk away from it and live a mundane life!" Draco was yelling again.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Hermione retorted, her voice just as loud. "Do you think I want to be a dentist?! You know me Draco. You know that's the last thing I want. But I have no choice. They're picking me up tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! Why so soon?" Draco asked, not having gotten to that part of the letter.

"It's so I can 'start my tutoring sessions as soon as possible and maximize my studying time to ensure success,'" Hermione said in a flat voice.

At her defeated tone, Draco walked back over and put his arms around her. "You can fight this," he said, resting his chin on her hair. "They can't force you to leave."

Hermione shook her head against his chest. "They can. Even if I refused I can't stay here. My parents would stop paying the tuition and I'll be kicked out of Hogwarts."

Draco looked down and caught her eye. "Then refuse. Stay here. I'll pay for your tuition."

"I can't let you do that," Hermione answered.

"Why not?"

"It's too much."

"It won't even put a dent in my funds."

Hermione pulled herself out of Draco's arms. "I will not be somebody's charity case."

"You know that's not what I meant." Draco sighed, exasperated. "Damn it Granger! Now is not the time for your stubborn pride."

"My pride is all I have left!" Hermione yelled back.

"You have me!" Draco countered, frustrated. "You have friends – "He paused as a realization hit him. A sneer formed on his face. "That's right, you have Potter," Draco continued in a dark tone, hurt that she threw his offer back at his face. "Well then run along. Run to Potter. I'm sure you'll have no problem accepting help from him. Wouldn't want your education to be funded by Death Eaters," he spat. "It wouldn't be good for the Head Girl's reputation to be linked to Voldemort. Oh wait, the Head Girl isn't you. You're just a stupid nobody."

Slap!

The sound of her palm hitting his cheek reverberated in the room as Hermione ran out the door.

oOoOoOoOo

Still in shock at the events of her morning, Hermione hollowly made her way to Transfiguration. She looked over at Draco's direction as she sat down but his gaze was determinedly fixed straight ahead. She sighed. What did it matter? In less that 24 hours she would never see him or any of these people ever again. A wave of sadness hit her as she looked around the classroom. Her musings were interrupted when a first-year knocked on the door.