Just a Kiss

Chapter 13

"Watch where you're walking," Hermione growls at her housemate. Draco pauses on his way to the kitchen after having accidentally knocked a pile of her papers to the floor.

He turns to her with a sneer and snarks, "what are you going to do about it, Granger? Curse me?" He snickers and continues on his way to the kitchen.

Hermione pulls out her wand and with a quick swish, she mutters, "locomotor wibbly."

A stream of red bursts from the tip of her wand, striking Draco on the back of his leg. He hits the floor with a groan and a snarled profanity. Hermione laughs as he struggles to stand and finds that he no longer has use of his legs.

"You did ask for it," she chuckles at his red face. " I do feel a bit bad for doing it when your back was to me. You were just a bit deserving, though." She grins down at him.

Draco stops struggling to turn stormy eyes on her. "You worthless wench," he hisses. "If I had my wand, I'd hex you into the next century. Whether I was deserving of the attack or not, it was cowardly to curse me when I'm not facing you. I thought you were meant to be the good, kind one of the Golden Trio? Now here you are, attacking me with an unfair advantage and then gloating," he spits.

The curse wears off while he is talking so he rises back to his feet and stares down at her. Hermione tilts her chin up defiantly.

"If you're attempting to make me feel guilty, it isn't working. You've been nothing but awful to me all this week and I was just giving you a bit of payback," she snaps. "Besides, who are you to talk about cowardice? Need I remind you of the countless times in school when you acted like a spineless prat because you thought you were above everyone? Is that what someone with bravery would do?" She sneers darkly at him, unaffected by his words.

He shouts, "I wasn't the only one who hid!" Hermione clenches her fists to keep from flinching away from the loud voice. He doesn't seem to notice her moment of weakness, because he is nearly screaming his next words. "I noticed the way you would always run to Potter and Weasley at the first sign of a threat, leaving them to do the hard work. You were certainly the brains of the group, but not the bravest!"

Hermione's eyes narrow to slits. "How dare you accuse me of being weak enough to hide behind them? I'm not like you Malfoy! I am more than capable of fighting my own battles!"

She would have continued had her fireplace not roared to life behind her. A familiar voice calls out a greeting and Hermione forces herself to take a deep breath and turn around to face it with a smile.

"Hermione, what are you two fighting about this time? If you want, I'll join in. My bat-boogie hex could use a bit of practice," is the first words Ginny says to Hermione. Hermione turns around to face her friend, angry expression half-masked by a small smile.

"No Ginny, everything is alright. He was just going upstairs, weren't you, Malfoy?" Her tone leaves no room for argument, so Draco grumbles something unintelligible and stomps up the stairs. Hermione glares at his retreating form until it disappears from sight before turning back to her friend. "What brought this visit on?" She sounds far more harsh than she intends, and it doesn't go without notice.

"First, you're going to tell me why he's got you so riled up, then I'm going to calm you down so that we can talk like civil people," Ginny states bluntly. It's enough to evoke a snort of laughter from Hermione, who gestures to the sofa and turns towards the kitchen.

"Sit down then. I'm just going to make a drink, would you like something?"

Ginny collapses onto the sofa and leans back with a sigh. "No, thank you though. Go ahead and tell me what Ferret-face did this time," she says. Unbeknownst to Hermione, Ginny is struggling to find the proper words to tell Hermione something that is sure to make her friend's mood far worse. She's hoping to delay the inevitable for a few moments longer, because for the first time, Ginny Weasley can't find the courage to tell her friend the news she's keeping.