Chapter 10: "Advice, a Question and a Surprise."
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Harry stood there, confused at why exactly Draco Malfoy stood on his front step. Draco seemed surprised himself. He was shifting on his feet and kept running a hand through his hair.
"Malfoy…" he said raising his eyebrow.
"Potter…" Draco said staring at him. Harry expected him to say something further and when he didn't sighed impatiently.
"Well, what the hell are you doing at my front door?" He asked drumming his fingers against the door as he still held it open.
"Oh, right. Ok. Actually, I'm still not sure about that." Draco said feeling extremely stupid.
Harry looked at him in disbelief, and then shook his head. "Ok. I don't have time for this." He said. "You interrupted something very important."
Draco could see inside the house and noticed paint splatters across the walls. He smirked.
"What finger-painting and making a mess?" he asked not being able to keep the sarcasm away for long. Harry's jaw tightened and had almost completely slammed the door shut but Draco quickly stopped him.
"Ok, Ok. Sorry. Shouldn't have said that." He said mentally cursing himself.
"What do you want Malfoy." Harry said losing his temper.
"I just came here…to give you some…erm advice." Draco stammered.
He couldn't believe it. He was actually nervous. Well, nervous wasn't a good word choice. He was actually worried about what to do. Blaise was his best friend since they were 2. Potter was his enemy since they were 11. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind to at least warn Harry about the things Blaise was plotting on doing, without entirely betraying his friendship with Blaise. He wasn't going to come right out and say that Blaise was on the verge of sabotaging his career. Damn Ginny, for being such an influence on him. Of course she didn't know either about Blaise's plan; Draco couldn't muster up the courage to tell her.
"You want to give me advice. Ha! I think it should be the other way around Malfoy." Harry said amused.
Draco's face hardened and he chose to ignore Harry's comment.
"Anyway. Just try and look out for anything suspicious. Be very careful about anything you decide to do. The things you would normally never think twice about think about them more carefully. They may end up being the worst thing you could possibly do." Draco said attempting to choose the right words without giving too much away.
Harry's face showed some confusion. "What are you going at?" he asked.
"Just…there some…things….that want to sabotage you. And, I'm just forewarning you about them." He said.
"Why the hell should I listen to you out of all people?" Harry asked looking at Draco with an evil look.
"Why wouldn't you?" Draco said angrily. "It's not everyday the person you despise comes running at your door to warn you about being careful."
"How do I know it's not some sort of plot you and Blaise have schemed up." Harry said suspiciously. Draco made a face.
"Blaise is a big boy. He can handle himself." Draco said. "Plus I'm not really into 13 year old school boy pranks anymore Potter. Neither is he."
"Maybe, but you are his friend." Harry said.
"I used to be. Now I'm not sure." Draco said trailing off. He then felt a buzzing in his pants. He took out his pager and it read: "You have a patient waiting. You are needed urgently."
"Listen as much as I would love to stay, chat and have a cup of tea, I have a patient to see. Just take heed to my advice." He said and then apparated.
Harry stared at the spot where Draco had been standing. Thinking of what he had told him. He was now worried. Could he trust his friends, could he trust Draco's information?
"My life just keeps getting better and better." He mumbled to himself as he closed the door.
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Hermione quickly closed her door as she rushed into her room. She slid down the wall as she let the tears stream down her face. What had she done? She just kissed her best friend.
`Don't lie to yourself; you did not just kiss him. You completely ravished each other.' Her brain told her.
`Shut up' she told herself.
`Why. Because that's probably been the best kiss you've ever had.' her brain retorted.
`Shut up! Shut up!' She said covering her ears.
`Oh stop acting like a child. You need to hear the truth.' Her mind said.
`Sometimes it's better not to.'
`But sometimes it is.'
`I refuse to sit here and argue with you.' Hermione yelled.
"Well I was just going to ask you if we were out of milk but ok." A voice said.
Hermione jumped. She turned to see Luna standing in her doorway. Her hair hung limp and she looked sick.
"Luna…I wasn't talking to…you…" she said knowing she sounded like a mad woman.
"Oh. Ok." Luna said and then turned to leave.
"No, wait Luna. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that." She said. "Here sit next to me." She ushered to the space next to her. Luna walked over and sat down.
"Are you ok?" Luna asked.
"I just did something very horrible." Hermione groaned putting her face in here hands.
"You kissed Harry didn't you?" Luna said in a more of a matter of fact tone than questioning one. Luna eyed Hermione's appearance. Her hair was slightly disheveled and she had paint along her thighs. Hermione had a tear roll down her cheek. She nodded.
"Yes. I…how could I have done such a thing. I basically cheated on Blaise." Hermione said beginning to cry, her shoulders shaking. Luna rubbed her back reassuringly.
"Did you have sex with him?" Luna asked.
Hermione laughed for a moment and she didn't know why. "If someone hadn't knocked on the door we would have ended up doing just that." She said shaking her head.
"Well, if it was just a kiss then it's not really cheating." Luna said.
"Ohhh, you didn't see the way we were going at it Luna. I mean the way he was eyeing me. It was so different. I can't quite put my finger on it. Things just keep getting more awkward between us." Hermione continued.
"Are you developing feelings for each other?" Luna asked bluntly. Hermione looked at Luna with disbelief.
"No! No way! He's my best friend. I mean sure I love him but only in a brotherly manner!" Hermione said. Luna nodded.
"Ok. But sometimes our bodies make us do things subconsciously because it realizes things before our mind is ready to believe them. Just think about that. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a doctor's appointment to make." Luna said. She gave Hermione a tender hug and then stood up and left the room.
Hermione stared ahead of her for a few moments. She was not going to consider what Luna said at all. She stood up and walked to her bathroom. She needed to take a nice relaxing shower to get her mind off of things and to also scrub the paint off of her.
After her shower Hermione walked towards her closet. Her pink fuzzy robe wrapped around her. She heard a pop and turned to see Blaise. The person she wanted to see the most. She felt so guilty.
"Blaise…" she started.
"Wait, before you say anything. I need to ask you something." He said. He smiled in a way Hermione had never seen him. She looked at him a bit confused.
"What is it Blaise?" she asked.
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Draco rubbed his eyes as he set down a patients report in front of him. He had been reading and organizing them all day and he needed a break. He was getting tired reading about witches who thought gnomes were implanting babies in them and wizards who were hypochondriacs. He heard a knock on his door.
"Come in." he called. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Ginny opened the door with a frown on her face.
"Hey Gin." He said smiling tiredly.
"Hi." She said walking towards his desk.
"You look nice today." He said commenting on her appearance. She had her in a knot, a nice blue blouse, and gray mid thigh skirt on underneath her white lab coat.
"Uh huh." She said sitting down across from him in a chair. He could sense she was upset with him.
"What did I do?" he said breathing out deeply.
"Nothing. That's it." She said crossing her arms over her chest.
"What do you mean?" he said leaning forward in his seat.
"Draco. Ever since Blaise came over the other day, you've been acting so down. I try to be affectionate towards you but you don't care. What exactly happened between you two?" she said her voice showing concern.
Draco sighed. He didn't want to tell her but he knew she wouldn't leave him alone until he spilled it.
"We just had a disagreement." He said simply returning to his papers. She stood up abruptly. She put her hand over his paperwork and sat on his desk. He ran a hand through his hair. He could feel her peering down at him. She crossed her legs, making her skirt raise a few inches. He groaned. She did that on purpose.
"Ginny." He said leaning his forehead on her thigh. She rubbed his cheek and then took his face in her hands.
"Draco, I just want you to be honest with me. I mean, we're in a relationship now. You can trust me." She said.
"I know I can trust you. I just….we argued and it didn't end so well." He said.
"Draco. We argue all the time and yet I never see you moping around." She said giving him a look.
"Well mainly because we always make up in the most amazing ways." He said smiling cheekily. She hit his arm playfully.
"Draco!" she said.
"Ginny look, maybe I didn't go about it the right way. I'm sorry. I'll cheer up ok." He said. He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. He stood up.
"I have a patient to see now." He said looking up at the magical clock. Instead of reading the time it would configure to show when he had meetings and appointments. At the moment it read: Appointment with Luna Lovegood. Ginny glanced at it and her eyes widened. Draco was making his way towards the door. Ginny scrambled off the desk and rushed towards him. She grabbed his arm.
"You have an appointment with Luna!" she said confused.
"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?" He said.
"Well, because she's my friend and…I just thought that she would choose me." She said looking down.
"Maybe she's nervous about it." He suggested giving her a hug.
"Luna…nervous? Nope. Never." She said laughing.
"Well, I have to go see her. I'll see you later." He said. He gave her a quick kiss and walked out. He made his way down the hallway to the check in desk on that floor.
"Hey, Jasmine. What room is Miss Lovegood in?" he asked. The mediwitch in training turned to him and blushed.
"She's in room 5 Mr. Malfoy." She giggled. He smiled politely and headed in that direction. When he entered the room he saw Luna sitting upon the examination table. When he entered, she smiled at him.
"Hello, Draco." She said. Draco smiled.
"Hello, Luna. You know, Ginny was giving me a hard time that you made an appointment with me rather than her." He said pulling up the rolling stool to sit in front of her.
"I figured she would be. But I don't want her to be the one to find out first." She said. Draco's eyebrows furrowed.
"Find out what exactly?" he asked. Luna took a deep breath.
"I think I'm pregnant." She said.
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Harry exhaled loudly as he lay on the ground doing sit ups. His shirt was off and he had on some lounge pants. His hands were behind his head as he continued to exercise. He heard a pop and saw Hermione standing there with a magazine in hand. Her expression was hard. It had been two weeks since the incident and neither had spoken or seen each other.
"Hermione…" he said stopping his sit ups. Hermione answered by throwing the magazine onto his stomach. He took it, sitting up and then threw it down.
"Dammit Jacklyn!" he cursed looking furious.
"Yes, that's exactly what I said." She said leaning against the arm of the couch.
"I need to have a talk with her." He said shaking his head.
"Yes, you really do." She said looking towards him angrily.
"What! Do you think I want her to write this shit!" he said his voice rising.
"Don't you dare raise your voice at me Harold James Potter!" Hermione yelled standing up and stomping her foot.
"What? You're my mother now?" he asked. He got up and grabbed a towel to wipe the beads of sweat that had accumulated on his chest. Hermione couldn't help but stare at his amazing physique. Harry noticed. He began to move forward. Hermione snapped out of her trance.
"Don't come near me Harry!" she said pointing her finger at him and backing away. Harry stared at her puzzled.
"What? Why?" he asked continuing to step towards her.
"Harry! I mean it! Don't take one step closer to me." She said inching away.
"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" he asked flabbergasted.
"You already are." She whispered. Harry could not believe his ears.
"What! How am I doing that?!" he said outraged. She didn't answer.
"How?" he demanded. She then looked him in the eye.
"Blaise asked me to marry him….and I said yes." She said. Harry felt like his heart had stopped.
"Wh…what?!" he stuttered.
Hermione sighed. Nearly on the verge of tears. She didn't know what to say to Harry. It pained her to tell him that.
"I…" she said.
"NO! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY SAY THAT I'M HURTING YOU WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE TELLING ME THAT YOU'RE GOING TO MARRY THAT PRICK?" Harry yelled. Hermione jumped at his explosion.
"Harry, please don't act like this." She pleaded.
"No! I think I have all the right to act like this! Merlin, Hermione! I love you!" he said. Hermione stared at him in disbelief. Did he just say….
"I love you Hermione." Harry said more softly, looking down.
"Harry, don't do this to me now. Please." She said her voice wavering.
"You know what. I'm not going to do anything anymore Hermione. I'm done with this." He said tossing the towel on the couch. He walked towards the door. "If you could please leave."
"Harry." Hermione said not keeping the hurt out of her voice.
"Hermione, please." He said. She walked towards the door. She hesitated a moment.
"The wedding's next month." She said. Harry didn't respond and just looked down. She then walked out the door.
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AN: Whew. After 5 hours I'm finally done. This was one of the rare times these past few months where I was able to sit down and focus all my attention on my story. This is, of course, my pride and joy. I've been busy with work and school so I'll try to update as soon as I can. I hope you can forgive me for the wait. I really hoped you liked this chapter. Threw some surprises at you and I hoped you enjoyed. The drama is only beginning. *maniacal laughter* As always, please review! Love you all!
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