I Hate Everything About You

Chapter 2

Filthy Beautiful

He knew she would follow him. She was too predictable. She never liked it when she didn't have a clue to what was going on, much more to herself, and she would always set out for the answers. He had walked a few feet further after he exited the Great Hall and leaned back on the cold stone wall, waiting for some sign for Granger to show up.

"Damn it!" A voice cursed under her breath. Malfoy smirked. He didn't need to look back. Immediately, he started to walk.

***

'Bastard. Who does he think he is? That self-centered, egotistical, prick.'

Hermione was trying to keep up with the long strides that Malfoy took. He didn't even glance once at her direction, and this greatly irritated Hermione. I bet he's used to this at his home, treating everyone like a slave he's expecting to follow his every order and move. 'So why don't you just turn around and leave him hanging there?' her conscience asked her. Hermione shook her head.

"No. I wanna know what's going on," she answered to herself.

'I thought so,' her conscience answered back.

All she could see were shadows cast by the torches on the walls, and Malfoy's figure right in front of her. The back of his blonde hair was blowing softly at the lightest gush of wind, and his robes were flowing from the brisk walk. Hermione tried hard not to look at his delicious ass. There was a good six feet of distance between the two, and Hermione didn't dare make it less. He turned around on a corner, and Hermione did the same two seconds later, and stepped on a very familiar hallway. Wait a sec.

He stopped right in front of a huge portrait of two lovers, holding hands underneath a huge tree. "Password?" The gentleman on the portrait said after giving the lady a little peck on the nose.

Malfoy scowled. "Impermissus Adamo." Latin came out smoothly from his lips and the door to the Head Boy/Head Girl Dormitory opened. Without looking back, he stepped inside.

'Son of a Bitch,' she thought.

***

Hermione's feet came in contact with the floor of an all too familiar room. A mixture of green and silver on one side and red and gold on the other was the theme of the room. The fireplace was crackling softly, greeting the both of them as they entered. Hermione's desk on the left was filled with books stacked neatly on top of each other while Malfoy's books were arranged beside each other. Expensive looking quills stood on their stands. Above the fireplace, a portrait of a lion and a serpent were playing together in a field. The door closed behind Hermione as soon as she stepped inside.

Malfoy collapsed on one of the couches, rested his arm over the top of it and leaned back casually. He sneered at Hermione and opened his mouth.

"Why are you following me?"

Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief. 'Why am I following you? Why am I following you? Is this some kind of joke? You, you made me do it! As a matter of fact, I don't know what's gotten into my head for following an incredibly annoying git like you! Damn it, I'm going to my room and study. This is pointless.'

But Hermione's feet never left the ground and she never said any of those things. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at Malfoy. "Do you realize that's the first time you've spoken to me since we became head boy and head girl?"

Draco snorted. His eyes never left Hermione. Her once unruly hair morphed into a mass of long brown curls reaching down to her little waist. Her eyes glowed in the firelight, and her flawless face glowered at him. 'It's pathetic Potter and Weasley never noticed this splendor right in front of me,' he thought.

She shifted her weight on her left foot and continued looking at him, searching his eyes for answers. His pale face, his pale hair, his pale gray eyes... Hermione looked at his delicate lips and watched it curve into a smirk, practically memorizing where it went straight and began to curl. She briefly closed her eyes and opened them again. Malfoy had not moved an inch.

She slowly shook her head. "Why are we doing this?" Hermione said warily. She remained standing in front of the doorway, and he, seated on the couch.

"Guess I just can't take my eyes off you."

Her heart skipped a beat. She wasn't expecting anything like that. "Why?"

He exhaled deeply. "I don't know."

"Don't play games with me, Malfoy."

"I'm not lying."

"STOP IT!" Hermione didn't realize that she had grabbed her wand from her pocket and aimed it right across Malfoy's heart. She was growing confused more and more and she couldn't decipher what was going on. "For two months since we came back from the summer you haven't uttered a single word of discrimination to me! I would have given anything to hear the word 'mudblood' come out from you again! And now you're telling me that... that you can't take your eyes off me? What the hell's wrong with you? Explain yourself to me before I wipe that stupid grin off your face and blast you into oblivion!"

Malfoy remained calm, his eyes never leaving Hermione. Lazily seated on the couch, the firelights played tricks as shadows cast on his face, making Hermione shiver. "Put your wand away. Have you been washing your hand after writing your homework? Let it rest; your hand's shaking like crazy."

Hermione's nostrils flared and hid the wand back inside her robes. "Stupid ferret," she mumbled.

Malfoy slowly rose to his feet and glared at her. "Don't worry, I still hate you."

"Good to know," she retorted. "And I, you."

He smirked. 'Good to know.' He was closing the distance between them and for what seemed like an agonizing eternity, he finally lowered the distance to a hand's length. His head was bent down to look properly into her eyes and she tilted her head up to look well into his. He was blocking the light coming from the fireplace so there was a soft glow outlining Malfoy's form. His towering figure caused Hermione to grow weak in the knees, but she didn't want to give up.

"You know, you should consider yourself lucky, being able to get this close to a pureblood like me. Especially a Malfoy," he added, with a drawl in his voice. Some of his hair had come loose from the gel and was now cascading down at her. It was so long Hermione could feel it on her forehead. She thought of a thousand and one responses to what he said to her but she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Who do you think you are, trying to mess up my life?" He whispered softly to her that sent shivers up her spine. His finger traced the outline of her face, starting with her forehead, down to her chin, and to her nose, and down her lips. "You are nothing but a Mudblood to me. I shouldn't let you affect me in anyway."

His cold touch made her quiver. "I haven't done anything to you, Malfoy," Hermione gritted her teeth.

"Ah, but you have," he murmured at her. "And you're only too stupid to realize it. The way you walk with your nose in the air like you know everything, how your hair simply flows..." he ran his hand through her soft locks. "Magnificently... Who do you think you are, trying to get me under your spell?"

Hermione looked at him in bewilderment. What was he talking about? It was as if he was in a trance. Both of his hands had suddenly grabbed her face and she winced slightly in pain, but she kept looking at his gray eyes that have now become two dark orbs.

"You are nothing. You are worthless. You are nothing to me." His face was blank and it showed no emotions, but Hermione could clearly see in his eyes that he was fighting a battle. 'Is he trying to convince himself?' she wondered to herself.

'What am I doing?' Malfoy was grasping her tender face in her hands and was aware of the pain he was inflicting on her. But he didn't mind it. What he cared about was the sudden outpour of his emotions. He hadn't meant for Granger to hear all the things he had said, but he couldn't contain himself anymore. He was struggling all these new feelings for the mudblood to himself, trying to come up with the decision to deny or accept, and he couldn't keep everything inside his head.

Hermione was looking straight at him. Her neck had begun to strain, but she ignored the pain. She began to feel that Malfoy's hold on her had gradually become gentler, and soon, he was rubbing her cheeks with both of his thumbs. His eyes began to turn back into beautiful silver orbs. Slowly, his face came closer and closer to her until she couldn't focus anymore. That's when she closed her eyes, and felt his soft lips on her own.

A kiss. He had given her a kiss, and he didn't know if he was going to regret it later. It didn't go any deeper, because all he wanted since he felt these lies in his heart was a taste of her crimson lips. Now that he had gotten what he wished for, he didn't know what would happen next.

It ended before she knew what was happening. He released her, and ran his thumb once more over her lips. She was surprised. Shocked. She felt relieved.

"You're filthy." He gazed into her eyes one more time. "But you're beautiful."

Then Draco Malfoy turned around, went into his room, and slammed the door shut, leaving a perplexed Hermione staring after him.

TBC