The Truth About Hermione Granger

By the end of the Christmas Holidays, Hermione wasn't feeling a whole lot better about the death of her grandparents, but she was sure that with the help of her friends, she would be fine. She hadn't told Harry and Ron when she'd seen them after Christmas because she hadn't wanted to spoil their holidays. She'd tell them soon enough.

She and Draco took Floo Powder back to her father's office and as soon as she tumbled out of the fireplace, Draco swept her up and kissed her.

"Draco!" she giggled as she pushed him away. "What are you doing?"

"I've had this fantasy for YEARS, Mione," he said. "I've wanted to snog with you in Snape's office since we were in our third year! Now's the only chance we have that we won't get caught!" With that, he kissed her again, knocking her down onto the rug in front of the fire. He landed on top of her. "See?" he said, kissing the end of her nose. "Isn't this exciting?"

She allowed him a few more kisses before attempting to wriggle out from under him. "We promised my father we'd go straight to the Great Hall and that's what we shall do, Draco Malfoy!" she exclaimed. "Now get off me before I'm forced to take drastic measures!"

Finally, he pulled himself off her and helped her up as well. He kissed her once more, took her hand and lead her out of Snape's office and into the hall. They hadn't gone far, however, when they began to hear something.

"Is that voices?" asked Draco, cocking his head and slowing slightly.

"I think so," answered Hermione. "I'll bet it's whoever's been shagging down here and my father thinks it's us! It's coming from that direction. Let's go catch them!" She hurried through the halls, following the voices until they finally came to a door behind which they were sure were the people who were talking.

"God, I've missed you!" said a familiar male voice.

"That's Ron!" hissed Hermione.

"You've said that a million times," giggled a female voice. "I thought you were going to PROVE it today, Ronnie!"

"That's Abby Mazur!" Draco hissed back. "She's a Slytherin fifth year!"

Just then, Abby giggled. "Oh, Ronnie!" she exclaimed.

"Keep it down, Abby!" said Ron. "You'll get us caught!"

"You say that every time, Ron," replied Abby. "But by the end, you're noisier than I am!"

Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Let's walk in on them!" she said once she'd gotten control of herself.

"Door's locked," said Draco.

Hermione pulled out her wand and quickly unlocked the door. She then opened it and barged in on a scene she didn't really NEED to see.

Ron was lying flat on the floor, Abby straddling him with her robes opened. Ron's hand was inside her robes as she leaned over, kissing his neck. When the door opened, though, Abby jumped up and closed her robes quickly while Ron struggled to his feet and tried to close his own half-opened robes at the same time.

"Ronald Weasley, what on EARTH are you doing?" laughed Hermione.

"Oh, so YOU can see a Slytherin and I can't, is that it?" he retorted, finally succeeding in securing his robes shut.

"That's not what I meant," she said. "You've been down here shagging, haven't you?"

"Oh, PLEASE don't say anything!" begged Abby. "If it ever got back to my father, he'd kill Ronnie!"

"I won't say anything, Abby, don't worry," said Hermione. "But, my father has heard the two of you down here. I'm going to have to teach you a good silencing charm!"

"I won't say anything either," said Draco, smirking evilly at them.

"You'd better not, Draco Malfoy!" exclaimed Hermione, pointing a finger in his face.

"What would YOU do to me?" he drawled, taking hold of her finger.

"Tell my father what you did in his office just now," she answered.

"You wouldn't!" said Draco. "You'd get into trouble, too!"

Immediately, Hermione slipped into her 'innocent' routine. "Oh, daddy!" she exclaimed, adding a sniff for good measure. "There was nothing I could do! He just jumped on me and tackled me to the ground and- (sniff, sniff) I couldn't stop him! I was so frightened he would hurt me that- (sniff, sob) I never said anything, but- (sob) he did and now (sob-sob) I'm afraid- (sniff) HE'LL DO IT AGAIN!" At that moment, she burst into tears- real, big, sobbing tears- and collapsed into Draco's arms.

"All right, all right!" Draco shouted over her sobs. "I won't tell! I swear!"

Hermione straightened up and wiped the false tears off her cheeks. "I knew you'd come to your senses!" she said, smiling.

"Gee, Herm," laughed Ron. "I almost believed you!"

Abby was grinning, too. "Yeah," she agreed. "You'll do ANYTHING to get your way, won't you? You should've been a Slytherin!"

Hermione only grinned and left the room without a word, heading to the Great Hall for dinner.

* * * * * * * *

"Did YOU know, Harry?" Hermione asked as soon as she sat down next to her friend.

He was too enamored with Ginny's eyes to hear her though and she was forced to repeat her question.

"Did I know what?" he asked.

"About Ron," she said.

"Herm, PLEASE shut up!" exclaimed Ron, turning bright red.

"What do you mean do I know about Ron?" asked Harry. "Do I know WHAT about Ron?"

"What he's been doing and who he's been with in the dungeons," said Hermione.

"HERM!" exclaimed Ron. "Never mind, Harry."

"Wait, I want to know what's going on!" said Harry, now completely ignoring Ginny, who was interested to know what sort of trouble he brother was into now so she didn't even notice that Harry was no longer looking at her.

"What have you been up to, Ronald Weasley?" Ginny asked, smirking.

"Oh, please, Herm!" begged Ron. "You promised not to tell!"

"It's Harry and Ginny!" said Hermione. "They won't breath a word of it!"

Ron sighed and sat back in his seat. "Fine," he said, waving a hand in descent. "Go on, then."

"Well," said Hermione. "It seems that Ron has been involved in secret rendezvous in the dungeons with a certain Slytherin girl. I'm not to say her name. She doesn't want her father to find out."

"A SLYTHERIN!" exclaimed Harry. "I don't believe it! Ron with a Slytherin!"

While Ginny was occupied in giggling, Hermione leaned over to Harry and told him that they were the ones her father had heard.

"You're joking!" said Harry. "My goodness, I thought it was Seamus Finnigan with some Hufflepuff he'd told me about!" He then glared daggers at Ron for not telling him about it.

"Oh, stop it, Harry!" said Ron. "It's not as if you and Ginny haven't-"

"Excuse me, we haven't!" interrupted Harry, jumping up and throwing down his fork. "And if you don't stop accusing me of doing something like that with YOUR SISTER, I'll curse you from here into next week!"

"Harry, please sit down," said Ginny quietly, pulling on his sleeve.

Ron had been completely surprised by Harry's outburst and only sat staring at him while those in their immediate vicinity did the same. "Harry, I- I didn't mean to... insinuate that you... well, did ANYTHING dishonorable," he stammered finally. "I just, well, I thought..."

"You DIDN'T think, Ron," informed Hermione quietly. "That's the trouble, you don't think before you talk."

Instead of becoming hot, Ron looked down. "I know," he said. "Harry, PLEASE sit down, now. I'm sorry."

Harry sat down finally and everyone went back to what they had been doing before his outburst. "I'm sorry, too," he said. "I get defensive about Ginny sometimes."

"Which I find VERY sweet, Harry Potter, but really, to my own brother?" said Ginny. "At least you know he won't be angry if you really DO do anything to me. Or with me. Or whatever."

Hermione only grinned and glanced across the hall at Draco, who was sitting with Crabbe and Goyle, along with Abby Mazur this time. She was laughing and talking, so she assumed Draco was keeping his promise. She smiled at him when she caught his eye and went back to her dinner.

It wasn't long when Hermione saw her chance to finish her task given her by the Dark Lord. She glanced at Harry and noticed a couple of hairs on the back of his robes. She examined them carefully to be sure they were Harry's and not Ginny's. Finally, she was satisfied that the hairs were black and not red so she carefully reached over and picked them off. Luckily, Harry hadn't felt her do so, so she pulled out a piece of paper from one of her notebooks and folded them into it. For some reason, she didn't want him to know about this.

Finally, though, their dinner was finished and Hermione headed up to the common room with Harry, Ginny and Ron, but Draco caught her just before she stepped through the portrait hole.

"I saw you," he said. "You got them, then?"

"I did," she said. "Have you received any instructions?"

"Not yet," he answered. "I'm hoping to hear something soon, though. I hope he doesn't want me to do anything dangerous."

"It probably is, but if it's too dangerous, I'll ask him to not make you do it," she answered. "I DO have some pull with him, you know."

He grinned. "I know," he drawled. "I suppose it could be useful to have a girlfriend with some influence with the Dark Lord."

Hermione giggled. "You're a true Slytherin, aren't you?" she asked as he pulled her into his arms. "Always looking for any way possible to get ahead!"

He kissed her. "Of course," he said, mocking chauvinism. "Which is why I'm with you anyway. You're smart and you're one of the Dark Lord's favorites. A Slytherin should always marry a girl with power!"

Hermione smacked him playfully and walked into the open portrait hole. "Goodnight, Draco!" she called over her shoulder as the portrait swung closed.

Men! Can't live with them, can't shoot them either!