Strange Relationships

Chapter 5

~ The Slytherin Prince ~

Saturday was one of the worst days so far of her time at Hogwarts. Apart from having to avoid Ron all day, she was being overly-soothed by Harry, something he was not particularly good at, as well as having reoccurring day dreams over Malfoy's words. She would lapse into silences of what seemed like hours, not that Harry noticed. He just seemed to think that it was her 'dealing with her emotions' or something like that. The strangest thing was, she didn't even feel bad about her split with Ron. OK, it was a bit of a shock, but once she got over the initial startling news, she felt quite happy. Which once again, led her back to Malfoy's words. Was he right? Did Ron truly make her unhappy?

The day passed without much event, in comparison with the morning's events. Hermione spent a lot of the day catching up on some homework in the library...well, to be honest, she spent the day re-writing most of her essays. This was intermingled with visits from Harry, in which he would take her on long strolls on the grounds, then hurry off to 'do something', which she could only pin-point to be to talk to Ron. Before she knew what was happening, dinner was almost upon her, and Neville was standing outside the library waiting for her, as Hermione could only suspect, on Harry's orders.

She was very grateful in his assistance with avoiding Ron, and made a mental note to do the same for him sometime soon. As she entered the Great Hall, chatting avidly with Neville about a new type of fungi, she noted where Harry and Ron were located at the table, and then pointedly chose a spot opposite them and as far away as possible. Luckily a few first years had stationed themselves between them; so awkward silences were easily avoidable. Spending time with Neville was always pleasant; as he was quite knowledgeable once he got past the stress of making a mistake. Hermione had been the only one so far to successfully do this, flanked closely by Ginny. As she found dinner drawing to a close, she stood up to leave, figuring Ron would hang around to shovel down even more food, giving her time to make a run for her dormitory. Glancing round the Hall, she made a stop at the Slytherin table, and what she saw there made her smile. Her eyes looked up and down and owl perched haughtily on the arm of no other, than Draco Malfoy. The very same owl that had delivered her mysterious letter to her this morning, was now sitting there happily, on the Slytherin princes arm. She laughed slightly, and hastily made an exit after a quirked eyebrow from Neville.

She automatically walked back to the Common Room, but a sudden idea made her change her mind. Turning around, she sprinted up the stairs to the Owlery, and once inside, pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, something she always carried as a precaution. After all, you never know when you could need to make some notes. She leant on the windowsill, and wrote out carefully.

So, the Slytherin Prince has a heart. I guess wonders will never cease to amaze me. The pureblood's lending a helping hand to the filthiest of all, the Mudblood's? What else are you hiding?

She tied it to the nearest owl, smirking slightly. He wanted to play games, fine. And with an encouraging boost, the owl soared off into the night, with Hermione's twinkling eyes following it.