The Journal

Chapter 11: Exposed

The desk in the corner of the girls' dorm was occupied and had been so for the past hour. Hermione sat hunched over in the chair with her head lowered, as she ignored the girls quietly gossiping behind her. Her mind raced with thoughts, which she quickly scribbled on the piece of parchment in front of her. Although the quill clutched in her fingers moved feverishly, it was still not quick enough to convey all she wanted to say.

It was curiosity that forced Hermione's three roommates to remain in that room for so long. While others were beginning to head to dinner, they stood by Parvati's bed, speculating on what Hermione was writing. They had tried for the past ten minutes to get a glimpse of the parchment, but Hermione guarded her work too closely.

Watching Hermione write, however, was not what Parvati, Lavender and Sally had raced to Gryffindor Tower to see. They expected someone who had been publicly accused of having a liaison with Draco Malfoy to show a dramatic display of emotion. Sitting quietly at a desk was too sedate, and did not satisfy the girls' craving for theatrics.

The girls now wrestled with the question of what to tell the others, who were waiting in the common room for a full report on Hermione's condition. After deliberating for several minutes, they decided to head downstairs and tell the gossip-thirsty students what they expected to hear, what they should hear.

But had they skipped one of their classes, the three girls would have gotten the spectacle they desired.

After escaping the onslaught of everyone's glares, Hermione had headed back to the comforts of Gryffindor Tower. She had hidden behind a statue just as Harry and Ron raced out of the portrait hole for class. Alone in the dorm, she tore off her necklace and hurled it towards the nightstand. It landed perfectly in the top drawer. She then climbed into her bed and closed her eyes. It began very slowly at first, but after thinking of Parvati's words, the tears began to flow more rapidly.

Her emotions ranged from humiliation to self-pity and then grief. But it was the feeling of being betrayed that caused her the greatest pain, and her most violent reaction. She got out of bed and opened her trunk. From a secret compartment, she pulled out the letters Draco had written her and stared down at the neat bundle.

A surge of rage coursed through her then, causing her fingernails to dig into the parchment and rip the correspondences at the top of the heap. She threw the letters against the wall and watched them fall to the floor. She then attacked them by pulling off the string that bound them together and tearing the parchments into small pieces.

When her gaze fell upon an unharmed letter, her anger suddenly began to subside. That particular correspondence had been written shortly after her introduction to Draco's secret room. In it, Draco had expressed to her the feelings that consumed him when they were together. He also talked of how he had never been so open with anyone in his life, except her. She couldn't possibly destroy it, she thought.

But as she read his sentimental words, the anger bubbled within her once more. "Lies," she muttered. And like the others, that letter met its fate, as she pounded it into the floor with her fist, before ripping it.

Hermione collected the torn pieces of parchment and placed them in a metal bin. "Incendio," she said. She then watched as they began to burn. Soon, all that was left was a small heap of ash.

The satisfaction her actions brought her quickly disappeared. She found herself wallowing in a state of sadness once more. Moreover, the letters were not entirely destroyed; she still remembered every word written on those pages.

Hermione fell to the floor and cried. She wept for letting her guard down and leaving herself exposed, and for believing him.

After resting in bed for several minutes, she finally decided that an explanation was needed, and headed to the desk. Even if Draco's response confirmed her worst thoughts, she needed to hear from him. But more importantly, she needed to express her feelings about him and the predicament he now placed her in.

Long after her inquisitive dorm mates had left, Hermione remained at the desk. She lowered her head and brought her hands to her forehead. Her head was now pounding from lack of food and stress. But these pains were trivial compared to the obstacles she now faced.

~*~*~

Harry and Ron continued down the staircase towards the Great Hall. Although they were amongst the last in their house to leave for dinner, they seemed to be in no hurry to get to their meal. They wore agitated expression on their faces, as they slowly made their way to the ground floor.

It was not the feast of roast beef that pained them, but rather their lack of communication with Hermione. They had missed half of their Potions class when they ventured back to Gryffindor Tower to console her. However, they were not able to talk to her and spent most of their time at the bottom of the girls' staircase, shouting out her name.

They now resorted to getting their information second-hand. Like everyone else in their house, they had waited in the common room while Parvati and her two friends accessed Hermione's state of mind. But the news these three girls brought back was subjective and distorted. Ron even accused Parvati of exaggerating the truth to please the crowd.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, their attention was drawn to a nearby portrait. Vincent, who never stayed put in his own portrait, was visiting an old lady. He was seated in a chair as he told her the latest school scandals. The woman had been away visiting her other portrait that hung in her country estate. She leaned back in her chaise lounge and fanned herself while Vincent talked about Draco and Hermione.

"Stop spreading lies," said Ron.

Vincent stopped talking and gave him a sideways glance. "I only speak the truth."

"Like hell you do." Ron took several steps towards the man, but Harry grabbed his arm and prevented him from proceeding further. "That story was made up by the Slytherins to humiliate our friend."

The old man was about to continue talking to his captivated audience, when Ron's words suddenly jolted his interest. "You say the young woman is a friend of yours?"

"Yes," said Harry. "She went to Malfoy's house to do a report, and now he's trying to make it seem like they slept together."

"My dear boy," remarked Vincent, "she might have gone to his house for many reasons, but studying was definitely not one of them." When a smug smile developed on Vincent's lips, it soon became Ron's turn to hold Harry back.

Seeing that he had now raised the emotions of the two boys, Vincent added, "I'm not saying these things to be cruel. The truth is that your friend's interest in Malfoy goes beyond a mere report."

"Of course you would say that," said Harry. "You have an allegiance with the Slytherins. And now you're helping them spread these lies."

"I only have an allegiance to myself. And what I say to you is not made up, because unlike everyone else, I actually witnessed your friend being romantic with Malfoy. Well, Arthur and I witnessed them. But it was my portrait that enabled us to do so."

"Unless you have another portrait at Malfoy Manor," said Ron, "I don't believe you."

"I didn't say I saw them being intimate in the guesthouse, you ignorant boy. But I was present when they were making plans to spend time together. Plus, I saw them engage in an...amorous interlude."

"Amorous interlude?"

"That is a nice way of saying I saw them snogging," barked Vincent. When he heard Ron snort, he remarked, "I did see them. It was on the day all of you went to Hogsmeade before your break. I went to visit Arthur's portrait down in the dungeons and when we came back to my portrait, we saw them sitting on the floor together. She was feeding him chocolates."

Ron made a loud noise deep in his throat.

Vincent narrowed his eyes at the boy. "This indeed took place. In fact, Malfoy didn't want his candy, so Granger took it to bring back to her friends Ron and Harry--That would be the two of you."

Ron and Harry exchanged a glance.

From then on, neither boy said a word - nor made any loud noises - while they listened to Vincent recall the rest of the events of that afternoon. Ron's arms, at first, were pinned tightly against his chest as a form of protection against the old man's lies. But they soon dropped to his side.

Ron and Harry walked into the Great Hall as if in a haze. They then sat silent, and moved their food around on their plates. Harry pushed his plate away and said, "I don't believe him. The fact that he hangs around with the Slytherin portrait is reason enough not to trust him."

With his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, Ron lazily glanced up at Harry. "I guess. It's just that..." He scratched his head and looked down. "He said that she went up to the seventh floor with Malfoy after the Hogsmeade trip. And don't you remember how we kept looking for her all over the place? And suddenly she showed up out of nowhere with a huge bag of chocolate frogs."

He then made a face. "I would never have eaten those frogs if I had known they were Malfoy's." He reached for his stomach and opened his mouth as though he was going to throw up.

"Are you saying you believe him?" asked Harry.

"I don't know. There's about ten different stories circulating at once, and it's hard to know what to believe. I would be a lot easier if Hermione told us what was going on."

"Listen," said Harry, "this is all Malfoy's doing. You know how he twisted the truth about them having sex at his house. He's twisting the truth on what happened during the Hogsmeade excursion, as well. Perhaps he and Hermione did go to the seventh floor. But to study. And I wouldn't blame them either. You remember how everyone kept staring at them that time they were in the Three Broomsticks."

Ron nodded.

"So," continued Harry, "they probably went somewhere quiet to continue their report. And then afterwards, Malfoy ran to the portraits and told them lies. But don't worry, everything will get cleared up once Hermione starts talking."

Harry's words did not enliven Ron's mood, and he continued to look down at his food with a blank expression on his face. Harry soon adopted his friend's solemn demeanor and dropped his gaze.

The two boys' behavior was a vast contrast to the whirlwind of excitement and action that was taking place around them. All throughout the hall, students were moving from table to table, as they exchanged information on the Draco/Granger scandal. Even those who had no knowledge of what had happened were now experts on the matter, and were making claims of actually seeing the couple together.

Although the noise and talk about their friend was mind numbing, the room grew more distracting when it suddenly became quiet. Ron lifted his head and looked in the same direction everyone was now staring.

Standing in the entryway, with Crabbe and Goyle holding the doors on either side of him, was Draco. He surveyed the room, as though he was fully aware he been the subject of everyone's conversations. He then made his way to the Slytherin table, closely followed by his large entourage.

The order in which the Slytherins entered the Great Hall was based on seniority, with the seventh year boys up front, and the sixth and fifth years towards the back. The girls, no matter their year, were delegated to the very rear.

Pansy, however, had the privilege of being the only female at the front of the crowd. She turned her head and scanned the faces of those at the Gryffindor table. Her spirits fell slightly when she didn't see Hermione. But the moment was not completely wasted; that she was now the center of attention gave her some satisfaction, and she smiled.

Others in the convoy stared at the Gryffindor table as well. A group of boys even pointed at Harry and Ron. After whispering amongst themselves, they erupted in laughter.

Ron grabbed the knife from his plate. "Look at him," he said as his eyes followed Malfoy's every move. "He walks in here like he owns the place. He should be hiding in shame for what he's done to Hermione."

"Since when has he ever done something like that?" asked Harry. "Of course, he's gonna show off in front of the school. Everyone's talking about him and he's loving every minute of it."

Harry soon grew tired of watching the Slytherins and directed his attention back to Ron. He tentatively took the knife that was tightly clutched in Ron's fingers. "What were you thinking about doing with this thing? It can barely cut this roast beef. So, what do you think it'll do to Malfoy?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Ron snapped. "I just want to hurt him."

Several seats away, Parvati was having her own conversation about the spectacle. "I can't believe Parkinson had the nerve to smile. I wouldn't be smiling if my boyfriend had just cheated on me."

"I'm just glad," said Dean, "that Hermione wasn't here to see this."

Parvati rolled her eyes. "I don't think we'll see her for the rest of the week." She then turned to Lavender. "And I don't blame her. If I was her, I'd drop out of school."

"Will you shut up, already?" said Ron. "I'm sick of you running your mouth like you know what you're talking about."

Harry leaned over in his chair and stared at Parvati. "Don't forget that this could have been you. You could have easily been in Hermione's place."

"What do you mean?" asked Parvati.

"I think you know exactly what I mean. There was once a time when you were willing to do anything to be with a certain Slytherin."

Parvati opened her mouth as if stunned. "No, there wasn't."

"Oh," said Ron, "you mean to tell me that you never wrote him a letter saying how you would love to go to the Astronomy Tower with him?"

The comment caused many at the table to look at Parvati in shock. Even girls who had considered communicating with Draco in the past gave her looks of disapproval. Justin had been carrying on a conversation with Seamus and was about to return to the Hufflepuff table, when he heard the revelation. He now kneeled on the floor close to Ron, with a look of delight on his face.

"Since we're discussing people's private lives," Ron went on, "why don't we talk about that time Harry and I found that letter you wrote to Malfoy? You remember Parvati. It was the one that fell out of your bag."

Even though her face turned slightly pink for a short while, Parvati was still able to keep her composure. "So what?" she said. "I never sent it. Besides, writing someone a letter still isn't as bad as sleeping with them."

"Hermione didn't sleep with Malfoy," said Harry. "She's never been attracted to him. He's just saying these things because he was forced to do a report with her."

Parvati pushed back the sleeves of her robes. "And speaking of the report, I heard it was Hermione who volunteered to work with Malfoy, and not the other way around." She turned to Justin to confirm the information, but he looked away when Ron flashed him an evil glare.

"She insisted on working with him," Parvati continued, "even after he made a protest to the teacher. So, it seems to me that she was definitely attracted to him."

"She only insisted on working with him," said Harry, "because she thought he would be an interesting subject."

"Yeah right. If she's so innocent, how come she's not at dinner and refuses to even come out of the dorm?"

Ron banged his fist down on the table, causing the silverware to shake. "Because she's got to deal with people like you who'll only give her a hard time. You know what? I blame you for this whole mess."

When a look a surprise developed on Parvati's face, Ron added, "Yes you. This wouldn't be happening if you and all the girls in Hufflepuff didn't throw yourselves at Malfoy. If you didn't obsess about him all the time, he wouldn't have the power and cockiness to do something like this to Hermione. But since all you girls are so weak for him--yes, I'm talking about you, too," he said to a Ravenclaw who had turned around in her seat when she heard the commotion. "It's because of all of you that he's able to get away with this."

A seventh year Ravenclaw wrapped his arm around his distraught girlfriend, to whom Ron was referring. "You can't talk to her that way, Weasley. Besides, she's never looked twice at Malfoy."

"That's not what I've seen," retorted Ron. "I clearly remember her sneaking out of the storage room with someone who wasn't you. If she was my girlfriend, I'd try to do a better job at keeping track of her whereabouts."

The other boy gave his girlfriend a long glare. He then turned his attention back to Ron. "Maybe you should follow your own advice and do the same with Granger. If you're not careful, she might bed the entire Slytherin house."

Ron got to his feet.

Harry reached over and grabbed Ron's arm. "He's not worth it. Hermione's the person you should be thinking about at the moment, not him." He got up from the table as well, and dragged Ron out of the room before an altercation could ensue.

~*~*~

Ron was still fuming and muttering to himself when they reached the Fat Lady. "Bet he wouldn't be so quick to jump to his girlfriend's defense if he knew half the stuff she was up to," he said to himself.

"Don't worry about him," said Harry. "Let's just try to talk to Hermione before everyone gets back."

"She stepped out," said the Fat Lady. She was seated a large table, as she played cards with a group of equally plump women. "You missed her by about five minutes." She put down her cards for a moment and took a deep breath. "It's good to see her out and about. I hate seeing one of my girls so distraught."

~*~*~

Hermione reached into her robes and fingered the letter in her pocket. She had done that repeatedly during the past few minutes. Somehow running her fingers against the parchment relaxed her. But her calmness was only momentary, and shortly afterwards, her heart resumed its rapid beating.

As she rounded the corner, she looked around to ensure that she was alone. Although dinner had still not commenced, she feared bumping into stragglers like herself who had no appetite.

Her journey continued undisturbed for several moments, until she turned into the hall leading to her destination. It was there that she began to hear footsteps behind her. She paused and listened. The noise suddenly stopped. She continued on her way. But just seconds later, the footsteps resumed as well. They now grew louder, as if the person was closer to her. She was about to start running when someone grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Blaise. He swiftly positioned himself in front of her, blocking her way. "You were absent from dinner, which is quite a shame."

"Get out of my way," said Hermione.

Blaise leaned against the wall, and smiled. He took the toothpick out of his mouth and flicked it into the air, not watching where it landed. He took a step towards Hermione, causing her to back into the wall. Two sixth year Slytherins came into view then and formed a circle around her.

"Why do you want to get away from us?" Blaise asked. "I thought you liked Slytherins."

"If you don't leave me alone," Hermione said, "I'm going to scream. Filch is patrolling nearby and he'll hear me."

"Be my guest. But I guarantee you that no one will hear you. First of all, Filch is still at dinner. Peeves is on the sixth floor, but he's having too much fun destroying the bathroom to come to your aid."

A satisfied smirk curled onto Blaise's thin lips. He turned to the other boys and said, "You know what? When I first heard about Malfoy getting her, I thought he was crazy." He glanced back at Hermione and added, "Or desperate."

He took a few strands of Hermione's hair and curled it around his finger. "But now that I see you up close, I realize you're not bad looking. And I even like how your hair is all wild and out of control." After looking Hermione up and down, he moved closer to her. "You want to know a secret?" he whispered in her ear. "You're getting me excited." He then proceeded to press himself against her.

Hermione pushed him away. "Get the hell away from me."

"Oh, you're a feisty one. I like that. I bet Malfoy had a good time with you. Maybe you could show us a good time, too." Blaise was about to advance upon her again, when he saw her place her hand in her pocket. His stare then traveled to the door leading to the owlery. He remained still for a moment, before swiftly reaching into her pocket and swiping the letter within.

"What do we have here?" he said, as he began to unfold the parchment.

"Give that back to me," Hermione shouted. She then lunged at him.

Blaise was quick on his feet, and avoided being hit by Hermione. He lifted the letter high in the air, just out of her reach. With his other hand, he grabbed Hermione's neck and pinned her to the wall. He moved the letter close to the glow of the lantern and glanced at her writing.

"I don't think Malfoy will have a problem with me reading this," he stated. "After all, he's too busy pursuing other girls at the moment, and won't have time to read it." He smiled to himself when the statement caused Hermione to dig her nails into his arm. He tightened his grip around her neck, forcing her to remain still.

Blaise cleared his throat and read her letter to the other boys. He soon stopped reading out loud and began to mumble the words to himself. When he reached the middle of the letter, he let out a deep breath and turned to Hermione.

"Wow," he said, "those are some angry words you used there. He must have really gotten to you, or else you wouldn't have bothered writing this." He glanced over his shoulder at the two boys and said, "What the hell does he have that I don't? How come every year, he gets all these girls to fall in love with him? Is he using a spell I don't know about?"

He turned back to Hermione and asked, "You're not under a charm, are you?" He waved his hand in front of her face in order to detect anything in her eye movement that would signal she was bewitched.

After staring at Hermione for a considerable time, Blaise looked back at his two comrades. "You two," he bellowed, "go to the end of the hall and keep watch." The two boys seemed hesitant at first, but they eventually obeyed his commands and walked away.

Seeing that Hermione was no longer struggling against his grasp, Blaise released the hand around her neck. Having no further use for the letter, he folded it and placed it back in Hermione's pocket. And while his hand was still in her robes, he took the opportunity to do some mild exploration. He reached for her hips and let his hand glide along her thigh.

Hermione kicked his leg.

Blaise smiled to himself. "You should really forget about him," he said after rubbing his shin. "He's working on a girl or two in some of the other houses, so I don't think he cares about you. You're better off with someone like me." He lifted his hand and glided his fingers along her chin, causing Hermione to turn her head away.

"You must have really been special to Malfoy," he said. "Usually, I can tell when he's got a new girl in his sights. He never makes any announcements, but he'll give off little hints. But with you...nothing. So, I'm guessing he really liked you. And I want to know why." The finger that was perched on Hermione's chin now moved down her neck. It would have traveled further, but Hermione pushed his hand away.

Blaise was about to touch Hermione again, when the other two Slytherins ran past him. "Where are you two going?" he shouted. "You're supposed to be--"

He never saw it coming. But how could he? Ron was very swift and had perfected his movements over the years. And with one quick punch to the nose, Ron knocked Blaise to the floor. Blaise remained down for several moments, as he tried to register what had just happened. He slowly got to his feet and reached for his face. When he pulled his hand back, his fingers were covered in blood.

His blurred gaze darted from Ron to Harry. "Which one of you did this to me?"

"I did," said Ron. He approached Blaise once more, causing the other boy to stumble backwards. "And I'll do it again if I ever see you near her."

Blaise wiped away the blood that was trickling down to his lip with the back of his hand. "You wait until Professor Snape hears about this. He scolded you guys today for being late to class, so I could just imagine what he'll do to you when I tell him about my nose."

Ron craned his head towards the end of the hall, where the other two Slytherins had been standing post. He then turned to Harry and said, "No one's around. So, why don't you pin him down while I beat him? If we're going to get in trouble for this, we might as well make it good."

"Nah," said Harry. "You'll hurt yourself. Anyways, he'll get his due when McGonagall finds out he likes to harass girls."

"Granger's no girl," said Blaise. He curled his lip, as his glared ran up and down Hermione's body. "Besides, she loves it when Slytherins harass her. Malfoy was just telling us how she likes it really rough--"

"Get outta here," shouted Ron. He lifted his fist in the air and advanced towards the other boy. Blaise turned around and ran down the hall.

When the other boy's footsteps were no long audible, Harry walked over to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Hermione pulled away from him and began to straighten her robes. "I'm all right," she said in a small voice. Her fingers flew to her neck and she began to gingerly rub her skin.

Ron leaned forward and stared at the spot her fingers now touched. "Did he choke you?" he asked.

Hermione's hand quickly flew to her hair, as she began to rearrange the long curls over the area Ron's eyes now penetrated. She took a step away from both boys when she realized Harry's attention was now drawn to her neck, as well.

"He just grabbed my neck," Hermione finally said. "It's nothing to worry about." After a long pause, in which she looked down at the floor, she uttered, "Thanks for the help." She then began to walk down the hall.

Harry caught hold of her arm. "Is that it? After everything that's happened, you're just going to mutter a weak 'Thanks,' and then leave?"

An agitated look now developed on Hermione's face and she folded her arms tightly in front of her. "Look, I'm sorry if I sounded ungrateful. I just have a lot of things on my mind at the moment."

"And I guess, that none of those things includes explaining to us what's going on, right? We've been worried sick about you. Didn't you hear us calling out your name this morning?" He continued to stare at Hermione, until she looked away. "We know you went to Malfoy's house."

The statement grabbed Hermione's attention. She looked him in the eye for the first time during the conversation, and wondered if she would, once again, be forced to deny the rumors. Lying to Parvati and other members of her house had been fairly easy for her. But doing the same to those she cared about would be more daunting. As the tension in her body rose, Hermione resisted placing her hand in her pocket and busied her fingers by fiddling with her collar.

"I know you wanted to find out about Voldemort's plans," Harry said, "but that was too high a risk to take. What if you were ambushed? Malfoy could have been setting you up."

"We were the only ones there," Hermione replied. "Plus, if he wanted to kill me, he could easily have done that while I was asleep."

Harry opened his mouth, but Ron was the first to speak. "You slept at his house?"

"I slept in the guesthouse, not the main house." When the tense expressions on the boys' faces did not disappear, she added, "We had a lot to discuss. And it was already dark outside when I realized the time. And since I told my parents I'd be staying at The Burrow, they'd be suspicious if I stumbled back home at midnight."

"No they wouldn't," said Harry. "You could have just told them that Ron was being a pain and you couldn't take him anymore." He quickly moved out of the way when Ron attempted to kick him. But after that playful interlude, both boys adopted a more serious demeanor and continued to stare at Hermione.

"He didn't do anything to me," said Hermione. "I'm standing here, aren't I?"

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "He might not have harmed you, but he was able to humiliate you by spreading this rumor around school."

Hermione rested her head against the wall and glanced up at the lantern above. Out of habit, she reached for her neck. Unfortunately, her pendant was no longer there for her fingers to wrap around, and she ended up touching the sore area Blaise had attacked.

"I don't think this is his doing," she finally said. "I think someone else started the rumor." When she was met with intense looks from the two boys, she declared, "He wouldn't do something like this."

"Of course he would," Ron and Harry shouted in unison.

"Hermione," said Harry, "we've all been dealing with him for the past six years. And during that time, his personality has stayed the same. He's a conniving, little git. He didn't suddenly transform into a decent person overnight."

"He wouldn't risk antagonizing me," Hermione stated. "Because he knew I would altar my report and paint him in a bad light."

Ron snickered. "You mean you've actually found something positive to write about him?"

"Of course. It's not like he's a demon. He's got some redeeming qualities, once you get to know him."

Both boys remained silent and stared at her. Ron walked towards Harry and whispered in his ear. When they pulled apart, they both gazed at her once more. "Did you eat anything at his house?" asked Harry.

"Yes."

"Then I think Ron's right. Malfoy could have put a something in your food. He's very good in potions and I'm pretty sure he knows some illegal ones that the school's not teaching us." After conversing with Ron once more, Harry said, "I think we should take you to Professor McGonagall." He reached for Hermione's arm, but she pulled away from him.

"Leave me alone," she said. "I'm perfectly fine. He hasn't given me any potion and I'm not under a spell."

"Then why are you defending him?"

"I'm not. It's just that there's more to him than what you see at school. Regardless of what you two think, he doesn't act like that all the time. I went over to his house because I knew he wouldn't do anything bad to me. I've spent hours alone with him, and he's never done anything. That's why I don't think he started this rumor."

There was then a long silence, in which Hermione studied their expressions to see if they believed her. Although Harry did not appear to be completely persuaded by her argument, the hardened look on his face had disappeared.

Ron, on the other hand, made it perfectly clear that he did not believe her generous description of the Slytherin. And although he continued to glare at her from the corner of his eye, he made no other comment on Draco's personality flaws. "What information did you get?" he finally asked. "Did you find out if he was the one sending Harry those letters?"

The question seemed to have caught Hermione off guard because she stared at Ron for a moment before answering. "Well, we basically spent a lot of time in his library, just talking about books. The subject of Harry never came up."

Ron continued to stare at her with a perplexed look on his face. "What about You-Know-Who's future plans?" When Hermione did not respond, he said, "So I guess the answer is no, right? After all the trouble you went through, you weren't able to learn anything new except maybe his favorite piece of literature?"

Hermione's gaze fell to the floor.

"I guess you were right about Malfoy being a smart guy," said Harry. When Hermione gave him an inquisitive look, he added, "All this time, you thought you could fool him into trusting you. But you're the one who's been fooled. You haven't gotten his trust; he's gotten yours. That's why you weren't able to get any information from him."

Harry's voice grew sad as he spoke, and he ran his hand down Hermione's arm. "Malfoy knew what you were up to from the very beginning," he continued. "Didn't you find it odd that he continued the report with you? I know I did. He could easily have complained to his father or Snape, but he went along with it because he came up with a scheme to embarrass you. And he succeeded."

The misery that Hermione had experienced in the dorms suddenly came back to her. And like before, her emotions came in a sudden flash that caused her to slide down the wall. Although she brought her hands to her face, the large tears that rolled down her cheeks were hard to hide.

Ron and Harry sat on either side of her. Harry wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug. With Hermione now sobbing on his shoulder, he whispered, "I appreciate what you went through to try to help me." He then looked at Ron, and quietly signaled for the boy to utter supportive remarks as well.

"Yeah," said Ron. "We really appreciate it. It took a lot of guts to do what you did. I still don't know how you just didn't punch Malfoy during your first study session. I would have pummeled him--" He stopped talking when Harry narrowed his eyes at him.

"You did your best," said Harry. "But Malfoy is too clever to fall for it. Let's face it, he's a pro at being manipulative. He has an agenda for everything he says and does."

Harry's well-meaning words only deepened Hermione's pain. His harsh description of Draco reverberated in her head hours later when she was in the library. She had been exposed to Draco's conniving nature in the past; but she hoped that that deviant side of his personality had not surfaced during their relationship.

Hermione looked up from the new letter she had just composed - which was shorter than its predecessor, and would not be recognized by Blaise - and watched as Madam Pince gathered the books from a nearby table. It was then that she began to ponder the other statements that Ron and Harry had made earlier that night.

She doubted that Draco had masterminded everything from the very beginning, like Harry had claimed. Why would he concoct an elaborate plan and spend weeks of his time just for the sake of spreading rumors, she thought. Had he been up to something, she surely would have sensed it. And she would not have agreed to spend an intimate night with him, unless she truly believed his love for her was genuine.

But just before she became set on the idea that Draco was not involved in the scandal, a myriad of doubts flooded her mind. She then began to question her judgment. Perhaps he had been crafty enough to mislead and entrance her like he had done to others. After all, she failed to find out anything about Voldemort, which was her main reason for doing the report with him.

Hermione lowered her head as she thought of the idea of sharing her body with a boy whose intentions had been devious. Thoughts of their time in the guesthouse, which she had previously recalled with fondness, now filled her with regret. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her face.

It was twenty minutes later - well after closing time - when Madame Pince tapped her on the shoulder. "Ms. Granger, I hate to inform you that we are now closed."

There was a certain sweetness in the librarian's voice, which Hermione had never heard before. Perhaps she feels sorry for me, Hermione thought. Madame Pince, however, kept her views of Hermione to herself and did not utter another word to the girl. She took her cart of books and pushed it nosily towards the next table.

Moments later, while Hermione tied her letter to the school owl's leg, she concluded that no one had any reason to feel sorry or even pity her. Her relationship with Draco was genuine. It had to be. She needed it to be.