Complicating Differences

Chapter Five: Conflicts

Unable to move, Draco lay in bed, his head throbbing too much for him to even think about anything that had happened in the past few days. He knew that if he just got up and washed himself up, he would feel a million times better. Something, though, told him he should just sleep a few more hours. It was a Monday, and he always thought they were unimportant, anyway. Who wants to go to classes on a Monday?

I bet you Hermione does. Draco let out a muffled "Mph" substituted as a laugh. He really mustn't have been thinking too hard; he wasn't even aware of the first name basis that was taking place between the two "sworn enemies".

Hermione, also, was having difficulties waking up, herself. She was always good at the early bird routine, and almost never complained about the classes she had that day. But this day was different. He mind was a bit pre-occupied.

I need to stop thinking about that. It's not even half as important as these exams coming up. Even if she told herself that thousands of times, Hermione knew that her thoughts were set on Draco, and only him. She had spent the whole weekend running their conversation and her dream through her mind, and obviously avoiding him. She just wanted to find out what he was up to, why she was dreaming her strange dreams. That's all, really. She told herself that another thousand times, until it was burned into her mind. She could tell herself that a thousand more times, but there was no hiding the fact that she was now emotionally involved. How and why? She didn't know.

As she worked up the energy to walk into the common room, she gathered up her books for the day into a pile. As she did, a letter slipped out. It was Harry's letter. It was the letter to Harry that she hadn't yet sent. What was wrong with her? Why had she forgotten so easily about the one person she felt understood her, not to mention the one person she had told she loved consistently?

It had been almost a week since he had sent her a letter, and she hadn't even set hers off. How long would it take to even reach him?

She shoved the letter back into a book and, with some difficulty, walked stiffly out the portrait hole on the way to her class. Suddenly, she slammed into a stiff body and her books flung out of her hands. Oh no, again? Thinking, or maybe hoping, to see Draco, she looked up.

It was Harry. Not knowing what to say, she started dumbly at him. She stared at his brilliant green eyes, messy black hair, and adorable glasses. This was Harry. This was her boyfriend, whom she hadn't attempted to contact in seven days.

"Hermione!" he yelled, obviously excited to see her. He embraced her into a hug, awkward on her part. She was still so stunned to see him that her arms lay flat at her sides.

"Harry? W-...What are you doing back?" she asked.

"I'm on break. There was a threat at the school - it involved Voldemort. They sent all the students home just in case it was serious. I'm so glad to see you!" he said enthusiastically.

"HARRY! A threat? About Voldemort? Oh no!" Hermione screeched. "You know he could go after you. What if he's back? What if he's alive?"

"I'm glad you're happy to see me," Harry said dully.

Hermione playfully slapped his arm. "Oh, Harry, you know I am. I wouldn't be so worried if I wasn't, would I?"

"Yes, I suppose," he said. "So what've I missed here at Hogwarts?"

"Harry, you were gone only two weeks. Not much has happened."

"Good. I wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun. Where's Ron?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I have no clue. We don't talk much lately. He has a girlfriend, you know," she said.

"Well, that'll all change. I'm here for a few weeks, until they can get everything cleared up at my school. It'll be the three of us again, I promise," he said, quite convincingly. He touched her face and leaned in to kiss her. Kiss? Hermione hesitated. Although it wasn't an unusual thing, it startled her. Boyfriends and girlfriends kiss, quite often, especially when one is gone for two weeks' time. But what with all that was going on now, kissing seemed so...unimportant.

She stepped off to the side, and awkwardly put her hand on Harry's shoulder. "You know, Harry, I have a lot of things to tell you. Let's catch up somewhere," Hermione said, trying to think of a place to go that involved no PDA yet they could still be somewhat alone. "How about the library?"

Well, that was definitely convincing. Who wouldn't pass up a nice snog with Harry to go to the library? Any other time, she wouldn't have, but it seemed to set alright with Harry. I guess all her life being a bookworm might have some sort of an impact on others.

Once they were sat down, Hermione thought hard about what to tell him. She obviously couldn't tell him anything about Draco, even though that's all that had been on her mind lately. An idea came to her. "Have you met Kate? Ron's new girlfriend? Oh, Harry, she's awful! You say something to her and she'll just pop her gum in return. She's a complete ditz!" Nice topic; I could go on like this for hours.

"I haven't met her, but I'm sure I know everything about her. Ron wouldn't shut up about her for the past month," he said, rolling his eyes.

This hit Hermione hard. Ron and she had always been able to talk about everything. I guess Ron wasn't comfortable talking about the girls he had crushes on, or ones that he was dating. Things seemed a lot easier when they were young, and dating wasn't an issue.

"That's funny. He never mentioned her to me. But I already told you we haven't talked much lately. It's been awful without you here. I really have missed you," she said, quite possibly saying the last part only to reassure her mind that it was true. She supposed she had missed him, but her mind was so murky right now.

"I've missed you too. I'm glad I came back to see you," he said, a glistening look in his beautiful green eyes. Hermione remembered all the times she felt mesmerized just looking at them. He still had that effect on her. At this, he leaned over the library table and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Inches from her mouth, her opened his eyes and glanced at her for a moment, as if to check to make sure it was alright. He leaned in again, and she shortened the kiss that could possibly have been wonderful.

"I don't know if we should show this much affection in the library. It's not very studious," she told him, smiling.

"Oh...fine. Let's go somewhere and be alone, then."

Hermione hesitated. "Not yet, Harry! Quit being so dodgy! I want you to tell me about the threat at your school. Let's go to the common room."

That settled, once again, with Harry. They left the library together, hand in hand, heading for the common room to get caught up. As they came down an empty corridor, Harry stopped quickly to talk to Seamus. Hermione waited at the corner for Harry to finish his exaggerative story. She laughed at his gesticulations. When she turned around, she was staring face to face with Malfoy.

When he said her name, her real name, she was surprised. He also might not have seen Harry; otherwise he wouldn't make such a connection. Especially with a "Mudblood". "Hermione..." he started, and his voice sounded stressed and raspy, like he felt sick.

She just stared at him, afraid at what might happen if Harry decided to come back just then. "Yes?" she whispered.

He opened his mouth to say something, and then glanced past her shoulder at Harry, who was ending his embellished story. He snorted. "Nothing. I only wanted you to move." At that, he aggressively brushed past her shoulder. Then he approached Harry, who had his eyes narrowed at us. "Welcome back, Scarhead."

"What did you say to her?" he asked.

"It wasn't a social meeting, Potter," he spat. "I wanted to get through, and she was in my way."

He brushed past Harry, too. "What was that all about?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Oh, I don't know. Drac - I mean, Malfoy - being his usual self," she said, correcting herself.

"Some things never change," he said in reply.

Never change?

Hermione was getting tired of fooling around with the Draco. She was going to completely ignore him, get him off of her mind, and make sure that Harry was her number one focus. Besides school, that is.

Draco walked passed Harry and headed for his next class, deciding that he wasn't about to skip school over something stupid, like thinking about Hermione. Hermione. Why did he keep calling her that?

Feeling frustrated and angry at himself, he slammed his fist into the wall. Stopping to rub his now bruised knuckles, he noticed something in the wall that wasn't there before, but vanished simultaneously when he pulled his fist away. He rubbed his hands over the same spot on the wall and noticed a glimmer appear, and then disappear, right before his eyes.

Now he was really intrigued. Holding his hand over the same spot again, now for about ten seconds, he noticed a small vibration against his palm. He quickly pulled his hand away, and the glimmer stayed for longer this time; long enough for him to read it. After every stanza, the words would disappear and a new verse would shimmer long enough for him to read.

You seek what you have found

You found what you have sought

Happiness forever

This secret room brought

Find this hidden message

And lucky you have been

Pass this message on

And sadness will descend

Angry, sad, and lonely

Forever lost - confused

Whatever your case may be

I have something for you

Knock three times to the rhythm

Of your beating heart

Speak my name loud and clear

And your happiness will start

There's a catch - there always is

There's one thing you don't know

My name is kept a secret

This I tell you so

My only clue to success

Is one not so easily understood

You see, I speak in riddles

I'd reveal my identity if I could

Help you I will try

So here's your only clue

I am your deepest, darkest secret

Now go, get out, shoo!

And then, as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. Draco stood there, his mind trying to take it all in. He new he had to mark this spot, and he certainly would let no one else find it. He read into his pocket and pulled out some spare gold, candy wrappers, and a comb; what, did you think his hair looked that good without freshening up every few hours?

He licked the back of a toffee wrapper and stuck it on the wall, waiting several minutes for it to stick. When he saw that it was secure, he raced down the hall. He was going to Potions. He knew just who he needed to talk to there, too; Hermione.

Just then, Filch turned the corridor and saw the wrapper on the wall. He picked it off the wall and muttered to himself. "Bloody kids, leaving their messes around for me to clean. I will not look after every one of them, I tell you. Immature, yes, that's what they are. Scoundrels. Shouldn't be allowed to go to a school like this. Half of them don't even..." he rambled, his voice fading as he walked away.

Ginny was in her room, holding up a mirror, and applying makeup. She hardly ever did, but her next class was Defense against the Dark Arts, and she'd probably pass Draco on the way there. He would be going to Potions, and they usually always bumped into each other.

She had his whole schedule memorized, not only by blocks, but by exact times, too. She knew what he had for lunch everyday, what classes he despised, and one's he excelled in. She knew he hid behind the wall to the old girl's bathroom before Hagrid's class and combed his hair into its perfect slicked-back position. She knew what shirts he wore on a Tuesday two weeks after, and she could probably even guess what shirt he might have one today.

Sighing and giggling to herself over the greatness of him, she started out. She couldn't get him before because of Hermione interfering, but she planned on finding somewhere were they could be alone soon enough. She just hoped that Ron and Hermione never found out. She couldn't stand Ron attempting to beat him up; not saying he was weak, but who could possibly defy Draco Malfoy, male sex symbol? Not to mention his biceps were the size of her head. She smiled to herself on the way out of the portrait hole.

Hermione slammed the door, turned around and leaned against it at the same time she let out her breath. She had tried desperately to lose Harry. She felt horrible, but she needed to think for awhile. She was in her room, having spent all of her morning classes feeling horrible and being with Harry, but not really wanting to. She had decided to skip lunch, lie on her bed, and think.

She had noticed Draco acting funny whenever she saw him in the halls or in a class. He had approached her several times, stood there dumbstruck, then scowled and turned away or walked past her.

She collapsed on her bed, upset and stressed about all the new feelings and emotions she was feeling. She could only think of Draco, and how someone she used to hate so much could cause so much internal conflict.

Pansy spotted Draco on the way to lunch, ran up to him, and threw her arms around his neck. "Draco!" she screamed. It was probably supposed to be an excited, giggly girly scream but to him it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"...What?" he asked, annoyed.

"Can't I saw hello to my boyfriend? Can't I just be excited to see him, especially after a weekend of not doing so?" she asked, getting irritated, also.

"I hate it when you call me your boyfriend. I don't have a title, and I'm not your 'boyfriend'" he snapped.

"Yes, Draco, of course," she replied, pretending to humor him. Her smile and portrayed cuteness faded as her face stretched into a sneer. "But I did want to talk to you about something..."

"What is it this time?" he said, shrugging her off and heading to the library. He wanted to try and find something about the hidden message on the wall. It could just be a lame trick left behind by a past student, or maybe it really was something important. It sounded very appealing to him, though.

"I was - er - taking a walk the other night and couldn't help but to notice you and the Mudblood having a conversation. It's not like I was listening, or eavesdropping, but you were talking about a dream. I suppose it's alright considering you were only talking, but you know how I feel about associating with Mudbloods like her and I know that you feel the same way, too, and, well, I just figured you had better explain your bloody self!" Pansy yelled, spitting each word after the other in a consistent pattern and pacing back and forth in front of him.

"I don't have to say a damned thing to you, Pansy. It's none of your bloody business. Besides, I wouldn't even consider our conversation associating," he added.

"I don't understand you, Malfoy. I don't understand the lot of you. MEN! All they do is complain, complain, complain. All you do is ask me for things, request me to do what you want me to. I do, too. A bloody good job. All I want is for you to feel the way I feel about you, be a popular Slytherin couple. But no, instead you go and snog all the other girls. It doesn't even matter what house they're from either, does it Draco? No, I heard the other day about you and Lavender. Was that 'not associating', too? But Granger? This is just too much," she shouted.

Draco laughed. He knew this conversation would work up a scene, and sure enough there were already people gathered around, witnessing their quarrel. He looked straight at Pansy, raised his eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. "Are you breaking up with me, Pansy?" he asked her, a smile on his face.

"You're insufferable, Malfoy! You're a bloody pig!" she yelled, her voice fierce and intimidating. Her pug-like face scrunched up into a frustrated crease. She let out one last whale of a sigh and stormed off.

"She really told him then, didn't she?" Ron whispered to Kate, amused by Pansy and Draco's little argument.

"Yeah, she did. Isn't it funny how much they fight?" she said, looking up at him. "We never fight, do we?" She put on one of her fake pouty faces, batting her eyelashes at him. For a moment he thought she looked natural, beautiful, and striking. Then she opened her mouth, popped her gum, and that thought was deteriorated. She was pretty, but in a completely different way. She was pretty in a school girl kind of way. But behind all that makeup and dyed hair, who knew?

"Do you wanna - "she started. Whenever she got short with him, he knew what she meant. And who would he be to say no?

"Let's go," he said, ready for a good time. It was amazing how much better his inferiority complex was now that a girl was paying attention to him. Before, a girl would have asked him if he wanted to snog in a broom closet and he would have been shy, inarticulate, and had sweaty palms. But with Kate, it was just something you would expect from her. She was a snog-in-the-broom-closet kind of girl.

Walking to a near-by broom closet, he heard his name from behind him.

"Ron!"

He turned around. "Harry!" he yelled. There was then an awkward 'I'm a guy and don't get all mushy' silence, and the two of them walked toward each other.

"When did you get back? Well either way, I'm glad you are!" he said, patting his shoulder in a manly way.

"I'll explain later. Is this Kate?" he asked,

"Awe, Ronny, you told him about me?" she said in a pouty voice. Ron couldn't help but cringe. He was getting awfully tired of that voice.

"Hey, Harry," she said, a little too seductively for his liking. Her voice changed from peppy and pouty to sleek and sexy. She was good at that. "Isn't it odd? We've been at the same school for almost seven years and we've never been properly introduced."

"Yea, well, hi," he said, rubbing his hand behind his head and looking at his feet. He was always shy around other girls, besides Hermione.

As Harry and Kate's conversation, awkward on Harry's part and aggressively flirtatious on Kate's, drifted in and out of Ron's mind, he heard to voices behind an empty classroom door behind the corner.

Excusing himself from Harry and Kate, he snuck around the corner and peered in the window.

He saw Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger locked together in a passionate kiss.