I Love You, I Love You Not

I Love You, I Love You Not

Chapter 5

Good, better, bad

Three days had passed since the Quidditch match of Saturday. Ron had received a warning for expulsion and a month's worth detentions. He wasn't really talking to anybody at the moment. On some occasions you could see him walking through the castle but if you didn't look thorough enough, you wouldn't even recognize him.

Draco was now walking to the infirmary, mumbling something. He was kind of frustrated, because Hermione hadn't left Harry's side since Saturday, but he understood how she felt and his feelings soon passed. He reached the door and opened it slowly, knowing what would be on the other side. Hermione was sitting at Harry's side, holding his hand in both of her own, rocking back and forth.

"Harry... wake up. Come on, Harry. I-It's Tuesday... you have to wake up... and g-go to DADA," she said in a very calm voice.

She looked at him hopefully and, when he didn't move, she burst into tears. As Draco was looking at them, he couldn't help but feel guilty. He slowly walked over to her and she looked up at him.

"She looks awful," he thought. And she did. Her hair was a mess; standing everywhere but down. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained from the crying.

She stood up and Draco enveloped her in a hug. Draco held her tightly and stroked her hair until she seemed to calm down. Hermione heard a rustle of sheets and quickly jumped from Draco's grasp and was at Harry's side in an instant.

Harry was awake but he didn't want to open his eyes just yet. He made a quick check of his limbs by moving them slowly. He was happy to find that everything was still intact. He opened his eyes slowly and, although his vision was a bit blurry, he could see Hermione standing over him. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back.

"Oh Harry... I'm so glad your back," Hermione said as tears ran down her cheeks. Harry opened his eyes as Hermione pulled away from him. Harry blinked and looked at her. She was smiling at him and she looked beautiful. A small tear ran down her cheek and he wiped it away with the back of his finger. He was surprised at his actions, but not as surprised as Hermione.

"Harry! You... you could see my tear, and you don't have your glasses on!" she said. Harry touched his face where he thought his glasses were. Nothing.

"This is great," Harry said and Hermione hugged him once more.

"Welcome back, Harry," Draco said. Harry, noticing Draco for the first time, reached out to shake his hand.

"Thanks, Draco," Harry said as they shook hands. Just then Julia entered the infirmary. When she saw Harry, she quickly ran over to him.

"Oh, Harry!" she said and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're awake," she said.

"Me too," Hermione said, unknown to anyone. Harry smiled at Julia.

"Ron will be so relieved," Julia said without thinking. A silence fell over the room.

"Oh goodness!" said a voice and the four students jumped from surprise. Madam Pomfrey came over to them.

"Tsk tsk," she said and shook her head. "Three visitors! This can not be!" she said.

"Don't..." Harry began but was cut off by Pomfrey.

"All of you out NOW!" she said and started shooing them out of the infirmary. They all managed to say their goodbyes before they were completely out of the room.

"Glad to see your awake, Mr. Potter," she said on her return. Harry smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Great," he said. She gave him a skeptical look.

"Hmm... very well then. If you feel 'great', then you may leave," she said.

"Thanks!" Harry said and jumped out of bed, eager to get out of the Hospital Wing.

**--*-*-*--**

Harry was walking to the Gryffindor Common Room one evening when something behind one of the statues caught his eye. He walked over to it and saw Draco pinning somebody against the wall. He was kissing her furiously but Harry couldn't see who it was.

He saw that her one leg was bended up against his side and his hand was underneath her skirt on the inside of her upper thigh. At first Harry thought it was Hermione but when Draco lowered his head to kiss the girl's neck, Harry thought again.

Harry saw that Draco was not kissing Hermione... but that he was kissing Pansy. Harry was so shocked that he didn't know what to do but then decided to run. He ran straight to his room and, after entering, felt nauseous. He ran straight to the bathroom and shut the door. He stood over the sink, hands on either side, breathing heavily and feeling a bit dizzy. A small knock came from the door and Harry looked towards it.

"Harry? Are you alright?" came Hermione's worried voice from the other side of the door. Harry took a shaky breath.

"F-fine," he said in a croaky voice. "I'll be out in a bit," he added quickly.

"Ok," Hermione said and he could hear her walk away.

He rinsed his face with ice-cold water and then went to her room. He opened the door and peered around the edge. She was sitting on her bed and, when she saw him, motioned for him to join her. He walked over to her and sat down. They sat there for a while in silence.

"Harry? Are you coming down with something?" Hermione asked, examining his pale face and shadowy eyes.

"No, I'm alright," he said. Hermione nodded but knew something was wrong.

"It looks like you've seen a ghost, Harry," she said. Harry chuckled and then nodded. Hermione put her arm around his shoulder and pulled him toward her. They hugged and when they pulled apart, Harry remembered what had happened.

"Hermione... are you still dating Malfoy?" he asked.

"Harry... what are yo-,"

"Answer the question, Hermione," Harry interrupted her. Hermione was taken aback by Harry's rudeness.

"Yes... but I don-,"

"Shh," Harry said, interrupting her again. "Listen... I have to tell you something," he said and then took a breath. "Well... I hope you won't get mad... but you probably will... but anyway... I saw D-, Malfoy kissing Pansy tonight... Malfoy's cheating on you, Hermione," Harry said.

"Really?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Yes, I'm so sorry," Harry said and took Hermione's hands in his. Hermione laughed bitterly and shook Harry's hands off her own. Harry was totally confused.

"Listen! He would NEVER kiss her! NEVER!! He loves ME! If you're jealous about my relationship with Draco... you could have said something... instead of making up stories. I never thought you would do something like this. I thought you were my friend!!" Hermione yelled. Harry's mouth fell open.

"But Hermione, I'm not lying. It's the truth," Harry pleaded. Hermione stood up quickly and pointed to the door.

"I would appreciate it if you would leave," she said through gritted teeth. As Harry stood up, she turned her back to him, arms crossed. He looked back twice before he left the room. Once in his own room, he fell down on his bed with a sigh.

"Why?" he thought and pounded his pillow out of frustration. While contemplating the ways he could get Hermione to believe him, he fell asleep.

**--*-*-*--**

It was a wonderful snowy Saturday morning when Harry awakened. He did not feel so wonderful as he got out of bed and remembered the previous night's events.

"Hermione must hate me," Harry thought as he changed into a dark jean and a black jumper. He still couldn't understand why Hermione would behave the way she did.

He was at her door and wanted to check on her but decided against it and went down to breakfast. Upon arriving at the Great Hall, he found that it was empty. He looked at his watch for the first time that day.

"10:30. Well, no wonder nobody's here... it's almost time for lunch," he said softly and went down to the kitchen.

"How can Dobby help sir?" Dobby said cheerfully as Harry entered the kitchen.

"Can I just get a few pieces of toast, please?" Harry said and sat down at one of the tables. Dobby nodded and ran off. After a short while he appeared in front of Harry with a plate of toast.

"Thanks Dobby," Harry said and waved as he left the kitchen. Harry wanted to eat outside but as he tried to open the doors, he found that they were stuck from the first snow that had fallen the night before.

"Great!" Harry thought. He decided to eat in the Great Hall. When he was finished, he left his plate there and went to the common room where he found Ron and Julia snogging each other senseless.

"Hey Ron," Harry said, interrupting them. Ron looked up and smiled.

"Hi!"

"Where's Hermione?" Julia asked.

"I dunno," Harry said and slumped into a chair with a sigh.

"What happened?" Ron asked. Harry sighed once more and rubbed his brow.

"Well... last night I saw Malfoy snogging Pansy in the halls..." Julia gasped, "... so I went to Hermione and told her. The odd thing is that she didn't believe me. She totally denied it. She also said that I was jealous of her relationship with the scumbag and that I just wanted to break them up. Then she threw me out of her room and I haven't seen her since." Ron and Julia's mouths were hanging open. Silence filled the common room.

After a while Hermione came through the portrait hole. She ignored the three of them and walked straight to her room. They watched her go and ,when she was out of earshot, Julia said,

"I think you should go to her." She gave Harry a reassuring smile.

"Ok," Harry said and stood up to go upstairs.

Hermione tried to hold back the tears as she walked up the stairs; a very difficult task indeed. Once in her room, she collapsed onto her bed and let the sobs overtake her. Harry opened the door slowly.

"Hermione?" She looked up at him and felt absolutely horrible. She looked away and cried.

"Hermione... what's wrong?" Harry asked and sat down on the foot of her bed. She looked up at him. He had never seen such sadness anywhere else.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," she managed to get out. She stood up and went to stand at the window. Harry stood up as well and walked over to her.

"About what?" he asked, not knowing what she was talking about.

"About Malfoy," she said. Harry's eyes grew wide for Hermione had spoken his name with such hate.

"What?! What happened?" he asked, looking her over to see if she had been hurt. She turned to him.

"I'm ok, Harry," she said. Harry blew out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Their bodies were inches apart. Hermione drew in a shaky breath.

"I... I went to him this morning to ask him if I should bring anything for his family because I was going to him this Christmas." Hermione stopped for a moment. "So... I went in to his room and..." she sniffed, "I saw him in bed... with Pansy!" she said through a sob. Harry enveloped her in a tight hug and held her as she cried.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry said while he rubbed her back softly. She pulled away from him after a while.

"Thanks Harry," Hermione said. She then looked away from him and stared at the floor.

"But I should've believed you, Harry." He lifted her chin up with his index finger. When they were looking into each other's eyes, Harry said,

"It's ok." She returned the smile he gave her.

"I love that smile," Harry and Hermione thought in unison. Harry then cupped her face with his hands and kissed her on her forehead.

"Everything will be alright," Harry said and gave her another tight hug.

**--*-*-*--**

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Julia were heading towards breakfast the following morning and, as they were walking, Harry and Hermione had filled them in on what happened the previous evening. Just as they were about to enter the Great Hall, Malfoy and his cronies came around the corner.

The foursome stopped at the same time Malfoy stopped. The two groups stared at each other for a while and then Hermione stepped forward. She went to stand in front of Malfoy and the lifted her hand in the air.

Malfoy staggered when she slapped him square in the face. She smirked and threw the necklace he gave her on the floor at his feet. She gave him a last glance and then went into the Great Hall for breakfast, followed by her friends.

To Be Continued