Chapter 10

                                    

                                          
"I don't get it," Ginny said the next morning, sitting down on the edge of Hermione's bed. "First, you hated Malfoy. And then you loved him for about two days. Now you hate him again? What happened?"
                          
Hermione, who had flung herself facedown on her bed, groaned into her pillow. She couldn't believe Ginny hadn't been told by Ron or Harry about the love potion, and she wasn't really anxious to tell the story all over again. Regardless, she began to recount the story in its entirety, from Malfoy joining her at The Three Broomsticks, all the way up to her bouncing the ring he gave her off the back of his head. When she was done, Ginny looked shocked.
                          
"Ugh! My stupid brother and his stupid friend! How could they not have told me about this? And here I was, thinking that you were sincerely in love with Malfoy! I was worried about your sanity, Mione. I really was! If I had known it was just a love potion, I wouldn't have been so concerned! But, oh! I was actually starting to accept the fact you loved him! You two actually look quite cute together! But now you tell me that it was all just a farce? I can't believe this." Ginny took a deep breath, and shook her head sadly.
                          
Hermione sat up. "I hate this, Gin. I mean...under the influence of the love potion, those feelings I had for Malfoy were so real. And I was so happy. And now...I'm not." She buried her face in her hands.
                          
"Aww, sweetie," Ginny said, giving her friend a gentle pat on the head. "There, there. The last person in the world you want to get upset over is Draco Malfoy. He is a git, Hermione. A stupid git, that's all. Don't give him a second thought." She stood up from the bed. "Now we'd better get going down to breakfast."
                          
"You go on ahead without me," Hermione said sullenly. "I'll catch up with you."
                          
Ginny smiled. "Okay. I'm going to go find Ronald and Harry and yell at them."
                          
Hermione smiled back. "Good idea, Gin. Give them hell."
                          
"They won't know what hit them!" Ginny said gleefully and bounced out of the dorm.
                          
Hermione's smile faded when she suddenly remembered what today was: detention day. Not only was she going to have to suffer through a long day of stares, snickers and whispers behind her back, but then she would have to proceed with spending the entire evening with Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. There was absolutely nothing fair about this.
                          
After about ten more minutes of feeling sorry for herself, Hermione headed down to the Great Hall. However, on her way there, she was intercepted by none other than Blaise Zabini.
                          
"Hey, Granger," he said smoothly, quickly following into stride beside her.
                          
Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "Zabini."
                          
"Nice weather we've been having, huh?" he asked.
                          
Hermione abruptly stopped. "Zabini, we both know you do not want to talk to me about the weather. So please...just tell me what's on your mind. And quickly – I'm supposed to be meeting my friends for breakfast."
                          
Blaise grinned. "You're right. I don't want to talk about the weather. I guess all I wanted to say was...Wow, you've got a mean right hook."
                          
As much as she wanted to, Hermione could not prevent herself from smiling at this. "Yes. Well, what can I say? It tends to be a lot more powerful when a Slytherin is on the receiving end of it."
                          
Blaise beamed. "I like your attitude, Granger, you know that? You've got spunk. I like that. I like it a lot."
                          
Hermione stopped smiling. Blaise Zabini had just complimented her not once, but twice...and in a row. Something was wrong here. Something just wasn't quite right...