The Hoax (Dramione Story)

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The frustrated brunette let out a deep sigh, ripping her brown eyes away from the doting couple in front of her. Hermione Granger looked down at her food a moment later and pushed her plate away abruptly. "I think I may have just lost my appetite." She muttered under her breath, looking over at her other friends for some support but instead saw them cuddling with their hands interlaced together.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she stared at the ground because she just couldn't bear to see her happy friends. She absolutely knew she shouldn't have felt the way she did but she couldn't help it. The fact that she was the only single person in her group of friends made her feel almost embarrassed. What made it worse was the fact that the person she loved was with someone else - and not just someone - Lavender Brown. Why had Ron rejected her?

During the war, they shared a kiss and she thought it meant something to Ron because it meant the world to her. However, a day later Ron claimed that he had only kissed her just for the sake of kissing her at that exact moment. Whether he was or not, Hermione meant every bit of that kiss. But it didn't matter because he didn't feel that same way; she had to live with that very fact.

And she hated it. There were so many instances when she wanted to scream every time he kissed Lavender or leave the room every time they entered but she couldn't. Unfortunately, she was bound to them because they were all . Ever since Harry began to date Ginny, Hermione grew close to her quickly and found herself a best girlfriend to talk to. But everything she told to Ginny would sooner or later be told to Ron because of Harry. They were all connected to each other and that suffocated Hermione because she could never truly tell Ginny thing. But that was just another thing Hermione had to live with.

Or maybe she could stay away from them for once in her life without jeopardizing her friendship with them.

It was soon to be the winter holidays and everyone was just about ready to leave school to go home. Hermione, on the other hand, decided to stay at school for break for she desperately wanted a break from all of them. Besides, there wasn't really a home to go to.

But to her dismay, everyone else, including Lavender, decided to stay at school as well. Right when Hermione thought she could escape from them, they foiled her plan in an instant all due to person's decision.

"Aren't you excited we're all staying here for the holidays?" Ginny asked her friend with a grin.

"It's great . . ." Hermione responded bitterly. "Why did you lot decide to stay here for the holidays? I mean, I don't want you to break tradition of staying at your house all because of my decision to stay." The brightest witch of her age mentioned, trying to persuade her stubborn friend.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous Hermione. You weren't going to come home with us this winter break so I refused to go and everybody followed suit." Ginny stated firmly with a wave of her hand as if closing the discussion. "For the past seven years, we always went to my house to spend the holidays but since you were going to stay here ... well, it wouldn't be the same without you." Ginny explained and smiled. "But we'll have just as much fun here as we would have back at the house - maybe even more! Uhm, we can be roommates while everyone's gone." The redhead exclaimed with an excited grin. "We can gossip the night away," she winked with a sly grin.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you for staying here just because of me." She told Ginny and Harry. "But I'm pretty sure you guys and . . . Ron and Lavender will be too busy spending time with each other." She told them with a disappointed smile. "But I'll be spending my holiday in the library so it wouldn't matter to me anyway." She quickly added.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. You're going to avoid us because of them, am I right?" Ginny cocked her head over to the tiresome couple in front of her, surprising Hermione with her dead on accuracy.

Hermione forced a small chuckle and refused at once. "What? No, of course not. Are you mental?" She asked her friend, a little too exaggeratedly.

"I think you're the mental one." Ron said with his arms around Lavender's petite waist. "What are you dramatizing now?" He asked with a playful chuckle, his joke not quite settling well with Hermione.

Hermione clenched her jaw and lowered her gaze on the clueless red-haired boy. "Ron, I'd appreciate it if you didn't interrupt our conversation." She proposed politely before turning back to Ginny. "I have other important things to do anyways, Ginny. I'll be busy with studying, reading, and maybe even meeting someone new." She said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows?"

"You don't have a boyfriend." Ron commented bluntly as he nervously laughed. "Right?" He asked, cocking up an eyebrow.

Harry shot his friend a warning look as he kicked Ron in the shin under the table. "Ron, just shut up." He whispered over to his friend in a hurry.

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, shooting daggers towards Ron. "And why do you say that? You're saying it as if it's never going to happen." She snapped at him and shot up from her seat. "If I were you , I would just mind my own damn business. Why don't you just go back to snogging your girlfriend, you seem to be doing it a lot these days." She quickly left the Great hall with flaming hot cheeks. She slowed down her pace to catch a breath but she couldn't brush off the anger that was boiling inside of her.

She came to a complete stop in the middle of the corridor as she pressed her lips into a thin line. She felt tears threatening to spill out but she refused to cry - not here and not for . She inhaled sharply and straightened her back.

"Hermione, are you okay?" A voice called out from behind her.

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Draco groaned and shot Pansy a dangerous glare. "Parkinson, get your filthy hands off of me." He snapped at her as he roughly pushed her hands away from his thigh. He was pleasantly enjoying his dinner with his best mate, Blaise, until she showed up to ruin it.

"Why are you being so shy, Drake?" Pansy asked with an annoying, high pitched voice as she smiled at Draco.

" call me that." He said sternly as he stared at her with his cold, arctic grey eyes. "Just—just leave me alone, Pansy."

Pansy slightly backed off from his cold gaze, the smile getting slapped off her face in a matter of seconds. But she quickly composed herself and stared at Draco straight in the eye. "No matter what you say or do to me—" She stopped and giggled to herself. "—I'll always be here. The more and more you tell me to back off, the more and more I want you." She explained with a smirk. "The more you tell me to leave you alone, the more I want to stay with you."

Draco frowned as he glared at her. "Look, I don't think I got this through your thick skull, but I want you to leave me the hell alone. I absolutely detest you, Parkinson. You're merely just a bratty bitch who's dense. Why don't you go bother some other guy for once and leave me the hell alone?" He ordered before turning back to his food.

Pansy crossed her arms across her chest as she glared at him. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear that because I know you didn't mean it." She said stubbornly as she got up from her seat.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Parkinson." He sighed in defeat as he shook his head.

Pansy remained standing next to Draco with a hard glare, hoping he'd look back at her. When she realized how futile it was for her to stand there, she groaned and walked away without another word.