T R A I N E D T O S I N | dramione

Eighteen

For the second time that day, Hermione found herself waiting.

Staring down at her clock, she wondered if Draco would come. Each whisper of a tick from the time piece sparked a new memory. The tang of blood was still present on her crimson tinged lips and her temples ached with the previous invasion.

It took her the good part of an hour to force herself from the floor and when she finally began to stand, her legs would shake viscously and strain as though they were nothing but mere twigs.

And ever since she stood, she had paced. Each step conjuring a new question. She had always known about legilimency, known of why it was used and the effects of it when someone pushed too hard. Compared to other cases, Hermione was lucky.

It was hard to call what he did invading her memories since they were hardly hers to keep anyway. She belonged to Voldemort now. Belonged, in a way, to Draco. And he had ventured as far to see her leave, he left anything unnecessary untouched.

The door fell open and she halted, almost collapsing again just in his heavy presence. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she turned and when she caught Draco's gaze, she held it.

It was different, his facade was almost fractured.

And then the words rang like bells again in her head, almost painful.

Im sorry.

The words now, she could tell, were merely memories. They were echoes in her broken mind, almost comforting if she forgot who's voice was speaking them.

Draco stepped forward closing the door after him not with magic but his hands and he seemed to linger briefly before turning back around again to face her. Neither spoke. Just watched each other intently and when he stood in front of her, he reach out a hand, offering her wand. Though of course it wasn't a choice whether she took it or not. Nothing was every a choice.

Hermione took the wand from his grip and outstretched if I front of her. The wood landed just in front of her chest and she grounded her feet, never leaving her gaze. His jaw contorted briefly under his skin before he raised his wand in response.

She didn't wait, spells sparked from the end of her wand, the spells running off her tongue with ease. With each spell the room flashed a different colour, all cracked as they split in jagged lines through the air and vanished just before his chest.

From behind the spells, Draco was staring blankly at her, deflecting with practiced ease even at the new found speed of her spell work. The spells tumbled from her mouth until they didn't and her spells snapped through the room, filled with such emotion that they did not need to be cast with words.

The witches chest burned with rage and the need to say something burned up inside her. The apologies had sounded so real, so present. His face so...broken, almost lifeless as the words rung around her head, unescapable. But she heard them, she was sure of it. The subtle whisper next to her ear. I'm sorry. Unspoken words and spoken all at once. And they took the shape of his voice.

He had left with nothing but a look, one Hermione couldn't quite understand.

She wanted to hurt him. Yearned for nothing more in this moment than for his defence to slip and a spell to slip through. But then she saw the glint of consideration in his eyes and it was clear his mind was turning just as much as hers. The room was heavy with things unsaid, tension so thick you could cut it with a knife as the two spoke with spells instead of sentences.