Resentment | Dramione

Chapter 8

Hermione groaned as she could see her vision blurring once more, the same as it always had done over the past week. However, to her delight she was now able to partially divide the sights. Albeit a bit blurry, she could still focus on her classes as the other part of her mind showed her whatever Malfoy was seeing.

She figured this was quite useless, just like all the other times when it had happened, because all she'd see was a classroom. As if she hadn't enough classes to attend to yet. But what caught her attention, and made her lose focus in her own class, was the fact that Malfoy wasn't in class at all.

In fact, he was in a much more dimly lit room, and his gaze was solely focused on the bird he put into some object, and she watched as he closed it, hearing the familiar Harmonia Nectare Passus in her mind again.

And it hit her: the vanishing cabinet. She listened as he repeated the spell, and watched as he opened it; but the bird came back dead.

Forcing herself to get back to her own sight, she listened absentmindedly as her professor talked. But Hermione's focus was on something entirely else. Why was Malfoy trying to fix that vanishing cabinet? For months he had been fixated on repairing it. But why?

With a gloomy mood she sat through all her next classes, having noticed that Malfoy wasn't anywhere in sight. Not in the corridors, and not in the Great Hall. When the night fell, she was left alone to walk to the common room on her own after dinner (Harry and Ron said they needed to polish their broomsticks for Quidditch practice tomorrow morning).

It was then, that her curiosity jumped in once more, as she saw the white blonde hair from around the corner, looking cautiously around him to see if anyone would see him. From the looks of it, he just came out of the Room of Requirement for the first time today. His hair was messy, the tie around his neck was loosened and the tiredness that settled on his features were deeply engraved in them.

Malfoy walked around the corner, entering the same corridor she was standing in. And he seemed to notice it as well as he stopped right in his tracks, giving her a blank stare. His eyes were puffy and even a little glossy – it almost looked as if he had been crying.

"Malfoy.." Hermione started, but Malfoy seemed to snap out of his trance as he picked up his pace again, hurriedly walking past her. But she wasn't having it. Not this time, not this night. She was sick and tired of being left in the dark. To get constant glimpses of what he's up to, but not knowing why he was doing it.

So with determination flowing through her body, she picked up her own pace as she ran after him. "Malfoy!" Hermione hissed, not wanting to raise her voice too loud in fear of attracting attention from students that might be walking by in corridors next to them.

When she was close enough to him, she grabbed the fabric of his left sleeve, forcing him to come to a halt and face her. Not wanting her arm to twist in an uncomfortable position like it had done last time he yanked his arm free, she now released the fabric when he turned around, a piercing glare meeting her eyes.

"Don't ever lay your hands on me again, Granger." He spat, but Hermione didn't want to reply to that. Not now, at least. There were more important things on her mind than his disgust by her touch.

"What are you using the vanishing cabinet for?" Hermione asked, her voice low so they wouldn't be overheard. She figured there was no use of beating around the bush, and immediately threw her question out there.

Of course, his answer was to be expected. As he too, replied in an equally low voice: "It's not any of your business." That made her blood boil. It was her business – this charm made it her business. "Yes, it is, Malfoy." Hermione hissed, taking a step closer to him as she had a lot of trouble keeping her voice down, wanting nothing more than to scream at his ignorance towards the situation.