Resentment | Dramione

Chapter 11

It had been weird to get back home under such different circumstances. What was even weirder was leaving Hogwarts, knowing she might not return to it next year. Now that Dumbledore was gone, Harry would be in much more danger. And who was going to be the headmaster now, anyway?

As much as she loved Hogwarts, her main priority now was to keep Harry safe. And she never thought she would say this, but if that meant abandoning school, then she'd gladly do so.

Harry. She had not spoken to him at all since last week when they left for home. She had no clue on how he was doing, and how he was handling things. Neither had she spoken to Ron or Ginny for that matter, but that was done more on purpose.

She had been secluding herself from everyone. Even to her family she spoke less and only answered when she really had to. It's not like she enjoyed doing that, not even in the slightest. But it was necessary.

What Hermione needed right now was to think. Just to take a moment out of her day, and to think everything through carefully. She needed to sort out for herself what to do with Draco and their mental connection, and if she should now tell Harry and Ron as well.

After all, how much could it hurt now, right? Although, she guessed a lot. If they found out now that she had been aware of things going on for months and hadn't even let them on in it.. well, she was certain they'd end the friendship right then and there.

Of course the truth would come out eventually at some point – it was just inevitable. But she'd try to stall the moment for as long as she could. Not for the sake to maintain the friendship for selfish reasons, but to maintain the friendship to keep them together – to survive.

Because that's what mattered the most at the moment. To survive, and they'd need each other for that. Which is why she didn't want to linger too long on the things that were bound to happen after the boys did find out about the connection between her and Draco.

Draco. She wasn't sure if she was glad or a bit upset that he hadn't shown any sign of communication over the past few days. Not like she really bothered to dig into his mind. She just wasn't ready to face his thoughts on the matter yet, she supposed.

But she wouldn't deny that she missed him in some sort of a way. Hearing an occasional thought of the day had become a comforting habit to her – to assure that she wasn't alone even if some days she felt like it. But now it was dead silent, and at the moment she felt more alone than ever.

I'm still here. Hermione cursed the living hell under her breath as she jumped in her seat near her bedroom window, the voice clearer than she had heard it so far. But that might be due to the absolute silence that hung in the house so late at night.

Overcoming the initial shock, she relaxed into her seat again and waited for her heartbeat to go a tad bit slower again. In all honesty, she was just dreading the moment to figure out what to say in return.

Did she actually even want to talk to him? Yes, she did. Heck, that's what she had been craving for the entire week. Not that she'd ever admit it aloud, of course. But when Draco wasn't in his usual arrogant mood, then he could be incredibly calming to talk to, and she really did miss that.

So, she wanted to talk to him – that she was certain about. But what in the world could she say in return? Too many things happened last week, and she wasn't sure how to address it. She didn't even know if he even wanted to talk about that.

Granger, for Merlin's sake, just stop rambling and ask me how I'm doing or something. Hermione smiled at that thought, glad to hear some of the old Draco again. But then she frowned, releasing an angry huff in the process.