Resentment | Dramione

Chapter 40

It had been a month since the visit to Malfoy Manor, and it seemed like the Daily Prophet only now got a whiff of the fact that Draco Malfoy got disowned by his parents. "Would you look at what they wrote!" Hermione exclaimed angrily as she showed Draco the newspaper, but he didn't even bother to look at it.

"Does it matter?" He said dismissively, shoving a piece of bread into his mouth. "Of course it does. They didn't have to write you off like this." Hermione defended, shaking her head at the newspaper in her hands, then let it fall down on the table where it landed with a soft thud. "Didn't expect anything less." Draco shrugged, keeping his eyes focused on his plate.

Letting out a huff, she held herself back for commenting on his distant behaviour towards the subject, reminding her that it was just a defensive method. Of course it hurt him, even though he didn't read about how Lucius and Narcissa had so bluntly told the Daily Prophet that Draco Malfoy was a disgrace to the family because he had chosen to side along with a Mudblood – although the newspaper had been kind enough to correct that word to Muggleborn – and were deeply ashamed to even have to share this news with the world, didn't mean that he wasn't faced by it.

"I mean, don't they realize that they're actually the biggest disgrace to the Malfoy name?" Hermione ranted, not caring about the other students around. Draco, however, did seem very uneasy with all the occasional glances that were shot their way, and finally lifted his head to look up at her. Could you keep it down, please? No need to draw any more attention to it.

Her lips pursed into a thin line, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. All right, all right. I'll keep silent. But honestly, I think it's beyond unfair that you're portrayed like this.

Whatever. When has life ever been fair? Well, she couldn't really argue with that one. Let's just get to class. He said, standing up without waiting for a reply from her, and hurrying out of the Great Hall, leaving half of his breakfast untouched. "Is it really true that Malfoy got disowned?" Hermione heard a younger voice ask her friend as she got up as well, leaving the Gryffindor table they had been sitting at, right at the front where they had nicely distanced themselves from the rest of the students. "Dunno, pass me that newspaper." The friend said, and the other did as asked, quickly picking up the newspaper that Hermione had dropped on the table not long ago.

"Draco Malfoy: no longer a rightful Malfoy heir." One of the girls read aloud, and Hermione quickened her pace as she could hear them beginning to read aloud the rest of the article, catching people's attention from both the Gryffindor table, but also from the Ravenclaw table that was positioned right next to them.

"Hermione!" Just as she was nearly out of the Great Hall, a familiar voice made her slow her steps down, so that the person could catch up with her. "What is all this talk about Malfoy and his disownment or something?" Hermione looked to the side, seeing a sincerely confused looking Ginny staring back at her. Releasing a sigh, she kept on walking, making sure that they had walked up a couple of stairs first so no one could hear before she went on to explain.

"So back at Christmas break, Draco and I went to Malfoy Manor to-" Hermione was silenced before she could even finish her sentence as Ginny interrupted her. "Wait, you went to Malfoy Manor?" Right, she completely forgot to tell Ginny about any of this. "Yes. Remember when we went to the Three Broomsticks?" Ginny hurriedly nodded so that she would go on. "Well when I came back, Draco was waiting with an envelope."

Hermione sighed as she rested her arms on the railing of the stairs, where they had come to a stop midway of climbing it to have a talk. "A letter from his mother, saying she caught word of him dating me, and wished to speak with him promptly."

"Draco refused to go there alone, insisted I joined, and so next day we went." Hermione quickly summarized, too frustrated still from the article she read to really patiently explain to Ginny on what happened. The redhead took a place next to Hermione, resting her back to the railing of the stairs and looking sideways at her, a frown settled on her face. "Why didn't you tell me you left to Malfoy Manor?" Shooting a quick sideways glance, she could see the underlying hurt that was flickering in her eyes as she tried to scan Hermione's face for any kind of emotion Hermione didn't quite know she wanted to find.