Regret, Remorse, Hold On || Drarry

THREE

"Where the hell have you two been?"

Pansy's mulish voice greeted them, precisely as Blaise had predicted. Blaise shot him a triumphant look as they walked to the Eighth-Year table, to which Draco only rolled his eyes. Pansy had clearly not been here long herself judging by the amount of make up on her face, and the almost unnatural perfection of her dark brown bob. Hypocrite.

He lowered himself carefully into his seat beside Harry, who, true to his word, was discussing Charms with Granger. Beyond Granger sat Weasley, and Draco was fairly certain they were holding hands under the table judging by her small smile and the fact that she never lifted one hand above the table. Ugh.

Blaise settled on his other side, glaring at Harry as he did so. Theo both raised a questioning eyebrow at them, with regard to their lateness. Draco shook his head minutely, silently telling him not to ask.

"Hush, Pansy. It's too early to hear your shrill voice." Draco replied, smirking slightly. Blaise snorted.

"You mean too late, mister." Pansy raised one perfect eyebrow at him. "Let me repeat. Where the hell have you been? Transfigurations starts in ten minutes." She would have sounded quite motherly, if it weren't for the fact that Pansy was possibly the least motherly person he had ever met.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Pansy, stop. It was my fault. I had a long shower and Blaise waited for me. That's the full extent of what happened."

One of his hands disappeared beneath the table and gently took Harry's, who still hadn't noticed him yet. Harry started and turned to look at him in surprise. His gaze raked over Draco's face, and he looked as if he wanted to say something, but instead he just smiled, somewhat nervously. Draco wondered what he had to be nervous about.

He didn't have the chance to ask because Pansy had begun unloading food onto his plate. Perhaps she was more motherly than he had previously given her credit for. He heard Theo and Blaise laugh but paid them no mind. A glance at Granger showed that she was smiling too.

"Pansy, what are you doing?" Draco sighed.

She continued to put toast on his plate without looking at him. "You're too thin and you need to eat. Eat." She commanded.

"Pansy, I'm not hungry." He said truthfully. "And besides, I'm not too thin. I'm lean."

She now raised both her eyebrows. "Really?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I believe that as much as I believed you when you said you were straight in fourth year." Blaise barked out a laugh, and Draco glowered at him.

"Come on, Pans. I'm not hungry. Let's just go to class." He attempted to appease her. He didn't want her knowing that he felt as if he would throw up if he so much as looked at food – which would definitely lead to further questions – and there was Harry again. He didn't want him to worry. Pansy frowned, appearing concerned, but blessedly relented. He knew she was thinking of the weeks directly after the war when Draco had hardly eaten anything, tormented by his memories and his guilt and feeling too sick to stomach anything.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "But don't blame me when you get a headache."

Draco sighed. His headache was already blaring in his skull again. He felt ready to crawl into bed and never get up again, but that was possibly because he had Transfigurations next. He snaked his hand down again to Harry's and gripped it hard. Harry squeezed back.

"How come you're not shoving food onto my plate? I was late too." Blaise teased Pansy, smirking.

She raised an eyebrow. "You, unlike Draco, do not need mothering. Now shut up and let me be a mother."