R U N N I N G

H O L I D A Y S - Draco's POV

"Tell them I was happy
And my heart is broken
All my scars are open
Tell them what I hoped would be impossible"

Christmas was coming up, and once again I'd be staying. Except for this time, Hermione would be around. Not that it mattered. She was always busy with Potter.

I hated him. I'd caught him staring at Ginny and her other friend Luna way too many times. He looked like he was ready to devour them. It was disgusting.

I hated the way Hermione's face would change when she saw him. She liked him a lot, and watching them together was driving me mad. At least Blaise had gotten over her and we were back on speaking terms.

I looked at the time, I still had another 5 minutes of class before I could go hide out in the library.

The bell finally rang and I almost ran to the library. I wanted to get as far away from people for a while. I went to sit at my usual table and noticed Astoria Greengrass there.

She looked up and smiled, "You can sit here if you'd like Malfoy. I don't bite..." she told me from behind her book.

I swallowed hard and went to sit. I then spent the next 30 minutes going through my assignments and finishing what I could.

I looked up at the appearance of someone's shadow. I saw Astoria standing in front of me and getting closer and closer.

"You know Draco... I've always wondered what you hide under that jumper. If you follow me, maybe I can find out" she whispered seductively.

Next thing I knew I was thrusting into her quickly. When we finished, she smirked at me and walked away. I packed my belongings up and made my way to my bed so I could feel guilty about what had just happened with Astoria.

Arriving at the dormitory, I saw Blaise was there, I looked around guiltily before blurting out a sentence I would regret. "I slept with Astoria and I feel disgusting" I informed him, a knot settling in my chest and my stomach.

"You fucking idiot. Why would you do that?" Blaise questioned.

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say, "You have to tell 'Mi. You know Astoria can't keep her mouth shut," he told me.

"Why should I have to tell her? She's with Potter now! That's all she talks about and he's the only person she ever spends time with! I shouldn't have to tell her anything" I asked angrily.

Blaise looked at me with an eyebrow raised, "You know why Malfoy. We've talked about this. Hell, we talked about this on the train in September! This will absolutely destroy her if she finds out from someone other than you."

I nodded and turned to walk out. In the hallway, I could see Hermione sitting in the common room.

I began walking to her when I heard it, "Pansy! You're not going to believe who I slept with!" I heard Astoria say.

"Who?" her friend Pansy responded.

Astoria paused for a second and looked towards Hermione, making sure she could hear her, "I slept with Malfoy! In the library! Not too long ago" she answered loudly.

My heart fell from my chest as I watched Hermione's expression from the shadows. The emotions crossed her features quickly before settling on pain. I watched as she got up and walked out of the common room.

"I guess Granger can't handle the fact that she's not the only one Malfoy looks at." Astoria snickered rudely.

"Astoria, why did you sleep with him? Everyone knows he's in love with her and she's in love with him." I heard Pansy tell her.

I froze, waiting for Astoria's answer, "Because it's annoying how blind he is! All he does is make eyes at her that she ignores. Either way, she's with that Potter boy. It doesn't matter that she's "in love" with him. She has a boyfriend. If she really did love him, she wouldn't be dating that creepy fucker. Draco and I belong together!" she finally answered.

"I don't think it's your place to decide if he should make eyes at her or not. And we don't know why they aren't dating. What if they don't know the other one likes them? That boy is in love with Granger and if you ruined his friendship with her, he'll come for your head. I heard from Blaise that on the train in September, Draco stood in between her and Weasley so he wouldn't hurt her like he did last year for the holidays. He broke her arm on the train and after he put her to bed, Malfoy went, found Weasley, and tore him a new one. I'm actually surprised no one questioned what happened. He's gotten almost jumped for her. He's going to find out about what you did, and when he does, don't come crying to me." Pansy explained before walking away.

I knew I needed to figure out how to talk to Hermione.

As weeks passed, Hermione made it harder and harder to talk to her. She kept disappearing with Potter and coming back when I wasn't around. She had even begun to avoid Blaise and was only talking to Ginny.

My days were becoming heavier the longer I was away from her. Every day I regretted sleeping with Astoria. I had confronted her and now she was scared to go anywhere near me, so that was a plus.

The Christmas break had already passed and I still hadn't heard anything from Hermione.

We were halfway through March when one day I arrived at the dormitory and she was buried under my covers violently sobbing into my pillows.