All That Lasts Forever

Chapter 2: Sight, touch, breath

The killer hangover.

The only words that could describe her condition.

She felt as if her head had swollen, and for a moment she wondered if she would see something that looked like a medicine ball instead of a head.  Yesterday's night was-

Last night.

No.

No.  No.  No.

She remembered.

Some side of her wanted her to forget. 

Tension.

She didn't want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't run out of the toilet last night.  She felt as if she could ...

  Kill him.

  Make it disappear.

She felt sick in her stomach.  And that wasn't alcohol consumption last night.

It was rage.  She wanted him to go away.

She was curious on what basis he was allowed to return to school.  What about the rest of his pathetic clique?  Everyone should be locked up.  She was sure of it.

She got out of bed, she couldn't be late.  Not now.  Never.

That's not her.

She didn't even bother brushing her curls.  It's not that anyone cared.

As she left the Gryffindor common room, putting the books in her bag, she didn't look around.  She couldn't care less.  She had to get into class.

  Potions.

As she approached the classroom door, the dark-haired boy waved her way with a sincere smile on his face.

"Hermione!  Here!"

Neville grew even taller, she thought.  She wasn't sure how this was possible, he already surpasses every student.

"Hey Neville, I'm not late, am I?"  she asked.

"Oh no, don't worry about that, Slughorn is always at least ten minutes late, don't you remember?"

She didn't remember.

Life in school before the war is a complete blur for her.  She remembered things, but some sort of general professor's habit was irrelevant to her.

~ * ~

As everyone sat down in the classroom, Hermione, sitting with the dark-haired boy, heard a commotion outside the door.  The door opened and two boys entered.

Theo stepped inside and took the seat while the blonde stood there almost chilled.

He was looking at her.

It seemed like an eternity when in reality it was probably less than two seconds.  His gray eyes blazed with something she couldn't define.  It certainly wasn't worth considering.

~ * ~

The lesson was over, but she couldn't remember anything Slughorn had said about their work for the next semester.

  Because he was still watching.

She caught him staring
Seven times - yes, she counted - each time their eyes met, she felt something trickle down her spine.  A cold shiver.

  Disgusting.

After class finished, she practically ran out of there, trying to find a place to take the breath she had been holding for the last hour.

She went into the broom closet, dropped the bag to the ground, leaned over the bookshelves, and inhaled and then exhaled.

Why was he staring?  Was he planning to do something?  Because he definitely scared her.  She wondered if he wanted her to die too.  Did he plan every step in his head.  Maybe his little army was in it too?  She wouldn't be surprised.

Her head turned towards the door when she heard the lock click and the handle rotating.  If it was Filch, she thought, she's screwed.

But the person who actually came was far worse than she had expected.

Draco.

He slowly entered the room, checking outside before closing the door, still with his back to her and not turning around for another minute.

Expectancy.

She couldn't breathe again, had no idea what was going to happen.

He finally turned to face her, his gray eyes blazing as he looked at her.  They both stood frozen by what seemed like an eternity.

He didn't say anything, just stared.  He started to approach her, reducing the distance between them.  She couldn't move.

When he was only two paces away, he finally spoke up.

"Do you have a headache, Granger?"

  What?

He continued.  "Mine does.  Excruciating pain."

What was he talking about?  Did he want her to do something?  Did she say something?  Her thoughts blinded her, biting her lip as she tried to guess his intentions.

He took the last two steps, quickly grabbing her by the shoulders and pinning her to the bookshelf so hard she hit her head.

"You see, I didn't drink yesterday.  I wasn't in the mood for the party.  Do you know why my head hurts, Granger?"

She didn't answer.  She just looked at him, her eyes begging him to tell her.  She felt pain as his hands squeezed her shoulders, holding her still.

He swallowed, his eyes scanned her face, lingering on her lips for too long.

"Because I can't stop thinking about your face yesterday.  I saw the way you were looking at me."

His voice was low and deep, almost a whisper.

"You want me dead, Granger?"

She looked into his eyes.  His eyes darkened.  She wanted to answer, yell at him, show him what she wanted to do to him.  She tried to reach for her wand, but somehow he noticed it and he let go of her hands only to catch her wrists and pin them on either side of her head.

"Always so predictable." She saw a smirk appear on his lips.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" She gritted her teeth, apparently uncomfortable with how close their faces were, their noses brushing against each other.

His smile widened.  "If you want me dead so bad, Granger," he looked at her lips again for a split second, then met her eyes again, his expression darkening.

"Do it before someone else does."

And after that, he let go of her wrists, her knees suddenly numb, she almost fell to the ground.  He ran out of the room, leaving her confused and speechless.

What the fuck happened?

~ * ~

She stayed in the broom closet for almost an hour, thinking about what had happened before, trying to breathe.

She left the room and returned to the common room.  It was already dark outside, she knew if she didn't hurry she would miss dinner.

Upon arriving at her dormitory and regrouping, she crashed into Parvati as she was exiting the room.

"Hermione?  Merlin, where have you been?  Everyone was so worried!"

"Yes- sorry, I- I just- I just went for a walk, that's all."

Parvati laid her things on the bed and joined Hermione to go to the Great Hall for dinner.

"It was a long walk, huh?  We almost thought Malfoy and his pathetic friends caught you or something."

If you only knew.