Time Spent In Eternal Endings

Brick by Brick

Weeks passed and Hermione's wall was built high. She'd placed bricks upon bricks from morning until sundown, day in and day out. Her wall was nearly taller than Draco now and she could hardly recall the details his eyes held.

She started looking more into occlumency and shielding to help her organize her thoughts and keep some out. She checked out books from the library to study it in depth and then she would spend some time in her dorm occluding for practice. Over the weeks her mind became weak from all of the focus it took, but her mind was as calm as ocean waters. Thoughts of Draco occurred, but no feelings filled her like they used to when she focused hard enough. And thoughts of Draco occurred often so she was occluded through the majority of her day.
Her exhaustion from the occlumency had helped her fall asleep, so that was a plus she guessed. She just didn't know if there was a cost she was going to have to pay in the long game. She only stirred awake a couple of times from nightmares which was nothing compared to the usual occurrence, so overall she felt like it was working in her favor. She hadn't been practicing long enough to be able to tell though.

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Hermione was sitting in her last class now and Draco sat diagonally behind her. She knew because that's where he used to sit before he started sitting with her; not that he did that anymore. She could look at him if she wanted to, but she was fully occluded and she knew she shouldn't anyway. Looking at him would make occluding more difficult for her and strain her mind more than it needed to be at this point in the day. So she kept her eyes forward and calmed her mind.

She stacked a brick on her wall.

The class seemed to pass within a quick minute and she didn't take her time to leave the classroom. She had seen Draco try to pack his notes quickly as she left, but she turned the corner out of the door before he got up from his seat. She had a feeling that he was trying to talk to her but she didn't want to find out.

Hermione walked to Pansy's dorm after class. The door was unlocked so she walked right in and Pansy was sitting in front of her mirror straightening her already straight bangs with a charm. Pansy mentioned something about her bangs needing to be a "curved-kind-of-straight" when Hermione asked.

Hermione set her bag on the bed as she sat down on the perfectly made bed. "What are you getting all dolled up for?"

"What are you not getting dolled up for? The party tonight in the common room? Remember? I told you earlier." Pansy slumped her arms by her side to take a look at her.

"Right, I forgot about that." Hermione didn't even remember now that Pansy was telling her again.

"Yeah, you seemed a little out of it. Is everything okay?" Pansy stood up to put her signature red lipstick on.

The question made Hermione look down at her lap, avoiding eye contact. If she talked about Draco then that would defeat all of her progress towards moving her thoughts away from him. Her wall shook but steadied after a few seconds and some focus.

"Yeah, just a little worn out from school. The usual." Hermione huffed a fake laugh.

"Well, then this party is the perfect opportunity for you to let loose." Pansy shimmied her shoulders flirtatiously.

Hermione wasn't sure if attending was a good idea. It was being held in the Slytherin common room, meaning Draco would be there too. Seeing him in classes was something she could handle. The environment was tame and calm. She was able to focus on her work rather than him. But a party? He could walk up to her at any moment if he wanted to and she wouldn't have the tactic of escaping to her next class. She also wouldn't have any work to focus on so she'd have to be occluding for basically the entire night. Also, last time she checked whenever they're together and alcohol is involved, it doesn't end necessarily well.