Bonded [Dramione Omegaverse]

Chapter 24

Hermione's heart was beating faster and faster.

Her sweaty hand gripped Draco's tightly as, step by step, they descended towards the Great Hall.

She had gotten her thoughts in order, she knew what to say.
She kept repeating those words in her head, as nervous as she had been a few times in her life.

She had faced far more difficult things in the past, but she had never gone against her friends. She was used to having them by her side.
They had been a constant presence in her life for the past seven years.

Conflicting emotions plagued her: the fear that they wouldn't understand and the guilt of keeping it from them were battling inside her stomach.

She spotted Harry and Ron outside the Great Hall.

They were waiting for her.

She thought that maybe it would be better not to show up hand in hand with Draco.

He seemed to read her mind, suddenly stopping and dragging her behind one of the armors that lined the hallway were they couldn't be seen.

Hermione stared at him questioningly. "Go on," he told her. "Is better if they see you first. Alone"

At those words a weight she hadn't realized she was carrying rose from her stomach. "Thank you" she said, squeezing Draco's hand one last time before letting go of it and walking towards her two friends.

He held her by the arm, forcing her to turn around again, staring at her with an intensity that made her breathless.

"I'm not doing this for them. I'm doing it for you."

Then he let go of her forearm and, without adding anything else, he watched as she walked towards the two.

Hermione had only taken a few steps when they both lifted their gaze in her direction.

The expression on Harry's face gave her some hope that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.
Ron, however, looked more furious than ever. His face had taken on the same shade of red as his hair.

As soon as he saw her he immediately turned his back on her and started walking towards the courtyard.

So, they were going to talk outside.
This was not a good sign at all, Hermione thought to herself as she walked silently side by side with Harry, who was also particularly silent.

Unlike the redhead, however, he appeared calm.
She was grateful for that.

Ron walked briskly ahead of them for several minutes.
They walked quite a distance from the school entrance.
Who could have been eavesdropping on their conversation?
Was he going to yell so much?

She tried to slow the pace of her  breathing.

Sure, she had some explaining to do, but Ron was in no position to be that angry. Things between them had been over long before any of this happened.

The redhead suddenly stopped and she and Harry almost clashed into him.

They spent a few seconds in silence.

Ron kept his back to her.

Hermione looked for Harry's eyes, which were staring at her full of apprehension.

When she couldn't take anymore of the silence, she opened her mouth to speak.
The speech she had carefully prepared slipped from her memory.

"I should have told you about that," she said, darting her gaze between Harry's face and the back of Ron's head, who had evidently decided not to look at her face ever again. "The thing is, it was all new to me. And scary. And embarrassing…" she lowered her gaze.