Bonded [Dramione Omegaverse]

Chapter 26

If his goal was to scare her, or to get her to change her mind, then Draco Malfoy had miserably failed.

Hermione Granger had never been the sort of person who easily change their mind, and what Draco tried to prove to her had the opposite effect to what the he actually hoped: she realized she wanted it even more.

For a moment, when she thought he was finally going to bite her, she felt different. Stronger and, contrary to what he might have thought, freer. 
Maybe that was what he didn't understand: the difference between a bond and a chain.

Yet, her brain couldn't help but make her empathize with him: she understood how he must be feeling.

The doubts and fears that tormented him were more than legitimate, she realized.

So she decided, for the days that followed, to stop insisting and give him the time he needed to work things out.

In the meantime, no longer tormented by the flock of owls that had attacked her a few days ago, she concentrated her energies on what Harry had told her about.

The weekend was approaching, and with it the trip to Hogsmeade and the famous proposal.

She was relieved that Harry had chosen to bring the proposal forward to this weekend. She hoped that the news would divert everyone's attention away from her at least a little.

She was the talk of the town in the newspapers, and as she walked the halls of the school she could hear even the portraits whispering behind her back, along with the awkward stares from the boys and the despicable looks from the girls who followed her wherever she went.

She felt a familiar burn coming from her pocket and, looking around to make sure no one saw her, she pulled out the enchanted galleon she and Harry had been communicating with since the mail had been blocked.

H.H. confirmed said the coin.

Hermione found herself smiling.

God, Ginny was going to lose her mind.

---

Draco closed in on himself for the next few days, pondering and reflecting about the thing he longed for and was deeply terrified of at the same time.

Hermione spent her time running up and down the castle, caught up in organizing Potter's famous proposal.

He didn't think he would ever admit it out loud, but he was grateful to Potter for offering Hermione, and even the newspapers, a distraction.

However, although he was certain that inside the castle she would be safe, he was no longer able to get too far away from her. Because of this, his gaze was always on her during the classes they shared. And when they didn't have classes together, he was the first to leave the classroom at a brisk pace, wandering out of the door he knew she would be exiting through.

And it was his inability to get too far away from her the reason why he was now walking alone through a crowd of third-year students, while Hermione, arm in arm with the redhead, advanced toward the Three Broomsticks a few feet ahead.

"If you're trying to blend in, I hate to break it to you but it's not working," Pansy exclaimed, starting to walk at his side in the crowd of students.

"Pansy, can you see Draco?" continued Theodore emphatically. 
"Oh, there you are," he taunted, patting him on the back. "You know, it was really hard to see your blonde head in this crowd of five-feet kids."

Draco rolled his eyes, wondering at the same time what was worse: spending the afternoon in the corner of the pub between Gryffindors and readheads, or feeling like the third wheel between his two friends?