Bad Blood

Torn Apart

Torn Apart

And it hurts like hell, to be torn apart

And it hurts like hell, to be thrown around.

We were born to be together, torn apart, torn apart.

You stamped with a heavy tread and left your mark,

Your mark on me.

The space you used to fill is now this great black hole,

You're out of sight but not out of my mind.

~ Bastille

Hermione stared at the letter in her hand, her other hand raking through her loose curls. Ginny was not going to let Hermione back out of this one; she would have to go, even if she didn't feel like it. She didn't feel like much these days. When she was not teaching or planning her lessons, she mostly just hid in her room. She knew she was being a coward, but she didn't have the strength to deal with Draco Malfoy anymore. He won whatever sick and twisted game they were playing, and Hermione was content with being last.

She knew that she should have been stronger, that she should be strong since, but she couldn't. Ever since she found out he was getting married there was this large black hole in her heart and she didn't know why. Draco Malfoy has been nothing but mean to her, she didn't know why she cared so much about him.

She remembered how she felt that day his wedding invitation had arrived. It was in the middle of breakfast in the Great Hall and she could feel his eyes on her. She carefully opened the envelope, pulling out a beautifully decorated card. She felt the blood drain away from her face and her stomach lurched as she read the invite. Hermione thought she knew what heartbreak felt like, but in truth there were many kinds of heartbreak. Her heart broke when things didn't go right with Ron, but that was because she had lost her best friend. Her heart broke when she was told she would never have children, but that was because she lost something she could never have. The heartbreak she felt when she opened Malfoy's wedding invitation was on a completely different scale. It felt like her heart had clawed its way out of her chest, ran down her leg and smashed on the cold stone floor of the Great Hall. She couldn't breathe anymore and her head was spinning. Her stomach lurched and she knew she was going to be sick. Heartbreak was as much of a physical thing as it was an emotional thing. Hermione threw down the invite and practically ran from the Great Hall. Draco Malfoy broke her heart and she didn't even know why. Why was her body reacting this way?

Hermione sighed again, setting the letter down. It was from Ron, asking if they could meet for dinner Saturday, because he wanted to talk. Hermione was unsure about what to say and was about to owl Ginny and ask if she knew what this was all about when she changed her mind. Ginny would just force her to go and hear Ron out. Maybe getting out of the castle for a bit would take her mind off Draco Malfoy and the feelings she couldn't explain.

Perhaps that's what she should do.

Hermione grabbed a piece of parchment and her quill before replying.

Hermione smoothed down her simple, knee length black dress before checking her hair in the window of the Snug Bar in St Albans. It was a small and cosy place with brown leather couches and plum walls. The lighting inside was dim, but Hermione could still see. It had a relaxed and comforting vibe and Hermione guessed that's what Ron was going for. She hadn't seen him since Ginny gave birth to Lily, and even then it was only briefly. They had a very strained relationship ever since the break-up, even though they tried to remain friends. Hermione wondered what Ron wanted to talk about and why he was suddenly so interested in seeing her again. Hermione always thought that part of the reason he worked abroad most of the time was to put some distance between them, but he's never confirmed that.