Only You

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Hermione Granger woke groggily the next morning. Well, that is to say, the next afternoon. It was half-past noon when she was finally able to pull herself from her fitful sleep. Unlike in the stories she had heard, there was no split second of peaceful bliss before reality flooded over her. Reality had followed her to sleep, leaving her to dream of Ron dumping her over and over again in increasingly humiliating settings. It wasn't until she had dreamed of him leaving her for Umbridge, saying that at least Dolores wouldn't lie to him, that she was able to pull herself from her dream state. As she did, fresh tears flooded her eyes, and the thought almost tempted her back to sleep. Almost.

It took her nearly another hour before Hermione was able to drag herself away from the comfort of her covers. The sun shining through the crack of her curtains seemed to insist on some movement. Thus, she threw off her covers and tore open the curtains shading her. The light seemed to burn too brightly in her eyes, eating at her already sour mood.

Rising from her bed, Hermione began the trudge down to breakfast. Winding slowly between armchairs and study tables, she made her way towards the portrait hall.

"Erm- Hello."

The gruff greeting gave Hermione such a start, that she nearly stepped on Crookshanks who had been trailing behind her. Clutching her chest, she watched as the end of an orange tail disappeared under a chair. Looking around for the culprit of her fright, she spotted white-blonde hair peeking out from behind an armchair. Underneath the irritatingly styled hair were sheepish eyes. At the look on Hermione's face, Draco quickly swiveled around in his seat, clearly not wanting to aggravate her more.

"What are you doing in here Malfoy?" Hermione was so angry that she could almost feel the steam streaming from her ears.

In response, Draco jumped from the chair as if caught in a terrible act, but his eyes shone with innocence. "I- erm- Don't you remember what the Headmistress said? About me staying here while-"

"Yes yes I know the renovations!" lied Hermione. "But why are you hanging about the Common Room as if you own the space?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What are you up to Malfoy?" With each question she took a step closer to him. He fidgeted like a nervous ferret, trying very hard not to look at her. "You aren't planning to spy on me are you? You weren't planning to cozy up to me during holidays, were you? Not planning on pretending to be my friend so you can get information on Harry Potter or what we did last year? Are you hoping to worm secrets out of me to make you seem cooler in you slithering friend's eyes? Or are you trying to get information to spill to your murdering father?" By the time the question had finished leaving her lips, Hermione had regretted it.

Instantly, rage swelled up behind Draco's eyes, and heat seemed to jump off of him like a fire. The lack of proximity left Hermione feeling almost fearful. She expected him to yell at her, but his voice came out soft and restrained.

"Don't pretend you know anything about me Granger. You don't know about me or my friends. And you certainly don't know anything about my family." She could almost see the air coming out of his nostrils like dragon's fire. "Clearly, you are not yourself, so I'll let your comments go. But if you ever accuse me again-" Draco allowed his sentence to trail off, his threat hanging openly in the air between them.

Hermione gulped, unable to take the step-back necessary to take a proper breath. The angry heat had shifted into something similar to what she had felt months before. She watched as Draco's eyes searched her own, flickers of his fiery anger still visible behind them. For a moment, she even thought she saw him glance down at her lips.