Anyone But Me

Chapter Sixty-Two

It hadn't taken long for him to reach out after the student body reconverged on the castle. Approximately two hours into lounging in front of the fire and pretending to listen to the conversations between the Gryffindors that came and went, Hermione felt the metal between her cleavage heat against her skin. She had quickly excused herself from observing the playful debate between Harry and Ginny over which Holyhead Harpy was a better chaser- Wilda Griffiths or Gwendolyn Morgan.

Once she was safe within the confines of her closed bed curtains, she finally pulled the locket from her shirt. Her hands shook from the sudden adrenaline rush as she opened the tricky clasp and she had to take a deep calming breath to fill her lungs before she looked down. Hoping for some type of apology for his negligent attitude, what she got instead was a simple request...

Tonight?

She was instantly annoyed at the assumption that he would be forgiven that quickly.

No

Tomorrow?

No

Wednesday?

As she sat there and wondered if five days was long enough to teach him any type of lesson, the cooled metal burned momentarily in her hands.

Please?

The word caused her to pause. It wasn't like him to beg. What if... What if his persistence meant there was something important he needed to tell her?

...Okay

She knew deep down that the excuse was her subconscious coming up with any way to sedate her vexation. On principle, her pride stopped her from immediately consenting to his summons. But the less ego driven parts of her didn't want to drag out their reunion... If he had been a decent human being and fulfilled his obligations, she could have been rushing to his arms at that very moment.

Alternatively, she decided that she was going to use their next meeting to get answers for some of the harder questions that had nagged at her over break. Not all of them, of course. Just the more pertinent ones that had the potential to change everything for her.

He owed her that much...

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Late Wednesday night, Hermione stood under the too-warm cloak, her muscles straining against the need to shift her weight as she waited for Draco to open the door to the room. The pitch black of the passageway was nearly impenetrable with the naked eye and she could have sworn she had just heard something shuffle to her right. Not that any of the more concerning explanations wouldn't have also been hidden behind powerful magic, but she couldn't risk outing her position to Harry or the house elves who helped him. No matter how likely it was to be something innocuous, such as a mangy rat... Or an animagus pretending to be a rat.

Her thought process did little to slow the anxious beat of her heart. The vital organ pumped the required surge of hormones throughout her body, sending the signals to run through her limbs. She had to remind herself that it was a biological reaction to unexpected stimuli so she wouldn't follow the incessantly loud command.

Each second felt like an hour as she fought to keep her breathing paced and inaudible. An eternity seemed to pass before the grip of fear relented and she sagged with relief. Nearly buckling to the floor, she was able to lock her knees at the last second and keep standing. Where she stayed until the telltale sound of Draco's shoes against stone sounded at the corner, announcing his approach before her eyes could discern any movement.