Anyone But Me

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Still bent over the mess that she had made, Hermione reached up and brushed the spittle from her chin. Prolonging the seconds until she could no longer avoid the looming confrontation. She knew his outburst of anger was fully justified but she didn't know what it was that she had done wrong... There had been zero intention on her part to fall so far!

And the things she had been forced to see...

She shivered and concentrated on the feeling of her lungs expanding as she gasped in a deep breath, fighting not to heave again. Her struggle for control over her own body took much too long, she should be trying to explain and comforting Draco, she had enough sense to realize that. Yet she still couldn't force the words out, instead all she did was stammer, "I... I... I don't... I..."

Somewhere in the haze of panic, his words were closer than they should be and full of the expected venom. "Good Gods, Granger!"

"Y... You... I..." No matter how hard she tried, the words kept getting stuck. Stones that stacked one after another until they built a dam so high she would never be able to articulate her feelings of remorse correctly. Her eyes finally tore from the ground seeking him. A desperate hope that maybe he would be able to see...

And he was there. Of course, he was. Angry or not, Draco helped move her dissociated body so she was able to sit down. He situated himself in front of her so that she had to look him in the eye and ordered sternly. "Breathe."

"I..."

"Stop it! I said, breathe." He interrupted before modeling exactly what he wanted her to do. His nostrils flared as he slowly inhaled and then his lips parted slightly when he exhaled. Blowing peppermint into her face. She did what she was told and he nodded, "Yes, again."

Hermione felt her shoulders lift and then fall as she complied. Over and over they took deliberate breaths together. She watched as the calming effects also did their work on him and his ire flowed from his features.

"Better?"

She scoffed and then quickly pulled away as she smelled the sick that lingered on her tongue. "I'm so sorry, Draco. I don't know what happened. I did everything right, I swear, I didn't mean..."

"It... It was not entirely your fault," With their eyes still trained on the others', she watched the cost it took for him to continue to speak. "I am too vulnerable with you. It's getting harder to keep my shields up."

She gulped hard around the knot in her throat, "Oh."

"Yeah..." He stood up from his crouch and continued. "Doesn't really matter though..."

"What do you mean!?" Hermione demanded as she scrambled up to join him, making sure to avoid the pile next to her in her hurry. "It matters to me!"

He ignored her and vanished the mess at their feet with a quick flick of his wand. A distraction from having to carry on with the conversation, but she wasn't about to let that happen.

"Draco... That means everything to me." She admitted, not caring as she felt the pink start to tinge her cheeks.

There was a pause in which he stared down at her. The tense set around his eyes slowly melted away and the palest of pinks blushed up into his face. Both at the mercy of the other for that one long unguarded moment before something hard flashed in his eyes and he shook his head, "That is all fine and well, Granger. We still have to stop these lessons."

"What?!?"

His sudden rebuff made her feel as if she was smacked in the face. She understood that he was angry, but she never would have imagined he would stop helping her...