Lies, Buried and Bound - A Dramione Story

Part Twenty-Four

Hermione felt brave opening the door. But the moment she saw the glint of light bounce off Harry's round glasses, she knew she couldn't go through with this. And if Harry was here, she had no doubt he'd been accompanied by Ron. This could not possibly get any worse for her.

She immediately shut the door and slid back into the shadows. Draco caught her.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Fuck!" she hissed.

"Hermione, hey, hey, look at me. Look at me." He guided her chin up at him and smoothed her hair back so he could look into her pooling eyes. "Shh, hey. It's going to be okay."

"How can you say that? You know they will be at your throat the moment you set foot in there! Oh my god, oh my god - I can't do this! I can feel their judgment radiating off their bodies like heat!"

"Don't say that. I bet they know what to expect. Granted, they're probably not happy about it," she snorted in response, "but they know where they are. Surely, they're smart enough to put two and two - well, in this case, three and three together. Right? Or do I need to be worried about their education?" This caused her to laugh, a gentle, quiet laugh that rang like bells in his ears. "I mean, they did skip their last year at Hogwarts, and they're not nearly on par with your intellect."

He finally felt the tension leave her shoulders and evaporate from her face. However, it remained pooled at her feet as it took quite a bit of effort to get them to move forward one step. Walking was like dragging uranium by a string from her ankles. It couldn't be done.

"It's going to be okay. We're in this together. You won't feel the full weight of the tension. Half of it will go to me. It'll be okay, I promise."

A quick peck to her forehead and Draco walked with her inside. Everything was far too quiet for her liking. All heads turned to face them as they walked in side by side. Her stomach flopped around like a fish out of water, not quite asphyxiated yet.

Even though her arms wrapped nervously over her midriff, she felt some of the weight taken off her by Draco's presence beside her. If Narcissa didn't know any better, she'd say they reconciled. They appeared to be quite cozy walking in together, though she knew this was no romantic matter.

"Mummy!" Charlotte slid off the loveseat that was a bit too high for her and darted around a desk, barrelling into her mum at a striking force.

"Oh, feel free to speak in English, Hermione!" Ginny called over the loveseat, her bitter feelings resurfacing.

Hermione couldn't think of a response that would put her in better standing with the others but would also sound confident. Merlin knew Hermione Granger was feeling the farthest from optimistic at the moment. So she settled for a careful sigh and scooped up her baby girl as a returning mother would.

Narcissa carefully controlled her expression and motioned to the empty seat adjacent to Ginny. Blaise enthusiastically patted the seat beside him as Draco tailed the girl before him. Instead, he rejected the offer and chose the cushion next to Granger. Draco insisted on staying at Granger's side, friends-be-damned.

Interesting, Luna thought.

All eyes were trained on her every movement.

So much for half the weight of the tension...

"I would like to say, first and foremost, to you all," Draco nudged her, and she realised she'd been caught staring at the floor. As if the way she should come out with the truth to her friends was written on an invisible script below her. She looked up and found several faces. It seemed they were all controlling their expressions on a tight lead. "I'm so sorry for every lie I've spoken and every truth I've withheld. It wasn't fair to any of you and you all deserved much more than what I was willing to give. You all have my deepest, profound apologies."