The Astronomy Tower < #wattys2016 >

A Row in the Corridor

Wednesday, January 23rd, 1996

Draco paced the tower, anxious for Hermione to come. Every few minutes he would check the watch on his wrist. She should've been there by now. Had something happened to her? was she alright? Was she perfectly fine? Was he waiting for nothing? Was she standing him up?

Draco thought of the way that Hermione had been so upset about Ron. Perhaps she still had feelings for him, perhaps she was with him now. No, Hermione wasn't the type to do that, and if she had made up with him, she definitely wouldn't be all warm and fuzzy to him right away, that just wasn't a Hermione thing to do.

As if on cue to his watch, ticking her exactly 15 minutes late, Hermione stepped through the door.

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Her heart stopped when she saw him. He looked handsome in his black suit, but then again, he always looked handsome. He stared at her with a mischievous smirk on his mouth. She smirked back.

"You're late." He announced. She walked over to where he stood and sat down, looking innocently up at him. Draco felt his irritation melt away at the site of her like this. Draco watched her contently

"Sorry." She shrugged flirtatiously. "Weasley held me up."

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His breathe hitched at the way that she had called him Weasley, as if they were actually on the same side."Ronald?" He asked. All humor had left his face.

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"The one and only." She sighed. Hermione really didn't like telling peoples her problems, but there was something about Draco she felt she could trust. That's what Draco and Hermione did, they told each other their problems, comforted each other, and they trusted each other not to tell a soul.    

"What did he have to say?" Draco asked in a voice that Hermione couldn't read. She didn't have to read his voice though, it was written in his eyes. He wanted to know if they were friends again, if she still needed him or not.

"We fought." She confirmed. A look flashed over Draco's face that confused Hermione, was it possibly anger, jealousy?

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, his voice filling with sincerity. It shocked her to now end. He hated Ron, and usually wanted to avoid the topic when he was talking to her. Hermione told him everything that had happened.

After she finished, Draco wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She hesitated, then leaned into his gesture.

This was the first time that they had ever touched. The first time that they comforting had taken a physical turn, and Hermione was terrified.

===========THE NEXT DAY===========

"We have been friends for years, and now that you are snogging that daft dimbo you don't want to talk to me!" Hermione screamed. Pink in the face. She was so angry that she didn't even know what to do with herself. She shook her hands angrily, willing them back down to her side, instead of reached out and punching him square in the jaw.

"You only care because you wish that it was you!" Ron yelled back. His ears were possibly even redder that her face. He was being cruel, and Hermione knew that he knew it. But he didn't care. It was in Ron's nature, when he was intimidated, he would stoop so low it was positively pathetic.

Although that was no longer true, the blow still hurt as much as it would have six weeks ago. Tears burned her eyes. Her and Ron stood facing off in a crowded hallway. A lot of people stood on Ron's side, including his sneering girlfriend who was repeating everything he said as if she were the first to say it. Hermione ignored her completely, not knowing how to handle the small blonde standing off to the side.