Lost Along the Way (Dramione)

Chapter 6

HERMIONE'S P.O.V.
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I picked at my food, not at all hungry. Everyone else around me was laughing lightheartedly, looking forward to summer break, as we finished up our end-of-the-year feast.
I hadn't slept well that night. Draco's words had been running around in my head non-stop.
And I was just confused.
...Okay, fine. I wasn't just confused; I was also feeling pretty depressed. I felt like Draco and I had become really close over the past few months, and I didn't want to go on vacation leaving things between us the way they were.
I looked across the Great Hall at the Slytherin table. It didn't take long for me to spot Draco; he was acting like what had happened last night was just a bad dream he'd had. He was laughing about something Crabbe had just said, and then he leaned over and said something in Pansy's ear, which made her almost spit out her pumpkin juice. They both started laughing. Suddenly, and I wasn't sure why she did it, I was too far away to see it very clearly, but she brushed a piece of hair off to the side of Draco's head, so it wasn't directly in his face. They stopped laughing and looked at each other for a moment. I felt jealousy boiling up inside me. Thankfully, Blaze said something to Pansy that made the two of them break eye contact, as she turned to face Blaze instead.
"Hermione? If you press that fork any harder, it's going to go straight through that table," Ron said, his mouth full of food.
I looked down and realized that I had indeed been digging my fork into the table. I quickly set it down and looked back over at Malfoy.
He was was already looking my way.
I got a really funny feeling inside of me as I locked eyes with him. Then, of course, Pansy started whispering something in his ear, and as she did, a huge grin spread across his face.
I didn't stay to see what happened next.
I got up from the table angrily. I heard Ron start to say something, but I pretended not to hear him. I sped as fast as I could out of the hall, without breaking into a dead sprint and causing a scene.
Right before I exited, I threw a quick glance at Draco. He didn't even seem to notice; he was to busy talking to Parkinson.

•••

I didn't know where else to go. 

I didn't go back to the common room or the dormitory because the last thing I wanted was to talk to anyone. 

Anyone besides Draco. 

I buried my face in my hands. 

"I'd prefer if you only came out here at night," came Draco's voice from above me, making me jump. I looked up at him as he went on, "Because I feel like this is kind of like, I don't know...our secret little get-together spot, and I'm a selfish git, and don't want anyone else to find out about it."
He looked down at me and gave a small smile, then looked back across the lake. He looked much similar to how he had the night prior; hands in his pockets, not looking at me. But today, he was obviously not upset.
"Well, I see that Pansy's cheered you up," I mumbled under my breath, but made it loud enough for him to hear me still.
"Pansy?" Draco asked loudly, as if saying her name was the most ridiculous thing in the entire world. He squatted down next to me. "What are you on about?"
"Oh...nothing," I answered, extremely sarcastically. "Absolutely nothing," I repeated, standing up and brushing of my pants.
He stood back up too. He looked at me very strangely for a minute, like he was trying to figure out what I was thinking. He squinted his eyes at me.
"What?" I snapped at him, irritated.
He paused for a long time before finally saying, "Can I tell you a secret Granger?"
"What kind of question is that?" I asked rudely.
He raised an eyebrow.
I sighed. "Okay. What?"
"Come here," he motioned.
I rolled my eyes, frustrated now. "Malfoy, honestly? NO ONE is going to hear us! You don't have to whisper whatever it is you want to say when there isn't-"
Then, quicker than I could mentally process, Draco took one big step towards me, put his hand under my chin, and kissed me right on the lips.
My brain became fuzzy, and I couldn't move. The kiss wasn't anything intense; it was, on the contrary, quite gentle and soft.
And it only lasted for about a second and a half.
He pulled away slowly, trying again to read my facial expression. I, being as stubborn as I was, tried to keep my face blank so that it would be more complicated for him to read me.
A very small smile came across his face, and he slowly removed his hand from underneath my chin.
"Draco..." I was able to choke out.
He shook his head softly. "It's about time, don't you think, that the two of us got back to our dormitories and finished packing."
I nodded my head numbly and walked beside him back to the castle. In my head, a million possible things that I wanted to say were rushing around and getting tangled up with each other.
I glanced over at Draco. He kept his focus forward. I looked away again. Then, without even thinking I reached for his hand.
At first, it was Draco's turn to be surprised. He stopped walking for just a second and glanced down at our fingers.
He looked at me questionably, as if waiting for me to approve that he had kissed me, or something.
I started walking back to the doorway again, pulling him after me. Once he fell back into step with me, he looked over. "You know," I said, not returning his look, "you never told me what your big secret was."
He smiled and shook his head at me.
"You're impossible, Granger," he said joked, "Completely impossible."
And everything seemed perfect. Even throughout a majority of the summer; we would send each other owls back and forth as quick as we could.
Then all of a sudden, he stopped responding. I tried to brush it off and not think about it, but it kind of hurt.
I didn't actually think it was that big of a deal though, until Harry, Ron, and I paid a visit to Diagon Alley, right before the beginning of our sixth year.