Lost Along the Way (Dramione)

Chapter 9

HERMIONE'S P.O.V.

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Ever since the encounter between Malfoy and I, the days seemed to drag by slower and slower. Only a month into the year, and already it felt like a lifetime:

On the first day back, Harry, Ron, and I had happened to walk by the compartment that Draco and his little group of companions were sitting in, and, while Harry and Ron walked by without a second glance, I was quite aware of the fact that Draco and Pansy Parkinson were holding hands, and her head was resting on his shoulder. I had tried to walk away and act like I had seen nothing at all.

And that's how I had to act almost every single day. No one even seemed to notice.

And then the whole potions class thing had happened; it was our first potions class, and of course we had it with the Slytherins.

I was in the middle of defining what the stupid love potion smelled like, when the potion suddenly seemed to put me in a sort of trance, and for a moment, I could see a very blurred image of Draco and I by our little lake, feel his soft lips against mine, and the way that our hands fit so perfectly together.

I shook my head and blinked repeatedly, before returning back to my spot, blushing slightly. I couldn't help looking at Draco though, and was a little shocked to see that he was actually already looking at me. I had turned my head away quickly, wondering if I had accidentally said something when I had gone into my little trance; but no one else seemed to notice.

And so the weeks slipped on. Harry was confident that Draco was a deatheater and kept begging me for support, but I denied it every single time, saying that it was completely ridiculous, although I did feel a little guilty about it.

•••

DRACO'S P.O.V.

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It's hard to explain what had happened.

I could hardly keep track of what class it was that I was in, let alone actually pay attention to what the teacher was babbling on about.

But it had been right at the beginning of the year; first potions class.

The teacher kept asking rhetorical questions that know-it-all Granger kept raising her hand in attempt to answer.

"Yes miss...?" he said, finally calling on her.

"Granger, Sir," she responded, "Hermione Granger."

And what happened next, I don't know how to explain.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and something seemed to be tugging at the back of my head, like the strongest sense of déjà vu I had ever experienced.

I tried to figure out what had suddenly caused the reaction, looking around the classroom. My eyes finally landed on the girl standing up in the front, listing if the names of the potions.

But that was impossible.

I had heard the name a million times, and never once felt like that.

I remembered how I had randomly run into her in Knoturn Alley, and how I had no idea why she was there.

I listened to her as she explained what she was attracted to. Her voice faded off, as if she was slipping into her little fantasy land.

Then she came back around, and started heading back to her place.

On her way back she glanced over at me, and the look on her faced changed completely.

And right away, I knew that something was wrong.

But the dark mark, hidden beneath my school robes, began to prickle, and I forgot about the mudblood for the time being. I had more important issues to deal with.

•••

HERMIONE'S P.O.V.

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It was a Saturday, some time in the early winter season.

I had told Harry and Ron that I couldn't possibly finish my homework crammed up in the common room, and that I was going to go to the library.

That was, of course, just an excuse to be by myself. Plus, I had already finished my homework.

I went down to the library, and crumbled down into one of the couches towards the back of the room, pretending to read. It was that time of day when no one would be in the library, and if they were, they'd be too busy doing an assignment to notice that I was there.

After a while though, I heard someone start giggling. At first it wasn't such a big deal, but whoever they were kept whispering loudly to each other and then the girl would start bursting out laughing.

I eventually got fed up, and decided to just go eat an early lunch.

I passed by the aisle with the irritating-giggling girl in it, glancing as I did.

Sitting there were Draco and Parkinson, their faces not an inch away from each other.

My covered my mouth, thinking it would somehow stop the pain from coming.

And before I actually ran out of the library, Pansy put her hand on Draco's face, and he leaned in and kissed her.

•••

I lost all sense of direction as I walked quickly through random corridors, just trying to get as far away from the library as possible.

All that was going through my head was 'I need a place where I can be alone; a place where I don't have to look at Malfoy; somewhere where I can just get away from it all, at least for a little while; at least a few moments of peacefulness, without having to pretend that everything is okay around my friends; I need a place where I can be alone...'

Suddenly I came to a door, one that was unfamiliar to me. Without thinking twice, I opened it, and stepped in.

Only I stepped on a goblet that was laying on the ground, and slipped and fell. The door shut behind me. I looked up at the piles among piles of various items: books, quills, chess boards, clothes, brooms, paper, necklaces, couches, chairs, tables, boxes...

Standing up and brushing off my clothes, I realized that I was in the Room of Requirements. I was finally alone.

I walked over to a completely torn apart bed cushion, dropped down onto it, and began to cry.