I'll Make You Mine

10.

Hermione POV

After breakfast with Pansy (which was a lot of fun, she's a wonderful person), I stood up to head to Harry. As I walked, I thought about Pansy. We had been friends for a little bit, since the Yule Ball. It was nice having a girl I could talk to- Ginny and Padma and Lavender were great and all, but they were familiar- I knew how their minds worked and how they felt about things, but with Pansy, she had different ideas and perspectives. I was learning new things, different ways of seeing things, which I found applicable for both my studies and friendships. At first, I had just thought of her as a friend. I still did, really, but now, whenever I caught her looking at me or smiling or laughing, I blushed and got butterflies. I didn't really understand what was happening. The logical part of me had an idea, but at the same time, the other half of me told me that I was just being ridiculous and I was still caught up in our new friendship, and that's all that it was. My thoughts turned to Harry soon enough, however. I was worried about him; the way his falling out with Draco was affecting him wasn't good at all. I knew that he was beating himself up over what happened; I wanted to fix it for him- I just didn't know how to help him since I didn't know what was wrong. And of course, Ron was an oblivious idiot, so I couldn't ask him for help. 

I found him easily, sitting on a couch in the common room, waiting until it was time to go to class. He was slouched down, his glasses off, hands knotted together, chin resting on his chest. He looked miserable, and my thought was proved correct as a tear rolled down his face. 

"Harry?" I asked quietly, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

He jumped to sit up and wiped his eyes so that he could put on his glasses and see me clearly. "Oh, hi, Hermione, how are you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't turn this on me, Harry," I said gently. "I want to talk about you."

He looked at me with wide eyes and blinked a couple times. "Why? I'm fine."

"Harry, you very obviously aren't fine. You don't eat or sleep, you don't focus in class or talk to anyone, you avoid people, you shut down at any mention of Draco. Whenever someone tries to talk to you about him, you turn the conversation to another topic. We're worried about you, Harry. And I want to help, but I can't if you don't tell me what's happened between you and Draco."

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "It doesn't matter, Mione, it's stupid."

"It's obviously something, otherwise this would have been sorted out by now, and you and him would be holding hands in the halls and snogging in corners," I let out a wry smile as he chuckled. "Please, Harry, it's eating you up. Let me help, tell me what's wrong."

He sighed. "I don't know, I was just eating breakfast alone, and Draco walked in, and I was expecting him to come over like he usually does and eat with me, but then I noticed that he was hugging Pansy close to him, and they were laughing and being all coupley. And it just... It made me burn with jealousy, and anger too, because I want that with him, and I thought that he was interested in me, too, but then I saw this, and I just... I felt like I was being led on! And so I stopped talking to him, thinking that it would lessen my feelings for him, but it's made them even harder to deal with, seeing him so upset and knowing that I did that to him, ya know?" he poured out, looking defeated when he was done. "I told you, it was stupid. Poor Harry Potter can't even handle the idea that the boy he's in love with might be straight."

I pulled him to me in a hug, thinking. I opened my mouth, and chose my words carefully. "You know... Pansy asked me to talk to you... She asked... She asked me to because Draco is miserable, and... And she loves him, like a brother. She isn't interested in him, and he isn't either, because... Well, I suppose you'll just have to talk to him about what he feels. You can't just keep moping about and failing classes. You have to take care of yourself."