Obliviate : A Dramione fanfiction

09.

Harry had left Hermione to go and meet Dumbledore but she still stood in the entrance of the Great Hall, gently rubbing her elbow in thought. This revelation on how to truly defeat Voldemort was life-changing – she couldn't leave Harry to do this by himself; with or with or without Dumbledore, Hermione was going to be there for Harry and help him in searching for the Horcruxes (as was Ron, probably, sigh). Depending on how Harry and Dumbledore's venture went, this could mean the inevitable war would either come sooner or later. Hermione bet on the former.

The hairs all over Hermione's body tingled – she turned, pulled from her thoughts by a piercing stare. Draco's eyes were narrowed on her, tunnel vision in the non-romantic way, it seemed. The flecks of green in his eyes were magnified – maybe it was jealousy, green is the colour of jealousy. What could Draco be jealous of? But his stare was still fixated on her, his brows furrowed in obvious annoyance, his posture stiff. Could it be... Harry?!
Hermione let out a small smile at the thought of Draco even considering Harry and her – he was practically her brother. She could understand if he was jealous of her and Ron, but all of her affection was focused on Draco. Although, she wouldn't deny it felt kind of nice if he were jealous – it would mean he still cared, that they could get past this and he could tell her his 'big secret'.
Draco's steely gaze was lifted as he murmured something to his crew, bowing his head as he stood up to leave. Like a child, Hermione scrambled to hide behind the great oak doors of the Great Hall. Her boyfriend's footsteps came to a halt just outside of the Hall, his footsteps rocking, as if he was looking around. Hermione thought she might come out of her hiding place and hug him and tell him she's sorry. But Draco sighed and left, heading down the hall. After a minute, Hermione followed, careful to be quiet; it was a late Sunday afternoon/ pre-evening, about half five, and the castle was quiet so she didn't have anyone to hide amongst – and she knew how paranoid Draco could be, especially as of late.

Hermione followed him down the hall to the library – Draco was right behind her in all of their classes, now more than ever and they were both quite competitive over grades. (She loved to tease Draco about it.) Before their big argument, Hermione and Draco would often quietly study together in the alcoves of the library. She recalled when they had first started [secretly] dating and Draco would scribble 'Property of Draco ♡' on her hand or just stare at her as she worked then remark how beautiful he thought she was and how they'd have proper discussions, instead of just theorising about the latest conundrum Harry, Ron and herself had gotten themselves into. They would test each other, critiquing each other's work and wandmanship.
But tonight, Hermione was standing a bookcase over from Draco, instead of sat shoulder to shoulder with him. She felt like a total creep, watching Draco without him knowing, but Draco had confessed that he used to 'observe' her, trying to build up the courage to talk to her like a normal human being. Draco looked up, grey eyes narrowing at the bookshelf where Hermione had just been standing. Breathing heavily, Hermione

Peeked through the shelves at Draco. He had gone back to his book, shoulders hunched, body bent low over the book he was so intently reading, with a furrowed brow. It was out of character for her to be this paranoid about a boy when there were more important things to be worrying about, but she couldn't stop herself from worrying about Draco. Why was he being so secretive all of a sudden? Draco had always been the most animated person at Hogwarts, and although he still got deeply offended when Hermione didn't laugh at his jokes something had changed in the last week and a half. He had closed in on himself and that spark of creativity was subdued. She understood that Draco had a rough childhood and had been brought up to believe certain things, but none of that had mattered when they were together. But now...

Draco got up and put his book back, watching it as it levitated back to its position on the bookshelf. He sighed, hands in pockets as he left the library heading for the stairs. Hermione waited a moment before she followed.

Despite how chaotically the staircases chopped and changed (it was honestly a wonder how anyone got around thanks to these staircases, but as a sixth year, Hermione knew how best to navigate the castle's abnormalities), Hermione managed to keep on Draco's tail. It seemed he was headed to the seventh floor, where the Room of Requirement was located. Hermione had always wondered what Draco would have thought of the DA. He probably would've been able to let himself go, after a while – to let go of that poisonous Malfoy name. Then they would be able to hold hands down the corridor, and kiss in the open, instead of stuffy broom cupboards, or shut themselves away in disused classrooms. There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that Draco was the love of her life, but it would be nice if they didn't have to tiptoe around.
After Hogwarts was over, maybe Draco and Hermione could just – go? It was a ludicrous idea, but one Hermione fantasised about: her and Draco starting a life together in the muggle world. She'd have to teach the pureblood about muggle customs and lifestyle, and she could just imagine she annoyed look of concentration on Draco's face, as she would teach him how to use muggle technology. (It astounded Hermione how the wizarding community hadn't adopted at least some muggle technologies – it would require less effort than always having to cast a charm or spell.)

Draco's footsteps stopped. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks – she had been so inside her head she'd forgotten the task at hand. Having nowhere to hide in the open hallway, she stood stock still, hoping he didn't turn and see her, but at the same time praying that he would. A part of her wanted to run and grab him, to take him away from Hogwarts and never look back, to leave Ron and Harry to it.
But he didn't, and she couldn't.
Instead, Draco had stopped just in front of the doors to the Room of Requirement. What was he doing? He was just stood there in front of the doors, staring at them. Then she heard him sigh and enter; she hurried after him.
Luckily, in this particular version of the Come and Go Room there were plenty of places to hide amongst the piles of... stuff.
Draco was just on the other side, quietly talking to himself. Hermione tried to listen in, but his voice was too soft. She heard the opening and closing of a door and more murmuring – she couldn't hear him. In all honesty, she didn't want to hear Draco – she wanted to talk to him. She was thinking through what she would say to him, how she would explain that she was here—

Draco was gone. Scrambling after him, Hermione thought over where he boyfriend could have gone – he was no longer in the corridor. She had only been seconds behind him – where could he have gone? Running down the hall, past windows looking out onto the Quidditch pitches Hermione saw him. Blonde hair a halo in the wind, his shoulders back – stiff to the dismal weather. Although he was down on the Quidditch pitch, Hermione saw a peculiar expression set on his face – it was like that of saying last goodbyes. She didn't understand this, they still had a year until they graduated Hogwarts. Well, depending on how Harry's venture went – she may never see Draco again! She couldn't take not talking to Draco; Hermione sprinted down the corridors of Hogwarts to the Quidditch pitches, yelling "Draco? Draco!" into the gradual darkness. Although the two didn't really acknowledge each other during school hours, they linked pinkies in the corridors. Hermione wanted that back, even if it was just until the end of the year, or he had to keep things from her. She loved Draco too much to let anything get between them.

It must have been about half six now and it was getting steadily darker, the weather getting wilder but Hermione had to talk to Draco.