Love's Potion [Dramione]

Chapter 18

They sat in complete silence for what felt like an eternity. They'd probably only been in that abandoned classroom for mere minutes, but somehow the awkward silence made it feel like a lot longer.
Not able to take it any longer, Draco finally broke the ice by saying, "So..."

Hermione stared down at the floor. "So..."

Draco looked at the ceiling. "We're missing Potions class," he mumbled.

"I know," Hermione said.

The complete and utter lack of concern in Hermione's voice surprised Draco. Hermione Granger was knowingly missing a class, and she couldn't care less. He had to admit that he was a bit impressed.

He took one step closer to her. "So what did you want to talk to me about, Granger?"

Draco was so sure that his sudden proximity would unnerve her, but he was wrong. She stared up into his eyes with a look filled with intrepidity. "I think you know what I want to talk to you about, Draco."

He flinched at the sound of his name. So, they were back on a first-name basis, then? "Well, Hermione, maybe I don't know. Perhaps you ought to tell me."

"And perhaps you ought to drop the clueless act," Hermione said icily. "I know you know why we're here."

"And I know you know that I know, but you know what else, Granger? I also know that I suddenly don't feel like talking anymore."

"Well too bad!" Hermione cried. "We need to talk about this!"

"About what, exactly? I honestly don't know!"

"I was scared!" Hermione shouted. Feeling embarrassed, she lowered her voice quite a bit and said, "I can't just ignore the way I felt when I thought for sure you had ingested that toxic love potion. I was frightened, Draco. Frightened that I would never see you alive again. That has got to mean something. And I know you won't admit it, but when you came rushing into the hospital wing -"

"I was scared, too," Draco blurted out. Oh, he really hadn't meant to say that.

Hermione looked at him in surprise. She hadn't been expecting him to admit that. But the fact that he had made her breath catch in her throat.

Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Draco took a step away from her. "Look, Granger, all we can conclude so far from this conversation is that we don't necessarily want each other to die. That just makes us decent human beings. It means nothing more than that."

"Why did you approach me on Valentine's Day?" Hermione asked. She was a bit surprised with herself – she had no idea she had even wanted to ask that question in the first place.

"What?" Draco said, pretending like he hadn't heard her.

"I said, why did you approach me on Valentine's Day?" Hermione repeated. Suddenly, she realized she had really wanted to know the answer to this question for quite some time now. "Why did you come over to my table and sit down? You never exactly made a habit of talking to me, unless I was hanging around Harry. So why, on Valentine's Day, did you decide to pay attention to me?"

It was something Draco had never stopped to wonder himself. Why had he been so intent on paying attention to her at Valentine's Day? "I don't know, Granger." Draco sighed. "I guess I just saw it as a perfect opportunity to harass you. You were all alone on the most romantic day of the year, and I wanted to rub it in."

"But why?" Hermione pressed. "I mean, we both know that you love to torture me, but you've always done it when Harry was right next to me, almost as if you did it to get a rise out of him. But I wasn't with Harry that night, so why did you even bother to acknowledge me?"