Untouched

Chapter 5: Good Night And Good Bye

Hermione couldn't wait for the morning to come, she woke up before dawn, after a series of nightmares. But what disoriented her the most was that in her nightmares she wasn't scared of Malfoy; she was worried about him.

When the sun finally came up, she rushed to open the door, her eyes scanning the empty corridor desperately. It was too early for anybody to be awake so she decided to wait. Hours passed and he still hadn't knocked her door. Eventually, Hermione left her room, heading for the great hall. As she entered the hall, she saw him sitting at the Slytherin table like before, he was looking down at his plate and she sat on a table across him. He didn't look up, he was so focused on his plate and she knew he was intentionally avoiding looking at her.

Had the potion's effect faded already? NO! She still had one day. Could it be that Tonks wasn't accurate? Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the thought. She still needed to talk to him. Standing up, she walked towards his table until she was standing in front of him...he was still looking at the bloody plate!

Anger started taking hold of Hermione, topping any other emotion she felt at that moment. With a swift movement of her wand the plate flew all the way across the long table, stopping right at the edge of it. That was enough to force Malfoy to look up at her, but he remained silent, looking at her blankly.

She could see the shadows under his eyes were a shade darker now, his gaze was cold and he looked too pale for a live person. "So you woke up this morning with the brilliant idea of pretending that I don't exist?" Hermione demanded

"No_" he said quietly, shaking his head "_I can't do that even if I tried. I was aware of you even before you entered the hall." he admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything then? You didn't even as much as look at me." Hermione demanded.

"I was terrified_" he sighed after a long pause "_of what you would do when you see me, what you would say. I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with me after last night...which is the sensible thing to do."

"Then maybe I don't want to be sensible."

"You should be."

"We need to talk...about last night. You make it sound like you have no choice but actually I think you do. Dumbledore isn't as weak as you make him sound, he's actua..."

"Hermione, no." he interrupted her forcefully "I don't want to talk about this anymore...please. You said I have to tell you if I wanted to prove my love to you and I did. Now prove yours to me and don't push this matter any further."

"You do love me, right?" he added when she remained silent. Hermione gazed at him for too long, what difference did another lie make in the web of lies she had already created?

"Of course I do." Hermione confirmed

"Then it's settled." he said decisively "Now, will you please bring back the plate you have childishly thrown away?" he smiled impishly and Hermione couldn't help but grin back, when he was being nice, nobody outdid him...neither did anybody outdo him when he did the exact opposite, she thought ruefully.

The day passed in a blur and the evening came too fast for Hermione's liking. They were sitting beneath a tree, chatting randomly until Hermione excused herself to go back to her room.

"I'll go up to my room now; I need to take a shower."

"I think I'll do the same"

"Alright, I'll meet you in your room then."

"If I knew you'd be so keen on sharing a shower I would've suggested it earlier." he teased

"I meant after the shower." Hermione rolled her eyes at him before turning around to leave