Memories - Dramione story

Chapter 8

Hermione's POV

I laid still for a while, listening. I heard as he went away and laid a little bit more in the common room, the pen I stole from his pocket still hidden in my sleeve, along with a paper, probably the paper he found in the table at the library. 

I was very surprised. I thought that the chances of him taking me in his arms were very slim and that he would just leave me in the library. Maybe he really did change a lot. 

A wave of guilt hit me as I took the pen out of my sleeve and stood up to go to the dorm. He was way kinder with me than before. He even carried me to the common room so that I wouldn't have to get in trouble by being out of the dorm past curfew. I remembered how he had softly lifted me from my chair with ease, clearly trying not to 'wake me up'. I remembered how I, surprisingly, had felt comfortable in his arms. 

The guilt killed a part of my curiosity. As I entered the dorm, I disassembled the pen, knowing that there was no turning back now that I had stolen the pen and the paper. Inside the pen was a little piece of parchment. «Hidden in the library», it said in cursive handwriting, handwriting that I didn't remember ever seeing before. It was a clue. This was the reason why he wanted me to leave the table I was sitting at so much. Then, I read the other paper, the one from the table: «Gringotts» was written on it with the same handwriting.

Something he needed was hidden at Gringotts. Something important enough for it to be hidden in one of the safest places on Earth. 

This night, I fell asleep very late. I didn't exactly know why, but I felt guilty for stealing from his pocket in such a nasty way. Moreover, grey eyes kept haunting my mind. When I finally achieved to fall asleep, all I dreamed of was smoke and fog, reminding me of campfires and London. Reminding me of my parents. 

...

Draco's POV

I was finally in the dorm after having to play a staring game with Granger. Who could have thought that this is how I would have been forced to spend my evening. I even ended up carrying her in my arms to the common room. The world was definitely turning upside down. I reached into my school robe's pockets to empty them. The problem was, they were already empty.

Impossible. They couldn't be empty. I had put the pen and the clue from the library in one of my pockets. I started thinking of the places I have been to where I could have lost them, and realized that I found the clue from the library only 20 minutes ago. Then it clicked: Granger. She hadn't been sleeping. This was why the reviving spell didn't wake her up. She was already awake. She had planned it all out and I fell in the trap. 

I ran out of the dorm and down the stairs and saw that she wasn't on the sofa I laid her on anymore. This confirmed my theory. She hadn't been sleeping. 

For some reason, I felt betrayed.

...

Hermione's POV

The morning seemed normal. Nothing much happened. I read a book during breakfast while Harry and Ron talked about different things that, according to Ron, I couldn't understand. I was getting happier and happier that I had broken up with him during the summer. 

Our trio was starting to fall apart, I could see it. Harry talked to me more than Ron, but we still almost didn't talk. 

I went to class feeling sad until I met a pair of grey eyes. They seemed to warn me, but for some reason, they made my sadness go away until I had to break eye contact. When the potions' class was finished, I looked across the room in his direction. He turned his head and also looked at me, sending me the exact same warning look. Pretending not to care, I came out of the classroom, walking towards the Great Hall through corridors overfilled with students. 

Suddenly, I was stopped by long fingers grabbing me by the wrist. I didn't have to turn away to see who it was, so I didn't. I knew very well it was Malfoy. 

«You have something that belongs to me,» he murmured just loudly enough so that I would be the only one to hear, his tone bearing the same hint of a warning as his eyes did a few minutes ago.

Without turning around to look at him, I took out the pen and the paper from my pocket and tossed it to him before going away. For some reason, I felt like I didn't want to. I didn't want to go away.

Maybe he thought it was over, but it wasn't. I wanted to know what was going on, what these clues were about. 

The evening came very slowly, but it was finally here. I would try to make him talk. Though somewhere deep down I knew it wasn't because I was curious.

Sitting in the common room, I watched as Ron and Harry debated on how to properly take care of a broom. I interrupted them. «Harry, can I have the Marauder's map, please? I want to test something out», I said with an innocent tone. As soon as the map was in my hands, both boys returned to their conversation. 

It didn't take long to find Malfoy on the map: he was in the library, probably at the exact same table we were at yesterday. Giving back the map to Harry, I swung my backpack over my shoulders before heading towards the library, where I found him at the exact spot where I thought he would be. 

«Mind if I sit», I asked without waiting for an answer, sitting on a chair across from him before making myself comfortable and taking one of the books placed next to him, opening it and starting to read, mimicking the behavior he had yesterday. 

«What do you want Granger», he said, sighing, before raising his eyes to look at me.

He seemed to be doing his potions homework. As I looked at his parchment, I noticed that the handwriting was the same as the one in the clues I had stolen from his pocket, which confused me even more. Why would he need to make clues for himself?

«I want to know why you sent those letters and what all these clues are about», I said, staring him in the eyes.

«You won't give up, will you?» he asked with a serious but relaxed expression, returning the stare.

«No», I answered, using the same tone he used and laying back on the chair, making him know that I was waiting for his explanations and that I wouldn't go away before he would explain everything.