Inside Your Mind

foolish games

a/n: if you only listen to one song while reading the corresponding chapter throughout this whole fanfic make it this one!! Just stick it on repeat - for full effect listen with headphones - and let me know if you want feel like crying at the end (I cry every time I read and listen to this chapter).

Foolish Games - Jewel

2nd May 1999

One year.

It had been one year since the Battle of Hogwarts.

It had been one year since Hermione had last seen her two best friends.

One year gone.

The ball had been somewhat enjoyable, Hermione couldn't deny it, but her heart hadn't been able to fully let go and enjoy the festivities. It wasn't because of the lingering tension between her and Draco, both the sexual kind and the post-disagreement kind, and it wasn't because Blaise was eyeing Draco with an air of dissatisfaction - the kind of look a disappointed father would give his son. It was simply the surrounding reminders of what they had lost to the war that suffocated her.

It was midnight, officially the one year anniversary, and Hermione needed to make her escape.

Everything she had done, the dancing, the laughing, the ball itself, reminded her of their Fourth Year Yule Ball (besides the Firewhiskey that Blaise managed to sneak in and dish out to their group of four). Even the way she slipped out of the double doors and took a quiet seat to gather her thoughts reminded her of when she had argued with Harry and Ron at the end of the night and sat, sobbing, on the stairs outside the Great Hall.

Like that night she slipped her shoes off, placing them on the step beside her aching feet, and let a tear fall down her cheek.

'A ball seems a bit trivial, given the circumstances, doesn't it?'

Hermione didn't look up, knowing exactly who it was that had broken her contemplative silence, and continued to stare at her hands.

'I know I'm probably the last person that you want to talk to right now but I wanted to make sure you were alright.' Draco said as he took a seat on the step beside Hermione.

She closed her eyes and took a breath, inhaling the sweet scent of peppermint.

'I don't want to fight anymore.' Hermione whispered.

'Like I said, I'm not here to.' Draco replied in a soft voice. It was a stark contrast to the tone he had taken with her in recent months.

'I'm fine.' Hermione sighed. 'I just needed some time alone to think.'

'I can't believe it's been a year.' Draco muttered.

'Neither can I.' Hermione said, surprising herself by replying. She had told the truth, she didn't want to fight with Draco tonight, but she hadn't really wanted to engage in a conversation with him either.

'Last time I saw you on these stairs, crying but still managing to be the most beautiful girl, I wish I had had the nerve to ask you to dance.' Draco said quietly.

Hermione looked over at him but he was staring straight ahead with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together.

'What are you talking about?' She whispered.

'The Yule Ball.' Draco replied, laughing slightly. 'I never told you but Pansy gave me an earful when she saw the way I was looking at you the whole night.'

Hermione shook her head slightly, disbelieving of his admission.

'Do you want to dance?' Draco asked as he pushed himself up to stand.