Magnetic Attraction

Chapter 18: At an Impasse

From that day onwards, life continued for Draco and Hermione as it had before the attraction. Hermione resumed her life as the unofficial keeper of the library, skipping meals and spending more times alone in Gryffindor Tower. She wasn't exactly happy, but she did nothing to try and alter her path, strangely comforted by the pattern she fell into. Planning for the Yule Ball quickly became the purpose of her life, and she spent hours conferencing with the other prefects about dates, clothing requirements, and fake snow. Most meals, when she wasn't lurking in the library, she sat with the sixth year Gryffindor prefect, Christine McKay, pouring over the large binder she had filled with sketches and brochures. The Yule Ball would be her project. It kept her busy.

Because Hermione had staked her claim on the Yule Ball, Draco immersed himself in Quidditch, fulfilling his role as Quidditch captain. With his obsessive leadership, the Slytherin team shaped up, almost matching the perfectly-coordinated Gryffindor House team. He constantly could be found drawing up stragedy. However, he still avoided the cluttered Slytherin common room, and forced himself never to look up when Hermione passed through his makeshift office in their shared common room. That became the standard for the pair, ignoring each other. They had a silent agreement to just move on.

Not that that was easy for either of them. Although Draco didn't invite Pansy back to his bedroom, he still had trouble falling asleep unaided, and eventually had to turn to Dreamless Sleep potion. Hermione fell asleep fairly easily, but continued to dream of vague shadows who would whisper gentle nothings into her ear, before pulling away and leaving her alone on top of the Astronomy Tower, standing on the railing, poised to jump. Then she would wake up, her heart pounding, in a dark mood.

The night before the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match, Hermione was hanging out with Christine, who was quickly becoming a good friend, while Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all having a last-minute practice. She was tired, as it was Friday, and was greatly relieved that for two weeks, she hadn't taken part in any interaction with Draco. She had given Christine a basic rundown of the magnetic attraction, excluding their brief romance and the Cedric fiasco, and found that the girl was like a more serious version of Ginny, only much less obsessed with Harry. Christine also had an interest in reading, something Hermione really appreciated in a friend. The half-blood had just admitted to have read Hogwarts: A History twelve times, when Hermione decided that the sixth year was a true friend.

"Alright, I know it's obsessive to read a nonfiction book more than once, but I enjoy it each time," Christine argued unnecessarily, under the impression that the Head Girl would disapprove of her favorite book. Instead, she only smiled, feeling relaxed for the first time since the attraction broke.

"No, I totally agree," she interrupted. Christine looked stunned that someone understood her. "Every time you read it you learn something you didn't notice before. I've got you beat though, I've read it eighteen times." Christine gasped, sitting up on the sofa she had previously been lying down on. Hermione grinned smugly, before looking back down at the to do list open in her lap.

"I can't believe I've just admitted my deepest, darkest secret, only to find you topped it! Gah!" Put out, she laid back down, closing her yellowish-green eyes. She continued, her voice showing her minor irritation, "Ok then, what's your secret?"

This question was innocent, and Hermione knew that the sixth year wasn't in any way prying, but at the same time, her easygoing expression faded. She had two such secrets, one that only Draco, Harry, Ron, and Ginny knew, and one that only Draco himself knew. The first was that she loved Draco, and the second that she had loved Cedric. The teenager placed her planning binder on top of the coffee table, before curling up in her armchair, nervous. It was about time that she told someone else the truth about Cedric. Perhaps that was why she still trusted Draco so much, he was the person one who knew and he hadn't told anyone. If there were someone else, then he wouldn't be so special in her eyes.