sugar & spice

chapter twenty four

Milly brought them directly to the hall outside Draco's bedroom. She stepped back and curtsied, her knobby fingers twisting the sumptuous fabric of her dress nervously. "Milly leaves Mister Theo and Miss Hermione Granger here now. There is nothing more Milly can do, Milly is afraid."

Theo nodded. "Thanks, Milly. You did great."

Milly smiled crookedly and with a crack, disappeared into thin air.

"Okay." She took a deep breath. Did they need a game plan, a strategy? Were they just going to go in there, wands blazing? Metaphorically, of course. They weren't actually going to draw their wands. Unless Draco needed them to? For what purpose, she had no idea. Better to prepare for anything. "What do we do?"

Theo stared at her dully. "You're asking me? Merlin, Hermione, I was waiting for you to come up with something."

"Me?" Another steadying breath was needed to keep her voice from reaching shrill levels. "Why me?"

"You're the one who knew what Draco needed this morning," he argued.

She shook her head. "Like you didn't? You just needed to hear me confirm what you already knew."

"Well, this time I don't know." He threw up his hands. "Do you have even the slightest clue where his head is right now? Because I don't."

He was right. How they proceeded hinged on Draco's state. They needed to suss out what he needed before they could deliver it.

She nodded. "You're right. We need to figure out what he's feeling and thinking and then go from there."

Theo's shoulders drooped, his voice dropping to match the slump of his posture. "I hate this, Hermione. I hate not knowing what to do for him."

Helpless. Theo hated feeling helpless.

Swallowing hard, she rested her hand on his bicep, squeezing gently. "We just need to be there for him, okay? At the end of the day, if that's all we can do, it's something."

And something would always be better than nothing.

The bedroom door swung open, Draco's silhouetted form standing in the doorway. He rested his hand on the frame and cocked a brow. "Are you two finished, or would you like to continue standing in the hall chatting about how best to handle me? No rush, really, I can wait."

She studied him closely. His gray eyes were rimmed red from this morning, but it didn't look like he'd shed any fresh tears. His skin was smooth, pale, not splotchy, nor was his nose rubbed raw. He looked okay, but looks could be misleading, especially for Draco who was quite adept at hiding his emotions.

"We're finished." Theo stepped forward and set his hand on Draco's shoulder, fingers curling around the back of his neck. He dipped his head, staring into Draco's eyes. "How are you doing?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You both can quit looking at me like I'm liable to burst into tears at a moment's notice, okay? Just get inside; conversing in the hall is for the help, honestly."

Snarky, perhaps more so than he'd been as of late, but not out of character. Defense mechanism or not, Draco's sass was actually comforting in that it showed he hadn't been beaten down by the events of the day. Not that she'd tell him that. He'd think she was psychoanalyzing him.

Letting Theo lead the way, she brushed past Draco on her way into the room. Theo collapsed into a wingback chair beside the fireplace. Draco shut the door and joined them, taking a seat next to her on a chaise that was more comfortable than met the eye.

Hands gripping her knees, she once more counted her heart beats, waiting for Draco to speak. She hit seventeen when he cleared his throat.

"He looks awful," Draco whispered. "He's down at least two stone, likely more." Merlin. "And he just sat there, watching me, like he was in a daze or had been imperio'd or something." He scraped his hand over his face and shook his head. "I know Azkaban isn't guarded by dementors, not anymore, but you could've told me otherwise and I'd believe it." He sighed. "He was so quiet and...I don't know, I got angry. He was just staring, face totally expressionless, and it fucking rankled that he was the one who should've been the one saying something and yet it was left to me. I-I sort of lost it."