In Ruins (Dramione FF)

Dumbledore's Portrait

20.02.2015

After both prefects had finished organising all of the students and had made sure no one was left in the train, they grabbed their trunks and headed to catch the last carriage back towards the school. Draco was glad for the break. They would be able to eat soon and he wasn't sure about Granger but he was ready for the feast.

Granger on the other hand seemed to be completely at ease. Her head was turned towards one of the windows, her eyes looking out at the shadows of the forest surrounding the trail back towards the school.

"It's beautiful." She murmured looking up at the night sky. Then she suddenly glanced around nervously as if she had just remembered who she was with.

Draco felt his stomach twist again, at her obvious discomfort with being around him. "It's okay." He replied cockily, leaning back against the chair as he set his own gaze out of the window.  

He hadn't really expected to get back into anyone's good books this quickly. After everything he'd done in the past it was going to take a lot of bribery and good-natured attempts to get them to even consider that he had started to change. But he hadn't really expected them all to be this cold either. After all he had joined their side at the end of the battle! They had all seen him ignore his parents in favour of standing with Potter against the Dark Lord. Surely that should have counted for something; surely that should have earned him some sort of good faith.

Apparently not.

When they reached Hogwarts, Granger climbed out of the carriage first and started to march up to the school almost as soon as we had stopped. Draco grabbed his own things before striding off after her. Once they had arrived, they left their luggage with everyone else's before they headed towards the Great Hall.

Just before they arrived, Draco grabbed onto Granger's arm, pulling her to a stop. She fixed her glare on him almost immediately, fire burning in her eyes as she glared first at the hand that was on her arm and then up at his face until he'd removed it.

"Wait here."

"What?" She asked confused.

"You wait here while I go in first."

"What!" She exclaimed anger filling her voice this time and Draco almost cringed under the McGonagall-like glare that she was using on him now.

"I can't be ruining my bad boy status, can I now Granger?" It was supposed to be a joke, a way of him owning up to what he knew was one of his main faults. But she didn't find it that funny.

This time it was her that grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry Malfoy but you can wait out here for as long as you wish, but I'm going to find my friends." With that she turned and strode away into the hall, leaving Draco standing behind in full sight of everyone in the hall.

Her last words hurt him the most, the ones she whispered under her breath as she'd stormed away. "And I was just beginning to think you were changing..." He wasn't even sure if he had actually heard them, or if they'd been a made up figment of his imagination, but they still burned in his mind.

He wished he could take back those words now. He watched her stalk away, watched the anger practically radiating off her, but he didn't do anything. She didn't know what would happen if they found out that he had changed. He was Draco Malfoy and although his family may be in tatters now, he still held his family name. His name commanded respect and honour and something that would be dashed immediately if anyone found out that he'd even spoken respectively to a mudblood, let alone help her.

So he waited.

He waited and he counted to 100 in his head before heading to the Great Hall, and when he entered it was Granger's gaze that hurt the most. All eyes turned to his almost immediately, but he was used to the glares by now, after all he received them everywhere that he went. Everyone knew his story. Everyone knew who he was – who his father was.