𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Cowardice and Courage

By the end of that week, a little less than half of the students had left for the winter holidays, and the castle was left with far more students gracing its halls than was usual during the short break. However, this did not include Hermione and Ron, who had decided to go to the Burrow for Christmas. Ron and Harry had not spoken since their row and Hermione had decided to just let it be. She accompanied Ron not to get away from Harry, but to be there for her boyfriend, and Harry didn't begrudge her the decision.

As the night of the Ball approached, Harry's concerns about Draco distracted him from brooding about Ron. Even with all the free time afforded them without lessons, Harry hardly saw Draco. When he did, he couldn't help feeling as if Draco wasn't really there with him. Draco no longer seemed to enjoy their time together. Instead, he often seemed distant or sad. He snapped at Harry more often about trivial things, and sometimes he would shirk Harry's touch altogether, preferring to sit at a distance from him even when they were outside and no one was around. Sometimes Draco would just stare at the ring he'd given Harry as if it had personally wronged him, and only when Harry moved his hand would he snap out of it and look away self-consciously.

It frustrated and angered Harry when this happened, but ultimately he didn't know how to fix it. It was this helplessness along with the worry that Draco might be regretting having given him his birth ring that kept Harry up at night.

The only thing he could do with any sense of purpose was watch Blaise or Snape for any suspicious behavior when they were in the vicinity. He was obstinate about Draco's innocence, but Snape and Blaise were fair game, and he felt deep down that both of them could possibly be agents of Voldemort and a threat to Draco.

However, by the time he was anxiously putting on a new robe that Hermione had found for him at Hogsmeade and checking himself in the bathroom mirror the night of the Ball, Harry had not found any incriminating evidence that either Snape or Blaise were up to something. But more importantly, given how the past week had gone, he was fairly certain that Draco was planning to break up with him.

Thoroughly morose, Harry made his way down to the common room. Seamus and Dean greeted him in the common room as Neville followed him down the stairs, but Harry could only muster a sort of gloomy half-nod in their direction. Neville glanced at him with concern, but thankfully, he didn't comment and Seamus joked a bit about something that Harry didn't quite catch.

He saw Draco at the bottom of the staircase before the Great Hall, looking resplendent in new, silver dress robes that would have been breathtaking had he not looked so dour and sickly. Draco's gray eyes followed Harry as he walked down the stairs, but instead of looking happy to see him, Draco appeared disturbed and anxious.

Harry let in a shaky breath, now certain that this was the end. Draco was surely going to tell him their relationship was over. However, when he stepped off of the last step, Draco moved forward and grabbed onto his arm, kissing him on the cheek.

They both walked through the doors behind Seamus and Dean and sat down at a table that held six seats. The decorations looked much as they had the last time, although perhaps not as extravagant. Seamus and Dean sat down together at two of the remaining seats, followed by Neville and Luna who filled out the table. Neville nodded politely at Harry and then Draco, but Draco didn't even acknowledge him, he stared in the direction of the dance floor. Harry followed his line of sight, noticing that a load of Slytherins were sat on the other side, including Blaise and Pansy. Harry's eyes narrowed with suspicion as he watched Blaise, but the boy was ignoring Harry's table completely.

"All right, Malfoy?" Seamus greeted and Draco finally snapped out of his trance to look at him.

Draco nodded jerkily, and Harry squeezed his hand beneath the table in reassurance, even if he didn't know what was bothering him. Draco's palms were sweaty. For all he knew, Draco didn't like the idea of sitting so publicly with a bunch of Gryffindors. He was also afraid that Draco didn't want to sit with him specifically, but Draco's eyes locked with his for a short moment before his fingers squeezed Harry's in return.