WE NEED EACH OTHER [DRARRY]

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX : APOLOGIES AND PRESENTS

Sunday, 20th September

Draco's POV

I looked at Potter as I bit into my toast. He had been acting strange since he read Weasley's letter last night.

We had returned to the dorm because Potter was sleepy, but he hardly got any sleep. He kept turning on the bed the entire night. And he had barely spoken anything since morning.

Part of me was angry at the girl. Like couldn't she see Potter didn't like whatever she was doing?

How dare she just accuse him of not taking their relationship seriously? One thing is clear, Potter does love her, very, very much. And she had just accused him of doing the opposite.

After reading the letter, Potter had gone to some sort of shock. Even now, as I saw him eating breakfast in the great hall, sitting ahead of me, Potter looked like he was mentally someplace else. He seemed lost in thoughts, hardly aware of what happened around him. I didn't like it.

It must be a coping mechanism. He has been through so much regardless. This is just one more problem in his complicated life.

I wanted to snap my fingers at him and get him talking, so he would stop thinking whatever he was. But he was seated across the table with Lovegood and Longbottom. They spoke to him once every while, hopefully comforting him.

I grabbed the cup of tea as I finished eating the toast. The tea was hot, so I blew on it, eyes wandering around the hall when I noticed Astoria with her friends at the Slytherin table. She was smiling and laughing, and I looked away from her, feeling horrible. It reminded me of how I had acted toward her last night.

I have an apology to make. I reminded myself.

After drinking the tea, I walked over to the Slytherin table, where Astoria and her friends were seated.

"Astoria?" I hesitantly called.

She turned to face me, her expression darkening a fraction.

"Can we talk..." I asked and added, "...in private?"

Then as an afterthought, I whispered, "Please?"

I bet she would have declined if she was someone else. But it was Astoria. And much to my luck, Astoria was kind-hearted— so much so that one would mistake it for foolishness. I had known her enough to tell the difference.

There's something I've learned about her, after all.

After Astoria and I were far from her friends and possibly everyone in the Great Hall, I began, taking a deep breath, "I apologise for how I acted last night. It was terrible, and you didn't deserve it. I don't know what came upon me. But that is no excuse. I was wrong. And I'm asking for you to forgive me. Hell knows I don't deserve it, but I'm still asking, because I really am sorry."

It clearly wasn't enough, so I took a step closer to show I was being sincere, "I never ever wanted to hurt you, you know that, right? I was... I was horrible. You deserve better Astoria, and I promise I'm trying to be better, please, I'm sorry."

Astoria folded her arms across her chest and looked into the distance past me. Then she spoke, with a hint of sadness, "I'm not angry with you, Draco. Not anymore. But it hurts me to know what you think of me. And I can't help but wonder if it's my fault for making you feel that way." She sounded so, so sad, it made me feel so horrible.

"No, it's not your fault, Astoria," I immediately said, firmly. "I was wrong. I was saying whatever came to my mind without thinking whether it was right or not. And it was definitely not. I wasn't being fair."