A Severe Case of a Broken Heart (A Dramione Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Disaster and Friendship?

Hermione's POV

            Great. Just great. Malfoy.

            The blonde-haired nuisance just had to find her right as she broke down. Although the tears had stopped, Hermione knew her face was bright red.

            But he didn't make a snide comment. That surprised Hermione. And Draco surprised her even more when he asked her a civil question. He had never done that before.

He seemed genuinely impressed that Hermione had invented a Shield Charm.

            Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room, and for the rest of the week she had no further encounters with Draco.

            That was until Saturday evening.

            It started when Hermione arrived in the Great Hall, expecting normal dinner with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. But when she arrived, Ron glared at her with a fire unrivaled by a dragon. Harry seemed tense, but not angry, and Ginny simply picked at her plate as Hermione sat down.

            "So are you still mad?" Ron asked, clenching his fists. "Because it's been a week and you're still avoiding us."

            Hermione paused, taken aback by his uncouth comment. After recovering, she said, "I haven't been avoiding you, Ron. You have been avoiding me!"

            "I have not!" he retorted.

            "You turn your back every time I walk over! What am I supposed to think?" Hermione replied, trying her best to not yell. Ron, however, had a different opinion on noise.

            "You were mad that I decided to hang out at Hogsmeade with my girlfriend! I'm sorry that you're too jealous to be civil!" He said, verging on yelling.

            "Jealous?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Of what?!"

            "Oh come on! I know you've been in love with me for years! You despise Lavender because I chose her! That's why you've been so mad!"

            "You are so dense!" Hermione screamed.

            She stood and left the Great Hall as fast as she should, but she didn't even reach the giant doors to the halls before Lavender stepped in front of her. "He's mine." Lavender said, looking Hermione in the eye.  Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted when Lavender slapped her across her cheek.

            Taking a few steps back, Hermione put a hand to her cheek and glared at Ron's psycho girlfriend, who turned on her heel and stormed back to her spot beside the red-head.

Hermione opened the doors to the Great Hall and ran through the halls, her eyes beginning to water.

            He is such an arse. How could he say things like that? He just doesn't get it. Yes, I loved Ron, but a different Ron. And that was a long time ago.

            She pushed an outside door open and immediately felt a blast of cold air and snow.

            Great. Perfect. You forget your coat and there's a snowstorm. Good job, Hermione.

            Turning a corner back to the main hallway, she ran face first into a tall figure, knocking her down. She looked up and her anger boiled over.

Draco's POV

            She looked furious. The kind of mad that might even make Snape pause.

            And it was all because Draco accidentally ran into her.

            Draco was about to apologize and help her stand up when she broke down, sobbing.

            Crap. What do I do? Get her chocolate? Maybe it's that time.

            Instead of helping her up, he sat down next to her, and reached to put a hand on her shoulder, but drew back.

            She hates you. What are you doing?

            With her knees drawn to her chest, shoulders shaking, she looked so vulnerable. She certainly did not resemble the snippy, clever witch that punched him in his third year.

            It was then that he decided to go for it, not caring if Hermione ended up hating him. Draco put his arms around her shoulders and drew her close. He felt her tense up, but she didn't move. He held her until she stopped shaking, then he drew back and looked her in the eyes.

            "D... do you..." Draco paused. He wasn't her friend. He has no right to ask. Even if he did ask, he wouldn't know how to say it without offending her.

            But Hermione met his eyes, waiting for him to finish his question.

            "Do you want to talk about it?" Draco finished.

            Draco could tell that Hermione was surprised, but after a second she nodded.

            They sat with their backs to the wall as Hermione recounted what had happened at Hogsmeade and how her friends reacted. She told Draco why she had been in the Astronomy Tower alone, and what Ron and Lavender had done at dinner.

            "And what's the worst," Hermione said. "Is Ginny and Harry and everyone else couldn't be bothered to help. They were just staring as Ron and Lavender screamed at me."

            Draco couldn't believe what had heard. Hermione and her friends rarely fought, and never anything like this. Draco had envied their closeness for years.

Hermione stood. "I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to make you miss dinner."

Draco shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He replied with a smirk.

He wanted to pull her back down and say that he wanted to talk more, but he didn't want to accidentally ruin the civil conversation they had just had.

Hermione's POV

            Hermione had never expected Draco to offer a shoulder to cry on, and much less for her to accept it. But then again, she never expected her friendship with Ron to get this bad.

            Maybe there was something in the water.

            As Hermione walked up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, her mind drifted to Draco. Lying in her bed, Hermione wondered what had compelled him to be so uncharacteristically thoughtful. Then it hit her. She sat up in bed, her mind racing. 

            This wasn't a new concept for him. How did she not recognize the white-blonde haired boy from Hogsmeade?

            The boy was Draco.