Fifteen

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They were interrupted by someone calling out to them, but were too consumed by each other to notice.

"Miss. Granger and Mr. Malfoy!"

Their heads snap up at the elderly woman standing beside them. They move apart, blushing and shifting awkwardly on the spot.
Mrs. McGonagall smiled for a second, but it soon dissapeared as a sorrow look flooded to her eyes.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Draco and Hermione shared a look and he reached over, slipping his hand into hers, gently squeezing it.

"W-What is it?"

She was afraid to ask, but felt better once she felt Draco's thumb gently caressing her hand.
Mrs. McGonagall offered them a sad stare and hesitated before speaking, making the pair even more confused.

"I'm very sorry, I am afraid you can not see each other anymore."

Draco froze and he felt his blood boil.

She can't decide what goes on between us!?

As if reading his mind, Mrs. McGonagall continued talking, despite the two shocked students tensing up infront of her.

"I don't want to do this, but we saw today that people did not react well
to your relationship.
You have to keep your distance from each other, to avoid getting anyone hurt."

Hermione let out a gasp, followed by tears. She was appalled, someone she cared about had finally entered her life and he was being ripped away from her.

Clutching Draco's arm, she met his eyes, glistening from his own tears.
He pulled her close and embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go.
But he had to, to save her from the cruel world of judgement and hate.

The Professor had gone, and they were alone in the hallway.

Hermione muffled her cries into his chest, wrapping her arms round his middle, connecting them behind his back.

They held one another as close as they could.

The End Of The Christmas Holidays.

"Harry, we've got to go!"

Ron called up the stairs, and soon after that, Harry stumbled down, dragging his trunk with him.
He wasn't looking forward to leaving The Burrow, because he knew he would have to face Hermione about the issue.

He sighed, and shook his head to disrupt his thoughts.

"Ron, when are the next holidays?"

He asked, and his red-haired friend offered him a suspicious glance.

"Why? Are you not looking forward to school?"

He laughed, but his face soon fell when he remembered their other best friend. He wasn't looking forward to that either.

*

The high towers of their school stood tall over them, and they lifted their heads to gape at the magnificent building. Even if they had seen Hogwarts for many years, it never failed to impress them.

"I don't know how this is going to go."

Harry exchanged looks with Ron but didn't recieve an answer, apart from a blank stare.

Entering the gates, he glanced around nervously. They headed towards the Great Hall, where many students had already gathered, chattering about the great times they had in the holidays.

Harry's eyes flickered to the Gryffindor table, where he spotted a girl hunched over with her nose in a book.

He felt his pace quicken as he approached her, and spun her around to see if she really was Hermione.

Her expression went from shock, to relief, to a small, sad smile.

"Hey, Harry. How were your holidays?"

She asked quietly, putting her book away and dropping her hands in her lap.

He decided to not bring him up now, and slid into the seat next to her, piling food onto his plate.

"They were great. How were yours?"

He asked back, inspecting her face carefully.
It seemed expressionless, and he gave Ron a warning look as he saw him approach.

*

Hermione was glad Harry was back, and forced herself to smile, acting like everything was normal.
But it wasn't. Nothing was normal anymore.
Sometimes her subconcious self was telling her to look that way. But she knew they couldn't be together. They were just too different.
Reading books was her only distraction now.

"It was... quite boring. I was in the library most of the time."

She stuttered, her heart palpitating. It was partly true, she had just left out a tiny detail. That Draco was with her.
Just thinking about him made a wave of emotions overcome her. Tears stung her eyes but she quickly ducked her head down, a curtain of hair masking her face.

Nobody could know.

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