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( the corridor )
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━━ The only one in the common room when Mila got back was Hermione. She was sitting on the sofa reading a book, and raised an eyebrow upon Mila's arrival. She was obviously waiting up for the other girl. The thought somewhat warmed Mila's heart.
At least Hermione didn't think she was a lost cause.
Mila sat down beside her, not saying anything. She curled up her legs and watched Hermione cautiously, as she bookmarked her page.
Hermione was the one to break the silence, "Is this why, Mila?"
"Why what?"
"Why you've been so stressed out? Clammed up. I know you think Harry is the only one who notices, but I have eyes."
"Look, if you want to be with Malfoy..." Hermione continued, "I'm not saying I understand, but I will support you. He mustn't be that bad if you're friends with him."
That was actually awfully big of Hermione, but she was completely on the wrong track, "It's not what you think. He was helping me."
"Helping you?" Hermione frowned. "What was he helping you with?"
"Looking into my past. My family," Mila admitted.
"Your family?" Hermione repeated.
"Yeah he ... had some information. It didn't go anywhere," she lied. She could pretend she didn't know why she was lying, but that would be a lie in itself. She wasn't ready to tell anyone. Not yet.
"And you were saying thank you, and Harry saw you and..."
"Thought the worst, I guess."
"But we would have helped you, Mila. That's what we do. You could have asked, and not left us wondering what was wrong with you," Hermione argued.
"I know that, Hermione. I don't know what to say. I just got caught up in all the secrecy. And Malfoy, he──he was nice. Nice to me. And then I knew that if I told you what I was doing, I'd have to tell you that I was friends with Malfoy: public enemy number one. It just seemed easier to keep it a secret."
"So you are friends?"
"I guess so, yeah. I want to tell Harry everything. I want to stop lying, but──I'm not going to stop being friends with Draco." That was a realisation for Mila in itself. He helped her, he lied for her, so no, she wasn't going to drop him like it all meant nothing. For weeks, he had been the only one she confided in. That did mean something.
