Between Us - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 10

Hermione sealed the envelope as she walked through the halls, scowling down at the letter. This was the fourth one she had written to Ron since she had come back to Hogwarts, and she was starting to become resentful at the fact that she hadn't heard back from him. She felt somewhat guilty about how upset she was, but at the same time it was starting to hurt more and more watching Ginny excitedly rip open letters from Harry every few days while she received nothing.

Thankfully there was no one in the Owlery, and she was able to sit there and enjoy the silence for a while after sending off the letter. She loved being with her friends and everything, but she needed time to herself every now and then. Ginny understood this, and Hermione was entirely grateful to the red head for keeping everyone else off her back.

A gust of cold air hit her and she shivered, tightening the belt on her coat around and bouncing up and down slightly. With winter growing closer, the days were shifting between warm and cool, and today happened to be a cooler day. She used to really like the winter time, with all of the snow and happy memories. Now the cool breeze reminded her of the winter spent in the Forest of Dean searching for horcruxes.

She heard someone making their way up the staircase leading to the Owlery and she groaned, tugging her beanie down over her ears before putting her hands back in the pockets of her jacket. Making her way to the entrance, she kept her eyes down to the floor as the person stepped into the room.

"Oh, sorry."

Her head whipped up and she saw Draco standing in the doorway, wearing a long, black coat over his black pants. She couldn't help but notice how well the jacket fit him, and her cheeks started to heat up.

"It's okay, I was just leaving," She answered quickly, looking back down at the floor. "Excuse me..."

He stepped slightly to the side to allow her to pass and she did, starting to make her way down the steps. But then she paused, realizing that now would be the perfect opportunity to apologize to him. Her nerves started to build up but she pushed them down as she turned around and went back up the stairs quickly.

"Um, Draco?"

He turned back to see her staring at him, looking extremely nervous. She bit her lip as she tried to think of the best thing to say, but she hesitated and then realized that he was waiting for her to say something.

"I'm sorry for asking you why you came back," She blurted out quickly. "It was extremely rude, and...I'm sorry!"

Before he could respond, she whirled around and quickly ran down the stairs, being careful not to slip. She wasn't sure why exactly she ran, but she didn't necessarily want to stay and hear him rebuke her apology.

It wasn't until she got to the corridor that she slowed down, panting slightly. She paused and leaned against the cold stone as she realized that she actually felt a little better after apologizing, regardless of whether or not it changed his attitude towards her. She could at least move on from feeling guilty about it.

Draco stared at the spot where she had been standing, unsure of what to think. He had thought that he had successfully driven her away by ignoring her, thereby helping his own feelings for her be pushed away.

But when she apologized, the rush of feelings came back with a force and now he was having more problems trying to push them back down. It didn't help that he thought she looked adorable when she was flustered.

He let out a frustrated groan and kicked a small bit of hay. It had only been a month, they had hardly spoken to each other, and he couldn't help but want to be closer to her. He didn't deserve it though, he knew that. The others deserved it though; they deserved everyone's forgiveness as they didn't play major parts in anything that happened. But he didn't.