An Unbreakable Vow | dramione

07

Draco

I rush to finish my dinner, ignoring Blaise's pestering as I try to lose him in the crowd of Hogwarts students.

"C'mon, mate, where do you need to be so urgently?" he persists. I'm so close to hexing him, but I don't exactly feel like dealing with the consequences.

"Salazar Slytherin, would you leave me alone? Sod off!" I finally snap, whirling around.

I watch as his face turns a bit hard.

"Fine," he says coldly, turning on his heels and walking away.

I sigh, knowing that I'll probably end up regretting that soon. But that doesn't matter now.

No one can know. It's already bad enough that people know that the Heads live together in a separate part of the castle, though I have no idea how we didn't know that before.

Hermione

Ginny and Luna stand around me as I double-check my books in the Gryffindor common room.

"Where are you going, exactly, with all of those books?" Ginny asks curiously as I shut the bag. "Are you going to the library? This late?"

"Yes," I say lamely. "It's so boring, you wouldn't want to come."

"Alright... well, I guess I'll hang with Luna and Neville," she replies unsurely.

The four of us have become very close, since Harry and Ron aren't here.

"Oh, Ginny," Luna says apologetically. "Neville and I are having a picnic down by the lake, but you can come, if you'd like. That's actually why I'm here. I think he'll be down in a few minutes."

"That's alright." Ginny brightens a little. "You should go have some private time." She wiggles her eyebrows.

"Oh, Ginny, I'd hardly call it a date. He simply asked to talk, and I suggested a late night snack under the stars."

Ginny and I exchange looks. We both know that Neville's planning on asking Luna out, and Ginny had suggested to him just being frank with her about it. I think he's interpreting that as casually asking in a conversation.

"Well," she sighs. "I suppose I'll just wander around the castle and wait for Harry to reply to my letter. Maybe study for the upcoming Transfiguration test, I don't know."

This time, it's me who gives Luna a knowing look.

"You really miss him, don't you?" I ask gently.

"Yeah..." She stares off. "I suppose I just wish we had time together. It was so hard with all of the tests and studying we both had, and then there was... you know."

The war.

"I'm sorry it didn't seem to work with Ron," Luna says suddenly, breaking the silence that followed Ginny's sentence.

I stare at her.

"Oh come on, Hermione. We both know that he's got himself a lass. Didn't you tell her, Ginny?" Luna asks obliviously.

My mouth drops as I stare at my red-headed friend.

"You didn't tell me he found someone!" I shout accusingly, anger rising inside me. "Here I am, worrying if he's still thinking about me, and you never told me he had moved on long ago?"

"Well, in her defense, it only was revealed a month or so ago, Hermione," Luna says calmly.

"A month," I repeat flatly, searching for traces of humor in her words. I don't find any.