Hermione Granger sat on the stairway, crying. Her whole body was shaking while she wrapped her arms around her shoulders, sobbing, thinking about what an idiot Ron sometimes could be. He was jealous, obviously. Jealous of Viktor Krum, cause he had invited her to the Yule Ball. She wouldn't have minded to go with Ron, not as lovers but as friends, but he was too much of a coward to ask her earlier. And now he was mad at her, because he was a freaking coward!
Hermione was so furious that she stamped her foot on the cold floor. No one noticed her in her anger and tears, the few couples that were left couldn't take their eyes of their dancing partner or stood in a corner kissing. No one, except a blond boy standing at the end of the stairs, peeking around the corner. Draco Malfoy has been watching the Gryffindor girl the whole evening without her noticing. He'd seen the fight between her and Weasly, and watching her crying like that hurt his heart more than anything. She deserved better. She deserved so much better than Weasly, Potter or, heaven forbid, this puffed up dumbass of a quiddich player Krum. All he wanted to do was hold her, comfort her and tell her that there's no reason to cry over those tossers.
Lost in her thoughts Hermione hadn't noticed that someone sat next to her on the stairs. "you okay?" a familiar voice asked. She looked up straight into a slim face with Grey eyes. "Malfoy" she hissed, sniffing, "what are you doing here?". He didn't expect any other reaction of her, but it still hurt to hear this cold rejection in her voice. He cleared his throat. "well, you're crying. I saw your fight with Weaselby and wondered if you are okay" obviously not, you idiot.
She bristled with anger. "well, then you see that I'm obviously not fine. I am not, I -", she stopped speaking, her voice drowning in tears again. She felt so alone right now. She had a fight with Ron, which meant she kinda had one with Harry, too, none of them were there. Why did Ron have to be so stupid? She buried her face in her hands when she suddenly felt an arm around her shoulder holding her. She knew it was Draco, who else, she knew she shouldn't accept this, but she just couldn't shake his arm off her shoulder. She needed some comfort right now, and it didn't feel wrong. Why did it not feel wrong? This was Draco goddamn Malfoy sitting next to her, hugging her instead of mocking her because she was crying. There should have been something feeling wrong with this situation. But it wasn't. So they just sat there. Hermione still crying, and Draco, holding her, leaning his cheek against her head, happy that she let it happen. He knew that he could probably never go further, he knew that he should not even do that, but his feelings for this girl were too strong and now he could show at least a little bit of them for the first time. It would be hard for him to hide all this again, but for this moment, this tiny moment of affection, he allowed himself a little bit of hope. That it was possible, that she could like him too. He knew it was foolish, but just for now, he dared to believe it.