AN - A little one-shot I wrote as a thank you for a friend who drew me a picture today.
A Lady Should Not Go Cold
"Ron, you spoiled everything!"
Hermione watched with a sunken heart as both of her friends fled up the stairs and out of her sight.
Why? She thought, Why did it have to be tonight? Why did he have to be so… so stupid?!
She almost collapsed there, her tears already spilling down her cheeks, but she had to leave. She had to get away from everything, from everyone.
Without a second thought, she turned and ran out the main doors and into the cold of the winter's night. She didn't know where she was going, and neither did she care. She just let her feet take her where they led as the frost snatched at her bare skin.
At some point, she'd found it; a small alcove that was just off of one of the main courtyards. The snow lay untouched and unblemished on the ground, and the ball was only a faint whisper on the wind. It was here that she stopped. Here that she could hold her heart no more.
Hermione fell to her knees, clutching at her shoulders as she sobbed.
Everything had been so perfect, so amazing, and Ron had to ruin everything. The boy had been nothing but jealous all year, and for what? His own stupidity was going to drive him mad, and it was diving everyone away. And it hurt. Oh Merlin it hurt!
Suddenly, she felt something soft and warm drop onto her shoulders, and she started, turning to find…
"M-Malfoy?"
The Slytherin looked as shocked as she felt, eyes wide as he stepped back from her, his hands extended towards her in a placating manner. "Sorry. You looked cold."
She blinked, only now noticing that the weight on her shoulders was in fact his robe, leaving him with only a shirt and waistcoat. Tentatively, she touched the fabric, drawing it closer about her. "Thank you."
He stared at her for a moment, before he relaxed and nodded, and turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Malfoy froze, shoulders tensing once again.
"You… Why?"
"Why what?" he replied, his back still firmly facing her.
"Why would you give me your robe?"
There was a pause, a few moments where anything could have happened, but nothing did, as though time had stopped and held its breath.
"A lady should not go cold."
"A lady?"
Malfoy drew in a deep breath and turned back to face her. "Yes, a lady."
Hermione frowned. "But, I thought…"
A small smile appeared in the corner of his lips, a soft light shone in his eye. She almost gasped at the sight of it.
"Granger, just accept it and move on."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Hermione to blink after him in the snow, and wonder if it had really happened after all, even while she still clung to his robe.