Hermione dashed down the winding staircase near the door to the Gryffindor common room, tears welling up in her eyes so much that she had to slow down to make sure she didn't miss a step and tumble head first down the flight of stone stairs. She had seen enough, Ron and Lavender snogging, everyone cheering and laughing, while she just stood there watching in udder jealousy as if her feet were somehow glued to the floor and was forced to watch this dreadful moment happen right before her eyes. After 5 minutes she eventually found the will to run out of the common room and down the winding stone stairs which led onto the floor below.
Heart broken and weak in the knees, Hermione colappsed onto a wooden bench to the right of the staircase and unleashed the tears that had been longing to come flooding out of her eyes the moment she left the common room. She had to resist the very strong urge to Scream profanity at the top of her lungs at the red haired friend she had grown very fond of this past year. So instead she just continued to sob that dreadful sob that only very few can imagine.
Hermione continued to sob for the next half hour as people passed by unaware that she was even there. Even Dean and Ginny strode by without even giving Hermione a second glance. Although when Ron decided to leave Gryffindor Tower to take Lavender somewhere more private for something a little bit more intimate than snogging, he heard something strange coming from a corridor next to the stone staircase, and thats where he saw Hermione. She was sitting on the bench with her legs pressed up against her chest, and her forehead resting on her knees as her sobbing slowed into more of a weep.
"Hermione? What are you doing here, whats wrong?" Ron asked innocently, not knowing that he was the reason for the tear stains going down Hermione's face. Hermione jerked her head up at the sudden sound of Ron's voice breaking the silence in the room. She then proceeded to take out her wand.
"Impedimenta!" Hermione shouted furiously as Ron was knocked back at least five feet only to land on his back.
Not knowing why that had just happened, Ron hurried himself and Lavender into the room of requirement without asking any questions, worried that he would get thrown twenty feet next time.
After he left, Hermione got up from the bench and turned around with more tears welling up in her eyes and hastily made her way towards the staircase to get back to her comfy, four-poster bed and try to fall asleep. So with her head down she made her way up the stairs as fast as she could. Half way up the curved staircase, Hermione was running, and with the tears building in her eyes she couldnt see the tall figure standing at the top before she ran into him. "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" exclaimed Draco with so much fury in his voice that you think he would've killed anyone that had crossed his path
"Draco I'm so s-sorry, I d-didn't see you st-tanding there." Hermione stammered trying to catch her breath. "I'll just g-go." and she started to leave. But she couldn't seem to take another step towards the common room, so she leaned up against the wall and slid down until her bottom hit the floor. She took one look at Draco with tear marks etched onto her face, and looked away. She couldn't bear him seeing her like this, due to the fact that he would normally make fun of her in anyway possible, and this was one of those moments where she was fair play in Draco Malfoy' s game of torment. But he said nothing of the sort, he just walked up to the wall and slid down next to her, his facial expressions a little softer than they were before.
"Granger, what the hell are you doing out here this late anyway?" Draco asked trying to hide the fact that he was concerned for the tears rolling down Hermione's cheeks. "Aren't you supposed to be like studying or something?' he asked again as Hermione turned to face him.
"Oh I don't know aren't you supposed to be bullying first years or something?" Hermione asked questioningly a little offended at Draco's remark.
"No, that's Crabbe and Goyle's job, I just stand close by and laugh." Draco replied with a devious smile. "Anyway, you never answered my question."
"Oh ummm, it's late I should be going." replied Hermione trying to avoid the question as much as possible, considering the last person she wanted to discuss her feelings with was Draco. So she musterd all the strength left in her body and stood up and started walking in the direction of portrait of the fat lady, but she was stopped by a hand that suddenly clamped itself onto her wrist, Draco's hand.