Thank you to the wonderful Mandirrr for beta-ing!
Some days, things never turn out quite right. Some days, all you want to do is break down and cry. Some days, you just want that certain someone to leave you alone, because some days, you wish you'd never met them.
If only those certain someones would take the hint. Or perhaps they have taken the hint, but just don't care. Perhaps, just perhaps, this person is supposed to be in your life, but you're oblivious because you're so busy blocking them out, pushing them away.
The room was small, because it's hard to curl up and hide when the room is spacious. It was airing cupboard size, so she felt at home. It couldn't have been much bigger than her bedroom at the Burrow. It wasn't empty; she had wrapped herself in the sheets and blankets that the room had so thoughtfully provided. She pulled the edge of a sheet up to her face and rubbed it against her nose, like she had done when she was little, and like she did whenever she had a nightmare. The sheets smelled of lavender, her favourite sent.
The room was warm, because she felt cold. She was eternally cold these days. Only the other day, Harry had been complaining about the castle heating, and how the common room, with the fire lit, was too hot and stuffy. She had been sitting in a foetal position, shivering. He hadn't noticed. Of course he hadn't noticed.
The room was quiet, because she had developed a headache from the constant, horrible barrage of noise from her fellow students. From Ron's shouting, from Luna's rambling, from Hermione's shrill, know-it-all voice and from Colin's constant inquiries. Scratch that- She had a permanent headache.
Of course, there was one person who was always silent. She had seen him shouting, talking, laughing. But when he came near her, as if he knew what she was thinking, he was silent. She didn't understand why, couldn't tell whether it was mocking or whether he really cared, but she was grateful that he stilled any rambling whilst he was in her presence.
That didn't mean that she wanted him butting into her life though, so she was hiding from him. She couldn't stay holed up in the room of requirement forever, though.
She opened the door a crack. She couldn't see anyone, couldn't hear anyone. She opened it wider. What a mistake. An arm shot out from her blind spot and hauled her away from safety.
"Malfoy!" she cried in alarm.
"Weasley," he replied in his usual relaxed drawl.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, glaring at him. Oh, would she like to jinx him where the sun didn't shine. He wouldn't know what the hell had hit him.
"Only precisely what you want, Ginevra," he said, smiling. And that smile wasn't a sly smile, wasn't a sneaky smile. It wasn't a cruel smile or even his trademark smirk. It was a smile she would have expected to see on Luna, kind of dazed and out of focus. Almost as if he didn't know what quite to expect, but would go for it anyway. And then, he reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder. She shrugged it away immediately.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Malfoy," she replied coldly. He recoiled, taken aback. Maybe even hurt. She had hurt Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, the cold, heartless, untouchable, un-approachable boy. She had hurt his feelings. It was an accomplishment she should have been proud of, but for some reason she felt as if something was missing. That she'd lost something she never even knew she'd had, never even knew she'd wanted.
"Fine," he hissed softly. "If that's the way it is. That was your only chance, Weasley." He turned on his heel and left.
She soon realised that he was back to his usual self. His majesty, Draco Malfoy. She soon realised that he didn't care about her any more. And in realising this, she realised that he had cared about her before. And she wished that she'd responded in a different way outside of the room of requirement, and that her love would from now on be unrequited.
She only dreamt that she'd get another chance.