"'Mione
"'Mione!" he called. "Wait! I'm sorry!" Even though he tried his voice was just a hoarse cry, not even loud enough to wake anyone.
He stumbled and fell, hitting his head hard on the floor.
Chapter Three
The next morning, before anyone had come downstairs to the common room, Seamus had gotten up to see Mrs. Pomfrey, with a really bad headache and a bruise on his forehead from his fall.
Lucky for him, he didn't get caught by any of the teachers, which could have meant a detention. Besides, he didn't want to admit to anyone that he had been drunk, except for Mrs. Pomfrey who would know anyway, and that he had hit Hermione.
He was unbelievably worried about that last part and sorry, and he just couldn't believe how he could have done something like that. But he remembered, if not very clearly, and knew that all of this hadn't been a dream, his head being all the proof he needed.
Meanwhile, Hermione had gotten up and was now getting ready for the day. She had slept very badly, not finding sleep until late in the morning, and had repeatedly woken up. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see deep shadows underneath her eyes, her skin pale, but the worst of all was on her left cheek.
A red and blue streak was clearly visible on it, pain shooting through it as she touched it. She closed her eyes, a tear slowly sliding down the young girl's cheeks.
Seamus.
She clenched her right hand to a fist as she thought about him. She couldn't, no, she wouldn't let herself get down because of that incident. She didn't need him anyway. Still, there was another pain inside her that just didn't want her to let him go.
Should she give him another chance? After all, he had been drunk.
But that was the point. If he got drunk often, he would do it again and again. But before that, she had never seen him drunk anyway, and she had been with him for long enough to know that he didn't do something like that very often.
She had a long, hot shower and then tried to cover the bruise with some make-up, but the result was just worse, so she had to wash it off again. It was undeniably there, but Hermione wasn't the brightest witch of her age for no reason.
She just made up a quite believable story of herself tripping down some stairs and then hitting her cheek against some painting that was hung up on the wall. Hermione didn't want to wait for anyone and just went downstairs for breakfast.
The hall was still quite empty, but there were already a few students and teacher sitting at the tables. The rest of the people would most likely be there in 15 minutes or so. She started putting some food on her plate and eating listlessly, keeping her head low.
Someone passed behind her and said something.
"Weaselbee and Potter dumped you didn't they? What a pity, where's that other guy then?"
Malfoy. Hermione was definitely not in the mood for a confrontation and decided to ignore him, but he stopped and turned towards her.
"No smart reply now? Must have lost all of your confidence now that you're alone, isn't it?" he said smugly.
"Just piss off, Malfoy" she said quietly, her voice full of restrained anger.
But he had already continued his way, and she wasn't sure if he had heard her. Either way, the young girl didn't particularly mind, but she had lost her appetite. She got up and crossed the hall, and as she turned around at the big doors, she saw Malfoy looking at her questioningly.
As he noticed her look upon him, he changed his expression into a smirk and started talking to some Slytherins while she left. Recomposing her expression, she made her way to the common room to face her friends.
She didn't want them to know that anything was different or to worry, she was just not the type of person who liked this kind of attention very much.
Before she could reach the painting which marked the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, someone pulled her behind a statue.
"Hermione, listen. I don't want you to say anything at the moment, just listen to me."
Seamus. Hermione looked up at his face, worry and concern clearly shown on his features. He seemed to regret everything he had done the night before that she had already almost forgiven him.
Her heart beat faster as she saw him in this state. She knew she would forgive him, either way. Still, she crossed her arms and looked at him without saying a word. She wouldn't let him off this one very easily, no matter how sorry he was, so she waited.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a short moment before he started talking.
"I…I didn't know what I was doing…I was drunk. I know that's no excuse, I shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place…I was upset. That is still no excuse…I should never have…have hit you. Hermione, please believe me, I am so sorry about it. I don't want it to happen again. I don't ask forgiveness of you, I know it is just too much to expect from you, but please…" His voice trailed off and he helplessly looked around.
For once, Hermione didn't know what to do or say in this situation. She had never experienced something like that before and was unsure of what to do. Since she couldn't find a proper solution in her mind, she decided to listen to what she felt.
She bit her lip and slowly came closer, taking his face into her hands.
"Don't do it again" she said in an icy voice. He flinched, but then her tone became warmer. "I don't want this to happen again. You can talk to me about what worries you, you know that." She leaned in to hug him, and he hesitantly hugged her back. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was.
He leaned down to kiss her, and she kissed him back, then broke away grinning mischievously, but he didn't notice. His eyes stared at her left cheek where he had left his mark.
He held her closer to him. "I am so sorry."
She sighed, then nodded. He hadn't expected her to say "it's okay", because it wasn't, but the fact that she had nodded was already very comforting.
She sighed again. "I thought of a reason, you know, for this," she gestured towards her cheek, "I fell down some stairs and hit my face on a painting or wherever. I know it's strange, but I couldn't come up with anything else…"
"I think that's fine…" he gladly accepted. He hadn't been able to think of anything himself yet.
Hermione wondered what he would have done if she hadn't had that excuse for them. Would he just have admitted everything to his friends and class mates?
And then, there was still doubt. Despite what she had just said and done, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd do it again. Her mom had once said that once a guy did her physical harm, she should break up with him because he'd do it again.
But he had been drunk. Again, she didn't know if her decision was right, but at the moment, she couldn't imagine acting differently. After all, he cared about her, didn't he?
Here's a pretty short chapter actually, with still not enough DracoHermione interaction for my taste :P
but it's getting on, just setting the scene here ;)
By the way, thanks to everyone who reviewed, much appreciated!
