Draco hovered over her with both hands supporting his weight. Hermione looked up, searched for his eyes, but she couldn't find them. They were covered in his shadow.
"Draco," she said, keeping her voice calm and low. "Please...I'm sorry. Just...Just, please, let me go."
Draco gave a quiet, sullen chuckle, though there was nothing to laugh about. Then when he spoke, he spoke so softly and in broken paces. "I can't... You're...everything..." Then he paused, worrying Hermione.
"Draco?"
"Don't you understand, you stupid mudblood!? That's the fucking problem!" he growled. His shoulders gave slight shudders before Hermione felt a drop of water on her face. Before she could even say a word, Draco jumped to his feet and hoisted Hermione up by the front of her shirt. Hands still bonded, her body was forced to fall in whatever direction Malfoy pleased. He marched into her room and threw her on the bed. Hermione's face hit the cold mattress first before reflexively turning her head back. Using her own will, she sat up.
Draco aimed his wand at her. Knowing Draco had already crossed the line of sanity that night, what he was planning to do with that wand, Hermione didn't know...for once. She shut her eyes, waiting for the blow, but instead, the hands behind her back broke free from each other. The realization hit after a moment, but that fleeting moment disappeared soon after along with Draco and his presence before Hermione could react.
She ran to the open door entrance to follow him without much thought. Just as she reached the empty space where she had blown her door to bits, she stopped as she saw Draco pointing his wand at her again. Her gut told her he wasn't going to do anything drastic. She followed it. She raised a hand as if to reach out to him. "Draco, I'm-"
Then, it hit. Something hit Hermione making her lose immediate consciousness. She fell back, but Draco lessened the fall with an air charm; he was gentle in doing so. He even took the time to place her back in the bed. Of course, he didn't touch her. He didn't dare be tempted. Then he flicked his wand, creating nothingness into something useful. The broken bits and pieces of Hermione's door that she destroyed came back together in backwards fashion, piece by piece before becoming whole again.
He turned her back from her room, leaving magic to do what he couldn't; placing the door back and barricading the room inside and out. Draco had casted a charm that wouldn't allow Hermione to leave the room until dawn when the sunlight touches her door. He didn't want her coming out. He didn't want to see her. He needed to be alone for a while.
Oh, you can't hear me cry
See my dreams all die
From where you're standing
On your own.
It's so quiet here
And I feel so cold
This house no longer
Feels like home.
Oh,when you told me you'd leave
I felt like I couldn't breath
My aching body fell to the floor
Then I called you at home
You said that you weren't alone
I should've known better
Now it hurts much more.
The sun broke light into Hermione's window. Despite the light, her eyes felt heavy and took a lot of self will to lift them. They didn't flutter open like all the other days. They just opened as if she just closed her eyes for a moment. Her eyes were hallow filled and she slumped as she sat up.
She remembered.
She remembered what happened that night. Draco hadn't erased her memories. Why not? She glanced at the door and saw that it was no longer broken into bits. Pushing herself off the bed, she walked over to it and swung it open. Looking out of her room, a breath caught itself in her throat. Nothing was disarrayed. Nothing was broken. Everything was fine. Everything was perfect. Everything was pristine.
"I don't understand..." Hermione heard herself as under her breath.
"Understand what?"
Hermione's eyes redirected themselves to where she heard the voice; Draco's side of the dorm; his room. There, Draco stood outside his door, closing it behind him, while at the same time fixing his crooked tie into perfection. His hair combed back with not a hair out of place. His eyes were still sharp as a knife and blue as the miraculous sky. His lips were devilishly thin as usual. And his skin was pale as the last time Hermione saw them, but of all these things, one thing bothered Hermione. The wounds. The blood. They were gone.
When Hermione didn't reply, Draco scoffed and gave her a scowling look that she was so used to seeing. "Get your pretty little ass moving, Princess. Or else what sort of bloody role model are you for a Head Girl?" He paused, looking at her up and down. Then he shut his eyes for a split moment and exhaled. "I'm leaving. Cover yourself up, Mudblood. No one wants to be seeing your body." Then with that and the perfecting of his tie and cuffs, Draco left for the door.
"Wait a minute, Malfoy!" Hermione called after him. She took a few steps just to get him back in her view again. Once he was, she could see that he stopped. "What...what about last night?"
"Excuse me?"
"Last night...the blood, the wounds, the torn shirt...What was all that about?" Hermione gave Draco a look of real concern, to which Draco ignored with the same arrogant look he featured day in and day out.
"Sounds like you've been watching too much of your Muggle movies, Princess," he replied before turning back and heading for the door once again. "Every heard of the phenomenon 'dreaming' before?" He scoffed, opened the door, and left.
Leaving, Hermione stood there angry. Angry at the fact that what she knew...she knew happened! It wasn't a dream. She knew it wasnt... It wasnt. Hermione angrily sighed and went back to her room and quickly. While bustling and changing into the uniform, in the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "No one wants to be seeing your body." . For a second, Hermione thought to herself what the hell Malfoy's problem could've been. Then she realize that he'd always been that way.
First year, he ridiculed her hair. Second year, her face. Then during Third year, it was her "late bloomers" phase. After that, Fourth and Fifth year insults became more aggressive, calling her one of those names for girls who get passed around, just for the hell of it. Then in Sixth year...it was still the same, yet some what different. He lessened up. But hell, he had a motive for it. He got it. It left her in shambles.
And he knew that.
Draco walked with a purpose in the stone halls. Everywhere he went, he made heads turn. Then after that head turning moment, everyone looked away, back to what they were doing in the first place, not remembering any clue as to why they looked at Draco in the first place. It wasn't until Draco ran into Blaise that Draco encountered his first individual that wasn't fool by the charm.
"Your face," Blaise started out. "...I assume this was His doing."
Draco replied to him without sparing a glance, but he ignored the question knowing that Blaise already knew the answer. " What're you using a counter charm for, Blaise?"
Blaise shrugged and turned his head to Draco. "Just for detecting things that aren't what they seem to be...It's proven to be quite useful during these Dark Times, you know."
Draco scoffed as he passed by other students who walked casually on by past him. " Hn. Apparently, not everyone's caught on yet..."
(A/N): Long await update? :) Yes? Sorry you guys! Please look up the song "So Cold" by Ben Cocks, which is the song that inspired me to get back to writing this, AND where those italicized lyrics came from. Its super super good. My word :)
