Chapter Nine: The Breakup

"Hermione!" he yelled, trying to catch her before she got to the gate, which was where the Anti-Disapparation jinx ended.

With about fifty feet to spare, he caught her around the waist and pulled her to a stop. "Hermione, stop!" he shouted.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed. "Don't touch me! We're through!"

"Hermione, please!" Draco pleaded. "Please wait!''

"Why?" she screamed, her hair flying as she whirled. He could see that her face was red, puffy, and streaked with tears.

"Please, Hermione, just listen to me!"

"Why on earth should I listen to you?" she yelled, trying to pull away. "What, do you want to rain more insults down on me, keep telling me how I'm not good enough for you? Because I don't need telling twice! I'm not good enough for you, you and your father made that quite clear!"

"Hermione!" he shouted. "Stop and listen to me! I love you! I want you!"

"I don't even know why you keep lying, pretending you want me! I'm a Mudblood! I'm lower than mud, lower than dirt, and I belong in the sewers, according to you and your father!" she cried, still trying to pull away.

"Don't call yourself that!" he pleaded desperately, cradling her face in his hands. "I would never say that about you, I love you!"

"I heard you and your father talking! I heard what he said about me! I know how you both feel about me, about Mudbloods!"

"But I don't feel that way!" Draco cried, struggling to keep her from running away. "I might have at one point, but now, I don't, and you mean everything—everything—to me!

"Really?" she cried. "Then why didn't you say a single word to defend me?"

Draco was silent. He knew she was right. That would be how it appeared to her, but she wouldn't believe him if he explained the truth. That his father would kill Hermione to "keep the bloodline pure" as Lucius would put it.

Hermione jerked her arm out of his grasp. "I never want to see you again!" she screamed through her tears.

Draco, who had tried to grab her again, dropped his hand, stunned. She made the most of his shock and ran for the gate. He tried to catch her, but she had a head start, and his legs felt like lead. He Apparated to her house, and let himself into the backyard using the Alohomora charm.

Her bag was in the middle of the grass, so he knew she was here. And he knew where she'd be.

He ran out to the rose tree and pressed his palm to the wall. It didn't open. He pounded his fist on the wall. She didn't want to see him, and the wall was not going to let him in. All he could do now was hope that whatever dream she had would make her realize that he loved her more than anything, so that maybe, just maybe, she would talk to him.

Meanwhile, Hermione was kneeling at the fountain, sobbing her heart out. She couldn't believe that after all the times he had told her he loved her, he hadn't defended her. Her heart was breaking, and she knew that they didn't have a chance anymore. She looked into the fountain, and it showed her Draco's face. Then her own face next to his. Then both of them, embracing each other.

She stared at the water until her eyelids grew heavy.