Author's Note: Oh dear, I know, this chapter is horribly short, and I haven't updated in ages! A thousand apologies. But I said the chapters would vary in length, and I wanted to keep both of these tidbits separate from what's coming in the next chapter. Not a lot happens (I'm trying to make this a story about regular, everyday life, which isn't always full of twists and turns and drama), but I hope you enjoy anyway!
November 5
"Draco, we need to talk."
Draco looked up at her from the essay he was working on furiously in the library. Pansy had spent a quarter of an hour looking for him in here; he had found the most obscure table in the whole place.
For a moment it looked like he was going to say something nasty, like to sod off and to leave him alone to do his work, but then he saw the look on her face and his expression softened. He marked the page in the book he was using for reference, closed it, and gestured to the seat opposite him.
"What's up?"
Without preamble she responded, "I'm worried about Blaise."
Draco's eyebrows rose up and disappeared into his platinum blonde hairline. "Why should you be worried about him now?"
"He hasn't spoken to either of us all year. And it's effing November. Something is up."
Draco sighed. "It's hard for me to be concerned for him when he essentially stopped talking to anyone two years ago."
"But this is different, you know it is. At least he was still involved then, he participated in conversations."
"If you can count making snide remarks as participating in conversation…"
"I'm being serious! He hasn't spoken a single word to me all year. Whenever I say 'hello' to him he just inclines his head. When I ask him a question, he either shrugs or pretends he didn't hear me and walks away. Aside from the fact that it's starting to freak me out a little, it's bloody annoying!"
Draco chuckled, then nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. I'll try to talk to him tonight. But don't expect anything to come of it. He's barely spoken to me all year either, remember?"
"Do you think I should be with you? Like, we're having an intervention or something? I could ask Hermione about it, she seems like she'd be good at that sort of thing…"
Draco shook his head. "No. It will be better if it's just me. Not that it's going to be good at all. Seriously Pansy, you know Blaise. If he doesn't want to talk, he's not going to talk."
"I know. But maybe it will affect him in some way if he knows we're worried about him. Maybe he thinks we don't care. We never tried talking to him about it before."
"Yeah, well, we were all a bit preoccupied with saving our own arses, weren't we? Don't think he can fault us for that. It's the Slytherin way."
Pansy looked off into the dark stacks of the library. "Yes," she replied distractedly. "Just do me a favor, okay? When you talk to him, let him know I care about him, okay? And it probably wouldn't hurt if you made it clear that you care about him as well."
Draco snorted, and Pansy shot him a glare. He held up his hands in defeat.
"Okay, okay."
"Promise!"
"I promise."
She flashed him a brilliant smile, hopped up, and planted a kiss on top of his head. "Thanks, Drakey-poo," she said playfully, referencing a pet name she had tried to use for him once (much to his disgust) during their courtship. She patted the top of his head and he swatted her arm, shaking his head at her back as she flounced out of the library.
He really wasn't looking forward to this conversation.
November 11
Hermione fidgeted in her chair, not sure of how to approach the subject of her and Ron's breakup. Sophie had just asked her if anything was new in her life, almost as if she knew it already, and Hermione found herself wondering if word had somehow leaked out and gotten in the paper. She never read the gossip section, so she had no idea. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Well, yes, actually. When I was at Hogsmeade, I met up with Ron and Harry at the Three Broomsticks. Ron asked if we could go on a walk, by ourselves, and I thought maybe he wanted to talk to me about the war, about losing his brother, but he…broke up with me."
She started chewing on her bottom lip and glanced at Sophie, and saw that she looked genuinely shocked. Apparently it hadn't made it into the papers. That or Sophie didn't read the gossip section either.
"Oh! Hermione, I'm so sorry to hear that. How are you taking it?"
Hermione shrugged. "I'm…a bit relieved, to be honest. I was upset at first, of course, but really our relationship never was what I expected it to be."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well…I don't know if it was just us or if it was only because of the War, but things never felt right and…I'm kind of glad. I had our lives planned out perfectly, but the way things were between us over the summer did not bode well. I probably would have broken up with him eventually, but really it's better that he broke up with me. I'm much less mad about it than he would have been, which means there's a good chance our friendship will remain…intact."
Sophie nodded. "You're taking it very well, then! That's excellent. But if you want to talk about it anytime, day or night, I'm here for you, okay?"
Hermione smiled. "Thank you. I'd say I will, but I doubt I'll need to. Anytime I need to talk about anything I've got Pansy. I've talked about it with Ginny once, and even though she and I are good friends I felt a little uncomfortable, since he's her brother. So mostly I've talked to Pansy about it, anytime I've felt the need to. I'm…incredibly lucky to have her."
She said it in a way that suggested she was just realizing it, but was very happy about it all the same.
Sophie seemed pleased to hear her say it as well, but before she could comment Hermione spoke again.
"I may be wrong, but when you asked me if anything was new in my life, it seemed like you expected a certain answer. You looked surprised when I told you about Ron and I breaking up, though, so it wasn't that. Was there something else you were thinking I might mention?"
Sophie grinned at her. "Nothing gets past you, does it, Hermione? Alright, I admit it, I was thinking, or rather hoping, that you might mention your newfound friendship with Draco."
Hermione was taken aback. "I wouldn't say we're friends," she started hastily, then stopped and laughed when Sophie quirked her eyebrow. "Really, we aren't. We don't…talk about anything real. But we're definitely more than just civil acquaintances. Which is great, considering the Arithmancy project we're working on. Meeting up was fine before but there's a lot less tension in the air now. He's so different." She paused, thinking. "Well, he can still be a bit of a sarcastic jerk sometimes, but it's much less hostile. And all the arrogance is gone." She smiled, almost to herself, looking into the fireplace. "A year ago, I wouldn't have thought him capable of it."
"Capable of what?"
Hermione turned her head and looked at Sophie. "Growing up. But I guess war does that to people."
There was a brief silence.
"Yes," replied Sophie softly, sadly, "yes it does."
