Hermione found herself only frustrated as she watched him fumble for his keys, unlocking the car after what seemed like an eternity. She almost fell into her seat, staring blankly out the windshield. Through the solid wall of emotion that seemed to consume her, she could feel his worried gaze on her, but she felt speaking to be outside of her ability right now, no matter how much she wanted to say something vague. Hermione knew she should say something reassuring, why should he be burdened by her own disappointment? Still, the lump in her throat seemed to block her from saying a single thing. She blinked hard, she would not cry.
Steeling her resolve she smiled in Draco's general direction, knowing if she met his gaze the truth would come spilling out. Was it the truth? A layer of confusion seemed to be settling over her now, complicating her emotions even more. Mentally, Hermione flailed. This was a new reaction, and she felt anger building up at everything. Internally, she fought for control, and she could feel herself gaining back agency as she allowed her old ally, anger, to soothe her fraught nerves. This was one emotion she knew how to control. Still, it would hardly do to leave the emotional lasagna with anger on top. People tended to pick at anger, looking for a reason beneath. Some fake cheer ought to sate curiosity. She could feel her face smooth as the frown she didn't realize she was wearing slid off. Now she could look at him.
"Wow, I can't believe how quickly we've gone! We'll be back in another half hour!" Hermione said, reading the GPS, a little genuine surprise in her voice. "It's your driving-" Hermione started to say teasingly, but she stopped when she saw Draco's face. He was staring out of the windshield so hard Hermione thought he might crack it with his gaze. His face was a blizzard of emotion, so many negative feelings at once it was almost impossible to make out what each individual one was.
"Don't do that." Draco said so dangerously quiet that Hermione could barely hear him. "Do what?" Hermione said lightly, trying to mask her concern. Draco suddenly yanked the wheel of the car, Hermione shrieked and grabbed his arm before realizing he had just pulled off the road. He turned at looked at her and she stared back, vacillating between confusion and distress. It was dead silent in the car for almost a full minute, the only sound when a car zoomed past them on the road, shaking the BMW's interior a little. Finally, Hermione, a little exasperated, broke the silence. "What?" She asked, "was it my comment about your driving?" He looked at her like she was insane. "Then what?" She asked, sounding even more bewildered, though with a creeping sense of what he was talking about. He gesticulated vaguely in her direction. "That." She laughed awkwardly, and he slammed his hand down on top of the steering wheel, causing her to jump. "Dammit Hermione. What's wrong? You think I don't recognize when someone is pretending to be okay when they're not? You think I don't know what that looks like when I've seen my mother do that every day of her life, every day of mine?" His face crumpled as he spoke, and a genuine look of deep hurt crossed his face, breaking Hermione's heart. She felt suddenly ridiculous, acting out for the sake of what? That he wouldn't do everything she wanted when she dictated? "I'm sorry." She said, reaching awkwardly across the car console to hug him, a little apprehensive, still worried that he might reject her. He didn't, and she could feel his heart racing as she buried her head against his strong shoulder.
They stayed like that for a long time until finally a nearby car horn reminded them that the shoulder of the road was not the best place to linger and Draco pulled back onto the road. They rode in silence for a little while, Hermione biting her lip as she pondered. "Hey, I'm sorry for acting like that. I just didn't-" Hermione trailed off. Draco shook his head, "I'm sorry, it's really not on you. I just-overreacted." He poked at the GPS system absentmindedly. "You don't have to explain what you were upset about. I just-" He floundered and Hermione cut him off, suddenly feeling expressional. "No, no. I want to tell you. Still, can I tell you when we stop? I've had enough driving scares today." She laughed, nervously, her mind on what she was about to confess.