Fights and Kisses

Quidditch training started the following week, so Ron and Harry were pretty preoccupied with that. By the time they got back to the common room in the evening after a long hard practise session, they were too tired to pay much attention to Hermione and Tabby. Tabby had recessed into herself since the Lupin incident. She didn't go round with her usual smile on her face, didn't speak up in class and spent all her spare time reading or doing homework.

Nobody noticed this except Hermione, who didn't really care. She made a point of ignoring Tabby. "Try and steal my friends will she," fumed Hermione silently one night, "now she's trying to be the cleverest witch, reading all the time, doing all her homework, that's my job."

"Tabby," said Hermione walking over to where she sat.

"Oh hi Hermione," said Tabby looking up from the book she was reading, "are you OK?"

"Yes, I'm fine.I just want to ask you what you think you are doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, you know what I'm talking about, trying to nick my friends, trying to take my place as the best student, what are you playing at?"

Tabby was taken back, she didn't realise Hermione held such resentment for her, "Hermione I would never take your friends from you, please don't think that."

"Oh that's it, turn on the charm, well I'm not as gullible as Harry and Ron, I won't take this, you leave them alone alright!"

Tabby was speechless. Hermione's words had stung her. She got up and left the common room without a word or a backwards glance. She passed Harry and Ron on the way out, mumbled something about getting a book from the library, and left them behind. Harry and Ron entered a deadly silent common room, they knew immediately there had been some kind of fight.

"Hermione are you OK," said Harry rushing over, automatically assuming that is was Tabby who had started it.

"I'm fine," snapped Hermione and walked off to the girls' dormitories.

"What was that about?" asked Ron. The rest of the common room quickly relayed what they had heard of the fight.

"I can't believe Hermione would say something like that," said Harry, shocked, "do you think I should go and find Tabby? Make sure she's alright?"

"Nah mate, I think it's best if we stay out of this one, if Hermione can be that mean to Tabby then imagine what she'd do to us if she thought we were siding with her."

Tabby was genuinely stunned at how Hermione had treated her, sure she hadn't been that warm to her, since the first few days of Hogwarts, but she hadn't imagined this. Hurt and lonely, Tabby walked the corridors, trying to understand where she had gone wrong. She had always been pleasant to Hermione, and she had never tried to take her friends away. So lost in thought Tabby walked straight into something. That something, groaned, and said, "why you stupid little.oh sorry I didn't realise it was you."

"It doesn't matter Draco, sorry I bumped into you," said Tabby, in a monotone voice. She made to go round him, but he stopped her. He looked into her eyes, the sparkle had gone, and they looked cold and distant.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly concerned.

"Nothing, it's nothing," replied Tabby, she just wanted to be alone.

"Come on," said Draco, steering her into and empty classroom. He conjured two squashy chairs, and guided her into one.

"Come on Kitty, tell me what's wrong."

"Don't call me Kitty. There's nothing wrong."

"Come on."

"Look Malfoy, I don't know why you care anyway! I just want to be alone! Leave me alone!" She went to stand up, but Malfoy pushed her back down again.

Her words had injured him. That had never happened to him before. He had never cared enough about what people had said for words to actually hurt him. The worst part was she had called him Malfoy.

"You do know why I care Tabby," Tabby snorted, "don't be like that, you do know why I care."

"No I don't," she said, "and I don't want to know. Just leave me alone, or let me go." Draco hadn't realised his hands where still holding her arms where he had pushed her down. He let go of her.

"You can go if you want," he said, his voice suddenly quiet. She didn't move.

"Come on what's wrong?"

"Oh it's everything.this stupid school, it's not like I even need to be here, and Hermione, she just attacked me for no reason, I haven't ever done anything to make her so horrid to me, she just doesn't like me and I don't know why, and, and." her voice trailed off.

"Shhh, it's ok.what did she say?"

"That I had taken her friends."

"And have you?"

"No.well not intentionally anyway." They sat in silence for a while. Draco didn't know what he was supposed to say. He had never done anything like this before. What if she cried on him? He couldn't cope with that. He had never been any good at emotions and all that stuff. He reached out and took her hand. There was no reasoning behind it, he just thought that was the best thing he could do to comfort her. "I'm useless at this," he thought, "any minute now she's going to laugh at me for being so sentimental." She didn't laugh at him. She just looked up into his eyes. He was lost in her deep dark pools. That strange sensation he had encountered before started to take over him again, he felt dizzy, and hopeless. Again though she broke the spell before he could act on it.

"Thanks Draco," she said, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and walked off. Draco sat there for what seemed an age, then he shook his head, shaking off the last remnants of the spell, cleared the room and left.