Dragon's Flame- Chapter Four
Chances
By darthelwig
I don't own them and they make me no money. Leave me alone.
This is still PG-13, for now.
He had managed to avoid her for days now.
Not an easy thing to do since Slytherin and Gryffindor had so many of their classes together, but he managed. Crabbe and Goyle were very useful in that way. They kept him safely away from her, opening up paths in the crowds so he could make his escape after their classes. They didn't ask questions, either, and that was exactly how he wanted it. The less those two knew about things, the better.
Hermione didn't make it easy, of course. She was determined to get to him. Everywhere he went; there she was, like magic. When he walked into the dungeons for Potions, she tried to catch his attention. During Herbology, she tried to stand next to him. Always, she had barely missed him.
But he didn't want to talk to her. He couldn't. There was too much to say and no right way to say it. He had to think things through before he did something he would regret. There were too many ways he could mess thing s up, too many things that could go horribly wrong.
Twice now, she had started to speak to him, only to have him walk away. He knew it was maddening to her. He wished she would just give up, but that was one of the things he liked about her; her determination. Potter and Weasley probably thought she had gone mad, but she still didn't seem to care.
It was just after breakfast one day that Potter caught him alone outside the Great Hall. If he'd been paying attention, it probably wouldn't have happened, but he was distracted by his thoughts of her and walked right into Potter's outstretched arm. He had only a moment to blink before he was staring down the length of a wand pointed directly at his face, so close he had to cross his eyes to see the tip. He followed the straight line of the wood until he saw its owner, and then he knew he was in trouble.
"What did you do to her, Malfoy?" Potter asked, his voice trembling with barely concealed rage. Draco swallowed hard and fought to fins his voice.
"What are you talking about, Potter?" He tried to sound menacing, but that didn't come off very well seeing as how he was on the business end of the furious boy's wand.
"I'm talking about Hermione. Don't pretend you don't know what I mean. What did you do to her?" Harry sounded like he was reaching the end of his control.
"Why don't you ask her, Potty?"
"She won't tell us anything about it! But Ron and I heard about you dragging her through the school! You had better not have hurt her, Malfoy!" Draco could sense how badly Potter wanted to hurt him for hurting his friend, but he also knew that the boy could do nothing without proof. After all, he couldn't be the good guy if he went around hexing people for no reason, now could he? The thought bolstered Draco's flagging confidence.
"I didn't do anything to her, idiot. If I had, do you think she would be so keen on talking to me?"
Apparently the thought had not occurred to the angry Gryffindor. Harry's mind worked that over for a minute, trying to decide if that made sense or if Draco was simply playing him for a fool. With a huge sigh, he reached the conclusion Draco had intended. His wand lowered slowly until it was pointing at the floor.
"Stay away from us, Malfoy," he said softly, his voice adding a hint of a threat. Draco watched Potter walk away, not breathing until he had exited the hallway. He should have known to expect this. Potter and Weasley were very possessive of Hermione. Any perceived threat to her would be answered with extreme force.
Well, if Draco had possession of her heart he would be the same way, he supposed. Still, that had been a pretty intense encounter with Potter, and he was anxious not to repeat the experience. Weasley had even less control of his temper, so he would have to be extra careful to avoid him. Why couldn't life be easy?
He began the long trek to the Slytherin common room, being more careful about his surroundings. It wouldn't do for a Malfoy to be caught off-guard twice in one day. He was just thankful his father didn't know what was going on. He would disown his son if he were aware of how many stupid mistakes the boy had been making recently.
Draco thought he was very alert, so it came as a huge surprise when her voice came from right behind him.
"You can't avoid me forever, Malfoy," she said, no trace of anger in her voice. He nearly jumped out of his skin, swinging around to face her. She was standing so close!
"Get away from me, Granger!" He tried to walk away, but she placed a hand on his arm and he froze in mid-stride.
"What's going on with you?" she asked, taking a step towards him.
"Nothing- it's nothing," he said, his voice harsh. "Please…"
She looked at him in surprise. Draco knew immediately that he's made a mistake. He never apologized to anyone, yet he had just done so- to someone he had proclaimed to be a 'filthy little mud-blood'. He closed his eyes, trying to regroup.
"What did you say?" she asked in amazement.
Draco knew this was going too far. He had to put a stop to it now. Gathering his strength, he turned on her, yanking his arm away from her in the process. His face was screwed up in anger, or was it pain?
"Get away from me, mud-blood!" he yelled, taking her stunned silence as an opportunity to escape. But he couldn't run from the choked sob he heard behind him, and it haunted him well into the night.