Chapter 3: The Letter
Harry sat in his bed, thinking. Everything had been a blur to him, the start of term feast, the sorting of the first years, everything. He could not take his eyes off Hermione the entire time. She was sitting at the Gryffindor table a few seats away, chatting and laughing. She had tried to start up a conversation with Harry, but he ignored her. For a split second, Hermione looked very upset, but she shrugged it off and continued talking to everyone around her. Harry remembered the look on her face just before he turned away from her. He could tell in her eyes that what he was doing was really affecting her.
Good, said a sickly sounding voice inside him. I suppose she'll break up with Draco, then. But the rest of him felt horrible for what he was doing. He soon forgot his problems, however, because he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
For the next few days, Hermione kept talking to Harry. She knew he was listening, although she never received a reply.
"Draco's a good person," she insisted. "He takes an interest in my life. He's even asked about you."
Harry finally acknowledged her.
"What did he say about me?" Harry asked slowly.
"Well, a few things. All good, of course. He wanted to know about your classes."
"Oh, that's nice," Harry said sarcastically. "Trying to get on your good side, is he? Asking questions about your life? Well, I'm sorry, Hermione, but I'm not going to be your topic of conversation anymore, because, frankly, I'd rather not be a part of your life."
With that, he stormed off. Hermione was speechless.
"I—no—Harry!" she cried, a tear running down her face. "Please, Harry, wait!"
At that point, Harry wanted so badly to comfort her, but he knew what he had to do. He continued walking, feeling both proud of himself and horrible at the same time.
Harry didn't know what to do. Everyone else was still in the Great Hall, eating breakfast. He finally decided to go down to the Owlery to check up on Hedwig.
When Harry arrived there, he saw the person he least wanted to see, after Hermione—Draco Malfoy. He decided it was best to ignore him, but it wasn't him who spoke up first.
"So, Potter, I hear you're jealous of me." Malfoy smirked.
"Why would I be?" Harry tried to sound truthful.
Malfoy opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short by a girl's voice Harry recognized instantly.
"Draco! Come on! It's time for class!" Hermione shouted.
"Wait, I need to send a letter." Draco replied.
"But we'll be late! Let's go!" Hermione said frantically.
"Okay, okay, I'll send it later."
Malfoy gave Harry one last look before stuffing the letter into his robes and turning to leave. But Malfoy did not realize that the letter had fallen back out to the floor at Harry's feet. He also did not realize that the contents of the letter, if read by anyone else, could cause something very big to happen.
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