Chapter 6: Confrontation

I woke up to the sound of knocking on my door. Not wanting to talk to any of my friends, I ignored it and crawled under the covers, pulling them over my head, hoping to drown out the sound of the pounding, but it didn't work. I pulled the pillow under the covers and pushed it against my ears, but the pounding still managed to through the covers and the pillow. I sat up with a groan, throwing the pillow at the door.

"GO AWAY!"

"Open the door, Granger." I heard Draco Malfoy say calmly. Confused and still a little sleepy, I got up and walked towards the door. Months of living and working together have forced us into an uneasy truce, but we never socialised with each other unless forced to.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" I asked through the door. "It's not time for the rounds yet."

"We need to talk, Granger, so open the door."

"What do we have to talk about, Malfoy?"

"We need to talk about you and Sesso."

"There is no 'me and Sesso,' Malfoy."

"Bollocks, Granger." Malfoy said. "I know bloody well there's something between you and my best mate, so open the damn door before I blast the bloody thing." Knowing that he would do as threatened, I opened the door.

"Happy now, Draco?" I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Door's open."

"Damn, Granger," Draco said as he took a step back. I followed his eyes as they trailed my body from head to toe and back again. "What, in Merlin's name, happened to you?"

"What?"

"You look like the giant squid tried to mate with you is what," Draco said with a slight smirk as I went to my dresser to tidy myself up. "So, give, Granger. What's going on with you and Sesso? And don't give me that codswallop you tried to before."

"Okay. Fine. I know Nikolas." I tugged at the curls in my hair, cursing the way they tangled so easily. "Or rather, I knew him. Once. But no longer." I turned around to face him. "We used to be friends when I was ten, before I even knew Hogwarts existed." I walked towards him. "He moved, we lost touch, I grew up and he doesn't accept that." I started to push him towards the door. "Now, butt out and get out." I pushed him out and shut the door in his face.

"Granger, we're not done."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we are not," Draco said as he forced his way back into my room. "Let's face it. We are not friends. We don't like each other, we barely tolerate each other . . ."

"So why won't you leave me alone?" I asked, interrupting him.

"Because Sesso is my best mate and the only person I can trust. Whatever you're doing to him is making him miserable an–"

"I'm not doing anything to him! He's the o–"

"–and I'm getting bloody fed up with it! Always moping, not paying any attention to anything, except for you and you don't care?" Draco said, his words speeding up.

"No, I don't."

"One thing I've always respected, perhaps the only thing, is that you're not heartless. . ." Draco's voice started to rise in volume.

"Well, that's real swell of you." I said, sarcastically.

". . . did you know that he almost killed himself after that trollop dumped him?" I stared at him in shock. It felt as if all the air had left my lungs at once.

"When did that happen?" I forced out in a gasp.

"Finally, some sort of emotion out of you."

"What happened, Malfoy." I might hate Nikolas, but I never wished him dead.

"I just found him an hour ago and took him to the hospital wing. He said he couldn't take it anymore, that today was a good day to die . . ." The room started to spin, and Draco's voice lowered into a whisper. "Granger?" I heard, even though I could no longer see him. "Hermione?"