Confrontation Part One

As all other rumors pass, so did hers. Students went to class, ate lunch and shared other devious secrets. For once, Hermione was happy to be ignored; she could do what she wanted without feeling as though she was stripped from her skin. Only a few still kept what had happened in their minds, and some let it manifest, obsessively, not letting it go until something was done about it.

Though she felt alone, Hermione was happy, happy to resume her daily routines, happy to be able to raise her hand in class without question of who would be sneering at her. Bliss filled her as she was able to walk through the isles of the library at peace.

There was a list in Hermione's mine of people to avoid; on the top were Draco, then Pansy, Ron and Harry. The last one on the list was a girl named Lavender, she had pushed Hermione, making it look accidental, to get her to drop her secret notebook and revel the drawing. But to Lavender's dismay, Hermione did not have the secret notebook for she hid it in her trunk and did not take it out until it was safe to.

Her feelings for Draco still swam in her mind, on those quiet days when she walked the halls alone; she let her love for him become a new layer in her heart, until layer after layer filled her.

The last layer was thicker than the others, as she walked, listening to her own footsteps, no one there, and her breathing short, she thought of him, enough to see his figure in the hallway. But it moved closer, toward her, and she could hear the footsteps. She quickly held her breath and looked down, instinctively holding her books tighter to her chest.

A clink was made as her time turner fell out of her bag, yet she walked on. Whatever it is, I can get another. She passed him quickly and heard as his footsteps stopped just short of the time turner. She could tell that he picked it up.

"Granger!" echoed through the hallway, piercing through the silence that she had took comfort in.