Chapter 11: Stars

The next day passed without any major distractions; although him and Pansy were not arguing anymore, he found whenever he looked in her direction she was looking determinedly away.

'She's upset, mate,' said his friend Goyle, a burly sixth year, as they walked together up to the great hall. 'You've got to give her time.'

'How much time, though?' He complained, but it was only half-hearted.

Draco felt guilty every time he thought about her; he would of slapped himself in that situation. But there was nothing that could be done, after all- this was all Blaise's fault. He now had to pick up the pieces.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Pansy approaching them. He groaned internally. As she walked nearer, he could see that she was not looking too great at all: her dark hair was messed up from sleep, and her eyes were red and blotchy.

Quickly, she plastered a grin on her face.

'Hi Draco, hi Greg!' Pansy said. Her voice wobbled dangerously high, it didn't sound like her at all. 'Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?'

'Er-' Draco glanced at Goyle, who wore his usual gnormless expression. 'Yeah, I mean- yes, it is-'

Pansy nodded quickly. 'Well, I'll see you around, Draco!' and with that, she left the Great Hall, her head held a bit too high and her walk a tad too fast.

The next couple of days passed similarly. Then he started to avoid her, because it was easier, and less awkward. He would rise early for breakfast and arrive late for dinner, just in the hope of avoiding her.

Tuesday. Night fell. It was approaching ten o'clock when Draco turned up at the great hall. It looked very quiet, empty except from a handful of Hufflepuff girls, and, strangely enough, Hermione, Potter and Weasley.

Fortunately they were on the other side of the hall so they didn't notice him. A goblet to his left filled with pumpkin juice, and he drank it gratefully, happy to avert his eyes elsewhere. There was a clatter of plates and an outbreak of giggling that quickly faded as half a dozen shoes clanking out of the great hall. The Hufflepuff's had left.

Draco's heart was in his mouth. He could hear low murmuring, and then a scrape of chairs. His head whipped around.

The three were leaving. He watched them silently, Harry Potter catching his eye. Quickly, he looked away. He could hear someone, probably Ron, swearing.

'Careful, Weasley.' He drawled, turning his head again. He sounded a lot braver than he felt. 'Your mother wouldn't like to hear language like that, would she?'

Ron's eyes flashed in anger, and he took a step towards him. Hastily, Hermione grasped his upper arm and mumbled something in his ear.

Draco smiled, not unkindly, lifting his chin slightly. 'You alright, Granger?'

She flushed a deep red, releasing Ron instantaneously.

Harry's eyes narrowed. 'Leave her alone, Malfoy.'

Draco raised an eyebrow. 'Nice to see you too, Potter.'

'C'mon, let's go,' Ron muttered, taking Hermione's hand. Albeit awkwardly, she let him. Even though turned away from him, Draco could see the muscles in her neck contract, she was smiling at him. He felt a strange pang in his chest.

They started, and Draco watched carefully. Then, a strange thing happened. Potter stopped, as if in pain.

'Er- wait-' He turned around and looked at Draco. 'Are you- is everything okay?'

Draco stared, taken aback. His enemy, Harry Potter, was asking about his well being? 'Y-yeah, I'm- er- why?'

To his further astonishment, Weasley spoke next. 'You've seemed a bit... well- sad. Lately.'

Draco smirked. 'Thanks, Ronald, I'm flattered- honestly. But I'm not into you.'

He rolled his eyes. 'Ok, let's go back to the common room.'

Draco wanted to punch himself after he spoke up again as they were walking out. 'Potter- Weasley. Er- thanks.'

Harry almost smiled. Ron nodded, and the trio headed out.

Draco grinned to himself. He was alone now, in the great hall. It was weird to have had a conversation with them that did not end in a fight. But it was a start. It was the beginning of something, hopefully.

'Draco?'

'Hermione?'

She was there, in the doorway. He stood up hastily. 'What're you doing here? I thought you-'

'I doubled back. Said I had to go back and get something.'

'Come on, I want to show you something.'

Hesitantly, she held out a hand. Draco's heart leapt.

'Sure.' He said quickly.

She lead him outside. It was cold, the night air whipping his face, but something about Hermione made him stay. Finally, she stopped abruptly.

There was a short silence.

'The stars.' She said diplomatically. 'I wanted to show you them.'

He looked up. 'Wow...'

The sky was a deep blue, and staring up at it was amazing; you could see every single star out there. From this perspective, the castle looked beautiful. He almost liked it in that moment.

She grinned at him. 'Let's lie down here.'

Draco stared. 'What, right here? Right now?'

She nodded. 'Yeah. It's not cold, and it's beautiful out here, so...'

He nodded quickly. 'Sounds good to me.'

Draco knelt down and lay on his back, staring absent mindedly at the black sky through the trees. She was right, the view was great, but he couldn't help getting distracted. Luckily enough, Hermione started conversation.

'Is- is everything okay between you and Pansy?' She asked tentatively.

He shrugged. 'We'll be okay.'

'You were... you were dating, weren't you?'

'On and off. She broke up with me, though.' He added.

'Oh.' Hermione said awkwardly. 'I'm- ah- sorry?'

He shook his head. 'Are you dating Weasley still?'

There was a brief silence. She seemed taken aback. 'No- no, we- um, broke up. We're still... good friends though. I- wouldn't do that to you.'

He looked up to the sky. The stars were twinkling above them, and although Draco could look at them briefly, he really did not understand why everyone loved looking at the sky so much. He felt slightly uncomfortable on the grass, looking up into the darkness. But he was happy to withstand it for Hermione. There was a further few minutes silence before she spoke again.

'I heard you calling me a nobody,' Hermione mumbled. 'You speak quite loudly.'

Confusion ebbed through him; he hadn't, had he? But then he remembered- 'She's no one-' he had said. 'Pansy, I can explain-'

Draco silently cursed himself. Of course he didn't mean it, but all the same... 'Hermione, I-'

'-Don't worry about it.' Hermione replied, albeit slightly coldly. 'I know you were trying to get Pansy off of your back.'

'That still doesn't excuse-'

'-Hey.' Hermione said softly, rolling on her side to face him properly. 'It really doesn't matter.'

He knew the situation was sore, but he couldn't help asking her one final question- 'Did you- er- hear anything else?'

She shook her head. 'No, why?'

'No, we- er- we were just arguing. Didn't want you to hear it.' He said quickly.

He nodded. Draco felt a pang of guilt, which he often felt nowadays, but chose to ignore it.

He smiled feebly at her, and she leaned towards him and rested her head against her chest. He did not want to kiss her, or anything of the sort- he just wanted to be with her, around her, in this moment. Because she was perfect.

He felt numb, but not from the cold. He thrust his hands into his robe pockets. What was happening to him? He could not understand why he was feeling this way. It was an uncomfortable emotion- Hermione was- well- so different to him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She had her eyes closed, he could see the flutter of her lashes as she breathed softly onto his chest. He was contented watching her, and suddenly he realised what the emotion was.

He felt happy, properly happy, for the first time in his life.

And everything was peaceful for now, Draco didn't want to think of what would lie in store for them the next day, or worry about keeping their relationship a secret, or the fact that he was falling fast in love with Hermione Granger.

hi! sorry for not updating for a couple of weeks. this chapter is quite important but i'm sorry if it's boring (?) i will never know because no one ever reviews ;) i've been working on the outline recently, and i have the whole thing planned out! stuff will happen!

also, i've made harry and ron look like pricks, and (ron esp) slightly stupid! i know, and i'm sorry! i love them with all my heart, but you have to remember this is draco's pov. time will play things out...

I LOVE RON HE IS LIKE MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER HE IS UNDERRATED AND A SWEETHEART JUST SO U KNOW I LOVE HIM

no one will but please review and make my day x