Word Count: 288
Challenge/Competition: 100 Pairings
Prompts: Detention
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.
Draco/Hermione - Intense Curiosity
They each sit on opposite sides of the class from each other, body language stiff with hatred.
So their muscles stiffen but their minds wonder – wondering is natural, people can't help but be curious, the denial mingles with the curiosity and they consider each other.
Hermione just sits and hates her compassionate side for surfacing because she doesn't have time – she needs to be thinking and preparing, this is valuable library time. She can't take her eyes off of his position because it just looks so defeated, and she can see one of his grey eyes and he just looks wretched. Something's happened to him because he stopped abusing people, he stopped going out other than in class, he stopped talking all together and eventually he just seemed to fade. And then he flipped, so she flipped, and their anger and intelligence just perfectly matches for an argument.
Draco doesn't want to think – he wants to freeze, to climb into bed and reach the nothingness he is allowed to feel when he sleeps. But his mind just can't help it, he's so genuinely interested in Hermione because she seems so frazzled lately and he knows she's not delicate but she seems a little bit broken today. Her posture no longer appears stiff with anger or detestation, merely sadness or sleep deprivation or something equal to that. Really, he's used to being numb but sometimes he just gets out of control and can't make anything feel straight until he releases his anger. So he released it on her because she's just too perfect and she always seems to be analysing him with her know-it-all eyes.
"You can go now," Snape drawls.
Maybe detention wasn't all a waste.