It was cold in the astronomy tower and the harsh breeze that whipped through the open plan tower wasn't helping. Draco shivered; It wasn't this cold last night when he had confronted Granger he thought to himself, or maybe it was and he just couldn't remember. He stood, leaning against the rail looking out at the hills thinking and going over what had happened last night. He hadn't meant to hurt Granger, he just wanted to scare her but then she had to go and call him a coward.
He had acted so much like his father last night and the thought disgusted him. He never wanted to be like Lucius. Ever. He closed his eyes and the memories of last night came flooding back, he remembered Hermione whimpering in pain as he took her already injured hand and inflicted more pain upon her, the scream that had left her lips was words enough yet he still carried on; Once she had dropped to the floor in pain, he took a moment to watch her. She wasn't the little smart mouthed girl from first year anymore, she had grown pretty and she was almost tolerable. He took her vulnerability and used it against her; he knelt down in front of her and leaned in, causing their lips to brush. He was toying with her, letting her know that she was not in control of that moment. He had threatened her, something he was not proud of.
His head snapped up when he heard movement, he turned to see Granger walking into the tower and closing the door; she obviously hadn't seen him yet.
"What do you want Granger?" Draco asked in a flat tone
Hermione hadn't noticed Draco standing there, and she now regretted shutting the door. She didn't reply to his question, she just looked at him; until now she hadn't really noticed how tall he was, he was much taller than Harry and he carried himself with much more pride—
Draco cut off her train of thought "I know I'm good looking Granger, but didn't your parents ever tell you it was rude to stare?" with that Hermione spun on her heel and made her way to the door, trying to pull the heavy door open with very little success.
Draco took three long strides and was behind Hermione, He placed his hand on the door, closing what she had opened. He watched as she closed her eyes as if she was wishing to be anywhere but in that room. Their faces were inches apart, much like they had been last night; Draco could smell her hair, it smelt of roses; he loved roses. He disregarded the thought when he reminded himself that it was Granger he was thinking about. A filthy mudblood.
"Hermione" Draco said softly, trying to get her attention; she slowly opened her eyes to find him inches away from her face, she was bombarded with the scent of pinewood once again, despite how much she loved the way he smelt she had to remember that this was Malfoy, the person she had grown to hate. She could feel his breath on her cheek and she couldn't help but blush.
Draco moved his free hand to the base of her left wrist; Hermione flinched at the contact but didn't pull away. Draco slowly rolled up her sleeve to her elbow to reveal the damage he had inflicted. He drew in a short breath and looked away for a moment; her wrist had turned an off colour purple and was still swollen, his hand mark was barely visible but it was still there and that made him feel sick. No matter how much he hated this girl, he never meant to inflict so much pain upon her. He grazed his fingers lightly over her wrist and she winced in pain. It still hurt. He looked up at her face and he recognised the expression, it was the same expression he had once held when he was a child when his father was "teaching him a lesson". He let go of her wrist, he wanted to heal her, to show her that he wasn't all bad but alas, he knew that she would never let him help her.
"Just let me leave, Draco" Hermione sighed. She sounded defeated. Draco pulled his hand away from the door and let her open it, he watch her as she walked down the stair leading away from the astronomy tower and onto the seventh floor.
Draco had changed his mind, he set off after Granger; he needed her to know that he didn't mean what had happened last night. He caught up with Hermione as she reached the seventh floor "wait up Granger!" he huffed as he drew closer to her, but she wouldn't slow down. He stepped in front of her, which only caused her to turn around and head back the way she had come. Draco sighed in annoyance; he stepped in front of her again smirking at her as he did so, and Hermione once again turned around and walked away from him. Now Draco was just getting frustrated. All he wanted to do was talk to her he thought to himself; why was she making this so difficult? He tried once more, and as expected she turned around again, but this time she lost her balance when she spun on her heal and had fallen into Malfoy who had stumbled against the wall.
Just as Draco was about to push Hermione off him they both started to fall into the room, Hermione let out a small yelp as they hit the floor. They both got up wasting no time on the floor, the door they had just fallen through had disappeared right before their eyes "What did you do?" Hermione asked accusingly. "Me?" Draco retorted "what did you do?"