Chapter Twenty Two

A/N: Thank you to Karli1252 and nancy for reviewing the last chapter.

In the Potions classroom, as the professor took attendance, the name of Merida Ross went unanswered. That was because, at that very moment, the girl was lying on her bed, weeping into the crimson of her pillows. She was not the type to skip a lesson, but she was hardly going to attend it like this. Besides, she had no wish to go back down to the dungeons. Not after last time.

A fresh wave of tears flooded her eyes, as Merida remembered the agony she had gone through at the hands of that jealous group of Slytherins. It was not the pain that made her cry, though, nor the hatred she had seen in the eyes of those students surrounding her. It was the fact that she had been hurt, had needed help, and yet Draco had not come to save her. 'But why would he have done?' she asked herself. 'After all, it was him who planned the attack.'

Her mother had told her everything about what had happened, shortly after she had awoken in hospital. At first, she had not believed it, but the more the woman had said, the more it seemed to make sense. The Slytherins had attacked her on Draco's orders; the whole time, he had merely been trying to get her guard down, so that she would fall willingly into his trap. And she had fallen for it. Worst of all, she had fallen head over heels, for him.

'I can't believe that I was so stupid.' she chastised herself. 'I actually believed that he cared about me. Mum was right, Slytherins and Gryffindors don't mix, and that won't change. I don't know why I even tried.'

If anything, the incident had made the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor even more intense. The dungeons were laced with booby traps, made by Ginny's brothers Fred and George, while the Slytherins had taken to such audacious cheating in their Quidditch matches that it was a wonder they had not been caught for it. When the two Houses walked past each other in the corridors, it would not be ludicrous to think that there was a gaping hole in the floor between them, as they stood so far apart. 'And it's all because of me and him.'

Merida was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of frantic knocking and she took a moment to recall that she had placed a locking spell on the door. Reluctantly, she retrieved her wand from her bedside table and waved it in the direction of the door, which swung open to reveal a slightly red-faced Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, thank goodness." the woman sighed, making her way over to the bed. "I was afraid that you might have... I was afraid that something had happened to you."

"Don't worry, Mum. I'm not that desperate to get out of this situation." Merida stated, trying to make her voice sound light-hearted, even if it was the complete opposite of what she felt. For her part, her mother smiled, stroking tendrils of tangled auburn hair away from the girl's face, which was still damp from her tears. "I just didn't feel like going to Potions. I couldn't face it, not… not now."

"I've already spoken to Professor Snape." McGonagall stated, her comforting tone turning harsh for a moment as she spoke of her tolerated colleague. "Of course, he is well aware of the situation and I've told him you're unlikely to attend his classes for a while, at least until all of this has been resolved."

And when will that be, Mum? she wanted to ask, but she could not bring herself to be that spiteful. Her mother was only trying to help, after all. It was her efforts that made the burning question even more painful to ask, but Merida could not help herself.

"Is… is he here?" she asked, not really knowing what answer she wanted. To her credit, her mother seemed to have been expecting the question, for she seemed to have prepared herself enough that she would not wince at the mention of Draco Malfoy.

"He is still attending his classes, as long as you are not in them." Minerva explained. "Once you return, any lessons you share will be reconfigured. For example, I will be teaching you Transfiguration in private in the evenings. That way, you won't have to see him, or any of his gang."

Merida knew that the knowledge should have brought her relief. After all that Draco had done to her, she should be glad never to have to see him again, and this was the best option that allowed her to continue her education. But somewhere in the back of her mind, the banished recesses of her memory, she saw all the time they had spent together and found herself wishing she had that back. 'Perhaps it was just easier back then.' she told herself. 'Perhaps that's why I'm wishing for those times.'

She could not allow herself to consider the real reasons, for fear that she would burst into tears.

Minerva noticed her daughter's melancholy and pulled her into her arms, her embrace warm with protection, just as it always had been. Merida could not count how many hours she had spent in that embrace since… It must have been hundreds.

"I know it's difficult to be here, Meri, but I promise, I won't let him come anywhere near you." Merida blinked a couple of times, her brow furrowing before she realised. Her mother thought she was frightened of Draco. Perhaps she should have been. She had run from him after all, when he had tried to apologise to her; she would rather have been anywhere then than in his presence. But try as she might, she could not say the same thing now.

'There's no point dwelling on it,' she told herself, her lip beginning to tremble. 'It's too late. Even if I wanted to, Mum would never let me anywhere near Draco again. And after all I've done to him, Draco would never want to see me again. It's over.'

It was that thought more than any other that prompted the tears to spill over onto the shoulder of her mother's robe, as Merida realised she would never feel the comfort of Draco's embrace again.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long (and still slightly depressing) but please review!