Draco was glad when he arrived back at school after the holidays. He had enjoyed himself at home more than he had originally thought he would, but it was good to get back to his classes and see Daphne again. His train ride back had flown by as Daphne told him, in every painstaking detail, about her break.
He spent the whole ride sitting patiently and listening. And while he appreciated the distraction, what he couldn't fully appreciate was her extremely, and extraneously, detailed approach to story-telling. Daphne was far from being boring or obnoxious, but merely had a tendency to stray off subject and occasionally fixate on specific details, telling him much of the same thing over and over again. He found himself missing her customary rant, though he regretted ever doing so when his wish was later fulfilled at dinner upon their arrival.
Soon he and his classmates were back to the Hogwarts usual. Classes resumed and slowly the talk of everyone's holidays died down. Their teachers cracked down hard starting day one, readying everyone for the tests that grew steadily nearer. On any given night he usually had a sizable pile of homework and at least one paper to write for each class per week. Needless to say, it kept him quite busy.
And then to top it all off, McGonagall decided to add in some more responsibility to the mix. Not long after school resumed, the headmistress had summoned her head boy and girl to her office for a meeting. Now that the break was over, she was ready to undertake planning for an event the teachers had come up with at the beginning of the year.
"We think that it is important that, as a school, we take some time to honor the parents of the many wonderful children we are so fortunate to teach every year. Which is why, I would like to instate a parents' night, one for each of our classes of students. We would like to familiarize parents, most especially of the muggle persuasion, with our school and what it is we do here. The two of you will be in charge of making this a reality. The prefects are at your disposal should you need them, and I should encourage you to take advantage of this fact. I am well aware of how busy your schedules are becoming. This is why we have planned the events for late February. Hopefully far enough away for you to plan, but early enough not to interfere with your N.E.W.T.S preparation.
"We have already sent out letters to all of our parents. The first two events will be on the Friday and Saturday of the third week of February. The next two weeks will host the rest concluding with our final evening on the first Saturday of May. The events will take place on six evenings in total as the sixth and seventh years parents night will be a joint group. We thought it best, for your sakes, that you need only put up and take down decorations at the beginning and end of three weekends." Draco greatly appreciated the sentiment. While they had not been required to take down the Christmas decorations, putting them up had certainly been difficult enough.
"It is of utmost importance to us that we use this as an opportunity to show off our wonderful school. A great deal about the evenings has already been worked out, so you needn't worry about planning the whole thing. A banquet will take place in the great hall at 6:00 sharp. Parents that are incapable of transporting themselves here magically will be arriving via the Hogwarts Express. I have spoken to Hagrid, and he has agreed to ferry all of our guests over on boats, much like we do every year with our new students. I should mention however, I would prefer that the two of you organize a few prefects to accompany him. I think it unwise that we pair enchanted boats and muggles with a man that is not allowed to do magic.
"Furthermore, attendance will be mandatory for both our prefects team, including the two of you, and for all students that belong to a year's particular evening, however, they will need only join us for the dinner portion. All other years' students will eat in their dormitories. After dinner, two prefects will pair with several of our teachers to give our guests a tour of the castle. It is your responsibility to remind each of them to wear their dress robes and look smart. It is very important that they make a good impression. Also, let me make myself clear when I tell you that every precaution will need to be taken to ensure our evenings run as smoothly as possible. As for your own parts, you will be handling decorations as usual and, of course, the scheduling and handling of your prefects team. I trust you can handle this. After all, I have the utmost faith in you."
After leaving the headmistress's office, the two stood awkwardly apart as the staircase made its descent to the corridor below. Draco stole a glance in Hermione's direction when they reached the bottom just before she briskly took off without a word or any acknowledgement of his presence. He sighed and thrust his hands deep into his pockets. Six weeks seemed like a lot of time for them to plan, but if they couldn't get over what had happened, it wouldn't matter. In order to do that though, they would need to talk first.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
The rest of his first week back and most of his second week passed and the little he saw of her was almost exclusively in class. It was fairly obvious that she was avoiding him, given that she was always gone within seconds of class ending, giving him little to no opportunity to approach her. If she was trying to make him feel worse about the whole matter, she was definitely succeeding. But he was determined to find a way to talk to her. McGonagall was counting on them.
Catching her alone was turning out to be an impossible task. While, he regularly checked the prefects' study room, it soon became apparent that she had stopped using it, probably for the exact reason he kept checking it. And on the exceedingly rare occasion he passed her in the hallways, it was always when a large group of students stood between them, effectively insulating her from his advancement. The whole affair was becoming tedious; he hadn't counted on her going so far out of her way to evade him. But he wouldn't be giving up any time soon.
One afternoon he and Daphne were walking down the hall to the library for free period after transfigurations class talking when Draco realized that he had left his potions book in their previous class. After a quick apology to Daphne and a grumbling of frustrated curses, he set off on the long trek back up to McGonagall's classroom. Of course he'd remembered all the way down at the library. It would've been too easy to remember when he was still on the same floor.
After a lovely scolding for interrupting her class and a five point deduction from Slytherin, he retrieved his book from McGonagall and began his second trip down to the library.
As he turned into a corridor leading down to the entrance hall, a faint noise caught his attention. It had come from a classroom just ahead of him. His first instinct was to keep on going, but curiosity got the better of him and a guilty conscience persuaded him to act as a prefect was supposed to- something he hadn't done nearly enough during his appointment as such- when suspicious noises sounded from seemingly empty classrooms: investigate.
He patted his wand for reassurance- that it still lay concealed within his robes, ready should he need it- and cautiously approached the classroom door that had been left cracked open. Draco gently pushed it ajar, his eyes darting about for any sign of danger as he stepped inside. When at first he didn't see anything, he decided to use the revealing charm. Homenum Revelio he whispered. A small translucent marker floated from his wand and hovered in the far corner of the classroom.
He cautiously approached the desk beyond which the marker hovered and, as he peeked around it, his eyes met with none other than the brown irises of Hermione Granger. She immediately looked away but not before he noticed the trails of water running down her cheeks. A pang of guilt spread through his chest. Where those of his doing? Hermione moved her lips but he heard nothing. Evidently noticing this, she made a brief sweeping motion with her wand and then spoke again.
"Come to scoff have you?" she asked miserably. He stood awkwardly over her. He knew that it probably wasn't the time to talk to her, but he didn't know when he might get the chance to talk to her again, let alone in private.
"No," he whispered. He didn't know what else to say. "Are you okay?" he managed finally. Just too late, he realized what a dumb question it was. Obviously she wasn't.
Rightfully, she choked out a laugh. "No. But then why should you care? There's no one around to earn you any brownie points, so you can cut the niceties Malfoy." He swallowed hard as he resisted the urge to get defensive.
"Look, I'm not sure how you found me, but if you're just here to gawk then you'll want to un-find me quick." She tapped her wand impatiently on the stone floor. "If you catch my drift."
"I…" he stammered, unsure of how to respond. "I heard a noise while I was walking outside. I didn't mean to intrude. I'm sorry." He shuffled his feet uncomfortably beneath him. Emotional outbursts like this made him nervous in a way few things could. His voice dropped as the question nagging him spilled forward. "I didn't… Did I do this to you?"
Another scornful laugh. "No, funnily enough. This time it was Ron. Though I suppose indirectly it was you, since that bloody kiss we shared is what upset him." His heart dropped. She must have told him and things had gone south. She continued. "Maybe I should have kept it a secret. But he probably would have heard it from someone else anyways." After a pause and then another cold laugh, she shot poisonously, "I'm sure your friends thought it was funny when you told them Hermione Granger had gotten herself drunk and kissed you."
"I didn't tell anyone," he said quietly. Her face flashed with surprise but immediately morphed back to heartbreaking despondence.
"Too ashamed then? Well, then I'm so sorry that I soiled your pureblood face with my dirty mudblood lips." He winced as the word left her mouth. It sounded so hateful even when it wasn't directed at him.
"Granger…" his voice trailed off. How could he avoid making everything worse? He forced his voice to be even and firm. "I told you, I don't think that way anymore. I know it's hard to believe. And hell, I don't blame you. I probably wouldn't believe me either if I were in your shoes. But I made a promise that I intend to keep, and I have every intention to continue proving that to you and everyone else," he finished gravely.
She said nothing, staring resolutely at the wall. A lone tear materialized and ran its way down her cheek. She drew a sharp breath, but a whimper escaped her. All of sudden, Draco realized how intrusive he was being. He should have made himself scarce before he even stepped in the room. He'd been stupid; now obviously wasn't the time to talk the logistics of their relationship.
"Look, Granger I'm really sorry I bothered you." He stepped backwards towards the door. "Honestly, I didn't mean to intrude." Mid-turn, he paused and stated, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry it caused you so much trouble." It. The kiss. The one exceptionally good thing that had happened to him and yet, the one mistake he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forgive. Especially not anymore. Not with what it had cost her. With a last, regretful glance her turned fully away and headed for the door.
"He just left me…" she stammered. Draco froze.
"Weasley?" He looked over his shoulder to see her nodding. She was standing now, facing him, her shoulders hunched, making her look even smaller than usual. Tears nearly formed in his own eyes as one of the most pitiful sounds he'd ever heard escaped her lips. He turned to face her, entirely at a loss as to what to do.
"He left me out in the cold and he didn't look back…" She closed her eyes and hunched over as her body shook.
"Then he's a bloody idiot," Draco stated plainly. He walked cautiously back over to her, still completely unaware how to best handle the situation. How was it that she made him feel so utterly useless?
Silence hung in the rigid distance caught between them as she straightened through her sobs.
"Hold me." The voice that came out was little more than a choked whisper.
He didn't need to be told twice. Didn't need to be told where to put his arms, weaving them sturdily around her torso as she slumped against his shoulder. Didn't need to be told how to guard her protectively, reaching a hand up to run it gently over her hair. He didn't need to be told how to comfort her. The motions came naturally to him as she trembled fragilely in his embrace.
They stood, silently entwined in the empty classroom as his heart broke evenly with hers.
In that moment, their pasts didn't matter; only two beaten and bruised souls existed. And for the first time, they touched across a broken boundary.