The worst days of our lives

Chapter 7

Draco was hyper ventilating. Air was becoming scarce as he attempted to breathe in and out with a wheeze.

He stood in a deserted classroom, arms spread on the teachers desk and head bowed down.

For Merlin's sake, she was just a girl. Nothing special, just a fifteen year old girl. No matter how many times he kept repeating it, his body couldn't grasp that there was no danger. As he seemed to draw in less and less air, he panicked and looked around for his bag. Quickly he rummaged around in it and got a plastic bag out. He put it to his mouth and breathed in and out slowly.

Slowly his heartbeat returned to his normal pace.

Merlin....

*****

Hermione was still studying three hours later. She was hunched over the table, furiously scribbling away on the parchment. The library seemed quiet, almost too quiet. As much as Hermione liked the silence, sometimes it could be suffocating. It felt like there was something lurking in the shadows.

'It's a wonder your parchment doesn't catch fire,' said Ron.

Hermione's head shot up, Ron stood in front of her table, smiling slightly. After a moment of hesitation she returned the smile.

'I didn't see you there.'

Ron invited himself to join her table.

'No miracle, you looked far, far away,' his smile disappeared and a frown took its place.

'Yes?' Hermione asked.

Ron smiled crookedly. 'Nothing. I'm going to see where Harry's at.'

And he left the library.

What was up with him? Just barging in here, sitting down, seemingly wanting to talk about something, then leaving like that? Deep down, Hermione knew what he wanted to talk about. About them. Something Hermione wanted to avoid at all costs. She didn't want to lie to him, he did nothing to deserve that. But she didn't want to tell him the truth either.

She felt like crying.

Damn it! This was her final Hogwarts year, it should have been great, fantastic even. But nothing was going according to plan. Harry wouldn't listen to her, Ron was so sweet and understanding, but all Hermione felt was guilt and Ginny was prancing around with her head girl badge pinned to her chest.

Sod it all.

*****
Ron sat down on the couch next to Harry. The face he made must have looked funny, as Harry glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

'What is it?' he asked.

'What do you think of Hermione and I?'

Harry blanched.

'Err...I don't know. You two seem a bit...different.'

'In a good or a bad way?' asked Ron, dreading the answer.

'Don't take it the wrong way mate, but..the bad way. You two have...pretty much nothing in common-.'

Ron interrupted him. 'Except you, you mean.'

'What?' asked Harry.

'You. That we are friends with you. That's about the only thing that kept us together, wasn't it?' asked Ron. 'I don't think there's any chance that Hermione and I will get a happy ending. Together I mean.'

'I wasn't aware you two were dating?' Harry offered carefully, as he closed the book that was in his lap. Ron didn't know that Harry read. Weird.

'We weren't,' he said simply.

'Okay...I'm confused here. Help me out.'

'We weren't dating. But any chance of us dating has gone,' Ron sad. He felt ...off. A little inside out. He wasn't hurt, not really. Disappointed? Yes. Hell yeah.

'Okay. Why?' asked Harry.

'I just felt like there might be something you know. After everything we'd gone through, I really believed that she might be the one,' as he said these words a grimace passed over his face, like he was embarrassed. He was, just a little bit.

'You really believe in the one?' Harry said quickly. 'That's girl stuff.'

'Maybe it is. I guess I just have to broaden my horizons from now on.'

'How about Lav-Lav?' asked Harry, 'Or one of the Patil twins? Or Luna! Yeah Luna would be perfect.'

Just then the door to the common room swung open with a bang and Draco Malfoy stepped through, just avoiding the doorstep clumsily. He looked dishelved, his hair was messy and his throat seemed red.

Malfoy didn't spare them one glance as he walked towards his room, his head bowed.

'What's up with him?' asked Ron. Malfoy hadn't done anything out of line...yet.

'I don't know,' said Harry as he looked straight at Malfoys door. 'He has something fishy going on about him.'

Ron sighed. Harry would never really change his ways. He was so stubborn. Not that Ron suddenly found himself championing the rights of a convicted murderer. Malfoy was still Malfoy after all. Even though Ron had to admit he hadn't bothered anyone so far.

'I don't know Harry. I haven't seen him behave out of the ordinary. Unless you leave out the bit where he doesn't call anyone nasty names anymore.'

Harry sighed and frowned.

'I don't understand why you and Hermione must stick up for him all the time. He's a bastard who has done awful things, half of it we probably don't even know about. He's a murderer for Merlin's sake. He's an evil person.'

'You can't always judge people by the things they did wrong Harry. Circumstances count for something you know. I see you found him Ron,' Hermione said as she briskly walked past the two of them towards her room.

Harry and Ron stared at Hermione as she left the common room.

'Where did she come from?' Ron asked.

'I hope she's not using the time turner again,' said Harry.

'But she is right you know.'

******
Hermione threw her bag on her bed. She did love this new sense of privacy the separate rooms offered. She was a private person and the last few years hadn't done her much good. Sharing the room with Parvati and Lavender hadn't always been bad, if one would pretend Lavender never had a crush on Ron. It had always been the girls versus Hermione. Studying versus make-up. Guess who lost?

She put her books away in the cupboard and put her essays on her desk. She nearly finished all her work, even though classes had just started. What was she supposed to do now? She was too fed up to do any more work and quite honestly, she didn't feel like studying right now. Maybe she should spend some quality time with her friends? Good idea.

As Hermione opened the door to join her friends in the common room, a few doors down another door opened and revealed Malfoy, looking as arrogant as ever. No, that would be a lie. In fact, he didn't look arrogant at all. He looked...lost.

Hermione edged closer, wanting to see the expression on his face as he stepped out of the door and fumbled for some object in his pocket. It made a creaking sound.

His face wasn't contorted in the usual sneer. In fact, his eyes were downcast, a frown on his face. Hermione felt intrigued. Malfoy wasn't a person who wore his heart on his sleeve. He looked so...human in that moment. Hermione didn't know Malfoy as a human being. Of course she knew he was human, but not like....other people. Someone with feelings and ambitions. Someone with fears and dreams. She knew he was human, but she didn't rationally feel that way about him.

Just then his head snapped up and he stared her right in the eyes. Hermione's eyes widened. She hadn't realized quite how close she got. She stood less than two meters away from him, a bit hunched, aiming to see his face.

'Uhh...,' mumbled Hermione. Merlin, this was embarrassing.

'Sneaking isn't one of your talents, is it Granger?' Malfoy said as he closed the door behind him.

Hermione straightened out and anxiously brushed her bushy hair from her face.

'I haven't been known for being subtle no,' she answered drily as she turned away from him. 'Sorry.'

Malfoy looked at her with a frown on his face. What was his problem?

'Sorry for what?' he asked.

'For sneaking up on you. Granted, I wasn't doing a good job, but I did it anyway. It's not nice to sneak up on people.'

And then Malfoy had the audacity to actually laugh out loud.

*****
Sneaking? She called that sneaking? Draco snickered at the look on Grangers face. Like she just read an Arithmancy assignment and couldn't understand it no matter how hard she studied the weeks before the test. Incredulous was a word that sprang into his mind. It was weird, laughing at Granger without any malicious intent. It seemed....friendly even. It was quite disturbing.

'Seriously Granger. You're about as sneaky as an ogre. Don't worry.'

This was getting uncomfortable. He wasn't friendly with Granger and would never be friendly with her. He was way out of his comfort zone here. He needed to get away. With a sigh, he walked past her. Where the hell was Blaise when you needed him??

'Oh Malfoy! Wait up,' Granger called from behind.

'Zabini was looking for you earlier.'

Ah, good old Blaise.

****
Blaise was roaming around the hallways, strolling lazily from corridor to corridor. It was late and he should really be returning to the common room. And he should be finding Draco.

But at the present time he couldn't be bothered. He had looked everywhere he could think of but he was nowhere to be found. Blaise worried about his friend. He acted so differently from what he was used to. He was ...Draco acted like a human being. Gone was the untouchable Malfoy heir. Blaise couldn't say that he didn't appreciate the change. The old Draco was a tiring friend, ranting about everything and everyone that didn't fit in his idealistic world.

Before Blaise knew it he stood in front of the common room door. With a sigh he decided to go in, see if Draco was there or maybe Pansy. Anyone to joke around with would be good.

'Do you happen to know where-,' asked someone from behind, 'Oh, it's you.'

It was a girl Blaise didn't immediately recognized.

'Who are you?' he asked sharply. The girl hadn't seemed too happy that it was him in front of the door and not someone else she was looking for.

'I'm a Slytherin,' she answered simply.

'I can see that. I'm not visually challenged.'

'Really, what gave it away?' she sneered.

'The green and silver tie.'

Blaise decided that sneering was very unattractive on a girl. He didn't know what he had done to deserve her scorn. On the other hand, Slytherins weren't known for their politeness or hospitality. Unless they had something to gain of course. It sounded mean and prejudiced but it was the truth.

'I'm actually looking for your friend hmm? The blonde one. Have you got any idea where he is?'

Blaise couldn't explain the feeling he got in his gut that told him to keep this girl away from Draco.

'None of your business. And he's not interested. Go away.'

Draco didn't need much more attention anyway, he was still recovering.

'He has a mind of his own, you know. He doesn't need a big body guard like yourself to guard his virtue. I'll see if I can find him somewhere else then hmm?'

The girl turned around and walked away. Well, walk would be stating the obvious. Swaggering was more like it. She sure had a nice ass, Blaise decided. He shook his head and entered the common room.

******
That's it! R&R!! Hope you enjoyed it..