Contingent | D.M. + H.G.

Chapter 23: Invisibility

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Draco was unable to change his emotional level from what it was, lest he lose his composure entirely. And it was imperative that he hold onto that, since he knew he was about to lose everything else that mattered.

"I'm going home," he finally spoke up. He didn't even try to think of an excuse to give her because he knew she'd see through it. "I don't know when I'll be back."

Deep down, it was an implied if.

"So that's it?" she asked plainly. "No explanation? We're done?" she laughed once, a cynic sound as she read between the lines. "I thought we'd moved past all that, Draco. Was that a lie?"

He pursed his lips, not wanting to give her an answer. Because any answer he gave her would not be good enough.

"We've gone through so much," she whispered, her voice changing, growing vulnerable. "And you can't even dignify me with a response? I thought you'd grown out of your old ways, but I see now that that isn't the case," she said.

Huffing again, he bit back the swell of emotion rising in him. Trying – and failing – to bring up his stars, he instead conjured her face, playing connect the dots with her freckles. It didn't fully work, but it was a sure improvement from before.

"Answer me!" It was a yell this time. His eyes focused, snapping to hers at the outburst, and he wasn't prepared for the onslaught of emotion that hit him when he looked at her. Because when he looked at her, he saw her. He saw how important she was, how capable and passionate she was. How desperate she was to help him. And he didn't deserve any of it.

"I know you have something going on, and I won't pretend to know what it is. I know that it's bad, or you wouldn't be acting like this," she said quietly. "But I'd at least thought that we were making progress. That you were working on getting out of it," she paused, took a breath, and then continued. "But I know you're still meeting with Snape. And I think I deserve to know what it's about."

He scoffed at her, and it was very nearly a laugh. He knew he could lie, say that he was considering a Potions apprenticeship after graduation, but she wouldn't buy it. "It's none of your business."

Hermione threw her hands up in exasperation. "Why won't you just be honest with me? It couldn't possibly be as bad as you're making it out to be. What, are you failing Potions? Keeping your cover? What? What is it that you're not telling me?" Her voice had risen again, and she was almost screaming at him now.

His composure was breaking, he could feel it. The cracks in it were a growing spiderweb, branching out, reaching towards her.

"Answer me!" she shrieked again, her hair sparking with the force of her anger.

Draco slammed his hands down on the desk and rose from his chair so he towered over her. "God fucking damn it, Granger! This wasn't supposed to happen! I wasn't supposed to–" he cut himself off before he could say the words.

His breathing was erratic as he watched her reaction. "What... does that mean, Draco," she asked smally. "What does that mean."

"It means," he breathed, dreading her response, "that we're damned, Hermione." He kept his eyes glued to her. "It means that there is no way out."

Her breathing sped up, close to what he sounded like when he'd panicked, but she still looked present. "What did you think I was meeting with Snape about?" he taunted, knowing that she would put the pieces together. "You already know that I have a task, something that I have to do before the end of the year. You know that our relationship seemed too out of place, especially at the beginning."