Broken [A Dramione story] [COMPLETED]

Chapter 9

Feeling powerless and scared was something Draco never wanted to experience again. It reminded him of his sixth year at Hogwarts and how everything changed for him afterwards. It had been very hard to maintain the apparent calm and cold façade in the years after Dumbledore's death and he wasn't going to let all his hard work go to hell. He had to be strong, to keep himself in control at all cost...

Draco's silent rambles got interrupted by a loud popping noise coming from the common room. Apparition sound. Hermione came back. Draco glanced at his watch and frowned. Barely an hour and fifteen minutes had past since Hermione left. It was too early for her to come back. Something just didn't seem right.

Did something happen?

Immediately after the thought crossed his mind, Draco distinguished other noises that made his frown grow deeper. Two loud consecutive thumps, like someone dropped something heavy on the wooden floor, followed by wheezes. Draco was instantly alert, jumping out of bed, taking out his wand as he was approaching the door. He listened intently. Years of living amongst Death Eaters made his ears get used to the sounds of pain brought on by torture. Even so, for some reason that wheezing was making his blood run cold.

He opened the door quietly and stepped into the hallway, taking a few steps until he reached the edge of the common room. Just as he was considering casting a silence charm on his feet, he saw who was making those blood curling sounds and was slightly taken by surprise.

,,Granger!" he exclaimed, lowering his wand slightly but still keeping a firm grip on it.

Relief crawled into his mind for a second, but it disappeared again in an instant. The sight of Hermione made him feel even more nervous than before. She was sitting on the floor, in a kneeling position, a big brown paper bag in front of her. Her breathing was erratic, as though she had run for miles.

Draco approached her slowly, still holding his wand tightly and glancing around to see if anything else was out of the ordinary. He also cast a few wordless spells, waving his wand in different directions. After he was done it was apparent that the only strange thing in the room was Hermione's state.

When he was two steps away from her, Draco lowered his wand and, as his alertness subsided considerably, his sarcastic and mean demeanor started showing on his face. He felt annoyed at her.

Scaring me like that for no good reason... Who does she think she is?!

,,What happened Granger? Did you steal a book and ran away from the angry librarian?" he drawled, leaning against a nearby wall.

He was watching with a cold and uninterested expression as Hermione was struggling to get up, pulling the brown paper bag along with her. Hermione looked up at him and frowned. It took her a few moments, but she had finally managed to catch her breath and she was now staring into his cold grey eyes, as she felt fire rising in hers. His snide comments were the last thing she needed at that moment. All she wanted to do was go to her room, away from him and think.

,,Mind your own business, Malfoy" she breathed out at him, a warning tint to her tone.

Draco started slightly. He didn't remember seeing Hermione Granger look at him that way before, not even in school. Behind all the emotions she contained, he could almost make out a small flicker of hate. He wasn't sure why, but he believed she herself wasn't aware of it being there.

,,Are you alright, Granger?" he asked, surprising even himself.

Hermione was also taken aback by his question but tried hard not to let it show on her face. She steeled herself against gravity and, hoping against hope she wouldn't collapse, she started walking towards her room, ignoring Draco completely.