wildflowers // dramione

Chapter 17

The next morning, Draco didn't come downstairs. Hermione sat at the table alone and ate small bites of her breakfast. She wished to be outside, but she knew Draco didn't want to see her. Besides, it was pouring rain this morning. They wouldn't have been able to go on their daily walk anyways. Hermione tapped her spoon against the side of her porcelain cereal bowl. She sighed and listened to the delicate "clanks" of the metal with the bowl and the rainfall outside.

When Hermione finished her breakfast, she cleaned her dishes and replaced them back into their cupboards. She walked over to the back window. She lingered there, watching drops of water slide down the glass and deciding what to do about Draco. More specifically, her and Draco. She knew everything happening between them was wrong and would end up with one, or both of them, hurt. Hermione tried to force away the feelings she had for Malfoy. They had been sitting in her stomach like a concrete block since the Shropshire house incident. No matter how many insults or comments that Draco had said to her or her friends in the past, and no matter how many times Hermione replayed them in her head, she couldn't move past her desire to mend what had broken last night between them. With trembling hands, Hermione took a deep breath and made her way upstairs to Draco's room.

Draco hadn't left his room all day. He had gotten up, showered, and dressed himself but he couldn't bring himself to go downstairs and face Hermione. He just kept imagining what her face would look like if he walked into the kitchen and he didn't want to have to be reminded of how tired she was of him. Draco didn't know that Hermione hadn't meant to offend him last night, just simply go to bed and move past the events of the day. Hermione knew that if Draco had walked down the stairs that morning, her face wouldn't be annoyed or angry like he had pictured but relaxed, smiling, and with a glint of relief in her eyes. Draco had been making his bed with the help of his magic and wand when he heard Hermione's knock.

"Draco, why don't you come downstairs? It's not good weather for a walk but maybe we could still talk?" Hermione's voice was low and sincere. She was in front of his door, leaning her forehead against the wood and hands on the frame.

Draco didn't want to answer but he heard her genuine voice and he set his wand down. He raised his shoulders and set his face in a sneer before opening the door.

"What, Granger? Shouldn't you be resting? You were awfully tired last night," Draco said sarcastically.

"Oh come on, Draco. Don't be so sensitive," Hermione said, quoting something Draco had said to her a few days ago.

Draco huffed. "What do you want? You said it wasn't the right weather for a walk so what could you possibly want with me?" Draco laughed at the possible answers to that question. Hermione's cheeks turned red.

"I said we could still talk. We don't have to be on a walk to do that."

"Talk? We talked last night. I told you to forget about everything. Can you at least try to act like you have?" Draco didn't move from the doorway. He didn't want to leave his room, or have Hermione coming in.

"Draco! I told you that's not possible. I told you things have changed. You can't avoid me like all of your other problems!" Hermione raised her voice. She grew angry with Draco for trying to tell her what to do or what to feel.

"Calm down, Granger. Don't take out all your sexual frustration on me," Draco snickered.

"Oh, ew, Malfoy. Stop being so arrogant."

"Arrogant? Me? Not possible."

"Ugh, whatever, Draco! I'm over this. Stay in your room, I don't care! Never come out if that's what you want! But do not expect me to not try and leave! If you can avoid problems then I can, too!" Hermione stormed away, down the stairs. She heard Draco come after her but she didn't look back to see his face.

"You filthy, Mudblood! You can't leave! I'm not dying because you can't handle a joke!" Draco grabbed Hermione's wrist and spun her around to face him. He dragged her body towards his and he turned them to the side. He pushed Hermione's body up against the hallway wall.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she gasped. Though still angry with him, she couldn't deny the serious attraction she had to Draco in this moment. She leaned towards his pale face to kiss him. Draco saw and moved his face away, rejecting Hermione's lips. Hermione's face grew hot and her body burned with humiliation.

"Let go of me!" she screamed.

"You seem to have forgotten who's in charge here, Mudblood!" The term tasted sour as it left Draco's tongue. He knew she'd hate him for calling her it again today.

"Let go of me! Let go!" Hermione screeched again. She swung her arm around to try and break from his grasp.

"Damn it, Granger! Quit it! You don't get to tell me what to do! You're not in control, I am!" Draco yelled back.

Hermione fought Draco's firm grip on her wrists. "Let go of me, Malfoy! I won't leave! Just get away from me!"

"You're lucky I don't feel like dealing with you anymore!" Draco released Hermione and stepped aside so she could step away from the wall. He stomped back down the hallway and into his bedroom.

Hermione walked towards her room and her back felt cold as the air hit it. After being pushed against the wall and remaining there, the cool air of the spring weather that filled the house sent chills up her newly exposed back. Hermione was furious with Draco. Not only had he called her a mudblood again, but he rejected her kiss. His actions made her hate herself for feeling so terribly sad about them. Hermione made a plan. A plan to leave, to escape. Tonight.

Hermione quietly, though aggressively, threw her items into her black bag. She knew none of the items were really hers, but she needed something to get her through her journey back to her friends. The pieces her heart had fallen into in the recent weeks, began to put themselves back together as she imagined being reunited with Harry and Ron again. She was leaving tonight, and Draco wasn't going to catch her.