These Dark And Hollow Nights

Chapter Ten: The Sapphire Necklace

Chapter Ten: The Sapphire Necklace

'I think it went well. Don't you?' Hermione asked later that evening as she and Theo sat curled up on a sofa together in the Room of Requirement. There was a fireplace in front of them, and a plate of cookies and hot chocolate on a coffee table in front of them.
'Of course it did,' Theo said. He was playing with the end of her hair, twirling it between his fingers, and sounded distracted.
'Did you have fun?' She asked.
She felt him shrug. 'It was fun. Too crowded for me,' he said. The absent-minded tone of his voice bothered her, and she sat up and turned to look at him.
'What is it? Something's bothering you, I can tell,' she said. 'What's wrong?'
He sighed. 'Something Draco said, is all,' he said. 'It's nothing, love. Don't worry about it.'
'Well, now that you said that of course I'm going to worry about it,' she said, her content mood gone. 'What did Draco say?'
'He said something about how we're never going to last,' he said. 'Something about it being impossible for me to be with you... because of who and what I am. He's probably right. I mean, a pureblood and a muggleborn? A Slytherin and a Gryffindor? It won't last. There's no way my father will ever approve, and I have a reputation as a pureblood to uphold. Not to mention, your Harry Potter's best friend. My Dad fought for The Dark Lord. There's a million reasons why we can't work.'
'Are you... are you breaking up with me?' She asked, her lip trembling. He couldn't be breaking up with her. Not so soon, after she was finally starting to be happy again. If Theo broke up with her, left her all alone... she wasn't sure she could handle heart break again so soon.
'Not officially,' he said. 'I just think that it's not a good idea for us to be seen with each other anymore. We can still see each other here, but...'
She got off the sofa. 'I get it. You don't want to be seen with a mudblood,' she said the word bitterly. 'Your precious reputation is obviously more important, so fine. We're done. We're over.'
He stood. 'That's not what I want,' he said. 'I still want to be with you, Hermione. I just don't think it's a good idea for us to be seen in public together.'
'Let me enlighten you about something, Theodore,' Hermione said. 'When I say I want a relationship, I mean a relationship. Not hiding out in the Room of Requirement, sneaking kisses in broom cupboards, not keeping it a secret from my best friends. I don't care about what people think. I don't care if you're a pureblood and I'm a muggleborn. I don't care if you're Slytherin and I'm Gryffindor. I don't care if your father approves of me or not. I care about you. I care about being with you. But obviously you care more about your reputation than you do about me, so fine. We're over.'
'But,' he started. 'I don't want to be.'
She gave him a cold look. 'If you truly wanted me, if you truly wanted to be with me, then you wouldn't care what people thought.'
And she walked out, leaving him staring after her. She half-ran to the Head's Tower, but Theodore didn't follow. He didn't go after her, begging for her to forgive him like she wanted him to.
When she finally reached the Head's Tower, she stomped inside and threw herself on the sofa, letting the tears streak down her face. Her makeup wasn't waterproof, but she didn't care. She sobbed into a pillow, her heart breaking into tiny pieces.

~*~

Later that night, Draco was woken by a familiar scream. For a moment, he sat up in bed, fear keeping him locked in place. Then he got up, grabbed his wand off the nightstand, and went to Hermione's room. She kept the door locked at night, but he unlocked with a simple alohomora.
She was tossing and turning in her bed, her face and forehead damp and dripping with sweat and tears.
'Please,' Hermione begged in her sleep. 'Please, Theo. Leave Draco alone. Stop, please stop!'
Draco flinched, feeling guilty. He had no reason to feel guilty, except that he was now the cause of her nightmares. He pushed the feelings away, and shook Hermione's shoulder. 'Hermione. Wake up. Wake up,' he said. 'Hermione. Please wake up.'
She stopped shaking, but she wasn't awake yet. He had a feeling, though, that the nightmares had stopped-for now. He started to leave when she grabbed him by the hand. 'Ron,' Hermione said. She was obviously sleeping, still dreaming, but she had a tight hold on his hand. 'Don't leave me. Don't leave me again, Ron. I'll try to stop the nightmares. I will, I promise. Please don't go. Stay with me.'
Draco knew he should leave. Hermione's sorrows were none of his business. But the tone of her voice, the desperation, the fear, made him hesitate. He fought back a sigh, and pulled his hand out of hers. He wasn't sure what made him do it. Guilt, maybe. Or maybe it was just her, and the fact that she was so vulnerable and scared right then. But he crawled into the bed with her, and she seemed to calm down.
'Of course I'll stay,' he murmured. 'Go back to sleep now, Mione.'
She smiled in her sleep, and snuggled closer to him. Draco decided that he never wanted to call her Mione again.