The room was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. The only thing that could be faintly heard, was the steady breathing of the sleeping Gryffindor.
Not one person had left the room since Madame Pompfry visited, unless it was to use the bathroom. They had more or less stayed in the same positions, too afraid to move incase they woke the sleeping girl.
Ginny was still sitting beside Hermione, barely gripping her friend's hand, as she slept with her head rested on the mattress. Harry and Blaise sat on one of the beds, quietly talking to each other about pretty much anything else, just to keep themselves awake. Astoria was in the bathroom, and had been for a while, on and off throughout the evening, but whenever she came out of the tiled room her eyes were red and puffy as though she'd been crying. This left Draco, sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, beside the bathroom door, deep in thought.
Astoria emerged from the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind her, before joining her fellow Slytherin at the side of the room. She stood beside him and allowed a small smile to tug on her lips as she placed a hand on his left shoulder.
"She will be fine, you know." The dark-haired girl whispered, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.
"Yeah I know." The blonde boy sighed, earning a small frown from Astoria.
"But?"
"But I feel like I..." Draco searched his mind for an ending to that sentence, but found nothing. "I don't know how to describe it."
Astoria chuckled quietly from beside him, as Draco frowned questioningly at her. Blaise and Harry, who had stopped talking as soon as Astoria began speaking, were taking an interest in the conversation.
"What so funny?" Blaise questioned with a yawn as he and Harry turned to face the two.
"I think Draco cares for Hermione more than he thinks he does." Astoria said quietly, as Draco crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest.
"I do not care for Hermione like that!" He argued like a child. "We're just friends!"
"That's what they all say." Harry chuckled from beside Blaise, causing Draco's frown to slowly turn into a glare.
"How so?"
"Well, Ron and Hermione have been saying that for three years, but they ended up dating."
"Yes, but that was ages ago!"
"They're still together!"
Draco froze. Hermione was still dating the Weasel? She hadn't mentioned this to him before, so it couldn't possibly be true, could it?
"Right, well, I'm off to bed." Harry yawned as he stood up, followed by Blaise. "Night."
The two of them left, leaving Astoria and Draco along with the two sleeping girls. Astoria could see that Draco was hurt by Harry's last comment, but she wasn't too surprised. She had known for a while that Ron and Hermione were together, but Hermione never said much about it, only that she would tell Draco when the time was right. Astoria thought she had told him ages ago, but apparently not!
They sat in silence for a while, until someone finally found something to say.
"Did you know?" Draco asked, not bothering to look at the dark-haired girl.
Astoria sighed, not wanting to answer the question, but she knew it would only hurt him more. "Yes, but she only ever mentioned it once and she swore she would tell you."
"Why didn't you tell me when she didn't?"
"Because I presumed she'd already told you, Draco."
Once again, the room fell into an awkward silence as they watched Hermione sleeping peacefully with Ginny's head rested beside her.
"I feel weird." The blonde boy sighed as he turned to face Astoria.
"How do you mean weird?" The girl questioned with a knowing grin.
"Like - You know?" Draco shrugged before placing his head in his hands. "I don't know how to explain it!"
Astoria giggled slightly at the boy sat beside her. "You don't know how to explain it, because you've never felt like this before."
Draco turned away from Astoria and shook his head. "Why does it have to be so complicated?"
"It'll get easier."
"It'd be a lot easier if she just ended it with Weasel and admitted she likes me." The blonde boy grumbled to himself, not aware Astoria was still listening.
"I'm sure it would be." Astoria grinned at Draco's childish complaints. "But it's Hermione's choice, remember? Not yours."
"Still. It would be easier and you know it!"
The dark-haired girl chuckled quietly to herself as she turned her attention to Ginny, who's mouth was hanging open with saliva trickling down her chin, and walked over to the red-haired girl.
She gently took hold of one of Ginny's arms and pulled her up off the chair she was sitting on, before heaving her over into her own bed and laying the duvet over her friend's body.
Astoria then went over the the bed nearest the bathroom and clambered under the covers, snuggling as far under as possible as she tried to fall asleep.
"Draco, you should get some sleep too." The dark-haired witch muttered as she tried to stifle a yawn. "She'll be fine in here with us."
"I will, Astoria, I just want to make sure you get some sleep too." Draco replied quietly. "I'll wait until you're asleep before I go anywhere."
"If you say so." Was all she said as she turned over so her back was facing her blonde haired friend.
***
Draco sat in the silence of the room, listening to the girls' steady breathing, it hadn't taken Astoria long to fall asleep and judging by how heavy his eyes were getting, he didn't think it would take him very long either.
He shifted uncomfortably in the small chair, trying to find a position that would put his mind at ease, but that was harder than he thought it would be. No matter where he moved to, Draco just couldn't get comfortable.
Several minutes later, he was laying on the wooden floor of the girls dormatry, allowing himself to drift off to sleep. However, as soon as he closed his eyes someone in the room let out a small chuckle. He ignored it and tried to convince himself he was dreaming, but as he turned onto his side someone spoke up.
"Why are you laying on the floor?" A small voice chuckled, causing Draco to turn onto his back and open his eyes.
Once his eyes were open, it took a moment for them to adjust to the darkness again, but when they did he saw a rather ill looking Hermione leaning over the edge of her bed, grinning at him.
"You look exhausted." The blonde boy whispered, trying not to wake the others.
"I feel exhausted."
"Must be all that falling you did."
"It's funny you mentioned that." She pointed the bruise on her cheek. "Is that why my face hurts?"
He nodded. "Must've been quite a fall?"
"Don't know." She shrugged. "Can't remember it happening."
They fell silent for a while, even though she didn't speak, Draco knew she was still awake. Eventually, Hermione broke the silence.
"They told you, didn't they?" The brunette asked, sitting up slightly, watching as Draco stood up.
He sat down on the end of her bed and nodded. "Why didn't you just tell me? It would've saved me all the effort."
"I was going to, honest. But then everything started changing and I wasn't sure how I felt about it."
"So you didn't tell me, because I made you confused? Gee thanks, Hermione."
"No, Draco, it's not like that!" She continued to argue, her voice becoming shaky.
"Is it not?" Draco questioned, his voice becoming dangerously loud. He let out a sarcastic chuckle before continuing. "I am sorry I ever told myself apologising to you would be a good idea."
"You don't mean that." Hermione breathed, trying to hold back from crying.
"I do! And unless you can give me a good enough reason as to why I shouldn't, then I don't think we can be friends." The blonde boy sighed as he got off the brunette's bed.
"Draco..."
"Don't."
"Draco, please..."
"Just give me a bloody reason!" He yelled, as Harry and Blaise came rushing into the room.
By now, Astoria and Ginny were awake and sitting up in their beds, watching as Draco loudly pleaded Hermione to answer his question. Harry and Blaise stood near the bedroom door with worried expressions on their faces.
"If you let me speak, then perhaps I'll give you your answer!" Hermione groaned in a frustrated manner as tears began sliding down her cheeks.
"Go on then!" Draco growled, not bothering to look at the curly haired witch. "Speak!"
"Fine! I didn't want to tell you, unless I was sure being with Ronald was what I wanted."
The girls gasped in delight as Hermione told Draco her reasoning, while Harry and Blaise glanced wearily at the Draco, who stood staring at the sobbing Gryffindor in disbelief.
"What does she mean?" Draco asked frantically as he turned to Astoria, who had a huge smile on her face. "Why are you smiling?"
"She means that she didn't want to tell you, until she was certain she was in love with Ron." Astoria explained, refusing to let the smile leave her tired face.
"Why wouldn't she be in love with him? He's the only one in the running for her bloody heart. Isn't he?" Draco questioned as he turned to face Hermione.
The brunette shook her head. "No. He's not even in the running anymore."
Ginny squealed from behind the Slytherin Prince as she quickly realised what her best friend meant, but Draco still had one last question.
"So if he's not in the running." He paused. "Who is?"
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Blaise groaned impatiently from behind Draco. "It's you! Your the only guy in the running for her heart!"
The blonde boy stared doubtfully at the Gryffindor Princess. "Is he being serious?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh. "What do you think?"
Without another word, Draco went over to the brunette's bed and pressed his lips into her's, earning a disgusted groan from Harry.
The two of them pulled away and almost instantly Hermione let out a small yawn as she tried to stay awake. Draco chuckled as she laid down on the mattress beneath her and burrowed under the duvet.
He leaned forward and whispered softly in her ear. "I think you're crazy to even consider loving me."
She smiled as he placed a delicate kiss on her forehead and left her to fall asleep. He said goodnight Astoria and Ginny before leaving the girl's dorm, swiftly followed by Harry and Blaise, as they made their way up to the boy's dorm in hope of a good nights sleep.