We raced back across the bridge weaving in and out of students on their way to their afternoon classes. There was a crowd outside the great hall which certainly hadn't been there when we had left. Students were jeering and yelling as Ron sat on top of Malfoy punching him again and again. Harry dove for Ron pulling him up. He was screaming at Malfoy. "you stay the fuck away from her you hear?" he yelled "how dare you come back here!"
"Ron!" I exclaimed standing between him and Malfoy "what is wrong with you?". he was struggling against Harry's grip.
"How fucking dare you!" Ron screamed again. Malfoy stood behind me, I turned to see his lip was spilt wide open, his hair and uniform in disarray. He looked at me with this embarrassed look.
"are you okay?" his eyes were wide. I obviously looked at terrified as I was. My hands were shaking, I kept blinking to get rid of the tears forming in my eyes.
"Don't talk to her" Ron pulled out of Harry's grip launching for Malfoy. I tried to stop him.
"Ron. Ronald Weasley" I pushed against him but he shoved me out of the way sending me to the ground.
"Ron!" Ginny yelled. My head hit the concrete floor hard just as McGonagall's voice floated through the hall. Ginny rushed to my side. I shrugged her off. My head was spinning and there was stars everywhere.
"Mr. Malfoy. Infirmary, now and bring Ms. Granger with you" she ordered.
"she's not going anywhere with him" Ron said as Harry tried to pull him back.
"Mr. Weasley, as a guest in this school I suggest you rethink that tone". Ron offered to help me up. I just ignored him and stood myself before running from the room through the mob of students who had come to watch the spectacle.
"Granger" Malfoy yelled as I ran up the stairs. "Granger, wait". I just kept walking. I couldn't breathe. No air, I needed air. I ran and kept going. "Granger"
"why?" I yelled back at him "what did you have to do that for?"
"I didn't do anything, Granger" I passed the infirmary. "Granger come on, you hit your head pretty hard". I ignored him. The door of the astrology tower was just ahead. I was inside and had it charmed shut before he could say another word. "Alohamora" he whispered "damn it Hermione" he punched the door. "Please, let me help". I slid down the door and sobbed, I kept sobbing. I don't know how long I was there for. I didn't know if Draco was still there or not. Did I care? Why had he come after me? Why was he so concerned? After a while, it could have been minutes, or maybe hours. I heard it, the voice I had been hearing in my dreams "Just stay with me Hermione, stay with me". It was Draco, it had always been Draco.
*****************
I eventually opened the door. The sun was beginning to set. Had all of that really just happened in one day? Draco was gone. I had this odd feeling of disappointment. That was until I saw him round the corner. He held two goblets in his hands. He smiled when he saw me, almost a smile of relief. I started to walk away. "Granger" he called "can we talk?". I stopped. I don't know why. I nodded, he sat down against the wall once more. He motioned for me to join him. I sat across from him instead against the opposite wall. "Wingardium Leveosa" I muttered floating the goblet from his hand into mine. The water was cold and welcome. He muttered the same charm and an apple came floating towards me.
"eat it" he said.
"I thought you wanted to talk"
"you didn't eat at breakfast, you weren't at lunch and you've missed dinner" he said taking another apple from his robe pocket "eat it"
"so, you're keeping tabs on me?" I asked. He just glared at me until I took a bite.
"no, I'm not" he said when I was finished the apple.
"Liar"
"I'm sorry"
"leave it alone" I said quietly "it doesn't matter anyway"
"you were terrified
"leave it please" I said standing up.
"Granger"
"what is wrong with you Malfoy? Can't you see that I want nothing to do with you? so please stop being nice, stop being helpful and just stay away from me" I exclaimed walking away from him.
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help". I didn't reply, I just kept walking until I found myself outside the infirmary again. Madame Pomfrey ushered me inside and back into bed, scolding me for not coming sooner. I drowned her out. My head hurt and my eyes were drooping. I didn't want to sleep. Sleep meant dreams and I couldn't face it, not after today. But my body betrayed me and I slipped into the dark.