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All of This	By : Hypersomniac Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 6266 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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All of This

Hypersomniac

Chapter Five: Fallout

AN: Oh, gosh, so much positive feedback for the last chapter. I really wasn’t too happy with it when I first posted it, so that was a pleasant surprise! In the interest of trying to make up for my long absence, have a second chapter in as many days! :D

Hermione woke slowly, her head throbbing. She burrowed deeper into her pillow, trying to will herself back to sleep until the pain subsided. She hadn’t thought she had drank enough to be hungover, but then she had always had a low tolerance for alcohol.

After a few moments, however, she conceded the fact that she was awake for good as her head began to fill with the events of the night before. She groaned. The thoughts felt almost physical, pushing her aching skull to full capacity, ready to crack it open.

She pulled herself out of bed and slipped on her robe before making her way downstairs. The house was strangely quiet for a Saturday morning, and she went to the kitchen, setting coffee to brew. She waited at the kitchen table, her palms pressed to her eyes in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain in her head.

A small clink sounded beside her and she moved her hands, spotting a small bottle of red liquid. Ginny stood beside her, looking sympathetic.

“Pepper-up Potion,” she explained and Hermione nodded, picking up the bottle and opening it. Her stomach lurched at the sharp smell that issued first.

“I’d rather not,” she said, stoppering the bottle once more and setting it back down.

“It’ll make you feel better,” Ginny said, getting up and gathering two coffee cups.

“Yes, well, the headache isn’t the only problem,” Hermione said glumly.

“Ah… Malfoy, then,” Ginny said knowingly as she added milk and sugar to the coffees.

“Ginny,” Hermione hissed pointedly.

“Don’t worry, Harry and Ron were called out hours ago on some emergency,” Ginny explained. “Although, with how quiet it’s been lately, I’d be surprised if it’s anything more than flying dustbins.”

Hermione laughed, but felt the familiar pang she experienced any time someone mentioned Moody or any of the others lost in the war.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about it. You danced for what, half a song? If that? I mean, you were pulling away before the song even ended. Not that I blame you,” Ginny continued.

“I don’t know what possessed me,” Hermione muttered.

“Hmm. There’s an idea,” Ginny said wryly, setting one of the mugs in front of Hermione. She took a large gulp, her eyes watering as she scalded her tongue.

“Come off it, Ginny, it was nothing like that,” she said once she had swallowed.

“Oh, I know. But it’s still strange,” Ginny observed.

“Merlin, I have to see him Monday,” Hermione groaned. “Am I just supposed to act like it didn’t happen?”

“Are you hoping it meant something?”

“Gods, no,” Hermione answered automatically, blood rushing to her face.

“Hmm,” Ginny said, narrowing her eyes knowingly. “Well, in that case, I can’t say I can see a better way.”

Draco stumbled into the kitchen of the manor and was greeted by the shriek of one of Azkaban’s black owls. It glowered at him with large yellow eyes, its feathers puffed out indignantly. He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that the owl must have been waiting for the better part of three hours.

He untied the letter from the owl’s leg and it immediately took flight, soaring around the kitchen once and cuffing him on the head with its outstretched wing before disappearing out the window. The letter it had bore now lay atop a pile of identical ones, which had gathered over the last week. He hadn’t gotten around to burning them yet.

He swept the lot of them into the sink and took out his wand. A quick incantation and the whole lot burst into flames.

He had no sooner started the stove and set to making himself breakfast than the sound of the fireplace flaring to life in the dining room caught his attention. He wasn’t too worried – the manor was only accessible by Floo from the Parkinson’s and the Zabini’s.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Blaise strode into the kitchen, pulling out a chair at the small table and putting his feet up.

“Please, make yourself at home Blaise,” Draco drawled. Blaise smirked.

“When are you going to give up on this and get a new house elf?” he asked, gesturing towards the stove.

“I’m not. I’ve told you, I like living alone,” Draco answered.

“Living alone is one thing; living like a peasant is a completely different matter altogether,” Blaise jeered. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

“Did you want something?” he asked.

“Just checking in. Haven’t talked to you since the new job assignment,” the other wizard answered. After school, he had become an assistant professor to Slughorn, and was used to seeing Draco around the castle.

“Work is the very last thing I want to talk about right now,” Draco answered curtly.

“That’s a shame, because McGonagall asked me to drop this off while I was visiting,” Blaise said. He dropped a sealed bit of parchment onto the table. Draco eyed it warily, taking in the Hogwarts seal. “It’s your travel arrangements for Wales next week. Transportation and lodging and all of that.”

“Lodging?” Draco asked, his mind racing.

“Well, yeah. Can’t be expected to travel to Wales every day. Besides, there are only about six new students there, you’ll be done in a week.”

Draco crossed the room and picked up the envelope, sliding his thumb under the seal and unfolding the paper. Inside was a short note from McGonagall, confirming what Blaise had already told him, and the details of his and Granger’s train fare and lodging reservations. He raised his eyebrows and nearly choked on his own tongue when he noticed something.

“There’s only one room reserved,” he said, waving the paper at Blaise.

“Yeah, McGonagall guessed you wouldn’t be too happy about that part. The mudblood either, for that matter, although I can’t imagine her raising too much of a stink about it. She’s too loyal to McGonagall,” Blaise mused. “Anyway, that’s the way it is. If it’s any consolation, McGonagall has confirmed that there are two beds.”

“Gods,” Draco groaned, scrubbing his face with his hands.

“I know,” Blaise said sympathetically. “Like just working with her every day isn’t bad enough, right?”

“You have no idea just how bad it’s gotten, Blaise,” Draco said, and Blaise just nodded, although Draco knew he couldn’t possibly begin to understand the meaning of his words.

“Your eggs are burning,” Blaise said, nodding towards the stove. Draco jumped and looked around, discovering that he was right. A thick plume of smoke was issuing up from the pan he had forgotten.

He cursed loudly, all thoughts of Granger mercifully fleeing his mind for the first time in what felt like ages.

Monday dawned on the heels of a thunderstorm, leaving the city blanketed in a fine mist and chill that seemed to compliment Draco’s mood perfectly as he trudged to the train station to meet Granger. She had beaten him there, as usual, even though he was perfectly on time. He had no plans to do anything that would hint at how much she had affected him, and being late for their first workday after the incident at the club might make her think he was anxious about seeing her.

Which he was not. Malfoys did not get anxious. Especially when it came to lowly little…

Even in his head, for some reason he could not seem to bring himself to think that way about her.

It was maddening.

“Malfoy,” she acknowledged when he had reached her. “I trust you had a pleasant weekend?”

Draco resisted the urge to sneer at her. So that was her game, was it? She was being far too formal, trying to act like nothing had happened, but the ease with which they had been interacting for the last week had seemed to evaporate.

“Quite,” he said through gritted teeth. “I got some quality time in with Pansy,” he added pointedly. Granger looked like she had been smacked for a moment, and then the blood rushed to her face. She seemed to be struggling to control her expression.

“I hardly think that your extracurricular activities are any of my business, nor do I wish to know about them in such detail,” she said stiffly. “I was merely trying to be polite.”

“Were you?” Draco asked, smirking. Granger held his gaze stubbornly. “I wouldn’t get too upset, Granger. If I had wanted to divulge ‘such details’ to you, I could tell you things that would make your hair curl. Well, more so, anyway.”

Granger’s eyes flashed and her hand twitched near her back pocket, where Draco knew her wand was stored.

“Why don’t we just get this over with, Malfoy,” she said through gritted teeth.

“You’re right. Why don’t you tell me why you’ve suddenly turned into such a—” Draco caught himself and snapped his mouth shut quickly, trying to take calming breaths through his nose. “Do you want to talk about this?”

Granger looked taken aback by the question, tensed as she had been for the forthcoming insult, but seemed to recover herself fairly quickly. She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and turned away from him.

“There’s nothing to talk about. I meant we should just get our work done,” she said, walking towards the entrance to the underground.

Well, this was unexpected. He had figured things would be awkward today. He had hoped… Well, truth be told, he wasn’t really sure what he had hoped. But he hadn’t expected this cold, volatile energy between them. And it wasn’t just on Granger’s part, if he was honest with himself. But his own aggravation and venomous mood had surprised even him.

How did she affect him this much? He scowled as he followed her, cursing her influence on him with every step he took.

Hermione stared hard at the book in her hands as the underground trundled on, but she wasn’t reading. She was angrier than she had remembered being in a long time. Strangely, though, she wasn’t angry at Draco, no matter how hard he had tried to bait her. She was angry with herself.

She hadn’t meant to get on such poor footing with Malfoy. She had actually enjoyed the past week, though she was loathe to admit it. She had enjoyed seeing the new side of him, joking with him every now and then, even the sad exchanges they had shared.

But after the other night, she was so disappointed in herself for letting herself get carried away, that she had taken it out on him.

And his mention of Pansy… That was what had really set her off. But again, not because she had known – although she had – that he was purposefully baiting her, but because of how it had affected her. She had felt… betrayed. But that was insane. She and Malfoy had no sort of relationship. They had danced, like Ginny said, to half a song; they hadn’t even actually finished the song. They had openly despised each other for years. A little over a week of getting along did not negate that; a dance did not give her a claim to him.

Perhaps it was a side effect of the pain of her relationship with Ron ending. She had expected to feel relieved, as horrible as she felt when she thought that, when their relationship ended. But instead she felt raw, broken. Not regret. Not quite. But rather like a very important part of her had been ripped away. Something she could function without, but would miss.

Being close to Draco had alleviated that pain for a moment, like a salve on a burn. And that had scared her. She saw it in retrospect. But was it fair to punish Malfoy for how she felt, for what a mess her life had become? No. Perhaps Malfoy deserved retribution, perhaps not. It wasn’t her place to decide. But certainly not for her own feelings.

She sighed, snapping her book shut. She looked at Malfoy, across the aisle. It was the first day that he had not sat beside her on the train. He stared back at her, his expression carefully neutral.

She didn’t know what to say; where to begin. Everything had become such a mess, so suddenly.

It was going to be a long day. A long week. A long month, even, if they didn’t find some way to work around this.

AN: Oh, the poor babies are such a mess right now. Sigh. I knew this story would involve some angst, but I hadn’t intended for it to be in such heavy concentrations. Well, it’s gotta get bad before it gets good, right? Right.

Thanks so much to everyone who read the last chapter! Special thanks to those who took a moment to review!

Talented_Mrs_Lupin: I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I can’t promise they’ll all come out this quickly, but I’m certainly going to try to keep up a little bit more frequent posting schedule.

Carly: Oh gosh, I don’t think I’ve ever been thanked for my writing before, on any site, ever. It surprised me and it was very, very sweet. Thank you so much for reading! :D

Cat: Ah, yes, a bit of awkwardness and a lot of angst. It’ll take a bit for them to reach surer footing I think but I’m hoping this is the worst of their arguing because my poor heart can’t take this much longer. I know, I know, as an author I should have control over these things, but idk sometimes characters just seem to get away from me and do what they want. Haha.

Much thanks to chester, who also took a moment to drop me a line! It was very much appreciated!
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All of This