── chapter four | series masterlist
a month had passed since you came to hogwarts.
a month of silence that felt heavier than any curse.
draco had become a ghost to you. he walked past you in the halls like you were nothing.
no acknowledgment at all.
even his usual taunting of harry, ron, and hermione had stopped cold, like avoiding you meant erasing every part of your shared history.
you couldn’t breathe in it anymore.
class ended and you moved quickly through the crowd, heart pounding as his familiar blond head appeared ahead.
“draco,” you called, voice soft but desperate.
he didn’t stop. didn’t even flinch.
you hurried faster. “draco, wait.”
still nothing. his footsteps echoed ahead, steady and cold.
frustration and hurt twisted together until you spotted the small alcove just ahead, hidden behind an old suit of armor. when he passed it, you reached out gently, your fingers brushing his sleeve before you pushed him lightly into the shadowed corner. not rough, just enough to make him stop.
he spun around fast, eyes wide with confusion and a flicker of something sharper. “what the hell do you think you’re doing??”
you stood close, looking up at him with the same gentle eyes he used to know so well.
the ones that never judged him, even when the rest of the world did.
“why have you been avoiding me?” you asked, straight to the point, voice barely above a whisper. “a month, draco. not a single hello. not even a how are you. you look right through me like i don’t exist.”
he opened his mouth, searching for that familiar mask. “i’ve been..busy. you wouldn’t get it.”
you shook your head slowly, sadly. you knew every tell he had. the slight twitch in his jaw. the way his fingers curled at his sides. “don’t lie to me. i know you too well for that. better than anyone still.”
the silence stretched between you, heavy and painful. you couldn’t hold back the words anymore. they came out soft, trembling with everything you’d carried for weeks.
“ever since i found out i was coming to hogwarts, i was so excited- i couldn’t sleep for days thinking about seeing you again. talking to you. catching up on everything we missed. seven years, draco. i thought..- i thought we could still be us. but you’re a whole new person now. like..you don’t want anything to do with me anymore. like i’m just some girl who used to know you.”
your voice cracked on the last words, eyes stinging with tears you fought desperately to keep in. draco’s face shifted, pain flashing raw across his features before he could hide it.
he swallowed hard, looking away at the stone wall. “i was mad at you!” he said finally. he let out a deep breath. “you stopped writing after my second year. like- i meant nothing once you had your new life in newcastle.”
you huffed, a sharp, broken sound that caught in your throat.
the tears you’d been holding back burned hotter now, threatening to spill.
without saying another word, you turned and walked away.
draco stood frozen in the alcove, watching your retreating figure until you disappeared. the confusion on his face slowly crumbled into something deeper and darker.
you kept your head down as you walked, vision blurring with hot tears.
up ahead, harry and ron waited near the stairs with hermione, laughing about something small.
when you passed them, the tears were already falling freely down your cheeks, silent and steady.
hermione noticed first. her face dropped. “hey...what’s wrong?”
you couldn’t answer. just shook your head and kept walking, shoulders trembling.
she glanced back and saw draco still standing there near the potions corridor, looking completely lost. “i’ll be right back,” she told the boys firmly, then speed-walked toward him.
draco saw her coming and tried to rebuild his walls, sneer slipping into place. “what do you want, granger? here to lecture me?”
hermione stopped right in front of him, arms crossed tight. “what did you do? what did you say to her?? she’s crying, draco!”
he scoffed, but it sounded weak. “nothing that concerns you. just told her i was mad she stopped writing to me after second year. that’s all. she disappeared on me. what was i supposed to think?”
hermione stared at him for a long moment, eyes narrowing with disbelief and frustration. then she let out a heavy breath.
“you absolute idiot! she stopped writing because of your letters.”
draco blinked, confusion cutting through the mask. “what are you talking about?”
“every letter you sent talked about how amazing hogwarts was. qudditch, new friends, how busy and perfect your life had become. she read them and thought you were finally happy. that you had this..this whole new world and her letters were probably annoying you. so she stopped to let you enjoy it without her.”
the words hit him like a bludger to the chest.
draco stepped back until his shoulders slammed against the cold stone wall. his face drained of color. the sneer vanished completely, replaced by raw regret that made his eyes glisten.
he gripped his necklace hard, metal biting into his palm.
seven years of wondering why you vanished from his life, and it was because you cared too much.
because you thought you were being kind.
the realization tore through him, leaving a hollow ache that spread fast.
“i didn’t know,” he whispered, voice cracking. “i thought you’d all turned her against me. or that- she’d outgrown me. i-i avoided her because seeing her hurt too much.”
hermione watched him carefully.
for once, she didn’t see the usual arrogant slytherin.
just a boy who looked like he might break.
“she still wears her necklace every day,” she said quietly. “even after you ignored her for weeks.”
draco’s breath hitched. he pressed his eyes shut, fighting the sting behind them.
“i messed up,” he muttered, voice thick with regret. “i really messed up.”
hermione paused, then turned to leave. “fix it. before you lose her for good.”
she walked away, footsteps fading down the hall.
draco stayed slumped against the wall long after the next bell rang.
students passed in groups, excited about the very-soon yule ball, but he didn’t hear them.
the regret sat in his stomach, heavy and suffocating.
he kept replaying your words from earlier.. the way it broke.
but how could he explain that avoiding you was his way of protecting what little was left of the only real friendship he’d ever had?
how could he tell you that every time he saw you laughing with anyone else, it felt like losing you all over again?
“i’m sorry,” he whispered to nobody, voice barely there.
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