Veela Love

Chapter Thirty-Three: Reunion

            Draco didn't know where Hermione was, and he was trying not to panic. He could always feel her when she was in the castle, which meant... she wasn't. This knowledge didn't stop him from stalking the halls looking for her. He heard running footsteps behind him, and he turned to find Ginny panting behind him.

"What?" he snapped.

She rolled her eyes, used to his moodiness after the past couple of weeks. "She's not here. I've checked everywhere."

"I know," Draco growled. "Why do you think I'm so upset, Ginny? I can't feel her. I can't even feel her emotions. I don't know where the fuck she is, and I'm terrified something has happened to her. And I'm not there to protect her."

He hated the look of pity on Ginny's face, and he wanted to wipe it away with several cruel words. Instead, he took a deep breath. He wasn't that boy anymore; he couldn't be. Hermione would never forgive him, not that she wanted anything to do with him now.

"She's going to come around, Draco. I promise. I know Hermione, and although she's the Brightest Witch of Our Age, she's still dumb about her own feelings. I mean, she dated my brother, for fuck's sake." Draco was slightly mollified at the look of disgust on Ginny's face. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"She could be in trouble, Ginny, and I wouldn't know because she's too far away from me."

Ginny shook her head. "She's okay, Draco. I can feel it. Wherever she is, she planned carefully to go there. Otherwise, she wouldn't have slipped past all of us. Even Blaise has no idea."

At the mention of his best friend, Draco felt a smirk coming on. "You really care about him, don't you?"

Ginny blushed, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She straightened her shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. "I do. A lot."

Draco nodded, pleased. "Blaise deserves to be happy, and I'm glad you're the one that makes him so, Ginny. You're the best girl he's ever been involved with."

To his surprise, a shadow of doubt crossed Ginny's face. "Even better than Astoria?" Her voice was so soft it was almost lost in the cavernous hall.

Draco stepped forward and brushed a wild lock of her long red hair behind her ear. "Infinitely better. She was nothing to him, not compared to you, Ginny."

She looked up into his face, searching it for a lie. Draco knew she found none when she smiled at him. "Thank you, Draco."

"Anytime, Ginny."

Without warning, a spike of pain shot through Draco, and he doubled over. It took him a moment to realize it wasn't his own.

"She's back, and she's hurt," Draco gasped out before he sprinted down the hall. He could feel her getting closer and knew she would enter the castle through the front doors. He sped up, determined to get to her first. He'd lost Ginny several corridors back.

He stopped ten feet away from the doors just as they started to open. The hall was empty except for them. He was frozen to the spot when Hermione entered quietly, her back towards him. Her pain was so acute Draco felt like vomiting. She shut the door behind her quietly. She turned slowly and caught sight of Draco.

He stopped breathing. Her face was tear-lined, and her hair was even more wild than usual, as if she had run her hands through it until it couldn't take it anymore, standing up to get away from her fingers.