Pawns | A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Colin's Questions

Breakfast the next morning was beyond uncomfortable. I sat in almost total silence with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ginny and Dean were at the Ravenclaw table this morning and Ginny kept glaring over at Ron. She was likely even more annoyed by the fact that Ron didn't even seem to notice her anger. He kept his head down and stabbed aggressively at his eggs and sausage. 

Hermione looked concerned but kept her mouth shut for almost the entirety of breakfast because when she asked him if he was alright, he scoffed, grumbled, moved away from her an inch, and then proceeded to ignore her. She looked very hurt and I gave her a small smile, feeling bad for her.

I wasn't exactly sure why Ron was acting as he was, but based on Ginny's rant last night, he probably found out that Hermione had snogged Victor Krum and now he was a jealous, self-conscious wreck.

When Harry and I did speak, it was only in very silent whispers because of the tension hanging over our table.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"Yea, I'm fine, silly. Why?" I asked confused, because it wasn't me acting strange at the table.

"You didn't stay for practise yesterday," he said, putting his hand on my knee under the table.

While Ginny may have forgotten about my absence from Quidditch, I should have known Harry would remember. I hesitated in giving my answer, trying to give a believable excuse.

"It was Ron," I said slowly, quiet though because the brooding boy was sitting within ear-shot.

"Huh?" he said, confused.

"I was already tired from class and then the practise wasn't going really well - everyone getting hurt and all, blood and bruises," I exaggerated now, "- and it was making me wheezy so I had to leave. I also thought he might do better with less of a crowd."

He sighed and seemed to understand.

"I get it. In all honesty, yesterday's practise hurt my stomach too," he said, with a half smile, half grim expression. "I don't know what to do, I don't want to replace him but I think Dean might want in." He said Dean's name cooly.

"I think you should keep Ron in," I said seriously. "He just gets nervous, but he's capable."

"I know, I believe in him."

"Good," I said, rubbing my hand on his leg now. I leaned in to kiss his cheek and whispered in his ear, "you're the best though." I felt his smile on my face before kissing him softly on the lips.

Pulling away, I suddenly felt bad for kissing Harry right then; Ron and Hermione looked very awkward sitting a foot farther apart than usual, eyes down and stabbing at their eggs avoiding eye contact with each other.

I gave Harry a look like this better fix soon and he returned it. I got up, whispering that I had to get to charms class but as soon as I did he looked very panicked - like he didn't want to be left there alone with the others. I nodded, welcoming him to come along, and he got up right away, shoving the last of his sausage in his mouth, scooping up his stuff and almost tripping over the bench as he raced to escape the awkwardness.

When farther away from the table we both let out a nervous laugh, letting the tension that we had just escaped from fall away. He took my hand as we walked out of the Great Hall.

"Bloody hell, they better sort out whatever's going on with them," I said.

He confirmed my guess about Ron being both jealous and sad upon learning that Hermione had kissed Victor. While wrong for him to hold a grudge against her, I understood that Krum had been an idol to him, and he was probably feeling very insecure.