t h i r t y - t w o

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Hermione peered over at Draco as she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, watching the snow fall endlessly. She pressed her lips into a thin line awkwardly before letting out a deep breath, her breath visible up in the cold tower due to the freezing weather. “I, are you going to say anything?” She finally asked, turned her head as she stared at Draco.

A cruel smile stitched itself onto his lips as he turned to face the petite brunette with his hands shoved into his pockets. “I’m actually surprised I had you fooled,” He finally said with a sneer, laughing as he looked out the window at the beautiful scenery. “And I thought you were the smartest witch of our generation; I suppose you don’t live up to the title anymore.” He scowled as he turned back at her, his eyes lost of color and love and only to be replaced by a blank, cold stare. This wasn’t right.

Hermione felt the breezy air brush through her hair and body, making her shiver. She ignored it as she stared at Draco incredulously. “Stop beating around the bush and tell me what’s really going o—“

“I love you, Hermione Granger, I really do . . .” Draco suddenly said, the warmth and care in his voice immediately brought back as he gazed at her lovingly. He took his hand out of his pocket and reached out, caressing her cheek with his hand. “Do you trust me?” He asked as he looked at her with hopeful eyes.

For a moment, Hermione fell for his soft touch and gentle gaze . . . but his loving, gentle words didn’t quite reach her heart. She flinched away from his touch, pushing his hand away. “I’m not that stupid if that’s what you were thinking,”

Draco looked at his hand as he kept it in midair, shocked by her behavior. He composed himself and sighed, stuffing his hand back into his pocket. “I suppose you aren’t as stupid as I thought you were . . . it’s quite a shame, really. This would be so much easier if you were just a little bit smarter—don’t show any tears when I’m done with you, it’ll only make me hate you even more. I hate girls who cry.” He said monotonously, avoiding her stare and looking out the window instead. “If you have a brain, I’m positive you know what happened.”

“No, I want to hear it from you.” Hermione pressed as she stared at him with determination. “Look me in the eye—straight in the eye and tell me that everything you said was false, that you were only lying to me. I’d rather you tell me face to face—don’t be a coward and assume I already know. I know, I just want to hear it from you.”

He inwardly groaned as he rolled his sharp cold eyes. He looked her up and down with a frown, but finally his eyes landed right on hers. “I don’t love you, I never did and I never will.” He said slowly, making sure to emphasize each word as if doing so would help Hermione understand more clearly. “It was all a lie, our love was a lie. I did use you and you used me. However, I used you not to make Parkinson jealous or to get her away from me—but to toy with your feelings. Parkinson and I thought it would be entertaining to see what made the mighty lioness crumble and fall . . . and we did.” He said harshly as he let out a bitter laugh. “Although, I didn’t expect you to tell me your deepest, darkest secrets to me . . . I didn’t expect you to let down your guard and look vulnerable to me. That’s your biggest mistake—you trusted me too fast.”

Hermione listened to him as she blinked a few times, trying to take in everything he said. Her heart cracked with each word he spat. “Everything wasn’t real,” She muttered under her breath as she took a deep breath, her heart hurting with each second. “Was it fun?”

Draco was caught off guard by her question. He had expected a slap, a punch, her wand, anything but a calm question. “Wha—“

“Was it fun for you and Parkinson to play with my feelings?”

“Yes,” He replied briskly, scoffing as he looked away.

“I don’t believe you,” She said sharply, narrowing her gaze on him. “You make a pretty damn great actor, Malfoy. You really had me fooled. Is that what you want to hear?” She asked calmly, trying to keep her emotion down. “You’re right . . . I did trust you too easily, but so did you. You saw me at my weakest point and I saw you at yours.” Hermione told him sternly.

“It’s called acting—“

“So your mother is actually dead? It was a lie? She’s not at the hospital, right?” She pressed as she shrugged her shoulders. “So it would be alright if I told everyone since it’s not real.”

Draco clenched his jaw as he rolled his fingers up into a ball. “My mother is dead.” He forced those foul words out of his teeth as he glared at Hermione with angry eyes.

“I’m sure she’d want to be if she heard you say that,” Hermione whispered to him and scoffed, exhaling sharply. “Well, you really had me fooled, Malfoy. Congratulations, you toyed with me this whole winter break and I didn’t have the slightest clue. I thought everything was real, okay? I believed every word you said and all you did was abuse my trust. Are you and Parkinson satisfied now? Is a broken heart not enough to make you two happy?” She raised her voice with each question she threw at him. “Do I need to shed blood for you two to finally be happy?”

“No, internal pain is better than external pain . . . external pain heals quickly but a broken heart takes time to heal. We’re satisfied, although I expected you to throw a hex at me. I see you’ve softened up a bit, you’re controlling that crazy temper of yours.”

“You’re a bastard and I’m the idiot who fell for you,” She mumbled as she looked down in dismay, gluing her lips together, completely speechless. She knitted her eyebrows together as tears threatened to abandon her eyes. She refused to cry in front of him. She refused to cry over him. She refused to cry. “Let me guess, we pretend like nothing happened between us? No, ‘pretend’ isn’t even the correct word for this. After this, we don’t know each other and all we exchange are scowls and insults at each other.” She stated and before Draco could answer she shook her head. “No, let’s not even do that. Let’s just stop knowing each other—we’re strangers and we’re not even on the level to exchange scowls and insults. We’re strangers after this and if you or Parkinson try to do anything to me or my friends, I don’t know what I’ll do when that happens. Maybe I won’t control my temper.” She warned him with betrayal running across her face as she stared at him. “Hermione Granger loses to Draco Malfoy. You must be happy to have succeeded in hurting me in your own twisted, sadistic way.  You and Parkinson deserve each other. As for me, I’m an idiot for even coming near you this whole school year and I’m the one to blame for my own broken heart.”

“Well . . . I’m glad you understand, then, Granger. Make sure to tell your friends to keep their mouth shut.”

“It’d be embarrassing on my part if people were to find out that I fell in love with a former deatheater.” Hermione spat at him with venom dripping from her voice, looking down at the ground. The air grew colder as if it was possible and she felt the cruel sharp, cold wind pierce through her thin clothes and stabbing her skin like a thousand knives. Not even that amount of pain measured up to how she felt in her heart. “Leave,” She ordered softly, refusing to look at him as she stared at the window instead.