I Learned Your Pulse

The footsteps from Draco and Hermione echoed through the hall. Draco look stonily ahead of them, his eyes seeing nothing but his feet knowing where to go. Hermione, however, had eyes that studied him intensely, finally putting out an arm to stop him as he was to turn a corner she'd have had to ignore to get to her class. He looked pointedly at her arm, which had grabbed his shirt, and then up at her; but, oddly, his steely resolve seemed to flutter inside his eyes, flickering between determination and something she wasn't sure even he could place. Hermione let go, but neither moved. It wasn't until he exhaled that she realized she'd pulled  him very close to her on accident, and felt his cool breath wash over her forehead, and then she realized they other emotion in his eyes were probably discomfort. She brought her hand to her side.

His eyes wouldn't stop flickering and she found herself mesmerized. She couldn't remember what she was going to ask him, or tell him, or whatever it was she was going to do. Her own resolve fluttered as she tried to navigate the vast sees of gray that swam in his eyes, unable to find her way out, choosing instead to simply wander in the rolling waves -

"Yes?"

The sharp word broke her out of the hypnotism she'd been experiencing and she naturally took a step back. How many times had this boy called her Mudblood, made fun of her, even tried to harm her best friend? She knew it was more than she could count, but she couldn't come up with one example at the moment; her mind was set on Horcruxes.

"How do you know about them?" she asked, just as sharply as he'd jerked her back to reality. She felt immediately guilty; she'd spoken much harsher than she'd meant to , and his look of 'Oh, well,' probably came from the slightly jagged word he'd uttered unintentionally, Hermione was now sure.

"Know about what?"

"Horcruxes," said Hermione ominously.

A look of utter shock crossed his face. "What're those?"

"What do you mean?" she exclaimed.

He looked totally bemused. "What are Horcruxes?"

"But..." he seemed sincere. Hermione herself was confused, and then livid. Confusion was happening much too often for her to be really happy. She liked knowing things. "So what did you talk to Haila about?"

"Was that her name?"

"Answer me!"

A sliver of old haughtiness found its way into his eyes, dying quickly. "Giants," he answered. "They're gone and he's dead."

"That's it? That's what you said to comfort her?"

"Yes. Why?"

"How was that enough."

He grimaced. "I may have told her they were more important in the rising of... V... V-Voldemort than they were."

She didn't miss the stutters when he said Voldemort, but she overlooked that. "How would you know?"

He raised his left arm, the steely resolve in his eyes once more.

She blanched.

"Er... right," she said intelligently.

"I'm going to class. Are you going to grab at me again, or am I free to leave?"

The words were fine, but the tone made them rude. "Go, then," she said, making her tone as acidic as his. "See if anyone gives a damn."

She turned around, but not before the look of despair penetrated his face. She hadn't taken a step before turning around. He tried to mask his features, but they continued to slip.