of it, more than a few people, teachers included, were indeed relieved to know that there was still only one Malfoy at Hogwarts, and that it was, thank the Gods, not Lucius.
Classes and all other extra curricular activities had been cancelled for the remainder of the day. Hermione had not seen Draco until he had walked into the Great Hall during dinner the following evening. He looked fine. No sign of great stress or anxiety. Every hair on his blond head appeared to be perfectly in place. The same cool expression was there, though there was a sharpness to it now. It was the same sort of challenging look he had sported for weeks after Lucius had first been incarcerated in their fifth year.
His classmates were cordial, but reserved. Nothing unusual for Slytherins. Gregory Goyle's badly broken leg from a wayward Bludger during Quidditch training the previous week had been mended enough for him to return to his usual activities, and he was once again dining with his Housemates.
Goyle alone looked unabashedly happy to see Draco and thumped him heartily on the back. The spontaneous gesture went down well with the rest of the table. Pansy Parkinson' s tight smile relaxed somewhat and after a few exchanged greetings, the rest of the Slytherins turned their attention to dinner. Blaise Zabini even glared around at the rest of the Hall, as if silently ordering everyone else to Get On With Life.
They did, and with enthusiasm. Granted, dinner had been delayed by nearly an hour that evening so everyone was hot, thirsty, tired and famished.
Draco did not once look her way during the meal, which suited Hermione just fine. She had other concerns, although eating her dinner hadn't been one of them. Her appetite had been missing in action since the weekend, and she was already starting to notice the slackening at the waistband of her school skirt, and a feeling of lethargy that had become constant.
Her attention span wasn't faring too well either. She had been pushing a piece of baked potato around a pile of beans on her plate, completely oblivious to the fact that Harry was being harangued by another Gryffindor for the thirty points he had lost in disobeying Lupin the previous afternoon.
Oddly enough, it was Lavender who put an end to it.
"I think we have more important things to worry about than House Points,"
Lavender had sniffed, sounding terribly grown up.
It was a subdued and sleepy crowd by the end of dinner. As per usual practice in times of heightened security, students were to be escorted to and from classes by teachers or senior prefects. Students made for the doorway at strolling speed, flanked by Hermione and Blaise. Draco followed, two heads taller than the fourth years in front of him.
Goyle walked (with a noticeable limp) in front of Draco, his massive form creating a minor bottleneck as they approached the doors. The younger students, yawning and in a hurry to get into bed after their late dinner, pushed and shoved. Hermione vaguely registered that Blaise was snapping at them not to rush.
The tail end of the departing group came to a near standstill, leaving Draco standing beside her. He sighed with irritation at the delay.
Hermione had experienced the distinct urge to fidget. All at once, she had became acutely aware of him; his height, his body and that clean, light, male scent that was intrinsically Draco. It had been exactly the same experience in the forest when the main effect of Fida Mia had reared its ugly head.
She cursed the fact that she could no more try to think or act normally in close proximity to Draco Malfoy, than she could spontaneously acquire Harry ' s supernatural talent on the Quidditch pitch.
Given the new turn in their relationship (such as it was), Hermione felt like she ought to have said something, offered some semblance of comfort or reassurement in light of what they had witnessed together in the forest the previous day. She recalled the way she sometimes squeezed Ron or Harry's arm to let them know it was alright, that she was there. The way Ginny would loop an arm around her shoulders when Harry engaged in something mortally hazardous and Hermione would be stricken with worry.
It was something friends would have done for each other. But not with Draco. Oh no. He made that quite impossible. Any demonstration of support on her part, no matter how platonic or sincere, would probably elicit that same annoying,