Hermione didn’t know if Ron would ever understand what Draco understood, what Hermione was beginning to comprehend. Nuance, complexity, none of the black and white that Ron saw everywhere he looked. Hermione smiled at Draco faintly, still feeling awkward about earlier – about what it meant about her and what she really thought of Draco, that she had so quickly assumed the worst about him. He quirked an eyebrow, an unspoken are you all right? She smiled, wider this time and sincere, and gave an infinitesimal nod, which of course Draco saw and understood. He nodded back, a tiny dip of the chin just like hers, and then turned his eyes away from her without any show of emotion, and yet Hermione felt as warm inside as if Draco had kissed her.