Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own Harry Potter . . . or a certain Draco Malfoy . . . I do not and will never own a thing.

Within A Soul

'Take my life and show me what I'm living for

There's nothing I won't do for the answer

Give me hope and prove to me that this is worth it

It's killing me like a cancer

I'm still looking for the answer'

Chapter One

There was an essence to the night that seemed so unreal, so unnatural. A thick cloud of fog dance upon the dew covered grass, the water glittering like the billions of stars in the enchanting night sky.

A girl, no older than the age of seventeen, placed her foot into the wet grounds of Hogwarts, walking ever so slowly from the castle and into the night. Her nightgown, as dark as the sky, swayed with the breeze as she walked towards the shimmering lake. Following close behind her was a young man, with a heart of ice and the looks of a god, inspecting her every move.

Reaching the lake, the girl took a step onto a rather large rock that was placed at the edge of the lake. Almost in a trace like state, she stood there, her eyes shut tight, her hands neatly at her side, her face tilted to the sky. Her right foot moved closer to the edge of the rock, but suddenly froze in its place as a voice was heard from behind her.

"Are you sure you really want to do that?" The young man said as he stepped out from behind a tree, his platinum blond hair sweeping over his stormy eyes. "I mean, if you want to kill yourself, I'm sure that I could at least find a better way for you instead of jumping into a lake."

The girl did not look back, but simply moved her foot back to its place next to the other one. "I'm not going to kill myself, Malfoy." she said gently, her eyelashes brushing against her cheeks.

Draco Malfoy let out a small laugh, taking yet another few steps closer to her, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Are you sure? From what I'm seeing, it sure looks like it."

"Just go away." She said, ever so softly.

Cocking his head to the side, Draco grinned at her. "What the hell has gotten into you, Mudblood? Didn't your scum-dwelling parents ever teach you that it's not proper to try to commit suicide?"

Hermione turned her head towards Draco, a tear slipping down her cheek. "They're gone." she whispered.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Draco spat, crossing his arms over his chest, a shiver running through his body as he stared into the eyes of the young woman before him.

"You wouldn't understand." She said as she sat down, her nightgown spreading across the hard surface.

Draco took a step closer to the rock. "What, did Potty and Weasel finally tell you to shove off?"

Hermione gripped the ends of her nightgown in the palms of her hands. "My parents," she began to say ever so softly, stopping to look back at the lake. "t-there was a car crash. They're . . . dead."

There was an odd silence between the two after this.

"Serves them right," he said softly, grinning for a second, and then completely wiping it from his face. Hermione didn't seem to notice.

"I wish it were me." she said, lowering her head to the ground. "I wish I had been the one who had died, not them. Not them."

Draco shifted uncomfortably. "You know, I'm not your psychologist , Mudblood. I'm not here for you to cry to."

Hermione closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I never asked you to."

Looking at her with complete disgust, Draco attempted to take a step towards the castle, but stopped himself, suddenly remembering a time that he had also wished that he would be washed away from the earth.

"You don't have to stand here and watch me, Malfoy. You can go inside and rest peacefully, knowing that you have one good thing that your worst enemy doesn't have."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"A family." Hermione said, biting her quivering bottom lip.

Draco let out a laugh. "You think that my family is great? You've got to be joking! Seriously, do you honestly think that a father who is a death eater and a mother who has been abused more than once by the lunatic would really turn out to be that great of role models? I think not."

Hermione turned so that her back was to Malfoy. "At least you have them." she said, her voice trailing off until all that was heard was her silent sobbing. Draco watched her closely as she let her head fall back on her shoulders, the thick tear stains shimmering on her discolored cheeks. There was something strange about this girl, almost as if the soul that had once roamed through her body was now deceased, leaving nothing but a sad and lonely shell.

"Where am I supposed to go from here?" Hermione cried, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I feel so alone, so lost."

Draco shrugged his shoulders, his eyes fixed on the crimson tear that slid ever so slowly down her cheek. "You do nothing."

Hermione wiped away her tears. "How do you expect me to more on from this? Don't you get it, they're dead! They're not coming back!"

There was an odd silence. An uncomfortably odd silence as Hermione's voice echoed through the grounds.

Hermione's tear-filled eyes locked with Draco's, and for a moment, Draco felt a bit of sympathy for her. Of course, he could never display this on the outside. That wasn't the kind of thing that he would ever do.

"You know what I think you should do?" Draco said deeply as he moved as close as he could to the rock, pinning the ends of her nightgown to the rock. "I think that you should stop your crying and be appreciative of what you had, because until you have a father like mine who insists on torturing you and your mother night and day, you have no right to look down on your life and even consider suicide."

Draco had not intended to share as much information as he had with his enemy. Hermione's lips parted in shock.

"I-I didn't know . . ."

Draco narrowed his eyes at her, his hands curling into fists. "You know nothing about me, Granger. Let's keep it that way." With that said, Draco turned on his heel, walking as fast as he could back to the castle, leaving many unsettled questions lingering in the air.

Author's Note: Hey there! You know, it really feels nice to be able to write again. Ok, so I decided to do yet another Draco/Hermione story. You just can't get enough of em! I really hope that at least someone likes it. I already have chapters 2, 3, and 4 finished (my editor Kyp needs to read through them before I post them), so please be kind and review, and maybe I can get the next chapter up sometime tomorrow! Ah, and just a warning, the characters tend to get a little out of character, but trust me, it's intended to be that way. Things will fall into place and make more sense in the coming chapters!

xoxo

Jess aka Frizz