Varying Shades of Grey by Luvscharlie
Hermione had seen him at St. Mungo's several times on trips to see old friends, those for whom the war had simply been too much to process. St. Mungo's had become a busy place in the last few months.
The first few times she saw Draco there, she'd simply turned away and went about her business. He looked a bit the worse for wear, but didn't they all these days?
Today, though, he looked bad even by recent adjustments for standards. So, she stopped. "Are you okay?"
He looked up from where he sat, lines of worry and grief etched deeply into a face once smooth with youth. "No, I'm not."
She had expected a snarky comment, at the least a 'mind your leave,' but this sort of direct show of—was that vulnerability?—was a first. Hermione was rather stunned. She had prepared a retort of, 'I was only being polite,' or 'forgive me for asking,' but those seemed inappropriate now.
Instead, she took a seat beside him and waited, gathering her wits about her before replying. "Why are you here? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine—I guess. I mean, physically, I'm fine." He wiped his hand across his brow. "It's my mother."
"Oh. Is there something I can—"
He cut off her words. "There's nothing anybody can do. And what do you care, anyway? I mean she's just a Death Eater's wife. The consensus is that she'd be better off dead or with Father locked away in Azkaban."
His tone was biting, and she was almost relieved for the familiarity. At least this Draco she recognised. She could deal with this. She stood and stalked away… or started to.
"Hermione, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."
Bugger! He was apologising. She'd have to be gracious. She was the better person, after all. Hermione felt instantly contrite for her thoughts when she turned to look at him, head in his hands. She walked back and at sat down beside him once more.
They sat in silence for a few moments before he began speaking. "It's my mother. She's been here for the past few months. Since they took Father away to Azkaban, her grip on reality has been slipping. There's just been too much she's seen, and well—I guess I should just be thankful I was away at school for most of it. My mother's a strong woman. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been to break someone like her."
Only at that moment did it hit her how much both sides had lost during this war… when things were no longer so black and white, just many, many shades of grey. She reached out and touched his hand. "From here, it has to get better," she whispered.
"Does it? I'm not so sure."
Fin.
A/N: Originally written for Round 3, Challenge 8 of the Dramione_LDWS (Draco Malfoy-Hermione Granger Last Drabble Writer Standing) Competition on Live Journal. Our prompt was a drabble that must be set in at St. Mungo's with a theme of insanity and had to be under 500 words. This one made it through to the next round.
