AN: This is my first story, so to whoever's reading this, go easy on me. I'm not a great writer. ;P
Disclaimer: Definitely not mine.
Pain.
That was all he could feel right now. Pain and anger.
It was consuming him. It was taking over his mind, his body, his heart, his soul. Nothing could erase the shame and regret that came with the pain. Nothing could ever ease the pain and the sorrow that was crushing his heart into pieces.
It pained him to see his mother acting so strong and that everything's alright when deep down inside, she was falling apart and hurting just like him. It pained him to look at his father's eyes and see faith in them; like he could do what he needed to do when in reality, he was just a cowardly child who still needed his parents to guide him and teach him what was right from wrong. It pained him to see his gaunt and lifeless eyes, staring right back at him in front of the mirror, knowing what he has become: a hopeless man grasping at straws to save his family and himself.
He stands up from the floor and decides to go to the one place where he could pour out his pain and suffering: Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
As he rushes towards his destination, he keeps his head bowed down so that no one could see through the barricade he created between him and everyone around him. He couldn't trust anyone. He couldn't lean on anyone. He just has to go through his pain on his own. Alone.
He walks and he walks, not realizing another presence in the hallways. He continues to go forward and bumps into the person. He's caught off guard, but after a few seconds, he pulls himself together and straightens up to see a mane of bushy brown hair and a pair of narrowed red-rimmed eyes. He finds out that the person who bumped into him was the person he hated since he heard her know-it-all voice and saw her wild and crazy head. Hermione Granger.
He decides to do nothing. He was tired. He was in pain. He chooses to let her do whatever she wanted to do so that he could go and take shelter in the confines of Myrtle's bathroom.
He still sees the narrowed red-rimmed eyes and realizes that she has been crying. If he was still the ignorant child he was a year ago, he would've tortured her mercilessly. But now, he knew what it felt like to hurt. He knew that he could only cry his problems away because he had no one to share his pain with. He was by himself, unlike Granger, who had her friends, Potter and Weasley.
He continued to stare at her, anticipating her next action. She looks at him, her red eyes still narrowed, looking like she was about to say something. But after a few seconds, Granger's face softened a little. She probably saw the pain and the vulnerability that was etched across his face. It didn't surprise him at all that her eyes showed the obvious shock that she was feeling. Who would've thought that he, Draco Malfoy, egotistic git extraordinaire, would show weakness and sorrow in front of his sworn enemy?
"Malfoy?" Granger started hesitantly. She looked like she was battling with herself if she was going to continue and prod him. It seemed that her curiosity took over, since she continued to talk to him. "Are...you okay?" she finished tentatively.
He didn't answer. He just stood there and stared back at her. She wouldn't understand his pain. She never did understand anything about him.
No one expected what Granger did after his silent vigil. Probably not even the gods above. She wrapped her arms slowly around his waist, and buried her head in the crook of his neck. He was shocked, to put it mildly, that Hermione Granger, the Mudblood know-it-all whom he taunted and made fun of mercilessly since their first year, was offering him a gesture of her concern. She gave him a hug, just like what she would give to her Gryffindor friends if they were in his place. It surprised him, yes. But it also relieved him. It comforted him, and told him that everything was going to be alright, and that he was going to be alright. It gave him a little spark of hope, and that was all he needed to continue on his journey and fulfill his mission.
Hesitantly, he wrapped his own arms around the girl. Her body stiffened for a second, but she relaxed afterwards. She tightened her grip, and he did the same. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Granger pulled away slowly. She looked at him straight in the eyes, and gave him a soft but sincere little smile. She turned her back on him, and drifted away along the corridors.
As he watched her walk out of sight, he suddenly realized something. With that one simple hug and one simple smile, a part of his sorrow has been washed away. The pain was gone, forever and ever.