Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling
He was broken.
She could see that.
But she couldn't understand why she saw it and no one else had.
Every day he seemed to sink further and further into nothingness.
His pale complexion grew paler.
The bags under his eyes grew bigger.
And no one seemed to care.
No one except her.
She found him one night in the Astronomy Tower.
He was leaning on the ledge with both hands and staring up at the stars.
She spoke,
"Your neck is going to cramp soon."
xXx
He didn't respond.
He knew exactly who it was.
Her voice.
The one that held intense arguments with him that no one else could match.
The only person he knew would bother to care.
He wasn't sure if he wanted her to care.
He was sure that if he looked at her she would be able to see straight to his soul.
It unnerved him.
xXx
Sure they were sworn enemies, but she was still a Gryffindor to heart.
She wanted him to turn around.
She felt that she could see all his emotions in his eyes; although they were hidden deep down.
Sure his face was a mask, but the eyes were the window to the soul.
Or something like that.
The silence was unnerving.
"What have you been up to?"
xXx
He wanted to laugh.
She made it sound like they had this conversation every day.
He finally turned around and said just that.
"You make it sound like we've known each other years."
He looked her in the eyes.
He could see several emotions playing across her face and through her eyes.
Concern, apprehension, worry.
She never was one to hide her emotions like him.
She never had a reason to.
He resented that.
"We have."
"Not as friends."
xXx
She could see his hesitation in answering her.
The emotions were flying through his eyes.
She stared into his eyes, trying to find something to latch onto.
There it was.
"You're broken."
The surprise on his face barely flickered across his face.
But she saw it.
xXx
He didn't know how to respond to that.
"What makes you think I'm broken?"
"Don't tell me you're not Draco. I can see it in your eyes."
He didn't think she could surprise him any more than she already did.
She proved him wrong once again.
"What do you see?"
xXx
She hesitated.
"I see someone who is so tired that the bags under their eyes have bags and their skin looking paler than normal. I see someone who can't find who he is without someone telling him. I see a man who doesn't want to be controlled, but is unwilling to accept help. I see you Draco; and I can't stand by and watch you slowly fade away."
She wasn't sure about his reaction.
She knew he wouldn't know what to say.
Draco Malfoy not knowing what to say.
It almost made her laugh.
xXx
Draco just looked at her.
He was processing all that she had said.
How did she see through his carefully constructed mask?
How had someone so different from himself know him so well?
Finally he dropped to the ground and leaned against the wall, covering his face with his hands.
He felt Hermione sit down next to him.
"I can help you, you know."
He snorted.
"Oh, yeah. How's that?"
xXx
She wasn't really sure.
"You can talk to me about it, I suppose."
"Talk about what exactly?"
"Anything really; home life, the war, your future plans, how you feel…Course, I'm not really sure if you know what you're feeling."
"I wouldn't know where to begin."
"Start at the beginning then."
xXx
The beginning?
He lifted his head up and leaned back fully against the wall.
"I don't know where to start, really. Father maybe. He always pushed me to be the best, even as a young boy. It may have looked different, but my childhood was good. Sure both he and my mother spoiled me… at least until the Dark Lord returned."
He paused.
"Keep going."
"It's not like I always followed my father. He just never gave me another choice. The Dark Lord threatened to kill my mother, so I felt helpless. I learned Occlumency just so I could hide my emotions and memories. I almost took up Dumbledore's offer, but then Snape came and did, well you know, instead. The Dark Lord was furious. I'm surprised he didn't kill me or my mother."
xXx
She could see it was hard for him.
He was struggling to get the words out.
"I suppose maybe this is when I accepted my imminent death. And I know this sounds stupid, but I really thought I was going to die. I still have no idea how the Dark Lord didn't kill us.
"I guess he didn't think us worthy enough to even be killed. He just left us to die. Maybe that's when I decided I was going to help the Order. You pretty much know the rest."
"But I don't. You know that I wasn't around. Even after we got back and it was all over, no one said anything. I just knew that you became switched sides and you were able to help us with as much as you could."
xXx
She got him there.
He thought a bit about what he was going to say.
"Well, I chose to switch sides mostly for my mother. She was very reluctant to leave father, and it took quite a lot of convincing. I think she even through a temper tantrum at one point, like a two year old. I showed her how much we could have without father, and even though she loved him, he had chosen to follow the Dark Lord and ignored his family responsibilities."
He paused; unsure of how to go on.
"But in the end, she gave in; she grieved for a day or two, it's hard to tell sometimes how long we were waiting before finally managing to get a hold of the Order. She knew that she couldn't help much, but you know how she helped in the end, hell, she was the main reason you lot won the war, isn't she?"
She didn't respond to his rhetorical question, just stared into the night.
Instead she took him completely by surprise, yet again.
"Mars is bright tonight," she said with a smile on her face.
He couldn't help it this time.
He chuckled. "I thought you hated Divination."
Her smile grew bigger. "I do, but this moment was getting too serious, so I decided to take a page from Firenze's book."
He chuckled again. "Only you."
xXx
She looked over at him and took note of how peaceful his face looked.
He pointed all of a sudden to an area in the sky. "That's the constellation I was named after. Draco."
She tore her gaze away from him and looked up to the area he was pointing at. "It's beautiful."
xXx
He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
Glancing at her, he realized she had been right.
When was she ever wrong?
Talking about his past seemed to close all the open wounds in his mind.
He suddenly felt free.
He stood up again and leaned on the ledge.
He felt her stand up next to him.
Deciding he should thank her in some way, he turned towards her and pulled her into a hug.
xXx
She felt a little awkward hugging Draco Malfoy, of all people, and it sounded cliché to say this, but it felt right.
After awhile he pulled away and looked back into the night sky.
She continued to look at his face. "How come you're always right?" he asked.
She looked startled for a second. "What?"
"You were right. I was broken, as you said, but talking about it helped. I feel like my head is clear for the first time in years. I'm not worrying about my past anymore. I realize that I did what I had to do in order to keep me and my mother safe. I just hope others realize sooner rather than later…"
She placed her hand on his arm. "Listen, Draco, first of all, I don't know why you are worrying about what others think. You just need to be who you are, and while you may not know what that is, you will discover that soon enough. Second of all, I realize. I know what you risked by turning on…him, hell I know just what it's like to have your life and your family's life in danger…Just remember that I'll be here whenever you need to talk."
She stood up on her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Goodnight, Draco."
She started to walk away.
xXx
He couldn't let her go yet.
"Wait," he called after her. Crap, what should I say?
She turned to look at him, and he strode over to her.
Gently grabbing her shoulders he brushed his lips over hers before kissing her slowly.
Kissing her was like no one else.
xXx
She was taken by surprise…but a good kind of surprise.
All too soon he pulled away. "I've been wanting to do that since third year," he said.
She giggled. "You mean after I slapped you?"
"Yeah, no one had ever stood up to me like that before. Only you," he repeated.
He released her shoulders but pulled her in for a hug once again.
xXx
"Hermione Granger, you are an anomaly. But I think that's what I like about you."
She pulled back and stared up into his face.
She seemed like she was looking for something. "Who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?"
He stepped back and chuckled. "In less than an hour you changed my perspective on the rest of my life. I don't know how to thank you."
She put her elbows on the ledge. "You don't have to, I'm glad I could help."
"Thank you so much."
xXx
She blinked and stood up again. "I guess I should be going now. It's getting late and I have an early start tomorrow. It was nice talking to you, Draco."
"Thanks for listening," he said. "Say, what about we meet in the library tomorrow afternoon? We can work on homework together."
She smiled. "Sounds good. I'll see you around."
xXx
As she left Draco couldn't help but smile.
She certainly was a one-of-a-kind woman.
Hey!
I've been working on this for the longest time, and finally had the time to finish it. I'm not sure if I like the ending, so maybe in the future I will change it. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
xoxo
Becca300