Okay so maybe crying on the floor of an abandoned girls bathroom wasn't the way he thought he'd spend his eighth year at Hogwarts. But what else could he do? Father in Azkaban, Mother on her death bed and shunned by the entire school; Draco Malfoy had no other alternative.
Walking from the library, on her own, after curfew, Hermione first heard the strange noises. She looked around, worried that Filch would catch her – then remembered that she didn't have a curfew like the other students; apparently saving the world gave the privilege of returning to her room if and when she wished. Her first thought was that Myrtle was having a bad day, but as she listed she realised the sobs were definitely male. Feeling brave, Hermione pushed open the door to the girls' bathroom, only slightly, to see who caught her attention.
Hermione couldn't lie; being back at Hogwarts on her own, without Harry and Ron, she often found herself lonely and in desperate need of comfort. She also often found herself sobbing in the privacy of her room. And so when she seen Malfoy huddled by the wall of the bathroom, she felt a strange sense of empathy and sympathy, rather than hateful joy at his misery.
In her thoughts, Hermione had let the door drop, and cringed as it creaked and caught the attention of Draco.
"Sorry, I didn't think this toilet was still in use. I'll go."
Hermione panicked; strangely, she didn't want him to leave.
"No, don't go! I just wanted to check you were okay?"
"Why do you care?" The question wasn't acidic or accusing, but soft and tired.
"Because, because I know how it feels to be alone, I know how it feels to have lost parents and friends! I know how it feels to cry alone, when I think no one can hear me."
"I don't want your pity, Granger."
"How about my empathy and my shoulder?"
"Your shoulder?"
"It's a muggle term, Draco. 'A shoulder to cry on'."
Draco patted the tiles beside him and Hermione crawled along the floor to sit beside him.
"Tell me what's wrong Draco?"
"They're going to give him 'The Kiss'," Draco looked at his watch, "In four hours. They asked if I wanted to be present, to witness my father's death. Mother's on her death bed and no one in St Mungo's is willing to help her. They don't think she deserves it. I know everything they did was wrong, I'll miss my father, but I know he deserves it. But she doesn't, my mother had nothing to do with it, she would have been killed and it's all the fault of me and my father! I killed my mother Hermione, how am I supposed to live with myself?"
"You're not. You're supposed to live with someone else, someone who knows how you feel, someone who forgives you and someone who believes you never truly wanted to do those thing."
"HA! And where am I supposed to find someone like that?"
"I'm here, Draco. Right here."
Draco placed his pale hand on top of Hermione's and looked into her eyes, searching for any sign of falsity or jest.
"Thank you, Hermione."
"You're welcome, Draco."
The End.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, let me know if you did? :) I don't own anything you recognise. x
Thank you, Aradia1013 for your constructive criticism, I have now changed 'hatred joy' to 'hateful joy' x
