He watched her from across the Great Hall. Her head was tilted back as she laughed at something one of her friends had said. Her laugh was beautiful. It rang through his ears and his breathing became shallow as he noticed her gaze move across the room and land on him. She was still laughing. She kept her gaze on him until her laughter began to die down.

Her breath hitched in her chest when she noticed the intensity in which he watched her. He seemed sad, a bit melancholy. She saw no happiness in his eyes- only an emptiness that could never be filled. She knew exactly what—who—it was he longed for. Her heart skipped a beat and she forced herself to look back to her friends. A loud clattering sound came from the Slytherin table and she looked up again to see the blond stalking towards the large doors that separated the Great Hall from the rest of the school.

Harry and Ron snickered at his actions and went back to their food. Ginny watched her silently from across the table.

"Hermione...?"

Hermione glanced between her friends and stood, grabbing her annual and book bag. Harry and Ron were watching her curiously.

"I've got to take care of something. I'll meet you back in the common room later."

And then she ran out of the Great Hall.

Draco heard one of the doors open and bang shut but he didn't turn around. He kept walking, silently fuming to himself. Why her? Of all people, why her?

"Draco!"

He paused in his tracks as he heard the voice—her voice—calling out his name. He turned around slowly and watched her as she nervously approached him. He waited until she was an arms-length away before speaking.

"What do you want Granger?"

He meant to sound indifferent when he spoke. He meant to sound like he didn't care that she was in front of him. But his voice came out too softly. Entirely too softly.

She bit her lip in hesitation before she extended her arm to him, the large annual grazing against his hands.

"Please."

He felt as if his heart was in his throat as he took the book from her. He glanced at it and back to her. She bent down suddenly and rummaged through her book bag. A second later she stood up straight and shakily handed him a quill and some ink.

He regarded the quill for a moment and then turned away from her, walking towards the stairwell and taking a seat on the lowest step. She stood in the same spot watching him. How he bit the end of the quill softly as he thought. How his soft blond hair fell into his eyes as he bent down to write, his left hand going up to get it out of the way. How his face screwed up for a moment as he looked at what he had written, obviously debating something in his mind. The quill scratched against the page once more and then the book was closed and he was walking back to her and placing the book, quill, and ink into her hands. And then he turned around, grabbed his belongings and descended down another staircase on the other side of the corridor.

Hermione walked over to the step he had used and sat down, opening the book. She flipped through a couple of pages before she found what she was looking for. She smiled softly as she read his words, her fingers tracing over the tidy handwriting.

Hermione-

I'm sorry. For everything.

Yours,

Draco Malfoy

Draco watched her from the shadows of the stairwell. The small smile on her face brought one upon his own. They would be graduating soon. They would go their separate ways. They would lead separate lives and they would die separate people. For this one small moment in time, however, they are the same, united in one single feeling.

Contentment.