Draco sighed again as he walked along the dark deserted corridors of Hogwarts. He had went through what had to do a million times in his head, but couldn't help feeling slightly nervous.
He had reached the hospital wing. There were four beds occupied. Without hestitation he went to the one who he had come to visit.
Perhaps it was better when she was asleep. Her eyes were wide and her fear was written all over her face. Just looking at her, he felt a twinge in his heart and almost wanted to leave the Hospital wing.
Almost.
But what better oppurtunity than now? True, she was looking as if she was straight out of a horror scene, but will this chance come again?
Draco doubted it.
"Hey Granger", he said softly, staring into her lost eyes. It didn't matter that he had known her barely a year and a half, but he knew that her eyes always held that know-it-all look. Seeing them now sent a shiver up his spine.
There. It was now or never. To tell her everything he ever wanted to.
To tell her what she will never hear, but desperately wished she did.
To tell her about his most inner self.
To show her the only human side he might show to anyone.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry", he said.
"I'm sorry for being rude to you all the time. Sorry for calling you Mudblood. Sorry because I have to do it again. Sorry because I can never see you for who you really are. Not in public atleast", he said, a light chuckle on his lips.
"I'm sorry, Granger. I wish so much that I can be more than I am. But I can't. I don't have a choice." A single tear left his eye.
"Granger, I'm asking your forgiveness because if Potter is harmed or defeated, I just want you know I didn't really have a choice. I want to be on your side so much, but I can't". Tears were flowing freely now.
"I had so many beliefs about Mud- Muggle-borns and you changed them all Granger. You showed me a different view of the world. A view that might be fatal for me".
"That's why Granger, tonight, when I leave, I will leave that view with you. As much as I would choose it anytime, I don't have a choice. Father says the Dark Lord will be back again, and if that's true, then that view could kill me, kill us both..."
He trailed off. She could never understand. That is why he was here.
"Granger, just know that every time I insult you, I am saving both of our lives. Just...", his throat constricted ,"...just don't hate me for it".
He wiped his tears and gently kissed her outstretched hand.
The bell rang midnight.
He looked at her, hesitated, then whispered, "Goodbye, Hermione".
And he was gone. That one moment he had let his mask down. Now it was firmly on his face again.
But that one moment, that one confession, that will forever be embedded in the time, a time no one knows.