Disclaimer: The characters from the Harry Potter Universe belong to J . K . Rowling.

Give up Draco

"Give up Draco," the words echoed in his mind.

Those were the words he never thought he would be hearing from the mouth of the Gryffindor's precious princess. And this is not the first time either. Then why is that he is still hearing them? Then it hit him that she called him Draco.

He did not know when she became his own bloody stalker. She started following him like a fucking house elf. She turned up where ever he went, always piercing his soul with burning amber eyes.

All this drama started with one big mistake. That one blunder that had turned his whole life upside down. That one moment of weakness, when he saw scar head's golden girl at the mercy of Slytherin house dimwits Crabbe and Goyle, was his first step into the grave.

He was shocked to see the brains of the golden trio cornered into an abandoned classroom. Her wand was abandoned on the floor and the inhumanly large body of Crabbe backed her into the wall. Draco's steely resolve stumbled when he caught the look in Hermione Granger's eyes. Her ever bright and passion filled eyes were trembling in fear. He remembered scolding his housemates about their foolish plan and dismissed them. Then he warned her not to roam around the castle without her bodyguards.

That started his descent into insanity.

This was his toughest year at Hogwarts. Apart from his father's incarceration, he was assigned an impossible task. The pressure was wearing him down. His grades were slipping, he lost interest in Quidditch and he even gave up his favorite job of all. Yes, he gave up taunting the golden trio. His immaculate appearance was looking frazzled. He was hoping to take off any kind of attention on me. But that did not work. In turn, it created extra suspicion. Potter did suspect something, but he was not acting on it. Draco was relieved, but his relief did not last longer as Hermione Granger turned into his stalker.

The first time he saw her, she was waiting for him near the classroom, from where he rescued her. He sneered at her and went on his way to the seventh-floor corridor. But she followed.

"What is it Mudblood? Didn't I warn you to keep your boyfriends close?" He spat at her when she started to follow him.

She flinched at the word but did not turn back. She looked at me straight in the eye and said those damn words. "Give up Malfoy."

He was staring back into her eyes when she gave a tentative nod and turned back.

Draco shook his head to clear the fog that invaded his mind. Surely, that must be his imagination. He went on to his destination. He forgot all about her when he reached the room of requirement.

He saw her again in the same place after few days.

"So, its true," he drawled. She was looking at him with confusion. "I heard that you have finished all the books in the Library and have gone mad with all the free time. Stalking is not a good hobby bookworm. Go to your escorts. They must be going mad without you. Run along," he carefully avoided using the forbidden 'M' word. It somehow bothered him to see the hurt look in her face.

She smiled this time. "I know you are hiding something Malfoy." He narrowed his eyes at her. She did not budge. "Say whatever you want, but give yourself a chance. I can see the concern in your eyes", she continued. She stepped a bit closer and was now standing in his personal space.

He wanted to move back, but his feet were glued to the spot.

"Give up, Malfoy," she repeated those haunting words and backed away.

By the time he regained his senses she was already out of sight. This time those words did not leave him. They rested in his dormant parts of the brain. He could retrieve them easily into his conscious just by a tap. So he did what any coward would do in his position. Draco ran away from her vicinity. He avoided the area where she had an opportunity to corner him. He started keeping his so-called friends closer to him. He made sure he'd never cross paths with her. He was quite proud of the progress he made. But, he knew about her. She would never give up and Draco did not want to be one of her bloody reform projects.

He was such a fool. He thought that was his worst idea ever. Well, apart from his brave rescue idea of Granger. The old bumbling fool could not get the stupid drink to the headmaster according to his plan. Due to his inefficiency, the ginger git got poisoned.

The chosen one's suspicions got bigger. He started to follow Draco wherever he can. Draco suspected that the scar-head had some other plans too. But, luckily Granger appeared disinterested in the chosen one's plans. The situation itself got very sticky. It was suffocating for Draco. All his plans are bouncing back at him.

He panicked when he saw Potter talking to Katie Bell. Draco felt as if somebody punched him in his gut when Potter turned to look directly at him. He took off from there without a backward glance.

He was throwing ice-cold water into his face. He tried to control his whimpers as warm tears mixed with the cold water falling off his face. He did not remember how he ended in this bathroom. It had become his refuge. He started sharing his grief with the only other occupant of this abandoned lavatory.

Suddenly there was a disturbance behind him. Draco did not hesitate. He reached for his wand and threw a blasting spell behind him. Then he saw the face of his attacker. Yes, Saint Potter was here, he cursed loudly.

Both of them were throwing all their hatred in their spells. Things were blowing apart; the whole place slowly became a collapsing mess. Draco yelled in pain as a strong stinging hex stung his shoulder. That was all he needed to let his inner monster out of leash. "Crucio," Draco said pointing his wand at the boy-who-lived.

What happened next left Draco in a state of shock. Instead of Potter who was supposed to be on the floor writhing in pain, Draco himself felt his muscles being ripped apart. Invisible knives were slashing his body maliciously at random places. He dropped to the ground as the darkness slowly consumed him. The last thing he saw was a pair of glasses hovering in front of his eyes and a sound of hurried footsteps close by.

Draco was looking out of the window in the Infirmary when he heard the curtains of his bed being opened. Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, expecting to hear another high-pitched squeal of "Drakie-poo." He had enough of her. If she called him in that way again, he was going to hex her out of the room. "Get out Pansy, I am not in the mood."

"Oh, shall I come back at a later time?" Draco tensed hearing a different voice this time. He looked at up see a bushy mass of hair.

Draco turned away his face in disgust. "What are you doing here? Came here to finish off the job your boyfriend failed at," Draco's voice was filled with venom.

"Malfoy, what Harry did was inexcusable. I don't deny. Even with your history, it is not justified. But he was convinced that you are acting under the orders of Voldemort. He was absolute that you are marked as a death eater," she explained.

Draco cringed at the name of his master but he quickly composed himself. "Then, he is as delusional as everybody says."

"I know you are not one of them Malfoy. I keep telling him to just leave you alone. Once he gets this feeling into his mind, he does not shake off easily. On top of that Ron's poisoning and Katie's curse just pushed him off his edge," she looked up at him directly into his eyes. "Harry said that you used the Cruciatus curse."

Draco looked at her defiantly. "Who is in the hospital wing Granger, me or your boy wonder?" That question caused Draco to sit up on the cot abruptly, letting the blanket that covered his bare torso to drop down.

He realized his mistake when he saw her eyes widen. His pale body was marred with bright pink scars where Potter's curse hit him. She gingerly moved towards him sitting down beside him. Her eyes never moved from the big scar right above his heart. She slowly traced the scar with her finger. Draco closed his eyes, hissing at the contact.

"There is a lot you are hiding from Malfoy. Give yourself an opportunity. You are just a little misguided. You can never be the monster Harry thinks. Give up the hatred Malfoy," Hermione said not lifting her eyes from his scar.

Draco was looking at her as if in a trance. Her bushy hair, her button nose, and warm amber eyes were appearing in a new light. Then she did the unthinkable. She looked at him.

"Give up, Draco," her eyes were filled with kindness and concern. Draco was lost. He did not know what he was doing until his lips met another pair. He felt her shock through her lips. She did not respond but she did not pull back either. It was like an icy shot in his face. He pushed her away with extreme force. She landed on the floor with a heavy thud shock evident on her face.

"Get the hell out of here, you filth. How dare you come here and talk as if you know anything about me? You are nothing but a filthy little mudblood. Potty and Weasel may follow you as if you hung the bloody moon itself, but I know better. Get out of our world. You will never belong here," Draco spat what ever he could think of. He quickly averted his face, not ready to see her reaction. He heard his curtains rustle a moment later. Draco slumped down into the bed feeling proud about his rebuttal. Miss goody shoes and her reforms, he had to put her in place. She had no right strutting around the castle as if she owns it. He was trying to justify his actions, but her words and his unplanned kiss mocked his prejudiced mind.

And now he is haunted by those words and comfortable warmth of her eyes, every night. In order to escape from it, he put extra effort in his mission. He threw himself totally into it. And it started paying off. Today for the first time it was successful. He was able to fix that damned cabinet. Now he just had to wait for the optimum moment.

He had not seen the golden trio since that day. It is not that he missed scar-head or weaselbee but the absence of the walking and talking library was disheartening. Draco was sure that after his dismissal that day, she would never approach him again. That was part of his plan, he did not want her to know, how her words and actions affected him. Only she was able to breach that thick skull of his. That's why she was danger and she had to be avoided, he kept telling his mind. But why did he wake up with those damn words ringing in his ears every night, "Give up Draco."

That night when he got the message that Dumbledore and Potter left the castle, he knew time had come to put his plans into actions. He understood that after today, she would never look at him with the same concern in her eyes. He would finally become the monster her precious Harry always warned her about. She would never seek him out and she would never speak those haunting words.

Draco was slowly walking to the seventh floor to open the vanishing cabinet. He had no idea who is going to come out through those doors. He may not be a monster but he will do anything for his family. If that meant to crush his feelings or committing a murder, he is not going to back out. The responsibility of his family is on his shoulders now. The snake bastard had already put his father in prison; he is not going to hurt his mother.

Draco was in a trance like a state that evening. He did not remember his aunt's cackling, Greyback's howl or his potion master's intervention. Even when he pointed his wand into his headmaster's face, he did not hear the kind words the old man spoke to convince Draco. All he saw was those amber pools of warmth with bushy hair and a mouth speaking "Give up Draco".

Draco felt a jolt of electricity hit him in his heart when he saw the green light struck the old man in front of him. In his tertiary vision, a certain Gryffindor with insurmountable amounts of knowledge replaced the lifeless body of great Albus Dumbledore and Draco knew his fate was doomed.

The war cries he heard when the head of his house dragged him out of the corridor were intolerable. Until he saw her there, consoling the chosen one while he was mourning the loss of their headmaster, then only Draco's heart came under control. He forcefully shook the potion master's hand and rushed towards Hermione Granger.

"You're alive," he repeated the words running towards her. He killed the distance between them with long strides and crushed his body to hers. The mere feeling her body quite alive and warm against him sent fluttering butterflies into his stomach.

He knew her strength when he experienced it first hand a few years back. That was nothing when compared to the force with which he was blasted into a distance by her wand. He was still groggy when Severus Snape came to him in the next moment and he was being carried away from that place. But Draco was smiling away knowing she is not dead.

Draco slowly understood the depth of their devotion to the snake bastard. Their situation did not improve even after his so called success. His father's release did not aid to his ever-building depression. The continued presence of Dark lord and all his cronies at Malfoy Manor and their plans to usurp the magical world were presenting rather disturbing visions. The only comfort he found in this darkness was the memory of the little interactions he had with a certain brainy Gryffindor.

Draco's situation did not improve when the last year of his school had started. He tried to place himself away from the notorieties the new management. His infamous success in bringing down the greatest wizard of all time earned him a special status. Though the expected absence of the golden trio was taking a toll on him. He started spending massive amounts of time in Library, slightly gathering comforts in Hermione Granger's still lingering presence. He was ashamed to call himself pathetic by the way he was wallowing. He even longed to fall asleep to catch glimpses of the said girl in his dreams, but what he dreamt was terrifying.

He had in his dreams seen her fighting with in an inch of life, continuously being hit by the torture curse and sometimes being held captive at his own house. But the most brutal one was where he himself carried out those deeds. Draco thought his last year was terrible, but the emotional stress he had been facing since the beginning of this year was exponential. His worst fears turned into reality when he was at home for the Easter break.

Bellatrix dragged Draco into the hall and pushed him into the faces of the captured Gryffindors. His golden Lioness looked fierce and ready to strike at the sight of him. He lost his words looking at them. He had been looking forward to seeing her since their last unfortunate meeting.

How a mudblood, low-born, and a Gryffindor could affect him in this way? She is not even worth to receive an inch of his interest. But at the mere sight of her, no matter how filthy it is, he is ready to ditch his ideals and turn against his own beliefs.

"I am not sure", Draco heard himself speaking. He felt irritated by his father's pressure to identify them. "They could be", he at last said. But as soon as the words left this mouth, he felt sick. It turned into a massive case of nausea, when Bellatrix banished the demented duo to dungeons, leaving Hermione to face the consequences. Draco felt himself shaking when one by one several torture curses pulverized her fragile body. Bellatrix did not relent and kept questioning about some stupid sword.

Draco couldn't take anymore. Hermione would be dead if she is not rescued soon. Everything seemed to be at an impasse. He knew he had to act if he wanted Hermione to be alive. His feet took him directly towards the cellars. He could hear that Weaselbee's loud groans. But it got quieter as he approached the actual cellar door. He gently unlocked and called for the golden boy himself.

"Potter", Draco hissed.

A strong arm came from nowhere and caught his throat. He began to see stars as he started choking. Another hand deftly removed his wand from his hand.

"No, Ron. Come on, Hermione needs us", the chosen one pulled his friend. Draco felt relieved as the pressure on his throat subdued.

"You do that. We don't want her blood muddying our precious carpets", Draco tried in a mocking tone. His insides tuned as those words left his lips.

Weasley tried to lunge at Draco at those words, but Potter saved the day again, but not before throwing a vicious glare at Draco. Draco hoped they could reach her in time before there is any long lasting damage. He did not care he lost his wand. He only wished that they could at least get her out of there safely. He did not bother to move from that place as some kind of commotion raised from the drawing room. Bellatrix's squeals uprooted the mansion from its foundations. He left out a relieved breath as he gathered the information about the golden trio's escape. Now he just prepared himself for the coming onslaught from the snake bastard and he knew it is not going to be easy.

The coming few weeks were as tumultuous as Draco expected. He returned to school as it commenced after the Easter break. He wanted to escape his wretched house, for now, it became that evil Bastard's lair. Snape remained as aloof as possible. He saw him even less now, as he became their headmaster. Apart from the Deatheater meetings, he hardly saw him at school. Whatever comfort Pansy had offered him did not interest Draco anymore. On the top of it, the various schemes his Slytherin cronies thought up were quite exhausting. But his thoughts were never far from the curly haired brunette.

Then one day the unthinkable happened. When Draco saw Snape that evening when he addressed the whole school, he knew something was amiss. He confirmed that when he declared Harry Potter was sighted near by. When the boy himself shot straight forward, Draco eagerly looked for his object of imagination. He was not disappointed, as she took her usual spot beside the boy-who-lived.

A smile crept up Draco's lips. She looked good. He was thankful that the episode happened at the Malfoy manor did not do any lasting damage. He slowly moved back to get a very good look at her.

He cursed Pansy when her stupid act landed them in dungeons. He could hear the battle sounds that are shaking the ancient building. He was helplessly stuck with them. He banged hard into the walls with his fists. He was furious when he overheard certain special plans for the Gryffindors from Crabbe and Goyle. He did not need to wait longer as one of the explosions blasted the dungeon's door off its hinges. Many of the students began to run outside. Draco followed the two bulk Slytherins. He managed to grab onto one of them as they apparated from there.

They did not seem surprised when Draco tagged along with them. They were enthusiastic that he finally joined them. "Come on Draco, we will finally put the stupid Gryffindors in their rightful place". Draco groaned at their stupidity, but he followed them. They spotted the three Gryffindors running along the seventh-floor corridor. Draco had been particularly acquainted with this place and he had a very bad intuition about this.

Draco and the two Slytherins managed to scoot into the room of requirement before it closed up. He could see the bushy haired bookworm and her two boyfriends searching frantically for something. Her hair looked in disarray and she already carried battle wounds on her body. Draco sighed at the situation they are currently in. In his musings, he totally missed the green light that shot through Crabbe's wand and surged in her direction. His eyes widened and his heart lost his beat, as he understood the implications of it. Luckily, she stepped out of the way, but that did not help Crabbe from the severe thrashing he received from Draco.

He yelled in utter terror when his injured friend cast a curse that cannot be controlled and it started consuming all its surroundings. He ran towards the golden trio, who were completely unaware of the danger they are in. But he got stuck in the chaos while he looked at the terrifying face of his childhood friend being swallowed by the flames cast by his own wand.

He heard the heart-wrenching screams made by Crabbe. The blazing Dragons, Chimaeras were devouring him. Draco just stood there mutely watching the hungry dance made by those beasts. Crabbe, a pureblood, lost his life to his own spell. The spell did not recognize its victim. It did not care if he was a pureblood. Crabbe was dead because of his own stupidity.

He started climbing the piles of junk looking for a way out. He lost his hope as all the exits were blocked and his whole life ran in front of his eyes. There were no good things to his name. Even if he died in this room, no one would take his name in pity. Then he understood the real meaning of those haunting words spoken by the great Hermione Granger, "Give up Draco". Yes, then he decided he would give up. He would give up his hatred, prejudices, and arrogance for her. He will try to prove himself to her if a chance was given. He would take her advice if he could make it out of this room alive.

As these thoughts passed through Draco's mind the chosen one himself swooped down to him offering his hand. Draco Immediately grabbed on to it. He saw the other two do the same to Goyle. Soon they all were out of the maelstrom. The golden trio did not spare him a glance and hurried off into the battle.

Draco just lay there, thinking about the things happened in the room of requirement. While the stupidity of the so-called pureblood prejudice pushed them into death, the people whom he despised rescued him. The people who were victims of his taunts and vicious remarks pulled him out of danger. Draco could literally feel the mask of arrogance drop from his eyes.

Draco emerged from the room a changed person. He saw many people fighting for their lives around him. He saw a litter of dead bodies. He gained a new appreciation towards life after those few close to death moments. He wanted to keep his promise he made to himself and the amber-eyed girl. He started off small. He rescued a girl whose leg was stuck between two large bricks. He placed her in a hidden alcove and told her to stay there. He moved onto to help another boy who was fighting a death eater twice as strong as him. He helped the boy stun the death eater. Draco smiled at the boy when he thanked him. He further went to pick up a limp body of an unnamed student placing it away from the melancholy.

Draco did not see Hermione Granger for a long time. Not until Hagrid carried the supposed dead body of the chosen one. He saw Hermione then, totally downtrodden, shedding uncontrollable tears clinging onto Weasley. He saw Neville Longbottom stepping forward proclaiming his undying loyalty to Harry Potter. He saw his own parents calling him. The contrasting characteristics that made up the two houses were clearly visible. And he knew what he was going to choose. He moved forward towards the girl, who made him see what exactly is worth fighting for. He intended to show her that he indeed had given up.

Before Draco's steps reached Hermione, the whole school drowned in chaos again. Apparently, the boy-who-wouldn't-die got another chance. Draco smiled when all those people lunged face forward into the battle again and he joined them with the same eagerness. He was going to help them put that snake bastard down for good.

The final battle went all through the night. His parents were nowhere to be seen. But he felt sheer pleasure when mother Weasley blasted Bellatrix bitch into oblivion. He saw the chosen one duel Voldemort.

He looked around to see most of the deatheaters being put down. Granger and Weasley were not in the vicinity. He preferred to stay in the shadows for now. He caught a glimpse of red hair and went further to have a closer look. It was Ronald Weasley but Hermione was nowhere near him. Panic started to rise in his heart.

Draco heard the intensity of the duel in the background, but his eyes sought out for the bushy hair. When the first rays of sunlight hit the castle he saw her lying on the ground.

He rushed towards her as he heard an ear-splitting scream from Voldemort. He ran as fast as his feet could take him. He ignored the joyous cries erupting from his surroundings. But his thoughts were occupied by the amber-eyed Gryffindor who was lying on the ground at a very odd angle. Warning bells went off in Draco's mind as he reached her.

"Granger," he chanted taking her head into his lap. He patted her cheeks to initiate any movement. Draco was trying to crush the warnings his brain was popping. His tears started to run freely. He clutched her tightly to his chest and sobbed.

"I gave up Hermione", he was crying into her hair. "I gave up".

There was nothing. She was lying there in his lap still as a stone. Draco could not believe what he was seeing. How did it come to this? He cradled her head gently kissing the top of her head. He felt like he was falling into the abyss as he lost his hope with her.

From that bottom less pit he felt a warm breath tickle his ears and he heard. "Took you long enough", a low and heavy voice echoed near his ear. The same voice that had guided his transformation, made him into the person who had started to understand the beginnings of compassion.

"Is that Harry?" she asked slowly catching up to the applause around them.

"Yes, indeed. Finally, your boyfriend put the Snake bastard down for good," Draco replied.

"Oh! Harry. You did it," she exclaimed happily as the corners of her eyes prickled on the onslaught of tears.

Draco pulled back to look at the serene face of Hermione Granger, her amber eyes exposing the same warmth and affection. The same emotions she carried when she visited him at the infirmary. He lost himself in them.

"Did you really?" Hermione asked Draco bringing him back to reality. Her eyes are bright with expectation.

"Yes, I gave up Hermione", he muttered slowly getting up. He offered his hand to the girl in front of him marking a new beginning in his life.

She slowly got up and started limping her way towards the celebrations. Draco could see it was very hard for her to pass that small distance. But even those harsh injuries could not dampen her bright spirits. She was his beacon of hope. Then she suddenly turned towards him and gave him a dazzling smile. She extended her hand to Draco and pulled him in the same direction.

Draco could not stop his smile, yes it was a very good beginning indeed.

The End