Hermione Draco Head Cannon

Draco ran out of the room of requirement and down the corridors of the seventh floor clutching his left arm to his stomach. He ran into the nearest bathroom he could find and couldn't control it anymore, he threw up.

He knelt on the floor of the bathroom for a few minutes trying to control his breathing but without success. He listened for a minute, no one was in here with him, he was safe from the outside world in here, and no one could hear him. He relaxed and a sob escaped him, quickly followed by another and another as it all came crashing down on him.

He couldn't do it, he couldn't kill Dumbledore. He wasn't even able to kill a little bird without throwing up. After a few minutes he calmed down and his sobs receded to silent weeping. Still kneeling on the floor he pulled his sweater over his head and after a few minutes chanced a look at his left forearm. It was still there, jet black against his pale arm. Voldemort had marked him as a death eater, expected him to kill, just because his father did. But Draco couldn't kill, not even the bird. Voldemort had punished him for being weak; he had killed the bird himself and burned the mark on Draco's arm.

Suddenly he heard someone knocking on the door. His head snapped up and he froze. They knocked again and Draco heard a girl's voice, soft and kind, willing him to answer.

'Hello? Are you ok, who is this. Please open the door, let me try to help.'

Draco released his breath, he could trust Hermione, and he knew she wouldn't judge him. Still kneeling he leant forward and unlocked the door. Hermione gasped and stepped back slightly when she saw Draco hunched on the ground. He looked so small and scared, not his usual smug self.

She walked into the cubicle and knelt beside him resting her hand gingerly on his shoulder. He flinched at her touch and then relaxed. Hermione sat there with the pale boy, hand resting lightly on his shoulder until he was ready to talk.

He looked up, his eyes wide and terrified, and met Hermione's brown eyes; they drew the truth out of him. He showed Hermione his left arm. Her eyes widened as she saw the mark but still did not say anything.

'I'm scared.' Draco whispered. 'Voldemort forced me, forced me to join, and forced me to do terrible things. He says if I don't do what he wants he will kill me. I can't go on anymore; I can't live with myself if I have to harm another thing.'

Hermione held his eyes. She decided to trust him; she didn't believe he was bad; he was just scared, scared out of his wits. She knew if she offered him help he would accept and do anything to get out of the mess he was in.

'Stay with me this summer. Don't go home, you will be safe with me and my family. Just promise me one thing; you help us do whatever we have to do to beat Voldemort.'

Draco nodded feverishly.

'But what about my parents, I can't just not go home, they will know something is up, Voldemort will know I've run away, and he'll kill me.'

Hermione reached out and brushed his hair from his eyes.

'Snape's a member of the order, Dumbledore will tell him what to do, you will be safe, please trust me. We need your help, and once we defeat Voldemort you will never have to be afraid anymore, you won't have to hurt anyone.'

Draco nodded again and stood up, he pulled Hermione to her feet but did not let go of her hands.

'Thank you' he said to her. 'Thank you for trusting me when no one else would. I won't let anyone hurt you; I want you to feel safe like you make me feel safe.'

He kissed her forehead and left. He knew then that he would do anything, anything to keep her safe, anything to ensure she and he stayed together forever.