Dear readers, it's my first fanfic so cut me slack. Haha I love you for reading this and promise the next chapters will be longer! Special thanks to Kenzie Jean for being awesome.

Love,

HJM

Cosmic Love

A falling star fell from your heart and it landed in my eyes, I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind. ~Florence and the Machine

Chapter one: Broken

The rain pounded around Hermione Granger, keeping time with her heartbeats that shook through her as she cried into her hands. You couldn't really tell if what rolled down her face were tears or water from the sky. She sat, curling her legs up to her chest, on the opposite side of a grey brick wall in the courtyard. She had a beautiful view of Hagrid's hut, dimly lit by firelight from inside, the forest, teeming with nocturnal life, and the mountains, looming in the distance. Everyone else was inside eating, yet she knew her friends wouldn't come looking for her. She realized now, that in so many ways, she was alone. She was staining her skirt and robes in the grass and mud, but she couldn't care less. Her life, it seemed, was heading in a downward spiral.

And that was how Draco Malfoy found her.

He hadn't gone to dinner either, for reasons unknown, and was wondering the grounds in the rain, bored and exhausted. When he saw Granger sitting by herself in the rain, crying, he wanted to laugh at his luck.

"Granger." He said, smirk forming. She kept sobbing and looking away from him. He thought that, maybe she hadn't heard him. "Granger!" He said much louder, scaring an owl from its perch under the wall. But once again, she just remained still, now consciously ignoring him. He felt rejected by her absence of a comeback or acknowledgement, and knew he had to push the stakes higher if he wanted a reaction.

"Did Potty hurt you? He has no time for you now that he defeated the Dark Lord?" He tried a taunt, but she didn't answer him. The sky was dark now and they could hear students' heavy footsteps plodding up to bed inside the castle. The moon dimly lit the scene before Draco's eyes. "It was the Weasel, wasn't it? He doesn't really love you, right? I've seen him snogging other girls this year, and it's about time you found out."

Malfoy's words stung Hermione more than she could say, because not only were they true, they were the reason she was out there crying. Earlier that day, she had caught Ron with a Hufflepuff and when she ran to Harry and Ginny for comfort, they were both too busy to listen, let alone help her. She wanted Malfoy to go away, he was such a slimy prat, but she couldn't find any words to say. In fact, she felt so awful that she literally couldn't move.

He was so frustrated with her now for not talking back to him that thought about walking away, but that would make him look like an idiot. He rose his hurting to the next level so he could leave feeling proud.

"Filthy Mudblood. Just like you to get dirty in the rain and dirt." She started hyperventilating at his words, and he took that as a small victory. That was when he actually took a good look at her, though.

He realized something that he should have realized a while ago. Hermione was a brilliant witch, she knew a charm to keep mud and water off of her, but it seemed that she was in such a state that it didn't matter to her. After all, even he, who was in a sulky mood, had put that charm on to go walking in the rain. He had never seen her this depressed and realized that he had made it so much worse for her too, he thought. He felt so bad for hurting her. He shook his head, wondering why the hell he felt sorry for Granger.

Suddenly, Hermione looked up, and Draco was gone. He was running as hard as he could through the doors of the castle. He couldn't come to terms that he had felt sorry for the Mudblood. He shook his head, stopping in his tracks right on the threshold to Hogwarts. He couldn't leave her there. In five minutes, the doors would close and she would be stuck outside at the mercy of creatures from the Forbidden Forest. She didn't look like she was going to get up anytime soon.

He stood there for awhile, just weighing options, and realized that there shouldn't be an option at all. He was a Slitherin. Since when did Slitherins help Gryffindors? Or Mudbloods? But guilt was eating him up on the inside. What if she was hurt by hypothermia? The rain was like ice. What if some wild animal got her? The image of her being hurt and it being his fault for not going back kept playing in his mind as he finally made his decision.

Steaming with anger at himself, Draco wheeled around and ran back to Hermione, who was soaking wet and now looking at him with her sparkling hazel eyes, tears coming down and mixing with the water. She looked so vulnerable and stuck there, and Draco's instincts took over. He walked close to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, expecting him to hit her or something, but he just kept staring at her shaking form.

She looked away from him, ashamed and wanting him to leave and not have to go through this with him. But she did need help. The events that had led up that day, and most of all that day had left her empty and unable to move. She knew what she had to do and looked back at him.

"Help me" she croaked. "I can't move, I don't know what's wrong with me." She said through fits of coughing and sobbing. She felt awful asking Draco for help, but she didn't know what else to do. He, not really knowing what he was doing, hoisted her tiny body in his strong arms and carried her into the castle.

His steps echoed on the cold stone floor, and they were in complete silence because everyone else was gone. It was, after all, past curfew. Suddenly, he heard a prefect coming around the corner, or maybe it was Filtch, but either way, he couldn't be caught this late with a Gryffindor girl in his arms who appeared physically hurt. That would arouse suspicion, so he ducked around the corner and they hid behind a statue and watched a fifth year prefect round the corridor and walk past them briskly.

Draco quickly scampered from behind the statue and jogged up a couple flights of stairs. The adrenaline that was in him from almost getting caught made Hermione feel like a feather as he stopped to weigh his options.

He knew he couldn't carry her into her common room, because he knew that would start rumors, and it was really the same for his. He stood in the empty stairwell for a moment, contemplating the issue. Then it suddenly came to him, the Room of Requirement. He breathed a sigh of relief when the door formed and opened for them. The whole entire castle had been rebuilt to its former glory after the final battle of the war.

Hermione had kept crying in his arms as he set her on a chair and used a spell to temporarily get some of the mud off of her so she could lie in the bed. He couldn't help her change, because that was just something you don't do with your enemies. Yet, was what he was doing right now something you do for your enemies? He knew the answer, but he kept going, trying not to think about it. When she was clean enough, he laid her down on the bed in the room and sat on the chair next to the bed. He examined the room, only the bed and chair for furniture, and it fairly sized with what looked like a bathroom and, upon further inspection, a couple of books under the chair. He was about to pick one up, when he found Hermione's eyes on him.

She had stopped crying and ws just staring at him in disbelief. He was about to ask her what she was looking at in a mean tone, but he stopped himself. And before he could change his mind, she had closed her eyes and drifted into a heavy sleep.

Once he knew for sure that she was sleeping, he strode into the bathroom and took a cold shower, finding clean Slytherin robes where he had thrown his dirty ones when he came out. He marveled at the room, with white walls and white bed sheets and a white chair. It was so incredibly plain that it was comforting. He grabbed a blanket that had appeared on the chair and thanked Merlin for how great the Room of Requirement was with his needs. He sat down and closed his eyes, not really trying to find sleep, but opened them again, somehow not being able to take his eyes off the room and the things inside it.

Draco was glad there was a chair, because he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, even if he too had had a bed. And for some strange reason, he was glad that he was close the Granger. Never in his life had he ever seen her in such a pathetic state, yet he felt so bad for her. And the more he thought about it, the more he reasoned with himself. I'm allowed to care, he thought. I'm allowed to have feelings for someone, even if I'm a Slytherin. It's ok that she is a Mudblood.

The last one shocked him the most. But, as he sat there and ran those words through his head, they started to sound nice, normal, and surprisingly ok. And he watched her all night long, not in a creepy way, but in more of a caring, watchful and protective manor. He looked at how peaceful she was asleep compared to before, and realized just how nice she looked when she wasn't being a know it all git in class, fighting with him or making comebacks. He watched her as his eyes become groggy and sleep finally loomed over him.

He didn't expect to sleep, and when he woke up in the morning, he was surprised that he had at all. His back was sore when he stood up from sitting up all night, but he convinced himself that by helping someone, it was worth it. He was disgusted at himself, really, I mean, what kind of Slytherin cares about anything? However, he just couldn't help it.

And when he found her bed empty, he felt a drop in his heart for a reason he couldn't find an answer for. He found a note on the bed, which was made neatly. It only said one word and was obviously from Granger. "Why?"

Draco stood there next to the bed with the note in his hand, wondering the same question himself. And he was at a complete loss for an answer.

Review and I will love you forever! I will post the next chapter very soon. Love, HJM