Disclaimer - I, once again, do not own any of the characters, as they belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling. And the song belongs to Jason Robert Brown, in all of his glory.
I'll never be
A knight in armor
With a sword in hand,
Or a kamikaze fighter;
Don't count on me
To storm the barricades
And take a stand,
Or hold my ground;
You'll never see
Any scars or wounds -
I don't walk on coals,
I won't walk on water
After one week of living together, they were both on wits end. Draco was girl to girl, every night, sloppy, lazy, and just living the life. He had reclaimed his status of the Shag Prince not a week back into classes. He hadn't given much thought to how Hermione must have felt, as she was really doing both of their work, well at least that was the front he put on. He had his title to reclaim, and everything else would come later. Still, there was this annoying panging in his chest every time he saw her. They had agreed on day one to stay out of each others' way and continue on with the lives that they had led at Hogwarts prior to the war. Draco was more than fine with this, as it would save him from feelings being drug up…guilt, hurt, among others, things that he did not want to deal with But he was so convinced that he couldn't be that great to live with, and after everything he had been though over the past year, he really wanted to change, he did. And he really wanted her to bring that out in him, but, as always, he would never tell…
Hermione, who was looking more and more dead as every day passed, took on all of the Head Boy and Girl duties, as Draco could be less and less entertained with actually doing his job. He barely wore a shirt and decided to have his way with all of his kills around their apartment, and it was almost to the point where she couldn't handle it anymore. Although she was fine with him 'getting his life back,' she felt it so unfair that she just couldn't seem to find hers. She needed a rescue. She needed a moment to breath. She felt as if she was grasping for air, all the time. It was so hard to just live day to day, to watch the world spin around her as she stood still, working, studying, and breathing…not sleeping. She tried her hardest, but she was beginning to feel like her hardest wasn't going to be good enough starting very soon. She needed a savior. Her saint. Her prince. She needed someone perfect to come and sweep her away. To make it all better…but she knew, deep down, this would never happen. She thought she found him after the war…but it was obvious that she was wrong. Very wrong.
"Would you please put a smile on? For Merlin's sake Granger, I wouldn't have agreed to this if I would have known you were going to be so miserable."
His voice broke though her thoughts. She was reading, or attempting to, at least, her Muggle Studies book in front of their fireplace, trying to get back to her bookworm lifestyle. She just couldn't seem to get a hold of things though. She guessed she had looked rather glum, the past few days, but miserable…she prayed not. She did not want anyone, especially him, to see that she was faltering. She had to deal with that on her own until someone came along to save her like she had saved so many others. Draco had apparently returned from shagging the latest conquest in the Slytherin Tower, as he was walking back in with his shirt unbuttoned, hair unkempt. Hermione looked back at her clock. 12:15. Time for rounds. She grabbed her shoes and headed for the door, not wanting to even look at Malfoy. Her studies in French had paid off, and now she truly loved calling him by his surname, as it literally translated to Unfaithful. If she had gained any faith in him after the war, after they had all called truce and it looked like they could start to move forward, together, it was now lost. He would always be the party boy. He would always slack behind. He would never commit to anything.
"Hey, wait up!" He called from behind her, buttoning his shirt quickly. "Let me come with you tonight?"
Draco didn't mean to form the words as a question, but it came out that way. He had been tied up…sometimes literally…with previous obligations and had missed out on a week of rounds. He knew Granger could handle it on her own, but lately…he wasn't so sure. Sometimes it pained him to even look at her, coming in late as she devoured her brain in her books. She was looking worse and worse every day, her eyes looked saggy and tired, her smile, which he had always admired her for before but would never admit to it, was falling lackluster, and her body seemed to drag her places, no spring in her step at all…not that he had every really noticed her body before…
"Well, since they are your duties as well, I can't see any harm in having you join me this evening." Hermione spat, with no remorse. She couldn't believe that after a week of just missing rounds he had the audacity to ask if he could join her. It was in fact, his job to be doing them.
"Listen, Granger. I am sorry that I do not walk on water like you do. I am sorry that I've fallen behind, truly, I am. Why don't you let me go out on my own tonight and you can get to bed, you're looking a little tired anyways and-"
"Tired? I look tired? Well maybe it is because I have been picking up the slack for both of us around here. Maybe it is because you don't have the slightest idea what I am going through right now, and instead of doing even your side of the work, I get to watch you gallivant around Hogwarts like you are some kind of prince or something."
"Listen Granger, if you and I are going to make it through this year alive, maybe we need to start communicating a little bit more. Maybe if you would have told me all of this sooner we could have been taking care of our work together. Maybe you wouldn't look half dead-"
"And maybe if you knew how to do your own work, to pick up your own slack, we wouldn't be having this fight right now!" Hermione screamed, not caring who heard her at this hour.
"You're right! Okay! Is that what you want to hear? I am sorry! And next time, if you have a problem, let's just try to work it out, okay? There's no need for us to fight. I want this to be a good year, for the both of us. I don't want you to die on me and for me to feel as guilty as I do right now. Christ, Hermione, you're falling apart in front of me. I don't want that for you, not after everything you've done. So please, talk to me. If we are going to succeed we need to work together, and I am sorry it took me this long to realize it. But you need to realize that I don't walk on coals, Hermione. I'm not perfect, but, please, I'm here for you." Draco let his whole conscious spill out, letting the words just flow from him. They were both silent for the next few seconds, just staring at each other. He tried to break the silence, but he really had nothing else to say.
"I don't need anyone to be here for me, Malfoy. I need a prince. And I take back what I said about you before, you're not a prince, you're just a boy who wishes he was."
"You're right." Draco whispered, and with that, he was out the door, leaving Hermione standing there, completely stunned.
A/N - There's the first chapter, with more to come. R/R for me please, if your loving the story. If not, let me know. I love constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!
