A/N: Chapter nine is finally out! Sorry for the wait. I really wasn't feeling up to writing so this came out forced because I had started writing another Dramione story and I had finished the first chapter, but my Internet browser crashed and I lost everything. This was really disheartening so I wasn't feeling up to writing, but I forced myself to get on with this chapter so here it is. It really isn't my best work, but I hope you enjoy. Something big happens!

To Draco's dismay, the weekend had ended all too soon and he found himself sitting in the Potions classroom on a Monday morning, his friend, Blaise, chattering merrily next to him.

"Blaise…" Draco sighed, rubbing his weary eyes. "It's far too early in the morning to be talking that much. I don't know how you do it." He placed his head on his arms on the table, stifling a yawn.

"Did you have a fun night, Drakey?" Blaise said, with a wink, before easily dodging Draco's lazy punch aimed at his shoulder. Draco sat back up and pulled his quill out of his bag. Quill in hand, frozen, at the sight of the sudden presence of the Head girl. Soon after Madam Hooch had left the two, they had decided that it was wise to leave in case someone else came. When they had reached their dorm, they had parted separate ways and he had woken up earlier than her, which was a surprise. It felt odd seeing her so casually, but a soft feeling of elation washed over him.

However, as he watched Hermione settle down into a stool, Minerva McGonagall walked in, ducking under the doorframe in order to avoid knocking over her towering hat.

"Could I speak to the Head boy and girl in my office, Margot?" the Headmistress said, her face contorted into a stern expression. Professor Margot looked up from her parchment, giving her aunt a warm smile and nodded in reply.

"Certainly," Professor Margot said, gesturing towards Draco and Hermione to exit the dungeon. As Draco stood up from his desk, he heard Blaise whisper to him.

"Trouble in paradise," Blaise said, in a mock-frightened tone. He leant across towards the Gryffindor table and turned to Ginny. "Hooch busted them yesterday in the closet. They're so screwed."

"Oh, Merlin. Poor Hermione," Ginny said at the same time at the same time Blaise began to make goofy faces at a clearly embarrassed Draco.

"Hah. He just flipped the bird at me." Blaise muttered, turning back to the front of the class. "What a dimwit."

Meanwhile, Hermione was nervous. Really nervous. Even Draco, who clearly wasn't a master at emotions, could tell. He wouldn't thought she would be okay with a detention here and there due to her friendship with Harry and Ron, hell, he thought she would've been used to them.

"Did Madame Hooch tell?" Hermione whispered furiously to Draco who shrugged nonchalantly. "How are you so calm?"

Draco almost burst out laughing at the sight of Hermione, who appeared to be on the verge of a breakdown, while he remained calm and collected. "Why are you so nervous?" he replied simply, adjusting his green and silver scarf around his neck.

"We could lose our badge," she said, almost hysterically, clutching her red and gold badge. "What is the Headmistress found out we we-were…" she paused, at a loss for words.

"Canoodling?" Draco finished, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well, yes." Hermione said and Draco opened his mouth to reply, but felt a sharp nudge at his side when he realised they were facing the gargoyle that stood at the entrance of the office.

"Caramel cobwebs," the Headmistress said firmly. It somehow warmed Hermione's heart to see that McGonagall had kept Dumbledore's tradition of making the password a sweet.

"Follow me," McGonagall said curtly and the two Head students followed the Headmistress up the spiral stone stairs. Draco was tempted to laugh at Hermione's distressed state, but when he saw how genuinely worried she was at losing her privilege as Head girl, he gave her a small smile. If he was any other guy, Hermione wouldn't have felt any better, but a smile from Draco Malfoy was rare and she blushed.

With a swish of her wand, McGonagall pulled two chairs out from her desk. "Have a seat Miss. Granger and Mr. Malfoy," she said with a small nod. Hermione bit her lip from spilling out a wave of apologies as she sat down timidly into the chair. However, her mouth got the best of her and she began to rapidly fire out an apology.

"Headmistress McGonagall, I am so, so sorry. I know you must be very disappointed in me for my behaviour. I assure you, I will not stray from my responsibilities as Head girl, however, if you find it fitting to strip me of my badge, then I will firmly respect your decision as Headmistress. Once again, I am so, so sorry and I will be on my best be-"

"Miss. Granger!" McGonagall snapped, and Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth before visibly relaxing her posture. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

"I thought Madam Hooch told you about-" A sharp elbow in her shoulder made her stop midway through her sentence and she turned to Draco discreetly placed his hand back in his lap.

"What would Madam Hooch tell me about?" the Headmistress asked, very much confused at Hermione's outburst. Hermione almost let out a loud sigh in relief, Madam Hooch hadn't told McGonagall.

"About Hermione's interest in doing quidditch training," Draco said smoothly, covering up Hermione's fumble. "She would like to improve her abilities on a broomstick."

"Well," McGonagall began. "Very irrelevant to what I was about to say, but I respect your decision to begin this extra training. I will speak to Madam Hooch about your lessons. On another subject I need to talk to both of you." Draco and Hermione shared an uneasy glance. "Miss Granger, may I speak to Mr. Malfoy first?" Hermione nodded and stood up nervously at McGonagall's grim expression.

When the quiet click of the door closing announced Hermione's departure, McGonagall stood up from her chair across from Draco and instead sat to one adjacent to him. Draco gulped at McGonagall's face. He recognised her expression. It matched his mother's every time his father would be mad, or when she had informed him of the death of his first pet, an owl. It was a look of dread. A deliverer of bad news. After experiencing plenty of bad news in his lifetime, he knew with confidence that nothing good every followed this look. It almost made him sick, the overwhelming amount of pity.

"Draco," McGonagall said softly, in the tone of a someone attempting to ease the blow of a curse before firing. "Your mother…" He took a sharp intake of air at the mention of his mother. "…passed away. In the morning. The Healers attempted to Rennervate her, but-"

"BLOODY HELL!" Draco yelled, slamming a fist down onto her desk, hard. Angry tears began to stream down his pale cheeks.

"Draco," McGonagall said sharply, with a slight pleading undertone. "Let me continue." Draco took a deep exhale, wiped his eyes and collapsed back into his chair.

"She died of a heart attack." McGonagall said slowly, carefully watching Draco's reaction, but apart from trickles of tear trailing down his cheeks, his expression was unreadable. "High blood pressure triggered by her strong depression." [A/N: Yes! You can die from sadness/'a broken heart'. I did research on it, although it is slightly Muggle-ish, but Wizards can get heart attacks too. They're still human. Just slightly, y'know, magical. Read the A/N at the end for more on this!]

"Why wasn't she taking her potion?" Draco demanded, his hand tightening firmly around his wand, on the verge of snapping it in two.

"She was," McGonagall said. "As devastating it might be, emotions with always overpower magic. We can't fix everything in this world."

Draco stood up from his chair, knocking it backwards. "Enough with all this emotion crap," he said, slamming the door as he exited the office. He was in such a hurry to leave, he didn't notice that he had ran straight past Hermione, who was standing behind the door.

"Draco, Draco wait-" she firmly held onto his arm as he quickly strode past. "Where are you going? What happened?" As he turned around, she was shocked to face his tear-stricken face. She loosened her iron grip into a tender hand onto his shoulder. He froze at her touch, and she could see him building an emotional barrier around himself. As he always had. When she realised they were still standing in front of McGonagall's door, she clasped his hand and pulled him down the stairs, and up into the astronomy tower. They climbed the long, spiralling path up the tower in silence, hand-in-hand.

Once they were finally alone, Hermione spun around so she was face-to-face with Draco. Her chocolate eyes bore intensely in him, yet he turned away. Silent tears spilling out of his grey eyes.

"Draco…" she said gently, relaxing her grip on his hand. "What happened?" This question snapped Draco out of his miserable trance and his quiet tears turned into painful, chest-wracking sobs. His legs crumpled from beneath him, yet he didn't fall. A pair of arms caught him as his legs gave way in despair and he looked up into a pair of warm, brown eyes.

"Come here," Hermione said, pulling him upwards firmly and wrapping her arms around him. He sobbed into her shoulder, tears staining her robes. Between sobs, she began to make out words.

"She-She's gone, Hermione," Draco said, gripping the back of her robes tightly.

"Who?" Hermione said, confused. At this question Draco looked up and pulled back slightly.

"My mother," he said and Hermione gasped. She had a million questions she wanted to ask him, but she knew she had to be there for him so she kept her mouth shut as she enveloped him in her arms. She wasn't sure how long they stood there, Draco's sobs resounding the tower and Hermione rubbing his back comfortably.

"I'm leaving Hogwarts for a bit," Draco said finally, wiping his eyes, and Hermione nodded. "I need to plan her funeral."

Hermione's heart hurt for Draco. He hadn't even graduated, yet he was still planning his mother's funeral.

"How long will you be gone?" she asked.

"A month," Draco said quietly. "I'm going to need some time alone. Away from here." Hermione understood his need to leave, but his words broke her heart.

"Draco, I l-" she stopped midway. Stop it Hermione! She told herself. His mother just died. I can't tell him. "I'll miss you. A lot."

"Me too, Hermione," he said and pulled her back into a tender embrace. "Me too."

"When are you leaving?" she asked.

"Tomorrow."

Tomorrow? Hermione thought. It was too soon.

"Can we skip lessons for the rest of the day?" she asked. "Spend the day together?"

"I wasn't planning going back to any lessons anyway," Draco said sourly, but nodded in response.

"Come with me," Hermione said, "To the lake." At Draco's questioning look, she continued speaking. "It's where I go where I want peace, or if I'm feeling down."

"The lake it is," he said, following Hermione down the spiralling staircase and out to the lake.

The sight of the lake was breathtaking. Crystal blue water stretched out towards towering mountains and the sun left a golden path straight down the centre. At the edges, a light, grey mist was present and in front of them were the very same wooden boats they had embarked on their first day at Hogwarts.

Hermione climbed into a boat, Draco close behind, and began to row them out towards the centre of the lake.

As they marvelled at the gorgeous scenery, Draco began to speak. "Thank you for this, Hermione," he said. "Thank you for being here for me. It means a lot."

"Always," Hermione said.

"Always a long time," Draco quipped and Hermione chuckled lightly.

"I'm willing to do that," she said and began to lean forward. "Draco, I-" She failed to finish her sentence as Draco closed the distance between them and kissed her. This kiss was different from the first. A sense of urgency was present as she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. Even though she knew he had to go, it was if she was trying to convince him to stay.

"I'll miss you," Hermione said, pulling away from him. Her sad expression broke Draco's heart and he pulled her into his lap, resting his head on top of hers.

"I wish you could've met my mother," Draco said.

"Me too, Draco." She reached out for his hand and stroked his fingers affectionately.

They stayed out at the lake together until lunchtime where they returned back to land to share a picnic together under the shade of a tree. Hermione savoured every moment with Draco. She knew she wasn't going to see him until Christmas and her heart panged at this thought. She would miss him dearly, but she knew she had to stay strong for him. She felt selfish for not wanting him to leave when he had to prepare his own mother's funeral, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

That night, before they retreated back into their own rooms, Hermione knew she had to say goodbye before she slept because he would be leaving early in the morning. She had given him a tender kiss that ended far too quickly when he pulled away from her.

"I will miss you, Hermione Granger," he said. A month had never seemed like long to him, but it soon would feel like forever. One twelfth of a year, or 30 days, suddenly felt far too long to be absent.

"Me too, Draco," she said sadly before he gave her a hug and turned away.

When the door to his room had shut behind him, tears spilt from Hermione's eyes. He hadn't even left, yet she already missed him.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter. I rushed it a tad towards the end so apologies if the ending isn't for you. Also on the note of heart break, I read an article on it because I wanted to be as accurate as possible. It is quite Muggle-ish to die of a heart attack, but yes, Wizards are humans. Just magical, I guess.

Here are a few quotes from the article explaining "taktsubo cardiomyopathy" or "heart-break syndrome".

""What that does is do things like increase your heart rate and blood pressure, makes your heart work faster, makes your blood sticky, ruins your immune system," Dr Stamp said."

"Dr Stamp said takotsubo is rare, usually affects post-menopausal women, and not everyone who suffers from it will die."

""For example, in the last few yearsdepression has come out as a standalone risk factor for heart disease," Dr Stamp said."

Article link:

. /news/2018-03-08/heartbreak-syndrome-and-takotsubo-are-real-for-heart-disease/952366

Word Count: 2283.