A/N: Hello everyone! First off, I am so so sorry but my story(and my drabbles) are going to be left in storage for a really long time due to the exam of my life looming up soon. Just another quick chappie dashed off in a mad hurry! Sorry ya'll!
This chapter is dedicated to The-edge-of-reason simply for being the best reviewer EVER! Everytime you leave me a comment you just make my day so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! God bless you!
OK I'm going to shut up now. ^^ RnR!
I do not own any of J.K Rowling's work or any of the songs used below.
Hermione all but ran through the corridor as she looked for Draco. She couldn't tell why she was concerned but she was. Others looked at him and saw a former Death Eater but when she looked at him she didn't see all that. She saw a tousle-haired boy flushing as he asked for help with his Transfiguration. A twinkling-eyed boy with a mischievous smirk as he playfully flirted with her in Music class. That was the boy she was concerned for.
She caught a glimpse of pale gold and halted in her tracks. He was sitting on a broad window sill hugging his knees, glaring stormily out at the lake.
"Malfoy."
She reached out as if to touch his shoulder and jumped as he spun around and grabbed her wrist with surprisingly strong, slender fingers.
"I don't need your pity Granger." he snarled.
"Malfoy, I-"
"Do you ever shut up Granger? There's nothing you can say alright? I don't want to hear what you have to say! Just go away Granger."
She stood there, refusing to walk away.
"Why are you still here Granger? Piss. Off."
He yanked up his sleeve and thrust the Dark Mark into her face and smiled a horrible mirthless smile.
"You see this? This is who I am, who they think me to be. I'm a monster. A Death Eater."
"Draco."
The sound of his first name on her lips startled him. The bitter anger in his eyes faded a little as he looked up at her.
Her eyes were clear and she didn't flinch away from his Mark. There was no pity written on her face nor was there dislike or disgust.
"You're not a monster. You're not a Death Eater. You're not a coward. You're not filth. You're not a snake. You're Draco."
He looked at her, speechless. She stared steadily back at him, her eyes very soft, her tone firm.
"Why?" he asked at last. It was a vague question but Hermione understood. She smiled at him.
"Because I've seen a new side to you. I won't deny you were a complete arse in the past. But I sincerely believe you've turned over a new leaf. I- I want to be friends with you Draco."
He stared at her in silence. To her surprise, she really meant that. She wanted to be friends with him. Her instincts told her there was an amazing, vulnerable person desperately in need of a friend beneath that evil, hateful mask he put on.
His eyes softened and, to her astonishment, shone with tears. He let go of her wrist and turned back to the window.
She tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Everyone needs someone Draco."
He didn't turn around but she glimpsed the lone tear rolling down his hollow cheek. He had never known the touch of a friend, someone who actually cared enough to want to be there simply because he was hurting. His heart gave an almost painful throb of emotion. His bracelet began to glow brightly on his wrist as his lips finally parted to reveal a little of the pain he carried inside.
D: I try to make a sound but no one hears me
I'm slipping off the edge
I'm hanging by a thread
I wanna start this over again
So I try to hold
On to a time when
Nothing mattered
And I can't explain
What happened and I can't erase the things that I've done
No I can't
How could this happen to me
I've made my mistakes
Got nowhere to run
The night goes on as I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me
I've made my mistakes
Got nowhere to run
The night goes on as I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me
His voice echoed in the empty corridor as he trailed off, a little of his hurt spilling out into the world through a song he didn't know as it flowed effortlessly over his lips.
"I'm a terrible person Granger."
His voice was soft and the only sign of emotion was a slight break at the end.
He was softer looking now, no longer tensed as if anticipating a fight. Something had broken deep down inside him long ago and she sensed that the letters were nothing but the final straw that had led to the breakdown that had been building up all this while. And yet… somehow… it was that very pain that showed her there was still hope for him.
She looked at him and saw the boy he had been and the man he could become and her heart warmed to him. She gently squeezed his shoulder in mute sympathy. Hesitatingly, he placed his hand over hers and held it there, as if she was anchoring him in a storm.
Her bracelet began to shine as she looked down at Draco Malfoy, her friend.
H: You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged
Oh, I realize
It's hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And darkness still inside you
Make you feel so small
But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
Here the light from her bracelet dimmed a little and, though she knew the words of the song she felt herself neatly jump a line-she couldn't sing something that wasn't completely true to him-the bracelets' magic apparently prevented it.
H: So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors,
True colors, are beautiful,
Like a rainbow.
Draco didn't seem to notice the missing line. Shocked, Hermione realized that he was crying, his shoulders heaving as his tears flowed.
He stood up in a swift elegant motion and pulled her into his arms.
She rubbed his back gently as he cried on her shoulder, sobbing as if his heart had broken.
After a minute he managed to choke out a single line, muffled by the soft material of her cloak:
"Thank you-Hermione."