For the next few days, Hermione seemed unable to look at Draco or meet his eyes. He didn't seem to have noticed, since they didn't speak to each other much, anyway. Which was a good thing. Hermione was afraid that if she so much as turned in his direction, he would figure out that she knew.
After the incident at the bathroom, Hermione had been unable to think of anything else. That is, whenever she wasn't studying, or working on assignments.
It made her wonder how many of the other Eighth Years had a similar secret or even a dark past. In fact, she found herself wondering that about every Slytherin she met.
How many of them lived with secrets and lies underneath a mask of pride? How many who put on the veneer of bravery or malice but struggled with deep insecurities inside?
Curiously, it also made her think of the reverse.
Were there Gryffindors who put on a face of civility, but were really rotten underneath it? Vaguely, the image of Peter Pettigrew took shape in her mind.
Of course.
You can never really tell with people. Perhaps, everyone had light and dark inside them. What was it that Sirius had said?
We all have light and dark inside us. It depends on which side we choose to act upon.
Maybe there were also moments when there was no choice.
She had her own demons to deal with. Sometimes, she had nightmares about losing her parents in a crowded city. She would try to call out to them, but no words would come out of her mouth. And sometimes she would shout and they would turn around to look at her, but wouldn't recognise her.
She had decided to wait till she completed her Eighth Year before she went looking for her parents. Kingsley had offered to help her. But she had declined politely. Finding her parents was as much about doing a bit of soul searching as it was about bringing them home.
Other times, it was the night at the Manor. The hateful, fearful cackling of a witch as she carved words into her arm. And of being in inexplicable pain as she writhed on the cold hard floor.
But these were nothing compared to what she had witnessed.
Hermione briefly wondered what kind of nightmare triggered Malfoy's break down.