A/N: I didn't know in which direction I wanted to take this chapter, but hopefully it turned out okay. I'm quite pleased with the ending but I would love to hear your thoughts about it!

Many thanks to my beta Vicxie22! You're wonderful!

Emotionless

Hermione sat on her balcony with a blanket wrapped around her and watched the sun go down later that day. She had mostly slept after Malfoy had helped her back to her room after that disastrous surf-incident earlier that morning. Nearly drowning really took it out of you. She felt completely drained and had barley even had the power to move herself out to the balcony, but she had drawn the conclusion that the fresh air would do her good.

The horizon was supporting a deep orange colour as the sun slowly worked its way down behind some clouds far away. But not even the beautiful sight before her could lift her dim mood.

She didn't understand how she could have been so stupid. Attempting to surf when she knew she couldn't and in a bloody toga. What's wrong with her? Risking her life jut to prove a point. What if she really had died? She had survived all those tasks with Harry and Ron over the years. She had survived death threats. She had survived the war. And then she almost died while attempting to surf.

She shook her head slowly. Stupid. Stupid. Complete and utterly stupid. What if Malfoy hadn't been able to save her? What if he had been too late? What if he had chosen to not save her at all? Why did he save her?

A knock on the door put an end to her never ending questions. Not even considering rising and answering the door by hand, she just waived her wand over her shoulder to open the door and shouted a distant "come in". Not really caring who's entering.

The footsteps came closer until they stopped right behind her in the balcony's doorway. Still she didn't turn around. She wasn't curious to find out who it was, like she probably would have during normal circumstances, she couldn't care less actually.

"How are you feeling?" The low and deep voice belonged to Malfoy. So he was her visitor. Huh. She didn't know how to feel about that.

"Fine" she answered in monotone.

"Really now? Because you don't look fine."

It was only now she turned around in her chair to face him as he leaned against the doorframe. "I said I'm fine" she firmly repeated.

"Then why don't I believe you?"

She turned back to the horizon, ignoring his question and instead voiced a question of her own. "Why are you here?"

ooooo

That was indeed a valid question. Why was he there? Draco wasn't quite sure. Something had gnawed him all day, ever since he left her room at noon. The gnawing had continued to increase all afternoon and had eventually become unbearable. He wanted to make sure that she was okay. He presumed that it was guilt that made him feel this way but wasn't quite sure. It wasn't a very common feeling for him.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You have stated you question and received an answer, now what are you still doing here?"

Ouch. That's cold. It was not that the question contained harsh and degrading words that her replies usually held. No. It was the emptiness in her voice that made the question ice-cold.

"I'm here to keep you company." He answered as he took a seat in the garden chair next to her.

"And why is that?" She snorted, a bit of her old self make an appearance in the otherwise emotionless speech she now supports.

" Because I feel like it's my fault. And I don't like it."

"Well it was partly you fault, and no one likes feeling guilty Malfoy."

Hmm. So it was guilt then. Interesting. "I suppose not."

After this, an awkward silence felled into place. Both of them didn't seem to know what to say, at least Draco didn't.

They watch the sun set deeper and how it turn the sky and the steel gray storm clouds into a crimson colour.

"It's beautiful." She said softly after about fifteen minutes of silence.

It really was a magnificent sight but he didn't know how to express that without sounding soft. He was a man, God damn it! "Yeah." Was the only thing that came out. It was quiet for another minute or so before they heard a distant thunder. "But it looks like it's going to rain. Those clouds are moving quite fast in our direction." He continued indication to the roaming steel gray clouds.

"Probably."

They sat there for another fifteen minutes until they could fell the first raindrops against their faces.

"We should probably go inside" he said as he stood up, knowing how fast storms erupted in these regions.

He reached her a hand to help her up which she took absently before he led her to one of the sofas. It was quite creepy to see Granger like this. She was usually so full of life. It didn't matter whether she was happy or angry, she didn't express any emotion half-heartedly.

And it was his fault. Not entirely his fault, it was she who had lied about the not-being-able-to-surf part, but his fault nonetheless. He felt the urge to help her, to soothe her but he didn't know how. Sure he had plenty of experience with women, but not in this area. How did you help a woman who seemed emotionless?

It was then he heard the first sob.

He glanced over to her and saw her eyes shiny with tears. It reminded him of his mother after father had got his sentence to Azkaban. It was the only time he had seen his mother shed tears in public. Without thinking about it he did exactly what he had done back then. He sat down close to her and slowly slid his arms around her now shaking body, letting her rest her head on his chest. It was such an uncharacteristic action for a Malfoy, but he didn't care.

He hugged her tight. Not intending to let her go before she had fallen asleep.