Chapter X

Hermione pulled her head from her pillow, wiping her tear-stricken eyes with the back of her hand. She rolled to her back, her fuzzy eyes focusing on the ceiling. She let her head roll to the side, her eyes now looking onto the snow laced grounds. Like Harry, the snow did nothing to raise her mood; it only reminded her of snowball fights and snow angels. The morning sun glistened off the white blanket. She peaked out of her half-open bed curtains to check the room. All the other curtains were open and no one was there. She sighed and rolled back into bed.

She closed her eyes and let her mind wander. She could hear herself breathing, could feel her heart beating. Her mother's voice echoed in her blank mind. Hermione darling, life has to move on. I lost my sister at your age. I understand your pain, but you can't sulk for the rest of your life… She cut her off. Another sprinkle of tears escaped her eyes; she didn't bother to wipe them away.

Three weeks of sitting on her bed, thinking of every moment, every joke, every day she had shared with Ron had reduced Hermione to little more than alive. Her cheeks were raw from wiping away the tears, her eyes puffy from the fallen drops. Her nose red from wiping, her lips dry and cracked from licking. Shaking hands fell to her sides, her waist getting thinner by the days. Lavender had brought her food a few days past, but it had been almost three since. She knew her legs would barely support her, she hadn't stood for weeks. Her bushy brown hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck, its curls flattened by sleep and sorrow.

The thought of her condition made her realize what she had become; it made her situation finally real. Pulling herself to sitting position, she let her bare feet dangle over the bed; her toes barely touched the cold stone floor. She pushed her weight onto her feet and wobbled, grabbing for a post of her bed to steady her. There on her dresser lay her wand. Feeling steady, she let go of the pole. She slowly moved towards the bureau, her feet jerkily stepping one in front of the other. When she felt the wood touch her palm, she picked it up. A mirror caught her face in its reflection, confirming her situation farther. Her decision was final.

Slipping from the bed, Harry dressed in silence. Draco moaned and did the same on the other side. When they were fully clothed, Draco broke the silence. He found Harry's lips once again and they shared a lingering kiss.

"Why do you have to go," he asked.

"You're not the only one in my life," Harry whispered back, looking to the floor.

Draco pushed his chin up to lock eyes with the blinding green.

"And I will never try to be."

They kissed once again before Harry wrapped himself in the cloak and left for the common room. Draco watched the door open and close before snickering. I'll give you an A on that exam, Mr. Potter.

With luck, Neville was entering at the time he arrived at the Fat Lady. Harry slipped into the common room unseen. He placed one foot on the stairs to his dormitory when the first sounds of a scream met his ears; he knew who it belonged to before it formed. Dropping the cloak at the foot of the stairs he sprinted up the girls' stairs, trying to outrun the defence mechanism. The scream intensified, silencing the whole common room. The stairs sensed his presence just as he was in distance of the top. Throwing his body forward, he grasped the top of the landing. With his new found strength, he pulled himself onto the girls landing. The scream still graced his ears; he took no time to recover. He ran towards it, bursting through the door where it's heart lie.

A flash of light blinded Harry for vital seconds. When the room was back to normal lighting, a crumpled figure lay at the foot of her bed. Harry's eyes widened in shock as he ran towards her and fell to her side. He took the bushy brown hair in his lap and shook her.

"Wake up Hermione," he said, stern and forceful. "You can't leave me!"

He looked around the room for anything indicating life; his eyes lingered on the wand limply held in her hand. Harry wiped the tears of pain from her raw cheeks and took her wilted body in his.

"Not again," he whispered. "Please no…"

He closed his eyes, letting the first tears of the day fall into her hair.

Shuffling feet met his ears and a gasp identified Professor McGonagall.

"H-Harry…it c-can't be…"

He didn't respond, for he couldn't believe it either. He sat there, rocking back and forth with Hermione's body in his arms, the tears identifying the tragedy. McGonagall's presence could be felt on the other side of the lost. Harry heard her breath shorten, tears surely falling from her eyes. She took one of Hermione's hands in her's. Many feet, pattering along the halls, stopped in front of the door, high pitched gasps and screams followed by shocked tears identified the students. None of them entered the room. In a moment of sickening silence, the morning sun was blocked from the sky.

Good-bye.

Another wave of sadness and mourning washed over the school. Classes were cancelled and many students went home early for holiday break. Harry, of course, stayed as well as his roommates, Neville and Dean. Seamus, as well as the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team stayed as well. Hermione's roommates, Lavender and Parvati Patil left later on in the week. Few Slytherins graced the halls; however Draco was one of them.

Everyone in Gryffindor house knew Ron but everyone in Hogwarts knew Hermione. The effect of her death was three times greater than Ron's. Harry felt the sadness in every corner; the air thick with decease. It pained him to walk through the halls knowing he had once been joined by the fallen. He passed old haunts and classrooms once filled with learning and laughter, now empty with loss. It was as if he was dead himself for he felt nothing. He was simply numb to the pain. No tears fell from his weary eyes; no whimpers of sadness fell from his lips. He merely walked with his hands in his pockets, eyes to the floor.

Draco lounged around the empty common room, moving from couch to couch. His fingers and toes tapped to an inner nervousness he had acquired since the mudblood's death. His breath caught every time the door swung open. He feared he was taking to long. Tonight.

Harry managed to sit at the Gryffindor table and eat dinner that night. As unusual as it seemed, the whole Great Hall was silent. The teachers ate in silent solitude; the death's affecting them as well. Harry looked across the room, the Ravenclaw table almost completely empty, only two young third years and a seventh year ate tonight. The Hufflepuff table was slightly fuller; Justin Finch-Fletchley and a few other sixth years ate in silence as well as a few unknowing first years. At the far end, the Slytherin table was the sparsest of all. Draco sat at the head, as always, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Harry was joined by the Quidditch team and Neville tonight. Dean and Seamus hadn't arrived.

Draco kept flicking his eyes Harry's way, hoping to make contact. When he scanned the Slytherin table, their eyes met, a silent understanding made. Harry finished his meagre plate and left the Great Hall, all eyes following his withered figure.

Finding the Room of Necessity with ease, Harry slipped in and sat on the bed. He kicked off his shoes and curled into a ball, laying his head on one of the many pillows. His mind was left to wonder through times of laughter, fear, strength, and weakness. At the end of memory lane, Harry realized just how alone he was, and how vulnerable that made him.

Draco arrived later on in the night, as their eye-lock had assumed.

"Sorry," he began. "It took forever to find the place."

Harry responded with silence.

Draco moved towards Harry's side of the bed and knelt in front of him. He took his hand and pulled him to sitting. Harry reluctantly looked into his eyes and was shocked to see fear…but then it was gone. Draco kissed his hand and Harry fell to the floor in front if him, his face buried in the Slytherin's chest. Draco ran firm fingers through the messy raven hair like so many times before. Down around his neck his fingers traveled, Harry's head still on his chest.

"Let me be your cloak," he whispered, unbuttoning his robes.

Harry didn't object them falling to the floor, he kept his eyes closed. Draco tossed the shed item far from the pair, when the bundle hit the floor the tip of Harry's wand peaked out of a crease. He was halfway there.

Draco lifted Harry's chin to look into his eyes but he didn't bite, his green flames stayed focused at the ground. He simply leaned further into Draco's unwavering frame. He let his hands wander to Harry's back, a few fingers slipped up his shirt. Harry winced at the chill of the blonde's skin on his.

"Good bye Harry," Draco whispered in his ear.

The Slytherin turned Harry so that his back was against his chest, his arm flung around the Gryffindor's neck. Harry clawed for the arm cutting off his air supply coming in contact with a thin piece of string tied around the wrist of his strangler. Instantly he felt the tug around his navel.