Hermione woke on the 2nd on January feeling happy and excited that she would be seeing Draco, finally, after more than a week apart. She was a little nervous that she hadn't heard from him the previous day but had brushed it off as nothing.

As she wiped the sleep from her eyes and sat up, she immediately retrieved the communications parchment from her bedside and looked over the words that had appeared. At first, she was excited to see that he had finally written to her, but when she read the words, her concern grew.

D- I'm sorry Granger.

She reached for her wand and immediately wrote a message back.

H- What are you sorry about?

As she tapped the parchment with her wand to send the message, the words remained unsent. She tapped it again and again but each time, it failed. She was certain there had been no time limit on the spell she had cast on the two pieces of parchment and the only conclusion she could draw was that something had happened to his piece.

She sat on her bed, trying to figure out what would be the best course of action, but couldn't think straight. A hundred thoughts ran through her mind and she was overcome with concern for her boyfriend.

She dressed quickly and headed down to catch the end of breakfast. She hadn't realised she had slept in. The small group of people in the hall didn't seem too concerned at her flustered appearance. She forced down some toast and eggs while everyone stood to leave and managed to catch McGonagall before she left.

"Professor!" she called, as McGonagall exited the hall.

"Miss Granger?"

"I think something has happened to Draco" she said hurriedly.

"What makes you think that, Miss Granger?"

Hermione briefly explained the situation to McGonagall, including the issue with the parchment.

"Do you have your piece?" McGonagall asked.

Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out her parchment, handing it to McGonagall. The headmaster took the parchment in her hand and waved her wand over it a couple of times. Hermione watched on with intrigue as the professor frowned.

"It seemed, miss Granger, that the other half of this parchment has been destroyed" professor McGonagall said.

Hermione took the parchment from her and stood in stunned silence.

"Now miss Granger, there is no reason to think that Mr Malfoy has come to harm, we will await his return via the Hogwarts express later today" she said, before walking off towards her office.

Hermione stood in the entry hall in stunned silence. She had a million thoughts running through her head all at once and couldn't figure out how to make it stop. The last time Draco had sent her a message was two days ago when he told her he missed her and was expressing to her how grateful he was that she had come into his life.

She attempted to figure out why his piece of the parchment would be destroyed and could come up with no logical explanation that included Draco's safety. She ran through the names of the death eaters that were still at large, in her mind and wondered if any of them would think to attempt to get in contact with Draco and his mother. They were now traitors, after all.

Another though, almost as unwelcome as the previous one came to the forefront of Hermione's mind. What if this is his way of breaking it off? She thought. Perhaps she had come on too strong, been too possessive, too clingy, too overbearing? They had spent so much time together at school, what if he was sick of her? What if he went home and realised he really didn't stop believing the pure blood ways as much as he thought he had?

She was still standing in the entrance hall when the post owls arrived in the great hall adjacent. She was captivated by a midnight black owl and thought for a moment it might hve been Harry's owl, however, when it came closer and headed towards where Hermione was visible throught the great double doors, she realised it wasn't an owl at all, but a Raven.

She shuddered as she realised who owned Ravens for post deliveries.

The Raven landed on Hermione's outstretched hand and held up a leg that contained a small folded piece of parchment. She took it and the bird flew off immediately.

As she unfolded the parchment, she recognised Draco's neat, slanted handwriting.

Dear Hermione,
I feel as though I owe you some explanation, however I feel that nothing I say will make you understand. I was not going to communicate with you further, but I cannot deny the feelings that we shared between us. What I felt for you was, at the time, very real and I apologise for making you fall for me, when I had no expectation that we could continue. I was foolish to think that we could exist as we have, beyond the walls and bubble of the castle. There is no possible way that people like us can make it work and I am regretful, to say the least, that it has come to this. I will not be returning to Hogwarts.
I do value the gift of happiness that you allowed me to experience for just a short time and hope that you are able to move forward and be happy in your endeavours.
Best, Draco Malfoy

Upon reading the letter three times over, Hermione could almost feel her heart break in two. She had been so confident in their relationship and expected that they would be together forever, as he had promised, less than two weeks prior. As tears began to fall from her eyes, she felt her knees grow weak and allowed herself to succumb to the panic that was beginning to rise from some deep unknown place. She fell to the floor quite ungracefully and wept in a ball into the cold stone floor.

"Do you think she will be ok?"

"Yes, I think so. She is in shock I suspect"

"I have never seen her like this"

"Did you read the letter?"

"It was quite formal, wasn't it?"

"Not what I have come to know of him, that's for sure"

"Unless he was playing everyone all this whole time?"

"Surely not?"

"People do strange things to survive, maybe he was looking for the best person to use to his advantage?"

"Harry, there's no way. I've been hanging out with him for weeks now. He seemed so genuine"

"This is Malfoy we're talking about. What if he's just the same as he always was? What if it was all a ploy to hurt Hermione? It has certainly worked, hasn't it?"

Hermione listened to the voices of Neville and Harry talking about her, about Draco, but couldn't force herself to open her eyes. She didn't know where she was or how long she had been out for. The horrible pain in her chest was still so raw and she felt as though a huge hold had opened up in the place where he heart must have smashed into a million pieces.

She sensed, more than heard a third person, but couldn't figure out who it was. She dared not open her eyes, for fear that there would be many questions and theories flying around. The way the third person breathed, annoyingly deeply and loud made her realise that it was Ron who had come to sit by her bedside. At that, she forced her mind to shut down and drifted off into dreams.

She stood in the main hall of Malfoy Manor. This time, she was not being chased or tortured, she was not hunting Horcruxes and most importantly of all, Harry and Ron were not here to save her. She was all alone. She called for Draco, but he didn't come. No one came. The room was so silent and she could neither hear nor sense another person around her. She walked towards where she thought the door might have been but the more she walked, the larger the room became. She tried running, but the walls seemed to move with her, growing further and further away. She called for Draco again and again, hoping that he would come for her, but the voice she heard was not Draco's, it was Ron's.

"Hermione… Hermione, wake up. Hermione you're dreaming" came the voice.

She was pulled out of the dream and rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the bright lights of the room.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in St Mungos" came the voice of Harry.

She tried to sit up, but found that her body was rather weak. Looking around the room, she saw cards and flowers that appeared as though they have been there for days.

"How long have I been here?" she asked, looking to Harry and attempting to avoid Ron's gaze.

"Um…" Harry began, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You've been here for two weeks, Hermione" said Ron.

At this, she sat up and looked around the room, looking for any sign that Draco might have been.

"What happened to me?" she asked.

"I'll go get the nurse" said Ron.

"What's the matter?" asked Hermione.

"Well Hermione, no one really knows. You sort of just collapsed and you were found on the floor of the entrance hall in the castle" Harry told her.

"And I've been, what, asleep? For two weeks?" she asked.

"Well, no one really knows" said Harry, reaching into the drawer beside her hospital bed. "You were holding this" said Harry, handing her the letter from Draco.

"Oh…" was all she could say, as she remembered the contents of the letter. She was beginning to feel slightly embarrassed at being the girl to have a breakdown because of a boy. "I… uh…" she stuttered.

"Its ok Hermione…" Harry said, comforting her. She still felt as though there was a huge hole in her chest and briefly compared herself to the character in the book she and Draco had been reading.

"Has anyone told… I mean, has anybody been in contact with…." She couldn't even say his name out loud.

"I tried to contact him, but he has gone on the run with his mother" Harry said. "Its now a matter for the Auror office" he said.

"Dark wizard catchers? But he's not a dark wizard!" Hermione protested.

"Well, according to the ministry, he is supposed to be on school detention because of his association with dark wizards. He didn't go back, so he is now a risk" Harry said. Hermione thought he sounded different. More of an authoritarian than ever before.

"What happens to him when you catch him?" Hermione asked.

"Well, he went to Hogwarts to avoid Azkaban, so I guess he will end up there" Harry said.

Hermione felt her eyes well up with tears. She couldn't imagine the Draco she had come to know and love rotting away in Azkaban with the people who had actually killed people for fun.

"He hasn't done anything wrong, Harry", she whispered, trying to avoid the tears that were threatening to spill over.

"I know that Hermione, but he wouldn't go on the run for nothing" Harry said.

At this, Ron returned with the nurse, who shooed the boys out of the room before performing some complex wand work over her body.

"Seems like your physically fine" said the nurse. "Except…"

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"You're pregnant"

AN- WHAAT?!