Chapter 12

Two weeks had passed since Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had set out to find Granger's parents. The only news she received was that they found the home they were now residing in, however, they were not inside and they had yet to reappear.

Granger had taken the news lightly at first, but as the days had gone on she was slow lost hope that her parents would be located.

Potter had sent letters every other day giving her updates and trying to instill hope in her that they would find them soon. After the first week, Ginny had to write Potter to tell him to stop with the letters, as Granger's face would light up upon receiving the letter and slowly die out as she read on.

Draco had tried to cheer her up, but it seemed as though Granger was slipping into the dark crevices of her mind, making it hard for any of them to reach her. She no longer smiled. She barely seemed to eat anything at mealtimes, unless Draco was practically spoon feeding her. She often stared into space during her classes, and because of this her grades were slipping. Everyone tried to help console her, but after an outburst towards Blaise everyone stepped back to give her space.

Draco knew that if he gave up on her, he would lose the Granger he knew entirely.

He was watching the door of the classroom as students piled into the room. When he saw Granger at breakfast she looked as though she had gotten dressed in the dark; her oxford was buttoned wrong, her hair hadn't been brushed and her skirt was on backwards. Ginny had fixed her up and after feeding her some oatmeal, walked her slowly to her first class. Without Ginny there to keep walking her from class to class, Draco was worried that Granger wouldn't make it to any of her other classes.

The door slammed shut behind Professor Flitwick as he ambled into the room.

"Alright, class, if you could all open to page 293 we will get started."

Draco jittered for about 10 minutes before he couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand, coming up with some lame excuse about a stomachache and was sent to the hospital wing.

Instead of heading to see Madam Pomphrey, however, he took the steps two at a time to Granger's dormitory.

The Gryffindor common room was relatively empty, save for the two second years whispering in the corner, when Draco burst through. Avoiding the startled looks on the younger students' faces, he made his way to the Head Girl's room.

After knocking three times and not getting a reply he decided to just open the door himself.

Keeping his eyes on the floor he slowly cracked the door, so as to not impede on her privacy. "Granger, are you in here? I'm coming in."

After a few seconds of no reply, he pushed the door open further and spotted a bundle of brown hair on the bed, facing away from him. At least she had made her way back to her room safely.

Stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him, Draco glanced around the room for the first time in a week. Clothing had accumulated around the room, along with books, quills and other assorted items; it was the worst he had even dreamed her room could look.

Side-stepping a pile of sweaters, he made his way around the edge of the bed. There she lay, blankly staring at the wall in front of her.

"Granger," he said softly as he sat on the edge of her bed. Her eyes remained locked on the bare wall. "Granger," he tried again, this time touching her shoulder lightly.

This time her eyes flickered over to his, with a slight glimmer of recognition.

"It's Draco," he reminded her. She responded with a slight nod of her head. "Darling, I know that this is really hard right now, but laying here a… a… shadow of yourself isn't going to help you at all."

Her eyes slowly slid away from him and back to the wall.

"Listen, Potter and Weasley are doing their absolute best to track down your parents. You know that they won't give up until they find them. They wouldn't do that to you. The best you can do is take care of yourself and trust them." Her eyes drifted back to him. "Now how's about you help me help you? Let's try sitting up for a bit, shall we?" She nodded again slightly. He took this as a good sign, as she hadn't responded to anyone in days.

He scooped his arm around her shoulders and gently rested her against the headboard. "There you are. I'm going to get the shower running, because no offense, you don't smell that great." Her lips turned up a hair on one side. Finally! he thought some life!

He pulled her onto her feet and half carried her into the bathroom. With one arm still around her shoulders, he pulled his wand out and flicked it toward the shower taps, turning them on. He set her down on the toilet as the water warmed up.

"Okay," he said with his hands on his hips. "I'll leave you to it and I'll start cleaning up that room of yours. Will you be alright?" Another slight nod of the head. "Okay, I'll be out here if you need me."

After closing the bathroom door behind him, he set to work cleaning up her room. He sent the piles of clothes to be cleaned and placed all the books back on her bookshelf. Feeling pleased with himself, he stepped back to admire the work he had done. It was hard to believe the mess someone could make in a few days time when they couldn't clean up after themselves.

Not that Draco blamed her at all for how she had been feeling. A month after his mother started having her episodes, he had gone into a deep depression as well. He blamed himself for not being able to take better care of his mother in her time of need. However, after a few sessions with a Healer, he came to the conclusion that none of it had been his fault and he was not to be blamed for the actions of others during a war.

He looked at his watch and realized that Granger had been in the bathroom for a little over a half hour.

He knocked on the door and called out to her with no reply. After attempting two more times he decided to head in to make sure she was fine, naked or not.

"Granger?" he asked walking into the steamy bathroom. From where he was looking he could see that she was no longer on the toilet where he had left her. After a quick glance around the room, he noticed no discarded clothes either. Turning slowly to the shower, he saw why.

Granger was curled up on the floor of the shower, fully clothed, her arms wrapped around her knees and her body shaking.

Ignoring his subconscious yelling at him about getting his clothes wet, Draco joined her fully clothed under the spray of the water. He had planned to just collect her and turn off the water, but when Granger turned toward him and he saw the grief written clearly on her face, he couldn't help but gather her up in his arms.

Once his arms were around her, she buried her face in his chest, a sob escaping her lips. His heart broke for her.

"Oh, baby, I know," he whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry." He placed his hand to the back of her head as she continued to sob into him.

"What if they can't find them?" she sputtered out.

"They will. Don't worry, Hermione. They will."

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, huddled under the spray of the shower. It was only once the water started to turn cold did Draco finally turn off the water.

Placing his arm under her knees, he hoisted her into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom. He sat her gently on the wooden chair next to her desk and muttered some spells to dry her hair. Once he was satisfied, he opened her dresser and pulled out some clean pajamas. He placed the small pile on her knee and squatted down to reach her eye level.

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted it slightly so her eyes would meet his. "I'm going to be right back. You change into these clothes and I'll be right back. Okay? Can you do that, love?"

She nodded her head with a bit more vigor than she had earlier.

"Okay. Right back."

He placed a kiss on her forehead and headed out into the common room.

"Oi, Malfoy," he heard a voice call out.

He glanced up to see Ginny Weasley lounging on one of the sofas in front of the fire.

"Hey is she alright? You both missed dinner," Ginny said, laying down her book and sitting up.

Had that much time really passed? How long had they been in the shower that he had missed his last class and dinner?

"She's in pretty rough shape honestly," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was going to get changed and grab us some food. Keep an eye on her while I'm gone, will you?"

Ginny nodded and headed to Granger's room.

….

After a quick warming spell, a change of clothes and a trip to the kitchens, Draco was on his way back to Granger's room. He had taken more time than he had hoped he would, but he was glad that Ginny was there to keep an eye on Granger.

He had just stepped through the portrait hole as Ginny was heading to step out of it.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. "She's fine. I just left her room. She's in bed reading. It's the most normal I've seen her in days. I figured you would be back soon, I've got a study group in the library in 10 minutes."

Draco blew out a breath of relief. "Thanks, Ginny."

"Of course. She's like a sister to me," she waved her hand as if to say it was no big deal. "I just hope they find her parents. And not their bodies," she added quietly.

Draco nodded his agreement. "Me too. It would destroy her."

"Okay I'm going to be late. Let me know if you need me." She slipped through the portrait before he could reply.

Upon entering Granger's room, a smile crept onto his face as he saw her sitting up in bed reading Hogwarts: A History. She turned toward him when he clicked the door shut.

"Hey there," he said softly as he made his way to her.

"Hi," she replied just as softly.

He sat on the edge of the bed and set the plate he was holding onto her nightstand.

"I brought us some dinner. We missed it, but the house elves were more than happy to make us some sandwiches," he said placing his own plate in his lap.

"Good," she said with a small smile. "I'm a little hungry."

After eating their sandwiches and chips, the two were huddled under the blankets together. Granger had her head on his shoulder, as Draco read aloud from the book in his hands. About halfway through the book he noticed that her breathing had slowed, telling him that she had finally fallen asleep.

He reached over her to set the book on the nightstand and turn out the light. He was just about to climb out of the bed when Granger wove her arm around his waist and squeezed.

"Will you stay?" she breathed.

He glanced down and caught the moonlight glinting off her wide brown orbs.

"Of course, love."

She sighed in relief as he settled into the pillows and wove his own arm around her, holding her close.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving you," he whispered into her hair as he too began to drift off.

…

The next morning at breakfast, Headmistress McGonagall waved a hand to quiet the masses.

"I have some exciting news, students. This year, as a reward of all the hard work you all have done, we will be changing things up this year. Instead of the usual two weeks for the Christmas holidays, we are allowing you a full month for the festivities!"

The four tables erupted with applause and cheers. The year before had been a rough one for the students who had still attended school under Professor Snape's rule, so many students were stressed over the continuation of their education.

Draco and Ginny shared a look across the table at the news. While they were looking forward to seeing their own families, they were worried what the long break would mean for Granger.

After breakfast ended, the school dispersed to begin preparations for their upcoming holidays. Draco and Ginny stayed back, however, to discuss their concerns with Granger. While she seemed to perk up after her evening with Draco, she was still not entirely herself.

"She'll be coming home with me and with the holiday coming up, I'm sure Harry and Ron will be home soon too," Ginny threw out there quickly.

"Good. Hopefully they'll come back with some news," Draco said. "She did cheer up a bit, but only with some guidance from me. Just keep a good eye on her."

Ginny nodded as she gathered up her bag. "Yes, yes of course. I'll owl you if anything comes up."

…..

The next day the carriages were loaded up to take the students to Hogsmeade station for the month long holiday. The younger students had to travel by train, but the students of age were allowed to Apparate home once they made it out of school bounds.

Most of the carriages had been destroyed in the battle the previous year, so the students had to go in waves to the village; Ginny and Granger had left hours before he had. Ginny was anxious to get back home and Granger just followed blindly. Their goodbye hadn't been anything dramatic, just a quick hug and promises to write when they could. Draco was sure that the Weasleys would keep her busy enough that she wouldn't write as often as she promised.

Draco barely paid attention to the ramblings of Blaise, who was excited to take a beach holiday with his mother, as they did every year. Draco, who was also looking forward to seeing his mother, was nervous about Granger. He knew she was in good hands with Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys back at the Burrow, but he wished he could keep an eye on her himself.

It was only a month. They would be back here in a month.

In what seemed like minutes, the carriage came to a stop and Blaise was hopping out.

"Tell your mother I said hello, Draco." Blaise grabbed his bag and waved to Draco. "Happy Christmas, my friend."

"Yes, you too," he mumbled before they both Disapparated.

…..

The first two days home had been pleasant enough. Since he was home to keep an eye on his mother, Andromeda was able to return home for longer periods of time. She still, however, returned every night for dinner, along with her grandson Teddy.

Draco had spent the majority of his first day back with his mother, who was increasingly more lucid these days. The Healer seemed to really be helping her mental health, and even turned out to be somewhat cheerful company. Draco was happy to know that his mother was in good hands so he didn't need to constantly be worrying while at Hogwarts.

His second day was spent mostly in his room reading by the fire, although he was having a hard time concentrating as his mind kept drifting to a certain brunette. After reading the same sentence five times, he threw the book off to the side. He groaned in frustration and ran his hands down his face.

She was fine. If she wasn't fine, Ginny would have written.

He glanced at his watch and groaned again. His mother had wanted him to join her for lunch in the conservatory and it was ten minutes to noon.

He was just about to head off to join his mother for lunch when there was a tiny knocking on his window. A tiny brown owl flitted into the room, dropped a letter by his shoe and flew back out of the window.

Recognizing the handwriting on the outside of the letter, he smiled and peeled the letter open. There were only two words written, but he understood.

They're back.

a/n: so sorry to leave on such a cliff hanger, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter entirely from Draco's point of view. :) I'm loving all of your comments, please keep them coming!