A/N: Alright, so this chapter is a little shorter than the last, but if I had to extend it, things wouldn't have made sense! Please enjoy

-----------------------------------------------------MOANING MYRTLE-------------------------------------------------------

The Christmas holidays spun by in a blur, and before the Hogwarts students knew it, school had commenced. The professors were piling on the work, giving the students stacks of essays, revision exercises, new spells and new potions ... everything. Countless students were stressed about the final exams coming up in five months.

One student in particular was especially stressed...

Hermione sat in a secluded spot in the library, biting the end of her quill, lost in thought. Which direction should she take to the six-foot essay Slughorn had so kindly given them? Should she start with a dramatic introduction, or should she just keep it straight to the point? She narrowed her eyes as she considered her options. Finally coming to a decision, she chose the second option, and began to write at lightning speed, tapping her foot on the carpet as she went along.

What felt like ten minutes later, Madam Pince announced, "Five minutes until the library closes. Five minutes."

Hermione's head shot up. Five minutes? She glanced at her watch. Where had the time gone? Her essay was almost done, just 2 feet more to complete. Hermione heaved a deep sigh – looks like she'd have to finish it off in her room. She gathered her things together, almost dropping her open bottle of ink – shoved everything into her bag, and walked out of the library, waving a hearty goodbye to Madam Pince.

She decided to take a different route. It was when she was walking down a corridor that she heard quiet sobs. She spun her head around, trying to find out where the soft weeping was coming from. When she thought she had it, she walked towards the source, hesitantly. She came to an abrupt stop when she found herself outside Moaning Myrtle's out-of-order bathroom. Hermione heaved a deep sigh. What could Myrtle be crying about now? She bordered on leaving Myrtle undisturbed and carrying on to the Head Tower, but something in her urged her to find out.

She pushed open the door gently – Myrtle didn't like arbitrary, unannounced interruptions. Hermione stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her softly. Hermione paused in mid-step as she recognized the figure hunched over the basin, his shoulders shaking as if he were crying. Hermione's eyes widened as she realized that he was crying. Her heart began to speed up as she wondered what tragedy had befallen upon the tall, platinum blonde-haired boy.

She decided that Draco Malfoy should be left alone, so she turned around to open the door, aiming to quietly leave the bathroom. Unfortunately, when she turned the handle of the door, it let out a loud creak. Hermione froze. She knew that he had noticed. She turned around slowly to face him.

He had his wand drawn, aiming at her, his face streaked with tears. "Granger," he said in a low whisper. "What are you doing here?"

It was so low of a whisper that Hermione stepped a little closer so that she could hear him properly, her mind not realizing that Malfoy had a wand pointed at her. Hermione felt like a deer caught in headlights, "I – I was passing this bathroom, when I heard someone crying ..." she trailed off, realizing that she shouldn't have said that.

Malfoy cursed, and he turned his back on her, facing the sink. "Go away, Granger."

Something sparked in Hermione. She walked towards him and asked softly, "Are you alright?"

Malfoy didn't turn around. "I said, go away."

Hermione reached her hand out as if to touch his shoulder – they were a mere two feet apart. "Malfoy, if something is wrong – "

She was cut off as Malfoy turned around, aiming his wand at her. "I don't want you and your pity here, Granger!" he yelled.

Hermione, shocked at the sudden escalated volume of his tone, and the fact that he had a wand pointed at her, jumped back. She reached inside her cloak for her wand, and curled her fingers around it. Just in case, Hermione thought, as she looked at the angry boy.

"Malfoy," she started, "I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say – "

"Petrificus total-" Malfoy yelled, but was cut off by Hermione's counter-spell.

Hermione drew out her wand, and waved it, deflecting the spell aimed at her. Her eyes widened, a fear rising up in her, as she grasped the fact that Malfoy was angry enough to throw spells at her. She took another step back.

"Malfoy, that was hardly necessary – " she began in a shaky voice.

"Tarantalleg-" Malfoy started up again.

Hermione waved her wand again, deflecting it. "Malfoy, please –" she shouted

"Rictusemp-" Malfoy tried to curse Hermione again.

And again she waved her hand, so that the spell didn't hit her. Tears formed in her eyes. Before Malfoy could retaliate, she exclaimed, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Malfoy froze, his wand falling to the floor, his eyes spinning around in their sockets furiously.

Hermione walked slowly towards him, a frown on her face. Not once did she take her eyes off Malfoy's. When she was but a foot away from him, she said, "Enough. I'm going to release you from this spell and you are not going to ... attack me." She choked on the word 'attack' – she still couldn't believe that Malfoy had attempted to curse her.

She held his gaze for a moment longer. Draco's eyes had calmed down a bit. Now they were glaring furiously at her. She bent to pick up his wand. Once she had straightened up, she held his wand out to him. She waved her wand, and Malfoy was released from the spell.

He grabbed his wand from her roughly and aimed it at her... again.

Hermione sighed, and her next words were voiced in a sad tone, "Malfoy, this isn't you. Please, try to regain control of yourself."

Malfoy narrowed his red, swollen eyes. He said through his teeth, "You don't know who I am. You don't know what it is like to be me. You don't know what I go through!" His voice was rising. "So don't you even dare judge me, Granger. Now get out."

Hermione stood her ground. "Malfoy, I understand that you're going through quite a b-"

Malfoy let out an agitated noise. "No, Granger. You don't understand anything about me! Furnuncu-"

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled. Malfoy's wand flew out of his hands, and Hermione caught it. "Would you please stop trying to curse me?" she implored of him. "You might regret killing me."

Malfoy's face was ablaze with anger. Hermione waited.

Slowly, the anger faded away, and despair took its place. He slid to the floor, and put his head in his hands, sobbing.

Hermione didn't say anything. She walked towards where he was sitting, and knelt. She rested her hand on his shoulder, offering her muted support.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Four minutes.

Five minutes ... Malfoy's sobs died down, and his shoulders slumped forward as he leaned into Hermione.

Hermione, startled at the contact, awkwardly patted his shoulder.

When he spoke, his voice came out slightly raspy, "I... I don't know what to ... what to do, anymore ... with myself ... with others."

Hermione sat silently, listening.

"My parents are in ... Azkaban. I have no ... family. The other Slytherins ... they don't care ... They think that I'm not ...worth their company anymore. Neither my parents nor I fought in the war." He sighed, the sound escaping weakly from his mouth. "My parents ..." he shook his head. Hermione could feel a tear roll down her neck from him.

They sat like that for another five minutes. Suddenly, Malfoy stiffened. Feeling his rigid posture, Hermione ceased patting his shoulder. Malfoy suddenly stood up, as if he had just realized to whom he was talking to. The side of Hermione's body that Malfoy had been resting on felt cold, and Hermione shivered.

She didn't look up at him. She knew that his face had regained its former non-emotion. She knew that he was bordering on cursing her or just walking out.

When she still hadn't heard him leave, she looked up. He was looking at her, his jaw tight, his eyes filled with nothingness, his face impassive. She stood up too, and faced him, making sure to put some distance between them. She stuck out her chin, waiting for him to say anything. When he continued to stare at her, not saying anything, Hermione nodded at him, and walked passed him to leave the bathroom.

Malfoy flung out his hand and gripped Hermione's arm. She turned around, confused. His empty eyes conveyed nothing. He pushed her roughly up against the door, and Hermione gasped slightly. Was he going to hurt her? Hermione's eyes widened, her fingers finding their way back to her wand.

Malfoy bent his head closer to her, a corner of his mouth lifting up threateningly. In a low whisper, he said, "Don't tell anyone about this." He gripped her arm harder. "Do you understand?"

Hermione glared at him. "Do you even realize what you are doing, Malfoy?" she hissed through her teeth. Malfoy's gaze slid down to where his hands were clenching Hermione's arms tightly. Shock filled his eyes. He let go of her abruptly. Hermione stepped away from the door and opened it. She paused, before exiting. She said over her shoulder, "And I won't tell anybody." She shut the door behind her and ran.

She ran until she reached the portrait that opened into the Heads' Common Room. She muttered the password quickly and the portrait opened. She stepped into the Common Room, and walked quickly to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Only once she was inside, did she collapse on her bed, letting out a huge sigh.

That part of Malfoy certainly did scare her. Never before had she come that close to Malfoy, physically or emotionally. e pushedHe HHhihfsdov;. never before had shHis menacing side had made a very dangerous collision with his vulnerability.

Hermione gazed up at her charmed ceiling (she made it appear as if she was looking at the night sky). As a star twinkled in the far distance, she tried to figure out how Malfoy was going to react around her.

She got her answer the next morning.

Hermione yawned as she came into the Common Room, a thick book in her hands. As it was a Saturday, she thought she could spend the day studying. She dropped herself on the couch, tucked her legs under her, and opened the book to a bookmarked page. Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she began to take down important notes. She flipped the pages carefully, making sure that she missed nothing important.

By the time Draco Malfoy woke up, an hour had passed for Hermione. She stretched her legs out before her and stood up. It was rather cold, so she pointed her wand at the fireplace. Flames appeared and Hermione rubbed her hands before the fire. She sighed, satisfied.

The door to Malfoy's bedroom opened, and out walked the man himself. He took one glance at Hermione kneeling before the fire and then walked off towards the exit. Hermione raised her eyebrows. So it was back to the beginning – as if the events of the previous day hadn't occurred.

She played innocent and said politely, "Good morning, Malfoy." She stared into the heart of the fire, waiting for a response from him. She didn't get one. Well, to her knowledge she didn't. If she had looked up, she would've noticed that Malfoy's head had turned fractionally towards her, almost acknowledging her presence, before leaving.

--------------------------------------------------------to be continued--------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Well, there's another one! I've got a little bit of Dramione interaction happening here. Hope you liked it ... but if you didn't, can't say I blame you! I was pretty tired when I wrote this! Anyway, do me a massive favour please?

Review?