Draco's shoes clicked against the stone floors as he made his way down one of the many empty corridors, the sound echoing off of the walls and filling the still silence. He had nearly mapped out his entire route by memory, rather useful for when he wasn't in the mood to take any extra detours.
It was one of those nights. The Slytherin common room didn't feel in the least bit comforting since the loss against Gryffindor, not to mention his friends pestering him so often about the mission he had been given. Above all, Pansy seemed to be the worst. Almost any chance she could get he found her glued to his side like a lost puppy. It annoyed him to no end, but knowing he wouldn't be seeing her for who knows how long come the end of the year, he allowed bits and pieces of it here and there.
Draco stuffed his hands into his pockets, one of his fingers brushing over the smooth exterior of the apple he had grabbed on his way out of the common room. It was his experiment tool for the work he had been assigned by the Dark Lord himself.
His work was moving along at a painstakingly slow pace. Each minute felt like ticking-time bomb, another second passed that was closer to his end. It filled him with a fear he never knew he could feel, and the thought of the Dark Lord's threat hung over him nearly every night.
Succeed, and he would be rewarded.
Fail, and he along with his mother and father would be killed in the blink of an eye.
He wouldn't fail. No. It wasn't that he wouldn't. He couldn't fail. No matter how grueling the task was. And how much pain and regret and guilt it would cause him later. He couldn't bear either situation, but he knew what he would always choose in the end.
Shaking his head to erase those thoughts from his mind, Draco turned another corner. He slowly came to a stop as he took in the suddenly unfamiliar corridor.
In the distance, Draco caught sight of a group of students laughing and talking amongst themselves. A couple were even getting a few intimate with what he presumed were their partners. Scowling to himself and knowing he must have taken a wrong turn while he was distracted, he made a move to turn on his heel and head the opposite way, hoping to erase the memory of seeing a few Gryffindors practically eating each other's faces.
A small sniffle came from one of the side halls, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath.
Draco stopped in his tracks as his head swiveled towards the doorway. For a moment he thought he had imagined it. When it came again, this time what he thought might have been a repressed whimper, Draco turned his entire body towards the entryway.
He briefly glanced back towards the group of Gryffindors still chatting amongst themselves. None of them had noticed someone walk by with tears streaming down her face only moments before.
Heaving a large sigh and berating himself already for having a heart, Draco took a hesitant step in the direction of the alcove. There was no denying someone was down there; it was just a matter of whether or not Draco cared to stay.
Stepping lightly down the steps so as not to scare the person away, or make his presence known, Draco carefully crept around the corner and heard the distant chirping of birds. His brow furrowed in confusion, and he made the last few steps down before turning to see who was at the bottom.
He was surprised she hadn't spun to look at him at his sharp intake of breath.
Sitting at the bottom of the stone steps, her knees curled against her chest, the outside breeze from the open window brushed against her mane of brown, bushy curls. There was only one girl he knew to have hair that unkempt but all that perfect.
Granger.
His eyes traveled from her small frame to the flurry of movement above her head. A small ring of twittering yellow birds no bigger than his palm circled around her head, ones that she must have just conjured. Besides the fact he had just discovered Hermione Granger cowering in an empty alcove by herself while he knew the Gryffindors were hosting a party up in their tower, he could not help but allow himself to admire her spell work, much less at a time like this.
Granger took another sniffle and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. She was completely unaware of the blonde wizard standing a few feet behind her having an internal war with himself.
The blonde in question was throwing himself back and forth to the point he thought he would split in two right there on the steps. On one hand, Hermione Granger, friend to Harry Potter and bossy know-it-all, was sitting alone in a cold room crying for reasons he didn't yet the other hand, Hermione Granger, the girl he had tried for years not to notice, was sitting on the floor of a cold room, alone, and trying to refrain from letting more oncoming tears spill over.
He cursed himself for having a heart.
Taking a quiet intake of breath, Draco clenched his hands into fists in the pocket of his dress pants before making himself known.
"Granger."
The brunette witch at the bottom of the stairs jumped nearly three feet in the air, her head of chestnut curls flying behind her as she whipped around to face him. For a brief moment, it was pure shock that lined her face. Accompanied right after it was a mix of embarrassment, seeing as her cheeks took on the lightest and coziest color of pink. It finally settled on anger.
"What do you want?" she growled, trying to make it sound as if it were any other situation the two had ever been in together. The effect was lost at the sight he finally took in of her.
Her eyes were close to being bloodshot, but it was the lines of tears streaking down her cheeks that caught his attention. They shimmered and glittered in the dim light spilling in from the window, illuminating the alcove in a light gray. Her cheeks themselves were still a shade of rosy pink, but getting a better look at her, he wasn't sure whether it was from embarrassment and anger or merely from spilling out what could have been an entire river of tears.
Realizing he was staring at her far longer than necessary, Draco blinked back his surprise and put up his usual mask of indifference. Before he could open his mouth, she cut in again.
"For Merlin's sake, what do you want, Malfoy?" Granger nearly spat. Her jaw was clenched as she unraveled herself from the small ball she had huddled herself in.
Draco didn't flinch or move from his spot as he gave himself a moment to respond. "I thought I heard a bird down here and came to check it out. Turns out it was just you I suppose."
Granger scoffed and turned her back to him. "Well now you've figured it out," she bit out, her voice cracking on her last word. Her second ones were dialed back to a mere whisper. "Now if you wouldn't mind, please leave."
She sniffled again as she furiously wiped at her eyes. Tucking her legs back towards her chest, Draco made sure there was enough distance between them before taking careful steps down the stairs.
Walking out into the middle of the room, he took a moment to survey it's rough walls and rotting corners before turning to the large window on the edge of the steps. A brisk breeze blew across his face, rumpling both his suit and her head of curls.
"What are you doing?" Granger asked, looking up at him from the stairs. One of the birds circling around her head flew off course and took a lap around him, twittering what almost sounded like a slow song. Draco's eyes followed it back to its spot among the others she had created, and rather than answer, he ignored her question entirely.
"Did you make them?" he inquired, gesturing with his head towards the birds. He didn't look down at her when she turned her face up to look at them.
"Charms spell," she muttered. "I'm just practicing."
"While leaking like a water fountain?" Draco asked before he could stop himself. Even though he internally kicked himself when she turned to look at him again, he kept his face impassive and his stance stiff.
Granger didn't answer him as she ducked her head again and wiped at her eyes. Draco remained where he was as he looked down at her. He didn't want to admit to himself, but he couldn't grasp some of his thoughts in time. It was odd to see her like this; the Hermione Granger he had grown knowing was one that didn't know how to keep her mouth shut. She was one that would answer every question in class and take pride in being a know-it-all. She was the one that could pack a pretty good punch when he said something bad about the gamekeeper. She was one that managed to snag the attention of wizards that didn't want to notice her.
This Granger that sat curled in a ball at the bottom of the steps while he stood there like an imbecile was one that he didn't like. She was always so strong and witty and clever. To see her broken and battered and spilling tears out like a river slashed his heart with pity. He didn't want to admit that last bit most of all, but the thought and seeing the reality of it finally spurred him to take a step towards her.
"Granger," he started, his voice both soft and stern. When she didn't look up at him, he continued. "What happened to you?"
She sniffed again and rested her head on her knees so only the curtain of curls around her face allowed her watery eyes to be visible. "What's it to you, Malfoy?"
He didn't answer right away. It was simple, because he didn't know the answer himself.
Instead, Draco shrugged and said, "Call it curiosity why Potter's best friend is sitting by herself while the rest of them are living like they just won the World Cup."
There it was. It was brief and faint, and he had to thoroughly search to see it. But it was there.
Granger's lips pulled upward in a watery grin for a second, before he watched in slow motion as it fell back again.
She didn't answer him for a while, sitting there in her hunched position as she stared out across the small alcove. He didn't say anything as his gaze flickered between the window and Granger, wondering if he should say something to break the tension he wasn't sure if she felt.
Another breeze blew in, aggravating the birds as they bristled over her head. It took a minute before they calmed down, and when he looked down at the girl they were hovering over a moment later, he saw that she had risen herself from her ball so her tear-stained cheeks shown like two paths of diamonds. Draco watched her as he saw a brief emotion of suspicion and curiosity pass over her before it was once again replaced with a lonely brokenness.
"This, um, t-this may seem like an odd question to you," she started, still looking at the wall rather than at him. "But have you...have you ever felt something for someone when you see them with someone else?"
Draco took a second to mawl her question over in his head. "You mean like jealousy?"
Granger shrugged her shoulders in a small movement. "I don't know," she sniffed. "Call it more like loneliness. Maybe something closer to heart break."
Granger lifted her eyes away from the wall and up to his. He again felt that stab of pity when he finally saw what was stirring behind her two amber eyes as they looked up at him brimming with tears. She was asking if he had felt what she was going through. Something where it would bring her down to the point of crying to herself in a dark and secluded alcove. Something where she would reach out to maybe one of the only people that walked by, even if it was someone like him.
Something where an idiot managed to get Hermione Granger to cry in the middle of the night talking to Draco Malfoy about heartbreak.
Draco took a deep breath as he felt his hands unclench from the fists he hadn't known they'd tightened themselves into. "Are you asking if I've ever had my heart broken before?"
Granger studied his face for a moment, almost searching for something. A crack in his mask or a dent in the wall he would always put up in front of other people. It was weird for Draco to see it coming from her for once in his life. Along with that, it was the first time he could have sworn he felt a small crack in the side before it was quickly whisked away again.
"Yes I suppose so," she muttered. "Or is it more of the other way around?"
Draco frowned at her comment. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Granger, despite the reminiscences of the tears still staining her cheeks, couldn't help but let out the shortest snort as she shook her head. "You can't tell me you haven't had a few admirers you've had to shake over the years?"
It was Draco's turn to snort at her comment as he removed one of his hands from his pocket to run it mindlessly through his hair, a habit he had become accustomed to lately that he hadn't managed to yet break.
"Touche, Granger," he drawled, his familiar self coming back from what felt like an eternity. "I can't say it hasn't happened once or twice. I will admit, it was nice for a few days to have someone after you, but then it just gets a bit annoying really."
"I can't say I can relate," he heard her mumble. Looking back down at her, he saw Granger had lowered her gaze to the floor again as she mindlessly fiddled with a loose string on her sweater.
Draco wasn't sure how his movements had played out. With her words and returning to her hunched state, the blonde suddenly found his legs moving on their own. In a few short steps, he had closed the distance between them from where he was in the center of the room and took a seat on the edge of the steps next to her. The brunette witch was shocked to say the least, but she didn't comment on his actions. Draco decided it best to keep his mouth shut about them, too.
Instead, he asked the question that had boggled him since he had seen her like this.
"Who broke your heart, Granger?"
The words had left his mouth before he could stop them. Despite getting them off his chest, Draco was practically bashing himself in the side of the head, asking and scolding himself for how much of an idiot he really was.
Granger's shock, rather than heighten like he expected, seemed to tumble down hill. At the mention of whoever it was that had put her in this state, her heart seemed to take another blow. Pressing her lips together in a thin line, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned back to face the center of the room. The breath she released was uneven and ragged, and Draco feared he had just made the entire situation worse.
"It doesn't matter," Granger whispered. "Not anymore."
Draco's brow furrowed at her words. Just as he was about to open his mouth to retort words he didn't even know he was thinking, a high-pitched laugh that sounded as if someone were on giggle water came from around the corner.
Both heads turned towards the door Draco hadn't previously noticed, and the next thing he knew, a girl was giggling and squealing, pulling along a boy behind her into the alcove. She turned her face just in time to see the two sitting beside each other, and she slowed her skips of joy to a stop. Her smile didn't waver, though, as she looked down at Granger.
Too focused on the girl, Draco didn't notice the look of horror that passed over the boy's face. Nor did he notice the head of red hair.
"Oops," the girl apologized with no sympathy behind her words. "I think this room's taken!"
Pulling on the boy's arm, he remained locked in place as his eyes were planted on Granger. Draco finally focused his attention on him when he didn't move even with the girl's pulling and tugging, and it was then reality sank in for him.
Ron Weasley stood in absolute shock as his gaze traveled from him to Granger and back again. The realization hit him like a rock as he saw Granger wipe her nose with her sleeve out of the corner of his eye.
"What the -," the Weaselbee cut himself off as he looked above Granger's head at the birds now twittering and near humming with anticipation. "What's with the birds? And what the bloody hell is he doing here - !"
"Oppugno."
Draco turned to see Granger on her feet, her chin held high and her hands in fists by her side. Weasley stared at her for a second, confusion, anger, and shock etched across his freckled face. It was only when the birds twittered with delight that the red-head looked up just in time to see them zooming towards his head.
At what seemed to be at the near speed of a bullet, the small yellow birds went straight for Weasley's head. He backed up towards the door again, trying to run at full speed just as the bird's got to him. His back hit the doorway just as one whizzed by his head and exploded into an array of small yellow feathers when it came in contact with the door.
Weasley stared at the spot it had missed him, and then down at the pile of feathers that had gathered on the floor. His terrified and shocked gaze traveled back towards Granger, who was still standing and staring at him with all the hatred she had ever seen for someone. Including himself.
Instead of barking another comment towards her, or even adding an extra slur towards him, Weasley backed out of the doorway with the help of the girl he had failed to fully recognize, though her giggle was ear-splitting and her smile too wide.
The moment he was out the door, it was as if a dam broke inside of her. Turning to look at her, he watched as Granger hiccuped and sank back down to the steps, her hands shaking as she buried her face into them.
Weasley.
It was always Weasley.
Draco took a moment to himself as his eyes flickered down to the stone floor in fear that if she looked at him, she would see his hatred and mistake it for her. But it wasn't. It was always for Weasley.
The fool, the idiot, the moron! The red-headed Weaselbee he had disliked from day one was the reason Granger wasn't acting like the Hermione he knew. He was the reason she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, alone, most likely cold, tears streaming down her face, and talking to the boy who had tormented her the last five years of school. And all because he couldn't man up and see what was standing, or rather sitting, right in front of him.
Draco didn't want to make that same mistake.
"Granger," he started slowly. "It's Weasley, isn't it?"
The brunette witch took a second before responding with a light nod of her head, her hiccups still coming at full force as he heard her try to regain her breathing.
His silver eyes darted over her small form: her shaking hands, her tear-stained cheeks, her hunched back, her wild hair. It took it all in in the blink of an eye, and while Draco knew it already, he knew there was no denying.
Weasley was an absolute git and downright idiot.
"I know I'm the last person you would ever want to hear this from," Draco muttered, not knowing where he was exactly going to go with his statement. "And I know you probably won't even listen to what I'm about to say anyway."
He watched as she tried to take a steadying breath and her shining, tear-stricken eyes looked over at him from behind her curls. For a reason he couldn't explain, he nearly felt his heart catch in his throat, but he shoved it back down as he kept his gaze firmly on hers.
"I think you already know I haven't liked Weasley since day one," he began. "You know there's a lot between us and our families. But besides that point, and I'm saying this with absolute certainty, that Weasley is a right-foul git if I've ever met one. That's saying something knowing who you're hearing this from."
Granger had raised her head at the insult thrown at him, but upon the one he had also thrown at himself, he was almost relieved to see the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. He continued.
"If Weasley's running off with some other girl right now, knowing you're in here talking to Draco Malfoy, I can tell you in all honesty that he isn't worth it. I can tell that this...this is hurting you, Granger. You care for Weasley in a way he apparently doesn't see yet; emphasis on my point that he's an absolute idiot. But if he can't see that, and he can't appreciate who he has as a friend, then - maybe, and don't hit me for this - maybe Weasley isn't worth crying over in the dark. Maybe he isn't worth getting so upset over that you have to talk to Draco Malfoy."
Granger cracked what he thought was the best smile he could see from her at a time like this. It was most obviously strained, and she still looked to be on the verge of another round of tears, but it was there. And for now, he took it to his advantage.
"I thought you said you've never felt this way before," Granger stated, taking another steadying breath as she wiped at her eyes. "That you were always the one that always caused feelings like this."
"I never said I haven't felt like this before," Draco returned, not having any desire to elaborate, especially when it came to Granger. It was apparently a rather curious thing to say, as her large chestnut eyes turned to him and studied his mask again, trying to look past the wall that was Draco Malfoy.
The blonde was concerned for the briefest of moments when her eyes took a new spark to them and a light twitch pulled her lips upward, but when she wiped her nose and eyes again to relieve herself of her tears, it was gone.
"These are surprisingly wise words coming from you of all people," Granger said, tucking her arms beneath her chest as another cool breeze blew in through the window.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he drawled in return, letting his hands dangle over his knees in a more casual way. In one hand, he hadn't realized he was still holding the green apple he had intended to take with him to the Room of Requirement that night. His eyes flicked over it's smooth exterior before he turned to look at Granger, who was eying it with curiosity.
"You always just carry apples in your pockets?" she asked, raising a teasing eyebrow at him.
"On occasion," he replied, rotating the fruit in his hand. "You never know when you might need it."
"Of course," he heard her mutter. She shook her head as her curls fell back over her shoulder, a small grin tugging the back of her lips up. It filled him with what little pride he had now, and despite knowing he would regret it later with what little work he had already succeeded with, he extended the apple towards her.
Her eyes flicked down towards it and back up towards his face. He lightly shrugged his shoulders and said, "I promise it's not poison, but it might help for when you want to chuck it at the back of Weasley's head."
Relief like no other filled him as she gave him one of her looks: the one where she would slightly tilt her head and scold whoever it was she was talking to. He hated to admit that he had noticed it nearly every time she had done it, but seeing it again as the trails of tears on her cheeks began to dry, he thought it would be worth it.
Slowly reaching her hand out, she took the smooth fruit in her hand and examined it carefully. "You promise it's not poison?"
"As far as I know."
Her smile returned as she unballed her legs from her chest and set the apple in her lap. For a moment, her smile disappeared and she looked to be contemplating something in her head. He could practically see the gears turning in her head, and despite their entire conversation, her drawn brows and light tick of her jaw made him wonder if what she was going to say was something it wouldn't be thrilled to hear.
Releasing a heavy sigh, Draco pushed himself off the steps and brushed off his pant legs even though there was no dust. He gave her a few more seconds to say whatever it was she was thinking, but when nothing came, Draco gave her a curt nod and made a move to head back up the stairs, unsure where he was going after the encounter he had had with -
"Draco."
His first name echoed off the walls around him as he completely froze. Carefully and slowly turning back around to look at the witch at the bottom of the stairs, Draco's heart clenched in on itself as her wide and hopeful eyes stared up at him. A small smile that he could tell she wasn't sure should be there pulled back on the corners of her lips, and with a deep breath and a quick avert of her eyes, she said her next phrase in a single and slow breath.
"Thank you. For...everything, I suppose."
A 'thank you' was something he rarely ever heard, and it was a phrase he never thought Hermione Granger, nonetheless, would ever say to him.
Swallowing the warmth rising in his chest as she looked back up at him for a response, he nodded his head and tried not to let his breathing stagger.
"You're welcome, Granger. I'll see you around."
With that, Draco strode the rest of the way up the stairs, and the moment he got to the top, he released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He was making a mistake getting involved with Granger. He was making a mistake going down to comfort her when Weasley was an idiot. He was making a mistake by ruining her life by intertwining hers with a Death Eater.
He was making a mistake on something he knew he couldn't have.
Still, as Draco found himself making his way back to the common room, he couldn't help but smile to himself.
Granger had found a bit of solace in him for a little while, and just to know there might have been a small part of her that didn't hate him, and to wonder if maybe there was a small part of him that didn't despise that idea, was enough for now.
Hey y'all!
I hope you guys enjoyed this fic I came up with literally yesterday on the thought of wondering what it would be like if Draco was the one to find Hermione after Ron kissed Lavender rather than Harry. Let me know what you guys think, and as always, I hope you have a spectacular morning, afternoon, evening, or night!
-Summerwinds