A/N: First Dramione in a long time. Whoop.

Sink That Ship - Speed Competition: Dramione - whisper

The Houses Competition: Round 1 - Short story - Playing the piano

Ultimate AU Promptathon: Soulmate! AU

The AU Packet Prompt Challenge: Soulmate! AU

Ouran High School Host Club Characters: Host Club - Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka~ write about someone protecting someone else

Summary: Soulmate au in which every morning you wake up with a short message on your skin of something that your soulmate will be doing that day that will be treasured by them. Or the one where Hermione misses her chance to love.

Word count: 2,143

He will fly

On the inside of her right wrist were these unexplainable messages that baffled her and her parents since a young age. Nonsensical words pertaining to a mysterious 'he' marked her skin every day. The words were always different each morning when she awoke and they never failed to make her smile. The general rule of the words were to never speak of it to strangers, just like she was never to speak of the odd incidents known to happen around her.

Her parents were intrigued by the writing, and her mother never failed to ask her what today's sentence was. On that particular day, written in green, neat letters, her wrist read: He'll fly.

"Why, that's odd," her mother replied, tapping her fingers of her chin. "Who is this person and why can he fly?"

Hermione grinned, ignoring the escalated beating of her heart. "It's not possible. Not by regular human means." She loved the mysterious words because it caused her to really stop and think about it. "Hm, what if he's half-bird? That'd be neat."

Her mother's laughter resounded around the entire house, her body shaking with the force of it. "Oh, Hermione! Wouldn't that be an adventure. Anything's possible in this world."

"I read about it in a book," she answered, her eyes lighting up with mirth. "It was talking about the possibilities of mutation in the human genes."

"Now where did you even find that book?" Her mom raised an eyebrow, leaning forward and smiling. "Surely we don't just have a book like that lying around."

Hermione smiled sheepishly. "I went to the library with dad. He let me check out any book I wanted. I'm already ten years old, so he let me get one not in the children's section."

"At least you're reading, I suppose."

"Realistically, I think he's flying on an airplane!" Hermione nodded firmly. "It's just worded strange."

That was always the case with the daily sentences. It had become a guessing game with her mother on what this male was doing. Some days it was quite difficult while others were self explanatory. It was definitely worth the effort to wake up early just to read the messages.

Of course, she eventually did figure out what the messages were. The answer came in the form of Minerva McGonagall. Her brief visit explained everything and more.

The words were apparently her soulmates actions for the day which he treasured. Soulmate. The mere thought of one sent chills down her spine. They were not chills of fear but of anticipation. Apparently, each wizard or witch had soulmate words.

Yes, she was a witch with magic flowing through her veins.

She could barely contain her laughter at today's message. Her soulmate had to be around her age, she presumed. So she wondered just how different the 16 year old wizard lived life.

'He'll get into a fight.'

What kind of soulmate treasured a fight? She left her room that day in a contemplative mood. She was trying to figure out the merits of fights that she hardly noticed when a fight was starting out between Ron and Draco. Well, not until she was dragged into the argument as well.

It was then that Hermione realized just how one could come to treasure a fight. She took pride in every comeback and retort she managed to throw his way. Her adrenaline spiked whenever Draco failed to answer her.

(And he wasn't looking so well these last few days. The paleness of his skin made the purple bruises under his eyes more prominent. She could swear he was losing weight, too. In fact, he looked worse each day she saw him.

Maybe the fight also gave her a reason to check up on his health.)

'He'll have a deep conversation.'

Hermione stared at her arm longer than she should have that morning. She eventually smiled, pleased that her soulmate had people to even hold a conversation with. Especially a deep conversation.

Today's message was most likely the reason she gave Draco Malfoy the benefit of doubt.

She found him in the corridor struggling to walk, and she wasted no time in going to help him. He was annoyed at first. Merlin, the proud Slytherin tried to act as if he didn't need her help. Like he hadn't just been dragging his frail body through the halls.

Hermione laughed when he tried to act tough and he was so weak that he couldn't struggle when she dragged him (gently, of course, since he was so very weak) to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hadn't been there so she waited with Draco. The idiot would have tried to leave had she not stayed.

When they were waiting, she finally got to talk with Draco. Not argue or banter but talk. They talked about how they wished they had no responsibilities. For many reasons, they couldn't go into detail, but general feelings were spoken about. He talked about how he wished he wasn't a wizard, how nice it would've been to be born into a regular Muggle family and live in ignorance.

He might've lowered his prickly barriers because he was sleep deprived and sick, but she was grateful. He was not the villain Harry made him to be. He was just a teenager born into the wrong family.

Hermione hoped her soulmate had a conversation even half as great as she did. (And that he, too, found someone he could talk to on a regular basis like she did with Malfoy.)

Dread coursed through her body when she read today's message.

'He'll fall in love.'

Her heart beat didn't sped up because it failed to beat at all. She forced herself to take deep breaths when the suffocating feeling became too much.

Maybe she was being foolish, but she always assumed her soulmate would fall in love with her. He was her soulmate for a reason, right? But the words on her arm stared back at her in defiance.

The words brought up a deep fear rooted inside her. All she could think of was Fourth Year when all the girls whispered behind her back that she would never find a date for the ball. When the boys would look at her then quickly look away. It took her back to those days where she would cry bitterly in her dorm wishing that she was someone's choice at all.

(Viktor was great, but as nice as he was, he wasn't the right man.)

Her mood that day was sour. No matter how hard Draco tried to get her to cheer up it didn't work. Not that she wasn't grateful for his attempts but a broken heart wasn't so easily fixed.

'He'll seduce his nemesis'

Her soulmate was an utter fool. An endearing fool. Today's message, as much as it pained her, made Hermione cheer for her soulmate's love. He deserved to be happy.

Speaking of fools, Draco had surprised her that day.

They met up like usual in the Room of Requirement. She had been in high spirits and it only increased when she saw the grand piano in the center of the room. She turned to Draco with a joyful expression.

"Please, tell me you play," she said, already making her way to the piano. She sat on the bench and experimentally played a few keys. Draco chuckled, sitting next to her on the bench. "My mother used to play. I never got the hang of it, but it was lovely."

Draco smirked, "Of course, I play."

"Don't be a prat about it. Just play."

And so he did.

Hermione watched with rapt attention on how his fingers seemed to glide on the black and white keys. She watched how long, slim fingers produced beauty.

She watched him.

She watched how his expression became one full of childish delight. (How better that expression suited him compared to the haunted one he usually wore.) She watched how his entire being was one with the music. She watched him until she realized how creepy it was to watch him for so long.

Her heart followed the rhythm of the piano. In the soft crescendo her heart stilled when Draco glanced over and smiled.

(And, oh, he should smile like that more often.)

The months where sleep came easily were long gone. In these days, she rarely slept at all. Death was at the door waiting to take her. The woods had not treated her friends kindly. Ron had walked out on them the other day, leaving Harry and Hermione to try and take down the horcruxes in their own. He came back and she couldn't have been more thankful. However, they always have to be on alert, so sleep was a luxury she couldn't afford.

So most of the mornings Hermione lay awake, still and alive, watching as her daily messages changed.

'He'll hesitate.'

Hermione frowned, wondering when hesitation became something good.

She found her answer later that day when the Snatchers came and dragged them to the Malfoy Manor. Her heart sank as they called for Draco to identity Harry. She tried in vain to meet his eyes, but he was doing his absolute best to avoid her.

Hermione knew Draco had no obligation to lie for Harry, but she hoped to Merlin he did lie. Harry couldn't die. He had to save the world. She didn't sacrifice everything she had for him to die in this moment.

Then Draco hesitated.

She hated him for his hesitation. (She could never hate him. Not now, not ever.) He could've been the only chance they had in freedom but he was weak. He was a coward.

She should've known today was going to be a terrible day. Not only because of the impending battle between Harry and Voldemort that had her anxious. (She had faith Harry would win. Isn't that what always happened in books and movies?)

But because Hermione woke up late.

She hadn't woken up late in years. Today she wished she was still dreaming. But no matter how many times she rubbed at her wrist, the words remained.

'He'll die.'

She vomited what little she had left in her stomach from the night before. It was wrong. The universe had to be wrong. These words could be changed. She was sure of it.

Hadn't she gotten cryptic messages before? Like that one time while she was ten, she distinctly remembered the message said 'he'll fly'. That wasn't literal. No, this had to be figuratively, too.

It wasn't.

With the battle raging on, she failed to notice the spell cast her way. It wasn't until she was body slammed into the air by another spell that she reacted. Hermione clenched her teeth as the explosion went off behind her. Her entire body shook and she could feel blood dripping from her head. She watched in horror as a lone body flew into the air.

Hermione felt herself turn cold at the body. She'd recognize that platinum blond hair anywhere. She yelled, pushing herself onto her feet. Rage clouded her mind and she ran to Draco's side, destroying everything that got in her way. At last she made it to his side.

"No, no, no, no," she spoke, voice strangled and hoarse. A choked sob escaped her throat at the sight of Draco's charred clothes, still singed with embers, and skin boiled a hideous red. Blood seemed to seep out of every crevice of his body.

She fell to her knees.

"Oh, god, no. No, you cannot die, dammit!" She waved her wand, attempting to stop the bleeding. Spell after spell spilled from her lips in rapid succession following the desperate beat of 'don't die, don't die, don't die'.

"It's okay," Draco coughed, voice fading and words slurring into each other. "It's okay."

"It's not," she yelled, hands trembling. "I can fix this. I can do this!"

Draco laughed, it sounded off and horrifying. All wheezes and groans. "I'm happy . . . I am."

"Don't say that," she snapped. "Don't you even dare."

Draco painstakingly raised his arm, pulling the black, sticky fabric up. Hermione's insides turned over. Written in red letters were the words 'you'll save her life'.

(Her eyes already burning the image of him, bloody but alive, into her skull.)

"I'm very glad . . . I met you. Go save . . . the world."

His whisper faded into the air as soon as he spoke. An inhuman scream filled the air, joining the various other battle cries, and Hermione realized it was herself screaming.

Those lovely sentences which graced her arm every morning would no longer appear. Each sentence, each word, began associating themselves with Draco Malfoy. She screamed bitterly, willing her legs to stand and her body to fight.

The universe didn't even give her chance to love him back.