AN: Yay for Matchbox Twenty! Aw… drama class is ending in a week! I'm sad.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
The song belongs to Matchbox Twenty who wrote and performed it.
Dedicated to: Schalke M., who helped me along my way… picking me up and dusting me off whenever I couldn't get up to walk. You're one helluva friend… and you still rawk.
Bent
If I fall along the way
Draco sat at his desk, face buried in his hands, shoulders trembling, eyes darkened by grief. "Why?" he whispered hoarsely, in a voice choked with tears. "Why did you go and leave me, Mummy?"
At the plaintive cry for help, another woman walked over to him, placed her hands on his shoulders, and offered her as much as she could give. Draco looked up at her touch, and his eyes shone for the briefest of eternities. "Hermione…"
Pick me up and dust me off
"I need you now… my only other savior is gone." He touched her hand, and a wistful look in his dusky eyes tugged at Hermione's heartstrings. Hermione leaned closer, sliding her arms around Draco's neck. "It's okay…" she whispered, kissing him as she would a lost child… for that moment, that was exactly what Draco was.
If I get too tired to make it
"Mummy's gone…" he stared out of his window into the darkening sky, the one through which the black owl had borne the news of his mother's untimely death. He glanced up at Hermione again, and she was surprised to see a trace of despair in his expression.
"I'm so tired of it all, Hermione. It's like I just want to lie down and close my eyes, never to open them again. I just want to give up… to give in." Draco murmured, eyes gleaming sadly.
Be my breath so I can walk
Hermione touched him on the cheek, softly, gently. "I'm here, Draco. I'll always be here. I'll be your savior now."
If I need some other loving
"My mother was…" Draco chuckled dryly. "that. My mother." He pulled Hermione closer, their faces inches apart. "You're my lover."
Give me more than I can stand
Hermione touched a finger to his lips. "Exactly. I'll never fill in Narcissa's shoes as your lover, but I can work in many other ways."
And when my smile gets old and faded
"My mother… Mummy." Draco's voice was choked and dry. "She protected me from Lucius, healed my wounds… she was…" His eyes darkened. "I'll never smile again." He vowed angrily.
Wait around, I'll smile again
Hermione felt an unexpected stab of worry. What she loved most about Draco was the drastic way his face changed when he smiled. It seemed as if a light glowed from within him, shining through his light and reaching into Hermione's soul as well.
"No… Draco. It will pass." she vowed just as vehemently.
Shouldn't be so complicated
"I'll be here for you… and we'll get through."
Just hold me and then
Just hold me again
Hermione, unable to bear the shared pain, pressed close to Draco, holding him tightly as if she could ever squeeze out all the grief he felt, as if she could ever forget the pain she had to bear seeing him this way.
Can you help me
I'm bent
Draco shut his eyes, trying to forget, trying to lose himself in the warmth Hermione tried to fill him with… all in vain. "I'm so hurt… " he murmured, balling his hands into loose fists.
I'm so scared
That I'll never get put back together
"I'm so scared… what about Lucius?" he held Hermione close, as if afraid to lose her too. But Hermione pulled away, stroked his cheek, in her eyes a look of comforting sadness. "Lucius won't find us." she promised him.
Keep breaking me in
And this is how we will end
With you and me
Bent
"I'm so imperfect, so flawed… so broken." Draco jerked away, staring down at his pale hands, eyes sharp. "Why love me? Why love me and risk all you have? All you are?" He stood up. "It's dangerous, Hermione."
She reached out to him. "I know. And I don't care."
If I couldn't sleep, could you sleep?
"That's what I like about you… you're empathetic." Draco closed his eyes as Hermione's arms encircled his slender waist. "Your pain becomes mine…" Hermione whispered, her cheek against his back. "And there's so much to share. You're so… crushed." she continued to speak, matching every breath to his.
Could you paint me better off?
Could you sympathize with my needs?
Draco sighed softly. He knew that Hermione was a very caring woman, one who felt what others did, one full of sympathy and sensitivity. Sometimes, he himself felt guilty at this, knowing that she felt pain whenever he did too.
I know you think I need a lot
"Hermione… I'm sorry. All I ever wanted was your happiness, and now, you're going through this." Draco covered her hands with his, squeezing softly. "I thought…" Hermione shushed him. "No, Draco. I'd gladly bear your pain, if it means enough to you."
Draco smiled. "Thank you."
I started out clean but I'm jaded
Just phoning it in
"I thought it would be just another relationship, no strings attached… simple sex." Hermione laughed at Draco's dry tone. "But there's just something about you… something that draws me in and doesn't let me go."
Just breaking the skin
Can you help me, I'm bent
"There's so much hate in me. Guilt, anger, arrogance, pride… name it, Draco Malfoy has it." He shuddered, and Hermione pressed closer, listening to his trembling voice. "I'm sorry you have to put up with all that."
I'm so scared that I'll never get put back together
"It's as if I'll never mend… as if I'll always this foolish and proud. As if no one can save me now." Another shudder racked his body. "Draco, please." Hermione swung around to face him. "Guilt, arrogance… you see those things in yourself, and they hurt, don't they?"
You're breaking me in
And this is how we will end
She caressed his smooth cheek, in her dark eyes a soft look of sweet sympathy. "You see yourself as a flawed, broken man." Hermione smiled sadly. "I see you as the man I love."
With you and me bent
Draco rested his hand on her shoulder, asking a question that needed no answer. "Do you really love me, Hermione? In spite of all… this?" Hermione's eyes twinkled, and she leaned forward and pressed her lips upon his.
"Do you really need an answer to that?"
Can you help me, I'm bent
I'm so scared that I'll never get put back together
"I love you in spite of your flaws. I love you in spite of the danger it brings. I love you simply because you're you." Hermione whispered, and Draco smiled, at last.
Keep breaking me in and this is how we will end
With you and me
Bent