Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story and I certainly do not own the song "Cry". Thank you and have a nice day.

Hermione sat on the couch in her apartment near Oxford. She stared down at a picture of Draco Malfoy, and she could feel tears coming to her eyes. Her radio was on, and she could hear a new song starting up. She recognized the song as "Cry" by Mandy Moore, and she closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and listened to the words.

~I'll always remember
It was late afternoon
It lasted forever
And ended too soon
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry
The moment that I saw you cry
It was late in September
And I've seen you before (and you were)
You were always the cold one
But I was never that sure
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry
I wanted to hold you
I wanted to make it go away
I wanted to know you
I wanted to make your everything all right
I'll always remember
It was late afternoon
In places no one would find
In places no one would find
All your feelings do deep inside (deep inside)
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry~

Hermione opened her eyes and wiped the tears that were now freely falling down her face. The song reminded her so much of her relationship with Draco. It had started by the lake in late September of their 7th year at Hogwarts. Hermione had gone to the lake to study quietly on this particular afternoon, but when she saw Draco there, she had forgot all about studying. He had been crying.

She had no idea what made her do it, but she had walked over to him and embraced him. She had let him cry on her shoulder. She had listened to him explain what was wrong. He did not want to be a death eater. He did not want anything to do with his father. He told her that his father had killed his mother after he had escaped from Azkaban. Hermione could not find anything to say, so she simply held him.

After that incident, Hermione and Draco had become friends, then something more. Draco had changed, and Hermione had changed too. She had become more sensitive, and she realized that there was more to life than knowledge. Now she knew what love was. Hermione and Draco had been happy.until Lucius got word of their relationship.

Lucius had not found out until after they had both graduated from Hogwarts. The war with Voldemort was progressing slowly, and Draco had declared his loyalty to Dumbledore's side. When Lucius had begun to inquire why his son refused to join the death eaters, he was informed that Draco was now dating Hermione. Lucius could not stand to have his son date a mudblood. He had sought out Draco, who had been sharing a butterbeer with Hermione at The Three Broomsticks.

Lucius had told Hermione that he was going to make her pay for stealing his son away. Draco had told Lucius that he had made the decision not to become a death eater before Hermione had come along. Lucius had told Draco he was going to make him pay for dating a mudblood.

It had all happened so soon. Lucius had pulled his wand out of his cane and had pointed it at Draco. Before either Draco or Hermione could do anything, there was a flash of bright green light, and Draco's body had fallen to the floor, lifeless. Lucius had sneered at Hermione and told her that living without Draco would be punishment enough for her.

As of today, it had been one year since Draco's death. Hermione clutched his picture to her chest tightly and cried. Draco had been the love of Hermione's life, and she would never have him back. Her last thought before crying herself to sleep was that Lucius had been right, and living without Draco was indeed punishment enough.