Three days had passed since he had last stopped by. Since thinking was all she could do for the next few days, she was trying to understand what was going on. Why did she feel like this? It was either an excellent spell he had cast on her or something else was happening to Hermione. She had never felt like this before. Maybe once, back in her third year when a bunch of dementors had surrounded Hogwarts but it was still different and some part of her knew what it was. Even when the dementors were at Hogwarts she still had something then. Now, not only does she feel like she would never be happy again, she also felt that there was something missing. Like there was a gaping hole in her heart where something belonged but she didn't know what it was. She felt empty.

He was going to keep his word to her. As much as he didn't want to, he was going to stay away from her like he said he would.

He knew why he had chosen her over anyone else. She was everything that he was not. Ever since that day a couple weeks ago at Hogwarts when he was leaving the Slytherin common room alone and he saw that frightened look on her face when Crabbe and Goyle was so angry at her that they looked as if they were going to hit her, he had fallen in love.

He quickly went over to Crabbe and Goyle and told them that dinner was going to be soon and if they didn't hurry then they would get all the leftovers. Being the idiots they were, they stopped what they were doing and left with Draco. Although it took as much strength to look at her than to not, he had to hold himself. He didn't turn around to sneer at her or to smile at her. He was still trying to process the fact that he may be in love with a mudblood in his mind. And also just how beautiful she really was. How had he not been able to see it before? Of course, the answer was so simple. He had changed now. He hadn't gone soft. He had started to become a better person and the look of Hermione's face helped him. It gave him hope inside that he would one day be that person his father never was.

He looked out the window and to his surprise; he saw something that he had never seen before in his entire life.

She had made up her mind. She was going to write to him and tell him that she was sorry. That she hadn't meant for the way it came out. She wrote the letter to him and for some reason she took special care in the words she chose to use, the parchment she used, the ink she used, the envelope she used, and also the writing she used. She had never before taken so much care in her letters before, maybe in her fifth year when writing to Harry to tell him to not worry but not even then had she been so careful of what she was writing.

When she was done she walked some distance to an owlery near by her place and sent off the letter to Draco Malfoy.

He took the letter from the owl and it took off. He had never in his entire life gotten an owl besides from his father or mother during his school time at Hogwarts. And to his surprise and great delight, it was from the one person he was thinking about so much. He took such care in opening the envelope of the letter. He had never done so with any piece of writing before either. But then what if it was a letter telling him that she didn't ever want to see him again? What if the letter was telling him that she didn't believe him? But then it would be okay. Because she left him with something that he would be able to keep forever.

He took out the parchment very carefully and read:

Dear Draco Malfoy,

I am very sorry about what happened three days ago. I mean, I'm not sorry about everything. I'm really glad that you were able to tell me what was bothering you. I meant to tell you that I'm sorry about the way I reacted at the end. I only hope that you can forgive me and we can perhaps be friends again.

I am willing to help you if you help me back. I need help with my apparation and you seem to be very good at it yourself. You are able to apparate without making noise. If you would like to come back and hopefully forgive me for being so rude, I would gladly help you overcome your past.

Love, Hermione Granger

Draco held the letter lightly in his hands almost afraid that he might crush it. He had to reread it a few times to make sure what he was reading was true. After a half an hour had passed he finally put the letter away in a box with a clasp his mother had given him many years ago. She knew that he would one day grow up and have little letters just like she had when she was young. Although, Draco thought, she must not have expected the letters to be so sweet and from such a sweet person.

Draco waited until everyone was sleeping in his house. His father was off to a meeting again with the other death eaters and so he knew that his mother was safe. And if anything, the servants would help her. The servants were not afraid of them as they are afraid of Lucius. The servants of the manor didn't used to be afraid of any of them. Although they were not exactly included in the family entirely, they were still given respect and they saw the love that the family had for one another. But part of it was broken now. Part of that love had gone because of what happened with Lucius. They saw this and they were afraid. If he was able to do that to his own wife, the one he so dearly loved, then what about the ones that are below him? He had assaulted a few of them a few times when he was unable to take out his rage on Narcissa. But it was nothing as to what Narcissa had gotten. There were many times where even the nurses thought she was going to die after Lucius had taken it out on her.

They had seen the way Lucius had held his wife in his arms before. They had seen what care he had given her when she was giving birth or when she was sick. They had seen him truly love her. But now, it was as if nothing like that had ever happened. As if he didn't even know who she was. He didn't seem to remember that he even loved her once. People do this when they crave power. When they need power after they had been able to taste it, this is what happens. They forget to love.