Hermione returned to the common room later that night, and spotted Harry and Neville sitting in the corner, poring over large and tedious volumes of Advanced Potion making. She walked over to them, wanting to find out how the other groups were doing.

"How's the potion coming along, guys?" She asked, and smiled as she leant on their table.

"Bad." Grumbled Neville from a behind and enormous book. Harry looked up and nodded.

"Really? Draco and I are going great; we've covered so much ground already." Said Hermione with a smile.

"What? You and Draco have been working together, well?" Asked Harry, apparently bemused.

"Yeah, it's weird. He's actually been quite pleasant and helpful." Replied Hermione.
"Malfoy? Pleasant? HELPFUL?" Said Harry, as Neville looked up from behind his book. They looked at each other and began to laugh.

"It's true!" Said Hermione.

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it." Laughed Harry, and he turned back to his books. Hermione walked up to her dormitory. Hermione was finding it as hard to believe it, but she was sure Draco was being polite to her when they were working.

Hermione woke early the next morning, hoping to get up to the owlery and send a letter home to her parents before the rest of the students woke up and the owlery became too crowded. She got ready and dressed and looked out the window, the sun was just peeping over the horizon, making the sky a pale pink. She crept out of the dorm, through the silent common room and into the hallways. She didn't pass one student one her way up. She liked Hogwarts the best at these times, when everything was silent and she could be left to her own devices. But she was shocked to find someone already in the owlery when she arrived. The early morning sun shone off his blonde hair. It was Draco. She was just about to greet him, when she heard him let out a sob. He was facing the other way, but Hermione knew he was crying. She didn't know what to do. She quickly hid behind a large stone pillar, she had the feeling he wouldn't be happy if anyone saw him now. She peeped out, and saw him wipe his eyes with his sleeve. He had something in his hand, it looked like a letter. She heard him sniff, and then he scrunched up the piece of paper in his hand, and ripped it up in a rage. He turned around and stormed towards the exit. He kicked a cage that lay on the floor hard across the room. Hermione didn't know where to hide now; he was coming right towards her. She had nowhere to go, she stepped out from behind the pillar and was greeted by Draco's furious eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Granger! How long… How long have you been there?" He asked, stunned by her sudden appearance.

"Not long enough to see anything… I mean, that is, I just arrived" She said, all too quickly. Draco narrowed his eye and then pushed Hermione up against the wall by her shoulders.

"You tell anyone about this, mudblood, ANYONE, and I'll make you wish you were never born" Said Draco, shaking with anger. He took one last look at her, and swept out of the door, his robes billowing behind him. Hermione was short of breath as he left, she stood leaning against the walls panting for a few moments. She had to take a few moments to soak up the gravity of the situation. She had just walked in and saw Draco Malfoy, cold, heartless Malfoy, crying like a child. She was amazed, until now she had thought he was void of any human emotion. She quickly decided she wouldn't tell anyone, even Harry and Ron. This was his business, no one else's.

They had planned to meet again later that day, and as Hermione walked towards Conference Room One, she sincerely doubted Draco would be there. But to her genuine surprise, he was there, books open, quill on parchment.

"Hello…" She said softly as she entered. He ignored her and continued to write. "Umm… Draco, do you want to talk about what happened this morning?"

"Talk about what, there's nothing to talk about. Especially not with you" He spat. Hermione nodded, and took her things out of her bag, but her nosey nature got the better of her.

"I just want you to know, if you ever needed someone to talk to, nothing you say would leave these lips again" Said Hermione, as she pointed at her mouth.
"Oh, okay Granger, If I ever feel the need to share my deepest darkest secrets with a person I despise, I'll come to you shall I?" Said Draco, with a smirk and a lift of his eyebrow.

"Say what you want, Malfoy, but I saw you crying…" Said Hermione as she looked at her hands.

"I wasn't crying… I was… I was..." Stammered Draco, unable to say what he was doing.

"You were what? Hmm?"

"You don't know what it's like being me!" Said Draco finally, with a sigh. Hermione was not quite sure what to say. They sat in silence for a few moments.
"Well, Draco… What is it like being you?" She said in a small distant voice that sounded unlike her own.

"The letter was from my father. See, my report from last year wasn't too flash. I failed everything besides potions. My father didn't talk to me for the whole holidays, now he sends me a letter. I thought it was to say he has forgiven me, but it turns out it was to tell me I'm not to return home for the rest of the year, not even for Christmas. He said I shamed him and the Malfoy name, and he doesn't want to see me. He has all these unrealistic expectations of me; he wants me to be something I'm not. Something I could never be. He said I'm not his son." He stopped and hung his head. Hermione hardly knew what to say. One second ago he was saying he despised her and wouldn't share anything with her, and the next he was baring his soul.

"I didn't know, Draco" Said Hermione, in that same small voice she didn't recognize.

"No one does." He said. Hermione hesitated, and then reached across the table to where his hand was, and she placed hers on top of his. She felt him shiver, but he didn't withdraw it. She lost track of time as they sat there in silence.