Chapter 2: Out of the Darkness

Hermione ran without thinking about where she was going. Her feet were running, but her mind wasn't in control. Eventually she found herself in the astronomy tower. Her face was soaked with tears as she walked into a corner and slumped down on a wall. The tower was dark with only the moonlight shining through glass in the ceiling. She put her face in her hands and rocked back and forth thinking about what she just saw. Harry and Ginny, together in a bed. How could he do that to me? I thought what we had was special, and then he's going to go and spoil it by sleeping with Ginny. I'll kill her, if it's the last thing I do. How could they? I trusted him, I would have trusted him with my life, but he could even be trusted with my heart. Hermione couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face. They flowed down as if a damn had broken behind her eyes and there was nothing that could be done to stem the river of tears.

Suddenly Hermione noticed that she wasn't alone. There was a pair of silvery gray eyes staring at her as if transfixed with her pain.

"Who's there?" she shouted.

No answer came, instead, silence.

"Who's there?" she repeated, growing uneasy.

This time she received a reply. "What's wrong, mudblood, don't trust the darkness?"

"Malfoy!" Hermione shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"The whole castle doesn't belong to you, in case you haven't noticed. Plus it was amusing watching you cry. What happened, did the Dark Lord finally kill your Potter and his Weasel?" Malfoy said chuckling.

"That's not funny at all."

"Are you sure about that? I find it hilarious."

Hermione glared at Malfoy for a second before realizing he was up here before her. "By the way, what were you doing up here anyway?"

"That's none of your business, Granger."

"Oh come on Malfoy, it must be important if you came all the way up here on your own." Suddenly she noticed a piece of paper clamped tight in Malfoy's hand. "What's that?" she said pointing at the paper.

Malfoy quickly pushed it back behind him and glared at Hermione. "Once again Granger, none of your business." Malfoy snapped.

Fed up with Malfoy's attitude, Hermione got up to leave but Malfoy suddenly sighed and called her back.

"Wait." Hermione quickly turned around shocked he would ask her to wait. "I just want to talk to someone." He said looking down with sadness written all over his face.

Hermione apprehensively went to sit down next to him, thinking this could all be some sort of a trick to hurt her, but Malfoy's face pushed back her concerns.

"What's wrong Malfoy?"

"I just found out my mother died." He said in a very small voice that Hermione had to strain to hear. "My father killed her because she had planned to go against the Dark Lord and my father found out." All of this suddenly spilled out of his before he realized what he had said.

Hermione sat quietly by his side not sure what to say.

"I often come up here to think about my problems so I decided to come up here after I had read the letter."

Malfoy's face suddenly became illuminated with the moonlight seeping through the glass in the ceiling and Hermione realized how strikingly handsome he truly was. He had grown from that pointy-faced ferret to a handsome young man with very defined features. His hair was no longer gelled back, but was cut in such a way that it fell gracefully in his silver colored eyes.

"I'm so sorry Malfoy." Was the only thing she could come out with.

"No I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I'm sure your surprised with my changed attitude. It's just that my mother's death hurt me so bad that I don't know if I'll ever be the same. I feel so empty inside. I almost feel dead."

"Malfoy if you ever want someone to talk to, you can always come to me. Just keep that I mind."

"Thanks Granger. I think I'll be ok. By the way, you never told me what was bothering you."

"It's complicated." She replied not wanting to think about it anymore.

"Hey, I told you my secret, now it's your turn." He said smiling for the first time that night. It was a new, genuine smile that Hermione, nor any of her friends, had ever seen before on Malfoy's face. This smile with warm and inviting; it was much more pleasant than his trademark smirk.

Hermione took a deep breath then began to tell Malfoy the story. "Then I found him in bed with Ginny." She couldn't continue. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Blinking several times trying, unsuccessfully, to prevent them from coming out, they began to stream out of her eyes and down her face. She swallowed hard and continued. "So then I ran up here and found you." The tears never did stop falling and soon she found herself in a warm embrace that made her feel better than anything she had felt before. Even his hugs were better than Harry's. She wanted to stay like this forever. Suddenly she realized what was happening. This is Malfoy, that mean egotistical prat that constantly calls you mudblood. Suddenly realizing what was happening she quickly pulled away.

"Oh sorry. I don't know what came over me. I guess I don't like to see someone cry. I wasn't really amused with your crying earlier. I was more shocked. I've never seen you like that, but if it makes you feel better I could hurt Potter for you. I really wouldn't mind. In fact I think I would enjoy that."

"No Malfoy, that would only make matters worse. I have to deal with this myself." She suddenly got up after realizing how late it was getting. "I have to go Malfoy. I'll see you around."

"Don't tell me your going to go back to Potter. After he cheated on you. Don't you realize it? He doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve you at all; you deserve so much better."

Hermione just looked at Malfoy after he said this. She was speechless. All she could say was, "Malfoy I have to go" and she left without another word.

A/N: Hey, I hope you liked the next chapter in my story, Destructive Love. I plan to update weekly, but I would update much sooner if I got more reviews…