Hearing her name drawled by the person she least wanted to see when she was crying, Hermione snapped her head around, quickly drying her tears on her sleeve.

"Ferret. What do you want?"

She watched as he fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable at having found her crying. He'd never seen her cry before, not in all the years he'd insulted her. She also suspected that he didn't know her parents had been murdered, as it was being kept very quiet, with only herself, Harry, and the Weasley family knowing within the school, aside from the professors of course.

"What in Merlin's name are you crying over, Mudblood? Get a piece of homework back that only got a nine out of ten?" he drawled in her direction.

Straightening up, she glared in his direction. As if she'd cry over something like that! Besides, none of her work had ever gotten less than full marks. How dare he imply otherwise!

"For your information, Malfoy, none of my homework has ever gotten less than full marks! And as to why I'm crying, it's none of your bloody business. So why don't you just run off home to Daddy and gloat over how you're such wonderful purebloods and how all muggleborns like myself are scum of the Earth and deserve to be crying at your feet!" she shot at him, turning away to face the window again.

She heard him growl behind her, and waited for his scathing reply. She knew that he could never leave anything at that.

"For your information, Granger, my father is still in Azkaban, and as my mother is currently blaming me for the whole situation, it would be inadvisable for me to go home for the next two weeks. And why are you here? Surely your filthy muggle parents would have wanted their precious little know it all home for the holidays, so you could all pretend you're better than real wizards for the next two weeks? Or have your parents finally realised what a pain in the arse you are, and gotten rid of you?"

At the insult to her parents, Hermione spun around again, and got angrily to her feet. How DARE he!

"For your information, Ferret, my parents are fucking well dead! Happy now? They were murdered last summer by your father's best little Death Eater friends! So I don't have a home to go to!" she screamed, as she advanced on him.

This is me forever

One without a name

Seeing her advance towards him, Draco expected her to at least slap him for taunting her about her parents. Instead, she shouldered past him and ran out of the library, the tears once again streaming down her face.

Folding himself into the seat she'd vacated, he pondered what had just happened. Being a Death Eater himself, he had of course known about the death of Hermione's parents. It had not been a direct order from Voldemort, but when the Dark Lord had found out about the murder of the Grangers, to say he was pleased was an understatement. None of the Death Eaters had owned up to the task, for fear should the Dark Lord's pleasure turn to wrath, but he had still allowed himself to smile at the blow he knew it would inflict on Hermione and the rest of the Golden Trio.

However, after having seen her today, he didn't feel quite as pleased, for some unknown reason. The imagery and the reality of seeing her cry were two entirely different things. Merlin, even when her heart was breaking she was defiant. And yet all he wanted to do was to take her in his arms and to hold her until she stopped crying. The thought alarmed him greatly.

Pulled from his thoughts by a tapping at the window, he saw his eagle owl, Vires, holding what appeared to be a letter. Opening the window, he allowed the bird to enter, and untied the letter from it's leg. He saw by the seal that it was from him mother.

Cracking open the seal, he began to read the letter. As the letter slipped from his fingers, his vision blurred. As he bent down to pick up the letter, he knew he had to get out of the castle. He ran towards the entrance, and as he stepped out into the rain, he did something he hadn't done in over 10 years.

He began to cry.

This is me forever

One without a name