Salt in your wounds

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry potter or any of the other characters or the places or anything this plot is mine but that's about it anything that you recognise is not mine either, although I'm pretty sure there isn't much.

I don't own the song 'perfect' by simple plan

CHAPTER

Masks

Hermione entered the great hall late the next morning, and the morning after. A week passed and she barely ate, she found it hard to sleep and she couldn't be bothered listening in class, all her teachers -with the exception of professor Snape- asked her what the matter was when she didn't raise her hand to any questions during the lecture. Each time this happened, she would shrug lazily and say she wasn't feeling well, or that she was a bit tired from her patrol duties the night before. The teachers would nod knowingly and leave her be.

Nobody else noticed that the pristine head girl was barely alive; during meals she would bury her head in a large book not taking a word in or simply not turn up.

The teachers weren't the only ones that noticed Hermione's lack of participation in class; Draco would often shake his head sadly when he heard the girl's poor excuses, but say nothing.

The week slowly passed for Draco, each night a new wound would appear, on his arms, legs and a few on his chest, and each morning there would only be a thin white line where it used to be.

Friday came; he was greeted in the morning at the breakfast table where he merely pushed his food around not bothering to pretend to eat, by his father's black and grey owl. 'A letter from my bastard father. This should be fun!'

Draco

I hear you have been slacking off, don't ask by whom for you know I wouldn't tell you, I've written to inform you that I have business to attend to and am unable to take you home this Christmas.

Don't mess up the Malfoy name. if you do anything at all in which I would disapprove off then you will pay dearly.

And if you fry anything like what you did this summer I will not hesitate to remove you.

Don't reply I need not know your views.

Lucius Malfoy.

'Business! What bullshit father, kissing the dark lords ass isn't business, it's your fucking day job.' Draco thought bitterly as he ripped up the parchment and dunking it in his pumpkin juice before leaving the hall to meet professor McGonagall to take himself and Hermione to the carriages that will take us to the important dinner they would be attending.

Draco let out a breath out a sigh of relief as he escaped the crowded great hall, 'so full of happy ignorant people who don't understand' he thought as he walked along the empty corridor.

"Hey dad look at me, Think back and talk to me, Did I grow up according to plan, And do you think I'm wasting my time, Doing things I wanna do, But it hurts when you disapprove all along" he laughed lightly at himself as he sang the first verse of the muggle song he had heard so often when he was with Natasha. He hummed for a bit trying to remember the words "Cuz we lost it all, Nothing lasts forever, I'm sorry I can't be perfect, Now it's just too late, And we can't go back, I'm sorry I can't be perfect he laughed again dwelling over the words.

"Never was much of a singer, what about you Granger?" he asked as he heard Hermione coming closer, and smelt her light familiar perfume. He heard her paused momentarily before joining him as he walked slowly down the corridor.

"Your not that bad, I've heard much worst" he laughed again but Hermione noticed it was hollow and without any emotion.

"What about you? What do you do besides being the brain behind the operations?" Hermione looked up at his sullen face.

"Sing, only to myself, when no one else is listening" Draco nodded mutely.

"It's good to have a release" Hermione nodded, this was the first time they had talked properly since the afternoon on the edge of the astronomy tower.

"What about you? Where's your release" he laughed lightly and looked at his arm. Hermione joined his amused smile. "Other then that" Draco smiled glancing up at the ceiling and then back down to Hermione, Hermione saw a flicker in his dull eyes.

"Draw, what ever, when ever" Hermione smiled and nodded. She opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted by professor McGonagall's shrill voice.

"There you are, I was looking for you, come come, we must hurry we don't want to be late" she said impatiently as she walked past them completely, heading towards the entrance.

The two shrugged and followed diligently.

Professor McGonagall led them to one of the carriages that take them to the school on the first day. Draco paused quickly and raised a hand to stroke the Thestral he looked calmly at it and nearly smiled when it didn't pull away but stood there and seemed to nuzzle him for more pats.

McGonagall motioned for his to enter the carriage and sit down he did so somewhat hesitantly, he wanted to stay with the Thestral but new he couldn't.

"Now I won't be coming with you, so you have a three hour journey together. When you arrive you are expected to meet with professor Dumbledore quickly before you have your recreation time. Then at five you will be taken to the hall with the respected guests. I expect that you can do this; you have both earned professor Dumbledore and my self's trust. You are grown up now and I expect no petty rivalries. You are on display and I expect you to set a good example and make our school look good." Both students nodded. Professor McGonagall let a small smile cross her face before she left the carriage and told it to go.

And so began the long journey.

An hour into the trip Hermione pulled out a small book with faded pages and a hard leather cover. She looked through it finding where she had left it. It was a diary of the girl who had been killed at the orphanage. She wanted to read it but every time she touched it she could smell the old beds that they had to sleep on, she could smell his foul aftershave and his disgusting body odour. She shivered at the memory, but read none the less.

Draco also pulled out a book but his was filled with drawings and sketches. He flipped to the last picture he had drawn. It was of boy, nearly a man; he was tall and wore a large black cloak. He seemed perfectly normal except for his eyes. Draco had drawn them as pure blackness. There was not trace of colour in them. But in the background he had drawn a deep red room. The only red that touched his body was the blood dripping from his eyes. Underneath the picture he had written in his scrawled handwriting. 'He may not have eyes but he see's clearer then many'. He flipped the page and was faced by a white page. He glanced up at the other passenger and saw her deeply engrossed in what she was reading. Without realising he started to scratch away at the paper with his pencil, forming lines that covered the page he draw how she sat and stared at the book in front of her. He drew the window of the carriage that she was leaning on; he changed the view from the empty planes that were there to a battlefield. Hermione looked up at him as he glanced from her to the page and back again, repeating the process as he curved every line, and perfecting the picture.

"Can I see?" Draco was snapped out of his trance by Hermione's voice. He glanced up again and smiled passing her the book. Draco busied himself by looking out the window as she opened the book. He watched her reflection in the glass, watching her flip though the pages slowly gazing intently at the drawings.

Soon Hermione was seated next to Draco and she looked thought the pages.

"Is this your first?" Hermione asked quietly as she traced the lines of a beautiful woman holding a young boy in her arms. Draco nodded smiling down at the woman and boy. Hermione squinted down into the corner where 'Natasha and Tommy' and a date was written.

"She's beautiful" Hermione said in awe, the woman's tanned skin was perfect and unblemished, her eyes seemed to sparkle and her delicate lips curved into a small secretive smile. Draco nodded looking down at the older woman who had been his best friend.

"Yeah, she is" his eyes seemed to cloud over and a peaceful smile found its way to his lips. Hermione turned the pages, a lot where of the woman or the young boy. Soon however the pictures lost there placid happiness feel.

One after Natasha smiling and dancing around in a swirling light summer dress, was one of Lucius Malfoy standing on a cliff surrounded by a bunch of men all wearing black cloaks concealing there faces. Lucius' was thrown back and he held a bloody knife in his hand. The words 'the man is always the child' were underneath and Hermione looked at it for a second before slowly turning the page, still not looking away from his Lucius' face. Each and every page had a dark and sad feeling about them. Near the latest one she saw a picture that transfixed her, she couldn't take her eyes off it, the more she looked at it the more she felt she needed to know.

The picture was of a face, it was divided down the middle, half was perfect, smiling and calm, the girls face was pure perfection, its skin was unblemished and seemed to glow with happiness. The other half was crying torn and broken, she had cuts scratching at her face, it looked scary and gruesome, but Hermione couldn't look away. But then she noticed that they eyes were exactly the same on both sides. Both staring and vacant. And both were like thunderstorms and dark clouds. She looked up at Draco and saw him watching her, which was when she noticed that he had the same eyes as the girl in the picture.

She looked back down at the picture and saw in small writing on the bottom,

'Perfect face, we hide from the crowds behind our masks that show perfection. Hidden behind the mask of lies is the true form, beaten and bruised, scared and alone. Not shown to the world. This is what we hide.'

Hermione closed her eyes. And nodded slowly realizing it was true.

She looked at the rest of the pictures and smiled when she saw herself sitting and reading. She gazed out the window in the picture and felt like looking out the real window to make sure it wasn't real.

"What'll you write for this one?" Draco looked out the window again then sighed and smiled at her.

"I haven't a clue." Hermione smiled and passed the book back Draco took it and held it close, but not opening it again. He hadn't shown anyone his drawings since Natasha died

A/N I just realised this chapter was never uploaded properly, so it missed a lot of stuff. Well here it is fixed

R&R