Author's Note: Hi, here it is, the new chapter! I'm very sorry that I did not update this sooner. By the way, I wrote this while listening to Josh Groban's "Cinema Paradiso". Hope you like it!

St. Mungo's Hospital

Hermione's Point of View

     I stood alone at the corridor, outside a door to a ward in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I must have stood there for eternity before I moved.

     Taking a deep breath, I finally rested one hand on the doorknob & turned.

     The ward was dark, except for the light which came from the shinning crystal bubbles clustered on the ceiling. One step at a time, I slowly approached the bed at the far end of the ward.

     At last, I saw him.

     He looked so peaceful, lying there, and yet, so tragically lifeless that my heart ached. The bruises on his deathly pale face & the bones protruding from his sunken cheeks tells of a tortured soul that was so unlike the Draco Malfoy I used to know.

     I proved his innocence. He is free, but……

      "We tried our best, Ms Granger." I turned around. It was the Healer, Augustus Pye. He approached me slowly.

      "The Aurors brought him in this afternoon. He was malnourished, injured, and severely ill. The disease had already penetrated his blood flow." Healer Pye gently lifted Malfoy's hand underneath the blanket, "according to the Aurors, he slipped into unconsciousness two days ago, and never did wake up since."

     I stared numbly at the hand in which Pye held in his palm, while I let the devastating news sank in. The hand veins were budging out of the pale skin, and they were blue-black……

     I was too late….

      "There is no hope?" I whispered, my eyes still focused on his hand.

      "He is severely ill, Ms Granger. He would have died if we had not administered an extract of the unicorn's blood, but……"

      "Cursed life…" I murmured. Augustus Pye sighed. "Yes, if administered in pure form and excessively, of course……"

     I tried. I tried my best, so hard. But I was late……too late…

     Tears started welling up in me, stinging my eyes. I turned my face away from Pye, and tried to blink away the tears.

     Healer Pye sighed deeply. "Ms Granger, I knew what you have done for him. That was, most honorable of you……" and he paused here before ending, "I think it's best if I leave you both now."

     Pye turned to go, but after two steps, he turned back to look at me, before adding hesitatingly "Ms. Granger, you may like to know that Draco Malfoy turned eighteen today."

     Eighteen. My age.

     I nodded, my eyes never leaving the bed. Healer Pye shuffled quietly out of the ward and closed the door behind him, leaving us alone in the cold ward.

     I kept vigilance throughout the night. And for the first time in my life, I talked to him. Really talked.

      "Draco," I began, "we have never been friends at school. You detested me. You looked down on me, called me a Mudblood and made me cry.

     I disliked you too. Your arrogance, your bullying ways, your abuse of those who were of Muggle parentage……when they trial you as the murderer of Arthur Weasley, I hated you. You were the epitome of evil, and I was happy when they sentenced you to Azkaban for your crimes.

     Dumbledore said you were innocent. I did not want to believe it at first.

     But then I saw you in Azkaban……You were injured, and you were coughing up blood. You could not even recognize me, but you clung to me like a frightened child.

    I cleaned you, and then I made you promise, to hold on, to wait for me. Do you remember?

     Do you know why? Because when I saw you at that moment, I realized that you are just a person, someone of our age, who is dying in a cell for a crime you did not commit.. Harry, Ron, & me, we all have our whole lives ahead of us. But you……dying young….no, you do not deserve this tragic fate. Not even you. I realize I will never forgive myself if I stood by and let you die in Azkaban. Not when I knew you were innocent.

     So I spent days, weeks investigating. I went everywhere, seeking out the truth so that I can prove your innocence. It was exhausting, but I pushed myself. Finally I did it. I brought the real murderer to justice. Your name is cleared. You are free now. You are free."

     I moved forward and held his hand tightly in mine.

      "Please, Malfoy……Draco, you have to wake up and see all this, please……you promised to hold on, you promised to live……"

      "Draco" and I finally broke down, "Please, don't die."

     That night, I wept as I watched Draco Malfoy dying before my eyes.

Author's Note: Do you like it? Please tell me what you think?