For Natalie, because I've disappointed her.

World's Forgotten Boy

It was a dream

not a nightmare

a beautiful dream

I could never imagine a thousand nods

I saw this girl next to me

who wasn't beautiful

until she smiled

and I felt that smile

coming at me in heat waves following

soaking through my body

and out my fingertips

in shafts of color

and I knew somewhere in the world

somewhere

that there was love for me

-Jim Carroll/The Basketball Diaries

Draco knew from the moment he accepted the task from the Dark Lord, that his chosen road would be long and difficult. Yet, now it seemed unbearable, and he could not shake its lingering presence. No matter how far into the back of his mind he pushed it.

Hermione could only stare at him with bewilderment as he clung to the hem of her robes, as he clung to the hope she represented.

She tried desperately in vain to push his hands away, but his dimmed, ashy eyes, weak, warm breath, and filthy, tear-stained cheeks left her chest clenched in sympathy.

Draco had only one thought. To make her see his repent, to know of his agony, to just stop bloody condemning him with those scared gold eyes.

He hushed her as he tugged sharply at the fabric gathered in his fists. She jerked forward and stumbled to her knees, allowing her soft body to fall into his.

He took the opportunity to grasp her face. "No shame. All my life, I'll not betray." He murmured mechanically, as if the mere touch of her activated the thought.

"What won't you betray? V-Voldemort?" She licked her dry, trembling lips and her hands clutched at his wrist, her nails franticly bit deeply into his flesh. It did not matter, it was how she fought the urge to close her lids, for she was afraid of what she saw in the depths of Draco Malfoy. It was like watching a sound tower crumble to the earth. She saw everything he was and it was all broken down. She could hear his heart break.

"I've done so many bad things." He hissed through clenched teeth, and winced at the pain of the memories. It burned to remember. Yet, it was his cross to bear. His fate.

"You've done a few." Her voice was surprisingly steady…and soft. "It's true." Hermione proposed her sweetest smile. She could not help but offer him compassion. It was in her nature. Loving, loyal, and unconditional. That was her.

He was something completely dissimilar Different than her, and different than who he used to be. Fraught,

frightened, and hopeful.

He was the World's forgotten Boy.

Her simple grin widened and her eyebrows swept together with concern.

Draco focused on that mouth. He had always thought her plain. Not beautiful, not ugly. Yet, in her smile she was brilliant. He felt it deep in his soul, coursing through his veins. Tingling, making his gut weak, everything that was the effulgence of a kiss. There he saw what was up for grabs. What he could have if he played the game right. "I just hurt everybody I know."

With quaking fingers, he reached up and very tentatively pushed the fringe from her temple. "I know I've hurt you." His tongue felt swollen and the next words tumbled from his throat with a choke. " I'm nothing."

Tears warned the rims of her lids and she shook her head in disagreement. Gathering him close and buried his head into her shoulder. "You're not nothing." She had to believe that. If she did not, if she believed he was as evil as those he served, that only meant it was the end of everything she knew. The end of every decent human being. "You are not nothing!" She pushed carefully at his shoulders and cupped his chin with tender authority. "You are a good man, Draco Malfoy." Her eyes blinked rapidly over his face, to verify her words registered. "And you've been given a second chance. This," she put her palm against his heart and placed his upon hers. "This is your chance." Her voice finally broke as a tear ran the curve of her cheek.

It was another hard road. Perhaps, the same one. The first step to redemption would be to shed all his fears. He took her hand from his breast and kissed her knuckles chastely. "And you'll help me?"

Hermione nodded and let him assist her in standing. It was her chance too. To keep a faith in a dying hope. One that had been butchered by the war. One she had foolishly stuck to.

And she knew for a while his eyes would remain faint, his breath a little shortened, and tears would stain his face. But even the most wrecked buildings could be repaired. Everything broken could be fixed. She knew only a miracle could mend the scratchy hindrance of a wounded soul.

Draco grasped at her fist, entwined his fingers within, and held on to the miracle tree. He was possibly like a noose for he and she, but it no longer mattered.

Because only Hermione remembered the boy the world had forgotten. The boy she had never known.

A/N: I wrote this for Natalie(something of nothing wears radish earrings) because she was truly heartbroken that "Anticipation" was only a one-shot. I hope this is as bittersweet as I intended. The Poem at the beginning is by Jim Carroll and every time I come across it, I think of Draco and Hermione. The song that inspired this one-shot is called " World's Forgotten Boy" – by Billy Idol. Their dialogue was sampled from the movie "Walk the Line "

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter Universe, but six worn copies. I don't own Jim's brilliant words or Billy's lyrics. Although I have mastered the Idol lip curl and the rocker fist. True story! And alas, I do not own the bits of dialogue.