A/N: I don't own Harry Potter

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Word Count: 796

Warning: suicidal thoughts and actions

"Good bye," Hermione whispered, kissing the top of Crookshanks' head as she slipped out of the dorm room. She bit back tears. She knew they would miss her, that someone might care that she was gone, lately, it felt like nothing mattered. Everything was just grey. Everything was fuzzy, soft, her own mind felt dulled to the point of being useless. She'd done everything she could think of. Apparently the wizarding world didn't believe in depression, didn't believe that the mind could want to destroy itself.

"You're not doing it tonight, Hermione," a voice stated, as Hermione reached the shore of the lake.

"Why? Why am I not going to do it tonight? What am I not going to do?" she asked, not even bothering to see who was speaking. She didn't care. She was tired of fighting to just hang on. She was tired of everything falling apart around her. Things were so bleak right now. There was a chance they could win, there was a chance that it could all work out, but there were too many what ifs, too many things that could, that would, go wrong. She was tired of fighting.

"You're not going to drown yourself in the lake," the voice replied.

"What does it matter to you what I do or don't do?" she snapped, taking a step towards the icy water. It was barely October, but there had already been an early frost. There was a good chance she'd die of hypothermia before her water filled lungs gave out.

"It matters because it might make your pain go away for a bit, but a lot of us will be hurting more. You don't see how you affect the world around you, Hermione. You don't see the way you make me smile when you walk in the Great Hall. You don't see the way Draco glares at anyone when they talk to you. You don't see how much better everyone's lives are with you in them. I know things are hard, getting harder. We're all trying our best and sometimes, it feels like our best isn't good enough."

"It's not, I mean, perfect grades and then I have to help Ron and Harry with what seems like everything that isn't Quidditch. And then... on top of things, nothing feels right anymore. Nothing is bright, sharp, it's all just... dull."

"Taking yourself out of the world isn't going fix that. I don't know what's beyond, maybe it's better, maybe it's not. There are people here who care about you, people who love you, even if we can't figure out how to tell you that. Did you hear Draco punched Nott in the nose after he caught him staring at you in potions?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Because, Draco has a crush on you. He's got good tastes," the voice stated. Hermione had sat down at the edge of the lake, letting the small waves wash over her bare feet.

"Why should it matter if Draco the git likes me?"

"Because, maybe you could sway him to our side? I mean, he's not bad looking."

Hermione bit back a laugh.

"You think I shouldn't drown myself so I can play matchmaker between you, who I don't even know who you are, and Draco Malfoy?" she asked, bursting out into peals of laughter. Her entire body shook as she laughed, tears streaming down her face.

"It would be a new sense of purpose, something to do that has nothing to do with the war, something so ridiculous that you'd laugh every time you thought about it. Right now, you're not thinking about the darkness, just how insane I sound," the voice continued. Hermoine paused, blinking. The water didn't look quite so inviting now. It looked dark, black, almost scary.

"Fine, come out of the shadows, so I can see how completely insane this is," she stated. She watched the figure step into the dim moonlight.

"Neville?"

"See, I told you, insane. I'm the last person Draco would ever be interested in."

"He'd at least be happy you're a pure-blood," Hermione laughed. Neville smiled sitting down next to her on the ground.

"True, so want to help me get the wizard of my dreams?" Neville asked. Hermione smiled, her eyes sparkling at the idea of something new, something that was just felt so alien from the whole world she'd been seeing.

"Sure, and Neville, if I can't make things work with you and Draco, you'll at least have a friend in me," she answered, as they stared at the stars sparkling in the indigo sky. Neville smiled. He'd managed to save Hermione from herself tonight, confessed his feelings for Draco, and somehow, he knew things would work out, at least for the moment.