Chapter Six
"Hey, Hermione?" Draco quietly asked.
"Yeah, Draco?" Hermione responded in a sullen tone.
"Are you okay?" He was worried. Ever since Helen left, Hermione had been quiet and withdrawn. He couldn't blame her, because who leaves their eleven-year-old daughter and husband with nothing more than an 'I'm sorry'?
"I don't know," she replied honestly, curling up on her bed. And she really didn't. Hermione didn't know how to feel, she couldn't understand it.
Had she done something wrong?
Did her mother not love her anymore?
Would she ever see her again?
Hermione couldn't ask those questions. She was too afraid of the answers.
"Can I do anything?" Draco whispered sadly. He hated this. He hated seeing Hermione so…broken. She was always supposed to smile. Hermione had the prettiest smile ever.
"I just want a hug," Hermione whimpered through her tears.
Draco wasted no time scrambling up from the floor to her bed. Once he was there, he gathered Hermione up in his arms and held on for dear life. If she needed to be hugged, he'd stay right there forever…or until his mum made him come home. But knowing Narcissa, she'd just bring Hermione with them.
"It's not your fault, you know that, right?" He breathed into her ear. That was his biggest fear, that she was trying to blame herself.
"Really?" Hermione croaked, holding him just a little tighter. "You really think it wasn't me?"
"Hermione, no. It wasn't you. I don't know what happened, but I know your mum loves you. Who wouldn't?" He said soothingly and ran his fingers through her hair. "You're perfect. I think…well, maybe your mum just needed to get away. You said your parents had been arguing a lot lately…maybe…" He trailed off because he had no real answers and he didn't want to say the wrong thing.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Draco," Hermione sniffled into his chest.
"You'll always have me, Hermione. Always."