Hermione took Malfoy's potion up to him that night. He was sitting in his chair watching the night sky out the window. Knocking on the doorframe, she entered timidly when he waved her in.

"You get maid duty tonight, Granger?" He didn't look at her, and his voice was rough from not speaking.

Hermione didn't bother to correct him. "Yes," she replied. "Here's your potion." She handed it over, and Malfoy cradled it in his lap. "Are you going to drink that?"

Malfoy glanced over at her. "Worried for me, Granger?"

Hermione felt her shoulders tense. With conscious effort, she steadied her breathing. "Not particularly. But it's polite to hope for people not to die."

Malfoy laughed a little, which degenerated into a choking cough. Hermione held herself still until he finished. He raised the glass, toasted her and gulped it down. "Diluted, and still disgusting. But I'd better not disappoint you and die."

"Thankyou, I think," she replied under her breath.

"What was that?" he demanded, and Hermione scooted backward, away from him. Malfoy seemed alarmed at her reaction. "What are you doing, Granger? I just wanted to know what you said – it almost sounded witty. I wasn't going to attack you."

"No, of course not," she replied, inching forward to perch on the bed.

He narrowed his eyes, as though thinking of something. "Did you expect me to attack you?"

Hermione avoided his eyes. "Why would I expect that?"

Malfoy turned his chair to face her. "Well, maybe that idiot Weasley wasn't as wimpy as he seemed."

"Oh, so you do remember that I'm married?" Hermione jibed, not entirely comfortable in the room, nor sure how to handle this terribly ill former enemy.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "As far as I can tell, you aren't married anymore."

"Well, there's been no official divorce papers…"

Malfoy waved off her words. "Of course not. You take the ring off, you go back to your parents. If you want to go to extreme lengths, you grind the ring to dust and scatter it like ashes to the four winds."

"Well, you can't do that, can you?" Hermione snapped, feeling ignorant.

Malfoy snorted. "I wish I could, Granger. Unfortunately, my ancestors traded that freedom away generations ago. But we are pretty far a-field. I was asking if Weasley treated you poorly."

Hermione avoided his gaze, indignity warring in her with the desperate need to share her suffering.

"I'll take that as a yes," Malfoy commented after a long silence.

"It was the drink," she murmured. Malfoy snorted again. "No, really, it was. He was fine the rest of the time. But when he was drunk… Gods," she shuddered.

"And then he was drunk increasing amounts of the time?" Malfoy surmised. He turned to stare out the dark window once more. Hermione wiped her eyes, tried to warm the chill in her body and fight the burn of anger in her throat at the same time. "Did you tell Weasley… Ginny, I mean," he added to clarify.

Hermione shook her head. "What could I say? I mean, I told her… but not how bad it was. He's still her brother. And the Weasleys are very close."

"And it would be such a crime to shatter her innocence," he mocked.

"What's wrong with a family being close?" she demanded.

Malfoy was silent, looking out the window again. His face was blank, but Hermione thought she could see a tear slipping down his cheek. "There's nothing wrong with that," he said finally, his voice rough once more.

"But you miss your family?"

Malfoy pinned her with a direct look, trying to see if she was mocking him. "Of course I do. Watching on while Voldemort murdered my parents because of my failures… Barely escaping with my life… Learning later that Severus could have intervened but refused to… Yes, I miss my family, and I am jealous of other families having what I no longer have." He stared at her, his eyes daring her to deem his feelings unworthy.

Hermione reached out her hand to him, resting her palm on his forearm reassuringly. He stared at her, looked down at her hand, then lowered his head and cried silently. After a few minutes, his tears cleared and he wiped his face dry.

"I think I would like to sleep now, if you don't mind Granger."

Hermione nodded, stood. "Ok. And it's Hermione."

Malfoy stood as well. He held out his hand for her to shake. "And it's Draco." Hermione smiled and took his hand, shook it, then moved to leave.

"Goodnight, Draco," she said at the doorway. Malfoy gave her a half-smile. "Goodnight Hermione. Severus is a lucky man," he added.

He chuckled at her blush as he closed the door.