Hermione spent the next few weeks in a sort of trance. She got up, went to the gym, went to work, forgot breakfast, snatched lunch, went home and went to bed. She got up before Ron and went to sleep after him. In bed every night she turned her face to the wall and lay there, sleep evaded her. She felt so alone. All of her friends were Ron's friends also. Everybody expected her to turn around and forgive him like she had done so many times before. Only this time, something was different. Her heart was coated in ice. All emotions had been cut off, like a dam blocking a roaring torrent. She couldn't cry, because if she started, she wouldn't stop. Sometimes, in the mornings Ron would try to kiss her or speak to her, acting like nothing was wrong, but she always pulled away. Even when he shouted at her to turn around, to listen to him, to come back to him, she didn't hear. Everything went over her head. Until one day.

Walking home from work, the rain was pouring down. Hermione didn't notice though. Her feet wondered an unfamiliar path, her mind was distant, remembering the years at Hogwarts. Innocence and laughter. Two emotions that seemed so far away. She stopped in the park where her and Malfoy had sat only a few weeks away. She sat down on that same bench. It was oddly comforting, somewhere that was completely untouched by memories of him. She pulled her knees up to her chest like she used to when she was a child. Time passed by, but keeping track of it was far beyond her. She could've sat there for hours, it could've been minutes, it could've been days.

"Granger?" A voice entered her frozen consciousness.

She looked up to see Draco Malfoy. He held an umbrella and his face was contorted with worry. No, she must be dreaming, Malfoy would never be worried about her. She was too unimportant. A mudblood. Nobody worried about her. Suddenly the river pushing against the wall overcame the dam and it came crashing down. Tears poured down her face and she sobbed uncontrollably. The dam was broken now and it felt like the river would never calm. He stood there, frozen for a minute, before bending down and gathering her in his arms. Hermione buried her face in his chest as he stroked her hair. Neither of them spoke. They didn't need to. His chest felt warm and she could hear his heart beating in her ear. It was beating quickly. The sound of it was comforting as she felt some of his warmth seep into her frozen body. She could almost hear the thoughts running through his mind as he wrapped his arms tighter around her and picked her up like she was a child. He walked with her as the rain slowed and stopped. A sun beam peaked out of the greyness of the clouds dancing on the puddles that Malfoy stomped through carrying her. She lay, slumped in his arms, she was no longer frozen...

The first sense she had that morning was warmth and that delicious feeling when you have slept deeply. The memories of the previous night started to flash back. The rain. The tears. Malfoy. He had held her while she cried. Why? Where was she? She sat up with a jerk to see Harry sitting by her bed. He looked at her and gave her that look. That slightly irritated but caring look.

"How did I get here?" She mumbled.

"Malfoy took you." He raised his eyebrows, "Anything you'd like to tell me?"

"Well I presume you know the story from Ron"

"Hermione, for Gods sake, you're my friend too! My best friend, who I would be dead without. I care about you" He exclaimed

"But you care about Ron more. I know you and Ginny want me to go back to him, forgive and forget isn't it" She replied sarcastically.

"You and Ron are destroying each other!"

"He's destroyed me! He makes me feel so small and unimportant all the time. He yells at me when I'm just trying to help him! He makes me want to stop feeling" She heard herself yelling.

A snuffling noise from behind the door took Hermione by surprise.

"What's that?" She asked

Harry looked down at his feet and mumbled something.

"Open the door Harry" she said quietly

He looked at her beseechingly.

"Open. It"

He obeyed her, behind the door stood Ron. He held out his hands to her, begging.

"You let him eavesdrop behind a door? God, what levels will the boy who lived stoop to next to get everything into his favourite little package. All tied up with a bow. I'm leaving. I will not let you persuade me to go back to feeling worthless. Our friendship is not worth that"

They stood there together silently. They always would, it would always be Harry and Ron, and then Hermione. The remains of the golden trio were burning. She stamped on them walking out the door. She didn't look behind her.