A/N: So I had a large writing block and I couldn't really move it. I'm going through a whole bunch of stuff and I think this one shot pretty much embodies all of it. I hope you guys like it. For the first few paragraphs I couldn't write a damn word. Excuse the language. I hope to be updating a little more recently. I know I said that last time, but I start school next week and I'll have an actual schedule going that will give me time to write. So hopefully I will be able to update some more in the coming months. If not, I hope you enjoy this.

Changing

Draco watched her from afar. She was much different than she had been before. She used to not care what people thought of her. She used to be able to walk the school halls like she owned them, head held high and no obstacles in her way. It didn't matter to her what she wore or how she looked. But that was years ago. Things were different now.

Draco hadn't seen her in four years. The last time he had seen her was graduation. She had been crying and hugging friends and family. Draco had been so envious of her. His parents had said he was foolish for going to the graduation. He had barely learned anything at that crackpot school. But Draco had wanted to go. He had learned lots of things at Hogwarts. And even had some good memories.

But now he wasn't envious of her. Shortly after graduation, he had gotten a good job at the Ministry; a nice desk job in the Improper Use of Magic office. A few months ago, Hermione Granger had been hired for a similar job. Draco had wanted the job because it wasn't a major job. He didn't want a job that made him look like he was trying to get back the power his family had once held. He just wanted to live a normal life, in a small apartment, barely getting by like all the other kids his age.

But Hermione could have had so much more. She was the smartest witch of the age and she could have had almost any job in the world. Draco had no idea what she had done for three and a half years after Hogwarts, but if she was here at this job, then something had gone wrong. Her first day had been a strange thing for him. When she walked in, Draco had barely recognized her. Their boss had put her in a cubicle just behind his. So he could see her clearly whenever he did anything.

He saw her everyday. She would walk in after him, her clothes pristine, her make up and hair were impeccable. But her eyes were dead, her face emotionless and cold. For the longest time Draco wasn't sure whether it was really Hermione Granger, the lively carefree girl who had hated him so much during school. But that was the name on the cubicle, that was the identity she was trying to sell. And there were small things Draco would notice that would clearly identify her as who she said she was.

A tiny murmur while she worked, the way she brushed her hair behind her ears whens he was thinking, the nervous tick of her eyes when she knew someone was watching her. Draco noticed the little things with her, and knew it was Hermione. And while she didn't look the way she used to, it was definitely her.

Months passed and while he noticed enough to make him sure it was Hermione, he didn't notice other things. He didn't notice the way her clothes hung on body, but there was nothing filling it out. He didn't notice the sallowness of her cheeks, the weary drift of her body when she stood for too long. He didn't notice the way she would close her eyes after a few hours, exhaustion hitting her. He didn't notice how badly she needed help.

Til one day when they ran into each other outside of work. Draco was at a small bakery picking up some pastries on a Sunday morning. As he stood in line, a woman came into the shop, saying a quick hello to the owners before rushing upstairs. It was Hermione.

She had been wearing a large sweatshirt and some baggy jeans. But when Draco saw her, he knew it was much more than that. He recognized those jeans as a pair she constantly wore to Hogsmeade. And while they fit her perfectly seven years ago, now they hung loosely on her hips and bagged around the thighs. And that jacket had once fit snugly on her, but now it looked many sizes too big. Hermione had lost weight, and not in a healthy way.

After that day Draco started to notice. She never ate at work. He would go on break at the same time as her, and would follow her. She just went outside and sat, talking on the phone some days, in complete silence others. But no matter how you looked at it, Hermione Granger was not the same girl that she had been in school.

Draco wished he could do something for her. Help her in someway, but he had no idea how to. Who could he reach out to? Potter and Weasel? They worked literally a floor away, and yet she never went to their floor. What had happened to Granger to make her so different? Draco was determined to find out. Not because he cared, but because it was the right thing to do.

As Hermione went upstairs for her break, her phone already out, Draco headed downstairs to the Auror office. He was never down here much. He had constant correspondence with the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, but the Aurors were out of his league. And Draco was fine with that. Eventually he wanted to see if he could be an Auror, but for now, he was fine with his desk job.

As he looked around the Auror office, he saw a cubicle with Potter's name on it. Potter was a much more reasonable person than Weasel, and was more likely to actually talk to Draco than Weasel. He knocked softly on the cubicle, trying to get his attention.

"Malfoy? What brings you down here?" Potter seemed surprised to see him.

"I was just wondering if you've talked to Granger recently?" No reason to start telling him things. A simple question to start off would do just fine.

"No. She said she was going on a backpacking trip. She wanted to go visit all these different countries before she started working. I haven't seen her since just after graduation. Why?" Draco had not been expecting that. So she had lied to her best friend? Why?

"No reason. I thought I saw her the other day, but I must have been mistaken. The woman I thought was her didn't look so well, so I was just making sure she was ok. But I'm glad to hear she's seeing the world. It must be amazing." Draco continued the conversation, talking politely with Harry. Apparently his wedding was soon, and he was getting nervous. Draco also found out that the Weasel had been killed last year. Apparently, he had joined the British Army, and had been sent to Iraq. He had died a hero. Draco gave his condolences to Harry and agreed to talk more with him. As Draco made his trip back up to his office, he wondered why Hermione would lie to Harry. He also wondered if she knew that Ron was dead?

Upon his return he found her still at break. He went back to work, but kept an eye out for Hermione. He needed to talk to her. As she came back in, her eyes looked red and puffy. She had been crying. She gave a quick glance at him, and then sat down at her cubicle. Draco spun around in his chair and watched her for a few minutes before she face him and stared him down.

"What do you want Malfoy?" She said quietly in a defeated voice. Every second he looked at her, Draco felt more and more sorry for her. He wanted to help her, do something for her. He hated seeing her like this. It made him feel more than guilty for the things he had said to her as a kid.

"I want to know why you lied to Harry about going on a backpacking trip across the world." He said it calmly and quietly. He didn't want her to get angry at him before he figured out what was wrong. She stared at him for a long while, and then looked away. But Draco wasn't going to give up. He asked her every day for a week before she finally gave in and told him everything.

"Because things were going on that I didn't want to involve Harry and Ron in. I wanted to be able to get over my problems alone. For the longest time I wanted privacy, and I couldn't get that as part of the Golden Trio. So I told everyone I was going backpacking, and instead stayed here." Hermione was reluctant to tell him, he could tell.

"Do you know about Ron dying?" Draco wasn't going to tip toe around the subject. She either knew, or she didn't.

"Yes. I heard in the news, but at least he did something with his life, right?" Hermione asked, looking Draco in the eyes. He nodded, holding her gaze.

"Can I ask one more question?" He asked, unsure of how to ask this next one. She nodded, but her eyes were guarded, uncertain of the question.

"What happened to you? Something is different about you, and you don't seem like the girl I knew in school. I want to know what happened, what changed you so much that I barely recognized you when you walked through those doors?" Draco said looking genuinely concerned. And he was. Though he had no feelings for Hermione Granger, he felt a sort of obligation to make sure she was alright. He seemed to be the only friend she had right now, and he wasn't much of one at the moment.

But just like before she stared at him for a long time, before turning away and going back to work. Draco was going to get her tell him what happened. Even if he had to force it out of her mouth. But as he turned towards work himself, he had a plan to get Hermione back to the girl she used to be.

The next day, as Hermione went on break, he followed her, but this time he grabbed her arm and steered her into the break room.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" She asked, her hands on her hips. Draco went for the fridge and retrieved a large lunch bag.

"Eating lunch with you." He said as he started setting out food. He locked the door with wandless magic, and pulled out the chair for her to sit in.

"Malfoy, I'm not hungry." She said, but her eyes came alive and said otherwise.

"I haven't seen you eat since Hogwarts. Now sit. And eat." He said maneuvering her into a chair. In front of her were some nice fluffy biscuits and mashed potatoes with gravy. He magically heated them up, and wafted the smell towards her. There was also a large tupperware filled with a traditional Irish meal called Corned Beef Hash. It was Draco's personal favorite. Mainly just onions, corned beef, scrambled eggs, and potato chunks mixed into a delicious meal.

"So demanding. I'd think you had a fetish for watching people eat." Hermione said tentatively grabbing a fork. She took a small bite of the mashed potatoes and picked off some parts of the biscuit before claiming she was full. Draco got her a cup of tea and made her drink the entire thing. For the rest of lunch they sat and talked, and Draco wouldn't let her leave until she had a few more bites of at least something. She tried the Corned Beef Hash, taking a few bites of it just to make him stop bugging her.

Draco did the same thing every day. A different meal of course, but he would always go on break at the same time as her and make her eat and talk to him. After a few months of making her go in the break room, she walked in there willingly. Day by day she ate a little bit more food. It never got exponentially more, but it was at least a little progress.

He learned that before seventh year she had obliviated her parents into forgetting about her and that she still hadn't managed to reverse it. He found out that she and Ron had dated for only a few months before going through a nasty break up that tore their friendship apart. He had learned that for those three years she had been going to Muggle college and was taking classes. She had gotten a degree in Literature and wanted to be an author. However, she needed money and this was the only job she had managed to get. Draco thought he was really getting somewhere with her.

Then one day she didn't show up for work. Draco didn't really think anything of it. She may have gotten sick or had a family emergency to deal with. But when that one day turned into a week, he started to worry. Then that one week turned into a month. He went back to that bakery where he had seen her before and asked the owners about her. They said that she had gone to the hospital almost a month ago in the middle of the night, and hadn't come back.

Draco ran to the hospital, scared that something bad had happened to her. When he got there, the nurse told him that Hermione Granger had passed away the previous night.

"She finally succumbed to the cancer." The nurse said as Draco clutched the counter.

"Cancer?"

"Yes, she had been diagnosed with leukemia nearly three and a half years ago. We thought she had been doing so well during Chemotherapy, but I guess it wasn't going as well as we thought. Do you happen to know Draco Malfoy?" The nurse asked.

"That's me." Draco wasn't sure why the nurse would ask his name. Could Hermione have left him something?

"Miss Granger left a note for you." A white slip of paper was slid across the counter towards Draco. He took the paper, cautious of what it would hold.

Dear Draco,

These last few months have been amazing. I knew I should have told you about the cancer earlier. I wish I had. Maybe then I wouldn't be here on my deathbed alone. But you were a good friend to me the last few months. You made me eat, gave me someone to talk to about anything. When you asked what had happened to me, I wanted to tell you. But I wasn't sure how you would take it. You said I had changed so much since Hogwarts. Well so have you. And luckily, it was for the better. You are a good man, Draco Malfoy. I hope you know that. Please don't change too much now. Please tell Harry. I don't want him to keep waiting for me to return. I shouldn't have lied to him in the first place. I am so sorry.

My deepest regards,

Hermione Granger

As Draco read the note, he felt the tears streaming down his face. He had told himself so many times that he had done this not because he cares but because it was the right thing to do. But he had lied to himself. He cared. He had cared so much for Hermione, it had been hard to watch her waste away. And now she was gone and he would never know what could have been.

He told Harry what had happened, and showed him the note. Harry cried, hating himself for not recognizing her whenever he saw her in the Atrium. Draco planned her memorial service, and while very few people showed, it was probably more than Hermione had expected.

Draco never went back to the desk job at the Improper Use of Magic office. Instead he applied to a job as a Healer. He spent years in training and eventually made it to Healer. He worked at St. Mungo's healing those who were sick and making them better. And in his spare time, researched a cure for cancer. By the time he died at 78 years old, he was famous for creating a cure. While it had come too late for so many, it would save a million lives all the same. And as he lay on his death bed, no children or grandchildren to speak of, he was completely alone, like Hermione.

"I have dedicated my life to helping people, to changing the fates design. I hope you're proud of me Hermione. I hope you've seen what I've done." Draco closed his eyes, hoping to see that great white light everyone talked about.

"I have, and I'm so proud of you, Draco." Hermione said to him. He opened his eyes to see her laying next to him, her eyes as brown as he remembered them, her face smooth and not a day over 21. She was there, beside him smiling and welcoming him.

"You're so beautiful." Draco said touching her cheek. She laughed, a beautiful sensational laugh he hadn't heard in so many years. She took his hand, and pulled him into a sitting position.

"Everyone is beautiful in death."