I'M BACKKKKKKKK!

Yeah so I'm home from the soccer tournament and ready to update again. Sorry for the long wait, but I have some really good ideas!

Chapter 11

Hermione POV

Hermione wasn't sure where to find Draco. After he had run off crying she had turned to face Ron with an expression of such anger, the Weasley boy shrunk in terror.

"What the heck was that for Ron?" Hermione yelled, "You know that his mum just died, why did you have to bring it up in that way?" Ron seemed to gain some of his confidence back.

"Because he's awful, Hermione," he shot back, "How have your feelings for him changed so quickly? Ever since the first day of school here when we were eleven he hasn't stopped calling you 'Mudblood'. He's never shown even a brief glimmer of kindness towards Harry, you, or me. Why the heck would he have changed so suddenly?" Hermione met Ron's eyes with a look of astonishment on her face.

"Ronald, in case you haven't noticed, which I wouldn't be surprised because you never seem to notice anything, his mother died. She is gone and I think that a family death can change you pretty suddenly."

Ron smirked and shot back, "Both of Harry's parents died and he isn't any different." It was all Hermione could do to not strangle the beet red, ginger haired boy.

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW HIM BEFORE THEY DIED RONALD! Don't you think that if Harry had grown up with two powerful wizards alive as his parents he would be just a little bit different? He would know more about magic and about Voldemort than you will ever know in your life, he would probably be best friends with Neville whose parents also played a key role in the old Order of the Phoenix, he wouldn't have a scar, wouldn't speak Parselmouth, wouldn't be hunted by Voldemort, and lastly, he wouldn't need to be with your family all the time to feel like he belonged to one because he would have his own. So if you're blind enough to believe that dead parents can't change you, you obviously have never thought about how lucky you are to have Harry in your life!" Hermione screamed at the boy.

Ron stared at Hermione, looking taken aback. "I..." he started, "I just don't think that Malfoy deserves a second chance. I mean, you just talked about how Harry's life is, and Malfoy has contributed a nice chunk of living hell to it." Hermione stared at Ron in anger.

"Draco has changed whether you see it or not. But seriously, Ronald, you really think people don't deserve a second chance?"

"Absolutely not." responded Ron.

"Then I guess you don't get one." Hermione said firmly without hesitation. "In case you haven't noticed Harry has forgiven Draco, I've forgiven Draco, and Draco wants to be friends with us. We don't need your opinion and from now on we won't even consider it because you have just separated yourself from the three of us.

And with that Hermione had turned on her heel and started to look for Draco.

Hermione had searched seemingly everywhere in the castle for Draco. Not only was he proving hard to find, he fight with Ron was distracting her from concentrating. How could you ever have had feelings for him? He just showed that he isn't even willing to try anything for you. He basically just threw away five years of friendship in an attempt to get what he wants and to separate you from Draco.

Hermione shook her conscious out of her mind. Right now she had to focus on finding Draco. She had searched every empty classroom in the castle, every secret passageway, and every corridor for the blond haired boy. One of the only places she hadn't looked was the dungeons because she thought that the thought of being near the Slytherins wouldn't have seemed pleasurable to Draco. After sneaking into the Gryffindor boy's common room, and going through Harry's things, she found what she was looking for.

The Maurader's Map. True, she hadn't approved of the artifact in third year, but right now she believed that finding her lost friend was of the utmost importance. Okay, Hermione, think. You're supposed to be the smart one. Finally she saw him huddled in a corner on top of the Astronomy Tower. Dropping the map on top of Harry's unorganized dresser, she sprinted down the common room stairs and up towards the spiral staircase leading up to the tower.

When she finally arrived, it took longer then she had thought to actually find Draco. He was hidden under a tarp that had been covering a telescope, hugging his knees, and with his head buried in them. He was shaking with what Hermione recognized as silent sobs. Her heart immediately broke for the boy. She gently touched his arm and he jumped. Obviously he had been too deeply buried in his own sorrow to comprehend what was going on in the world around him.

Even when she had made her presence known to him, Draco didn't immediately look up.

"Draco," whispered Hermione softly, "I'm so sorry for what Ron said. You can't take any of what he said to heart." Hermione was propped up on her knees with her hand still resting gently on Draco's shoulder. Finally he met her gaze.

His eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot. The only time Hermione had ever seen someone this upset was after Sirius' death last year when Harry had refused to speak to anyone for a week, immersed in his own sorrow.

"Y-You don't understand, Hermione," said Draco so softly Hermione had to strain to hear him, "He was right. I mean, not literally about everything, but my mother made a horrendous choice marrying my father. I know that he killed her, and ever since she's been gone, the only thing that I can think about is the way that she would never stand up for herself." Draco broke down in a fresh batch of tears.

Hermione looked over Draco sadly, "Draco, I know that this is really hard for you, but you can't keep thinking about what your mother could have done differently. She obviously loved you very much. I think that the reason she stayed with your father was that she knew if she left she couldn't be with you. Even if she couldn't show it all the time, she loved you Draco. I think that's what you need to remember about her." Hermione finished with a sad smile.

Draco looked up at Hermione, the new information seeming to dawn on him and he gave her a watery smile. "Thank you for that, Hermione, and I'm sorry you had to come find me. I shouldn't have run off like that."

"Hey," responded Hermione, "that's what friends do for one another. They have each other's backs when they need each other." Hermione smiled at Draco and drew him into a warm embrace. "I'll always be there for you if you need me, Draco, please remember that." Draco smiled back at the witch.

"I will," he promised with as much sincerity as he could muster. "But I think I'm going to ask Harry to take me off of the team. I don't want the tension between Ron and I to hurt our chances of winning. Hermione looked up at Draco, surprised.

"You won't need to resign. There are rules allowing team captains to kick their players off the team if the player physically or mentally abuses another player. It states that in the official handbook. Not only that, but Ron can get detentions or even be expelled for what he said to you. That was really serious, what he said. He can't get out under the radar for that.

After a minute of considering, Draco looked up at Hermione. "I don't think I want him expelled, but I will tell Harry what happened. You don't think that will draw too much attention will it? I don't want any other Gryffindors hating my guts."

"I don't think you have to worry about the Gryffindors anymore, Draco," responded Hermione, "I'm pretty sure that even Ronald's siblings and parents will shun Ron after what he did."

"Okay" sighed Draco looking relieved. "But if you don't mind I'm going to stay up here for a bit more. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"No, I want to," replied Hermione, "I'll always be here for you, remember?"

Draco and Hermione sat huddled together for warmth staring up at the stars. Every minute or two, Hermione would point out a different constellation. At one time, Hermione looked up and gasped.

"What is it?" asked Draco, sounding alarmed.

"Oh, it's not anything bad, sorry for alarming you," responded Hermione, "It's just...that constellation there," she drew a curved line in the sky ending in a box, "that's Draco the constellation. Did you know that it's circumpolar which means that it never sets?" Draco laughed and beamed at Hermione.

"Then just remember that even when I'm not around, I'll always be up in the sky watching out for you."

Hermione was at a loss for words. For one of the first times, her breath had been taken away by a simple sentence. Being Hermione, though, when a situation like this came up, the only words that escaped her mouth were useless facts. "Did you also know," she managed to stammer out, "that Draco means dragon in Latin?"

Draco laughed again and Hermione found that she enjoyed the sound.

"Hermione," Draco began, "You may be the brightest witch of our age, but I want you to know that you're so much more than that as well."

Hermione blushed.

Please read and review. Did you like the Dramione astronomy tower scene? I had a lot of fun writing this chapter partly because of the Dramione, but also because of the whole Ron scene. Let me know what you think!