Warning- Emo Hermione and AU

Disclaimer: All HP is belonging to JKR.

Chapter 5- Let Me Be Your Hero

As the sun rose the following morning, Draco was woken from his thoughts by the small stirrings of the girl curled up beside him, her head gradually slipping of his chest. He shook his head violently, trying to clear his head. Hermione groaned softly and lifted herself to a sitting position. As she wiped her bleary eyes, Draco couldn't help but think of a small child, the cuteness of her movements combined with her tiny, childlike frame. He smiled slightly, watching her. She looked at him with an uneasy smile.

"You're laughing at my hair aren't you; I bet it's become a bush overnight," she complained, frowning at the hair that had fallen around her shoulders.

Draco laughed at her pout, "Nah love, I was smiling at how cute you are."

Hermione gave him a sceptical look and hopped off the bed, making her way to the bathroom. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she thought about the night before. He knew everything about her- every dirty little secret; how sinful, how disgusting and filthy she really was, and yet he was still treating her so perfectly. Why didn't he hate her? He had even said that he loved her. She stood inside the shower after shedding her nightdress and turned the water on full. As the lukewarm water cascaded around her minuscule body she couldn't help but wonder what would await her in her bedroom.

She finished up, brushed her teeth and grabbed a bathrobe. Wrapping it tightly around her body, she marvelled at how much the thick material overlapped. Could this really be her body?

She opened the door tentatively, peering around it and saw Draco lounging on her bed casually, now dressed in new clothes- black jeans, a white top with an open green shirt that had a silver shimmering dragon emblazoned up the side- he was breathtaking. Hermione caught sight of his smirk and snapped herself out of her trance. She moved gracefully over to her wardrobe and took out her oldest pair of jeans, comfy and a worn black, along with a thick long sleeved blue top. She grabbed some underwear quickly and went back to the bathroom to change.

When she came out again, she sat beside Draco and stared at her hands as she picked at her nails, the chipped pink nail varnish barely hiding the purple-blue tinge they now were, and waited for Draco to talk first.

Draco sighed in resignation- he didn't exactly know where to start, but it was obvious that she was going to leave it to him to start things off.

"So…" he said softly, the word hanging in the air like a question. Her head jerked up and her eyes briefly locked onto his.

"Hermione, sweetheart, I'm just going to get straight to the point here. You're slowly killing yourself, you know that, yeah?" Hermione looked away at the wall sadly.

"I know you may not care about that sometimes, or feel no one else does, but I do. I love you so much, and I can't live without you. I don't want to. I need you, and I needyou healthy. Please sweetheart, let me help you get past this. Please let me help you live."

Hermione raised her eyes slowly to meet his, tears beginning to form in her bloodshot eyes.

"I-I want to believe you love me, I do. I mean, I love you, with all my heart. But I just can't see why you would love me- I'm filth, and you're so perfect. You shouldn't feel you have to degrade yourself by being near me. If it's guilt or pity, get over it, please. I don't want to ruin your life too."

"Hermione, don't ever say that. Ever. You are too good for me, you're beyond perfection. All this crap that's been thrown at you in your life, it doesn't touch you- you're better than it and you shine past it. I love you, for you, not for pity and not for guilt. I love you, okay, accept it. You are not going to get rid of me that easily. Please don't try. I love you and can't cope without you in my life anymore; I can't try and pretend anymore, okay? Please, let me help you." Draco placed his hand onto Hermione's cool emaciated cheek and stroked her cheek gently. "Please let me save you from this, you shouldn't have to go through so much hurt alone."

Tears finally escaped from her lids and streaked down her cheeks, some meeting Draco's hand, but he simply brushed them away. "I don't see why you're so worried though. You act like I'm on death's door here. I'm not, I'm fine and fat as always, the scales must just be faulty."

"You honestly don't know how wrong you are, do you?" he exclaimed. He led her over to the mirror hung on her wall. He took his wand at it and whispered "Ostendo verum". Hermione took in a sharp intake of air. She now, at last, fully took in the limp, knotted hair that hung around her hollow and bony face; her skin that had once been clear and a pale brown that now was greasy and pale with a grey tinge and sallow tint that could rival Snape's; and she saw her horrifying body, the way her clothes hung off her like they would on a coat hanger. She seemed oblivious to Draco now, only focused on her dreadful reflection, as she pulled off her top and unbuttoned her jeans so that they fell down in a heap around her bony ankles.

Hermione stood, staring in revulsion at the reflection, whose ribs stuck out painfully; even those above her breasts seemed to be straining against the pale skin. Her collarbones stuck out, razor sharp and her arms seemed to be frailer than the eldest branches of a tree; her dry skin stretched over the jutting bones of her elbows, shoulders and wrists. Her breasts were now virtually non-existent; the padded bra seemed pathetically empty and her knickers were loose and balanced precariously on the protruding hip bones that highlighted the concavity of her stomach. Her legs were no more than skin stretched over bone and of her back, all was to be seen was the ribs, spine and shoulder blades that seemed to jump out alarmingly everytime she moved.

Hermione let out a sob and crumpled to the floor where she lay sobbing in earnest. Draco went to her and held her unnaturally birdlike frame in his strong arms as she cried.

Soon after, she calmed enough to gasp out "How can you love me? I'm disgusting- so hideously ugly. You must think I'm pathetic for doing this to myself." She broke off as she choked down another sob.

"Hey, sh. Hermione, you are not pathetic, nor are you disgusting. You're just ill and you need to get better ok? And I'm promise I will help you and will be there every step of the way. Is that alright?" Hermione nodded slowly and cautiously sat up again.

"I should probably get dressed. Again," she said hesitantly.
"Yeah, might be a good start," he replied, a small smirk dancing on his lips, "how about I make us some breakfast while you get sorted okay? We might as well start getting you all better sooner rather than later."

Hermione gave a tiny nod and they moved to their separate tasks. When she was dressed again and had brushed her hair into some type of order, Hermione reluctantly walked to the kitchen area where she was met by a delightful smell of waffles and strawberries. Hermione efficiently set the table for them both and sat down, jittery with nerves. Draco laid a plate with a couple of steaming, sweet waffles, a pile of cut strawberries lying beside them. Draco set his own plate down, with about twice the amount of food on it and brought a pot filled with sugar and a syrup boat with him and set them in the centre of the small table.

"I thought you might want to start of smaller today" he told her indicating her portion and she smiled to him gratefully. Draco picked up one the syrup boat and drowned his waffles in them and then dusted them heavily with the sugar, before digging into them with fervour not dissimilar to the way a starving animal would dive at a scrap thrown to him. Hermione watched him contentedly, occasionally nudging a strawberry with her fork. Draco looked up at her hopefully, glanced down at her basically untouched plate and back up at her. He set down his knife and fork and sat patiently, looking at her expectantly.

Grudgingly, she speared the tiniest bit of strawberry she could see on her fork, and lifted it slowly to her mouth. She sighed with resignation and popped the bit of fruit into her mouth. As she chewed the piece, savouring the sweet taste of it on her tongue, she caught sight of Draco's smile. If she could get a smile just for that, would eating more earn more smiles from him? After all, the smile of an angel had to be worth facing the food. After all it was only some breakfast. She could cope with one plate of food couldn't she? Especially when her reward would be so great. So Hermione began to cut up her waffles into the tiniest pieces she could manage under the close scrutiny of Draco and slowly she began to eat them. After a few bites, Draco seemed to be appeased and he returned to his own breakfast with renewed vigour, a smile still playing on his features.

Draco quickly finished his breakfast and watched as Hermione began to struggle with her food. She got about three quarters of the way through it before pushing it away, exhaustedly.
"Okay, I literally cannot eat any more. I'm going to explode," she groaned. Draco let out a soft laugh. "How can you eat so much?" she asked him.

"Okay, one, that's kind of a normal amount and two, I'm a guy so I eat quite a bit. You'll get used to eating more, sweetheart. You'll need to eat a lot more than me eventually if you're ever going to gain weight and get better."

"Mmm…" Hermione let out reluctantly. It was such an alien concept- after all this time of dieting, of losing weight being the only thing that mattered; to be told she had to gain weight was disconcerting at the least.

AN- Hey all. Sorry I've made you wait so long for an update. But it's up now and I'll do my best to get the last chapter or two up soon but the story is almost over! D= Reviews would be nice ;)