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A/N: This is my first FanFiction, so I decided to start with a simple one-shot showing as if it was Hermione who found Draco crying in the Half-Blood Prince instead of Harry. (Oh, and Moaning Myrtle is off somewhere else, that interfering ghost :I )

Please please please Read & Review! It would mean so much~ x3

Letting Go

By yukiandzero

In the chaotic days leading up to the crucial Quidditch match with Ravenclaw, Hermione found herself strolling by herself along the sixth-floor corridor, making her way to the marble staircase that lead up to the next floor.

You see, not long before, Hermione had been in the common room with Harry and Ron, waiting to head down to dinner, when Harry had decided that he was going to go and check on Malfoy again. Despite her and Ron's objections, Harry still believed Malfoy was up to something, and was determined to find out.

As to how she was now on her way to the Room of Requirement herself, that all comes down to the fact that she felt kind of bad for Harry. Although she thought his beliefs were quite ridiculous, and that Malfoy could in no way be a Death Eater already, she felt bad about leaving him alone like that. She understood what it was like having nobody believe you. The entire Golden-Trio did, thanks to the Daily Prophet last year.

So Hermione had told Harry that she would try and get into the room herself, accompanied by Ron, who had no choice but to come with the threat of not being able to copy her notes ever again hanging in the air.

As to why she was by herself now, well, Ron had run off into a nearby bathroom not long ago to throw up again, so she decided to just leave him and check out the room by herself.

She checked the Marauders Map to look for Malfoy's name anywhere. When she couldn't find it, she assumed he was still in the Room of Requirements, but then she spotted his name, right near hers! Frozen still from shock, she stared at the map. There it was, Draco Malfoy's name, in the sixth-floor boy's bathroom, only a few meters away. After some serious contemplation, she decided to back up and listen on the door, just in case.

She pressed her ear to the door softly, then opened the door a creak, just enough to see through.

And in no way was she prepared for what she saw.

Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, bowed over the sink, gripping the edges with his pale hands. His whole body was trembling, his shallow breath coming in racked sobs.

Hermione couldn't believe it. Malfoy was actually crying. Gone was the usual smug look and infuriating smirk. Instead, his white-blonde hair fell over his eyes, tears streaming down his pale face to his chin, then dripping into the basin below.

She was at loss for what to do. All of the curses and insults that usually came to her mind when seeing Malfoy's face were gone. Did she feel... sorry for him? She didn't know what was wrong, but somehow she didn't think that anything school related could have made the proud Draco Malfoy cry this bad.

In the end, she decided to simply leave and tell Harry what she had discovered. Just as she was closing the door slowly, never taking her eyes off Malfoy, he looked up. He looked into the cracked mirror and saw Hermione, frozen still, like a deer caught in headlights.

Draco whirled around, whipping out his wand to face Hermione. Before his silent hex could get her, she flung the door shut. The hex hit the door, which exploded into splinters loudly. By that time Hermione had her own wand out. She didn't want to have hurt him before, but now she was mad. Petrificus Totalus ! she thought and flicked her wand. In his disheveled state, Malfoy was too slow to deflect the spell, and froze up immediately.

In that moment, as Hermione looked into his light grey eyes and tear streaked face, she made up her mind to help him. She walked over to him cautiously.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I want to help."

She reached down and took his wand out of his hand just in case, before facing him, thinking Rennervate! and waving her wand. Instead of trying to grab his wand back immediately like she expected, Draco just fell back against the wall silently, his hair falling lightly back over his eyes.

Hermione hesitated. She'd never thought that she'd end up trying to comfort Draco Malfoy, and quite frankly, for all her intellect, she had no clue how. In the end, it was him who spoke first.

"Listen, I don't need your sympathy Granger. Just leave me alone."

Now she was quite unhappy. Here she was trying to help him, and he was just blowing her off. What an ungrateful git.

"I think you should be thankful it was me who found you here instead of Harry. I just want to help you, so please, give me a chance." Hermione replied slowly. She kind of wished she never agreed to help Harry, but knew that maybe Malfoy knew something, and that this was a good opportunity to find out.

"I know you don't really care about what happens to me." He looked up. "All your going to do is run back to Potter and that Weasel so why on earth should I trust you of all people."

Whoa, was she that readable? Either way, she had to find out what was up before filch or someone came running up to investigate.

"I'm not the type to take advantage of classmates. I know your not an all round evil person, so please just believe me. Please Draco." Looking into his light grey eyes unflinchingly, she begged that he would believe her, but something told her he wasn't the type to give in so easily.

"Look Granger, just give me back my wand and go. No one can help me." He looked down again.

What did he mean no one could help him? Despite Hermione telling herself that he was a slimy git who doesn't deserve to be comforted, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. But she wasn't going to give him his wand back anytime soon. She racked her brain on how to help him. She couldn't hug him or anything. That would just be awkward. So definitely no physical contact. She was no psychologist either. But she had read several books on psychology and they all seemed to contradict each other. Some say that talking about it is the best option, while some say that trying to forget about a particular experience was the best way.

Hermione knew that she needed to get Malfoy to talk, so the second option was ruled out.

"If you let me, I can help. You don't have to stay in the dark. If you help us, we can help you. Don't you understand?" She replied lamely.

"If I don't do it soon, he said he'd kill me."

Hermione stared at him.

"What?"

He looked up.

"Not so smart now are you Granger. Now give me back my bloody wand."

She didn't move.

"Draco, who's going to kill you?" She asked quietly, never breaking eye contact with him. When his eyes welled up with tears, she panicked.

"He's going to kill me, and neither you nor your bloody friends can help me unless I do it."

"What? Do what?" She was nervous now. She was so close to hearing what Harry had been after for weeks now. Yet again, Hermione Granger was at loss for what to do. She placed and hand softly on his shoulder. "Please tell me Draco. If you tell us, we can help. We have Dumbledore and Harry and so many people. We can help."

At the mention of Dumbledore's name, Draco's eye's widened slightly.

Hermione never thought in her lifetime that she'd ever see Malfoy look this vulnerable. But it was short lasted. He grabbed her wrist arubtly causing her to drop his wand, which he picked up swiftly and pushed past her to the door.

She turned around to stop him before he left, but stopped suddenly when she saw that he was standing in the doorway facing her.

"I wish it was true. I wish you and golden boy really could help me. But sometimes someone is just meant to suffer alone." With that, he turned around and shut the door before Hermione could reply.

A/N: So yeah, I know it was a bit fast paced at points, but this is my first, and I was making it up as I go x'D So please please Read & Review~! If I get enough reviews, I might even make it into a chapter story, but I don't think that's very likely.


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