After the Second Wizarding War, Hermione Granger closed up. She began to inadvertently find as much time as possible to be on her own. Harry and Ron were worried and tried to help as much as they could, until she finally ended up pushing them away, just as she had done to everyone else. She was desperate for space and time alone. Dark memories, nightmares, and panic attacks haunted her. She would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming. She would start at any loud noises. She felt like she couldn't trust anyone anymore, even her best friends. She was just so lost, so far from who she was, almost unrecognizable even to herself. Her hands were nearly always shaking; she found it hard to eat some times. Sleep evaded her this late night, as it had many nights before, so she snuck up to the Astronomy Tower. She found solace in the night sky, filled with stars that she named off in her head as she stared up at them. Suddenly, something snapped her attention away from her thoughts, a footstep or scuffling noise. Her wand was in her shaking hand, pointed in the direction in an instant. "W-Who's there?"

"Granger? is that you?" Draco asked, silently cursing himself for not thinking that someone else might be up here. He lowered his wand, but didn't put it away, unsure of how the Gryffindor girl would react as he stepped out to where she could see him.

Hermione gulped, recognizing his voice and his striking blond hair as soon as he stepped into view of the moonlight. "Malfoy, what are you doing up here?" She asked , trying her best to be as polite as she could in her tired and weak state, but it wasn't much. She lowered her wand, but just as he had, didn't put it away.

"Same as you, I assume. Can't sleep," he shrugged, taking a few steps into the room, and surprising himself with how calm he was at seeing Granger for the first time since the war. "I'm totally screwed for potions tomorrow, I haven't even started Snape's essay because I cant concentrate on anything."

"I've only barely started mine," she admitted, feeling suddenly ashamed, and she braced herself for him to mock her about how in-tune with her studies she had previously been. Her eyes lowered sheepishly and she stared at her feet, a bit uncomfortable under his stare. "Why are you here, anyway?"

For some reason, Draco let down his guard. He didn't feel wrong telling Hermione what he was about to tell her. "I've always liked the stars. They just sit up in the sky. They can't betray me or call me names or get inside my head. They're here for me at night when no one else is," he explained, walking farther into the tower and looking up as he spoke.

Hermione looked up too, but at him rather than the stars, taking in his high cheekbones, hollow cheeks, and seemingly permanent sullen expression. "Really?" She asked in what could barely be considered a whisper before biting her lip and speaking up. "I used to like the stars too, but lately.. It's like they've started to turn on me... There are a couple that I'm even afraid of," She admitted, probably knowing that he didn't quite get what she meant, so she readied herself to explain further.

"Afraid of?" he asked incredulously, taking her statement as a joke. But when he looked at her, an expression of mingled hurt and sadness on her face, he revised his statement. "What exactly do you mean by that?" His voice was much softer with his second words, hoping she would still respond. He kept his eyes trained on her face, taking a seat on a bench a few feet away from her.

She and leaned against the railing and looked up at the sky again. "See that star?" she asked, pointing up, "The middle star in the constellation Orion. It's proper name is Gamma Orionis. Third brightest star in the constellation, 27th in the whole night sky..." She paused, afraid to continue as her hands began to shake and she dropped them back to her side, balled into fists so as to not show her weakness.

"Still a know-it-all, I see," Draco commented, but flashed the tiniest of smiles to show her he wasn't trying to be mean. "But what does that have to do with what you said before, about being afraid?" he prompted gently, honestly curious about what she would say.

She dropped her head and slumped her shoulders staring at her shoes. "That star, Malfoy.. It's mainly known as Bellatrix. That's it's name. Your family uses tons of stars as names. Sirius, brightest star in the night sky. Regulus, brightest star in the constellation Leo... There's a couple with Draco in them too, well, Draconis, actually. I-I loved the stars...until the war," she paused. "Now, just hearing their names haunts me with memories."

"Oh... wow, I never thought of that... And actually, I understand. A lot of the people I was once fighting with are now my enemies, so I guess I feel kind of the same way you do... You have to realize I'm on your side, Granger. Please tell me you realize that..." he pleaded, a look of desperation in his eyes.

She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes before looking up at him, the exhaustion of many sleepless nights clear on her face. "I understand that you want to change, and yes, maybe you're not associating with Voldemort and the Death Eaters anymore, but.. you've done a lot to many people, things that you might not have even realized... me especially."

"I know Hermione and I-" he rushed out quickly, standing up and starting towards her before realizing he had called her by her first name. "Sorry, I... is it okay if I call you Hermione? I figure it's just one step further away from mu- mud... you know." he said, stopping to stand in the middle of the space and looking up at the stars again.

Hermione let out a shuddering breath and shrugged weakly. "Go ahead," She said softly, looking anywhere but at him. "It's better than mudblood," She spat coldly. "Anything's better than Golden Girl or whatever else they've been calling me in the Daily Prophet."

Encouraged by her words, he took a couple steps closer and continued. "Listen, Her- Hermione. I know I've made mistakes. I know I've done some terrible things. And I know that whatever good things I do can never make up for the bad. Just remember that I have done good things. Things that prove that I'm not all bad. I'm still working on it, still sorting myself out. But I'm trying. Godric, I'm trying so hard. I want to make things right. And I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for everything I ever did wrong," he told her quietly, running a hand through his already messy hair and letting out a sigh.

She felt tears in her eyes, but they didn't run down her cheeks. It was almost as if she was too exhausted to really cry, which could be possible. Hermione then looked up at him and into his smoky gray eyes, finding that they were red-rimmed. "I believe you... I understand that you are trying, and of course that's good, but... but I just don't know if I'm capable of forgiving you right now." There was so much anguish and despair locked up inside of her that she wasn't even capable of forgiving Ron when he spilled her ink bottle that morning.

"Okay," he whispered, her words like a stab in his chest. He paused for a moment before speaking again, his words eerily calm and measured. "I understand. I don't expect you to be able to forgive me right now. Hell, I probably wouldn't forgive me. But I hope you can someday. And if you do, let me know, okay, Gra- Hermione?" he asked, managing a small smile before slowly beginning to walk towards the doorway to leave.

"Wait." She called to stop him, a desperate look in her eyes. "Y-You don't have to go." In truth, she had felt better after admitting her fear to him, and even a bit better when he apologized, though she hadn't forgiven him yet. Aside from that, she had been by herself so much recently that it felt nice to have someone there to talk to.

"Really?" he asked, turning around. "Thank Merlin. It's actually been really nice having someone to talk to," he admitted, coming back into the room and sitting down on the bench next to her, only a couple feet away.

She bit her lip and slowly walked over as well, sitting beside him. "It has been.. nice. I haven't really felt like I could talk to anyone since the war," she told him.

"Right? I feel like I can't even talk to my friends about it. Even though I know they've been through something similar, I feel like they won't understand. But for some reason, you do. And it's almost refreshing to not be forgiven so easily,"

It was almost like he was reading her thoughts, the way he spoke. "Yeah.. that's exactly how I feel. I know Harry and Ron would listen, but I don't think they feel like I do," She said, turning to look at him.

He hadn't realized there was anyone who felt the same way he did. "How... how do you get me so well? We've been on different sides for most of our lives, we've hated each other practically since we met, and yet, you understand me like no one else does. It's... it's incredible, really." he said honestly.

"I don't know.. I guess we're just more similar than we thought." She said with a light shrug, but she was just as confused as he was.

He smiled down at her. "Well, Gra- Hermione, thanks to you, I think I might actually be able to get some sleep in now. This was nice, we should do it again sometime," he offered, standing up and putting his wand in his pocket.

Hermione stayed seated and gave him a small smile. "You're welcome.. Draco." She said he goodbye and his name in what was almost a whisper, almost like she was afraid to say it. And when she looked up at him ready to leave, she felt a pang of something she eventually recognized as sadness. "I'll see you in classes tomorrow?"

"Sure," he nodded. "Goodnight, Hermione... sweet dreams," he added, almost as an afterthought, trying his best to make her forgive him.

"W-wait.." She called to stop him again. "Draco, I can't sleep. I haven't in days." Hermione admitted. "And I don't know what to do. I've tried sleeping potions, but they still don't stop the nightmares. Sometimes I get them even with dreamless sleep potions."

He stopped in his tracks, thinking for a moment before turning around. "Sounds a lot like that bloody bastard who calls himself my father," he spat, scowling. "He used sleeping potions, but added something to them, to stop nightmares. I don't know what it was that he added, but I've got a vial of it left in my trunk, if you'd like it. Why don't you come with me to get it?"

"In your common room?" She asked nervously "Will everyone be asleep?"

"Hermione, it's nearly one am. of course they will. But don't worry about it if they aren't, Blaise and some of the others bring people from other houses in all the time. No one really minds anymore." He said gently.

"Okay, I guess it can't be too bad," She offered hesitantly before standing up. "I'll follow you, so lead the way."

"Alright, come on," he said, confidently beginning to lead her down the hallways he had traveled so many times. "Man, it's dark down here, lumos," he said, illuminating his wand tip so they could see. "Shit, nox," he said quickly to put out the light on seeing Mrs. Norris. "Can you still tell where I am?" he whispered, stopping to squint back at where she should be. She walked straight into him, causing him to chuckle a bit. "Guess not," he said. "Here," he whispered again, reaching down for her hand to lead the way.

Hermione flinched when he touched her hand. For a moment she hesitated, then gripped his hand, reminding herself that she needed the potion he had. "I'm surprised I couldn't actually, since you're hair is about as white as the moon itself." She muttered lightheartedly as he continued to lead her down the dungeon hallways.

"Hey, my hair is amazing!" he joked back, smiling as they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "Dragon Heartstring," he said to the portrait, which swung open for them to enter.

Hermione followed him inside, able to see a bit better since the burning embers in the fireplace gave the room a dim sort of light. "Which way is your room?" she asked.

"Down that hallway," he pointed with his free hand, pulling her in the right direction and opening the third door down. He let go of her hand when he knelt down to open his trunk, wishing he was still holding it. "It's okay, Blaise isn't here right now so you can talk," he told her, pulling out the potion and giving it to her. "It'll still let you dream, it just blocks out the nightmares."

Hermione took the vial in her now shaking hands and stared at it intently, hoping almost against hope that it would work. "Th-Thank you."

"No problem," he said, sitting down on his bed. "You alright? You know, you could stay here tonight if you like. You could sleep in Blaise's bed, or there's always room in mine. And no, I don't mean it like that, I just mean if you want the company," he offered.

She blushed what she was sure was a very deep red and was immediately grateful for the low light that hopefully concealed it. "I don't think that would be wise.. In the morning, I'd have to go through your common room, everyone would stare at me and you'd get questions too," Hermione said, but quickly continued. "Although Ginny's gotten tired of me waking her every night, she's just too kind to say it."

"So you'll stay, then? I've gotten fairly good at disillusionment charms, I can keep you invisible long enough to get you out of the common room. Besides, I told you no one cares if people from other houses are here. And I really would like the company,"

She bit her lip and nodded before lifting the vial to her lips and drinking it quickly, before she had the chance to change her mind. "Well, I can't exactly walk back to my common room now that I've drunk this, so I guess I have to stay."

"Lucky me," he smiled, patting the spot next to him on his bed for her to sit down. "It should kick in in about 10 minutes, just like a normal sleeping potion,"

Hermione nodded and pulled off her robe, leaving her in her school uniform before sitting beside him and yawning already. "Thank you again.. I really hope this works."

"It's really no problem, Hermione. You're not going to sleep in your school clothes, are you? Here, you can wear this," he said, pulling out a green t-shirt from his trunk that would be about three sizes too big for her.

She looked up, blinked at him in an exhausted sort of way, then stood back up. "Okay, but don't look," she said, taking the shirt and walking towards the other side of the room, turning her back to him.

Draco obliged, turning around and looking out his window. At a different time, he might have watched, but right after the war, he knew she wouldn't be in the mood to be tested. And frankly, she was the first girl whom he had enough respect for not to look.

After getting undressed and redressed in his oversized shirt, she turned back around. "Okay," Hermione said to him before crossing the room again and crawling into his bed.

Draco had kicked off his shoes and was now removing his crisp white button-down shirt, leaving himself in just his boxers as he too got into the bed. "Goodnight, Hermione." he whispered, keeping a respectable distance from her unless she indicated that she wanted otherwise.

Hermione pulled the blankets over her, pulling them up to her chin before curling her knees up to her chest. "Goodnight... Draco," She murmured.

Draco rolled onto his side, facing Hermione's back and studying her curls as he listened to her breathing becoming more steady. Eventually, he too closed his eyes, willing sleep to come to him.

Hermione fell asleep quickly, subconsciously moving closer to him during the cold night. It was the best she had been able to sleep since before the start of the war.