A/N: Well, well! It's been a while! I got a review some time ago wondering what in the hell would draw Hermione Granger to drug-addled Draco Malfoy. Here is a drabble that I hope you'll enjoy.

HERMIONE

He's too thin. Too gaunt.

It's not that I noticed him all that much, not when I could help it and Harry wasn't hounding us to watch his every step, at least. But he was handsome—happy. He's not anymore.

He sleeps too much. As I've now come to discover, Draco Malfoy is either high or asleep, and it's not hard for me to decipher which way I prefer him. In the few times I've found him waning from a high, my heart aches for him. I can see the loss he's bearing etched into the now harsh lines of his face.

I wonder if he feels grief like I do; it would make sense that he does. He's human, after all.

If he does, he carries it differently. Mine is always threatening to draw me back, but it's like his is trying to drag him under. Drown him.

I shouldn't care. Shouldn't come around or wonder about him when I'm away, but there is something that draws me to him. Something I can't set aside.

Sometimes when I enter, he's asleep, like he is now. Lips parted and too-long tresses hanging over his forehead. It's easy to forget.

He stirs, his face twisting in anguish that I can't comprehend and I want to reach out for him. As if I don't have enough of it myself, I wish I could shoulder some of his, too.

Like us all, he is a child of shitty circumstances—a child of war. And I ache to realize how many times he's made the wrong choice; how much I want him to stop.

He's broken like me, jagged edges that are looking to slice and slash everything else away.

No one expects me to be shattered; I've held it all together for so long that now all they see is what they want: a vision of me that's not really there and I wonder if maybe he could understand.

If maybe he could see me.

It's a fool's errand because Draco Malfoy hates me and could never—would never—see past the Mudblood. But despite all of that, I still—

I sigh, my thoughts running away from me as he rolls onto his side and curls in on himself.

I still believe that broken things can be mended. I have to still believe in that. There is a sweet symphony in my broken pieces; they are sums of my whole and without one of them, I would be less.

Sucking in a shaky breath, I pull myself up to stand, knowing my time here is limited and when he wakes he'll be in a foul mood.

I think I could help him if he'd let me.

I think I'd like to try.

xXx

A/N: If you're still interested in this little diddy, head over to Dramione Fanfiction Forum on Facebook! They've chosen me a guest for their January book club that kicks off on 1/17/20 and I'll be there along with a bunch of discussion questions! Hope you can make it!

If you want to chat, you can always find me on Tumblr under my name. Until next time! LK