Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Got another Dramione for you! There's no immediate smut, but it will get to that point. I will need you guys to motivate me to keep this going. Add it to your favorite, add to your alerts, or review. All of it lets me know that you're reading and you like it.

So sit back and enjoy! Hope it's interesting enough to earn another chapter!

Love always,

Avoline

Draco stood at the edge of the Black Lake. His parents had pleaded with him to go and finish his last year at Hogwarts, despite knowing that he wouldn't be as accepted by his peers as he once was. But even they couldn't have prepared him for the back lash.

He had spent every day the first month avoided hexes and trying to ignore the murderous glares. Thankfully he was Head Boy and wouldn't have to face his fellow Slytherins, but his new roommate didn't make anything better. No, he would have much rather had to avoid hexes than to see that retched word on her arm, the scar still very red and visible. Everytime he saw it, even when it peeped out from under the sleeve of whaever jacket she was wearing, he cursed himself more. He could still hear his own voice using that word like it was nothing. He could still see her terrified face as the word was carved into her skin.

He could see her pleading brown eyes.

His first month of school had been more than tough. It had been downright painful. His own mother had not writen him, which only added to his pain. He only knew his roommate, and even she couldn't stop the pain. He had no one to turn to. He had to live with the pain and hold it all inside, like he had since he had taken the mark.

Maybe the world would be better off without me.

He had contemplated that idea many, many times, but never had the nerve to act upon it. He had awoke many times, wishing that he wouldn't move fast enough and actually get hit with one of the hundreds of hexes thrown his way. He was sure that it would be easier for his parents to accept that kind of fate for him than to hear that he had taken his own life. But he had caused his peers enough pain. He didn't want to be the cause of any more hurt.

He couldn't even face them anymore.

He glanced at the ground to see two fairly large rocks. He picked them up, getting a feel for the weight of each. They would get the job done. He used a permanent sticking charm and stuck them to the outsides of his ankles. He shed his blazer, so that, if anyone went looking for him, they could retrieve what was left. He then began to wade into the cool water. He stopped, momentarily loosing his nerve. Images of his roommate's scar floated into his mind, driving him forward.

"Malfoy!" He turned, waiste deep in the water, to see his roommate running down towards the lake. A dull ache formed in his chest. Why was she here? Surely she couldn't know what he was up to.

But he did think, for just a brief moment, that maybe she cared about him.

"Sod off, Granger," he shouted, trying to sound angry and intimidating. Instead, though, he sounded fucking pitiful. The pain inside was greater than he realized, and even he could hear it dripping in his voice. He hated being vunerable, especially in front of Hermione fucking Granger, the Gryffindor Golden Girl. It was bad enough that Harry "The-Boy-Who-Lived" Potter had walked in on his nervous breakdown.

"Malfoy, get out of the water," she instructed. "You're going to get sick!"

"And why should I care if I get sick," he shot back. He instantly cursed himself. He could see it in her eyes; she did care about him. In her own way, she cared. He wondered if she could see through the mask that he wore.

"Malfoy, just come here and talk about it," she called, her voice soft but firm all at once. "We've got classes tomorrow."

"You don't get it, do you, Granger," he replied, his voice cracking just a bit. "You don't see the way they look at me. You don't see the number of hexes I have to avoid. Our classmates want me dead, Granger." Her gaze never wavered, unnerving him to the point that he surrendered, sauntering to the shore and unsticking the rocks.

"They're still hurt, Malfoy," she stated softly. "Everyone lost someone they cared about last year. Everyone has been affected one way or another." He nodded.

"I know," he whispered. "Trust me, I know. Mother won't even look at me. She couldn't wait to ship me off so that she wouldn't have to deal with me." She shook her head.

"That's not true, Malfoy," she soothed. "Your mother loves you, more than you know."

"Then why haven't I heard from her," he half-shouted. "It's been a month, Granger, and I haven't gotten so much as a letter! I'm stuck here, in a castle full of people who hate me! I could die right now and she would never know!"

He was trembling now, his eyes staring at the ground. He hated this. She was making him face his emotions, and he hated it. It wasn't making him feel any better. If anything, he only felt worse about himself. Here he was, spilling his heart out to her, sounding like a spoiled brat.

"I want so bad just to hear her say 'it's okay,'" he confessed, his voice barely audible. "I just want to know that someone else is still searching for some form of normalcy."

"Nothing will ever be normal again, Malfoy," Granger pointed out. He nodded. "Just let it out. I'm right here. I won't judge you."

"Even though you have every right to throw just as many hexes my way as the rest of them," he muttered. "Look at your arm, Granger. I could have done something to stop Aunt Bella, but I didn't. I could have apparated you out of there before it got to that point. Look at the school in general. It's gone to hell since I let the Death Eaters in." He felt his composure slipping, but couldn't stop himself from speaking. "Look at the mess I got my family into by being stupid. My mother was scared to death and walking on egg shells in her own house. All because I wanted my father's approval. All because I wanted the same family dynamic as everyone else."

The pair stood silent for a while. He was waiting for her to laugh at him, or throw at hex at him for being so stupid. He wanted her to tell him he was a selfish git and storm off to the Head dorms. He wanted her to be angry at him.

Instead, her felt her hand close around his.

"Draco, none of that was your fault," she soothed. "You were doing the same thing so many others would have done. You just wanted your father to be proud of you." She gently tugged his arm, silently directing him to follow her. "Just come back to the common room and we can talk more about it." He nodded, letting go of her hand long enough to retrieve his blazer.

I'll just have to wait until she dozes off.