Author's Notes: This, yet again, is for the hpendurance challenge, which is based on tumblr. This prompt was 'Your character faces a tough decision, one that could affect the rest of their life.' and my character was Hermione Granger. I've never written for either character mentioned in this story before so for some of you Dramione shippers, this might be slightly OOC, and I'm really sorry but I tried my best. I think I want to write for these two again, but I need to do a bit more research first. Let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!

His face was menacingly blank, but he gave off an aura of inconsolable anger. His back was pressed up against the wall at the back of the library and his hand was running through his usually impeccably neat, blonde hair, making it almost as messy as his life felt in that moment.

"I can't believe you're doing this," Draco spat at her. "You think that I'm going to let you do this?"

"Let me do this?!" Hermione practically shrieked back. "It's not your choice, Draco! It's up to me, and you know I have to do what's right-"

"You think going with them is doing what's right? Hermione, are you even hearing yourself? Have you forgotten everything you've said to me in the past few months?"

Hermione shuddered under his murderous glare. "Of course not, I just-"

"You just what?" Draco countered straight away.

"If you'd let me speak and explain myself, it might help!" Hermione's voice echoed slightly through the empty library and they both sighed into the post-midnight darkness.

"Harry and Ron have been my best friends since first year. How do you expect me to give them up, and everything we've been working towards, for someone who doesn't even know if he's on my side or not?"

"Hermione, you know they're never going to win!" Draco shouted. "You know Potter's going to lose. Do you really want to give up everything you could be, everything you could achieve just to stick with them because you feel bad?"

"I'm not sticking with them because I feel bad, I'm sticking with them because I know it's what's right! You've treated me like shit for the past five years, and I forgave you this year because you got under my skin and I couldn't help but care about you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up the rest of my friendships for whatever this is that we have."

Draco's eyes fell from her face and he expression returned to being entirely neutral. "You're smart enough to know that they're never going to win, Hermione." His voice was quiet but stern, and the earnest honesty behind his words could be heard clearly. "Why are you trying to make everything hard for yourself? Why don't you just give up this charade you're putting on and stay with me? I can give you everything you could ever need. You'd be safe and happy and you wouldn't have to worry about losing your life every minute of the day. Life could be perfect, Hermione. Why won't you allow yourself that?"

Hermione stared at the boy in front of her for a long moment before she realised something; he wasn't a boy any more. He was a man now, he was legally an adult in a few short months, and yet the prejudices and wrong judgements that had been engraved in his brain since he was a child still stood as true to him, and there was very little Hermione would ever be able to do to change that.

She knew he was terrified of what he was being dragged into, he'd told her so himself, and she wished there was something, anything, she could do for him, but for the entirety of sixth year so far she'd been there for him, she'd tried to help him, but she could see from his words - however comforting the thought of being 'safe' was - that he was just too naive to realise that no matter what side they were on, safe was something they'd never feel for a very long time.

"Do you really believe that if I was to stay with you, to join you, I'd be safe?" asked Hermione slowly. "You really think that your parents would allow you to be near someone like me, that Bellatrix and the rest of your family wouldn't disown you immediately if they knew what you'd been doing with me?"

There was dread in Draco's eyes when he looked up at her. "They'd get over it eventually, it has nothing to do with Bella anyway-"

"They're killing people like me, Draco!" Hermione shouted, unable to comprehend how stubborn and backwards he was being. "Mudbloods like me are the reason we're having this conversation!" Draco flinched as she spat the word he'd grown to hate. "Voldemort wants me and my kind dead, and so does everyone who follows him. How could you ever expect me to join his side when his reasoning for this war is that people like me are not worthy enough to use magic?"

"You're an exception," Draco tried to reason, his voice rising. "As soon as they see how intelligent you are there's no chance they'd turn you away-"

"I don't want to be an exception! I don't care whether my brains set me apart from anyone else, I'm still a Muggle-born, Draco! I'm still just as filthy and cursed as the rest of them, so why should I be treated any different?"

"You're different to me!"

His words locked solid in her head, and it was in that moment she knew; his prejudices would never change. In his eyes, she was different from all other Muggle-borns due to her possession of qualities Draco admired. She was smart and quick-witted, she was fierce and strong, independent yet humble, but any other person of her blood status he'd immediately place below himself. They'd never be up to his standard because their blood type gave them an instant disadvantage, and very very few were exceptional enough for his opinions to be altered.

Hermione locked eyes with him and stepped towards him, her ultimatum already made up in her mind. "Everyone and anyone who follows him wants people like me dead, no matter whether that Muggle-born is the biggest coward or the most extraordinary dueler they've ever seen," She spoke with a steady voice, not once giving away how fast her heart was beating or how suddenly tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. "If you think you're justified in joining that bastard and following his goddamn requests in order to get you through this war with the guarantee of some sort of safety, then I never want to speak to you again."

"Hermione, my parents-"

"I couldn't care less about your parents! You're your own person and you can make your own decisions. Stop being such a fucking coward, Draco, and do what you know is right."

He could feel her expectant eyes on him, boring into his skull, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't give up his family and his safety to join Potter and his gang of deranged lunatics. He knew that the only way to get out of this war alive was to stick with his family and follow his orders, no matter what they may be.

"I," he fumbled over his words as the realisation hit him that this would be the last time he spoke to Hermione. "I can't leave them. I can't do it, I'm sorry."

Hermione's eyes changed from hopeful to furious within a second and she felt her heart drop like she'd never experienced before. She stalked past him and picked up her bag before turning and striding away from him. She could honestly admit that walking away from him was the hardest thing she'd ever done, but she wasn't prepared to give up and stop fighting for him, no matter how many doubts she may have had about the possibility of them winning.

She wrenched open the library door and continued to walk away, her resolve only crumbling once she'd heard the heavy door slam shut behind her. She fell to her knees and her palms flew to her face.

She hadn't once looked back at Draco, but if she had, she'd have seen his defeated body fall to the ground when the door slammed shut after her exit, and she'd have seen his tears fall, just how hers had when she heard the door close with defeated finality, his hands muffling the sobs of heartache too.

He'd chosen his parents over her.

He'd chosen his safety over what was undoubtedly right.

He'd chosen Voldemort's path over the most pure and honest person he'd ever known.

And for every day after that, he'd never forgive himself for it.