𝑀𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑒

𝒮𝒾𝓍𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

Draco hadn't heard from Hermione in a week, they'll sit together in Potions but she didn't talk or answer the questions from the professor

He was walking around the grounds and saw the witch of the hour skipping stones, not knowing whether or not to go talk to her was the understatement, but he quickly remembered that he had her bag and reluctantly made his way towards her

"Granger" he said once he got closer

He saw her shoulders drop and he heard her sigh, he watched as she turned around and faced him

"What?"

"You left your bag"

"So?"

"What's the matter with you?" Draco asked annoyed

Hermione turned away from him and picked up another rock

A moment of silence passed through them before Hermione sighed

"My parents always worked...they never made it to my recital or my shows...that always promised but they never went through with it" she said, Hermione skipped the stone

"I was left with a nanny for most of the time...it wasn't until Madam Marie-Rose that I knew what a parent was...and then—" her breath hitched

"And then she left me...when I received the letter for Hogwarts I didn't know what it was...when Professor McGonagall came and told me I was a witch, all I wanted to do was tell madam Marie-Rose...because my parents couldn't care less, they weren't there when I received the letter" Hermione finished, wiping a stray tear

She turned to him

"Now your telling me that my teacher knew about the Wizarding world and instead of helping me find my way, she left me" she told him

Draco recalled the last few years, he could have sworn he had seen Granger with her parents in Diagon Alley, it looked as if she had the 'perfect' family, two loving parents who adored their daughter who was a witch

"So...it could only mean that she didn't want me"

Draco could hear the pain in her voice, he watched as she gave him a painful smile and looked up to the sky

"Because who could want a muggleborn witch in their life...I'm the odd one out in my family and I'm the odd one out here...I just never wanted to be the odd one out with Madam Marie-Rose" she whispered

Draco watched as she fought the tears that threatened to spill, he didn't know what to do, he wasn't good with emotions

They stayed silent for a while, neither knew what to say

"So as for my bag Malfoy...you can leave it in the common room, I'll fetch it tonight" she told him "and for the recital...I'm withdrawing my name, you can stop training me"

Hermione walked away and left him alone, he slowly pulled out the ring and sat down on the grass

For the first time in the years he's known the golden girl, she had given up, it felt wrong, that's the only way Draco could put it

She hadn't given up when the Basilisk had petrified her

She hadn't given up when Dolohov cursed her

And above all, she hadn't given up when his twisted aunt tortured her on the floors of his childhood home

It didn't feel right that she should quit something that it was quite obvious that she had a talent for just because her teacher abandoned her when she needed her the most

He glanced over to the direction where Granger had left, he groaned in frustration and rubbed his forehead

"Bloody witch and her stubborn personality" he muttered

He swore under his breath and stood up, touching the ring one more time he tucked it into his shirt and made his way back to the castle

As much as he hated to admit, he was going to make sure that Hermione didn't withdraw her name and that she showed the old hag that she missed out on an — with much pain and knowing his ancestors were rolling in their graves — amazing and brilliant witch that had he had been forced to help by his best friend