Everything Changes (A Dramione fanfic)

Chapter Thirty

Thirty chapters! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Hope you enjoy this special chapter!

Hermione stared at the slow scrawl appearing on the messaging paper. Again and again, words appeared and disappeared.

Hermione? Are you reading this?

Where are you?

I'm sorry, please understand.

I would prevent it if I could.

Hermione?

She felt a pang of guilt, a voice in her head telling her to stop what she was doing. Draco didn't deserve this. This wasn't him, she thought, but wasn't it? Was it not the mark on his arm? Was it not the blood in his veins? The realization went through her like an icy ghost, sending a chill down her spine, that she was now judging him by his bloodline. She was judging him for the very reason she fought judgment for years. She was a mudblood, he was a pureblood-a pureblood with a family of complete pride and terrible prejudice, but he himself had proved to be so much more. Why then, should she blame him for his family's doing? She shook her head, so unsure. It had been only a day and a half, but Hermione felt as though it had been forever. Never would she ever believe had she been previously told, that she would be missing Draco Malfoy. Above that, she missed her best friends, and she wished she hadn't missed Christmas with the family. Christmas. It had come and gone without the slightest recognition, until it was over. She felt mourning, a loss. It was the first Christmas she had ever let pass by without celebration. With a sigh, Hermione set down the paper into her favorite book and left her room, fearing her moping was costing her sanity.

...

Draco absentmindedly twirled his wand, rotating the burning and crumpled sheet before him. The paper ablaze was the work of his aunt-the very reason he was in this mess. Well, perhaps not the very reason, but definitely a large part of it. The letter, though he would like to forget it, was a sick tale only his aunt could tell, followed by a minor chastisement only a delusional death eater could provide.

Draco

I thought you might be interested to know that I have spotted Potter at the ginger's house. I only wish you could have been with Greyback and I when we sent the poor little shack up in flames. The Dark Lord certainly would find it funny.

Draco why have you taken so long? The Dark Lord needs us to be ready. He. Must. Die.

He found himself gritting his teeth with fists balled in anger. Why was it that he had to be born into a family of sinister maniacs? Surely this meant he was destined for the worst. He didn't blame Hermione for keeping her distance, it was a miracle they had become as close as they did in the first place. Although it pained Draco to have this sudden separation, he realized that she would have to talk to him eventually-when Dumbledore came back.

...

Hermione took some comfort in the fact that winter break was almost over. The end of winter break would bring back her friends and schoolwork. She needed both to forget this entire mess she found herself in. The evening was approaching and she thought bitterly of her empty stomach. She despised going to eat dinner alone and though she hated to admit it-her evening picnics were being missed. Judging by the continuous notes appearing every once and a while on her messaging paper she wasn't the only one missing them. It was unfair she realized for her to think about the situation in this manner when she had the power to change things. She found herself thinking back to the day in the library, the day in which everything changed. She thought about the Draco she thought she knew, and then the Draco she knew now. She pictured his expression, as he risked his life to make things right when he revealed his biggest secret-his task. Hermione was then trying to grasp why exactly she had ended their communication in the first place, as she spotted from the corner of her eye the special gift she had wrapped just for him. Even if she wanted to end the isolation, did she have the courage to approach him and make things right? The messages had stopped coming in...perhaps Draco no longer cared for her apology.

...

Draco had tried going to bed without dinner, but his growling stomach was quite demanding. He didn't want to face the Great Hall alone and he didn't want to recall his picnics with Hermione. There was an odd empty feeling within him, and it was not the emptiness of his stomach rather than something quite deeper. What could he do to end this madness? He wasn't sure what he needed more at the moment-a bite to eat or something else. So he did what any wizard would do-he went in search of the room of requirement to understand just what it was he required.

There's chapter thirty! Again-so sorry about how long this has took. I'm doing my best to assure that no chapter is simply a filler or insignificant to the story as I hated reading those chapters when I was on the reading side of fanfiction. I hope you have enjoyed reading it so far. Please leave a comment with your thoughts. Thank you! -jazzyjstar*