Broken

Chapter 20

Hermione was walking with Ginny the hallways of Hogwarts. For the past month and a half, she had been uneasy and confused. Her emotions were all over the place.

Where in bloody hell is Malfoy?

She was stressed.

Was he okay?

"Hermione, I know you've been stressed but you've got to let go and calm down. The past is the past we have to move forward. Forget about Malfoy. He abandoned you... there's really nothing you can do about it." Ginny said trying to slow Hermione down.

"It just doesn't make sense!" She exclaimed. "Why is he like that?"

"Even Zabini is shocked with his disappearance. That only proves that no one really knows Draco..."

Hermione nodded. She understood what Ginny was saying and agreed for the most part, but there was still a part of her that hoped Draco would just magically show up with an apology and an explanation.

This past month and a half was calm in Hogwarts (for the most part). Hermione and Ron hadn't talked much, but they weren't in bad terms either. Zabini and Harry, surprisingly, had become somewhat close buddies, and besides that the school had stayed the same.

Harrison, the transfiguration professor had disappeared too, which only made Hermione wonder if he had something to do with Draco's disappearance. She tried discussing this matter with Harry, but he simply said that it was nothing more than coincidence.

Could Professor Harrison be training Draco?
Was he the person that has been mysteriously following Draco? Hermione thought repeatedly.

However, Ginny is right. I have to stop stressing about someone that does not even care about me.

She had accepted it. Draco did not want anything to do with her in the least. If he did, he would have told her what he was up to, right? 

She couldn't believe how foolish she had been. How naive. How ignorant of the simple fact, or well, the simple truth that Draco Malfoy is a piece of rubbish. He does not, and will never, care about anybody but himself. He will always find joy in manipulation, and he will always be that lonely, broken, isolated boy. Nothing else.

The only moment where she actually saw hope for him, he decided to vanish. To completely disappear with nothing else than a vague note. 

How dare he? she thought. To leave me just like that?

Whatever.

There are more important things.

Malfoy is irrelevant to me. Hermione repeated in her mind.

The only issue was that he wasn't irrelevant to her in the least. To think how much she dram of him... how many hours she had spent trying to solve this mystery...

The truth was that Hermione would not be satisfied until it was all resolved. Until it all made sense once and for all. But since no one seemed to care, she tried lying to herself. 

She created a lie that had been driving her crazy for over a month. 

Hermione attempted to convince herself that she, as well as the others, did not care about Draco Malfoy.

"Ginny, I'm going for a walk. Alone," Hermione seed alas.

"Why alone?" Ginny wondered.

"I'm not sure. I just need a breather." 

"Very well."

With that, Hermione abandoned the halls and almost sprinted to the big gardens of Hogwarts. She sat on the ground, looked at the sky, and began thinking. 

She was overwhelmed. 

As she looked at the clouds and reviewed the past, she started crying. It was a soft cry, but it was as if she was begging for help. No one wanted to talk about the matter with her, and convincing herself that it wasn't important was just unrealistic and mentally exhausting. So many emotions had been bottled up, and she did not know why everything was affecting her so much.

Why do you care about him? 

She thought every day.

Her tears left her eyes rapidly now. She needed someone to talk to. But since no one cared, she put her face down in her lap and kept crying. She felt lonely and lost. She started feeling that way since the moment she decided to leave Ron and try something with Malfoy.

Even though she enjoyed her private moments with Malfoy, she could not help but wonder if her life would have been better if she simply wasn't so vulnerable to his manipulation.

She closed her eyes, put her hands so they covered her head, and there she sat for a long while. For about an hour, no one came. No one even acknowledged her.

However, after she made up her mind that she was going to try her best to forget, a familiar cold hand touched her shoulder. It was a gentle, slow touch. 

 Could it be?

"Hey," a familiar, deep voice said.

Hermione looked up immediately.

"M-Malfoy?"