This Means War | Draco Malfoy [5]

Chapter 10 ~ What to Believe in

Hermione had been a wreck ever since Ron left.

She cried herself to sleep numerous times. Harry wasn't sure if talking to Hermione was the right thing to do. He probably thought that he didn't understand what she was going through, but he did. In fact, we all knew what she was going through. Harry had Ginny, I had Draco, and Hermione had Ron, even though she didn't want to admit that to anyone.

One night, when the three of us decided to go to bed early, Hermione laid in her bed, silently crying like before. Feeling bad for what she had to go through, I went over to her bed and crawled under the sheets beside her. She didn't move to face me.

"Hermione, look at me," I whispered.

She turned her body so that she was facing me. Her face was red and wet from all the crying and rubbing her eyes. "Do you think he'll come back, Max?" she asked.

I nodded. "He'll come back," I replied. "Well, he'll come back for you," I added with a chuckle.

She giggled a little. "If he really cared about me, then he would've stayed."

"He was just mad, Hermione. That locket made him say all those things. He didn't mean it."

Hermione sniffled, adding a sigh. "I miss him. I miss him so much, Max."

"I know. I'm sorry," I told her, an empathetic look falling upon my face.

"How much do you miss Draco?" she asked.

"A lot," I replied, chuckling. "More than you'll ever know."

"Do you think Harry misses Ginny?" she questioned.

I nodded my head. "I think so."

She paused, then huffed a sigh. "Where do you think Ron went?"

"I have no idea. I don't even know where Draco is at this point," I admitted.

"What was it like? Living with him, I mean," she said.

I sighed. "It was horrible."

"What about Draco?" she asked.

"He was bad at first, but he changed over the years. He began to feel guilty for what he and his family had done to me over the years."

"Wow. You never gave up on Draco, did you?"

I shook my head. "No, I didn't."

*******

I thought about my late night conversation with Hermione as the weeks went by. What she said about not giving up on Draco continued coming back to me.

There were times where I thought about giving up on him. He had done things that were just horrible. He put many people I cared about in danger. Hell, he almost killed Ron by poisoning him.

Speaking of Ron, he still hadn't come back. But Hermione was trying to stay positive, even though she didn't show it.

"He'll come back," she said to herself one night. "He always comes back."

Ron just needed some time alone. Leaving us was for the best. What he said to us, specifically me, felt like he had stabbed me in the heart. Yes, Ron had said other things to me in the past that were not pleasant, but I didn't think he would do it again. It was the locket. The locket filled him with negative thoughts and then he lashed out at us until he finally had enough.

Did I want him to come back? Of course I did. But I only wanted him to come back for two reasons:

One: We needed his help finding the Horcruxes.