August

September 1st 1998

I realised with quite a level of certainty that, ironically, carrying round a broken heart felt a lot heavier than carrying round one that was full of love.

I heaved my trunk onto the rack in mine and Hermione's compartment, before sitting by the sliding glass door, staring at my shoes. The compartment was empty so far, Hermione having gone to get in early on the food that the trolley was stocked with. She had told me that even though she couldn't fix it, food generally helped a broken heart. I didn't question how she knew this, too caught up in my own thoughts and tensions.

She appeared in the doorway, her arms full of everything ranging from Chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts to Pumpkin Pasties and Liquorice Wands. She waved her wand on produced a small table which was bolted to the floor, and placed the food on it, filling every inch of the surface. Hermione heaved her body down opposite me, leaning on the frame of the compartment.

"Hey Harry, you okay?" She asked, leaning forward and patting on the knee sympathetically.

I nodded, burying my head in my hands as I felt the tears prick in my eyes, trying to mask the pain I felt. A single tear fell down my cheek as Hermione stood up and took me into her arms, easing the pain slightly.

Suddenly, the glass door that was separating our compartment from the corridor opened, and a figure stood there. Hermione let go of me and sat back down, allowing me to see the figure fully. It was Draco.

He had deep shadows under his eyes, telling a night of restlessness much like mine, his hair was styled, but not to the usual standard that he usually had and his eyes were slightly puffy, caused by far too many tears that had escaped his stormy grey eyes.

"Er...hey can I sit in here? You know, with you? I'm not trying to intrude or anything and if you guys don't want me in here I can go. I just didn't want to sit alone and all of the other compartments have no space."

Hermione looked at me, apprehension written all over her face, and gave me quizzical stare, as it to ask if I was okay with Draco sitting in our compartment.  I have her an earnest shrug, pretending I didn't mind when really it was taking all my strength already not to break down in tears.

"Yeah sure." Hermione said, gesturing to all of her stuff next to her, forcing Draco to sit next to me.

She mouthed 'sorry' to me as Draco sat as close to the window as possible, so he was furthest away from me. He fumbled with his hands as we sat in awkward silence. Me and Hermione began talking, mainly about our futures and things, trying to keep the topic light. I managed some inconspicuous glances at Draco, more checking that he was okay than anything.

Gradually, after around fifteen minutes, I saw his eyelids begin to flutter, the sleepless night he most likely had taking over. It was extremely early anyway, like 8:30am, because we had to get home in time for the train to be prepared for the first years and any students who didn't stay for the summer to leave for Hogwarts. He shuffled up closer towards me, trying to get more comfortable.

I took a chocolate frog from the table and unwrapped it. Hermione gave me a slightly anxious look, as if to ask what was wrong.

"I'm fine Hermione. Honestly." I said, looking at her, furrowing my eyebrows.

Time passed, Hermione with her head in a book, me moving closer to the snacks and Draco moving closer to me, as he fell closer and closer to sleep. Eventually, I heard soft snoring next to me as I looked over to see that just a few centimetres away from me, Draco was leaning his head on the seat. His head looked in a painful and straining position, so I shuffled and closed the gap between us, propping his head his head on my shoulder.