Draco Malfoy was broken. He understood his life would never be perfect. He was the mirrored image of the Byronic hero, and he knew that his life would remain a moody, emotional slope where he could never find his happy ending. However, there were moments where light broke through his cracks, moments where he wasn't so angry, moments of defeat—and this was one of those moments. It wasn't as if he still didn't want to kill Granger—for she caused more trouble for him than what was needed—but she understood. He wanted her out of his life—even though he created a mess that the both of them couldn't get out of for the time being—but she understood. She understood him in more ways than just keeping the damned promise of his mother, and that broke him the most. Not the war, not the anger, not the aggression—no, Hermione Jean Granger with her empathic and understanding eyes, her soft hand when she held his, her constant returning to him despite his behavior—that was what conquered his soul the most. Oh, to be the only devil among angels where he couldn't escape his bottomless pit of sorrowful revenge. He truly hated his existence.

Hermione paused before she released her grip on the door knob. She didn't want to stay, for why would she? Draco continuously belittled her, wreaked havoc on her life, and ostracized her from everyone she cared about. Not only did she happen to lose her parents, but she lost her friends as well. She was alone because of him, and she owed him nothing.

"What?" She whispered after the silent moment that enveloped them. She was sure she hadn't heard him correctly, for it wasn't in Draco to ask her to stay.

Draco stood across the room and stared at her. He didn't want to repeat what he just requested, but he didn't want her to give up on him. A part of him wanted this over with—including her gone from his life—while another part was tired of fighting. Fighting with the inward battle where he knew she was the only person on earth to relate to his pain. She didn't pity him, for she comprehended the agony between them.

Draco's mouth parted, for he was just about to respond, but someone knocked on the door. The knock startled both of them, especially Hermione who jumped away from the door. Their conversation was lost, and both their hearts fell from the unspoken silence.

However, the silence was interrupted once more as the person outside continued to knock harder and harder until Draco was almost sure they would beat down the door. Whoever was on the other side, was desperate to get in.

"Open up, Malfoy!" Harry Potter shouted from the other side. "I need to speak to Hermione!"

Hermione's heart skipped at the mention of her name. Perhaps, not everyone had abandoned her. Perhaps, she really wasn't alone with only Draco Malfoy as her last candidate for a companion.

Malfoy didn't want to deal with Saint Potter—especially after having just asked Hermione to stay with him—but Potter was an auror, and Draco already dug himself a deep enough hole by pulling out the Elder Wand and using it to threaten Harry.

Taking one slow step at a time, Draco walked over to the door. He barely turned the knob before Potter pushed against the wooden barrier and shoved his way inside the Manor, his wand ready in his hand.

Pointing the wand at Malfoy, Harry sneered, "I know you have it. It doesn't belong to you. Give me the wand and let me talk to Hermione alone." The wild jade of Harry's eyes shone with emotion and anger. Malfoy had never seen Potter so upset, but Malfoy also knew that Potter's temper was no match to his. Harry picked a wrong moment to show up, especially after Draco was slightly vulnerable with Hermione.

Malfoy's grey steel eyes burned brighter than melted metal as he took a step toward Potter. This was his home, and Harry wasn't going to threaten him here. Auror or not.

"No," Malfoy sneered as the anger boiled inside of him. He wasn't vulnerable anymore, he was livid.

"It doesn't belong to you!" Harry shouted as he too took a step closer to Malfoy before both of them were almost touching chest to chest, nose to nose. Even their angry breaths were in sync as Harry tried to stare Malfoy down. It didn't help that Harry was far shorter than Draco.

"And what? It belongs to you? Aren't you tired of owning everything and leaving the rest of us nothing?" Draco's voice was trembling, but he kept it low. So low, that goosebumps began to grow on Hermione's arms. "You're Saint Potter. The whole damned country loves you, and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole fucking world loved you," Draco spat. "You leave this war as the hero, and yet here is everyone else on the other side treated like criminals even if they didn't have a choice!" Draco was shouting now, and Hermione didn't know what to do. He was so angry, he was always so angry, and Harry was making it worse. It didn't help that Draco was right. He didn't have a choice for what he was chosen for, yet he was constantly treated like he had one.

Hermione blinked back tears—it truly was hard not to cry when Draco showed emotion. Especially when it was emotion worthy of empathy.

"But you're still not happy are you? You come into my home and demand that I give you something that doesn't belong to you! You ended the Dark Lord, and it's still not enough! I carry the war on my shoulders and am not given any grace, but you carry the victory on your lapel and are worshipped." Draco scoffed as he took a step back. Potter disgusted him, just as much as he disgusted Potter. "You're no different from me, Potter. I can see the rage, anger, and unhappiness in your eyes. Yet, you believe yourself to be the better person because you chose the right side. Mommy and daddy didn't force you into submission. You miss your parents so much, Potter? Be thankful they're dead and you don't have to deal with their consequences." Draco knew his words stung the man in front of him, but he also knew they were true. Harry might've had to carry the consequences of his parents standing up to Voldemort and mourn their death, but he never had to deal with the thought of disappointing his parents. Not making his parents proud. And never choosing his own life in a world where he could never be who he truly wanted to. So much was engraved in Draco from his father, that he could never truly escape how damaged his life was.

"I'm not like you," was the only thing Harry could spit out.

"Bullshit," Draco snarled, his light eyes blazing with fury. His body shook from being so livid, that he had to clench his fists to keep from pulling out the Elder Wand and murdering Harry before his very eyes.

In fact, there was nothing Draco wanted more than to murder Harry. He hated Potter—always did—and he knew he could never live in a world where the two of them could be civil. He didn't even want to live in a world where Potter existed. After all, if he had died as a baby, Draco's problems wouldn't have been so large. However, he couldn't kill him. It wasn't just because of Harry's wand pointed at his throat, but it was because of the audience the two of them had. Draco could hear Hermione sniffle between his and Potter's conversation, and he was tired of making her cry. Both her and Draco knew how much Malfoy wanted to murder Potter, and it scared her. It also scared Draco that he didn't pull out the wand just because of Hermione.

"The wand doesn't belong to you, Malfoy," Potter continued as he ignored everything else Draco said. "It belongs to me. Remember? After I disarmed you, it was mine."

The only thing Draco could do, was laugh. It wasn't a humorous laugh, but a menacing one. A dark chuckle where Hermione knew he was beyond livid.

"Don't you get tired of being perfect?" Draco snarled as the laughter died away and his burning eyes pierced Harry's. "Every fucking thing belongs to you, and you still come here to take something from me."

"The wand isn't yours. Neither is Hermione. I don't care what you said to me in Diagon Alley about Skeeter's accusations. Hermione doesn't love you, and I know she would never be seen with the likes of you. She belongs with Ron. She doesn't belong here."

"Funny," Draco snorted. "Because I don't recall you acting as if you even knew her when you informed her how she wasn't the one that had to comfort the Weasel. You're a pitiful excuse for a human, Potter, now get the hell out of my home."

However, Harry only took a step closer until he could touch Draco's throat with his wand.

"Give me the Elder Wand, let me talk to Hermione alone, and I'll be on my way," Harry promised, but he didn't remove the wand from Draco's pale throat.

Between this exchange, Hermione found herself gripping her own wand. She wanted this over with, from Harry's presence to the reminder of Ron's betrayal. She was tired of crying, tired of fighting, and tired of lying. She set out to perform a good deed, to help a fellow wizard who was too far gone that his mother had to reach out and ask for outside help, yet she felt as if she did the wrong thing. If Draco had just killed her on day one, she would've died as Hermione Granger. She would've never been part of a scandal, and perhaps, her best friend would've still had memories of her. In less than a week, her life was ruined, and there was nothing she could do about it unless she turned in Malfoy.

As much as she hated him, she didn't want to see such a broke person sent to Azkaban. She knew if he endured prison, he would be forever lost and never capable of returning.

"Get. Out," Draco responded slowly as he stared down at Harry. He never wanted a person dead more than he did Harry in that very moment. He detested his scar, his thick glasses, his constant denial, and his action of believing himself to be perfect. He was the reason for the whole war, and Draco despised him above all else.

Nothing belonged to Draco. Not even his own scars, for he shared those with Hermione. Harry Potter really was the chosen one, wasn't he? Draco thought to himself. He owns everything I've ever wanted.

"Time's up," Harry sighed as if he didn't want to take the next step he was about to. "Stupify!" Harry cursed Draco, before the blonde-haired Syltherin froze stiff as board and fell to the ground.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted as she ran over to Draco, knowing he would have the worst headache possible from having hit his head on the way down. It wasn't as if she was too concerned for his well-being, she just was concerned as to why Harry stupified him. She had a feeling she knew what was going to happen next.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Potter responded in the most insincere voice he could muster. He was still angry with Hermione, especially after having been there for Ron. Just looking at his friend was hard, so he took his attention off her and focused on the host lying on the dining room floor.

Bending down, Harry opened Draco's coat and removed the most powerful wand in the wizarding universe. Just the feel of the Elder Wand in Harry's palm felt right. It still belonged to him. He was still the one.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Hermione questioned as Harry stood back up and placed the wand inside his coat.

"I just want to know what you were thinking that day you saw Malfoy in the Leaky Cauldron?" He asked as he glanced up at his friend. Although he knew Hermione, although they grew up together, he couldn't recognize the pain in her eyes. The sorrow in her frown. The tears on her cheeks. He looked at her as if he never knew her, and it broke her. Even Draco—once considered the enemy, the wizard who even wanted to murder her—he recognized her pain. And he wasn't even her best friend.

"What I was thinking?" Hermione scoffed as she wiped her cheeks, so damned tired of crying. "I was thinking of the war. Of how I had friends, and he didn't have anyone," she whispered.

"So, is that when it happened?" He asked bitterly. "Is that when you decided to comfort him?" He spit, as if Hermione was the most disgusting person he knew. Little did he know, the most disgusting person in the room at that moment was the boy with the scar and power like no others.

"Comfort?" She whispered in disbelief, as if Harry really assumed she was sleeping with Malfoy. "Is that what you think of me?" Draco really did ostracize me from everyone, she thought to herself. But then she realized that if Harry were truly her friend, he wouldn't believe the lies of Draco Malfoy. No matter who confirmed them in the papers.

"It's apparently not what I think, but what I know." His green eyes blazed, but hers burned brighter. She was livid, and she gripped her wand even tighter. She wanted nothing more than to hex Harry into next year. He had no right to accuse her of such things, especially after everything she lost. She truly did lose everything.

"You don't know me then," she cried as the tears fell faster. "It's sad when you find more comfort in a man that once hated you, then the friends you once deemed family." She was sobbing, and she couldn't help it. How could she fix everything now? Did telling Harry the truth even matter anymore? She didn't know what to do, she just knew she was exhausted. She was so fucking tired of crying, of being lied about, being lied to, and dealing with the people that were supposed to be there for her.

She was just as lonely as Draco Malfoy.

"Don't," Harry shook his head. "You're not a victim in this situation. If anything, Ron is. And Ginny. You obliviated her memories of you!" Harry was angry, but he could never be half as angry as Hermione was.

"I didn't obliviate Ginny's memories!" She screamed. "How dare you, Harry Potter!" She pointed her wand at his throat faster than he could lift his, and his eyes shone a fear she recognized during the war.

He looked at her as if they were enemies.

"How dare I what?" He questioned. "I could have you arrested for threatening an auror, Hermione."

"In case you forgot, you're not the only auror in the room," she spat. Her hair was almost as wild as her copper eyes.

"You've been revoked of your position after the accusations of you and Malfoy were confirmed," Harry responded quietly. "You're fired."

Hermione knew this would happen, but it didn't make the situation any easier. It also didn't help that Harry had no remorse for anything. He was almost as far gone as Draco was, only he was on the other side of the spectrum.

"What did I do to make you hate me so much, Harry Potter?" She whispered softly before she lowered her wand in defeat.

"I don't hate you 'Mione, I'm just angry with you. Get your life together, and you can come talk to me at the Ministry. Until then, I'm taking him in," he nodded toward Draco's frozen body.

"Where?" She asked breathlessly, but she already knew.

"The Ministry. He shouldn't have had the Elder Wand, nor should he have refused to give it to an auror. Also, I never truly believed you obliviated Ginny's memories. If he did that to cover up whatever the hell he's planning, he can get tried for that as well. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if they sent him to—" he cut himself off halfway after noticing the horror on Hermione's face. He couldn't recognize her pain earlier, but he recognized her panic because he looked for it. He wanted to confirm if she cared about Draco Malfoy, and her reaction confirmed all he needed to know.

"You really do care for him," he half-laughed as he shook his head. "You care for Draco Malfoy."

Hermione didn't speak. Why would she? Harry didn't believe anything she said anyway. Besides, she didn't hate Malfoy. She knew there was a Slytherin boy under there, especially after having watched him break down so much to ask her to stay with him. Draco wasn't entirely lost. However, she knew he would be if Harry had his way.

"Harry, please," Hermione almost begged as Harry pointed his wand toward Draco's body.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. The law comes first. Leviosa." Draco's body began to lift toward the air as Harry guided it toward the door. Once he reached the door, Harry turned toward Hermione. He looked almost as defeated as her, only he didn't bear the pain she did. After all, he wasn't removed from anyone's memories, and the whole world seemed to belong to him. Why would he have pain? "I'm sure you know what will happen to him. I wish I could say I'm sorry, but actions have consequences."

"The war was the consequences, Harry, everyone paid then." Hermione's voice was weak, and she already knew Harry was no longer paying attention to her.

Acting as if he didn't hear her, Harry left the Manor with Malfoy's body before disappearing out into the cold air leaving Hermione more alone than she had ever been in her entire life.

***
Happy Valentine's Day, boos! This is my gift to you. I have the next three chapters mapped out of what I want to do so I can't promise a super fast update (because school and life), but it shouldn't take super long.

Stay safe and enjoy today! If you don't have a valentine, I'll be your valentine😂😂❤️