Imperfections of Perfection

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"Crying out for the last time

Clear a space for the warning signs"

III

Watching Shadows

"Look, I have to go to the loo," I told them.

"Oh," Harry and Ron said in unison. They looked so embarrassed, I almost felt sorry for them.

I could feel my heart beating fast against my throat as I walked out of the Great Hall, feeling their eyes on me.

Ironically enough, I didn't lie to them.

I was following Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy always fascinated me to some degree. Oh, it wasn't that I had a crush on him - it was more that I was curious about him. You see, many people didn't notice this, but half of the time Draco Malfoy was quiet. When he wasn't taunting or insulting someone, he was quiet. He seemed like a shadow... too two-dimensional to be real. He never changed, never did anything except have a smart mouth, as the saying goes.

Nobody knew anything about him - they just knew what he wanted them to know, which was not much. Nobody had known he had an older brother. Nobody had known anything about him.

Another thing - I was curious. Why - why would Draco Malfoy run from the "dark lord"?

He had not stayed to fight the war. The war was over, but I think the aftershocks were still occurring everywhere in the Wizarding world. People were still digging through the rubble of the war and digging out bodies.

I wondered if he even knew that Narcissa had killed herself. I hadn't seen anything unusual but I hadn't been watching for it. So, when I saw Malfoy get up and walk out of the Great Hall so abruptly, I followed him.

Like I said, I told Harry and Ron a lie - that I was going to the bathroom, when I was really following Malfoy. I ended up hesitating outside the boys' bathroom door. That's when I heard it.

Someone was retching.

I hesitated. I was about to go into the bathroom when suddenly, Ginny said, "Hermione! There you are! I've been looking for you."

"Oh?" I said, turning away from the door and walked back with Ginny to the Great Hall and listened to her mindless patter about so and so - did I think Harry was "hot" - did I think Seamus was looking good lately, considering what he'd been through?

Did I hear that they found Goyle's body... that kind of stuff.

Poor Malfoy, though. He'd lost more than half of his friends - if they were ever friends at all.

Then again... maybe Ron and Harry were right - Malfoy had always me struck as being cold...

I'd always thought that Malfoy was one of those people - the kind that can't survive without a mask to face the world.

"So... are you and Ron going out? For real - is it finally official?" Ginny asked me, distracting me from my musing.

"Well," I said, "Ron and I are dating... sort of, yes - but we haven't committed yet. Ron says we need time to see whether it will work out first before we... you know... commit."

"He's such an idiot," Ginny said rolling her eyes. "But you'll see... he'll eventually see what you're worth."

- Shinedown

A/N: I would think Hermione wouldn't really hate Draco Malfoy. I think he'd confuse her and puzzle her. She doesn't really think Draco Malfoy's evil, if the way she acts towards the idea Draco Malfoy could be a Death Eater in the books. She's very against it, isn't she?

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