The Teardrop Rose

I was standing on the Astronomy Tower, completely alone. No one was listening. That's how I wanted it to be.

I, Hermione Granger, have stumbled onto a question that no amount of time in the library would answer. Let's just say dear Cupid struck me with his arrow, and it hurts like you wouldn't believe. So, every night, I would sit up here, counting the stars, holding a rose, and thinking of him. What else could I do? Tell him I love him? He'd laugh in my face. I'm not worthy of loving him anyway, and I don't know why I still do. I persuaded myself that I was saving both our lives. He couldn't love me. I wasn't his "type." He would betray his family if he ever dared to love me back, and my friends would disown me if they found out. I was betraying them just by coming up here every night, but I couldn't help what I was doing.

I looked at a star tonight, and I saw his eyes. I looked at the grass below me and saw his face. I looked at the rose and saw...myself. A rose must die, and this one was wilting...wilting was something my love failed to do, but I felt myself doing it. I felt like dying, just like the rose in my hands. With every night I stood up here, the rose faded a little, or a petal would fall. Now that I saw the rose, I felt myself fade every night too.

I counted the stars, wishing on every single one, knowing that wishes like this don't come true. Love is magic at its very deepest. It has a disastrous mind of its own.

I held the rose in my hand and stared at it sadly. A bittersweet tear ran down my cheek. I didn't bother wiping it away...it landed on the flower, and another one replaced it...and another...and another....

I stared at the rose. He couldn't love me...so why was I wasting my time? I was saving both our lives by keeping this a secret. But life on the Astronomy Tower had, to me, lost its meaning.

I made up my mind as I walked over to the edge of the tower, looking triumphantly at the swaying grass so many feet below me. I held the teardrop rose against my heart, closed my eyes, and swung my legs over the edge. Taking a deep breath...I held out my arm and let go of the rose.

Fierce winds carried it into the black of the night. I hoped to banish my impractical behavior with it. I hoped never to see it again. I was unworthy of loving someone like him.

The clouds in front of the moon parted, revealing a soft light on the Tower. I hoped I wouldn't burst into tears on my way back to the dormitories. But then I saw a familiar, shadowy figure standing in the dimly lit doorway, and my blood went cold.

"D-Draco?"

It was him. He stepped into the delicate moonlight, and I saw his eyes. They were shining with silver tears of their own. I've never seen him look so gentle before. Maybe it was just the moonlight gleaming on his light hair, or the affectionate gaze in his eyes...or maybe I was just imagining it....

He walked over to me slowly and without his usual better-than-everyone-else posture. He stopped very close to me. I could feel the warmth around him as I looked up into his face. My heart was racing icy blood through my body. What was he doing? Why was he here? Does he know my secret? He looked down and held out something that looked very much like...

"A rose," he said softly. "Take it. It will never die." I did as I was told. "And promise me you'll keep it forever."

The rose in my hands was also gleaming with tears. It was beautiful with a thornless stem and soft, red petals that would never fade away. I flung myself onto his next and sobbed uncontrollably. He embraced me gently and whispered softly in my ear.

"If thy unworthiness raised love in me,
More worthy I to be beloved of thee."