Somewhere I Belong

I've been sitting here
Can't get you off my mind
I've tried my best to be a man and be strong
I've drove myself insane
Wishing I could touch your face
But the truth remains..

You're gone..
You're gone..
Baby you're gone
Girl you're gone, baby girl, you're gone..
You're gone..
You're...

"Um, Hermione. Can I talk to you?" Ron asked, approaching Hermione. She looked up at him, a hurt expression still on her face.

"What is it now?" she asked, sounding tired.

"Well, I wanted to say I'm sorry for my remark. I don't think you're a know-it-all. In fact, I think you are the most intelligent, nice, interesting, caring...and beautiful person in the world," Ron said, his face scarlet. Hermione looked up, shocked at first. A smile crossed her face as she spoke.

"Do you mean that?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. I do," Ron said quickly. Hermione smiled and stood.

"I'm sorry I overreacted," she said.

"You're forgiven," Ron said pompously, causing Hermione to glare at him. He laughed, making her laugh too.

"Come on, lets go find Harry," Hermione said, leading Ron toward the Great Hall. Harry was just making his way toward them, and they headed toward their dorms together. They were surprised to see Malfoy walking aimlessly down the hallway toward them.

"Hey, Malfoy!" Ron called, causing Draco to look up. Draco looked lethargically up, seeing it was Ron, looked back down.

"Sod off, Weasel," he retorted, still looking down.

"What's the matter? Did your girlfriend dump you? Hermione told us she saw you snogging some girl in the library," Ron said loudly. Hermione elbowed him in the ribs for saying it, but Ron ignored that.

"I said sod off. I'm not in the mood for your idiocy," Malfoy said. Hermione noticed he looked rather empty. His appearance was tattered. Unlike his normally sleek, pressed, expensive style. She couldn't see his face, and for some reason, she felt something wasn't right about him.

"So where is she? The girl that dumped you," Ron asked laughing. Draco looked up into Ron's face stepping forward. Ron was startled by Draco's forward action. He was also shocked by the way his face looked. He looked tired. Worn out. Defeated. Draco Malfoy always wore a look of superiority and class.

"She's gone," Draco said firmly, not blinking. He sensed Ron's awkwardness and confusion.

"So she did dump you?" Ron continued, not letting up.

"You are so naive Weasel. You have no idea. You just...don't know," Draco said, remembering her last words. He continued down the hall, not turning back. Harry and Hermione exchanged puzzled glances. They found out two days later what had happened. They were told, along with the rest of the school what Alex had done for Draco. Draco was not present for this event though. He'd had some grieving to do. Hermione, Ron and Hermione, after finding out, knew that that was the only time in their entire lives at Hogwarts, that they'd felt sympathy for Draco Malfoy. The one person who had made their lives a living hell, had lost someone.

Draco stared at the passing trees from the car window as it traveled down the wide, lonely road. Sheets of rain pattered the window as he continued to stare, unemotionally. He hadn't even asked his father's permission. He'd made his decision, and he wasn't going to be influenced. The car came to a stop, and Draco swallowed hard. His hand shook terribly as he opened the car door and stepped out. His black cloak was enveloped by the pouring rain. Snape got out of the car, after stopping the ignition. He'd promised Draco he'd bring him. It was puzzling how much it meant to him. Snape followed silently as Draco made his way to the designated place. A middle aged man was sitting next to a few women who were crying. Draco noticed there were a many vacant chairs. The priest hadn't arrived yet, so he took a seat towards the back, Snape sitting next to him. The women in the front looked back at him questioningly. They knew, by the way he was dressed and his unfamiliar face, that he wasn't part of their family. He sat quietly, and waited. The priest arrived a few minutes later, and they stood as he said a prayer. He spoke a lot about Alex and her life throughout the whole thing. Snape wasn't very emotional himself, but it broke him up inside to see Draco so depressed. The middle aged man stood to say a few words. Draco guessed, just by seeing the state he was in, that it was her father. Raindrops ran down his cheeks replacing tears. He looked around him, noticing that still, no one else had arrived. He looked to the priest who had begun speaking again. He was unfamiliar with the traditions of muggles and death. Her family must have wanted her to buried the muggle way, with a muggle ceremony, and a muggle priest.

Draco had stopped listening to what was being said. He'd begun thinking about Alex. Her eyes. Her smile. The way she acted when she was angry. The way her voice sounded. The way she'd made him feel so strange. He closed his eyes. It was just too much. Snape nudged him a few seconds later when everyone was standing to leave. It had been shorter that he'd thought. He stood also, thoroughly soaked. Snape started toward the car, but Draco stopped.

"Aren't you coming?" Snape asked, noticing he'd stopped.

"I'll be right there. I have to do something first," Draco said. Snape continued to the car, as Draco headed toward the man. He stopped in front of him, feeling rather awkward. The man looked up, startled and confused by his confrontation.

"Yes, can I help you with something?" the man asked.

""Are you Alex's father?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I am. Who are you?" the man asked, puzzled.

"My name is Draco Malfoy. I was a...friend of your daughter's," Draco said.

"Oh, I don't remember her mentioning you," Alex's father said.

"I know. She probably wouldn't have. You see sir, I...was in love with Alex. She meant everything to me. She...died to save me," Draco stopped. He couldn't relive the pain. The man stared at him for several minutes before answering.

"You loved Alex? But...what happened to her?" he asked.

"She was an Eternus. They are magical people who can heal the sick and dying. She used that power to save me. She said she loved me too. I think that's why she did it," Draco replied sadly.

"Were you with Alex when she died?" Alex's father asked, tears in his eyes.

"Yes...I was. I held her as she died," Draco said, the words he spoke foreign to him. The man took a few minutes to answer again.

"Was she in pain?" he asked finally, wiping away tears.

"No. I promise you, she wasn't," Draco said, looking away from the man's miserable eyes. He turned to leave, but then spotted the casket. It hadn't been buried yet, so Draco went over to it. A feeling rose in him that took over his being as he stopped in front of it. He begun to speak under his breath, talking to her. He was interrupted.

"Would you like to see her, young man?" a woman who'd eyed him suspiciously earlier asked. Draco only nodded. The woman opened the top of the casket, revealing the girl's body. Draco could only stare. She looked so angelic. She closed it a few seconds later, and left him by the casket for awhile. Snape waited in the car until the little group of people left, and they were ready to put her in the ground. He watched as they buried her carefully, her father still standing there also. He waited, with flowers in hand until it was finished, then walked slowly to her headstone. He read the words, still unable to accept her absence. He laid the flowers down, and unable to take anymore emotional anguish, headed toward the car. He was stopped.

"Wait. I wanted you to have something," Alex's father said, walking quickly to catch up. Draco stopped and turned around. Her father stopped and began to speak.

"I think that you coming here was a very nice gesture. I loved my daughter. More than you know. She was my only child. My little girl. She had such a wonderful attitude about everything. So smart, and beautiful, just like her mother. She had this since her mother died, and I want you to have it." He handed Draco a box.

"I can't accept this," Draco started, but Alex's father disrupted him.

"I couldn't keep it. It was hers. She would have wanted you to have it," he said.

"Thank you. This means a lot to me," Draco said, putting the box in his pocket.

"She never had many friends. She felt, because of her mother, that she was better off alone. It's good to know you were with her in her final moments. I don't want her to be alone," he said.

"I would stay with her forever, just so she wouldn't be alone. I love her, and I will forever," Draco said quietly.

"She was an angel. She had the powers of an angel. She's with other angels now," Alex's father said.

"She's where she belongs," Draco said before turning to go to the car. As they drove down the same road, Draco remembered the box Alex's father had given him. He opened it, and sighed. It was her pendant.