My All

Chapter Two:

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Draco watched Pansy leave and he let out a shuddered sigh. He was tired of her begging him to get over Hermione. It wasn't as easy as one would think. They, or at least Draco, had been in love. They had been together for most of fifth year, but Hermione had broke it off in the beginning of this year. She had claimed that she had too much on her shoulders, considering she was a sixth year Prefect, and that she didn't have time for a boyfriend. Draco understood and told her he would wait, but the very next morning, he realized her explanation was far from the truth for Hermione walked into the Great Hall with a large smile on her face and her hand in Harry Potter's. Now, in the middle of November, almost three months since they had broken up, Draco was still mourning as if a child that had lost his most favorite toy.

Rising from his seat, Draco gathered his supplies and walked toward the door. Stopping right in front of the exit, he took a deep breath and collected himself as inserted his mask. The 'mask' was his lifesaver. It hid all of his emotions from anyone but his closest friends for his six years at Hogwarts. If anybody were to look at him, they would have never guessed he was crying just a half hour ago.

Draco opened the door and walked through. With a turn of his heel, he headed back to the Slytherin common room. Fortunately, his journey was not interrupted and it ended as he approached the portrait guarding the entrance. He stood outside for a minute, deep in thought, before whispering the password.

"Cruciatus."

The portrait opened and Draco stepped inside, gracefully. He noticed that the fire was beginning to die down and a couple of third years were sleeping on the plush couches with their potions book lying on top of them. Vincent was also sleeping on a love seat near the fire. The portrait door closed and Draco was hit by a slight breeze. He shivered involuntarily and began walking toward his room. Being a Prefect, he was given his own bedroom, as of the rest of the Prefects of the school. Luckily for him, his was at the end of a hallway and rarely anyone disturbed him.

Draco whispered his password and entered his haven. He was greeted by the warmth of a fire and his own decorated surroundings. Instead of the traditional green and silver that covered the Slytherin dungeons, his room was splashed with magnificent colors that seemed to brighten Draco's mood. The fire produced shadows across the bedroom and it caused the illusion that the room was dancing.

Like any other day, Draco was worn out by life. It was getting late and Draco decided to go down to the Prefects' bathroom to take a long soak. He dropped his bag and cloak on a nearby chair and walked over to his wardrobe to grab a towel and some clothes. After collecting his things, he sauntered over the a secret passage the led him directly to his destination.

He emerged in front of the Prefects' bathroom a minute later and produced the password. Draco had not expected anyone to be there and was startled when steam emitted from inside. Nevertheless, Draco went in. He spotted a bathtub and immediately went over to claim it. He let his fingertips run over the taps and decided he wanted to take a Cinnamon/Peppermint bath. He turned the taps and his nose was tickled at the calming essence.

Draco stripped himself of his clothes and when the bath was full, he climbed inside, oblivious to the fact that a certain other Prefect was a mere seven feet away from his tub. Draco welcomed the warmth and soon, he was consumed the in bubble-filled water. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the relaxing incense and sighed in minor content. He turned his head to one side and when he opened his eyes, he was brought upon a painful surprise. He gasped and immediately brought himself into a sitting position and stared at the person in front of him.

"Draco," the person said.

"Hello Hermione," Draco replied with pain etched in his face and words.

Hermione took no notice and continued to brush her long, brown locks. She was wrapped in a large red towel and was sitting in a chair, facing the mirror with her back towards Draco. She continued the light conversation.

"How have you been?"

Draco couldn't believe his eyes. Hermione had been avoiding him ever since they broke up, or was it Draco who was avoiding her? They had not exchanged a single word to each other for three months and suddenly she was right there, leading a simple talk.

"Do you really want to know?" Draco answered, looking straight into Hermione's eyes.

She placed her brush down gingerly and turned around to return the stare. "Yes, I do want to know."

Draco could feel a wave of emotions cloud over him as he struggled to answer. His voice quivered and showed every detail of how 'he had been.'

"I've been betrayed and lied to by the only woman I've ever loved. She shattered my heart at the beginning of the year and I've been hiding in the dark every since. My friends worry about me constantly along with Snape. I am unable to concentrate on anything except my misery and how -happy- the love of my life is. Only problem is, she is with Harry Potter."

When Draco finished, tears were running down his face once again and he cursed himself for crying in front of Hermione. He wiped his tears away harshly with his hands, but failed as more came. Not once had Draco broken the eye contact.

Hermione turned and faced the mirror once more.

"I thought you understood," she whispered.

If words could kill, Draco would be dead right now. Tears continued to fall as his heart was being tortured.

"Understand? Understanding is far from my mind. You betrayed me! You lied and cheated my love and ripped my heart out! What I am trying to face right now is to accept the fact that I can never be happy. And do you want to know why, Hermione? Do you want to know why?" Draco said, trying to calm himself.

Hermione stared at Draco's tear-streaked face and nodded her head slightly.

Draco snapped and yelled," Because you are the cause of my fucking misery!"

Hermione whipped herself around and glared into Draco's eyes.

"Get over it, Malfoy."

She grabbed her bag and went to the ladies' changing room in a flash, leaving Draco alone in the bath. He sat for a few moments before relaxing back into his bath. Tears continued to run down his face and soon, he was too tired for even sitting. He rose from his tub and dried himself hastily. He looked at his reflection and sneered slightly. He looked worse than he did when he came in here. Before leaving the bathroom, Draco, once again, applied on his mask. Making sure that he didn't leave anything behind, he exited the bathroom and took the long path back to his bedroom.

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Draco entered his room and threw his possessions into a chair out of frustration and anger. Before he could do anything else, a knock was heard.

"Who is it?" He snarled.

"Vincent. May I come in?"

Draco relaxed. It was only Vince. No harm done. He walked over to the door and invited his long-time pal in.

"Was there anything you wanted?" Draco asked. Vincent eyed him suspiciously. He always put a watchful eye over his friend, but answered nonetheless.

"No. Just wanted to talk to you. You know, man-to-man."

Draco looked confused. "Alright. If you want to."

He offered the wizard a chair and he gladly accepted. Now settled, they began their 'talk.'

Vincent sighed. "Draco, I've been watching you lately and..."

He was cut off by his friend.

"You've been -watching- me?!"

"Yeah. Look, Draco, before you get angry with me, I have a perfectly good explanation," Vincent replied, surprised.

Draco growled. He didn't like being watched and especially not by his friend.

"I don't want you to die," Vincent continued.

Draco's face relaxed and he said, in a small voice, "Why would you thin..."

"Draco, have you watched yourself lately? You've done nothing except crying and drown yourself in depression! I'd be damned if you haven't thought about suicide!" Vincent yelled.

"No, Vince. I haven't been thinking of suicide," he lied. Truth was, suicide had been on Draco's mind for a while.

Something in Vincent snapped. "Look at you! You're lying to yourself and me! How long are you going to keep this up?"

Grey eyes erupted in fire. "Keep what up? So what if I think about suicide? No one will miss me anyway! It's not like anyone cares!"

"I care," Vincent admitted.

"What fucking difference does that make?!"

"Let me ask you this. Do you -know- how much you hurt everyone because of the way you're acting? Pansy is tortured by your emotions and Blaise is just a wreck! I am beginning to think that I am the only sane person left in our group!"

Draco rose up from his chair and pointed a finger toward the door.

"I want you OUT!" He screamed.

Vincent exited the bedroom, standing just outside the entryway.

"Draco, we'll talk later."

Draco slammed the door in his friend's face. He sat in his chair and stared into the fire. Thoughts of what happened ran through his head.

'Nobody understands this pain I feel. Nobody understands.'

It was a while before Draco rose from his chair. Walking over to his closet, he changed into black silk pajamas and climbed into bed. He pulled the covers over and laid his head on his pillow. He let the warmth of the fire comfort him slightly as he slowly drifted into a welcomed slumber.