If Only I Could Help

I sit and watch him look out upon the lake gazing blankly and I can’t help but wonder what he is thinking. I can see him broken inside and needing comfort, but who am I to give it? I hope he finds the pieces of his lost soul and puts them together because even though I disliked him for so long, I can see that he deserves to be whole again.

Hermione closed the leather bound book and slipped it into her bag. It was another rainy day at Hogwarts and most were inside savoring warm mugs of butterbeer and taking a break from studies; being a Saturday. But for Hermione, a rainy day meant he would be here under a tall tree by the lake, overlooking its vastness with a look she knew all too well. So every time it rained, she came out and watched him, hidden under her own favorite tree.

Rain pouring down her face, she reflected back on when he first came back to Hogwarts earlier that year. Everyone who had already hated him acted as if he wasn’t there. His old friends treated him like a traitor and, in the beginning, often times beat him up to show that he was no longer a part of their world. He was a lost soul that seemed no longer living but not quite dead.

One day, he had come out of Potions class and another Slytherin came up and knocked all of his possessions out of his hands. Him, being too broken to return cruelty, merely looked down at the floor at the fallen books. He had reached down, only to encounter a warming touch brush upon his hand. Hermione saw this as a small opportunity to let him know that someone cared for him, so she gently picked up his fallen books and put them in his bag. He had looked into her eyes for a moment, but only that before lowering his gaze back down to the ground and letting his hands fall to his sides.

He didn’t talk anymore. His scars spoke for themselves of the horrible torture he must have received after leaving the shelter of Hogwarts last year to join the Death Eaters in their plague of the wizarding world. He wasn’t like them in any way, Hermione saw. She could see it in his eyes on his return for that safety that he never really wanted that kind of life to begin with.

Everyone at Hogwarts knew of the story, but none were forgiving. He had gone to that cruel world only to be made as a torture subject. Lord Voldemort saw his ‘weaknesses’ and decided he wasn’t worthy to be a follower after all. Snape had helped him escape and come back to Hogwarts, which is now guarded even more heavily after the attack that he had caused the year before, so that he could be safe and never have to endure another beating. But after all he had already done, no one wanted him alive. So they did the next best thing to killing him. They ignored him completely. He didn’t get beat up anymore; he was just never seen by anyone again. That’s when he became a ghost.

The rain stopped and Hermione wiped the freshly shed tears from her flushed face. She watched as the lost soul grabbed the hood of his soaked robes without changing expression, put it over his face and walk back to the castle. She watched his retreating back and her heart ached for him. Opening her bag once more, she removed the leather bound book and opened to her latest entry.

He needs love. I wish I could give him that. How can this world be so unforgiving? Can’t they see a good heart when it cries out for affection? Stubbornness. What a nasty weakness. Only the strong can forgive. Should I let him know that I forgive? Should I reach out to him and tell him that he is actually cared for? That someone has genuine concern for him? Can I help him find the courage and strength to go on and give him the love he needs to make him whole? If only he will let me. Draco Malfoy, let me help you.


*Authors Note* I know this is a really short one-shot but it is what it is. Reviews would be appreciated.