Song of the Chapter: Sad Beautiful Tragic by Taylor Swift

Hermione waited patiently on the balcony of the Astronomy Tower the next morning. The night before had been so chaotic, that practically no one bothered to go to class, or any meals of the day. Hermione wasn't planning on taking part in any of it either, but just as she had plenty of times before, she was drawn to the one place where she just might find solace.

When she first got there, she could do nothing but twiddle her thumbs and pretend like none of this would have happened if it weren't for Draco. As she approached the balcony, it reminded her of her times there with him, and just how happy she had been, but seeing all the damage he had caused, it should make her forget about him and everything they had.

But it didn't.

She knew he wasn't the one to kill Dumbledore, but he did however manage to get the other Deatheaters to infiltrate the castle. There were no words to describe her disappointment in him. But how he managed to continue being in her thoughts and part of her heart astounded her beyond belief.

And now that she was here, at the Tower and on the balcony, she found herself waiting.

"He's not coming back, you know?" The sudden voice brought her out of her reverie. She turned to find Harry, still in his clothing from the night before, his wand held firmly in his grip. Hermione had no response as she scanned his face, searching for some sort of sign. The man he had loved like a Father had just died, or in fact was killed by a man they almost trusted. The fact that he was killed in the very same room, it must have been troubling for him just to make it up the stairs.

"Harry, you don't have to be here."

"I wasn't just going to let you stay here alone, especially after all that has happened," Harry had a point, because even Hogwarts wasn't safe anymore, "And I know why you're here. And like I said, he's not coming back."

"How do you know?" she questioned.

"Because even if he is a snarky little git, he's clever, and he's not coming back to a school where they'd just send him to where he truly belongs, in Azkaban." Hermione could not comment back, for she knew it was absolutely true.

"He loves me."

"Has he told you?"

"He didn't have to."

Harry kept his distance from her and the balcony, his silence telling her he was thinking. "Dumbledore's last wish was for me to look for the Horcruxes," Harry started, changing the subject, "And I'm going to do it. No matter how long it will take."

Hermione slowly turned to meet Harry's sad gaze, she walked towards him and held his hand. "We're in this together, you know," Hermione said, "I want to go with you. I can't speak for Ron, but I know he would say the same." Harry nodded, accepting her offer. She silently went back to her empty spot on the balcony, and leaned against the railing.

"How long will you be out here?" he asked.

"I don't know," Hermione breathed out, "As long as it takes, I suppose." For a moment, she thought she heard Harry scoff behind her.

"You'll never accept us, will you?" Hermione asked reluctantly.

"Even if I didn't, that wouldn't stop you." Harry turned away and proceeded out of the Tower, leaving an aura of abnegation behind him.

"Crucio!" The Dark Lord screeched with his wand out. Draco screamed in torture, his back arching off the concrete ground below him, his scream echoing through the dungeon they had put him in. Voldemort had a wicked grin on his face as he watched the young man contort with pain, veins jutting out of his forehead in agony.

Voldemort released the curse for a moment, and Draco took a deep breath before, he yelled again, "Crucio!" The pain seemed to double, his life briefly flashing before his eyes before he was once again released from the dreaded curse. "I am a...sensible man, Draco, and for that...I will allow you your life. Never will you defy me again," the Dark Lord hissed before exiting through the dungeon door.

His Mother and Father gave Draco and sympathetic and longing glance before they were ushered away by other Deatheaters. They were his parents, but they were also his followers, which meant if they saved him, they would have been killed as well. Draco learned to understand this, knowing that this would continue the same way for a very long time, even if they never truly accepted it.

The last person to leave gave Draco a much longer look, and in fact stared him thoughtfully through his Deatheater mask. "I suppose you're going to torture me too," Draco mumbled, "Just do it already."

The Deatheater raised his wand from under his cloak slowly. Draco awaited the curse, shutting his eyes under the pressure. Just then, with a sublte flick of his wand, the door shut and locked itself tightly. Draco stared in awe as the Deatheater turned away to mutter several locking and silencing charms on the door before facing the younger man once more. He removed his mask to reveal his Godfather, the man who had defied the Dark Lord's orders just hours before.

"What do you want?!" Draco spat angrily.

"I've come to explain myself," Snape said calmly, "And I don't have much time so I suggest you shut up and listen." Draco closed his mouth and let the man continue. "A long time ago, when I was at Hogwarts, I too fell in love with a muggleborn," Snape explained.

"Don't try to compare me to you," Draco snarled, "I lost her, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"You haven't lost anything, Draco, she is still somewhere out there waiting for you."

"Not after what I did, and certainly not after everything I caused!" Draco yelled. Snape let out a groan of frustration and send a jinx over to him, tossing him against the brick wall. "Hear what I have to say before you speak!" Snape boomed. Draco rubbed his shoulder in pain, and let him continue again.

"I killed your Headmaster, because I knew that if you committed this crime, then you would have lost any chance of being with the one person who can turn your life around! I did it so you didn't have to lose her! Have faith, Draco, because you still have a chance and you haven't lost her yet! Don't make the same mistakes I did! Don't let go, before you know you've truly fallen!"

Draco had never heard his own Godfather talk this way before. Never has he told him to have faith, because he always thought of the man as a Wizard who didn't believe in that.

"I've lost a person that I had loved. She's dead now. And that is what loss is. And I am not going to let you give up on her. Not like this," Snape solemnly swore to Draco without a tone of hinderance. He abruptly tunred around, released his locking and silencing charms, and exited the darkened room.

The door was left open, and instead of walking through it, Draco stayed glued to the floor, barely breathing out of pure awe. It is complete insanity to try to get her back, as if the mere thought could put you in St. Mungo's for life. She was a mudblood, which was everything he was supposed to be against. And yet, with her help and even Snape's, he finally saw that maybe it wasn't entirely out of his reach.

Maybe Hermione was right, maybe he did deserve happiness, and she was his happiness. He saw it himself in the Mirror of Erised, she was his only desire, and maybe he was hers too.

He had to make things right, but how to do it? His only way of escaping Voldemort's wrath was the war ending, and Potter winning. But for how long? How long will he have to live with the doubt that it would never happen? How long would he have to wait to hear news from her? How long will he have to wait not knowing if she was even still alive?

Through the bars of the dungeon cell, embedded in the night sky, was the glorious and luminous full moon. It lit up the sky, revealing the millions of little stars speckled across the endless night. And just within the cluster of stars, was his own constellation. The one Hermione had spotted the many nights ago in their Tower. His grey eyes reflected the iridescent full moon, brightening his pale face, mesmerizing him.

As he gazed into the clustered sky, he could only hope that Hermione was doing the same. And even if he never saw her again, he would always have this, and will always be connected to her this way. And with that in mind, Draco left that dungeon, leaving behind any doubt that their connection would be forgotten. Because the memories he had?

That would always keep him going.

"I'll find you, Draco," Hermione gently whispered to the night sky, where she saw his celestial symbol, drawn delicately into the night. Despite all that has happened, she found that looking at that constellation she finally had something truly worth fighting for. And with the war that was about to start?

Well, everyone needs their motivation.

She hadn't told anyone this, but she believed that lost things had a way of finding there way back again. And the ones that you love most of all, those would come back sooner than you think.

And as she walked the long path back to the castle, from the Black Lake, it never occurred to her that many miles away, Draco would be doing the same thing. Smiling to himself at the thought of seeing his significant other once again, because no matter how sad and tragic their relationship had turned out to be, it was utterly beautiful. And this? Well...

This was just the beginning.

A/N: As you may have guessed it, there is a sequel. Keep an eye out for The Volition: Part 2. And no matter what you think, this story won't be as simple as it seems. Like I said...

It's only the beginning. ;-)