A/N: The part before the line is about Hermione and the part after the line is about Draco,
although it's kind of obvious.

Once Upon a Moonbeam

by ~Angel Face~
 
 
 

Hermione's deep brown eyes fluttered open, and she sighed. Once, again she would
endure another sleepless night thinking about him.

Sleep was a lost cause for her. He invaded every thought her incredibly large brain
composed. A silent tear slid down her pale ivory face. He meant everything to her, and
yet he was slowly tearing her apart. She was miserable without him, but when she was
around him, she could never reveal the true Hermione, the one that was fun and outgoing.
She hid behind the cover of a geeky, bossy bookworm. She didn't know how to be herself
around him, or anyone but Ginny. For heaven's sake, Harry and Ron were her best friends
and even they didn't know what she was really like.

In grammar school, Hermione was the most popular girl in the school, and it had always
been that way. Her bushy hair was the envy every girl in the school, even the older ones,
and a lot of girls had buckteeth, so it was no big deal. The boys all liked her, and she did
well in everything she did. She had known everyone in her town because of her parents.
They were the onlydentists in town. She had never been intimidated before, and so when
she got to Hogwarts, full of strange and new people, she didn't know what to do. She tried
to cover her insecurity by being bossy and rude, but it only gave her a bad reputation and
no friends. Since Hermione had no one to talk to, she buried herself into her studies. She
stayed like that for the rest of her 1st year and now she couldn't dig herself out.

She swung her long slender legs over the side of the bed and slowly slid into a pair of
slippers. In one fluid motion, she pulled on her dressing gown and glided out of the room,
with him still on her mind. In the same flowing stride, she flew out of the common room,
down the stairs and out of the Great Hall.

The cold wind whipped against her face and she shivered uncontrollably. Still, this was the
only time and place she could really be alone with her thoughts. Her long chestnut hair flew
out behind her, leaving only a few strands to frame her face, cinnamon eyes far away and
dreamy. An overwhelming feeling of sorrow filled her body and mind, and the morose feeling
enveloped hercompletely. She glanced toward the Great Lake, and thought, "It would be so
easy to just throw my sorrows and myself into that lake. I would be doing everyone a favor.
No one cares about me at all. My old friends think I'm a freak now, and my new ones don't
even know me. My parents don't even care enough to notice how miserable I am."

Suddenly, a piercing sob ripped form her throat, and she threw herself to the ground. Her
life was a mistake. She was a failure. No one cared about her a smidge anymore. He would
never like her. He was a rich, powerful, handsome man from Slytherin of all houses! It was
practically against the law.

Hermione cried herself to sleep. Restlessly, she tossed and turned for an hour before
waking up. When she did, her tears were gone. This time though, there was something
different - she could feel someone watching her. "Itt's just my imagination," she told herself.
She sat on the lakeshore, remembering her conversation with herself earlier. "I shouldn't
think that way. Remember Viktor? He liked you, and he was a celebrity. And you've got
great friends, even if they don't know the real you. That isn't there fault." Hermione sat in
silence for a while, beginning to gain some of her old self-confidence back. As the beautiful
sun began to rise and form a rosy dawn, she thought, "It's only once upon a moonbeam
when you can do that."
 
 

Draco rolled over on his green velvet covers. He would spend yet another miserable night
thinking of her. So forbidden, so wrong, so horribly against all the rules, and yet, she was so
right. Her creamy skin, pale pink lips, and cinnamon eyes gave her the look of a supermodel,
and yet she seemed like a bookworm, so incredibly involved with her studies. Through it all,
though, he saw someone else there, someone she used to be. He was constantly watching
her, whether by magic or through his own two eyes. Occasionally, once upon a moonbeam,
he could see a bubbly, sparkling girl, just waiting for a chance to let loose and have fun. He
remembers this person the cost clearly at the Yule Ball. She shocked everyone. That was
the day I fell completely out of love with that ugly idiot Pansy and into love with her.

"This is hopeless," Draco told himself. He jumped out of bed and into a robe and slippers.
He padded through the empty, desolate common room, and up to the astronomy tower. The
cold, harsh wind whipped around the tower, making the room as frigid as his ice-cold heart.
There was only one person that could thaw it out - her.

He was raised that way, just as all the other Malfoys had been. Let no one beat you down,
and beat the heck out of everyone else, until they all had full submission to you. No one was
to rule a Malfoy, for he was to be ruler of all who knew him, except for the current Dark
Lord. Sometimes, a very powerful Malfoy would be born, and become the Dark Lord. That
was considered the greatest honor, and because of his incredible skills, many reckoned that
Draco would be the next Dark Lord. Every time Draco heard this, he died a little inside. For
in him, was a small amount of good that could grow, wanted to grow, but wasn't allowed to.
However, his father was giving him every possible ounce of training possible to become one.
He would most likely have to kill his father and all of his supporters to get away from his
father's dreams. Although he wouldn't mind, since he despised his father more than anyone -
except Voldemort, of course.

He cried out, his head in his hands. Then, he was still for almost a full hour - completely still,
almost as if he was dead. In a sense, he was - emotionally. He looked to the tower window.
How easy it would be to just jump - no one cared enough about him to even notice for a while.
She and her stupid friends would probably be happy. He went to stand at the window, and
took a final look at his deathbed. He saw a lone figure, sitting forlornly on the shore of the lake.
It was her. After seeing the lonely girl sitting there, he couldn't do it. He couldn't make himself
jump. He looked down, and thought to himself, "It's only once upon a moonbeam that a girl
can make a Malfoy back down."
 
 
 

Do you like it? It's my first attempt at a fic, so please be nice. Constructive criticism, please. :)
And by the way, I don't usually write depressing stories, I prefer fluff, but I got an inspiration
and I think it turned OK. Please review!
 

A Chance Under Moonlight (companion fic)