Redemption.

"I can't believe this is goodbye"

Draco's POV.

He opened his eyes and he was in his bed, staring at his canopy bed. He could have closed the curtains, but he didn't want to -for he felt trapped in such a tiny space.

There was a weird and numb feeling in his chest, as he always did by the end of the year when he had to go back home. But this time it felt different.

This would be the last time he'd ever leave Hogwarts -forever. He wouldn't be coming back next September. He'd never walk through its halls again, today would be the last time he'd eat within those walls. And it felt awful. He had dreamt about this time for so long, and now that it was here, he felt like never leaving this place.

He stretched and yawned. He got up, still half-asleep, and got dressed. There was now a weight on his chest. This was the last time he'd ever do anything within the castle. He stops, and took his shirt off. He headed for the bathroom and hopped in the shower. He felt like this day was special, therefore he needed to look respectable and clean.

He put his clothes back on, his wet hair dripping on his shirt as he got back inside the dormitory. He still had to pack, and this couldn't really wait.

He opened his trunk and sat down on the edge of his bed, realising just how much of a mess it was inside. His clothes were stacked in the trunk, messily unfolded, as though they had just been thrown inside, and he wondered how many days or weeks had passed since the last time he had seen his trunk and clothes neatly stored inside.

This year had gone by so quickly, and Draco felt like the months after Christmas and the Yule Ball and the New Year had gone in a blur. He almost didn't see them pass. He had been so busy with his classes and Stiorra that he didn't see the end coming, and suddenly, boom, the NEWTS were there, and then when that was over, he had to pack and leave.

Draco folded his clothes and put them away in his trunk neatly, until his stomach started to ache and rumble. He got up, closing his trunk carefully and looking around the room to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, and walked out.

The common room was empty, and he guessed everyone had already packed and gone for breakfast. Which was something he would have done the other years, but that very morning he felt like taking his time.

He wandered the halls, walked up the stairs as they moved underneath his feet. He stopped eventually, a hand propped on the banister as he overlooked the stairs that stood underneath.

Draco wandered the castle grounds, from the outside yards and quad to the lake, and within an hour he found himself climbing up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower.

He stood there, leaning over the railing as he overlooked the castle grounds, the sun beaming over the lake. Draco felt a pinch inside at the thought that he'd never see something like this ever again.

"I thought you'd be here," Stiorra's voice said.

"Well, I had to take one last look around."

Stiorra walked up to him, slipping her hand in his as she leaned on the railing beside Draco. He closed his eyes, enjoying the soft and warm summer breeze on his skin.

"What's next?" he asked her.

He breathed in and glanced over to her, a warm feeling wrapping up his heart. He smiled. She was beautiful, but what was to happen to them after that? What was going to happen when there would be no classes or no homework to see her?

"Find a job, I guess," she said, "but first, I have to leave the orphanage."

"Where will you go?"