Ch. 1
She slid into the seat on the train and watched as people strolled by her. Some of them lifted a hand in greeting, but most just kept walking. She sighed. This was going to be a long year. Ever since the summer when everything had happened, nothing had been the same.
After school had gotten out after her 6th year she had returned to an empty house, finding a note from her parents that they had gone on holiday without her. She had just sighed and gone about her normal business hoping for a chance to escape her misery.
Soon, perhaps sooner than she expected, that chance came. She had been walking around the mall by herself when she had bumped in to someone.
"Sorry!" she had gasped as he pulled her to her feet. She took one look at him and fell in love. Being tall and very sexy, she had overlooked the aura of darkness that seemed to surround him. He had taken her to a small smoothie shop and they had proceeded to get to know each other.
Over the course of the summer they had been together and he had taken her to parties and shown her the darker side of town. By the time he was through with her he had changed her completely. Hermione Granger was no longer the goody-two-shoes she had once been.
She was jolted out of her thoughts as the train started to move and she curled up into a ball, thinking about the last time she had seen her friends. The year before had been bleak, the same as every other year with a little bit of adventure and a lot of sitting by herself in the library.
The door slid open and Draco Malfoy walked in. He stopped short when he saw her then slowly sat down.
"Hey mudblood," he murmured quietly.
"Hey ferret," she replied in a bored voice.
They sat in silence, each growing comfortable with the others presence.
"You head boy?" she asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Yep, and can i assume that you are head girl?"
"Duh.." she responded, "did you expect any different?"
"No," he smirked and leaned back, resting his feet next to her. She glanced at them, looking back from Malfoy to his feet. Then, deciding not to say anything, she pulled out a book.
"So how's life?" he asked, trying to engage her in conversation before she got lost in her book.
"Life sucks," she replied, putting the book down. He laughed. The bookworm? Life sucks for her? Whatever.
"And just what about life sucks, little mudblood?" he said, trying to regain a straight face.
She looked away to hide a tear dripping down her face. He would never understand.
She shifted, turning to face the window and pushing off Malfoy's feet, replacing them with her own. He glared at her but propped his feet up on his own side of the compartment. She giggled slightly and he glared over at her.
"So where's Potty and the Weasel?" he asked with a hint of disgust.
"Who knows who cares?" she asked absently, having resumed her book.
"I would think that you of all people would care," he replied, becoming confused as to why she was acting this way. He glanced over and saw a few tears dripping down her face. Whats wrong with her! He was extremely confused now but he decided not to say anything, for the moment.
"So..uhh..Granger?" he asked tentatively.
"Hmm..?" she responded, putting her book down.
"You do realize that we have to share a common room this year, right?"
"Yeah...About that.." She hesitated,"um, do you think that we could somehow change that?"
"Why, can't put aside our differences to work together for one year?" he teased.
"I just..I don't feel comfortable sharing with..."
"A Slytherin?" he finished.
"No, that's not what I meant!" she exclaimed, "I just don't feel comfortable sharing with a guy!"
"Why? I'm not going to rape you or anything! Its just so we can overcome this house enemy thing!"
Her lip quivered. Oh no. That was it. That's why she had been acting this way... She bolted past him and sprinted down the corridor, bumping in to people as she ran, tears flowing down her face.
Ahead of her a compartment door opened and Harry Potter stepped out. He immediately saw Hermione crying and enveloped her in a hug. Ron Weasley was right behind him and together they pulled her into the small room just as Malfoy ran up.
The blonde boy looked into the compartment and saw Hermione being hugged to death by her two best friends. She was sobbing into Wonder boy's shoulder and the Weasel was leaning on her.
He turned away and walked back to the head compartment to wait for her return.
Soon she returned to the compartment to find Malfoy asleep on one of the seats. He was sprawled across her seat and his so she attempted to move his feet.
Not succeeding, she gave up and sat down on his knees. He awoke with a start and glared up at her for interrupting his sleep.
"Get off my seat," she said bluntly, standing up quickly. He slowly stood up, clearing her side of the compartment and she sat down, pulling out her book.
"Granger," he said slowly. "What happened to you over the summer..?"
She raised her head slowly to look at him and he flinched under her unwavering gaze. "It doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. I don't want to talk about it."
And she said no more about it. Not for the rest of the train ride or when he helped get her trunk down from the rack where it had rested for the whole ride.
"Ron, wait for me!" she heard a voice next to her call out. Hermione turned and saw a girl with long blonde hair attempting to detach herself from the crowd.
"Here, Lavendar, et me help you," she said quickly and tugged the girl out.
"Thanks Hermione..." she murmured, resuming her search for Ron.
"He's right over there," the brunette supplied. "I'll come with you." She led Lavendar to where Ron and Ginny Weasley were waiting.
"We're waiting for Harry," Ginny said as they approached. Hermione nodded and walked to one of the waiting carriages, not stopping to wait for her friends. They stared after her with a mix of anger, confusion and worry.
She sighed as she stepped up into a carriage, heaving her bag up after her. To her surprise, someone was already in the small area. Oh what's his name...Zabini? Yes, that's it. Zabini. She didn't know the Slytherin very well but she knew that he was one of Malfoy's best friends, which meant that he would probably know about the train ride here before the night had ended.
She sighed and sat down, ignoring his inquiring look.
"I'm going to sit here, hope its ok," she said resuming her book. By now she was almost finished and she was already planning to go to the library at her first chance. She glanced up to find him still staring at her. "What?" she asked, becoming annoyed.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
They arrived at the school in almost no time at all. Zabini helped Hermione down from the carriage and she quietly thanked him. Staggering up the steps, she had to grab the stone side for support. Malfoy, who had been in the carriage right behind hers, watched with growing curiosity as she attempted to stand straight.
She slid through the doors and into the great hall where she took a seat at the front of her table. Students trickled in and took their seats around her. Starting to feel claustrophobic, she stood and walked out, not caring that people were staring at her as she left.
"Hey, Granger! Wait!" she heard a voice call. She turned and behind her she saw Malfoy running toward her. Seeing who it was, she resumed her walking.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked tiredly as he caught up.
"Granger, what is with you? What happened?"
"I trusted him with my soul. He tore that away from me. Now you get to see what's left of me." she responded, finally letting the tears fall.
Shit! Draco thought to himself. I didn't want her to cry! He moved forward to try to comfort the crying head girl but before he had even moved an inch, she bolted down the hall and out of sight.
He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall, thinking about what to do next. He couldn't go back into the Great Hall, for the sake of his social life, but he didn't know where his new common room was yet, so he decided to just wonder around until the feast let out.
Hermione ran through the halls, panting heavily, tears streaming down her face. She slowed to a jog and soon came to a slow walk as she ran out of breath. She stopped suddenly and slid down the wall, sobbing even harder.
Flashback:
Hermione was running on the treadmill at her house when the door opened and he walked in, strutting over to where she panted. Pressing the red stop button he slowly slid his hands up her body, smoothing her curves.
"What are you doing!" she asked, already trying to pull away. His face contorted with rage and the last thing she saw was a fist heading straight between her eyes.
When she awoke, she was sprawled on the couch, naked. Why had he done this? What had she done to deserve this punishment? She began to sob, pushing away all comfort. She was tainted by this beast. Sliding into dreams of various horrors, tears continued rolling down her cheeks.
"Hermione!" a voice called behind her. It was a female voice. She heaved herself off the ground and dashed away the tears. Ginny caught up to her and immediately reached out a hand but Hermione pushed it away, collapsing on the floor again. Her friend fell to her knees trying to help but nothing she said would make any difference.
Finally, she gave up. Pushing herself off the floor, she walked away. Guilt tore through her as she turned to look back, but she caught herself and kept walking, putting as much distance as she could between them.
Ginny wandered up the corridor in search of someone when she felt an arm snake around her waist. Attempting to scream brought nothing but a hand clamping over her mouth. She struggled in vain as the arm dragged her into a deserted classroom.
As soon as the door had swung shut the arms retracted and she darted away, spinning to see her captor staring back at her with an odd look on his face.
"What's wrong with Granger?" Malfoy asked her as her pupils dilated with fear. She exhaled slowly, realizing that he did not intend to hurt her.
"I don't know.." she said quietly, averting her gaze. "She's been acting weirdly lately. Over the summer she only answered one of my letters."
He sighed and ran a hand distractedly through his hair, leaning slowly against the wall. Then he quickly pushed himself off and, without a backward glance, exited the room. Ginny stared after him and soon left the room herself.
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Hermione sprinted down the hallway, almost colliding with Professor McGonagall.
"There you are Miss Granger!" she said sharply. "Where have you been?"
Hermione just hung her head, trying to hide her tearstained face. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Alright, well, where is Mr. Malfoy? I need to show you both to your dormitory."
A low voice rang out behind them. "I'm right here, professor."
Professor McGonagall nodded and led them to their room, explaining their duties all the while. Draco studied Hermione's face out of the corner of his eye and soon saw tears dripping silently down it again. He caught her eye just as they reached a portrait of a dragon. She looked away from Draco and instead stated the password.
"Fudge Muffins." Draco hadn't even realized that the professor had left them and he stepped inside, trying to clear his head. As he stepped inside he saw Hermione admiring the room silently.
"Granger, what the hell is going on with you? Who did this to you?" he asked quietly. She turned to him with a soft, sad smile on her face.
"Everyone did this to me. They all helped destroy me." She turned back to the common room and when her eyes found the staircase she lurched forward, grasping the stair rail to stay standing. She glanced apologetically and Draco. "Sorry if I fall on you. I'm not exactly steady on my feet right now."
He just nodded and stepped past her. She stumbled up after him and stopped cold in the doorway to her room. There was a door to the bathroom directly on the other side of her room. She stared straight through the open door, through the bathroom, into Draco's eyes. They were sharing a bathroom.
The last thing she saw was the ground rushing up at her dragging her down into its depths.
A light shone through the cracked curtains as Hermione rose from the dead. It was morning and, ironically, the birds outside were chirping out their joy to start a new day. She groaned as the events of the night before swept down on her. Great she thought. I'm sharing a common room AND a bathroom with a guy.
She tried to roll on to her side but she hadn't shifted an inch before sharp pains were sent through her back. Ugg..I feel like I've been hit by a train..
"Nice to see you're finally awake."
She turned her head sharply toward the door, immediately letting out a sharp cry of pain. Draco was standing there smirking.
"What happened..?" she managed to moan out.
"You fainted."
"No fucking shit," she responded, rolling her eyes.
"Oooh Granger learned some bad language this summer," he laughed. She just groaned again and tried to sit up but immediately falling back into her mountain of pillows.
"So I guess you carried me here and actually attempted to be nice. Wow. Amazing." Her sarcasm did not escape him but he decided to let it pass.
"Granger, you're lucky that we have the day off today..."
"Don't I know it..."
He leaned against the door frame and the smirk slid off his face to be replaced with a more serious one.
"So what did you do this summer," he asked casually, an unreadable glint in his eye.
What is he planning! Hermione shuddered. "I really don't want to talk about it, ok?"
He nodded slowly and backed away. "Are you going to be getting up soon?" he asked quickly.
"No," she replied, and he shut the door softly behind him just as Hermione fell into a deep, troubled sleep.
Draco strode down the corridor searching for Blaise Zabini, his best friend. Where the hell is he! I should have found him by now!
"Looking for someone, Malfoy?"
Draco's head turned sharply, his features tensed, but as soon as he saw his best friend smirking at him from the shadows his face relaxed.
"Actually, yes." they both smirked at each other.
"So, how's Granger?" Blaise asked slyly.
"She's acting weird. I think she was raped." And Draco told him everything that had happened on the train the day before.
"Well, you going to do anything about it?" his friend asked bluntly.
"I don't know what to do," he replied, looking desperate. "I've seen my father rape my mother so many times and no one should have to go through that. Ever."
Blaise nodded. He understood Draco's family. He always understood. "Just do what you think is right, man. But don't hurt her any more than she already hurts now."
"Yeah, yeah I know, but what is there to do? I can't exactly walk in there and be like 'Hey Granger, if you need someone you can always come to me, I'm always here for you!' after I've treated her like shit for so long.."
"Why not?" Draco just looked confused. And then he stormed off back to his common room to think.