Push

My heart was pounding, and a feeling of numbness threatened to overwhelm me, all I could see or hear was the boy who lay awkwardly on top of me, panting and weighing me down. A part of me knew that this wasn't how it was supposed to be, and that this didn't have to happen… But the irrational side of me sighed and thought, 'Why bother prolonging the inevitable?'

He put his cheek next to mine and whispered in my ear. I could feel his hot, clammy hands rubbing my back and his breath caught my earlobe. "Oh Hermione, this is fantastic…" He moaned, and I felt an uncontrollable urge to throw up.

His hands left my back and his lips from my neck as he concentrated on undoing his belt. 'Oh no, no, I don't like this, make it stop, no, oh no,' I went rigid in his grasp and my body seized up as I listened to the steady chink, chink, chink of his belt clasp.

My hands went to his chest and I thought about pushing him off. 'You know you don't want this, just do it, push! Hermione, PUSH!'

And I pushed.

With all my might, I tried to heave him off me, I wanted rid of this burden that wanted to get inside me… but he wouldn't move. He realised what I was trying to do and he paused for a second as the look of comprehension on his face was replaced by one of spite.

"Don't bother, Hermione. I'm going to have you, and I don't care how I do it. Now, are you going to lie still or will I have to hurt you?" He growled, his lips so close to my ear that I could feel his teeth grazing my skin.

I froze.

I dreamed that, didn't I?

Please tell me that he didn't just say that. I'm going to wake up any second now and be back in my bed and I'll realise that this was just a nightmare… just a silly, horrible, terrifying nightmare.

I screwed my eyes shut and willed myself to wake now, to end this before the worst came. But I could still hear his panting breath, I could still feel his sweaty, fumbling hands and when I opened my I could still see his mop of hair, dishevelled and disarrayed.

"Please stop." My voice was horrible quiet and timid, and it was as though the words were swallowed by the huge chasm of terror that separated me from… from him.

And he laughed.

He looked into my face and laughed. "God, why would I? Here you are, ready for the taking, why would I stop? Do you know how long I've wanted this? I wouldn't give it up for anything-"

I looked around me. In that moment, a second seemed to last an eternity. His trousers were down now, and there was a look on his face that told me to believe every word he said. I wasn't strong enough to push him off, I couldn't reach my wand to curse him, and so I used the only weapon I had left to try and make sure he didn't manage to commit this crime.

I screamed.

It took him some time to realise what I was doing, and when he did he growled and shoved a sticky hand over my mouth, but it didn't stop me. This was all I had left, the only thing I could do to stop him, and dammit, I'd carry on screaming until I died if it got him off of me.

It didn't take that long.

The door burst open and a beam of yellow light fell onto my face. A figure stood in the doorway, a silhouette surrounded by what looked to me like a halo. I couldn't see their face, but I didn't care who it was.

'Help me! Help me!' I looked up at the mysterious intruder, and even though there was still a hand over my mouth, I made as much noise as I could.

"What the hell is this?" I knew that voice, but I was so cut up about my current situation that I didn't have the time or the energy to place it.

But it was enough of a distraction to make Ron hesitate, and I seized the opportunity and pushed with new-found strength against his chest…

And he fell back.

He fell off me. A bubble of elation swelled in my chest as I scrambled up from my position on the floor and pulled down my skirt.

He hadn't done it.

I fell into the arms of my rescuer and looked back at the huddled mess that was my attacker. And I smiled.

He hadn't done it.

"You're sick." The voice came from him, the one who had snatched me from the jaws of evil. And I knew who it was.

Ron spoke, his voice shaking. "She was gagging for it, you should have seen her, she was all over me!" He laughed a manic laugh that made me shiver and he pulled me closer into him, his arms curling protectively around me.

"You're sick." He repeated, his voice dripping with disgust.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from Ron, no matter how much I wanted to. I drank him in, his quivering form, the tears coursing down his cheeks and his trousers that were round his ankles.

"Come on." He muttered, and gently led me away, out the door, down the corridor, into another empty classroom. "I won't hurt you. I promise. I just want to check you're okay. Will you let me?"

I eyed him fearfully. He was tall – very tall, in fact – and his blonde hair fell across his eyes that were full of concern. Meekly, I nodded.

He checked me all over for broken bones, cuts, bruises, signs of destruction… but remarkably, there was nothing. Not a single mark on me to show that anything out of the ordinary had happened.

I walked away unscathed.

"I'm going to take you somewhere safe now. Do you need me to carry you?" I shook my head but held his arm like a child holds their teddy bear when he turned away. His head flicked back and I looked into his grey eyes, pleading with him.

I stood up and fell against him, breathing in his heady scent and soaking his shoulder with my tears. I felt his arms envelope me, and I felt slightly safer.

"Thank you." I breathed, finally able to speak. I tried to tighten my arms around him, I didn't want him to leave, he had to stay, to keep me safe-

He hadn't done it.

"Thank you for stopping him. He was going to-" I was breathless, but I didn't seem to be able to stop myself from talking.

He stiffened and stopped me from saying it. "Don't. Hermione, some things are best left unsaid."

I nodded, silent once more and wondered how my saviour could be so unlike his father. "I'll owe you forever, Malfoy."

A shadow of a smile flickered across his face. "I'll hold you to that one."

I don't remember the journey to my dormitory, or him leaving, or me falling asleep, but it all happened.

But one thing hadn't.

He hadn't done it.