Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. They are all property of J.K. Rowling.

A/N: In this story, Dumbledore and Sirius are still alive, and Snape and Malfoy are still in good with the Order.

Chapter 1

Sleepless Night

The repetitious banging of the head board against the wall was enough to drive anyone mad, with its rhythmic bouncing, the creaking of the frame, and the low grunts coming from the occupants of the bed. Ginny Weasley couldn't take it anymore, her pillow could only muffle so much of the sound, she needed sleep and this wasn't helping one bit.

Finally, with one more, loud bang then a creak of the frame, the noise stopped, Ginny could go to sleep, finally.

'When is this nonsense going to stop? It's been ages, you would think she'd have gotten over this by now… Stopped bringing home random guys… Guess not. I wonder who she's got tonight… No, eew, no I don't.' She thought as she rolled over onto her side letting her pillow fall behind her head.

Just as Ginny was drifting off to sleep, she heard Hermione's muffled voice from outside in the hall way somewhere. It was difficult for her to make out the words but she strained to hear, hoping to get a clue as to who was leaving their house.

She wasn't sure but she thought she heard, "I'll see you. No, it was fun but you can't stay, sorry."

There was a pause, Ginny distinctly heard the deep low sound of a man's voice but she couldn't make out his words, it seemed he was farther away than Hermione was.

Hermione's voice echoed throughout the house once more. "I don't give a damn; you just make something up like you always do! Goodnight!"

She heard Hermione's door close again and wondered who she was having such a heated chat with. But the thoughts quickly vanished from her mind when she felt her lack of sleep catch up with her.

Hermione plopped down on her, now very messy, bed with a groan. "What a stupid git. Just because he comes over here with me he thinks he can stay. Yeah right, like I'd want him in my bed that long."

She sat on her bed with her legs drawn up into her chest as tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

'I'm not going to do this. Not this time!'

She stood up from her bed and planted her feet hard on the ground. "I'll just go have a shower."

She crossed her room and this time opened her door quietly, and exited. She walked the length of the living room straight into the bath room, turning on the light as she passed the sink. The mirror that hung above the sink reflected a person Hermione did not recognize. She had dark circles under her eyes and the corners of her mouth seemed to always droop into a frown. She looked tired. She felt tired, not only physically but mentally as well.

Upon examining her reflection more closely, she discovered several reddish purple marks scattered down from her neck. Some were brighter than others and some looked fresh. Of course they were fresh, her lover had just left.

She sighed heavily and took off the large button up man's shirt; she was wearing, only to reveal more of the spots and a few faint bruises. The reflection of her body repulsed her even more; she'd lost so much weight in the past year. Her hip bones protruded and her stomach caved in, she looked anorexic.

Deciding she couldn't stand to look at herself anymore, Hermione turned to the shower stall and flipped on the hot water. She was going to take a scalding hot shower to get his stench off of her. Even though she was the one that first initiated her relationships, she couldn't stand to not take a shower afterward. Every time was the same, once they left; she took a long hot shower. There had to be some way to make her feel clean again.

Six o'clock in the morning came all too early for Hermione, her visitor hadn't left until one and her shower lasted until two thirty, she was exhausted. Ginny's incessant banging on her door didn't help the fact either, if anything it succeeded in annoying her.

"Hermione Granger get your ass out of that bed! We're both going to be late to work at this rate and I will not have you as the cause for me getting written up!" Ginny yelled through the hard wood of the door.

"Okay, okay, Gin, I'm up!" Hermione yelled back as she bolted up in bed.

Ginny walked away from Hermione's door, knowing this time she would get out of bed, and into the kitchen. She had already made herself some tea but thought Hermione may like some as a pick-me-up. She was concerned for her friend but dared not say anything about it. She knew it was Hermione's problem and her butting in wouldn't help it.

Hermione dressed and threw her hair back in a loose bun as she started out her bed room door. Walking across the living room, toward the sound of a very angry tea kettle, she passed a full length mirror and stopped to look at herself. She was clad in a navy blue skirt suit with a white shirt under the jacket and navy high heels. She was pleased that this suit didn't show off her too skinny body, instead it showed her lovers' marks.

She searched through the drawers of the table to the left of the mirror and finally found her wand. She had just finished her concealing charm when Ginny rounded the corner from the kitchen with a mug of tea.

Ginny looked over Hermione and offered her the mug in her hands, "Here, I thought you may want this after having such a long night."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "How'd you know I had a long night?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Our walls aren't exactly sound proof you know. And you've got to do something with that bloody bed. I was up half the night."

Hermione grimaced and took the mug from Ginny's out stretched hand, "Sorry, Gin."

Ginny turned around and began walking back into the kitchen, "Don't worry about it. So, who was he anyway?"

Hermione's eyes wandered for a second, "Umm… J something… Jonas… I think."

Ginny didn't say what she was thinking when she replied, "Oh, well, that's a nice name."

Hermione took a sip of her tea, "Yeah."

Ginny left Hermione standing in the living room and continued with her morning pre-work activities. She and Hermione were both working at the Ministry. Hermione was Draco Malfoy's assistant, which was obviously not her idea of a good job, and Ginny worked alongside her dad in Muggle Relations. Hermione went straight from Hogwarts to the Ministry four years ago, and Ginny joined her a year later. Both of them liked working in the Ministry, but Ginny's love for it was greater, after all, she didn't have to work under Draco Malfoy.

"Come on, Gin, we've got to get going. We're going to be late if we don't leave now." Hermione called as she approached the fireplace opposite from the wall where she and Ginny's bed room doors were.

Ginny walked silently toward Hermione but her mind was racing.

'Oh, it's my fault we're going to be late now, is it? Yeah, it's entirely my fault, of course, why didn't I think of that?'

Floo powder was one of the most effective modes of transportation into the Ministry; it only took a few seconds. The part that took so long was getting on the right lift that would take you to where you needed to go once inside the Ministry.

When they arrived, Hermione and Ginny both straightened out their suits and headed off in different directions. Ginny was going to find her father, Arthur Weasley, who was some where on the third floor, and Hermione was off to her desk, on the seventh floor.

Hermione had only just sat down at her desk when the door behind her opened. A tall man with pale skin, white blond hair that nearly reached the tops of his ears, and cold silver gray eyes stood behind her with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How nice to see you this morning, Miss Granger." He said with a smirk.

Hermione whipped around in her chair and glared at the man. "A pleasure, I'm sure."

"You had better hold your tongue, Granger, you do work for me, you know." He snapped.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, Mr. Malfoy. How nice to see you this fine morning sir." She said with a go to hell look on her face.

"Much better," he said as he approached her desk. "Now, I have a few things I will need you to do for me today. One I will need you to take this report," he thrust a file under her nose, "to the Minister. When you are done with that, I will have more for you to do. I don't expect this will take long, so hurry back."

She snatched the folder from under her nose, "I am your assistant, not your house elf, Malfoy!"

He took a few steps back from her and said, "And as my assistant, you will assist me in anything I need. Be it taking a report or massaging my feet."

She stood from her desk and walked straight up to his chest. (She was a bit shorter than he was, even with heels on, the top of her head only reached his chin.) "I would never touch your feet."

Draco grabbed her by the shoulders, "But you'd touch any other part of me wouldn't you!"

Hermione brought her arms up in between his and pushed them away from her body. "You only wish I would touch you here."

A smirk played its way across his face as he watched her turn and walk away from him. It amused him to make her so angry. He knew she wanted him, he knew she craved him, and this was often played to his advantage.

As he turned back to his door he whispered to himself, "Ball's in my court, Granger," and closed the door swiftly behind him.

Ginny's thoughts had been correct. It was true; it had been a year since the death of Hermione's mother and father at the hands of Voldemort. One would have thought that Hermione would have found solace in the fact that she had been among those that brought Voldemort to his knees. She fought at the side of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and his family, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Molly, Arthur, Ginny, and Percy. Many other's helped bring Voldemort down, among these, were Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Tonks, and Draco Malfoy.

The Order of the Phoenix grew stronger with the alliance of Draco Malfoy. He had gone against his father once he graduated Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He finally realized that his father had been filling his head with lies in the middle of the school year when Albus Dumbledore saved his life. He couldn't take back the things he had done but he could help The Order, he could link himself with them and tell them every thing he knew. But he did this under one condition; The Order would protect him until the end.

Even though Draco Malfoy was now fighting on the side of The Order, only the opinion of Albus Dumbledore changed toward him. Every one else still thought of his as a foul excuse for a human being and one of the biggest prats ever to walk the face of the Earth. But since he was fighting on their side, they put aside their differences and were civil to one another. Severus Snape still played favorites, always praising Draco's work and criticizing that of Harry. But Sirius Black was always the one to point it out when Draco did something wrong, he was, after all, still Harry's god father.

Many of the members of The Order experienced losses, but none as great as that of Hermione's. Other's loses seemed insignificant when compared to hers. Some were badly hurt in battles with Death Eaters, some had their families turn their backs on them, which was Draco's case, and some lost dear friends. None however, lost any of their family members, none but Hermione.

It was Voldemort, himself, who killed off Hermione's mother and father. He hadn't even used magic on them; he used his bare hands and his strength to his advantage. Hermione had wished many times that he had just killed them with magic, their pain would have been less severe. He chose to kill them like a Muggle would have because he knew this would make more of an impact.

Hermione's father, Paul Granger, was nearly beaten to death, but Voldemort, being a merciful Lord, decided to end his suffering by breaking his neck. Her mother, Hilda Granger, was made to watch the death of her husband and only then did Voldemort opt to stab her to death. They died in their home while Hermione and the others were on a wild goose chase for some Death Eaters. It wasn't until the headline in the Muggle news paper that Hermione heard of the events. She wished she had been there, she knew she could have stopped it. At least that's what she told herself. She blamed their deaths solely on herself; even the words of Dumbledore couldn't sway her opinion.

It wasn't until after Voldemort was gone for good, with no hope in coming back because all of his Horcruxes had been destroyed by Harry and Dumbledore, that she fell into her addiction. She only found comfort in the arms of men, and so began the addiction.

At first, she seduced the men nearest her. Harry, Ron, Fred, and George had been among them. It wasn't something she did intentionally; it was more of a subconscious thing. Once Ron and Harry figured out what she was doing, they both refused to ever sleep with her again and advised everyone else to do the same. They were hurt, yes, but they knew it was her way of dealing with her hurt.

Ginny had attempted to talk with Hermione about their friends, but Hermione wouldn't hear it. She didn't want to hear that what she was doing was wrong; it was the only way she could feel anymore. The death of her parents, unsuspecting Muggles, plagued her every thought. She only found comfort when she was in the arms of a man, any man would do, in the early months.

Now, the only person that could fulfill her desires was one she had to constantly lie about, one she could never tell any of her friends about.

She knew by telling Ginny a different name every time she was asked would make her look worse, but it was better than telling the truth about who she was sleeping with. No one would understand. No one would be able to see that this was the only man that could take away her pain.

And this man was Draco Malfoy.

A/N: Ok, now this is my shot at another story. I am hoping to get some reviews, but if I don't get enough, I'm not going to continue. Please let me know what you think and if you want to see more. Sway