Draco and his father had a very strained relationship. His entire life Draco's dad has been using various methods to mold Draco into the perfect warrior for the Dark Lord. In the past he had spent hour's everyday with his father training. It first started when he was five, he was too young to use magic but his father made him memorize spells. Then as he got older his father started using spells against him, spells that would torture both his body and mind, Lucius wanted Draco to have a high tolerance against pain. Having high authority and connections in the Ministry of Magic, Lucius was eventually able to make it possible for Draco to use magic at a young age without any consequences. He even set up obstacle courses with booby-trapped spells and they always ended with Draco having to face off with his dad. When he was twelve he stopped letting his father manipulate him, he refused to take part in any of his fathers 'training.' So Lucius found a way to guarantee Draco's participation, he started poisoning Narcissa knowing Draco would always run to his mother's side. Draco could never tell if his father would actually let his mother die, so he never took the chance.

From the outside Lucius and Narcissa's marriage seemed like a happy, compatible one, and it was at first. However, what people don't know was that before Narcissa married Lucius she was a very active member of a secret group against Voldemort. No one outside of this group knew about it, she had to be very careful because her family was a large supporter of the Dark Lord. The other members were just like her, they too were purebloods whose families worked closely with Voldemort. When she met Lucius she was a mere 20 years old, and their relationship grew fast. She was aware of his family's alliance with Voldemort but she didn't know that he was deeply involved himself. She fell quickly for him, and he was very good at charming her and staying away from anything involving the war, which most couples did in those days to give them a sense of normality. Six months after they met they were married, and less than a year after they were married Draco was born. As soon as she found out she was pregnant she quit her membership in her group against Voldemort for the safety of her unborn child. By the time she learned of Lucius's true nature it was already too late, Draco was already born and he would never let her leave with her son.

Therefore it wasn't surprising that Lucius would poison his own wife to get to Draco, their relationship was cold. Over the years Narcissa had been the one comfort in an otherwise unbearable home, she was the only thing that kept Draco from both submitting and becoming what his father was trying to make him into, the perfect warrior, or from losing his sanity completely. Lucius knew this and took great advantage of it. But despite Narcissa's effort's she couldn't fully keep her husband from brainwashing her son. Draco didn't want to be turned into a mindless killer and he didn't want to yield to his father's wishes because he resented him for his painful childhood; however he still thought purebloods were superior and that muggle borns didn't belong in the magic world.

Draco stared at his father, clenching his fist, every cell in his body screaming with the urge to throw himself at him. But he restrained himself, he knew it would only get worse; his father would punish him and then punish his mother just to torment him further.

Lucius grinned as he took in his son who was shaking with rage. "You make me do these things boy." Draco said nothing and after a pause he continued. "If only you would continue your training with no complaints I wouldn't have to resort to such tricks."

Again Draco didn't make any comments; he was determined not to let his father get to him.

"I have great hopes that it won't be long for the Dark Lord to make his move. You need to be ready to fight." Lucius stared at his son, they were of equal height but he still made Draco feel as if he were being looked down upon. "Or will you fight with the mudbloods and the feeble minded Dumbledore?" Again Draco responded with silence. "Speak up boy!"

"Neither side has anything to do with me." Lucius raised his hand at his son's insolence and back handed him as hard as he could across his face. Draco licked blood from his lip and turned his head back towards his father. "Feel better now?" He asked with disdain.

With a great crash Draco flew against the wall, pinned by his father's wand. "You will learn your place boy."

A couple hours later Draco was standing in front of a mirror in a boy's bathroom at Hogwarts, examining his body. Like always his father was an expert at covering up his tracks, all the marks that had once been on the front of his body were now gone. The only ones his Father left unhealed were the ones on his back, a reminder and a warning. He turned around and examined his back. "Shit," he cursed under his breath as he took in the sight. There were several large bruises on his back, one starting from his right shoulder that went down and across the middle of his back, and another that ran down his spine. On top of them were five whiplashes and several burn marks left by spells. He didn't even try to attempt to heal them, he knew his father put a spell on him that would prevent magical healing; he would have to heal naturally. He carefully put his shirt back on, wincing as the fabric grazed his wounds, then left for bed.

That night the pain in his back prevented him from sleeping through the night. Draco was used to corporal punishment; it had three advantages to his farther. One it further continued with his training to make Draco have a high tolerance against pain. Two he believes drastic beatings were a good way to make someone both fear you and learn their lesson. Then three, he was just an evil sadistic bastard who enjoyed having that kind of power over people. But even though he was used to it he still felt the pain. He had tried not to speak against his father so he could avoid this but his father had a way of stripping away his control.

Lying on his stomach, Draco recalled the last moment he had with his father before he left. "This is your fault boy... My tolerance for you is growing thin. You will do as you're told; you will follow in my footsteps." Lucius sighed as he hunched down and moved his sons face to look up at him. "Why must you tax me so? I have such great hopes for you, can't you see I only want you to be the best." He stood up and looked down at his son. "Go now boy, next time I won't be so lenient."

Draco snorted to himself. He couldn't believe his father considered that as being lenient, that had been one of the worse beatings he's given him. He sighed and carefully sat up. He cringed a little and carefully massaged his hard stomach muscles. They were still a little tender. Draco grabbed his pillow in frustration and launched it against the wall. He instantly regretted it as the muscles in his back flexed, making the bruise throb and the lashes open. As soon as his back stopped throbbing he grabbed some supplies and walked out of his room towards a bathroom. When he finished wrapping gauze around his chest he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. Draco looked up into the mirror and just stared at himself. Was this it? Was this all life had to offer him? At the moment Draco had never felt so defeated and helpless. This is my life… He thought bitterly before he went back to bed.

Hermione woke up early the next morning. After she showered and dressed she walked down into the common room, not expecting anyone else to be awake yet. She was surprised when she saw both Ron and Harry awake and sitting at a table.

Ron looked up and saw Hermione walking towards them "Hey Mione, g'morning." He said sleepily as he stretched back against his chair.

"Good morning, Ron. Good morning, Harry. What are you two doing up so early, its not even 6 o'clock yet? I usually have to drag you both out of bed a half an hour before breakfast." She stated as she took the seat across from them.

"Well, we were both up late last night playing wizard chess and we forgot to do our transfigurations homework." Harry answered with a yawn.

"Yeah, and you know how McGonagall gets when we don't do the homework." Ron stood up and started shaking his finger at Harry "You young men should have more responsibility! This is not just school work, it's your future! How do you ever expect to become an Auror if you don't study and do your work! Honestly, I don't know why someone as smart as Hermione associates herself with people who have such little pride in their work!" Ron said in a mock McGonagall voice. He then turns to an empty chair. "Neville! How many times do I have to tell you? When you transfigure a rope into a harmless garden snake DO NOT SCREAM AND THROW IT ACROSS THE ROOM!" Ron then turned on his heels and sauntered off. Harry and Hermione laughed as they recalled that actually happening yesterday.

"So," Harry turned to Hermione when their laughter died down, "how was your lovely night with Malfoy?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"I forgot about that." Ron said as he took his seat. "He didn't do anything I'll have to make him regret did he?" He asked while smacking his fist into his open hand, sounding as if he wished Malfoy did do something.

"No, he didn't try anything worth mentioning. But of course just being in the same room with him for that long was horrid. I'm dreading tonight's detention with him." Hermione shuddered at the thought of having to spend another three hours alone with Malfoy.

"If he does anything stupid, just tell us Hermione. We'll take care of him for you." Harry said turning to Ron with a nod and a smirk.

"Kicking his ass would be a pleasure!" Ron said while drawing himself up to full size. "Just give us a reason to get him Mione' please!"

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes "Oh sod off, Ron! You know I wouldn't let you two do anything that could get you into trouble," Her laughter intensified as Ron got on his knees, begging her with both his hands and his eyes to let him go at it with Malfoy.

They sat around joking and laughing for the remainder of the morning. Meanwhile, Draco woke very stiff and sore, wincing in pain every time he shifted his back. He slowly got up and started getting ready for class. His goal for the day was to make sure nobody noticed. The last thing he wanted was for people to start asking questions.

The day went by fast with the only exciting thing that happened was when Dean blew up his apple while trying to transfigure it into a ball, and it ended up spraying McGonagall right in the face.

When dinner was over, Hermione and Draco made their way back to the trophy room for another long night. Once they arrived they both silently picked up their polish and rags and started cleaning with out a single syllable uttered to the other.

After some time Hermione found herself watching Draco, bewildered by his stiff movements and at his occasional grimaces. At first Draco just ignored it, but soon he started to get really annoyed at her constant gawking. Not being able to take it anymore he turned to glare at her.

"You must really like what you see, Granger, since you keep staring." He knew why she was watching him, and he was hoping he could piss her off enough that she'd forget it. No such luck though. She ignored his comment.

"Well uh…are you alright? You're moving and acting oddly?" She asked awkwardly.

Draco was confused at her concern. "Why do you care Granger? Since when has my health ever concerned you?" He asked sharply.

Hermione flushed in both rage and embarrassment. It's not like she really cared about his health, it was just in her nature. "There's obviously something wrong with you, I just wanted to make sure you weren't about to pass out. The last thing I want is to have to do you any favors." She said quickly. "Besides it's not a crime to be, well not quite concerned, but…" She couldn't find the right word for her curiosity. "You know what, just forget I asked!" She exclaimed in frustration.

"What the hell is your problem, has your brain finally malfunctioned or are you just PMSing?"

She flushed and threw her dirty rag at Malfoy's snide face. Out of reflex Draco snatched the rag before it could hit him. He instantly gasped through his teeth and dropped onto one knee. Stretching his arm out so far and fast reopened the wounds on his back and he could feel the blood start to trickle down his skin.

Without thinking Hermione ran over to him. When she was by his side she saw lines of blood soaking through his shirt. "Oh God, Malfoy!" She said in hushed surprise. "What happened to you?"

"Don't worry about it." He said through clinched teeth as he attempted to stand up. The movement caused the wounds to open more and he stopped.

"It's starting to bleed more. I need to get you to the nurse."

"No! Nobody can know. Do you understand me! If you tell anybody about this, even Potter and Weasley, I'll kill you! This is my business!" He panicked and out of rage and fear he jumped quickly to his feet to get away from her. "Arghh." He moaned, leaning his side heavily against the wall.

She watched him, racking her brain trying to decide what she should do. "I won't tell anybody, but only if you let me look at your back."

Draco was about to snap at her and tell her to sod off, but when he turned to look at her he forgot what he was about to say. Hermione completely forgot herself and was taken over by her concern. He saw the pleading concern in her eyes. He was totally bewildered he just nodded a curt ok.

Hermione put her hands on his shoulders and gently turned him so his back was facing her. She used her wand to carefully banish his shirt away. She bit her lip when she saw his mangled back and started to slowly and carefully peel off the gauze that was now twisted and that had slid down to his lower back. She tried every curing spell she knew, but to no avail, they wouldn't heal. The most she could do was make sure the healing would go well,, wouldn't get infected, and help with the scarring.

Draco jumped in surprise as he felt her hand rest gently on his chest. "Hold this." She placed his hand over one end of the bandages. She then proceeded to wrap up his wounds. Malfoy stood very still the whole time in shock. He looked down at her as she was carefully bandaging him with a look of suspicion on his face. This was wrong. Draco didn't understand why she was helping him and he was sure that any moment now she would slap him on the back or do something else to try to cause him more pain.

"Done." Hermione stated as she stepped away from him. She used a spell to put his shirt back on him. "How does that feel?"

"Fine." He mumbled.

They stood awkwardly for a couple seconds before Malfoy turned back to his work. Hermione didn't move though. She stood debating what she should do next.

"So uh…Do you want to talk about it?" She asked awkwardly. Hermione knew he was a bad guy, and there were rumors about him being a deatheater, but there was no proof. She believed people should get what they disserved, and he deserved to have everything he ever did to her and her friends happen to him, but she wasn't sure if he deserved this.

"Why the hell would I want to talk to you about it?"

"It was just an offer."

Draco looked darkly over at her, "And who the hell are you? It doesn't matter to you so stop pretending that it does."

Hermione laughed bitterly. "You really are a prat. I may not like you Malfoy, but I wouldn't wish those wounds on anyone, not even you."

"Stop acting like a saint. The only reason why you care is because your oversized brain is dieing with curiosity. You're so pathetic it's sad." Draco snapped at her, angry that she had the nerve to insult him.

"Screw you Malfoy! You're just so twisted and warped; you can't even tell when someone is being genuine. Just because you and your family don't have any feelings doesn't mean the rest of us are as cold hearted as you!" She yelled at him, enraged that he believed she would put herself in someone else's business just because she was curious. "If you had any feelings at all you would at least try to be civil to me. After all I promised not to tell anyone about your wounds, and it's not like I owe you any favors."

Now Draco was seriously pissed, it sounded as if she was threatening him. And he hated that she acted like she knew everything about him. "What the bloody hell do you want from me mudblood." He said in a low dangerous voice, shaking with anger and a little fear. She couldn't tell anyone, it would kill him if she did. "You want me to tell you my whole life story? Fine." He took slow deliberate steps towards her; his mind had gone completely black. He had just dealt with his father and now he had to deal with her, it was too much. Hermione took an involuntary step back; she never saw any ones eyes look so dark and empty. "I'm sure it will come as a shock to you to know that it was my father who gave me these wounds; he's been punishing me this way my whole life." Hermione took a sharp in take of breath, Draco gave a cold smirk. "Satisfied now that you know?" He was mere inches from her now, trying very hard not to grab her and throw her against the wall. "So tell me, oh noble hearted mudblood, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue to nurse my wounds, hold me while I cry?" He said sarcastically. "Don't ever presume you know a damn thing about me." He stood mere inches from her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "And if you ever threaten me again I'll make it so you can never speak."

She took several steps away from him, but she was too shocked to really fear him. "I had no idea!" she breathed out, while, to her confusion and surprise, tears started to run down her face.

"No, you didn't," Malfoy said callously. He stopped talking though when he noticed her crying. Now that was confusing, why would she cry for him?

Hermione suddenly hugged Draco, careful not to agitate his wounds. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Draco stood paralyzed unable to say anything, he was in shock. Hermione realized what she was doing and slowly put her arms down and stepped away from him. "I don't understand you, you hate me." His anger was soon forgotten and was now replaced with bewilderment.

"Yes, I don't like you. But I would never wish for anyone to go through that, and you say it's been happening your whole life. Even when you were just a child…I just feel so bad." She started to unconsciously reach out for him again.

At first Draco didn't do anything, he found himself in wonderment. Never had he met anyone who showed so much concern for a person they dislike, someone who they thought badly of and who thought badly of them. But he quickly snapped out of it and slapped her hands away. "Lay off!" He walked back over to his side of the room, and then turned back towards her. "You better not tell anyone about this Granger, I have my reasons for keeping this to myself." Hermione was about to open her mouth but Draco stopped her before she could say anything. "Just know that if this is found out not only will you be putting me in danger, you'll be putting yourself in danger. I wasn't joking when I said I'd kill you."

Hermione just stared at him for a few seconds before she nodded her head and then turned away from him.

She couldn't stand him, after she helped him he had to go and threaten her. She understood that he didn't want anyone to know but he could have been a little more civil about it. Hermione let out a frustrated sigh and glanced back at Malfoy. He was stiffly rubbing a trophy, trying not to move his back too much. Her eyes softened a little and her anger faded. She just felt too sorry for him to stay mad at his threat. She figured he must be really hurt and perhaps scared as well because she, his enemy, knows his secret. She turned away from him and forced herself not to look back and check on him for the rest of the night.

"Meddling little mudblood."Draco mumbled to himself as he threw an angry glare at the back of Hermione's head. The movement of her hands running across a half polished trophy caught his eye. He unintentionally had a flashback of her hands gently wrapping his wounds and her arms wrapping around his middle as she hugged him. Even though she hates him, she still showed compassion towards him, he couldn't get over that. He shook his head and let out an angry growl. She better hope she doesn't slip up and tell someone.

The night dragged on, and neither of them said another word or even looked at the other. When it was time to go, Hermione took one last glance at Draco, who looked sharply back at her, before she quickly walked out of the room.

Draco's eyes followed Hermione as she quickly left the trophy room. When she was out of sight he carefully sat down and ran both hands through his hair in frustration and let his mind go through what happened tonight. He couldn't understand what happened. How could he tell her, he had always been so careful? Now he had to worry about her either telling someone or blackmailing him. He kicked a bottle of wax across the room in resentment. He had to make sure she didn't tell anyone. If she did he would have to do what ever it took to cover it up. He was so angry at himself for letting out the one secret he had spent his whole life covering up. He let his anger cloud his mind and his judgment which caused him to blurt it out without thinking it through. Anger soon faded into confusion as his mind shifted to Hermione's reaction. She hugged him and even cried. Why would she react like that, he was her enemy and out of everyone in the school she hated him the most. He remembered the shock in her eyes when she realized she was hugging him. She did it out of pure instinct and that was even stranger to him. He never met anyone like that before, someone who could drop every past feeling and do something simply out of concern. Yet again she could just be acting kind so he doesn't expect her of lying about keeping his secret. Draco shook his head to clear his mind, he had to stop thinking about this before he drove himself crazy, and after a short pause he stood up and quickly made his way to the Slytherin common room. There he spotted his best friend Blaise Zabini and automatically made his way towards him.

Blaise looked up from the book he was reading and saw Draco approaching him. "Hey" he smilled up at him. "How was detention?" Blaise asked with the knowing smirk on his face.

"Don't ask." Draco grumbled as he carefully sat down, trying not to touch his sore back against the chair. Wincing once as he sat back and asked with no real interest what Blaise was reading.

Blaise drew a sharp hissing breath through his teeth as he watched his friend's familiar movements. "You've been home. When?"

Draco put his head down and started rubbing his temples as he told him everything that occurred the night before. Blaise sat quietly, listening closely to his friend. Once he was completely done with his tale, Zabini growled. "Damn! Want me to kill him? Because I will so bloody kill him for you!"

Draco laughed with gratitude at his friends offer. "Only if you kill him nice and slow."

"Oh there's no problem there, I'm definitely on it!" Blaise said jokingly. "But in all seriousness Draco, if you ever need help or a place to go, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Draco said, but knowing there wasn't really anything his friend could do to help him.

After she left the trophy room, Hermione went straight into the shower. She spent almost an hour in there, hoping that the steady stream of water would rinse out all the thoughts of Malfoy and his problems. Dressing herself in pj pants and a tank top, she walked down into the common room where Ginny sat absentmindedly staring at the fire.

"Hey Ginny, are you ok? You seem like you have a lot on your mind."

Ginny looked up from the fireplace. "Oh it's nothing really. Just thinking, I guess."

"Yeah right, spill it. I know you better than that; you are my best girl friend after all."

"Well alright. Tonight as I was hanging out with Ron and Harry it struck me how things have changed."

"What has changed?

"The way I feel about Harry," she said meekly looking at Hermione through her long eyelashes.

Hermione wasn't surprised, she suspected as much for a few months now. "That's not a bad thing Ginny. Don't get me wrong Harry would be a great guy to be with, but there are other great guys out there."

"Yeah, I know. It's just strange how much things have changed."

"Are you upset about it?"

"No, I'm not upset I'm just bored. Now that I don't have Harry to fawn over, I don't know what to do with my time." She said sarcastically with a dramatic sigh.

Hermione couldn't help herself, she laughed. "Really Ginny, you need to find a hobby that doesn't consist of drooling over a boy." Hermione stated between laughter.

The two girls stayed up a little while longer joking around before they headed up to bed.