Chapter 2: Trying to Recover

Hermione woke up the next morning feeling awful. Her face felt puffy and sore, and her eyes still leaked tears. Not even considering her sleeping position, she snuggled deeper into her unnaturally warm bed and thought. How could Ron do this to her? They'd been best friends for seven years. They'd shared the most perfect first kiss in history! Her parents approved of Ron, and his parents approved of her. This was all wrong! How could he have cheated on her? Her throat felt thick, and she tried to swallow the lump. Two tears slid free, and tickled her cheek and they slid down to the bed. She turned her face into the blanket, and realized it didn't feel like a blanket. It didn't feel like fabric at all. It felt like… skin. Bare flesh. She opened her eyes without raising her head. She was staring at a dark brown nipple surrounded by pale white skin.

She bolted upright, staring in horror at the sight in her bed. Draco Malfoy, half-dressed, lay fast asleep on her pillows! Wait, no, not her pillows. His pillows! She was in Malfoy's bed! She looked around the room, and felt sick. This was definitely his room, coated in green and silver. Suddenly a horrifying thought struck her. She lifted the covers, and sighed in relief as she noticed she was still completely dressed. Thankfully, whatever had happened last night hadn't ended in a shag session.

Trying not to wake Draco, she slipped out of bed and stole out of the room, going to her own room. Her clock said it was only ten minutes until time to get up for class, so she just grabbed her uniform and went downstairs to the showers. After her shower, she heard Draco's turn on just as she grabbed her towel, so she toweled off quickly and dressed, everything except her robe. She began to do her hair, and Draco came out with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Slightly embarrassed about sleeping beside him the night before, Hermione kept her back to him and ignored the thickening tension. Draco didn't talk to her either, and after about five or so minutes she couldn't take it anymore. "How did I end up in your bed, Draco?"

"You woke me up crying last night, and I came downstairs and held you while you cried. You fell asleep on the couch, and I didn't want you to get a backache, so I carried you upstairs. Your guardian wouldn't let me in, so I didn't see any other choice. I just carried you into my own room and let you sleep there."

"Oh, ok. I was extremely curious. Thank you for that."

"No problem, Granger."

Draco finished up and grabbed his stack of clothes, stepping near the shower so the wall would spring up.

Hermione pulled on her robe and went to the kitchen. The house elf served her a bowl of oatmeal with brown toast, and a glass of orange juice. She inhaled her breakfast before setting off at a jog for the Gryffindor Common Room. She burst into the room and found Ginny gathering her stuff together. Hermione let out a sob and rushed to her best friend.

Ginny immediately wrapped her arms around Hermione's shoulders, and murmured, "Shh. What's wrong? Come on, lets go somewhere more private." She tossed her bag over her shoulder and pulled Hermione along as she found the Room of Requirement. It opened to reveal a cozy little chamber with a sofa and a fireplace. They sat down on the sofa, and Hermione started to openly sob again, ignoring the smarting pain from her swollen eyes.

Ginny shushed her again, and asked again, "What's wrong, Mione?"

Hermione sat up and pulled the letter out of her pocket, handing it to Ginny. Ginny read it, and leapt to her feet, drawing her wand at the same time. "I'll murder that idiot! He will be covered in so many Bat-Bogey's he wont even know which way is up! How could he do this to you?"

Hermione pulled Ginny's arm back, forcing her to sit down. "Killing Ron won't help, Gin. He is gone. He's obviously marrying her, and I'm all alone."

"When did he send this to you?"

"Last night."

"So you spent all night alone?"

"Actually, no. I woke Draco up last night crying, and he came downstairs and comforted me. He held me until I cried myself to sleep, and then he took me upstairs to sleep in his bed so I wouldn't be alone. That was really nice of him."

"Yeah, it was. Are you sure it was Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah. The war seems to have turned him into a completely different person."

"Hmm. Never would have thought it. Are you okay, Mione? I can't believe my jerk brother did that."

"What do you think the chances are that she's lying?"

"Probably not good. Ron isn't the best looking guy, and he isn't really beating girls off with a stick. My guess is that if she is admitting she slept with him, and saying she's pregnant, its because she probably is."

"I was afraid of that. Dammit! How could he cheat on me? Seven years of friendship and four months of dating. After everything we've been through, now he cheats on me."

"Mum should have made him go back to school."

"Yeah but he's eighteen. She can't force him to do anything."

"Oh please! Have you MET my mother? She can force Bill to do stuff, and he's in his mid-twenties! Charlie's all the way in Romania and he still bends to her will!"

"Yeah, Ron says the only reason he's marrying her is because your mum is making him."

"Yeah. That really doesn't surprise me."

They fell silent, Hermione quietly weeping for several minutes. All too soon, there was a knock on the door. Ginny gently dislodged Hermione and answered it, stepping back quickly when she saw that it was Professor McGonagall.

"Ladies, may I ask why a school Prefect and the Head Girl are not in class?"

"Well, you see, Professor, my brother Ron was dating Hermione and he just told her last night that he got another girl pregnant. Now Ron and Hermione are being forced to be apart and it has Hermione too upset to go to class."

"Well I am sorry to hear that, Miss Granger, and given the circumstances you are excused from your classes today. You may return to your common room. As for you, Miss Weasley, why aren't you in class?"

"I am Hermione's best friend, Professor. She needs a shoulder to cry on, and I am her only real girl friend. "

"Okay, well, that is not a good enough excuse to get you off classes today, I am afraid. On a normal day, maybe, but today you have a test in Potions and in Charms. You must go to class. Run along, now, Professor Slughorn is waiting for you."

Ginny restrained a groan with great difficulty and gave Hermione a sympathetic grimace before hurrying off toward the dungeons. Professor McGonagall went over to Hermione, who was trying vainly to wipe the multitude of tears from her cheeks. She handed Hermione a dainty white handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped one arm around the crying girl.

"Miss Granger, I know how upset you must be. Would you mind telling me how this happened?"

Hermione sniffed back another sob and handed the professor the tear-stained blotchy parchment. After reading it quickly, Professor McGonagall pulled Hermione up from the couch and helped her walk back to the Head's dormitory. She walked her up the stairs and put her in bed. With a snap of her fingers, the house-elf appeared and offered her a cup of tea. "Here, Miss Granger. This might help you feel better, if nothing else it will prevent dehydration. I will let your teachers know why you are not in class, and I will have Miss Weasley bring you your assignments. Stay in bed and try to feel better. If you still feel like you cannot attend classes tomorrow, come by my office and we will try to work something out."

Professor McGonagall had seen too many young girls get their heart broken to put up her normal stern shield. She had been a teenage girl herself once, after all, and knew that the end of a relationship seemed like the end of the world. She also knew that the bond between Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley was unlike any bond she had ever seen with teenagers. It was very closely related to the bond between Hermione and Harry Potter, except Hermione loved Harry as her brother, and Ron as her lover. Professor McGonagall waited until Hermione closed her eyes, then she placed a simple charm on her that would alert the Headmistress immediately if Hermione tried to harm herself in any way.

She whispered, "Sleep well, Miss Granger," and left the dormitory, nearly running Draco over with the door. "Mister Malfoy, what are you doing out of class?"

"Don't tell anybody, Professor, but I was worried about Granger. Last night her boyfriend broke up with her, and she seemed so upset. This morning she didn't come to class so I wanted to check on her and make sure she didn't hurt herself or something."

"What do you mean, don't tell anybody? You wish for me to never reveal the best of you? Very well, then. Miss Granger is, well, not fine, but she is okay. She is still very upset and I have released her from her classes today. She feels very badly, Mister Malfoy, and I ask that you put your differences with her aside and be kind to her for the next several days until she is able to come to terms with what has happened."

"I don't understand why she is so upset. I mean, I know she lost her boyfriend, but that happens all the time among people our age. She's acting like he, well, like he died or something."

"Mister Malfoy, you don't understand the love between them because you have never experienced it. The bond between Hermione and Ron was one of true love. If things had worked the way they were supposed to, they would be soulmates and be married for life. I have never seen such a strong bond between two teenagers, except maybe between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. To love someone as strongly as Hermione loves Ron, then to lose him in such a brutal way, that type of stress takes its toll on a young girl. Just be kind to her, and help her. Please, Mister Malfoy."

Draco nodded, and made as though to open the door. "No, Mister Malfoy. I just told you she is okay. I have a spell monitoring her and you have a test in Herbology. Off you go."

She watched Draco leave the corridor, and she made her way back to her office. Sometimes, it helped tremendously to be close friends with the teachers, when the Headmistress was able to one-up the students.

(A/N: So this is the second chapter. Let me know what you think, and if I should continue! I hope you enjoyed this story so far.)