Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter!
Ch.4
It had been nearly a week, and Hogwarts was still in an uproar over Hermione and Draco's new friendship. The morning after the fight with Harry and Ron, everyone knew what had happened. They were all in awe that a Malfoy, would associate with a Muggleborn.
Many, meaning the Gryffindors, had tried to talk to Hermione about it, but she didn't listen. They all said the same things, sick joke, bastard, hates people like her, tried to kill her in the war, it was all the same. Frankly, it annoyed the hell out of her, but she tried to keep the peace, telling everyone that it was her decision, and that if worse came to worse, she could protect herself.
Most had learned, after Draco had threatened a couple of younger Gryffindors for trying to pull Hermione away, that it was better let be. There were still whispers and taunts, but both Hermione and Draco were learning to avoid them.
They were growing closer then either one really realized, but a lot of others seen it. Within three days of everyone knowing about their uneasy friendship, the rumor mill started.
Hermione had heard some of the most absurd things in the halls of Hogwarts these days, right down to her being under an Imperius curse, making her obey Draco's every whim. He found that one very funny, "You know that would be really fun, maybe I should do that." Draco said, loudly enough for the three Ravenclaws that had just been talking about it to hear.
"I would love to see you try that." Hermione said, rolling her eyes and snorting. "Is that a dare?" Draco asked as they walked toward the Great Hall for lunch. "Yes it is. If you do that, then I get to do it to you, and just so you know, I would definitely use it to my own use." Hermione said brightly.
"I think that I am a bad influence on you Granger." Draco said as they reached the Great Hall. "Nope, you just never knew that I have a darker side to me." Hermione said with a smile. "I'll meet you back here when your done." She added before walking off towards the Gryffindor table.
Draco watched her go, not knowing what to say of any of this. She was actually a lot different then he had thought at first. She did have a temper, but when she did get angry, she had a sharp tongue, and she knew how to joke and play around. It was strange to him that he actually enjoyed her. As he walked slowly over to the Slytherin table, he was stopped half way to his usual seat.
"Malfoy! We have to talk to you." a voice called out from behind him. Draco turned to look, Great! Now he had to talk to Nott and Zabini. He sat across them, looking around, "What do you want?" Draco asked annoyed.
"We want in this. I don't know what this is, but we want in." Zabini said, Nott nodding the whole time. "In on what?" Draco asked confused now. "The thing with the Mudblood! I don't know what you are planning, acting as her friend in all, but we want in." Nott said. Draco looked at them for a moment longer.
So that was why most Slytherins had not said anything this past week. They all thought that he was planning something horrible. He looked at the two in front of him, they had all grew up hearing about how bad Muggleborns were, and it seemed that the other two here, had not been lucky enough to have mothers that did not believe the same.
"So are we in or not?" Zabini asked, as Draco kept staring at them, "We want to mess up that stupid Mudblood too." Nott added. Draco tried to hold onto his temper as he spoke, gritting his teeth as he talked, "I am going to say this only once, so it would be wise to spread the message to all the others. I am not trying to play a prank or hurt Granger in any kind of way. If, for any reason, she is hurt, then I will make it my priority to find each and every person involved, and I swear when I do, they will curse the day they were born." He said before stalking off angrily to the other end of the table.
They watched him go, thinking that maybe their Slytherin Prince had lost his mind. Nott looked at Zabini and they both shook their heads, they didn't think that even Draco knew what he was doing on this one. They could only hope that this was all a big show, and soon he would put that little Mudblood in her rightful place.
Hermione sat next to Ginny, the only Gryffindor still speaking to her. Ginny had asked Hermione about everything, but when Hermione had explained to Ginny that she really believed that Draco wanted to be friends, she had let it go, unlike everyone else.
She was halfway through her meal when she heard Ron's voice carry over to her. "You know they are having sex every night right? That was why I broke it off with her. I found them together and I told her that she was disgusting." He said. Hermione looked over to where, Harry, Lavender, and Parvati, all sitting around hearing Ron say thing.
"Ron, I don't think that is true, Hermione told us they were just friends, just leave it mate." Harry said softly, shaking his head at his friend. "Not true? She was letting him do unmentionable things to her, I swear it! She is nothing more then a whore! I don't even know what I saw…" Ron started but was cut off by a curse hitting him in the back of the head. Ron was tossed up into the air by his ankles as Hermione stood, her wand still pointed to him.
"You lying little bastard! You tell them the truth! You tell everyone what you did to me! If it wasn't for Draco, then you would have done something so unforgivable, that it could have landed your stupid alcoholic ass in prison!" Hermione said, not caring that was the first time she had used Draco's first name, or the fact that everyone in the Great Hall was now staring at the scene in front of them.
Draco was about to go over, but McGonagall went over to the Gryffindors quickly and he sat down again. He didn't like to admit it, but that woman scared the hell out of him.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, What in the world is going on?" McGonagall asked. Hermione released Ron from the spell, not caring that he fell with a loud thump in the floor. "She attacked me!" Ron cried.
"Only because you insulted her first!" Ginny and Harry said at the same time. "She deserved…." Ron started, but the Headmistress cut him off. "Enough! All four of you, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Ms. Weasley, to my office this instant, and I swear, the next one to pull out their wand will be expelled!" McGonagall said angrily.
They all grabbed their things and made their way to her office. Hermione was freaking out, not sure what to do. She really didn't want to tell anyone what had really happened, but it seemed now, that maybe there was no way around it. She had not wanted to get Ron into trouble, but now, from the way he had been acting these days, she didn't care really.
When they made it to the Headmistresses office, she made them all sit down. When no one spoke, McGonagall turned to Hermione. "Tell me, what is all of this? What has caused all of you to act like baboons instead of adults?" She said angrily.
Hermione looked around, not sure what to do, then decided to tell the truth, all of it this time. "About two and a half weeks ago there was a party. It was supposed to be a secret party, for the sixth and seventh years, for being back at school and Voldemort being gone and all that." Hermione started, knowing that she could be getting a lot of people in trouble right now.
"We already knew about the party. We did not think it too bad, but obviously we were wrong." McGonagall said angrily. She had spoken to all of the teachers and they had all decided to let the teens have their fun. It had really been because of everything that had happened to them, but now McGonagall realized that it might have been a mistake. "Go on Ms. Granger." She said.
"Well, at the party, Ron had drank a little to much, and I had asked him to stop, but he didn't listen. It wasn't really his fault, a lot of people had too much that night. Anyways, Ginny and Harry had left earlier, so around two in the morning, I made Ron leave with me." Hermione said, knowing that the next part was going to be really hard to say.
She knew know that Ron had remembered some, but she did not think that he really knew that he had tried to rape her.
"I was planning on dropping him off at Gryffindor Tower because he really was drunk, and I didn't feel right letting him go by himself. We made it half way there before he started getting really difficult to manage. He jerked me into an empty classroom…." Hermione started, trying to blink back the tears that were starting to form.
She had not realized until now, how much he had really hurt her that night. McGonagall had a feeling she knew what Hermione was going to say, and felt badly for the girl. "He kissed me, and I let him, but then, he started to get rough with me and I tried to make him stop. He didn't listen to me, and he pushed me onto the ground. I told him several times t….to s….stop, but he wouldn't listen to me. He ripped the buttons off of my shirt and was going to try and force me into it, but then Malfoy turned up. He Stupefied Ron, and then we left. He swore to me that he wouldn't tell anyone, and he hasn't yet. We became friends of sort, and Ron became mad. He called me names and said things that were not true, and I just snapped." Hermione said, wiping away the tears that had fallen.
She did not dare look at anyone, too afraid that they would think that she was lying, or worse, blame her for what one very drunk Ronald had done. "I see." McGonagall said, but did not say anything after that. They all sat there in awe at Hermione's story. Both Ginny and Harry were looking at Ron angrily, while Ron looked at the floor, still trying to remember what he had done.
He didn't even know what to say anymore. He couldn't believe that he had actually done that to her, no wonder she hated him. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, you may go." McGonagall said softly, all anger gone from her voice now.
Hermione still did not look up until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her friends, both Ginny and Harry looking at her sadly. "Hermione, I am so sorry, I didn't know. If I had, then I would have never tried to get you guys back together. Will you ever forgive me?" Harry asked softly, feeling like a fool for ever being mean towards her.
"Its okay Harry, its my fault. I should have said something." Hermione said before Ginny and Harry walked out of the room.
For a long moment after they were gone, no one spoke. "Mr. Weasley, would you like to add anything in your defense?" the Headmistress asked quietly. Hermione watched as Ron struggled to think of something, anything to say. "Hermione, I don't remember that. If you would have told me, I would have never said anything, you know that. I never meant to hurt you, and you know that I would have never done that if I were sober." Ron said, not looking at Hermione.
"Its okay Ron, you didn't know what you were doing. It was a mistake." Hermione said sadly. McGonagall looked from one to the other, not sure what to do.
"Well, Ms. Granger, I see that you probably do not want to, but I have to ask anyways. Do you want this to go to trial?" McGonagall asked, knowing that of course she would not.
Hermione looked up at her in shock, shaking her head. "No! Please don't do that! I would never want that to happen! He made a mistake, yes, and he has been very wrong for the past couple of weeks, but I don't want him locked up!" Hermione said, just realizing how cruel he had been these past couple of weeks.
"Very well Ms. Granger, I will give you a month of detentions Mr. Weasley, and if anything like this happens again, then you will be expelled. Also, if Ms. Granger wishes, I can have you removed at anytime, so tread lightly. You may both go now." the Headmistress said.
Without another word, they both left the room in a hurry. Hermione didn't even look at Ron, afraid of what he might say now that they were alone. She tried to hurry away back to her Common Room, but of course Ron would not leave well enough alone.
"Hermione! Wait I need to talk to you." Ron called after her. Hermione stopped and waited for him to catch up, trying to keep her temper from going off. He had really been upsetting her lately.
"Listen, now that it is all out in the open and I know that you have forgiven me, I was wondering if maybe we could try again? You know, start over?" Ron asked. He wanted her back, even though he knew that she wouldn't go for it, he could only hope.
"Ron, its not just about what happened. You have been down right cruel to me for weeks now. I cant even think of you as a friend right now let alone anything else." Hermione answered sadly.
"But you can count that prat Malfoy as a friend after all of the things that he has done to you?" Ron asked, his temper rising now. "Ron, it isn't the same. He changed and I like him now. He is proving to be a better friend then you!" Hermione said now.
"I know what you are on about! You like him! Don't you? More then a friend, you like him!" Ron accused angrily. "What! No of course not! We are only friends. You know I do not lie Ronald! This is getting ridiculous! I don't even know who you are anymore. Just stay away from me!" Hermione shouted angrily.
"It doesn't matter, you will see in the end. Go have your fun bitch. I will be right here to watch you fall." Ron said, not sure where all of his anger was coming from now. He watched her go, wondering how they had grown so far apart, and why he seemed to want to hurt her now. It was not a feeling that he was used to.
