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Hermione awoke the next morning and was startled when she found Pansy waiting nervously by her bedroom door, "Merlin Pansy how long have you been standing there?" Hermione asked.
"Oh not long..Draco let me in about five minutes ago before he left. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Pansy said with a small smile, Hermione felt touched before Ron's words came crashing back to her.
Hermione cleared her throat and said, "Well that's very kind of you Pansy, but I am perfectly fine thank you." It wasn't said coldly but her tone was slightly rude. Pansy frowned in confusion, "Right…well I noticed you still have bruises so i would recommend a glamour charm instead of makeup. It lasts longer." Pansy said.
Hermione nodded but said nothing more as she got out of bed, Hermione winced as pain shot through her leg but managed to keep her balance. She would just have to not put as much strain on that leg today, she started gathering up her uniform completely ignoring Pansy who was still standing there.
"Hermione have I done something wrong?" Pansy asked hesitantly, "No of course not, but i'd just really like to be alone this morning if you don't mind." Hermione said but did not look at the girl. Pansy sighed and quietly left the room, once the door was shut Hermione sat down on her be and let a few tears slip down her cheeks.
She didn't want to not be friends with Pansy, but there was nothing she could do. Shaking her head, Hermione stood up and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She used a glamour charm on her face and leg to cover the bruises like Pansy had said and was pleased to see it worked perfectly.
Once Hermione had finished getting dressed she walked downstairs, she noticed the common room was empty and was thankful for it. She left out the portrait and made her way to the Great Hall.
She sat down between Ginny and Lavender, both girls greeted her with a pleasant "Hello" before returning to their conversation which Hermione tuned out effortlessly. She realized that she was facing the Slytherin table and was greeted with the sight of Blaise, Pansy and Malfoy watching her.
It unnerved her slightly so she took a book out of her bag and began reading, but she felt those eyes on her the entire time.
"Why do you think she acted like that this morning Draco?" Pansy asked, the girl had been quiet since leaving Hermione's room slightly hurt. Draco shrugged but said nothing. Pansy sighed and turned to Blaise, "Blaise?" she asked, "Dunno Pans, maybe its because we found her last night so she feels a bit awkward?" Blaise replied, shooting the girl an apologetic smile.
Pansy sighed and pushed her food around her plate, Draco's hand darted out and caught her wrist. She looked up and Draco arched an eyebrow before casting his eyes to her plate, she rolled her eyes and put a piece of fruit in her mouth.
Draco smirked and released her, sitting back and folding his arms to turn his eyes back to Granger. He saw that she was watching them now and her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, his smirk widened and she scowled before returning to her book.
His smirk faded however as Scar Head and Weasel walked in and sat across from Granger. He noticed how she stiffened immediately but smiled at them both, he wondered if he was the only one who saw how forced it was.
"Morning 'Mione." Harry greeted cheerfully, "Morning." Ron said, Hermione smiled and muttered "Morning you two." The boys said nothing as they began to eat and Hermione closed her book, putting it in her bag and leaning her head on her hand.
She wanted to get away from the table and more importantly from Ron but she knew it would look suspicious if she suddenly took off just minutes after her best friends had arrived so she forced herself to stay put.
She stared at the Slytherin table again and held back a sigh as she saw Pansy shoot her a confused look, she tore her eyes away from the girl and met steel grey eyes. Malfoy wasn't smirking or anything, he was just staring at her. Occasionally his gaze would drift to Ron for a moment before returning to hers.
It unsettled her how he seemed to know what was wrong, but that was ridiculous. He couldn't, she suspected that Pansy and Blaise might guess since they had found her last night but no..they couldn't actually know it was Ron that had done it.
"Hey 'Mione why are you staring at the Slytherins?" Harry's voice broke her out of her trance and her gaze snapped to his. She felt fear course through her as she glanced at Ron and saw the flash of anger in his eyes.
"Oh I wasn't, I was just daydreaming. I didn't get much sleep last night, you know me..up late studying again." Hermione lied, Harry nodded and smiled before returning to his food. Hermione felt a sharp kick against her shin and bit her lip to keep from crying out, she looked at Ron and he smiled maliciously at her.
She lowered her gaze and said nothing for the rest of breakfast, the trio walked out of the hall afterwards and made their way to class. On their way however they ran into trouble, Malfoy had "accidentally" shoved Ron while walking and Ron's temper got the better of him.
"Get back here you slimy ferret!" Ron yelled and pulled out his wand, Blaise and Pansy whipped out theirs but Malfoy did not. "Problem Weasel?" Malfoy drawled lazily. "Yeah actually i do, you shoved me you git." Ron said.
Malfoy rolled his eyes and said, "Oh i'm sorry Weasley, did I hurt your poor feelings?" Draco smirked and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Alright enough you two. We have class to attend." She said and moved between Ron and Malfoy. Ron however was not satisfied with that and shoved Hermione out of the way.
She slammed into the wall and screamed as her leg buckled under her, "Hermione!" Pansy shouted and ran over to the fallen girl. Hermione was breathing heavily to try and keep her tears in check. Pansy knelt on one side of her and Harry on the other, "Hermione what happened?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Nothing..nothing. I slipped last night while doing rounds and my leg got hurt. I guess its worse than I thought." Hermione said and prayed that Harry would buy her lie while Pansy would keep quiet.
Blaise was busy keeping Malfoy from jumping at Ron and tearing his head off while Ron was simply staring at Hermione. Hermione met his gaze and gulped before shakily standing up. Pansy helped her but she roughly removed her hands, "I'm fine!" She snapped and felt guilty when a flash of hurt passed through the dark haired girls eyes.
Pansy clenched her fists and backed away over to Malfoy and Blaise, "Lets go. Now Draco!" Pansy said coldly and helped Blaise pull him along. Harry had watched the entire thing with confused eyes and looked at his best friend in concern.
"Should we take you to Madam Pomfrey Hermione?" He asked and she shook her head, "No i'm fine, I promise." She said even though in truth her leg was killing her but she could make it through the day.
Harry nodded and turned to Ron, "Gotta be more careful there mate, you're a lot stronger now." He said, attempting to soothe the tense atmosphere. Ron gave a chuckle and said, "Yeah I am, sorry about that 'Mione. You know I didn't mean it." Hermione nodded and gave a small smile.
"I know..now come on. Class is almost starting." She said.
Draco pulled away from Blaise and slammed his hand into the wall, "Dammit Blaise did you see that? He did it right in front of people and everyone just plays it off!" Draco said angrily and Blaise sighed, "I know mate, but he only pushed her. It could be construed as an accident, even though we know it wasn't." Blaise said calmly.
Pansy stayed off to the side saying nothing, she was still hurt by what Hermione had done but something about it all wasn't sitting well with her. Yesterday she had seemed more than happy to talk with her but today she was cold to her. It didn't make sense, "Do you reckon he threatens her?" Pansy asked suddenly.
Blaise and Draco looked at her and shrugged before Draco said, "Probably. I mean it would make sense, father definitely threatened mother enough." Draco's lip curled as he remembered some of the threats he had heard.
"Why do you ask?" Blaise said and Pansy sighed, "Because I don't think Hermione would just stop talking to me or be rude to me just because we found her and helped her last night." She explained.
"You could be right, I mean we've all seen how much Weasley dislikes us. He probably wouldn't want his precious girlfriend to associate with any of us." Draco said and ran a hand through his hair.
"Look if that's the case we'll just have to watch her from afar and make sure Weasley doesn't hurt her any worse than he already has. Now come on, we're going to be late for class." Blaise said and the three friends walked to Charms class.
Hermione was sitting in the quidditch stands watching the boys practice, she was incredibly bored but Ron had insisted she come watch and she couldn't very well refuse now could she? She watched the team practice dives and catches with dull eyes and sighed, Ginny noticed her friend's lack of enthusiasm and flew over.
"Hey 'Mione, you okay?" She asked and Hermione nodded, "Yeah Gin, go back to practice before Harry freaks out." She said and Ginny hesitated a moment before taking off once again.
Hermione noticed an owl flying towards her and frowned, the owl landed in front of her and it wasn't one she recognized. She took the letter from its leg and the owl departed. Curious, Hermione unrolled the letter and read it.
Dear Hermione,
I don't know why you are acting the way you are towards me but please..meet me in the library around eight. If after that you no longer wish to associate with me than i will understand.
Pansy.
Hermione sighed as she read the letter, she knew it was incredibly risky but knew that Pansy deserved some sort of explanation. Of course she wouldn't tell her the truth but she could come up with something.
She bit her lip in thought and finally decided that she would meet with Pansy, no one would disturb them she was sure of it. Especially if she told the boys she had to study, Hermione shoved the letter in her pocket and watched as the boys finished practice.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Blaise asked and Draco nodded, "Yes. This is the only way we're going to be able to make sure that he'll be out of the way for the night and hopefully most of tomorrow" Blaise sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn Pansy, she owes us. Especially if we get detention for it!" Draco smirked and said "My dear friend, that would mean we'd actually get caught."
After dinner Hermione told her friends that she would be studying for the rest of the night and would see them in the morning, no one had argued and she hurriedly made her way to the library. She arrived a few minutes before eight and sighed, she still had no idea what she was going to tell Pansy.
"Hermione." Pansy's voice said from behind her, Hermione spun around and gave a small smile "Hello Pansy." She said, Pansy didn't return the smile but instead gestured for Hermione to follow her.
Hermione did so and was surprised when she saw they were in the muggle section, "Okay Hermione, talk. Why are you acting the way you are to me?" Pansy said, Hermione sighed and sat down at a table, "I just…I…I can't tell you." She said, she really couldn't come up with an excuse.
Pansy frowned and sat down next to Hermione, "Hermione you can tell me, I promise I won't tell anyone else and I won't judge you. I just want to be your friend, please just trust me." Pansy said, Hermione felt tears sting her eyes but quickly blinked them away.
"I can't Pansy even if I wanted to. You wouldn't understand and besides…he'd…I just…I can't!" Hermione said and stood up, she knew it had been a mistake to come here. Hermione turned and ran from the library, distantly aware of Pansy calling her name desperately.
She ran all the way back to the Gryffindor common room and the Fat Lady looked at her in concern, "Are you alright dearie?" the portrait asked and Hermione nodded, "Candydrops." Hermione said and the portrait swung open.
Hermione stepped into the common room and took in the familiar and comforting surroundings, she noticed Ron and Harry weren't there so she took a seat next to the fireplace and allowed her thoughts to wander.
A few hours later Harry and Ron wandered in looking dazed and they were covered in bright purple spots, their skin was a sickly looking yellow color and Hermione asked "What happened to you two?!"
"Someone cursed us while we were walking back that's what!" Harry said, "Bet you anything it was that git Malfoy." Ron spat, Hermione wanted to laugh but taking one look at Ron, she doubted it would be a good idea.
"Have you tried to reverse it?" She asked, "Of course we have! But nothing seems to work." Harry said, "Well…maybe it'll wear off by morning. Why don't you two head up to bed. I'd better get back to my dorm." Hermione said and stood up.
Too exhausted and embarrassed to answer Ron and Harry merely waved and headed to their dorm. Hermione sighed in relief as she walked back to the Head's Dorm, she was glad Ron hadn't had time to really hurt her today but she knew it wouldn't last long.
When she arrived back at her dorm she noticed Malfoy was absent and wondered if it was him who cursed Ron and Harry, deciding she was too tired to care she went upstairs and changed for bed.
Once she was settled in, she picked up Hogwarts: A History and proceeded to read until she fell asleep.
"Did you see them? They looked like a five year old had drawn on them!" Blaise said and laughed, Draco laughed with him as they walked to meet up with Pansy. "Those two had it coming, I wonder how they'll react when they realize it won't wear off too soon." Draco said.
"Oh man we have to get pictures before they find a way to reverse it." "Already taken care of Blaise." Both boys broke into laughter again, "Glad to see you two had a better night than I did." The boys looked up and saw Pansy standing there with her arms crossed and a tiny smile on her face.
"What happened with Granger?" Draco asked and Pansy shrugged "I asked for an explanation, she told me she couldn't tell me even if she wanted to. She did have a slip of the tongue though, she mention a "he" before she ran away from me." She looked at both Draco and Blaise as the gears turned in their head.
"So its true..Weasley is hurting her then?" Blaise asked first and Pansy sighed, "No idea but yes I would guess it to be him since Potter doesn't seem the violent sort anymore." She said.
Pansy noticed Draco's fists had clenched and she quirked a curious eyebrow, "So then what do we do now?" Blaise asked, "There's nothing we can do Blaise! We don't have any proof and even if we did, it'd be our word against the bloody saviours of the world." Draco said angrily
All of them knew it was true, if it came down to it they would take Potter and Weasley's word over theirs and Granger sure as hell wouldn't stand up for herself out of fear of Weasley.
It was in that moment that they realized just how trapped the girl must be, Pansy sighed and said "This has given me a headache, look clearly she doesn't want help. I don't want to see her suffer but there's nothing to do. I'm going to bed..goodnight you two." She said and walked away.
Blaise looked at his best friend and saw how tense and angry he was, "Look mate..just sleep it off okay? We'll figure it out, I don't know Granger but even I don't want to see her get beaten down. What I saw when we found her is still in my mind. I'll see you in the morning." Blaise said and clapped Draco on the shoulder before taking off as well.
Draco ran a hand through his hair and made his way back to his dorm, thoughts of Granger and Weasley were swirling through his mind. He was still confused as to why he was caring so much, a part of him wondered if it was because it reminded him of his family.
But he knew there was more to it then that, he muttered the password to the painting and walked to his room. He sat down on his bed and rubbed his head, he didn't want to sit and watch Granger cringe in fear every time Weasley came near her.
Or see how oblivious Potter was to his friend's pain and suffering, it had taken an excessive amount of self control to not curse Weasley with something worse tonight when they were distracting them. He laid back on his bed and sighed as his eyes closed.
He had so many conflicted feelings, part of him wanted to say screw it and let Granger handle it all on her own but another part, one that sounded an awful lot like his mother was telling him to help her despite her refusal. He didn't know what to do, even if he did try who's to say that Granger wouldn't hex him and refuse his help.
He had tormented the girl for six years straight, she should hate him and she probably did. She had no reason to want his help even if she did want it, but..maybe he could earn her trust.
He knew it would take a hell of a lot but it might work. But…if it did work and he could help her then maybe..just maybe it would be worth it.
That's what he would do, earn her trust to get her to open up and maybe…maybe he could save her. He hadn't been able to completely save his mother but he wouldn't make the same mistakes he had made before.
A/N Review and let me know what you think! :)