Chapter Six

Hermione

"What the hell was all that about?" Ron asked almost as soon as Malfoy disappeared into his room. "You shouldn't talk to people that you call your friends that way!"

"Well, people that I call my friends shouldn't go blabbing on about things that shouldn't be spoken about, now should they? What the hell possessed you to bring that up, Ron? And why couldn't you all just shut up when I asked you to? I need to live with him all year, you know. It's not like I can really get out of here," I replied, the anger still fresh in my heart.

"He should know what his… his allies did to you. One of them was Bellatrix, his dear sweet aunt! He should know what happened to you!"

"It wasn't his fault-."

"So you defend him now? Really, Hermione? After everything?" Ginny said, standing to leave.

"There has been too much blame put places where it doesn't belong during this damned war. It's over now, done with. He was a child who simply believed what his father told him. He wanted to impress the man who helped give him life. That's all any of us want to do. He's no different. Just because his ideas were different from ours… God. The war is over! I just want some peace and quiet and time to try and forget what happened to me. I don't want it dragged up as… as some sort of excuse for my behavior! I don't need anyone or anything to make excuses for me! I'll be damned if I sit here and play the victim any longer!"

"'Mione…" Harry started, trying to comfort me.

"No. I don't want pity either. Just… Just go. You guys can figure out the rest of this assignment yourselves."

They packed up, knowing I was beyond reasoning with, and made their way out of the dorm. Once they were gone, I collapsed against the couch, head resting on the back of it, eyes closed. I was just starting to adjust to life without the war. I wanted to forget everything, but I just… I just couldn't get the images out of my head.

That woman's laughter still haunted my mind. The feeling of the spells she used came back with vivid clarity. I even remembered the way the stone floor felt against my face, the way the chains felt around my wrists, even the fabric of the clothes- if they could be called that- they put on me. It was disgusting. I had never felt so dirty in my life. And afterwards…

I shuddered. I didn't want to remember those weeks. I was barely even a person during that time…

I didn't hear Malfoy until he turned the water on in the kitchen. My head snapped up, and I wiped the tears that had formed in my eyes away.

"I'm making tea. Should I put extra water in so you can have a cup?"

"You don't need to pity me because you found that out, Malfoy."

"Would you like tea or not, Granger?"

I sighed. "Yes, thank you."

He sat on the chair opposite of me, and I began to clear up the books I had been using to study. I could feel him looking at me, but I wouldn't give in. Finally, after all my books were put away, he sighed.

"Alright. Why don't we work on the plans for the dance? Neither of us have anything to do, and you don't look like you want to sleep. We can kill some time until we're tired…" he said, clearly giving up on getting any information out of me.

"That sounds great, actually. I wanted to work on them anyway. I'll go grab some stuff I was working on. I'll be right back."

"Okay. I'll be here."

I changed into pjs before heading back with my Muggle design magazines and sketchbook. He looked confused by my armload of stuff, but when I put them on the table, he began to flip through them. I noticed him squinting at the cover of one of them, turning it this way and that, until I couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?"

"The pictures… They don't move…" he said, almost awestruck.

"Have you… Have you never seen a Muggle magazine?"

"Oh that's what these are. Why do you have them now?"

"They have a lot of good ideas in them. These are all ones on Halloween. My family has collected a few over the years. I have some ideas bookmarked, like different drinks or hors d'oeuvres. Some of the design ideas are nice, as well."

"But will they translate well from Muggle parties to our type of parties?"

I bit my tongue on all the comments that were bubbling to the surface. "They will. It's not that hard. We can look at some of them and see how they play into what we already had planned."

We sifted through a few of the magazines and he was oohing and aahing as much as I was when I first saw some of the stuff. I made note of our favorites, and when he didn't say anything for a few minutes, I asked if anything was wrong.

"I was just thinking… I was wrong. These things are pretty cool, and I know my comment about if they'd translate made them seem like they were lower than the usual decorations because they were Muggle made. I'm sorry I shot them down so quickly."

"Oh, well, okay then," I checked the clock to avoid giving away the fact that I was completely floored by his response to this. "Oh, Gods. It's already 11:30. I really should be getting to bed."

"Yeah, we do have class tomorrow morning…"

"Yeah… Goodnight, Malfoy."

"Goodnight, Granger."

I made my way up to my room, letting the magazines stay on the table so he could look through them more if he wanted to. It had been a much too stressful day, and I was grateful to be able to strip and climb into bed. I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.