………………………………………

Unmasked

………………………………………

Hermione sighed against Draco's chest and then disentangled herself from him when she looked at the clock. "You should leave. Blaise will be here any minute and tonight I plan to tell him about the divorce," she said as she picked up her discarded robe and pulled it on.

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his mused hair. "I should stick around, in case he gets violent. We both know that he has a tendency to do that when he's angry," Draco said as he found his pants and pulled them on after locating his boxers too.

"And where will you be? Behind the tapestry?" she asked dryly. "No, just go home."

"Are you still angry with me?" he asked as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Draco, I don't take being forced lightly," she said as she turned to look at him.

He gave her a blank look. "What are you talking about? I don't force this," he said as he pointed to the bed. "Forcing you would constitute as rape, and I don't rape women. Especially when they are more than willing."

Hermione gave him a dark look. "I told you that I didn't want to see you, I would've come around eventually, but I said no, and you still went on to force me," she said quietly.

"I didn't—" Draco trailed off, a frown forming on his brow. "I hadn't thought of it that way," he admitted.

Hermione sighed and walked over to him, cupping his cheek in one hand and intertwining their fingers with the other. "Next time, when I say no, please respect my wishes. Blaise did that to me once, and I hated him for it. I don't want to hate you, Draco," she murmured before she pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

Draco let out a heavy sigh and nodded. He had never thought that she would have taken things this way. But it bothered him now that he indeed had forced her into sleeping with him. "I should go," he said as he picked up his robe and pulled it on.

Hermione watched him go with a frown, but she wasn't really in the mood to turn this situation into something ugly, so she just followed him out the door and towards the fireplace in the kitchen. If they took the long way towards the living room, then there was a possibility that Blaise would catch them.

Though she was going to ask for a divorce anyway, she really didn't want anyone to know about her relationship with Draco yet. "Wait," she said as he grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"What is it?" he asked lightly.

"How did you get into my room?" she asked softly.

"I flew in by broom. I apparated to the outskirts of your home and flew in," he replied, gazing at her with a sort of longing that made Hermione want to leave with him at the moment. But she couldn't. She had something to resolve with Blaise and it couldn't wait.

"Will you join me for dinner tomorrow evening?" she asked quickly. Usually he was the one to invite her to go out.

"Do you think it's safe for us to go out in public?" he asked pointedly.

It was very obvious to her that he had read the article about her and Ron plotting to stop Harry's wedding. It shocked her that he hadn't said anything about her trying to foil his enemy's wedding. It was probably because they weren't anything other than lovers.

"I guess you're right," she said quietly, hating the way her voice drifted off. "I'll see you on Monday then, at the office."

"Owl me if Zabini hurts you in any way, understand?" he asked sternly, lifting her chin to look at her in the eyes.

Hermione nodded. "I will. Goodbye, Draco."

He didn't reply, instead he just pressed a kiss to her forehead and then stepped into the fireplace, disappearing in a huge green flame. Hermione stared at the spot for a very long time and felt her throat closing up. She wasn't usually emotional after sex, but watching him leave that way had made something inside her break. He had more or less told her that he hadn't wanted to go out with her tomorrow, and that stung.

She turned and called one of her house elf's. "Binky?"

He apparated in front of her with a crack. "Miss is calling me?"

Hermione nodded. "Did Blaise leave the time when he would be back?"

"No Miss, but there is someone waiting for you in the sitting room," replied the elf.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked as her blood ran cold.

"The lady told me to not disturb you, that she would wait while you is taking a bath. A few minutes ago I is finding her roaming around the house!" Binky said darkly. He really didn't like the fact that the guess had been snooping around in his masters bedrooms.

"Who is she?" Hermione asked tightly, turning to walk into the sitting room.

"You already know me," said a thickly accented voice.

"What the hell are you doing in my home?" Hermione hissed as her eyes fell on the form of a slim woman by the fire. She was half hidden in darkness, half shinning with the light from the fire. But Hermione knew that long pale blonde hair, and those icy-blue eyes.

"I came to speak to you about the article and about you trying to stop 'arry and I from marriage," Fleur said calmly. "And how curious it was for me to find out your little secret. You reprimand me for something that you are definitely doing yourself? And with the best friend of your 'usband!"

"Oh come off your high horse you lying little bitch! This is the very first time I cheat on Blaise," Hermione spat. There was no point in denying the fact that she had just got done fucking with Draco. "Whereas, he has been cheating on me from the moment we met. What I do is nothing compared to what he does to me."

"But you think yourself the morality police while you cheat on him. You have no face to accuse me of anything. But I am not 'ere to talk about your infidelity," Fleur said with a delicate sniff, placing a hand to her chest and standing up. She walked over to stand in front of Hermione, trying to intimidate her.

Hermione looked at her in bemusement. "I sense a threat coming," she said with a smirk. "Let me tell you that I am not afraid of you."

"Does 'arry know that you sleep with his one time enemy?" Fleur asked maliciously.

"You little bitch—you—you wouldn't dare!" Hermione spat.

"Try me!" Fleur growled softly, flipping her long hair over one shoulder. "I will not have you ruining my day! If you do not desist in your attempts at stumping my wedding, the whole wizarding world will find out that you are sleeping with your 'usband's best friend."

"Don't challenge me, Phlegm, because I will not be an easy enemy. You don't intimidate me, and I don't care what you say. Go ahead and tell Harry, this will be nothing compared to when he finds out what you are doing to him," Hermione hissed, wishing she had her wand at hand so that she could hex the little whore bald.

"I love 'arry, and I will not allow you to destroy all that I have worked for. If you persist, I will not only go to the press about your affair with Mr. Malfoy, but I will make you disappear—"

Hermione wasn't even aware of the fact that her hand had just connected with Fleur's cheek. Fleur gaped and looked at her with pure malice spread over her features. "You—you dared touch me! You can be absolutely sure that your 'usband will find out!"

"Should make some good pillow talk about how you saw me in bed with Draco. Tell Blaise, that he's not even half the man that Draco is. And just know that I will rip your pretty hair out of your scalp if you ever threaten me again. I don't take threats to my person lightly, and before you have a chance to even go to the press, I will destroy you. You have no idea what I am capable of Fleur. You should've just stayed away from Harry when I told you to. Now the consequences are entirely your fault, and I will not rest until I see you gone from Harry's life," Hermione spat. "Now get out of my home."

Fleur gave her a chilling smile as she stepped towards the fire. "You do not know what I am capable of, 'ermione. I am not an easy enemy either," she said before grabbing a handful of floo powder and disappearing, that same smile on her face.

Hermione cursed a mean streak when the woman was gone and shut off the floo network. She didn't want anymore unwanted visitors. As she stood pacing, she heard the front door open and shut. Blaise walked in and passed by the living room on his way towards the staircase. He spotted Hermione and grinned roguishly, making Hermione want to gag.

"Hello love," he said as he walked over and tried to press a kiss to her cheek.

"Blaise, we need to talk."

He looked at her suspiciously. "What about?"

"About your infidelities, about the woman you impregnated, and about you cheating on me from the moment we met," Hermione said dully.

Blaise went through a series of emotions, shock and denial were the strongest. He was going to actually have the nerve to deny that he had been cheating on her this whole time. "I haven't been cheating on you. I stopped, I swear!"

"What about the son you wanted? You told me once that you would get it at any cost. Well congratulations, you're going to be a father," Hermione spat. "I just can't believe that I allowed myself to be so blind!"

"Hermione please!" he pleaded, grabbing her forearms firmly but without hurting her. "I love you. Just you."

Hermione looked at him coldly. "I don't love you. I'm tired of being a fool. I am not you bloody doormat!" she yelled at him, pounding her fists against his chest. "I hate you! I hate you Blaise Zabini! I should've married Harry, not you! Not you!"

"So this is all it comes down to. The boy wonder," Blaise spat. "I read the article in 'Witch Weekly,' gracious, Hermione, I didn't know that you were so desperate to be with him!"

"I want what's best for Harry. I know about your affair with Fleur," Hermione hissed.

Blaise's eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hermione scoffed bitterly, cleaning away a tear at the corner of her eye. "Of course you don't, you never do. You're always innocent of every little thing I find out about you. Merlin, I hate you Blaise. I want a divorce and I want it as soon as possible. I will no longer live this life of lies and betrayal!"

"I am not going to let you leave me for Potter," Blaise snarled, taking her by the forearms again.

Hermione tried to twist out of his grip. "Unhand me Blaise!"

"No. there is no way in hell that I will let you leave me so that you can run off with Potter! That was one of the main reasons that I married you, love!" Blaise yelled. Hermione's eyes widened. "That's right. Just the fact that I was able to snatch you up from under Potter's nose was such a rush," he said gleefully.

"You never loved me!" she hissed, her voice cracking in the end. "It was all about you triumphing over Harry!" a sob escaped her before she could stop it and she began to hit his chest again, or any part of him that she could get her hands on. "You bastard!" she screamed.

Blaise forced her to turn away from him and he pinned her arms to the side as she struggled like a mad woman. "Let me go! Let me go!" she screeched, kicking from the ground and struggling against his hold. "I'll kill you! I'll bloody kill you!" And her knee caught him in the shin.

He yelped and released her, causing her to fall flat on her butt. She turned to look at him in time to see that he was searching his robes for his wand. "I'm not going to let you get away. I am very accomplished at obliviation, and if you just sit still, I can make you forget all that you know," he said.

But Hermione had reacted before he pulled his wand out and she was already running away from him. "Don't you dare!" she screamed as she ran into the kitchen and towards the back door that led to the backyard. "I'll fucking kill you Blaise! I'm going to alert the Ministry that you are trying to obliviate your own wife!"

"You're not going to get away from me love!" he yelled. "Obliviate!" but the spell hit the sliding window of their home and shattered the glass into tiny pieces. Blaise knew that if she made it far out, she'd be able to apparate far away from him.

With the force of that spell, she was sure that he would've probably erased every single one of her memories. Hermione was running, gasping at the stitch in her side, but she had to run unless she wanted to forget about all that Blaise had been doing and her relationship with Draco. No, she wouldn't allow that ball-less bastard to do this to her. She wasn't watching where she was going and she tripped on the root of a tree. She went down cursing, bumping her head against another root of the tree she had fallen over. But then Blaise took the lead and caught up with her.

He slowed down and took a few deep breaths. "This could've been avoided, sweetie," he murmured as he raised his wand.

Hermione looked around frantically for anything that would be able to aid her. Bloody hell, she was about ten feet away from the apparating point. "Don't do this Blaise," she said softly. "I've lived with you for two years! I've dedicated all that time to you, you can't do this to me! I loved you!"

"I thought that I really did love you," he said as he watched her stand cautiously. "But maybe I was mistaken. To think, I, Blaise Elroy Zabini, married the brightest witch in Hogwarts, Harry Potter's best friend, and the most beautiful little thing to cross my path. You truly were the best trophy a man could have."

"Don't this Blaise," she said again. "If you let me go, I won't turn you in to the Ministry of Magic for improper use of it." She concentrated while he was distracted, thinking about her offer. Hermione had been very accomplished at voice-less incantations, but with her wand. She was good at using magic without her wand too, but hadn't really used hexes in a long time. She prayed that it was powerful enough to allow her to escape.

"I lied a bit there. I do love you, but you're making this marriage too hard. You should've just stayed quiet and allowed me to go around doing my free will. You're not leaving me."

Hermione took a big breath as she saw him open his mouth to erase her memories. "Stupefy!" She screamed suddenly.

A flash of light went off and Blaise fell onto his back unconscious. "You son of a bitch!" Hermione laughed in glee, bordering on hysterics before she looked towards her room. "Accio wand!" At that, Blaise's wand flew into her hand too just as hers came pistoning out through the window and into her hand. She turned abruptly and took off running. If she could just get to the ministry before Blaise found her again, she'd be able to accuse him of misuse of magic; she had his wand for proof of the last spell he used.

She made it to the apparition point and apparated to the safest place she could think of at the moment. She looked around the quiet flat. "Draco?" she whimpered into the darkness. The only light she could see was coming from a brightly lit fire in the living room. But there was no sign of Draco anywhere.

For a moment she wondered if he was at his Manor, but he wouldn't have left the fire burning here or on his room for that matter. She wandered around the expansive flat for a few minutes, her body numb and wishing for Draco to be there to hold her in his arms for the rest of the night.

She stumbled into the bathroom and was violently sick. Blaise, the man she had called husband for two years had nearly killed her. With the strength he had been exerting on her, and then trying to erase her memory, she could constitute his actions as attempted murder. She had thought that she had known this man, but she didn't. this new side of Blaise was frightening and she felt dirty and sick.

She had enough mind to wash out her mouth with water from the sink and then stumbled into Draco's bedroom. She was a hairs breadth away from falling apart. She had been strong for a very long time, but she wasn't she wasn't a bloody rock! She was a sensitive woman who had seen and taken a lot. But this was too much. This was all too much.

Hermione noticed the warmth of the room and wondered how long it would take Draco to arrive as she moved to the darkest corner and sunk slowly to her knees. She let out a low wail and propped herself against the wall, breath coming in shallow pants. She felt her throat closing and knew that any minute she was going to explode. And it came in the form of heart-wrenching cries that tore from her throat.

The cries overwhelmed her and she tried her best to calm down, but she couldn't. She couldn't find a way to stop sobbing. She cried until her sobs turned into silent tears. She wasn't even aware of the trembling that was racking her body, the cold sweat that had already soaked her thin robe.

Hermione had lost track of time and had no idea as to how long she had been sitting there crying on the cold hard-wood floor. But she somehow made it to the four poster bed with the black silk sheets and the gray quilt at the foot of the bed. She fell into a fever induced delirium. The shock of what she had gone through caught up with her exhausted body, and there was no Draco there to help her as her body was racked with shivers.

She tried to alleviate the coldness by cocooning herself under the quilt and the sheets, but she shivered the entire night. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get warm and the only word that left her lips that night was, "Draco."

………………

Draco sighed heavily as he apparated into his flat, noting absently that the embers of the fire he had left on were still lit. he looked at the clock. Four in the morning. He had slept uncomfortably in a hard chair besides Pansy's bed, watching her sleep. She was regaining some color, but she wouldn't recover at all.

The healers would be telling her the news this very afternoon, and Draco wanted to be there to give her his support. Of her family, only her mother remained. Her father and uncles and aunts had all been death eaters. They had been either killed in the war, or caught and charged for treason, serving time in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. Others had been executed my the ministry for war crimes and atrocities. Only her mother had kept away from it all.

After going to Hermione and coercing her into sleeping with him, he had gone to see Pansy at St. Mungos. She had been awake for a few minutes and had been elated to know that he was there at her side. Though Pansy had always openly cared for him more than just a friend, he had never seen her as much more. And now… now Hermione was the one who had pushed her way into his heart for a permanent stay. He didn't know what to do about that. Neither of them were ready to admit that there was something more than lust and desire going on between them.

He sighed heavily and began o pull off his robes as he walked towards his room. He moved to his closet, his back towards the bed and began to unbutton his shirt as he walked towards the fireplace outside to light the fire again. The days were getting colder every week and the room was warm, but he had just arrived from having a short walk outside and he was a bit chilly.

He muttered a spell and a fire erupted in the hearth, warm and tall as he turned towards his bed and froze. There was Hermione, shivering under the bulk of the heavy quilt over her. He could recognize her dark wild hair anywhere, especially his sheets.

Draco moved to her quickly and was horrified to see that her face was soaking with her sweat and that strands of her hair were plastered to her face as she muttered incoherently in her feverish sleep. He touched her forehead and frowned when he was met with alarmingly hot flesh.

"Merlin the great," he whispered as he ran to the fire place and grabbed a handful of floo powder. "Healer MacMillan's office." If he wasn't mistaken, Ernie had told him that he was on duty until the morning. Maybe he could get him to come and see Hermione. But no such luck, he couldn't see him anywhere, and Draco was losing time.

What had Snape told him once about fever states and sickness of such? He thought back, hard, and then remembered. Cooling spells and things of that sort to bring down the fever.

"Draco."

His attention snapped towards the bed and he ran over to Hermione. "What is it, love?" he asked urgently, summoning his wand.

She sobbed incoherently again and her eyes scrunched as if in pain. "Granger?" he asked as he touched her face again.

Her eyes opened slightly, but she looked as if in a delirium, but she appeared to see him. Or so he thought. Hermione let out a scream of fear and shoved at him. "Don't touch me!" she screamed.

Draco made a grab for her as she tried to roll away from him, but she fought. "Don't!... Don't touch… me! Sod—sodding Blaise!"

He recoiled as if she had burned him. "Please… don't… do it," she cried before passing out again. Draco took the chance to whisper a cooling spell and watched as she kept tossing and turning, the thinner sheets twisted around her legs.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" Draco snarled as he transfigured his sheets into some fresh sheets and put her into a t-shirt that hit her mid-thighs and a pair of his boxers. He stroked her hair and her face as she fell into a more relaxed sleep.

He stayed up for what was left of the morning, watching Hermione sleep and reducing her fever every time it spiked. He had sent an owl to the Malfoy Family doctor, and the man should arrive any minute now. It was nearly ten in the morning. He was itching to find Blaise and hex him until he said what he had done to Hermione, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her side.

The doctor arrived at ten-thirty and Draco watched silently as he fed her a potion to make her feel better, yet still she hadn't awoken. The doctor said that it would be best for her to stay in bed for the rest of the day, and maybe even tomorrow. She had to be fed a potion every four hours so that she would be fine by tomorrow.

Draco took the time to remind the doctor that he had sworn an oath of confidentiality, and the doctor had nodded curtly, looking indignant at Draco. He knew who Hermione was, and the fact that she was married to a man who was renown in his field of obliviation.

When the man left, Draco took the time to grab a coffee and a few pastries. He wasn't very hungry, but he knew that he had been up mostly all night and he needed his strength to keep watching over Hermione. She was resting peacefully, and thankfully the dreams had subsided. She had been cursing Blaise every time her fever rose, and his heart clenched when he remembered the desperation on which she had cried out his name.

Draco pulled up a chair next to the bed and laid his face parallel to Hermione's, caressing her cheek and kissing the tip of her nose gently. He couldn't lie to himself anymore, she meant more to him than a good shag every other day. He didn't know when it had happened, but it had. She meant a lot to him, and the thought of Blaise hurting her was more than he could bear. And he fell asleep that way, just gazing peacefully at her lovely face.

Next thing he knew, something soft was tracing his facial features. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked drowsily at her, his eyes nearly crossing when he saw how close Hermione was to him, brown eyes gazing into gray. "You're up," she said with a gentle smile.

Draco nodded and looked at the clock. It was time for her to drink her potion. He sat up and cracked his neck, grunting a little in discomfort. "You need to drink this every four hours," he said as he popped open one of the bottles sitting on the nightstand. There were five more left. "It should help your fever more."

She gave the bottle a hesitant look and took it. "You came up with the solution yourself?" she asked as she tried sitting up. Draco helped her and propped her up against the headboard.

"I had the family doctor see you," he said simply as she swallowed the liquid. "What does it taste like?"

"A cross between cherry and stale soda," she grumbled. Draco gave her a blank look. He didn't know what soda was. "It's a bubbly muggle drink,' she explained. "When it's left out too long it goes stale and tastes dreadful." She hesitated and then asked, "What time did you get home?"

Draco caressed her cheek with the tips of her fingers and gave her a tiny smile. "Just in time. You were very sick, talking in your delirium."

Hermione's eyes snapped to his and she bit her lip as she remembered why she had been the way she was.

"You were screaming at me, telling me to get away from you. You called me Blaise. You pleaded for him to not do it," Draco said as he moved to sit in front of her. He cupped her face in both hands and pulled her nearly nose to nose. "What did he do to you?"

Hermione let out a slow breath and wrapped her arms around his neck, in case he felt like apparating straight away to beat the shit out of Blaise. "He tried to obliviate me. I told him all that I knew about him and he told me—awful, awful things," she said softly.

He jerked against her and tried to shove her body away, but even over the weakened state she was in, she refused to let him go, and Draco had to stop unless he was willing to harm her physically. Which he wasn't. "Let go of me, Hermione," he hissed through grit teeth.

She shook her head stubbornly. "I don't want you in Azkaban. I want Blaise to pay for what he's done. Not you Draco. I need you here with me," she murmured against his neck.

Draco allowed the tension to ease from his body and he wrapped his arms around Hermione's slim body, alarm shooting through him when he felt the moisture on his shoulder. "Don't cry," he whispered, "I feel helpless when you do," he admitted softly.

'This isn't your battle, Draco," she whispered against his neck. "I'm going to make Blaise pay for what he tried to do to me. But I don't want you to do anything to him. Please promise me that you will stay out. Promise me Draco!" she repeated when he didn't answer.

"Fine. I promise not to do anything to him," he said as he rubbed her hair. "I don't want to lose you. If he comes within five feet of you, I'm going to have to break my promise."

Hermione nodded against him and slowly shifted him with her so that they could lay together, side by side. "Will you hold me while I sleep?" she asked sleepily.

"I'll hold you for eternity if I have to," he murmured against the crook of her neck. But she was already asleep, and he didn't hear her words.

……………………

Draco stepped into Pansy's room that evening. He had left Hermione alone, sipping on warm chowder soup and promising to be back in thirty-minutes. He had then floo'd to St. Mungos, knowing that he had missed the moment when the healers had told Pansy that she was a lost cause.

She was lying in her bed, tears slowly streaming down her face. She looked up at him and a soft sob escaped her. "Did you know?"

"From the moment that Granger and I brought you in," he replied honestly.

"Oh Draco, I'm going to die and I'll never do any of the things that I wanted to do before I was twenty-five," she sobbed as she turned onto her side and curled into a tight ball.

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling completely sincere about it. "I wanted to be here with you, but then something very important came up and I couldn't." And as cruelly as it sounded, if it were between Hermione and Pansy, he would chose Hermione. And he had.

"Draco, there's just one thing I want to do before I die," Pansy interrupted his musings.

"And what is that?" he asked as he sat on the edge of her bed and ran his fingers through her hair.

"I want to get married. I want to live the rest of my life with the man that I love. You."

Draco was smart enough to realize that she was manipulating the situation to her favor.

"Please Draco," she said when he didn't reply. "This is my last wish. I want to be happy. Won't you do that small favor for me?" she asked softly, big eyes filled with tears as she gazed intently at him.

"I—I don't know Pans. Let me think about this."

"I'm dying and you can't even do me this grand favor?" she sobbed.

Draco warred with himself. Hermione needed his protection from Blaise, he couldn't leave her alone in this. But then again, Pansy's days were numbered. "Okay," he answered a few minutes later. Pansy's eyes lit up.

"Thank you, Draco. Thank you!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

Draco swallowed hard as he awkwardly patted her back. Dear lord, what was he going to tell Hermione?

Sorry I can't leave anything more than this, but I have to go. Prin69 I hope this chapter made up for the end of the last one. Sorry if there are grammatical errors, I'll fix them later! Thanks everyone for the great reviews!

Byebye

!Joey!