A/N: WOW! Can I just say how much I adore you guys. Thank you so so much for the reviews! I was going to put this chapter out next week but I have a feeling I'm going to be pretty busy then so I'm posting it now. I really hope you enjoy it.
She felt dirty.
Hermione was back in the room she'd slept in the night before and was curled up in a tight ball underneath the heavy blankets. Her hands were buried in her hair as she rocked back and forth.
She'd let him kiss her. She'd stood there and...and...
She curled up tighter, squeezed her eyes shut, and swallowed thickly.
She hadn't stopped him when his hands moved down to slide underneath the night shirt, his nightshirt, and begin to caress her skin. And she hadn't made any moves to prevent him from moving one of his hands down to delve into the waistband and touch her.
She'd let him touch her! She hadn't protested or pulled away or...or
A wail ripped out of her throat and she pulled at her hair desperately, in a way that indicated if she could somehow manage to pull out the roots the memory would come away with it.
She'd arched into him, whimpering into his mouth as his fingers moved in and out of her and she'd held him tighter when he coaxed a soft orgasm out of her.
And she'd almost died inside when her vision unclouded and he met her eyes as he licked his fingers and kissed her softly on the lips, making her taste herself on him.
Another desperate cry was wrenched from her lungs and the rocking got worse. The scene replayed over and over and over and she couldn't escape it, couldn't escape the slightly mad reverent look he gave her afterwards, and her heart felt like it was getting smaller and smaller and she couldn't breathe and burning tears welled in her eyes and oh God why couldn't she breathe. She was weak, weak minded, weak willed, so weak her body decided she shouldn't live anymore. That had to be the reason why it refused to let her draw breath.
She deserved it. She didn't deserve to live. If not for what she'd...allowed but because of what had happened before all that. No, she didn't deserve to breathe because she'd said she loved him. She'd said she loved him and it wasn't a lie. What was wrong with her? How could she love a monster? Want to touch his skin and feel him all over and have him hold her?
Her sobs were wracking her body now, giving no reprieve and her scalp was screaming with mistreatment. Screaming and ranting about how much it hated her.
Hermione didn't really know when she realized that it wasn't her scalp screaming these things, but her own mouth.
But when she did, she didn't stop.
*_*_*_*_*
She'd tasted so good.
Draco smiled to himself.
He knew she loved him.
He stood in front of the ornate mirror in the foyer to Glamour his hair to a light shade of brown and his eyes to a light blue. He gave himself a tan and made his nose slightly larger. He inspected his work and nodded to himself. He zipped up his sweater as he made his way to the front door, only pausing to tell Dessy to keep an eye on Hermione, lest she want a repeat of what happened last time.
*_*_*_*_*
Hermione was just walking into the living room after brushing her teeth when he'd shown up. She hadn't even heard the knock, as she was yawning at the time, but she froze when she heard his voice.
"Hermione." Her heart burst out of her chest. She didn't look at him. He was angry. She could hear it. So angry. Even though he kept his voice level she could hear the anger bursting out of every word.
When he saw she wasn't going to turn he said her name again, forcefully, enunciating every syllable. "Hermione."
She revolved slowly. Her eyes met his and she shivered. Draco was livid. Harry was blocking the doorway with his whole body and she could see the muscles taunt in his neck. His fists were clenched. From around his body, Hermione could take in Draco's appearance. It looked like he had just gotten back from his trip. His long double breasted charcoal grey coat was open and he was still wearing his black suit underneath.
"Get the fuck out of here, Malfoy," Harry bit out. Draco didn't acknowledge him as he held Hermione's gaze, letting her see the anger seething beneath the grey.
"Hermione, come out here." It was a command. In that voice. The voice he knew scared her so badly she couldn't even think straight when she heard it.
"She isn't going anywhere with you", Harry all but snarled.
Hermione knew what was coming and she wanted to prevent it. She didn't want a scene. "Har-Harry it's alright." Her voice shook. "I'll just go, it was a mistake coming here, it's alright."
Victory blazed in Draco's eyes and gave her an almost imperceptible nod, but before he could expound on this Harry spoke again.
"You aren't going anywhere with this piece of shit Hermione." Still Draco said nothing.
"Harry, it's fine real-"
"No, it isn't!" Harry rounded on her now. "I'm not letting you go anywhere."
"Harry," Hermione all but pleaded, "you can't keep me here."
Harry's face flushed with anger. "I can and I will. You aren't setting foot out of this flat with him," he jabbed his finger at Draco, still silent in the doorway, "so he can beat the everliving shit out of you whenever he pleases."
Now Draco looked at Harry,, but not before Hermione saw the flash of betrayal in his eyes. "What I do, in my home Potter is none of your damn business."
"What you do?! You mean raising your fists to beat a woman half your fucking size?" He walked up to Draco now, so close their noses were almost touching. "Does it make you feel like a big man, hmm?" He was whispering, the sneer and disgust heavy in his voice. "Does it make you feel big to hit someone who can't defend themselves?"
"Harry,' Hermione pleaded.
He ignored her.
"Does it bring back memories of dear old Death Eater Daddy beating on poor Mummy. Couldn't raise your wand on the battlefield but you can raise your fist behind closed doors?"
Quick as lightning Draco's hand shot out and grasped Harry's throat. "Do not,' he snarled his grip iron tight "speak of things you do not know about, Potter."
"Draco, stop it!" Hermione yelled.
His icy gaze pinned her. "Shut the fuck up, you slut. Get your belong-" His words were cut short as a fist collided with his face. He released Harry's throat.
"Don't you fucking talk to her like that!" Harry raised his fist again, this time punching Malfoy hard in the gut.
Everything happened so quickly. Draco went to punch Harry back but Harry ducked and roughly tackled him around the waist. As Draco and Harry flew into the outside hall, their hands caught on a lamp and the shatter combined with the loud thud of the hallway wall.
"Stop it!" Hermione screamed, rushing to the doorway. Draco was on top of Harry now, one hand gripping his shirt to hold him up, and the other smashed repeatedly into his face. "Draco! Stop it!" Draco's wild eyes fixed on Hermione in the doorway and made a move towards her but Harry, with his bloodied face and split knuckles, reached up and grabbed Draco's foot as he went to stand. Draco toppled over onto his stomach and Harry got on top of his back. He grabbed a handful of blonde hair and smashed Draco's face into the hallway floor.
Now the neighbors were standing in the hallway, watching with opened mouths as the two men tried to tear out each other's throats.
Hermione couldn't move. She could feel some of the tenants watching her, but she couldn't look away from Harry and Draco. She vaguely heard herself saying "stop" and "please" but they were so quiet she could barely hear them herself. She felt as if she had detached from her body.
This is what her life has come to.
She felt weak and drained. She shouldn't have come here. It was selfish to put Harry in the situation. She should have just stayed. Everything was fine when Draco left. Maybe if she had just stayed things would have stayed fine and they would never have gotten hurt again. But now it was too late. She'd messed it up. The noise faded around her and colors bled together slightly.
The thuds, thumps, and groans echoed around her and her vision tunneled. She backed slowly into the apartment and slid to sit against the wall. She was facing the inside of the apartment now, so she couldn't see the fight.
They were going to call he police, she thought absently. Someone in this hall would see an imminent murder and run for the phone. Then the Ministry Aurors would flood in and then the wizarding world would know. Know that Harry and Draco fought, that one of them killed each other, and that Hermione stayed with a man who beat her. Everyone would know that the 'brightest witch' of whatever the hell it was stayed in an abusive relationship. The Prophet would have a field day; call her a scarlet woman, insinuate that she was with Harry behind Draco's back and he'd caught them and that's why all of this happened. And Draco would come away from this smelling like fucking roses and she'd be broken and cast aside and everything would get worse. Her heart constricted painfully.
She closed her eyes but a second later they were jolted open when she heard the door slam and bolt. Draco killed Harry. Forget Aurors coming to find a devastated Hermione and a dead Boy-Who-Just-Couldn't-Live-This-Time; they wouldn't even find Hermione at all. She panicked. He was going to kill her too. Beat her and kill her and-
"Hey," Harry's soft voice broke through her erratic thoughts. He was kneeling in front of her, bloodied, swollen face close to her own. "Are you alright?"
She stared at him. He was worried about her? When his face was ruined and she could see him grimacing in pain? Did he kill Draco? Where was the body? He wouldn't get in trouble. He was an Auror and Harry Potter and anyone he killed deserved it. But people liked Draco now. Harry would go to Azkaban. He killed Draco Malfoy in front of half a dozen Muggles and a cat-
"Hermione?" Harry looked worried.
"Where..." she swallowed thickly. "Where is he?" She meant the body of course. They very well couldn't leave a dead wizard in the hallway of a Muggle apartment building.
"He left." Harry shifted so he was sitting cross legged in front of Hermione. She watched as he winced. "I told him I was going to arrest him if he didn't get the fuck out of here, and the bastard left."
He wasn't dead? Hermione didn't like the feeling of sheer relief that ran through her body, but she attributed it to the fact that Harry wouldn't be going to Azkaban. Hermione didn't speak, just stared at the floor. Harry was silent for a moment too then he spoke again. "You're not going back with him Hermione." His voice was hard. He wanted to arrest the fucking man but he knew that would have brought too much attention. Attention Hermione really couldn't handle. "If I have to put a Tracking Spell on you I will."
He was serious and Hermione knew it. Harry would track her to keep her safe. Harry would never ever let her get hurt, would never hurt her. "Hermione are you listening?" Tears formed in her eyes even as she nodded.
Harry watched her cry silently for a few seconds before moving closer and gathering her up in his arms, maneuvering so her legs were wrapped around his waist and her face was buried in his chest. "It's okay, baby." He murmured into her wild hair. He rubbed her lower back where the bruise was before he'd healed it."It's okay, you can cry. Even if I don't like it." His heart constricted and his next words came out somewhat choked. "I feel like you've cried too much. More than you should have had to."
He felt like shaking her, demanding to know why she hadn't listened to him in the first place. Or if not him, Ron, Ginny, Seamus, Luna, when they first warned her against Malfoy. Everyone tended to listen to Luna lately... He felt like hugging her so tight she melted into him so he could absorb her pain. Instead he squeezed her a little more tightly, rocking side to side, whispering platitudes into her ear; sitting there with her until he felt her body relax into his and her breathing became deeper and steady. When he knew she was asleep, he rose slowly, lacing his hands underneath her to keep her around his body, and walked to the bedroom, where he placed her sleeping body down and covered her with the blanket.
Harry watched her for a moment, before carding his fingers through his hair. He sighed and made his way to the bathroom to clean himself up.
*_*_*_*_*
Harry crouched under the window sill with Ron and Luna. Kingsley, Ginny and some Aurors were elsewhere around the dark building. It appeared to be an old factory; the concrete walls were crumbling and the air around the building itself was stifling. It seemed like the perfect place for a renegade group to hide out.
Too perfect.
Cookie cutter.
Fucking cliché.
"Are you absolutely sure this is the place, Luna."
Luna didn't answer. Just hummed to herself and shuddered a bit in the cold weather. At least Harry thought she shuddered. All three of them were disillusioned, ready and waiting for the signal to go in. Harry harrumphed at Luna's blatant act of ignoring him and looked moodily into the street.
Everything was grey and cold and quiet. Few people had passed by but every time someone did, Harry would tense. Like right now, a man with mousy brown hair and a hooded sweatshirt was ambling by. Harry fingered his wand.
"Seriously, mate," Ron nudged Harry as the man disappeared around the corner, "you need to stop fidgeting. Everything will be fine alright." His voice was falsely positive, but Harry didn't call him out on it as he watched an old woman totter by.
Suddenly a shot of green light flew right over Harry's invisible head and shattered into the concrete wall. "Shit." He whispered furiously. "They knew we were coming. Move." Another jet of light, purple this time barely missed them. Inside of the old factory, they could hear shouts and cries. Harry shot jets of red light into the grey sky and jumped through the window. As he landed a another jet of purple light flew over his head and Harry heard a soft "oh" as Luna was hit.
Inside was pandemonium. About twenty random people were throwing hexes at Kingsley, Seamus, and Bones's teams. Harry heard Ron dart away and he hoped it was back out of the window to see if Luna was okay. Some of the people looked familiar. Harry recognized Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode but most were strangers. Harry, still disillusioned, ran forward, wand drawn, mind whirring. This was a set up. He knew it from the moment he'd seen the place. Really? An old factory, with minimal wards and not even a Notice Me Not spell on it. An old factory when most of these people were rolling in Galleons? He cursed again to himself as he stopped Ginny from getting burned by a ball of fire shot which seemed to manifest itself in a man's hand. Contained Fyiend Fire, Harry acknowledged in his head before moving forward. He took down a blonde woman who cast Cruico on Charlie. She fell lifeless at his feet, eyes staring into nothing. Harry stepped over her body and was about to make his way over to help Neville when he felt two things; the hot trickling of his disillusionment charm being removed and a blinding pain in his chest as a spell hit him. He fell to his back, gasping for breath. A foot shot out and kicked him in the stomach and he doubled over. Eyes streaming, Harry looked up to see the young man with the mousy brown hair and hooded sweatshirt from earlier looming over him, a hateful sneer on his face. Harry gripped his wand tighter and tried to raise his arm but the man kicked it and stamped on his fingers.
Harry shouted out as the boot ground down on his broken digits. The man kicked him onto his back and landed heavily upon him, one knee pushing into his ribcage. Harry couldn't breathe. He struggled to move but the man just put more weight on his knee. Lights popped his Harry's eyes. The man leaned close and Harry could make out blue eyes full of malice.
The man gripped Harry's hair and wrenched his head forward, causing the bones to shift unpleasantly. His muscles were straining and at this odd angle, breath was getting harder to draw. He felt a wand dig into his Adam's apple and hot breath on his ear. "Where's Granger?" The man whispered malevolently and Harry's eyes shot open. He struggled harder against Draco but to no avail. He just held on harder and laughed quietly as his wand tip dug in deeper. "I would have thought she'd been here. Hoping, really. Miss her, and all that." He smashed Harry's head onto the floor quickly, once, twice, three times. "How is she doing?" Draco asked conversationally was Harry was upright again. Harry felt the wand leave his throat for a moment then heard a scream and someone fall to the ground heavily. The wood came back to his throat. "I told you that day, Potter. I told you I'd kill you one day soon. Its been a little longer," he slammed Harry's head one back more time before drawing the limb body close to him again, "than I'd hoped but alas. Here I am." The wand dug in so hard Harry felt the stab through his fog of slight unconsciousness. Draco whispered into his ear, almost like a lover, "Avada Keda-" Suddenly his weight was gone from Harry's body. He heard a loud crash, shouts, screams and the frantic voice of Ginny close by. "He's not moving! Harry! What-" she was drowned out by Seamus's "where the fuck did he go?!" There were the pops and cracks of Disapparation.
Harry let go, and let blackness envelope him.
A/N: Thheeerrreee ya go :) Tell me what you all think! Good, bad, horrid? Let me know. :)
Now! I'm knackered as all get out. Ta !
