Part II - "From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate."

A profound and persistent feeling of sadness and distress overcame her as she watched him walking away from her

A profound and persistent feeling of sadness and distress overcame her as she watched him walking away from her. It was something she had been trying really hard to avoid, but there it was, nudging her as it spread from her chest to all of her body: depression.

She struggled against it, telling herself she wouldn't get depressed over Draco Malfoy, it was just not worth it. She knew that much, but depression isn't that easy to handle. So she let herself slowly slide to the floor, drew her knees to her chest, her arms around them, her face buried against her legs.

Hermione sobbed quietly as angst overcame her. What had she done? Why had she kissed him? And why was she upset that he had backed away?

It came as a surprise for both of them, but it had been Draco who had pulled away, just as roughly as he had responded to her kiss. One minute they were entwined in passion, and the next, Hermione was facing his back.

Not that she had planned to kiss him, it was a sudden impulse; it felt almost right at the moment. There had been something about the depth in his eyes, something about his lips that made her stay put and press her lips to kiss.

She didn't know how long it had lasted, but even in all of her confusion she had enjoyed it; and it had appeared he had as well... until he pulled away.

He was reluctant at first, she had noticed, but he did it anyway, roughly, spitefully. And when he did, Hermione opened her eyes, thinking he just wanted to regain his breath, for she needed it as well. His breathing was hard, he was almost panting, his eyes were tightly shut. Only when she lifted a hand to touch his face he opened them... he looked so troubled, so upset.

Next thing she knew, he was walking away. One thing she would not have expected of their little episode was rejection; but that was exactly what had happened. And it hurt so badly.

As she wondered why he had reacted that way, reality hit her like a sack of bricks and she realized what had happened: she had kissed him, and it had been she who started it. She didn't even like him, why had she done it? What was wrong with her? He had her cornered against the wall, probably restraining himself from hurting her, and she had longed for his lips. It didn't make any sense.

And that wasn't even the worst part of it all. What troubled her the most was the fact that he had rejected her, that was just wrong... not the fact that he had rejected her, but the fact that his rejection bothered her so much. What was it? It was plain logical, had he been the one to kiss her, she would have been the one to walk away in anger.

Wasn't that what he wanted though? She couldn't tell just how many times he had attempted to kiss her with no success. What had she done wrong? Were his prior words true and he couldn't stand her at all? Hermione simply couldn't understand him anymore.

It was a long time until Hermione's tears fell no more, and even longer when she gasped loudly for air and decided to stand up. Determined to leave, she walked to an opened window and summoned one of Draco's brooms with an "accio" spell.

She mounted it and flew away, leaving most of her belongings behind. Hermione flew past the Manor's magical security barrier and then apparated to Grimmauld place; she needed her friends.

It was Ron who greeted her at the door, Hermione was hugging him fiercely before he could mutter a simple "hello". He patted her back as he wrapped her in a warm embrace and asked: "What has he done now?"

Hermione wished he had, as usual, made the wrong assumption, but no, he was right this time. Not that she could tell him, for it would only mean more trouble. If Ron ever found out what happened, he would go straight to Malfoy Manor and start a fight.

"I've missed you." She whispered softly, evading the subject, as he reached out to stroke her hair. A look of confusion was all over his face, but he said nothing, he only stared worriedly into her eyes.

She felt awfully comfortable in his embrace, more than she should have. It brought her memories of better times, times when they were together, when her parents were alive, when she would have never dreamed Draco Malfoy would become a significant part of her life.

Hermione relished the feel of his body against hers, it almost made her forget her anguish, her despair. It just felt so right, and yet so wrong, to be surrounded by his strong arms, to be gazed at by his concerned blue eyes, to feel secure and loved in his presence.

Another wave of depression took over her as she realized what she was doing; she would only hurt Ron if she allowed herself to think of him in that way; so she averted her eyes from his and detached herself from his arms.

"I'm sorry, Ron; I shouldn't have said that." She shook her head, angry with herself, and walked past him into the house.

"It's okay...I've—"

"Don't even say it."

Ron said no more as he closed the door behind him and followed her inside the house. Hermione made herself comfortable sitting on one large sofa in the living room. "Where's Harry?" She asked, still averting Ron's gaze.

"He's out. Went on a date with Ginny." He made a face as he said that, it would appear he wasn't entirely happy with their relationship.

"It's been ages since I last saw her." Making an effort to tun her depression out, Hermione slowly looked up to his face as she took the chance to change the subject. It was hard, but if she didn't look at him, he'd figure her problem was worse than he already thought.

"Well, you know how she is..." She barely noticed him sitting beside her on the same sofa.

Hermione nodded numbly, perhaps it hadn't been the best subject to approach. Ginny Weasley wasn't on speaking terms with Hermione ever since news about her engagement to Draco had spread. Of course, everyone else, including Ginny, thought their engagement and subsequent marriage was completely legitimate. Only their families and Hermione's two best friends knew better. The less people knew, the safer for their families.

"Do you think she'll come around one day?" Hermione wondered, but wasn't particularly interested, she used to get along well with Ginny, but their friendship hadn't been the strongest.

"Who knows." Ron was uncomfortable, she knew that the last person he wanted to talk about right now was about his sister. He surely wanted to know what happened to her, what she meant by saying she had missed him. And he'd tempt her to do things that weren't convenient for neither of them.

"What will you do, Hermione?"

"I think I'll move to my grandparents' house in Italy, my house is on quarantine –long story- and I don't think it would be convenient to move into my mother's."

"You know you—"

"Yes, I know, Ron. And I thank you for that, but that's not a possibility."

"Why not? Gee, Hermione. What has changed so much about us that you can't even stay here for a couple of days?"

"It's not about... our friendship. It's about me, Ron. It's not that I don't love both Harry and you; it's that my life has turned so much I can hardly cope with it all. If I was to stay here, my mother--whom you can't even look at the face--and my brother-–whom you can't stand--would come and visit, and Draco might as well come some day to try and persuade me to go back to his place. It would only lead to trouble."

"I can stand your brother."

"Last time he came here you two were at each other's throats; and he had only come to take me home! It wasn't like he had been staying for hours and ruined your carpet!"

"He mocked me!"

"I don't care, Ron. My point is neither you nor Harry can cope with my family, which is understandable, I had a hard time adjusting to them, too; but they are my family! I can't choose between you and them."

"But-"

"I'll go to Italy; I don't think my grandparents will mind. I'll come and visit every now and then."

"Why have you got to go that far? What's wrong with your mother's place?"

"Psychological damage; mother would try and persuade me every single day to go back to Malfoy. Besides, the Malfoys have free access to our Manor. My grandparents, on the other side, aren't that fond of them."

"I like your grandparents."

"I know." Hermione chuckled, a brief glimpse of a smile. Ron always had the ability to make her smile.

All of the sudden, she realized just how near she was to Ron. Any other time she wouldn't have minded, but right at that moment she longed for the comfort of his arms. It was selfish though, and she knew that; because right now, had it been Harry sitting next to her, she would want the same thing: a friend to hug. The matter was that hugging Ron could lead to other feelings, from both sides.

Even though they had broken up twice, in other circumstances, they would have surely gotten back together; because that's the way they were, they'd get mad at each other over something, make a big deal out of it, break up, decide they are better as friends, and a couple of months later they'd be back together.

Although she wondered if it hadn't been for the best to be over with him for good this time, the real obstacle for which they hadn't gotten back together after their third breaking up was stuck on her left hand.

Her feelings only lead her to feel guilt, and guilt lead her to depression. She was already depressed, so this would only be a plus. And Ron didn't have to find out, it would only do him worse.

"What now?" His question came in handy since it stopped her train of thought; she didn't need him to see her getting worse by the minute.

"I think I'll get going, Ron. Tell Harry I came by."

She walked to the fireplace, wondering how her grandparents would take her visit. They were very fond of her, as she was of them, Hermione only hoped they wouldn't mind having her staying over for a month, or even more. The health and security squad wasn't entirely sure how long it would take for her parents' house to be fine again.

"You'll use the floo powder? What about your broom?"

"Yes, there's no way I am flying all the way to Italy. Keep the broom, it's Malfoy's anyway," Hermione shrugged indifferently. She couldn't care less if it was his favorite broom right now.

"I don't care if it's a Firebolt 2001; I am not using anything that belongs to him."

"Donate it then...sell it, burn it, I don't care."

She smiled sadly and waved her hand at him as she stepped into the fireplace and said the address of her Granparents' Manor, floo powder in hand.

All of her thoughts were about him as she felt the speed and the numbness that accompanied her through the journey.

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A/N: And so we start Part II of the story; no more past time tales for now. The chapters will be shorter since we will only see the present; if you have any questions or doubts that were not answered, post them with your reviews and they'll probably appear in following chapters.

Thoughts? Feelings? Criticism?