OMG! I have been trying to post this for lord knows how long but there was something wrong with my account D: It's been agony! But thank goodness I can FINALLY post!

Oh and btw the POV changes more than normal, I hope it's not confusing!

HERMIONE


When I became conscious the first thing I noticed was a stabbing pain in my back and the strong urge drawing me back to sleep. I shifted trying to alleviate the pain but quickly became aware that I was laying on something that wouldn't be moved that easily. My limbs groaned in protest as I reached beneath myself to dislodge the offending object. I dropped the thick book to the ground with all the strength I could muster. I sighed and kept my eyes closed, sleeping drawing me back into its warm embrace. I snuggled deeper into the chair, pulling my legs into a tight ball. Wait… the chair? Where was my bed? Frantically I opened my eyes, "Ahhh!" I cried and snapped them shut against the blinding light. Slowly I reopened them; tears blinded me as they struggled to adjust. I tried to make out shapes but the pounding in my head was so distracting that I eventually gave up and just squeezed my eyes shut tight.

My body was sore, every inch aching as if I had run a marathon. I flexed my feet and cringed as pain flared up my legs. I racked my brain trying to recall the day before. I remembered waking up and going to breakfast. I remembered going to the library and then finding that piece of silver… O god. I fought to keep the contents of my stomach contained. "Please don't get sick now, you did so well last night." I opened my eyes despite their protests and forced them to focus on the source of the voice.

Even first thing in the morning he managed to look like a Greek god. Lounging in the chair without any indication of discomfort and raking his hands through his slightly disheveled hair, a small smile played on his lips. "Malfoy?" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"

He looked slightly annoyed. "What do you mean? I brought you here." A quick glance around the room confirmed my worst suspicion. I was alone with Malfoy in his private study with no recollection of how I got there.

"Oh my god…" I quietly groaned. "What happened last night?"

"You don't remember?" There was something alarmingly mischievous about the tone of his voice. "Oh boy."

"'Oh boy?' Malfoy please just tell me!"

"Well how much do you remember?"

I thought hard about it, "Not much." I replied honestly. "I remember downing a drink or two. There was dancing… I don't know!" I cried in frustration. "How did I get here?"

"You walked. Well sort of." He laughed to himself, "You tried to walk, I half carried you."

"Why?"

"Why did I carry you? You weren't exactly-"

"No! Why here? Why you?" I buried my head in my hands, missing the flash of hurt that crossed Malfoy's face.

"You begged me to bring you here." His voice was cool and restrained. "You wanted to go somewhere more quiet." I tried not to show the dread the implications of that statement had instilled in me.

"But…" I pressed my memory; I couldn't remember any of this. I didn't even remember seeing Malfoy. But… there was a guy. There was no face just the sensation of familiarity. "That was you?" He nodded. A barrier in my mind burst and memories flooded my senses. I recalled cool silk and hard muscles against my skin. The scent that was so distinctly Malfoy's that I was surprised I couldn't place it the night before. And there was the dancing. My body pressed tightly to him, fitting perfecting together. My cheeks burned with embarrassment. "I-I… I have to go."

I fled the room as quick as I could, ignoring his calls. "Hermione wait!"

I ran. I had no idea where I was going; I just knew I had to get out of there. The empty corridors turned to packed ones as I got closer to the Great Hall. I wove through the throngs of people with ease until someone's strong grip grasped my arm. "Hermione!"

"Harry!" I could have cried I was so happy to see him. Without hesitation I threw myself into his arms.

"What's going on?"

"I just need to get away from Malfoy."

"Come on," He said gripping my hand tightly. I followed him out, walking silently until we reached the edge of the lake. "What happened?"

I wanted to tell him, I really did. But I couldn't. I didn't want Harry to think of me as that girl, the one drunk and hooking up with random guys. Hooking up with Malfoy… god. Had I really? "It's complicated," was all I could say.

He nodded, "Isn't it always?"

I desperately wanted to think about something else, anything! "How are you?"

Harry's brilliant green eyes had that far away look in them. "I'm honestly not sure." He looked seriously conflicted. "I'm worried about Pansy."

"Parkinson?" I couldn't help the surprise. Last time we'd spoke Harry had very different things to say.

"Someone is threatening her. They sent her hate mail the other day." He sighed, still not looking at me, "What if turns into something worse? What if next it's not just words but a curse?"

"But Harry-"

"Just because Voldemort is gone Hermione doesn't mean there's no more evil." I bit my tongue; he had all but read my mind. "Even good people can do bad things when they feel like justice hasn't been served. And we both know how many people want Pansy locked up."

"What are you going to do?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Right now Ron and I are trying our best to keep close to her but there's only so much we can do. We can't be there all the time and even if we could what use are we if we can't identify the attacker?"

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. This was the Harry I knew and loved but like many times before, I wished he wouldn't take such responsibilities on himself. "It will be okay Harry. You've faced much worse than this, plus Ron is helping so you aren't doing it alone."

"Yea… Ron." He crinkled his nose in irritation. "I think… never mind."

"Harry," I warned.

"Well," He started slowly, "I think something's going on between them. Pansy and Ron I mean." I felt my eyebrows knit in confusion as he continued. "Ron's always talking about her, it's mostly negative but it's incessant. I saw them together the other day and they were standing so close and speaking so quietly…" He trailed off. "Plus there's all this tension. It's, it's… I can't explain it, it's-"

"Complicated?" I supplied with a smile.

"Yea." He laughed softly.

"Uh-hum." Someone cleared their throat loudly behind us. I felt my heart stop, anxious about the forth-coming confrontation.

"Malfoy?" Harry's voice lacked all the normal hatred it usually held when speaking that name and was instead replaced with earnest surprise.

"Potter." Malfoy's head jerked in what looked like a strained nod of acknowledgement. It was perhaps the most civilized greeting the two had ever had. "Hermione could I speak to you?" His voice was even. I turned to Harry with pleading eyes but his pointed look was clear; I had to deal with this. I sighed and stood up.

"I'll see you Harry," I said and followed Malfoy back toward the castle. When we spoke it was simultaneously.

"I want to-"

"Look I-" We both stopped, me giggling nervously. He waved a hand in my direction. "Ladies first."

"Thanks." My I hated the feeble and weak sound of my own voice. "I want to apologize. I shouldn't have run like that. I'm sure whatever we did last night," I swallowed the large lump in my throat, "was as much my fault as it was yours."

"What exactly do you think we did last night?" The laughter in his voice made my face flush.

"Please don't make me say it."

He abruptly stopped walking and faced me. "Hermione, nothing happened." He said the words slowly, spelling it out for me. "Sure we danced but I only took you to that study because you were complaining that your head hurt."

"B-but-" I stuttered uselessly. He quirked an eyebrow obviously amused. "I was so drunk."

"I know," He smirked, "And you were certainly feeling me." I smacked him somewhat halfheartedly on the shoulder. "Hey, who can blame you? I am pretty irresistible. But even with you flinging yourself at me, I'm not one to take advantage of drunk girls."

"Well thanks I guess," My face was still hot with embarrassment.

"I think we'll have to take a page out of the Zanbini handbook for this and like Blaise always says 'Pretend the hideously embarrassing situation never happened.'"

I snorted and rolled my eyes, "That would be his motto."

"So in the spirit of things I was wondering you would still do me a favor…" He smiled sheepishly, "You kind of already agreed."

PANSY


They were late. Draco was probably still asleep, and hungover from the looks of things. "I can't believe you," I hissed.

Blasie rolled his eyes, "Oh come off it Pansy, what did you want us to do?"
I crossed my arms and sulked in my seat. "You could have at least tried. These gits," I gestured to Ron sitting next to me, "are boring as hell. Grind would have been a relief."

"What are you talking about? And where are we?"
"Shut it Weasley, nobody is talking to you." Daphne snapped. Ron muttered "Bimbo" under his breath but was otherwise quiet. "We are really sorry Pans. Can we please not fight today? My head is killing me." She rubbed her forehead with dainty fingers.

"Yea think of it this way," Millicent started. "In the end we just saved you a lot of misery. This hangover is brutal."

"IS IT REALLY?" I screamed, feigning innocence. The three traitors groaned in agony and covered their ears. I grinned in self-satisfaction.

"What's going on?" Ron asked in a whisper. Well as much of a whisper as he could manage.

"These bloody fools went a had a grand old time-"

"I gathered that. I meant what's going on here?" He motioned to the bizarre circle we sat in. There were eleven chairs in total. 4 occupied by the Slytherins, 4 by our guests, and 3 empty seats. Beside Millicent sat a terrified looking Hufflepuff. His pale skin looked a sickly shade of green and, judging by the nervous glances he kept shooting Millicent, he was dying to leave but was afraid to try. Next to him was Blaise and his guest, a small Ravenclaw girl. She stared dreamily at him, flipping her black hair back and forth trying to get his attention. I gagged as Blaise grinned, loving every minute of her adoring attention. With Daphne sat a girl who could have very well passed for a Weasley. She wore Gryffindor robes, the red clashing horribly with her auburn curls, and a dazed expression. Her big green eyes seemed blissfully unaware of anything. "What's wrong with Quinn?" I followed Ron's gaze the redhead.

"I have no idea. Daphne?"

"Yea?" She grumbled head buried in her hands.

"What's up with your guest?"

"Oh her?" She waved a hand dismissively. "She started freaking out when I dragged her over here. Gave her some of my calming potion."

"Now Daphne!" Kentz looked thoroughly disappointed as she entered the room. "That is not what that's for. Besides, I asked you to bring someone, not force them."

The blonde shrugged, "You never specified."

Kentz shook her head and took a seat. "Thank you all for coming. Where's Draco?" She asked, glancing at the empty chairs. When no one answered she sighed and pulled out that dreaded piece of parchment. "Very well. Who would like to start?" Ron's hand shot into the air, quiet reminiscent of Granger.

"What is going on?"

"Great question Mr.-?"

"Weasley."

She scribbled something down on her parchment before continuing. "Mr. Weasley I am sure that you aware that your Slytherin classmates have been undergoing a kind of rehabilitation and as part of it we have these meetings. This place is a safe room, what is said here, is kept here. Our goal is to better understand our actions by way of our feelings. For this meeting, I asked your classmates to bring someone they discriminated against in the past. And it seems Pansy has chosen you. Why do you think that is?"

Ron looked taken back. "I dunno." He said dumbly.

"Hmmm," Kentz's eyes never left her writings. "How has Pansy discriminated against you?"

"Uh," He glanced in my direction, uncomfortable talking about in front of me.

"Go ahead Ron, I don't care at this point."

He nodded and began quietly, "Well she used to call me blood-traitor. But ya know I suppose I was. And well she always harassed Hermione calling her bossy and making fun of her hair, just real mean things." I rolled my eyes. Granger was bossy and she had bad hair!

"Yes I see," Kentz said absentmindedly.

"Don't forget she tried to offer Potter up," Blaise added smirking.

"Oh yea, thanks!" I glared at the both of them, only Weasley had the decency to look guilty. Blaise winked shamelessly. Oh it was going to be a very long day.

HERMIONE


His fingers around my wrist were blazing hot. I wanted to pull away but my arm refused to listen. "Not much farther," He said leading me down the corridor. I was too preoccupied by the feel of his touch to answer. Why him? Why of all the men in the world did it have to be Draco Malfoy? "Okay here." He stopped walking and looked down, his gaze making me feel small and insecure. "Scared?"

"I wish you would just tell me where we are,"

He smiled tightly, "No need to now, we are where we are."

"Cryptic." I said quietly under my breath.

Draco pushed open the door, announcing our presence with a short, "Sorry we're late."

"Not at all Draco, come on in!" I recognized the lady speaking as Professor Kentz. "And who did you bring with you?"
"This is Hermione Granger," Draco placed his hand on the small of my back pushing me into the view of the room.

"Wonderful," Pansy ran her fingers through hair looking horribly annoyed. Ron sat at her side smiling brightly. He raised a hand to wave but Pansy smacked it down, hissing something I couldn't hear.

"Take a seat, we were just about to start a new exercise." Kentz said brightly. I sat down beside a dazed looking Quinn.

"Hello Hermione," Her voice was bright though her eyes were unfocused.

I hesitated. Quinn was usually a loud girl, sweet but rather if annoying if I was being honest. This docile version of her was unnerving. "Quinn how are you feeling?"

"Go ahead and blame me," Daphne said before she could answer. "I gave her some of my anxiety potion."

"Daphne," I reprimanded, "That's very irresponsible!" I heard Blaise snort as Daphne scoffed.

"You didn't seem to mind last night when you downed it." I turned wide-eyed to Draco but he merely shrugged, well of course, why would I expect him to know? I ran through the night's events, vaguely recalling a small vial of gold liquid.

"Alright, alright enough of that." I watched as Kentz scribbled away fiercely on the parchment in her lap. "Now as I was saying before Draco and Hermione arrived, we are going to do an exercise. I want you to turn you chair to face your partner." There was the sound of chairs scraping across the floor as everyone moved. I fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to avoid meeting Draco's eyes. "We are going to start small, I want you to look your partner in the eye." My stomach dropped, I couldn't possibly meet his gaze after the morning we'd had. I looked for Ron, to see if he was feeling the same dread I was, and found him staring deep into Pansy's eyes. She looked bored (or was that simply her face?) but both were otherwise at ease. The same went for Daphne and Quinn. The girl with Blaise was gazing at him with such intensity I was surprised she didn't just jump him then and there. Only the boy with Millicent seemed to share my terror, his small frame shaking.

"Hermione?" He touched my knee gently, sending a jolt of electricity through me.

"S-sorry," I stuttered turning back to him. Taking a deep breath I tried to clear my head. Slowly I lifted my eyes to meet his. He was smiling. Though it was small I could tell he was trying to be reassuring. Despite the smile I saw uncertainty in his eyes, which put me more at ease.

I could hear Kentz's footsteps as she walked around the room, studying the groups.

PANSY


"Good, this is a really big step. Now Slytherins I want you to tell your guest what you are thinking at this very moment."

I sighed, "This is dumb."

Ron snorted, "Aren't you supposed to be telling me your thoughts?"

"I am! I think this is dumb."

"Deep Pansy, real deep."

HERMIONE


"I'm really sorry," Draco's voice was so soft my ears strained to hear him. "For everything. For all the horrible things I called you and all the awful things I did." His grey eyes never left mine. "I would never expect you to forgive me-"

"I do." And I did, I wasn't just saying it because he looked so vulnerable. "Draco, you were young and scared. What kind of person would I be if I couldn't over look that in light of everything?"

He closed his eyes with a flash of pain. "You shouldn't forgive me, I'll never forgive myself."

Hesitantly I took his hand, "Someday you will. I promise."


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