She apologized to him at least a thousand times on the carriage ride back to the castle. The clothes hung wrapped in front of the window blocking out the moon light. They opted to take a different carriage than Parvati and Terrance, who stayed just a bit longer. Parvati wanted to follow her back to the castle and make sure she was okay, but Hermione insisted she stay and continue her night with Terrance. She sat across from him, quiet. He was still pretty red and splotchy, but not as splotchy as before.
"Hermione," He whispered finally saying something. His eyes turned to her, warm and deeply colored. They still intimidated her though, made her feel an inch tall compared to him. She could feel her heart in her throat whenever he called out her name. She looked up hesitantly into his eyes and though they were a comforting shade, they still made her feel inferior.
"You have to trust me more," He said.
"I do trust you Draco, to protect me apparently at whatever cost. I want you to know that's dumb, they could lock you up and then who would protect me? You don't know when to stop, I don't know you that well but this much is obvious. You've almost killed him twice -,"
"And twice he's still come after you," He hissed leaning forward. "I may not know when to stop, but at least I know no one will hurt you after I set an example." He growled. She seemed to blend into the cushion of the compartment bench. He took a deep breath and moved over to her. He held her in his arms, ran his fingers through her hair, and cradled her close.
"Are you okay?" He sighed into her ear.
"No," She whispered, "I'm not, I'm scared. I'm scared he won't leave me alone and you'll kill him and I'll lose you forever."
"You're so logical," He chuckled. "Sometimes you just have to do something with out thinking about the consequences."
"That's a harlots behavior!" She whispered erupting in laughter. He kissed her cheeks.
"I have a personal question." She said.
"Just ask the question, we're a little beyond acquaintances," He said smiling down at her.
"Why do you break out?" She asked. He sat still for a moment and then opened his mouth to answer, "I have rosacea. It doesn't follow much margin, but it seems to happen when I feel any really intense emotion. When I was a kid and I would throw a fit or something my whole body would break out. Now it only happens to my neck and chest." She smiled brightly. "If you want to get on the subject of what's wrong with me though, I also suffer from mild depression, have a sleeping disorder, and have very bad communication skills when I'm angry." He stared her directly in the eye as he confessed his personal behavior disorders.
"That's hard to believe," She stated, "You just come off as being perfect. I don't think you even realize how perfect you are," She whispered.
"Please Hermione, I'm far from perfect. These disorders are proof that I'm fucked up." He said. He grabbed her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles. "But you are perfect, that's what makes you the only one worthy of carrying on this family name."
"Please don't confront Chad when we get back Draco." She whispered looking into his eyes with a pleading expression.
"I won't…" He trailed off. She could tell he wanted more than anything to beat him into his grave, but he reluctantly would not press the issue for her. Their carriage came to a halting stop. Draco stood smoothing out his shirt, grabbing their clothes bags, and opened the carriage door for her. He stood off to the side while she walked through onto the ground. They walked in through the main entrance, sleep was heavy in her eyes.

Unfortunately, the dean of their houses was waiting on them to return as well. Slughorn, Flitwick, and McGonagall all stood facing a large mural scrawled down the wall of the grand entrance. They were talking lowly amongst themselves but turned upon hearing the two students step foot into the castle.
"I believe you both have some explaining to do," McGonagall said crossing her arms. Flitwick looked up to them, "Yes because of you I have a student in critical condition in the hospital wing."
"If it was up to me he'd be dead." Draco replied coldly. His eyes were icy blue again.
"Professor," Hermione spoke up over Draco giving him a silencing look, "You see, Draco and I attended Hogsmeade tonight with Parvati and Terrance. Parvati and I were enjoying a cup of tea and Chad came and took me. He threatened me a few times, and even held his wand to my throat. Draco came and saved me, he didn't know that Chad wouldn't try and kill us both if he was able to regain consciousness." She said defending the Slytherin boy.
"You two are strange a Gryffindor girl and a Slytherin boy, two of the greatest rivals of all time engaged in emotional activity." Slughorn said smiling.
"Professor, this is not a matter to be taken lightly. Since the start of the year I've had some seemingly ongoing problems with Chad. He has become quite the nuisance. He's very violate and forced himself upon me a few times. I have developed a fear that he will not leave me alone. I have asked him to stop, his advances have not ceased." She whispered.
"My poor girl, I would have never thought! Why haven't you said anything?" McGonagall asked eyes wide.
"I Just didn't want to turn nothing into something, but it has just recently become evident to me that this is something." She whispered. The teachers dismissed the meeting and said something would be done about Chad.
"It's only eight. Want to go camp out in the Slytherin common room?" He asked.
"Won't there be, you know, other slytherins there?" She asked.
"Of course, it's where their dormitories are located." He smirked taking in the fearful look on her face. "Calm down," He laughed cracking finally, "They won't be in the common room. Most of them aren't that social, they just like to brag in between classes and at meals about who is easy and who got who. Our houses is the sleaziest Hermione, I was the king of it all, I am very undeserving of you, but I can not imagine being in the Gryffindor common room just yet, its too far beyond my comfort zone. Here I know no one will be around to bother us." She relaxed just a bit in reaction to hearing his somewhat comforting words.
"Maybe Blaise and Trae, but they're completely cool." He continued. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and strolled her down to the dungeons. As he got closer he started to realize that this was the first time he had ever brought a girl to the Slytherin house and not shown her his bed. She started to stop the closer they got to its entrance. Her heartbeat raced, her palms started to sweat, and her legs were slowly ceasing to work.
"Draco wait," She whispered.
"What's wrong?" He asked. He stepped in front of her and turned around to face her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked down into her eyes smiling.
"Draco, its not right, for you know, my kind to be in there. It's a pureblood sanctuary. I couldn't possibly…," She said placing her hands on his chest.
"Hermione, what are you doing wrong right now?" He asked sternly.

She turned her eyes towards the ground and retained her thoughts. He took her hand and led her through the portal. She held her breath until she got through to the other side. Much to her surprise no alarms went off, no one came running out of the rooms screaming mudblood, no radar went off. It was just them surrounded in a green darkness. He walked over to the den area and pulled the couch from beside the fire place to in front of it. She was surprised he could see anything really, dark as it was. She could barely see the outline of things from the dim green glow of the windows. He knelt down in front of the fireplace and began muttered a spell into the four logs propped up on top of each other. A red light shot out into the fireplace and flames started crackling. He turned around and looked to the couch expecting to see her sitting there, but she wasn't. He then looked to the entrance where she still stood, arms crossed, legs tight, almost invisible, but not quite.
"Hermione get over here," He laughed holding out his arms. She walked quickly to him, "Sit." He instructed and she obeyed. "Hold on, I'll be right back." He walked up the stairs to the boys' dorm. She sat uncomfortably on the couch and waited for him to return. She jumped at every noise thinking someone was going to walk in and freak out. He reappeared seconds later with a pair of black plaid pajama pants and a tshirt, wearing a polo tshirt and plaid blue pajama pants. He sat down beside her on the couch and handed her the folded clothes he brought down.
"You don't expect me to change right here… in the open do you?" She whispered.
"You don't have to whisper Hermione." He said, "And yes, I do. Go ahead, get comfortable." He walked over to the fire place and grabbed the pick stabbing it into the logs to create a bigger fire. She took his given opportunity to quickly strip and change over.

"Hold on I'll be right back," He walked up the stairs to his dorm. He walked quickly through the dorms through the moans and suction sounds of sex and into his dorm. He pulled off his jacket, his shirt, and dropped his trousers. He stepped out of his shoes and pulled his drawer open. He grabbed a dark blue polo tshirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants. He grabbed a small tshirt for her, one that didn't quite fit him too comfortably any more, it was simple just a front pocket tshirt – green and a pair of black plaid pajama pants. He walked briskly back through the dorms sliding to a halt in front of the door. He took a deep breath smiling crookedly and opened the door back descending down the stairs.
"Here," He said sitting down beside her handing her the folded clothes. She looked at them and then looked at him, "You don't expect me to change right here… in the open, do you?" She whispered.
"You don't have to whisper Hermione," He said. "And yes, I do. Go ahead, get comfortable." He hopped up and walked over to the fireplace to fuck with the fire and give her a little privacy. He heard her take the opportunity to strip down. He couldn't help but slip one peek at her body. She was perfect, cleared his throat as he turned around. By then she had on the pajama pants and was pulling the shirt over her head. He stopped mesmerized by her chest.

She pulled on the shirt and noticed instantly that he was in a daze, giving it away that he had seen a little more than she wanted him to. She moved to sit back on the couch but he beat her sitting down on the right corner. He put his arm across the back of the couch. She sat down next to him.
"So how'd you get the money to pay for that dress?" He asked curious of her life outside of Hogwarts.
"Well, I um… I worked for it. I saved up over the time it took to repair Hogwarts." She admitted.
"Where did you work at?" He pushed further.
"At Eeylop's Owl Emporium," She said, "animals can't talk back, but I can talk forever," She continued.
"Animal lover," He accused playfully. She gave him a gentle shove and laughed. He grabbed her waist and started to tickle her, leading to her downfall. She stretched back across the couch. She laughed loudly. Her echo filled the common room, brought life to the walls, pushed away some of the darkness. He smiled largely and pulled her to him. Her head lay in his lap and he ran his fingers through her hair.
"What's your favorite subject?" He asked looking down at her through loving eyes.
"Ancient Runes," She said smiling largely.
"Of course, the class with the most books, I figured it would be something that oa-," He cleared his throat, "Hagrid, taught. You know Care for Magical Creatures?" He grimaced hoping she didn't catch his snide remark.
"That oaf, as you call him is very kindhearted, Draco." She scolded him.
"That oaf, fueled the fire to the existence that ultimately brought down the name of my family and thousands of others, further more forced me to act in a way of treason against thousands of people. Part of me cares for your friend Hermione, but part of me can't forgive him for the life he's deprived me of." Draco said. He was a boy and boys were often stuck in their ways, but some of them just needed a small influence.
"You know, your life wasn't the only one that was ruined that night. If not for Harry you would still be enslaved, a personal spy for Voldemort. You can't life in the past Draco, what's happened is already done, sure you can't change it – you're not supposed to, but you can control what happens to you in the future. Life is unfair, it has hundreds of obstacles, always something new around the corner. That doesn't mean you should lay down and die in front of them, do something about it, make your name mean something good." Hermione spoke, "Be thankful for what you do have." He smiled down at her.
"How fortunate I must be to have someone so young and wise to keep me healthy and out of trouble." She smiled at him.
"What's your biggest goal?" She whispered looking up at him.
"Goal? Hmm.. to not die alone." He said staring into the fire, "Favorite color?"
"Purple." She whispered, "What about you? What's Draco Malfoy's favorite color?"
"Blue," He said. "My wish came true," He whispered looking down into her eyes.
"Your crane wish? You got to a thousand?" She asked with excitement.
"Yeah, I wished for you," He said. She sat up her hair draped over her shoulder. she leaned forward pressing her forehead against his. He leaned in and planted a kiss onto her lips. He could feel the blood coursing through his veins. He moved her lips apart with his and his tongue dove in exploring every cavern of her mouth. She could feel her cheeks flushing as he entered her in some form for the first time. One hand snaked around her waist pulling her closer, the other to the back of her head to make her cooperate. Her hands landed on his chest as he pulled her closer creating a barrier between them. He pulled away from her releasing her head and trailing his fingers through her hair. She smiled back at him with red, puffy lips and a dazed expression.
"That was incredible." She breathed. He smiled back at her, "I agree."
"Please you've kissed at least a hundred girls, no way in hell was mine better than theirs; Especially when I've only been kissed three times." She said laughing. His somberness did not fade though.
"I've never wanted anything as much as I want this." He said cupping her cheek. He leaned back in to kiss her again. He wrapped his arms around her and settled back into the couch, playing with her hair. They slowly drifted off into slumber, she felt completely safe knowing Chad wouldn't dare come for her here. Draco held her securely in his arms unmoving for the entire night. Blaise walked in and shoved his friend on the shoulder early in the morning. The dungeons were still dark, sunlight hadn't reached that side of the castle yet. The fire had long since burned out, and it looked like he was just sitting there. When Blaise walked by him and pressed his shoulder down, Draco emitted a deep growling noise. Blaise whirled around to see what had gotten into his dear friend and why he was making such a primitive noise, when his eyes landed on a girl cuddled into his chest trapped by the warmth of his arms. Blaise pulled out his wand and started to poke Draco in the cheek.
"Hey," He whispered, "Hey man, wake up… psst… Drake, wake up!" He said gradually getting louder. Hermione stirred causing Draco's eyes to fly open. His head snapped to the side where Blaise was. His eyes were wild as he took in the scenario before him. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back onto the couch cushion. He felt her try to push off his chest to sit up but he held her down onto his chest with rock strong arms.
"Draco," She whispered, "Blaise is here." He smiled, "Thanks sweetie." He whispered letting her sit up. He showed her the bathroom and the boys discussed breakfast plans. It was still fairly early, six or so, so not too many students would be in the dining hall especially. He pulled his sleepy girlfriend to the hallway and up the stairs to the dining hall. They had breakfast and afterwards he walked her to her dormitory to be able to get some better sleep than the night before, even though she claimed it was the best sleep she got at Hogwarts. She walked into her bedroom, releasing the curtains around her bed and crashing, Parvati was still asleep, the boys liked to start their days early. She was sure Parvati would wake her up eagerly in a few hours, curious of the details of her night, If she was even able to put it together that she spent the night with him.