"Stay away from him" Hermione whispered. "It's none of your business."

Then, she jumped off the window sill and disappeared around the corner. Draco shrugged. Even if it wasn't any of his business. He would make it his business.

Chapter 14

In the course of the next few days, Hermione did all she could to avoid contact with her friends. Harry, Ron and Ginny had left, and those who stayed stopped asking her if she wanted to go out with them when she didn't stop giving the standard excuse: the library.

She didn't actually stay there, but usually borrowed a book and then wandered the school corridors before choosing an empty classroom and settling down to read. Considering that she was sharing the same common room with Seamus, she thought that she was doing a good job at staying away from him.

Hermione was relieved to see that Malfoy hadn't actually done anything about Seamus, at the same time as she was a little disappointed. But it was better to keep this issue as small as possible.

She was just about to leave the library with another book for the day when a small Gryffindor boy she had forgotten the name of came running towards her.

"Hermione, come quick! There's something I think you should see!"

He ran ahead, and she followed, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was.

At first, all she could see was a large crowd. Were there really so many students left in the school? They were all divided into their houses, possibly a subconscious division. The boys were shouting, some had theirs fists up in the air. The girls looked at each other, giggling, hands covering their mouths.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Hermione pushed through the mass of people, desperately trying to get to the centre. From where she was standing, she could see the back of Draco's head, his platinum blonde hair reflecting the sun. Opposite him was Seamus, wiping blood from his lower lip with his fist. He looked at the Slytherin angrily.

"What's your problem, Malfoy? I've done nothing to you."

"It's not about me. You know what you've done" Draco spat.

"We can solve this without a fight."

"Only a coward backs out of a situation like this."

"So what you gonna do huh? What you gonna do?"

"What am I gonna do?" Draco asked threateningly. He shoved Seamus roughly, causing him to step backwards if he didn't want to trip. "What do you think I'm gonna do, Finnigan?"

"Stop it man." Seamus growled as Draco pushed him once again.

"I'm not done with you."

Draco pushed him again, and Seamus had it. He ran at Draco, trying to knock him off his feet, but instead, the Slytherin got hold of him in a headlock, holding him down.

"Yeahhhhh!" came a shout from the crowd.

Hermione was still trying to get through, but the students in front of her formed a thick barrier.

"Stop it!" she yelled, but nobody heard her. "Seamus!"

Both of them were struggling now, and Seamus rammed his elbow into Draco's stomach. He loosened his grips for a fraction of second, but that was enough for Seamus to free himself and to lunge himself at his opponent. With a calculated blow of his right fist, he hit Draco square on the jaw.

The crowd was getting more and more excited, their screams were getting louder. Hermione looked around desperately, wondering when a teacher would appear to break this fight up.

Draco seemed unaffected by the blow and responded with two of his own. Seamus' nose started bleeding, and he tried hitting Draco again. Draco avoided his fist easily and grabbed Seamus' arm in midair, twisting it painfully.

"How do you like this?" he huffed, his eyes blazing angrily. Seamus was struggling against his firm grip, twisting and kicking. He managed to get his foot behind Draco's ankle and pushed back; both of them fell to the ground.

Seamus was desperately trying to hold Draco down, but instead, they started rolling on the cold marble floor. It was evident that Draco was stronger, but Seamus was not about to give up.

Draco finally managed to get a hold of Seamus and to pin him to the floor. He started punching him in the face, his rage building. He stopped realising what he was doing, didn't notice the screams of the crowd get louder. All he could see was Hermione's face, her tear-filled eyes and her bloodied sleeve. The way she bit her lips when she didn't want to admit that something was wrong…

Arms were tugging at his shoulders, trying to get him off his opponent. Seamus had stopped struggling, he had lifted his hands up to his face, trying to take some strength from the painful blows to his face. He knew he deserved them, at the same time as he simply could not understand what any of it had to do with Malfoy.

"That's enough" somebody said. Draco was finding it hard to focus on anything, the light was suddenly too bright, the crowd too loud. He looked up, and there she was.

Hermione had finally managed to get through to the two fighters and was now simply standing there, looking at Draco. He looked up, but couldn't seem to understand the emotion reflected in her eyes.

Hermione looked right back at him, but his grey eyes were wild with anger and confusion. His lip was bleeding, but he didn't seem to care. Slowly, she looked away from him. Seamus was still on the ground, covering his face with his arms. She went over to him and knelt down.

Draco snorted in disgust, and despite the fact that she so badly wanted to ignore him, she looked back at him. He sneered at her, but his expression dissolved into one of vulnerability that only she could see. He stood up in a swift movement and left.

As much as he hated to admit it, he hated her for her compassion. She had gone to take care of the one person who had hurt her more than just once, without hesitation. And he wasn't satisfied. For a brief moment, he had lost control over himself, and all he could think of was to break Seamus completely.

Behind him, the sounds of the crowd were dying. He looked down at his hands. His knuckles were bleeding, and he examined the red liquid with mild interest.

In the meantime, Hermione was ordering two of Seamus' friends to bring him to the infirmary. She was pretty sure that he had passed out. The thought of staying with him didn't even occur to her; there was no way she was going to wait until he was well again.

Hermione really didn't need any of this drama. Her life was supposed to be simpler than that. Sure, she was constantly helping Harry on his strange adventures, but it wasn't the same thing at all. Compared to this, she would say she actually enjoyed those ventures.

Hermione decided that she had had to endure enough for the day. Unable to face anyone, she instinctively went up to the astronomy tower, a place where she knew she could be alone. Once there, she sat down against the wall and closed her eyes. The cold stone felt good against her heated skin, and she was able to settle down. Her breathing evened out, and she opened her eyes.

Slowly, she pulled her right sleeve up and uncovered her forearm. All that was left from the wound was a thin, pink line. She stared at it for endless minutes, and feelings of disgust and anger rose to the surface.

'Why?' she wondered. 'Why me?'

Hermione desperately tried to regain her composure, but tears started running down her face. Her shoulders were shaking, but she did nothing to stop them. She was alone, and nobody could see her.

The young girl eventually fell asleep.

When she awoke, the sun was setting. Hermione stretched, then groaned. Her neck and back were stiff, and the cold had crept up her legs; she shivered.

"Finally awake, I see" came a voice from her left.

Hermione flinched and turned her head. Malfoy was standing, leaning against the railing of the astronomy tower, looking at the sunset. The red and orange light reflected on his face, his fine profile cut out clearly against the rising darkness.

Hermione didn't answer, and he looked at her briefly.

"I'll go" he said quietly, and turned to leave. He had almost reached the steps Hermione finally spoke.

"Wait."

Draco stopped and waited.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione whispered. She could see him clench his fists before he slowly turned.

"I don't know what you mean" he said icily, but then shook his head. "I don't know. I had to. I couldn't just… do nothing."

"I told you it's none of your business" Hermione replied weakly. At the same time though, she was almost glad he had done it.

Draco ran a hand over his face. He sighed and went to sit next to her. There was still plenty of space between them, but neither of them minded.

"Come on" Draco grinned. "It was good."

Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, maybe. Just a little."

She looked up, and he was looking at her smugly. Her eyes wandered down to the floor, and she noticed the bruises on his knuckles. Without thinking, she reached for his right hand and looked at it. Her hand seemed so small and delicate in his. She laughed.

"I don't see what's so funny about this" he said, almost defensively.

"I just think it kind of serves you right" she grinned, and he shook his head.

"Next time I won't then, you'll see."

"I never asked you to."

Draco didn't reply. Hermione had started tracing the outlines of his hand, so softly that he barely felt it. Then she dropped his hand, and it hit the floor quite painfully.

"Seriously, Granger" he muttered, annoyed.

When he looked up, he realised that she wasn't even looking at him.

"What are you thinking?" he asked after a moment of silence.

She bit her lip, just like he had remembered it earlier, and remained silent.

Draco simply looked at her, for a long moment. He hated seeing her like this. And then, without warning, he leaned down towards her. And he kissed her. Slowly but passionately, softly but with such intensity that she could hardly breathe.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered against her lips, then lifted his hand to her face and pulled her close again. He kissed her with everything he could give, like he had never kissed anyone before, and feeling her respond felt so right. Her lips were salty from her tears but her skin was so soft. Draco was taking it all in.

At first, Hermione hesitated. Surely, this was not happening. But the feeling of his lips on hers was real, as was the way he was gently leaning into her. He was moving closer, and she turned towards him, putting her arms around his neck.

Hermione lost herself in his embrace, and it felt like nothing she had ever experienced before. It was as if Seamus had never existed, as if she had just been waiting for this one moment. At the same time, it hurt to know that this kiss was born out of her own desperation, and that it wouldn't last. So many emotions were coursing through her in those painfully short seconds that seemed to last an eternity.

When he pulled away, her cheeks were burning and she didn't dare look at him. Instead, she let go of him and looked down at her hands.

She was so confused. Why? Why had he done that? Malfoy. Why? He hated her. Draco. All she could see was his face. Why? She stopped hating him a long time ago. When?

She looked at him, her eyes burning into his. There might have been tears, he couldn't tell. But there shouldn't be, should there. Not when she was with him anyway.

He didn't want her to hurt, wanted to keep all the pain away from her. Wanted to be there for her. He would destroy anyone who would try to harm her. He lifted her hand up to his hand and kissed it.

He could not explain what he was feeling.

"Why?" she finally managed. "Tell me why." Her voice broke. He didn't know what to say.

"Come here" he whispered, and kissed her again. He didn't mind the sudden closeness, on the contrary. It felt like a relief to finally be able to do this. All those weeks he hadn't been able to figure out what was missing. This was it.

I'm thinking this could actually be the last chapter..I got to where I wanted to :)

Yeah.

Unless I find something I can add. Though there's probably loads.

But in any case. Thanks for reading :)