AUTHOR'S NOTE: That awkward moment when I'm now on the brink of shipping Luna and Draco…ahaha don't worry though, this is a Dramione fanfic and will stay that way. Perhaps a Luna ship with someone after this story? Moving on…thank-you so much for the follows! :3

Also, I wrote this chapter while listening to Are You the One? by The Presets, so give it a listen if you like. It's especially good for the duel, in my opinion. So if you want music, I suggest Are You the One? for the first two parts, and then for the rest of the story One More Night by Stars. I'll put a * for when you start listening to One More Night :) Enjoy!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE DUEL

Memories of Malfoy from the summer to the present blurred angrily in Hermione's thoughts, each one acting as a link to a puzzle. With each piece she realized why she had found herself slowly warming up to him: he was warm to her so that she could fall in love. Things were much more complicated now that she was directly involved in the Unbreakable Vow. Yet Hermione knew there must be some kind of loophole to the vow, there usually was in the Muggle world. She knew the magical world was very, very different, but she was sure an innocent third party could not be harmed in a vow they did not know about. Surely someone would've thought to work that into the vow's magic, she thought furiously. Or else, wouldn't more people be dying every day?

What really struck Hermione was the way Malfoy had looked at her when she found out – was the pleading in his eyes genuine, or was he only scared he would lose to the vow? Hermione rolled the memories of Blaise around as well. So Blaise was in love with Luna, of all people. And Malfoy had slept with her. Or so it seemed. Hermione cringed, and her thoughts flew to when she, Ron, and Malfoy had met Luna on the seventh floor. Hermione groaned, wondering if she should tell everything she had found out to Ron and Harry.

After escaping Malfoy and Blaise, Hermione had run to a bathroom. Now, however, she was living in the girls' dormitories in the Gryffindor tower. Faye and her friend were away on holiday and Lavender and Parvarti welcomed their friend back to their dormitory merely without question. Hermione made it clear it would be temporary: besides the other Gryffindor girls coming back to claim their rooms, Hermione felt she would be better off in her own dormitory when Harry and Ron return. She was still unsure she wanted them to know.

IIIII

When Malfoy could not find Hermione he ran back to Blaise. But Blaise, already free from the invisible ropes, was ready. The two duelled.

"She means something to you, all of a sudden, doesn't she?" Blaise taunted. Malfoy's eyes gleamed in anger and red sparks flew from his wand.

"The hell'd she ever do to you, Zabini?"

There were flashes of blue and purple.

"Nothing," Blaise said carelessly, twirling his wand in his hand, "Which only makes you feel worse, doesn't it? Her having to pay because you played with one girl too many-"

"Alarte Ascendare!" Malfoy screamed, pointing his wand at Blaise's night table nearby. The table zoomed into the air and in Blaise's direction, but he yelled "Protego!" and it crashed into the right side of Malfoy's head. Malfoy was not unconscious but his head was now gushing blood furiously. Blaise laughed softly.

"That must hurt," he said quietly.

Malfoy swore under his breath while Blaise laughed again. Malfoy's head was pounding and he could feel his hot blood all over the right side of his body. He closed his eyes.

"Everte Statum!" Malfoy cried, and Blaise was pushed backwards, while feeling like someone had thrown a brick at his face. Malfoy put his head between his knees and breathed heavily. Blaise's eyes, however, flickered.

"Aqua eructo!" Blaise shouted, and a jet of cold water hit Malfoy in the head. Malfoy got up and the water splashed all over him, drenching him. Blaise lifted his wand arm so the water shot straight into Malfoy's mouth. Choking, Malfoy felt like he would drown, the pain in his throat was almost too much from both the cold and the hard pressure of the water.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Malfoy thought to himself, his wand pointed at Blaise. At once the jet of water disappeared and Blaise's hands and arms snapped to his body as he lay stiffly on the floor. Malfoy spat. He used "Vulnera Sanentur" on the right side of his head, a healing charm he had learned in confidence from Professor Snape. At once blood began to rush back into his head and invisible little stitches got to work. He then used the Scouring charm to clean the dried blood off his robes and ear, as well as a drying charm on his clothes.

Malfoy threw Blaise a fleeting look of disgust and bound him up in invisible ropes. Blaise looked at him smugly.

"I think you'll like where I'm taking you," Malfoy cooed to Blaise. "You've heard of the Vanishing Cabinets, haven't you?"

Blaise's eyes widened and he shook his head - the only part of his body he could move - furiously. His eyes were wide with pleading, but Malfoy only laughed.

Putting the Disillusionment charm on Blaise, Malfoy dragged him to the common room before levitating him slowly to the Room of Requirement.

They managed peacefully, Blaise's body hidden and levitating, with Malfoy only having to worry about keeping his wand on the invisible body in front of him discreet. There was no trouble until the fifth floor, when unknowing to Malfoy, Blaise had re-gained control of his body. With a swift movement, Blaise took his wand from his pocket, grinning at Malfoy's error, and released the invisible ropes that were still binding him.

"Incendio," Blaise thought, his wand pointed at Malfoy, and at once, Malfoy's robes began to catch fire. Malfoy gave a shout of panic at the flames before pouring water from his wand to his robes.

Malfoy looked about wildly. Blaise was still under the Disillusionment charm.

"HOMENOM REVELIO," Malfoy shouted and pointed his wand in each direction, until Blaise was revealed.

"Stupefy!" Blaise shouted, but Malfoy was too quick for him.

"Protego Maxima!" Malfoy said at the same time, leaving the spell to jinx Blaise instead. Malfoy took Blaise's wand and once again put the usual charms on him, before levitating him to the next floor. It was a miracle the two were not caught by anyone. Once inside the room, Malfoy took the Disillusionment charm off Blaise.

Malfoy dragged him to the black vanishing cabinet. Before he put Blaise inside however, he reached inside his robes and pulled out a tiny vial of golden potion.

"No more chances," Malfoy said, and uncorking the tube, took a small sip. Then carefully sealing the potion and replacing it in his robes, Malfoy opened the door of the cabinet and shoved Blaise into it.

"Good-bye," Malfoy said softly, and punched Blaise in the nose. Blood began to stream down his face while Malfoy shut the cabinet.

Malfoy left the room and took out his wand. "Point me to Granger," he muttered. A compass appeared in the air above him, pointing Northwest. She must be in between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. Malfoy made the compass vanish and made his way upstairs.

IIIII *

He found her walking in the corridor, on her way to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione locked eyes with Malfoy and with an ache in the pit of his stomach he saw hers blaze with hatred and she looked away.

"You're going to the wrong common room," Malfoy said softly. Hermione's heart twinged and she felt on the verge of very real, burning tears.

"Get away from me," she whispered. Her voice cracked.

"No," Malfoy said. "You're coming with me. I need to talk-to explain-"

"There is nothing to explain," Hermione said coldly. She looked at him and just now noticed his burnt robes and a scar on the right side of his head. He was also dripping wet.

"Please…" he trailed off.

Hermione was now positive she would cry if she did not escape him. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" She stopped walking, and her eyes were blurred with tears. "Haven't you done enough? Why can't you just be decent-and just-"

Malfoy felt a dull blow to the heart. He made a sound in the back of his throat. "Alright. I'm sorry," he said, and turned away from her. He began to walk away, not looking back, even when he heard a soft sobbing coming from the corridor behind him.

IIIII

Malfoy fell with a thud to his silver armchair in the common room. He had ruined it. He had not thought about the vow for a while, there was just one thing that was enraptured in his brain. Granger was now the person he cared for most. Her bushy hair, her intelligence, the way she giggled. He thought back to her stroking the books he had given her, to the purple silk robe she wore, the way she laughed and teased him for his underwear not being Slytherin colours, to the way she had touched him after saying 'I don't want you to win the bet…yet."

Malfoy knew he couldn't push her to forgive him. These things took time in regular cases, and the situation between himself and Hermione was anything but normal. He ran his hands in his hair, staring at the fire in front of him.

IIIII

Hermione shielded her face from everyone in the common room until she reached the girls' dormitory. It was deserted, and Hermione fell to her bed, face down, and began to shake with sobs. Tears streamed down her face as she rolled over to her side finally. She sniffed and sat up on the edge of the bed, wiping her nose with her sleeve. She vaguely wondered what had happened to Malfoy that his robes were disheveled and his skin was scarred, but then a flash of Luna Lovegood appeared in her mind and a fresh wave of tears hit her.

And then memories of Malfoy and herself came at her viciously: the way he winked at her, how he had kissed her under the Mistletoe, his giving her 5 points for Gryffindor for being "easy on the eyes," the way his tongue felt on her. But then she thought of the darker side to him: his taunting at Diagon Alley, his screaming match with Ron, the way Blaise arrived to class bruised and swollen, the word "Muddie" dripping from his lips, the way he had blown kisses in the Great Hall when being named Head Boy. She hated him. He was conceited, and cruel, and harsh. There was no warmth in him. She fell back onto the bed, and cried herself to sleep.

A/N: ;_;