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"You're going to regret what you did to me the other night, Granger," Malfoy hissed, towering over Hermione in the middle of the third floor corridor.

"You deserved it Malfoy, and you know it!" Hermione protested, trying to move away from him.

Malfoy laughed coldly. "You hit me, Granger. You're lucky I don't hit girls, but believe me, you will pay."

"And how's that going to work then?"

"I said I never hit girls. I didn't say I never hexed them. Watch your back."

Another memory into Hermione's Pensieve. She had woken up the next morning with her mind overflowing with them.

"Such a shame that Granger is a Mudblood," Blaise Zabini was saying. "She doesn't half scrub up well."

"I agree," came the silky voice of Draco Malfoy. "And on the arm of the one and only Victor Krum too. It really seems like she's trying to make a place for herself in our world. I can't wait to see her face when she realises she never will."

Blaise laughed, and Hermione heard the unmistakable cackle of Pansy Parkinson too. She fought her own emotions and tried not to let them get the better of her as she rounded the corner into the line of sight of the Slytherins.

"Ah, Granger," Malfoy smirked. "We were just talking about you."

"Oh, I'm so flattered Malfoy," Hermione said, smiling sweetly.

He laughed. "You actually think that you look good, don't you Granger? You think that you wear a dress and do your hair - goodness knows how long that took, are you wearing a wig? - and then suddenly everyone will fall in love with you? This isn't a book, Granger. You're still an ugly little bookworm who, by tomorrow, will have been forgotten all about."

Hermione's heart was sinking further and further with each word he spoke. For this one night, she had felt special. The looks on everyone's faces when she, Hermione Granger, had entered the Great Hall on the arm of Victor Krum had made her heart soar. She had felt pretty - she had done her hair and her make up and many people had complemented her.

And of course, Malfoy had to ruin the whole evening.

When Hermione fell to the floor on the stairs after her argument with Ron, she remembered what Malfoy had said to her. Ron didn't think that she would actually get a date to the Yule Ball. Malfoy said she didn't deserve one.

Maybe she didn't.

Why oh why did all these stupid memories have to involve Malfoy? He had just been so cruel. It was rather difficult for Hermione to fulfil Sirius's wish if all these negative memories came back to her. It would just make her angry and annoyed.

Thinking of Sirius, Hermione decided to go and talk to him about it, and get his opinion. Maybe he would be able to tell her why she kept remembering all these things.

She knocked on the door lightly, but there was no answer. She knocked again, harder, and the door moved. It was clearly not shut, and she pushed it open and gasped.

It was empty. The bedsheets were gone, everything was tidy and in place. She checked his wardrobe and there was nothing. It was like a hotel, and this room was ready for the next person who came along.

He'd gone.

Hermione sat on the end of his bed, and felt so close to bursting into tears. Why did he leave? She'd begged him not to, and yet -

He'd left a note. She noticed it on the bed next to her and picked it up quickly.

Hermione

I know you wanted me to stay, but I just couldn't. I couldn't bear Remus and Tonks' tragedy and I knew it was my time to go on.

Please do as you promised.

Sirius

Tears really did fall then, a splatter on the parchment smudging the ink of her name slightly. Now who was she to turn to when she needed proper advice? Zena was too mysterious, too far-out...

"Everything ok, Granger?"

Hermione's head snapped up and she saw Malfoy stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"I saw him go this morning. He said he didn't want to wake you but I think he didn't really want to say goodbye either."

Hermione looked back at the letter and wiped her eyes hastily. She always seemed to be crying nowadays. She must look like a complete and utter girly wimp. She stood, composing herself.

She saw Malfoy's eyes drift to her arms, where the dark bruises still blossomed from the night before. She tried to cross her arms to cover them up but she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Let me see those," Malfoy said, holding out his arms. He took one of her arms in his hands and studied them carefully. "Merlin, that man is a dick."

Hermione laughed, not expecting him to be so blunt. Her laughter died, however, when she saw Malfoy looking at her scar. The one she'd gained from Bellatrix at Malfoy Manor. Mudblood.

He looked up at her, meeting her eyes, before running his finger over it delicately, making her hairs stand on end.

"I'm sorry," he said, dropping her arm suddenly so it swung back down to her side like a dead weight.

"What for?"

He frowned. "That," he said, nodding towards her arm.

Hermione paused, thinking of what to say. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything more than you did."

"Or what? I would have been killed?" Draco laughed bitterly.

"I'm sorry for that... We never wanted that to happen, honestly. Well, I have most of my life, but the war makes you realise you don't wish death on anyone.. With a few exceptions, of course, like Voldemort. I had to watch it. Your face was frozen at my feet, staring up at me - oh, it was horrible..." she trailed off, rubbing her arms as if she were cold.

"It's ok," he reassured her. "So you wanted to kill me, huh?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Don't even go there, Draco Malfoy," she warned.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "And why not?"

"You know I would have done anything to shut you up for good." She picked up Sirius' letter again. "Now let me leave, I have things to do."

"Are you sure your arms are ok, Hermione?" he asked, before she left completely.

She stopped. Had he realised that he'd just called her Hermione? She wasn't going to say anything, because that would make it awkward, but... First name terms was a little odd.

"I - yeah," she said, rubbing the bruises gently. "Thanks."

Ooh first name basis... But will it last long? Draco's ideas may have changed but he's still Draco Malfoy..