Hey everyone, glad you're enjoying the story. Here's a little more romance for you. Oh, and also, before I forget, I forgot to tell you that when Hermione saved Draco that day, she used Pansy's wand. Because Pansy was frozen in place and Hermione's wand is with Viktor.

Chapter Thriteen

Maria knocked on the door and entered, two men behind her. "Hermione, honey, these two aurors are here to see you." She informed. The day after the incident in the ice cream parlour, Hermione had decided to turn Viktor in, even if it was hurting her. She needed justice.

Hermione looked up, squaring her shoulders. She nodded to Maria with a small smile and she left, closing the door behind her. "I'm ready." She said. They sat down, taking out a note pad and quill.

"I'm Auror Blakey and this is Auror Lethings. We're just going to ask you some questions." She nodded and the auror cleared his throat. "Are you Hermione Jane Granger?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered looking straight at them.

"Are you aware of the allegations you have against Mr. Krum?" Auror Lethings asked.

"Yes, yes I am." She answered, gripping her hands tightly together.

"Please specify your allegations." One of them said.

She cleared her throat. "A while ago, on the eighteenth of November, I was sexually assaulted by Viktor Krum, who was, at the time, my boyfriend – turned fiancé. We had just gone out for dinner, when he took me into an alley and tried to force –" Her voice cracked. "Tried to force me to have sex with him." She finished shakily.

"Up until that night, Miss Granger, had Mr. Krum hurt you in any way?" They had been writing down every word she had been saying and every expression on her face.

She looked up at them and tried to steady her shaking hands. "Y-yes. It wasn't much, but it had started one night, a couple of months before he tried to… rape me, and I had come home late from dinner with Ginny and Harry." Hermione's heart was beating faster as the aurors listened intently. She was holding back tears with great effort. "He'd demanded to know where I had been and I told him, with Harry and Ginny. He got angry, calling me a liar and-and a slut, and that was the first time he had hit me." Her lip was trembling, and she gulped down a sob.

"Would you like to take a break?" Auror Blakey asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I need to get it over and done with." They nodded and she continued. "Afterwards, he told me he loved me and I forgave him. Along with every other time after that. It happened eight more times before the night he tried to rape me." Her voice was thick and she swallowed some more, before the tears began cascading down her cheeks. "That night, he'd proposed and when we were walking down the alleyway to disaparate, he grabbed me and-and forced me into the wall. He managed to hike up my skirt and his trousers were off fairly quickly. I screamed when I realised what was happening and while he was – you know – someone came from behind and pulled him off, rescuing me.

"It was Draco Malfoy. They got into a fist fight and I was thrown against the wall. I could barely see straight and I grabbed my wand and stunned him. Then I collapsed and the next thing I see is Maria, fixing me up."

"We need to know what happened when you went back." One of them told her.

Hermione nodded slowly and steadied herself. "I was angry at something Draco Malfoy had said, and the first place I went was back to Viktor. I felt like I had a point to prove, but I was just being stupid. When I got there, Viktor was surprised to see me and quickly got angry. He took my wand and he-he s-sexually assualted me. I told him to stop - but he just wouldn't and I was helpless. That went on for the whole night. I tried to escape, but he stopped me and I had no chance." She told them. "Then, in the morning, Blaise Zabini and his mother Maria Zabini turned up, explaining to Viktor that they wanted to make a lunch date.

"They managed to sneak me out, without my wand, and bring be back here." She stated. They nodded at her as they wrote things down.

"Now, tell us, what happened at the ice cream place." Auror Lethings said.

She cleared her throat. "We were eating ice cream, and Viktor walked in. We tried to get away without being noticed, but he saw me. Then things got a bit violent. He demanded me back and Draco Malfoy stood up for me, telling him to get lost. They got in a fight and Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini ran to get help from Aurors Potter and Weasley. That was when they came and took him away." She finished, feeling something lift from her shoulders. There, it was done. She had told them what had happened and now Viktor would be punished.

They looked at her with sad expressions. "Well, Miss Granger, thank you for your time. Hopefully, we'll bring this arse to justice." Auror Lethings said, standing from his seat and shaking her hand. "We are sorry that you had to relive that, but it will help us with the case. We'll probably drop by if we need anything else." He said kindly.

"And we'll get you your wand back, too." Blakey smiled grimly and they left. Hermione finally dissolved into tears and sobs, letting her built up emotion out. She laid her head on one end of the couch she had occupied and put her feet up at the other, staring into space with tears running down her face.

She was snapped out of her trance when the door opened and Draco stepped in, clearing his throat. "Are you okay?" He asked, standing in the door way.

She wiped her tears away and gave him a small smile. "I think, I will be." She said, sitting up. She patted the couch beside her and he sat down. "Draco?" Hermione asked after a minute of silence.

"Yeah?" He responded quietly, almost choking in shock as she used his first name.

"Thank you for all your help. But I think it's time I left." She said quietly.

Draco's head snapped to look at her, a shocked expression on his face. "You what?" He asked. "You can't leave, not until he's been put away. He could come after you." He didn't know why he was so panicked at the thought of Hermione leaving, but he didn't care. All he knew was that she belonged here, with them… with him.

She looked up at him, a grim smile in place. "I know, but I really think I'm going to be okay now. I need to try to live on my own for a while."

He studied her. She was determined and her brown eyes shone from tears, but she wanted this. And he was going to give her what she wanted; no matter how much it panicked him. He sighed. "I suppose you're right." He admitted. "But promise you'll check in with Maria. You know how she worries." He remarked.

She laughed and he wanted to take a picture of it. "I will. Come on, we'd better go tell the others the news, then." She added as an afterthought. They walked down stairs and found Blaise and Pansy bickering in the kitchen, Maria watching amusedly.

They greeted her quickly. "Hermione! How did it go? Are you alright?" Pansy shot at her. She nodded, smiling as the smell of coffee floated through the air. "Coffee?"

Now that was the question Hermione wanted to hear. "Yes please." She said, taking the coffee out of Pansy's hand the moment it appeared. She looked around to find Draco missing. "Where did Draco go?" She asked, taking a sip.

Blaise did a double take. "Did you just call him Draco?" She nodded and he grinned. "I don't know. I think he might have gone out to the gardens." He replied to her earlier question after composing himself.

"Oh." Hermione said. She would have liked for him to be there with her when she told them, but she guessed he thought she better do it alone. "Well, I have something to tell you…" They gestured for her to continue. "I think it's about time I leave."

You could have heard a pin drop on to the floor. "Y-you what?" Blaise croaked.

Maria smiled at her kindly. "If you think it's what is best for you. You're a grown adult, now, Hermione and I trust your judgement." Pansy and Blaise's jaws dropped to the floor. "I think that if it's what you wish to do, then you can leave." Hermione beamed at her and hugged her tightly.

"I promise I'll keep in contact, all the time. And I'll visit every chance I get." She said.

"Does Draco know?" Pansy asked. Hermione nodded. "Is he okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Hermione asked confusedly.

"I thought he might you know, like you or something." She mumbled awkwardly. "But it must be my imagination." She covered quickly.

"No, that's impossible." Hermione scoffed. "Entirely impossible."

Blaise raised an eyebrow at Pansy and she looked back at Hermione who was now playing it cool and pretending she hadn't heard anything. "It was just my imagination. Never mind." She said airily, though she knew better. It was definitely not Pansy's imagination. She knew it. In all her years of knowing Draco – their mothers trying to set them up, and all – she had never seen Draco act so… compassionate for someone.

Sure, when he had found out that Pansy's dad had been using her and raping her, he was angry and almost blew up her family's mansion, but she had never seen him like this. The way he glanced at her, smiled at her, comforted her – since the day Hermione had saved him, he'd been showing the signs.

She cleared her throat. "I'm going to see if I can find that blonde bimbo. I'll be back in a minute." She said, before leaving the kitchen and going out into the gardens.

As soon as she had spotted him, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't move. "Are you okay, Drake?" She asked, concerned for her friend.

He nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?" He scoffed bitterly. Pansy frowned. "She's leaving, so what? It's not like… It's not like..."

Pansy frowned. "It's not like what, Draco? It's not like you're in love with her?" She asked quietly. He looked up at her with a helpless expression on his face. "Are you in love with her, Draco?" She asked gently.

He looked down at his shoes. "I don't know." He admitted sheepishly. "She's Hermione Granger. She's perfect. The way she smiles makes me smile, too. She looks like an angel when she sleeps and she's so innocent and forgiving. But she's been through so much and-and I don't want to screw her up more." He said. "God, Pansy, I feel so… protective of her. She's so strong, and I want to be the one she relies on when her strength fails." Pansy smiled. "But I'll just wreck her even more. She deserves better."

Now, Pansy was frowning. "Draco, you're a great guy, any girl would be lucky to have you. And the way you've helped Hermione – you've been nothing but good for her. You may have a bad past, but the past can be forgiven." She told him, looking into his steely gray eyes to make sure he was soaking in her words. "Like you said, she's perfect. Perfect for you. And you're perfect for her. I have no doubt."

Pansy sighed when he stayed silent. "Look, Draco, she's leaving tomorrow. You can stop her, or you can let her go. It all depends on how much you love her." She said, before walking back into the mansion, in search of Blaise. They had some things to discuss.