Chapter 6

Draco slowly made his way to the Great Hall surrounded by whispers. He glanced up to notice two fifth years were pointing at him and giggling.

"Piss off," he grumbled out, not pausing his stride.

Mondays were always his least favorite day. After a weekend of relaxation and drinking, he hated waking up early to face another obnoxious day of classes. And now he had to deal with every nosey student in the school.

He sent a silent thank you to Granger for adding no breakfast together in the contract. As a somewhat non-existent human being in the mornings, he was always happy to eat in complete silence while he leisurely took his time to wake up.

His somewhat quiet morning was quickly interrupted by Blaise storming up to the table and slamming down his books.

"Granger? Seriously? You told me you didn't fancy her!"

Draco slowly sipped his coffee before replying. "Well things have changed."

He and Granger decided to not tell their friends the truth to help their relationship seem more authentic. As much as he wanted to tell Blaise the truth, it was fun to watch him squirm a bit.

"'Things have changed'. You're such a dick. You could have helped set me up with Weasley!" Blaise seemed to quickly get over his initial anger as he loaded his plate with waffles.

"Yes, well, I'm not sure how well that is going to work out for you."

"And why not?" Blaise's irritation seemed to resurface.

"Granger told me she's still seeing Potter."

"Oh pish posh," Blaise said, brushing the news away with his fork. "Once she gets to know me, she'll be leaving Potter crying in the dirt."

"How very gentlemanly of you," Draco mumbled into his mug.

"'Gentlemanly'? You're in a weird mood today," Blaise replied eyeing him with suspicion. "Has dating Granger changed you that much? It's been what, a day?"

Draco shrugged. " We have been hanging out for about a month."

Blaise had his mouth stuffed full of bacon when he replied, "Oh she's rubbing off on you. That's cute." Draco grimaced. "Speaking of which, where is your girlfriend? Shouldn't she be here hanging on your every word?"

Draco shrugged again while gesturing behind him with his hand. "Probably at the Gryffindor table. She's big enough that she can eat meals on her own without supervision."

"Oh har har."

"Aren't you late for class or something?" Draco shot back to hopefully change the subject away from him and Granger.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Blaise said feigning insult. He glanced at his watch and shot up. "Shit you're right though. I'll see you later!"

Draco chuckled as he watched Blaise run from the Great Hall barely holding on to his bag.

….

Hermione tried to suppress a groan as Ginny went over the reasons again why she shouldn't be dating Malfoy.

"And he's always such a pompous, egotistical… jerkwad."

"Very eloquent," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"You know what I mean!" Ginny threw her hands up in the air for effect.

Thankfully they were relatively alone on their walk across the grounds towards Hagrid's hut for their Care of Magical Creatures class; Hermione didn't want people to question her "relationship" with Malfoy more than they already were.

"I just don't understand why you would even consider it. Or want to be around him. Or even be alone with him." Ginny lowered her voice a few octaves as they approached their class.

"I don't know, he's different than before," Hermione shrugged.

"So you can just forget how he called you all those terrible names and tormented you?"

"Not necessarily forget, but I think I've forgiven him." Ginny groaned and rolled her eyes. "We were children then, Ginny. And he was a total prat, yes, but he is a lot different now. Have lunch with us and you'll see."

Ginny held up her hands in defeat. "Fine, but if he mocks me once, ONCE, I'm out."

"Please don't stick to that policy," Hermione mumbled as they approached the fenced in area holding the kneazles they've been studying.

…

Hermione slid onto the bench at the Slytherin table for lunch with Ginny following close after.

Malfoy looked up from his plate and seemed surprised to see Ginny at the table as well. Hermione caught his eye and mouthed be nice to him. She caught the mischievous glint in his eye and inwardly groaned. This will be interesting.

But just as Malfoy opened his mouth to say something, Blaise sat down across from Ginny and immediately winked.

"Oh my, to what do we owe this pleasure, ladies?" He flashed a grin in Ginny's direction, which she responded to with a roll of her eyes.

"Ugh, I thought I would just have to deal with one insufferable Slytherin," She groaned.

"Hey!" Malfoy shot back. "I'm not that bad!"

Blaise shot him a look of amusement. "I beg to differ."

Hermione chuckled and turned towards Malfoy, "I don't think you're that bad."

Malfoy smiled and sent her a wink.

"Of course you'd think that," Blaise replied, "he's boning you."

Hermione and Malfoy shared a small look of horror and embarrassment and glanced away with equally red faces.

Thankfully Ginny changed the subject. "So who in their right mind decided to place you on their quidditch team?"

Blaise chuckled as he took a sip from his glass. "You should see me on the pitch, my dear."

"I did," Ginny countered, "it was dreadful."

Blaise sputtered into his juice. "Excuse me? I was phenomenal."

Ginny merely shrugged as she took a bite of her pasta. "If you think so. You were doing some weird movement with your hips though when you would turn."

Malfoy laughed as he lifted his glass. "He always did that when he rode a broom. I think he just somehow gets sexually charged when he's caught up in a game."

Ginny chuckled and shook her head. "Whatever it was, it was the weirdest goddamn thing I've ever seen."

The three of them burst out laughing while Blaise looked on in horror.

"Oh I see. Now you're all chummy and think you can ridicule me. Well I will have none of it!" And instead of getting up and leaving, which Hermione assumed would happen, Blaise just simply turned his body away from them.

Ginny laughed even harder and chucked a carrot in his direction. "You're such a pansy, Zabini."

Blaise huffed and lifted his chin further into the opposite direction of them.

The rest of lunch had gone relatively well. Ginny seemed to genuinely enjoy talking to Malfoy, which did include some jokes directed towards Blaise.

After finishing a brownie and draining her juice, Ginny stood up and grabbed her bag. "Well I've got to head off to Potions. See you."

Malfoy also stood as Ginny disappeared from sight. He held his hand out for Hermione, which she took, noting again the firmness of his hand.

"Care for an escort to Ancient Runes, my dear?"

"Of course," Hermione replied with earnest as she grabbed her books from the table.

They walked in compatible silence for a few moments before Hermione spoke up.

"Is calling me pet names supposed to piss me off or sell our 'relationship' more easily?"

Malfoy shrugged and tightened his grip on her hand. "A little of both. I think it's also a little easier than calling you by your first name."

Hermione looked up at him and laughed, "Is it really that hard to call me 'Hermione'?"

Malfoy stopped walking and looked back down at her. "Old habits die hard," he smirked. He looked at her for a second longer before continuing down the hall.

Why must he look at her like that? It's almost as if he's taking his role of fake boyfriend too seriously. There wasn't hardly anyone in this corridor anyway.

They finally made it to Hermione's class and stopped outside the door.

"Well I guess I'll see you at dinner then," Malfoy said releasing her hand.

"Yep and then studying afterward." Hermione smiled up at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yes, how could I forget?" His voice incredibly heavy with sarcasm.

Hermione chuckled and decided to take a risk. Possibly the biggest risk of her life. Outside a classroom full of peers, Hermione stretched up on her toes and placed a kiss on Malfoy's cheek.

"Later, dear," She said cheekily, slamming the door in Malfoy's startled face.

….

Draco anxiously jiggled his leg, barely listening to the lesson Professor McGonagall was giving.

What in merlin fuck was that? Didn't that kiss on the cheek count as PDA? Why would Hermione Goody-Two-Shoes Granger break a contract? Why could he not stop thinking about how soft her lips felt on his cheek? And why in the fuck did he want her to do it again?

He went through the movements of his last three classes without paying them much attention. He couldn't seem to get a certain curly headed brunette out of his head.

By the time dinner rolled around, he was restless beyond belief. He couldn't decide what approach to take with Granger. Should he completely ignore what happened and continue as if everything was fine? Should he confront her about breaking the contract? Or worse, should he tell her that he couldn't stop thinking about it all day?

Ok not that one. He would rather die than tell Granger that her simple kiss on the cheek made him pass through his classes in a trance.

No, he would act as though nothing was wrong. Because a boyfriend would never question why his girlfriend had kissed his cheek after walking her to class.

He jiggled his leg some more under the table when he saw her enter the Great Hall.

She smiled after spotting him and made her way through the crowd of students to reach him.

"How'd the rest of your classes go?" She opened with as she sat across from him.

He shrugged feigning indifference. "Fine, nothing out of the ordinary."

"Well that's good. We learned the most interesting thing in Herbology."

Draco studied her face as she prattled on about something along the lines of different types of fertilizer providing different magical attributes to plants. Her eyes were wide with excitement and this close, he could see those gold flecks again. He placed his chin in his hand and leaned closer to her. He could see that her freckles spread out all the way across her cheekbones. He also noticed that the tight bun she had her hair in earlier, was falling out in tendrils that framed her face. She's so beautiful he thought in a lapse in judgment. What the fuck was happening to him?

He blinked and leaned back in shock at his thoughts and realized she had finished her story.

"Yes that is quite interesting," he managed to mumble out.

She furrowed her brow and looked as though she was about to question him, but snapped her mouth shut when Blaise plopped down next to him.

"Well hopefully it's just you today, Granger. You can I handle, but Weasley is ruthless." He sunk further down into the bench and grabbed a slab of ribs.

Granger chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you expect, Blaise. She grew up with six brothers. I don't think she knows any other way."

"Well it's a good thing I have thick skin," he declared perking up a bit more.

Draco snorted in reply. "Turning away and ignoring us was you having thick skin?"

"I feel as though I was just being the bigger person." Draco laughed out loud. "Besides, I do love a woman with a sense of humor."

Granger made a noise of exasperation. "You do know she's dating Harry right?"

"Don't worry, dear Granger. She will see the error of her ways soon enough."

Draco and Granger snorted simultaneously.

"Yeah okay, Zabini." Granger said flippantly going back to her meal.

Everyone glanced up with confusion at the fluttering sound of wings. Owls usually waited until morning to make deliveries, so it was particularly odd to see one at dinner time.

To Draco's great displeasure, the owl made a beeline straight to him.

Granger looked on in interest as Draco untied the note from the owl's leg, fed it a piece of chicken and swatted it away.

His face paled when he saw the Malfoy insignia on the front of the letter.

He ripped it open and paled even more.

Dear Draco,

As you know, I have been stopping in every other day to check on your mother and spend some lost time with her. Today she has taken a turn for the worst. She ran through the Manor shouting your name and I think fearing your death once she could not find you. She had never suspected you to be dead before, and I had caught her in the kitchens with a knife held to her wrists. We were able to calm her down with some potions and she is sleeping now. I just thought you should know that this has been her fifth episode in the past week and they seem to be getting progressively worse. I feel as though you should visit soon as it might help lessen her episodes. Please let me know when you plan to come so I can make sure I am present.

Sincerely,

Aunt Andromeda

Draco was positively shaking. He looked up and saw the hint of concern in Granger's eye and he couldn't take sitting there for a second longer.

He crumbled up the paper, shoved it into his bag and stormed out of the room without a word.

…..

Hermione watched Malfoy leave with open confusion on her face.

"What was that all about?" She asked Blaise. As his closest friend, she assumed he would be the one with answers.

"If I'm to guess correctly, I'd say it has something to do with his mother," Blaise replied quietly with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"His mother? I thought she was just on house arrest?" Hermione questioned, still confused.

"He probably wouldn't want me telling you about it, but his mother isn't well. The war took its toll on her. I fear that she won't last much longer in the state she's in," he whispered.

Hermione covered her mouth in shock. "That's awful! He never said anything."

Blaise shrugged and went back to eating. "And he probably won't. He doesn't trust many people with his personal life. And quite frankly, I'm sure he's ready to move on from his sickening past."

Hermione frowned down at Blaise as she stood up. "Well I'm going to go find him."

Blaise shrugged again, not meeting her eye. "Whatever. He won't want to talk about it though."

Hermione ignored his comment and went to search the library, in case he went to wait for her there.

When she couldn't find him there, she began her descent into the dungeons to search the Slytherin house.

As Head Girl, she didn't need an invitation to enter the common room, since she knew all of the passwords. She muttered the password "pureblood" with a roll of her eyes. Some things never change apparently.

She was, however, shocked to see two Ravenclaw girls sitting on the leather couch with a group of Slytherin students.

She nodded in their direction on her way to the eighth year dormitories.

After knocking on Malfoy's door, she was somewhat surprised when he opened the door. She knew he was bound to be hiding out somewhere, but she truly expected him to ignore her knocks or tell her to go away.

"What do you want, Granger?" he spat out.

"I came to check on you. That's what friends do," she replied softly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

He laughed bitterly, "Is that what we are, Granger? Friends?"

"Well I thought so until you started acting like a prat again," she shot back. Then ignoring his protests, she pushed past him into the room.

He grumbled in displeasure, but shut the door and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Blaise told me about your mother. I had no idea." She took a seat on the chair at his desk.

Malfoy spit out a laugh that lacked any sort of humor. "Of course you didn't know. I didn't even want to tell Blaise, but unfortunately he saw the state she was in over the summer."

"What happened to her? All he said was that she wasn't well," Hermione said quietly.

"What didn't happen to her? She was beaten, raped, as used like currency in that goddamn place," he hissed out.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She just stared at Malfoy with no comforting words coming to mind.

She noticed his eyes get glassy as he continued.

"Once he came into our home, she had no choice but to do as he said. There was one time she spoke out against how she was treated, and she was Crucio'd within an inch of her life. Thankfully her torture was interrupted by a muggle raid, and that was the last time anyone ever questioned it."

Before she knew what she was doing, Hermione was on her feet moving slowly towards him, almost as if he were an animal that would run away if she moved too fast.

She sat on the opposite end of the bed and reached out to place her hand on top of his. He turned his hand over and interlocked their fingers, squeezing her hand in gratitude.

"I had to sit and watch as they tortured her with spells, whips, and their fucking dicks. And I did nothing," he spit out, his voice cracking on the last word.

Hermione glanced up from their hands to see a single tear break from the rest and drift painfully slow down his cheek.

"Oh, Draco," she sighed. "I am so sorry."

He looked up at her, his face intense with sorrow. He closed his eyes and took a breath. When he opened them he looked like a man fighting an inner turmoil, his eyes flitting back and forth between hers. The grey in his eyes pained beyond repair. He blinked twice before he dragged her forward with the hand holding hers until she collapsed against his chest.

Without a second thought, she wrapped her arms around his waist as he began to sob into her hair. She squeezed him tighter and he replied with more tears. He gripped her body like she was the only thing keeping him afloat. And she gripped his like she was the only one would could give him solace.

She had never seen him expel this much emotion before and her eyes began to well up with tears of her own.

Once she felt his body no longer shaking and his sobs died down to infrequent sniffles, she pulled back to look up at his face.

He opened his eyes and stared back into hers. She could feel every emotion swimming in his eyes; despair, self loathing, desperation to right his wrongs, along with something she couldn't name.

He moved his arms from around her petite body to place his palms on either side of her face. She shivered slightly at the feel of his hands on her skin. His thumbs moved slowly to wipe the tears from her face, his eyes never leaving hers.

Then without warning his lips were on hers.

His lips pressed hard against hers and she could taste him; orange, whisky and spices. Then almost as quickly, his tongue was tracing the lines of her lips. She gasped as she felt his warm tongue and he took advantage of her open mouth, plunging his tongue inside to wrap around hers.

She let out a soft moan as one hand moved to hold the back of her neck and the other grabbed the small of her back. He took the moan as a sign to continue and flipped her onto her back as he covered her body with his.

His body felt incredibly strong against her small one. And, unconsciously, she let out another moan as his lips moved to her neck.

This cannot be happening. She is making out with Draco Malfoy. She's making out with Draco Malfoy, her fake boyfriend. She is making out with Draco Malfoy, who just had an emotional breakdown over his mother.

Her blood ran cold at this realization. He was just using her to make himself feel better. This wasn't about them. This wasn't about how he felt about her.

She softly pushed her hands against his chest, but when he continued his glorious pursuit down her neck, she pushed back even harder.

He stopped his descent and lifted his head to look at her. He must have seen the pain and concern in her eyes, because he rolled off her, covered his eyes and mumbled, "Get out."

When she didn't move he repeated louder, "Get out, Granger."

She was frozen in place, unsure how to salvage the situation.

"Jesus, Granger. GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!" he screamed at her.

This time she didn't hesitate, she leaped from his bed and ran straight to her dormitory.

Once she was alone, she slammed the door and slid to the floor breathing heavily and silently crying. What the FUCK just happened?

a/n: Poor Draco. I appreciate all of the reviews you all have been giving lately, they make me smile every time I get one. I hope you like this chapter, it was a bit of a doozy to write.